United States Commission on International Religious Freedom Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ==History== [[File:Annual Report of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (2008).pdf|thumb|Annual Report of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (2008)]] USCIRF was authorized by the [[International Religious Freedom Act of 1998]], which established:<ref name=GPOmeta>GPO [https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/PLAW-105publ292 Public Law 105 - 292 - International Religious Freedom Act of 1998] Page accessed June 3, 2016</ref><ref name=IRFAtext>GPO [https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/PLAW-105publ292/html/PLAW-105publ292.htm International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 text] Page accessed June 3, 2016</ref> *An [[Office of International Religious Freedom]] in the [[United States Department of State]], headed by an [[United States Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom|Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom]] *A mandate that the State Department prepare Annual Reports on International Religious Freedom *A requirement to name the most egregious religious freedom violators as [[Country of Particular Concern|Countries of Particular Concern]] (CPCs) and to take policy actions in response to all violations of religious freedom as a specific element of [[U.S. foreign policy]] programs, cultural exchanges, and international broadcasting. *The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.uscirf.gov/about-uscirf/authorizing-legislation-amendments|title=Authorizing Legislation & Amendments|work= United States Commission on International Religious Freedom|date=February 2008}}</ref> The legislation authorizing the USCIRF stated that the Commission would terminate on September 30, 2011, unless it was reauthorized or given a temporary extension. It was given several extensions by Congress, but would have expired at 5:00 pm on Friday, December 16, 2011, had it not been reauthorized for a seven-year term (until 2018), on the morning of the 16th. This happened after a new reauthorization bill passed both Houses containing two amendments were made to it that Senator [[Dick Durbin]], D-IL (the [[Senate Majority Whip]]) had wanted as a condition of releasing a hold he had placed on the former version of the bill; he released it on December 13, after the revisions were made. They stipulate that there will be a two-year limit on terms for commissioners and that they will be under the same travel restrictions as employees of the Department of State.<ref>[http://www.uscirf.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=349&Itemid=45&date=2010-06-01 Authorizing Legislation & Amendments], United States Commission on International Religious Freedom. Accessed on-line June 4, 2010.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/us-religious-freedom-commission-reauthorized-at-last-minute/|title=US religious freedom commission reauthorized at last minute|work=[[Catholic News Agency]]}}</ref> In 2016, the U.S. Congress passed and President [[Barack Obama]] signed the [[Frank R. Wolf International Religious Freedom Act]], which amended IRFA in various ways, including adding a category of designation for non-state actors.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/international-religious-freedom-act-primer|title=The International Religious Freedom Act: A Primer|date=2018-01-10|work=Lawfare|access-date=2018-11-16|language=en}}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page