NEWS STORY: Congressional passage of religious freedom abroad act hailed

c. 1998 Religion News Service WASHINGTON _ Congressional passage of the compromise International Religious Freedom Act has been hailed by a broad spectrum of religious leaders, who generally view the measure as assuring that the treatment of religious believers overseas will become a centerpiece of U.S. foreign policy. The House passed the measure Saturday (Oct. […]

c. 1998 Religion News Service

WASHINGTON _ Congressional passage of the compromise International Religious Freedom Act has been hailed by a broad spectrum of religious leaders, who generally view the measure as assuring that the treatment of religious believers overseas will become a centerpiece of U.S. foreign policy.

The House passed the measure Saturday (Oct. 10), one day after the Senate gave its approval to the act. The White House has signaled its intention to sign the legislation into law.


On the right, Randy Tate, executive director of the Christian Coalition, said the act”sent a message that along with being the world’s economic leader, the United States is also the moral leader and is unafraid to exercise that leadership.” On the left, Mark J. Pelavin, associate director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, said passage”sends a powerful message that the United States is serious about combating religious persecution abroad.” Other groups supporting the act included the National Association of Evangelicals, the U.S. Catholic Conference, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission.

That the measure passed unanimously in both the House and Senate _ and with the backing of religious conservatives and liberals alike _ was indicative of the many compromises reached in months of negotiations between the act’s supporters and critics.

The White House, along with some Republican and Democratic congressmen concerned with trade implications, said the bill’s initial wording requiring automatic economic sanctions against offending nations would hamstring the U.S. in dealing with foreign governments. Still others were concerned with the bill’s initial emphasis on Christians being persecuted in China, some Muslim nations and elsewhere.

But over the course of more than a year, negotiations resolved the differences and resulted in a final bill giving the president far more options _ neutralizing congressional and White House opposition and prompting additional religious groups to lend their public support.

The version passed allows a president to sidestep sanctions all together if doing so is deemed to be in the”national interest,”or merely supportive of the act’s intent. Supporters also made clear their intention to have the act apply to members of all faith groups subjected to religious persecution _ including Baha’is in Iran and Buddhists in Tibet.

If it chooses, the White House may satisfy the bill’s provisions just by sending a private communication to an offending nation through diplomatic channels.

The weakened bill even sat well with the National Council of Churches, perhaps the most influential American religious group that had held off giving the legislation its unqualified endorsement.


However, the Rev. Joan Brown Campbell, NCC president, cautioned against the United States acting”as the religious police of the world.”Campbell _ whose organization represents more than 30 Anglican, Protestant and Orthodox Christian denominations _ also urged the United States not to impose its brand of religious freedom on cultures that view the matter in a different light _ as do many Muslim countries.

Despite the final bill’s watered down language, Michael Horowitz, a Washington activist widely credited with bringing the religious persecution issue to national attention, said he was satisfied with the outcome.

Horowitz, a policy adviser to President Reagan, said the act’s creation of a State Department”ambassador-at-large for religious liberty”and Commission on International Religious Liberty that will report annually on the issue”insures that religious persecution will be in play every year in Washington from now on.””I’m delighted,”said Horowitz, currently a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute.”This issue can no longer be swept under the rug. Every president will have to deal with it.”

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