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! ==Commissioners== The International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 provides for the Commission to be composed of ten members:<ref name="cozad">{{cite journal|last1=Cozad|first1=Laurie|year=2005|title=The United States' Imposition of Religious Freedom: The International Religious Freedom Act and India|journal=India Review|volume=4|issue=1|pages=59β83|doi=10.1080/14736480590919617|s2cid=153774347}}</ref> *Three appointed by the President *Three appointed by the [[President pro tempore of the United States Senate|President pro tempore of the Senate]], of which two of the members shall be appointed upon the recommendation of the [[Party leaders of the United States Senate|leader in the Senate]] of the political party that is not the political party of the President, and of which one of the members shall be appointed upon the recommendation of the leader in the Senate of the other political party *Three appointed by the [[Speaker of the United States House of Representatives|Speaker of the House of Representatives]], of which two of the members shall be appointed upon the recommendation of the [[Party leaders of the United States House of Representatives|leader in the House]] of the political party that is not the political party of the President, and of which one of the members shall be appointed upon the recommendation of the leader in the House of the other political party. *The [[Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom]], as a non-voting ''[[ex officio]]'' member IRFA provides that "Members of the Commission shall be selected among distinguished individuals noted for their knowledge and experience in fields relevant to the issue of international religious freedom, including [[Foreign policy|foreign affairs]], [[direct experience]] abroad, [[human rights]], and [[international law]]." Commissioners are not paid for their work on the Commission, however they are provided a travel budget and a 15β20 member staff. Appointments last for two years, and Commissioners are eligible for reappointment. As of July 19, 2023,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-11-16 |title=Commissioners: Advocates for Religious Freedom {{!}} USCIRF |url=https://www.uscirf.gov/commissioners |access-date=2023-07-14 |website=www.uscirf.gov |language=en}}</ref> the current Commissioners are: {| class="wikitable" |+ !Commissioner !Appointed By !Term expires !Details |- |Abraham Cooper (Chair)<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2023-07-05 |title=Abraham Cooper Elected as Chair of Bipartisan U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, Frederick A. Davie as Vice Chair |url=https://www.uscirf.gov/news-room/releases-statements/abraham-cooper-elected-chair-bipartisan-us-commission-international |access-date=2023-07-14 |website=United States Commission on International Religious Freedom}}</ref> |[[Mitch McConnell]] |May 2024 |Associate Dean and Director of Global Social Action for the Simon Wiesenthal Center<ref>{{Cite web |title=Abraham Cooper |url=https://www.uscirf.gov/abraham-cooper |access-date=2022-06-21 |website=Abraham Cooper {{!}} USCIRF}}</ref> |- |Frederick A. Davie (Vice Chair)<ref name=":0" /> |[[Chuck Schumer]] |May 2024 |Senior Strategic Advisor to the President, [[Union Theological Seminary (New York City)|Union Theological Seminary]];<ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-11-16|title=Frederick A. Davie {{!}} USCIRF|url=https://www.uscirf.gov/about-uscirf/commissioners/frederick-davie|access-date=2021-11-16|website=www.uscirf.gov|language=en}}</ref> former member of the Advisory Council for the [[White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships|White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships]] |- |David Curry |[[Kevin McCarthy]] |May 2024 |President and CEO of Global Christian Relief<ref>{{Cite web |title=David Curry |url=https://www.uscirf.gov/about-uscirf/commissioners/david-curry |access-date=2022-06-21 |website=David Curry {{!}} USCIRF}}</ref> |- |[[Susie Gelman]] |[[Joe Biden]] |May 2025 |Board Chair (2016β2023), Israel Policy Forum; former President of the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington; member of the Board of Governors of [[Hebrew University of Jerusalem|The Hebrew University]]; past President of the Goldman Environmental Foundation<ref>{{Cite web |title=Susie Gelman |url=https://www.uscirf.gov/about-uscirf/commissioners/susie-gelman |access-date=2023-07-19 |website=U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom}}</ref> |- |Mohamed Magid |Joe Biden |May 2024 |Executive Religious Director, All Dulles Area Muslim Society Center; Chairman, International Interfaith Peace Corps; Co-President, [[Religions for Peace]]; Co-Founder, Multi-faith Neighbors Network<ref>{{Cite web |title=Mohamad Magid |url=https://www.uscirf.gov/about-uscirf/commissioners/mohamed-magid |access-date=2022-08-12 |website=USCIRF}}</ref> |- |[[Stephen F. Schneck|Stephen Schneck]] |Joe Biden |May 2024 |Retired Executive Director of the [[Franciscan Action Network]]; Former associate professor at [[Catholic University of America|The Catholic University of America]]; former Director of CUA's [[Institute for Policy Research and Catholic Studies]]; former member of the advisory council for the [[White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Stephen Schneck |url=https://www.uscirf.gov/about-uscirf/commissioners/stephen-schneck |access-date=2022-06-21 |website=Stephen Schneck {{!}} USCIRF}}</ref> |- |[[Nury Turkel]] |[[Nancy Pelosi]] |May 2024 |Chairman of the Board, [[Uyghur Human Rights Project]]; former president, [[Uyghur American Association]]<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-11-16 |title=Nury Turkel {{!}} USCIRF |url=https://www.uscirf.gov/about-uscirf/commissioners/nury-turkel |access-date=2021-11-16 |website=www.uscirf.gov |language=en}}</ref> |- |[[Eric Ueland]] |Mitch McConnell |May 2024 |Former acting [[Under Secretary of State for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights]]; former Director of the Office of U.S. Foreign Assistance Resources at the [[United States Department of State|Department of States]]; former [[Presidency of Donald Trump|Trump]] White House advisor; former Capitol Hill staffer<ref>{{Cite web |title=Eric Ueland |url=https://www.uscirf.gov/about-uscirf/commissioners/eric-ueland |access-date=2022-06-21 |website=Eric Ueland {{!}} USCRIF}}</ref> |- |[[Frank Wolf (politician)|Frank Wolf]] |Kevin McCarthy |May 2024 |Former Member, U.S. House of Representatives (VA-10); Author of the [[International Religious Freedom Act of 1998|International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA)]]; founder and former co-chair, [[Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Frank Wolf |url=https://www.uscirf.gov/frank-wolf |access-date=2022-06-21 |website=Frank Wolf {{!}} USCIRF}}</ref> |} The State Department's Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, currently [[Rashad Hussain]], serves as an ''ex officio'', non-voting member of the Commission.<ref name="cozad"/> Past Commissioners include [[Sharon Kleinbaum]], [[Thomas J. Reese|Tom Reese, S.J.]], [[Khizr and Ghazala Khan|Khizr Khan]], [[Tony Perkins (politician)|Tony Perkins]], [[David Saperstein (rabbi)|David Saperstein]],<ref name="timesofisrael">[http://www.timesofisrael.com/us-senate-approves-rabbi-as-freedom-of-faith-envoy/ "US Senate approves rabbi as freedom of faith envoy"], ''[[The Times of Israel]]'', December 15, 2014. Retrieved December 15, 2014.</ref> [[Preeta D. Bansal]], [[Gayle Conelly Manchin|Gayle Conelly Manchin (Chair)]],<ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-11-16|title=USCIRF Congratulates Outgoing Chair, Gayle Manchin, Welcomes New Chair, Anurima Bhargava {{!}} USCIRF|url=https://www.uscirf.gov/news-room/releases-statements/uscirf-congratulates-outgoing-chair-gayle-manchin-welcomes-new-chair|access-date=2021-11-16|website=www.uscirf.gov|language=en}}</ref> [[Gary Bauer]], [[John Hanford]], [[Khaled Abou El Fadl]], [[Charles J. Chaput]], [[Michael K. Young]], [[Firuz Kazemzadeh]], [[Shirin R. Tahir-Kheli]], [[John R. Bolton]], [[Elliot Abrams]], [[Felice D. Gaer]], [[Azizah Y. al-Hibri]], [[Leonard Leo]], [[Richard Land]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.uscirf.gov/about-uscirf/former-commissioners|title=Former Commissioners|work=United States Commission on International Religious Freedom|date=April 11, 2008}}</ref> Tenzin Dorjee (Chair),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.uscirf.gov/about-uscirf/dr-tenzin-dorjee-commissioner|title=Dr. Tenzin Dorjee, Commissioner|date=December 8, 2016|work=United States Commission on International Religious Freedom|access-date=2017-08-15}}</ref> and Kristina Arriaga de Bucholz.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Kristina Arriaga de Bucholz, Commissioner |url=https://www.uscirf.gov/about-uscirf/kristina-arriaga-de-bucholz-commissioner |access-date=2022-11-14 |website=USCIRF}}</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. 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