House Holds Hearing On International Religious Freedom Report

On Nov. 17, the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, and Human Rights, held a hearing on the State Department's 2011 International Religious Freedom Report. (See prior posting.) The subcommittee has posted the full text of testimony by Leonard Leo, Chairman of USCIRF; Bishop Ricardo Ramirez, representing the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops; Benedict Rogers, representing Christian Solidarity Worldwide; Rev. Majed El Shafie, president of One Free World International; and R. Drew Smith, scholar-in-residence at Morehouse College. While the witnesses focused on religious freedom issues in specific countries, they also dealt with various organizational and structural issues. Leonard Leo, for example, urged passage of the USCIRF reauthorization bill, discussed the reporting cycle used by the State Department, welcomed the announcement of Countries of Particular Concern at the same time that the International Religious Freedom Report is issued, urged upgrading of the role of the Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom and sought more training for Foreign Service Officers on promoting religious freedom.