Three new Commissioners have been appointed to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom-- filling 3 of the 5 vacancies created by Congress' newly imposed term-limits on members. (See prior posting.) Two of the new appointments, by Republican members of Congress, were announced in a March 26 press release. One is Princeton University Professor, Dr. Robert P. George (appointed by House Speaker John Boehner). George is also Director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton. A 2009 New York Times Magazine article described George as "a Roman Catholic who is this country’s most influential conservative Christian thinker."
The second Republican Congressional appointee is Dr. M. Zuhdi Jasser, president and founder of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy (appointed by Senate Minority Leader, Mitch McConnell). Dr. Jasser testified last year at the controversial hearings on radicalization in the American Muslim community conducted by Congressman Peter King. (See prior posting.)
The third new appointee, announced in a press release yesterday, is Dr. Katrina Lantos Swett, daughter of the late Congressman Tom Lantos and head of the Lantos Foundation for Human Rights. She also teaches at Tufts University. She was appointed by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. Swett ran unsuccessfully in the Democratic primary for a congressional seat from New Hampshire in the 2010 elections.
