[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4653 Referred in Senate (RFS)]
113th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 4653
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
July 9, 2014
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
AN ACT
To reauthorize the United States Commission on International Religious
Freedom, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``United States Commission on
International Religious Freedom Reauthorization Act of 2014''.
SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT AND COMPOSITION.
(a) In General.--Subsection (a) of section 201 of the International
Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6431) is amended by inserting
before the period at the end the following: ``, which shall be an
independent Federal Government advisory body''.
(b) Selection.--Subparagraph (A) of section 201(b)(2) of the
International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6431(b)(2) is
amended by inserting at the end the following new sentence: ``The
Commission as a whole shall also have expertise on the variety of
faiths practiced around the world.''.
(c) Membership.--Subsection (b)(3) of section 201 of the
International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6431) is amended
by striking ``The appointments required by paragraph (1) shall be made
not later than 120 days after the date of the enactment of this Act.''
and inserting the following: ``An appointment required by subparagraph
(B) of paragraph (1) should be made within 90 days of a vacancy on the
Commission.''.
(d) Vacancies.--Subsection (g) of section 201 of the International
Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6431) is amended by striking
the second sentence.
SEC. 3. TRAINING FOR FOREIGN SERVICE OFFICERS.
Subsection (a) of section 708 of the Foreign Service Act of 1980
(22 U.S.C. 4028) is amended--
(1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1),
(A) by striking ``and the director'' and inserting
``the director''; and
(B) inserting ``and members of the United States
Commission on International Religious Freedom,'' after
``Training Center,''; and
(2) in paragraph (2)--
(A) by striking ``and the various'' and inserting
``the various''; and
(B) by inserting ``, the relationship between
religious freedom and security, and the role of
religious freedom in United States foreign policy''
after ``violations of religious freedom''.
SEC. 4. COMMISSION PERSONNEL MATTERS.
(a) In General.--Subsection (a) of section 204 of the International
Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6432b) is amended in the
second sentence, by inserting ``voting'' after ``nine''.
(b) Compensation.--Subsection (b) of section 204 of the
International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6432b) is
amended by inserting ``voting members of the'' after ``The''.
(c) Security Clearances.--Subsection (e) of section 204 of the
International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6432b) is
amended by adding at the end the following new sentence: ``The
Department of State is encouraged to allow Commissioners and Commission
staff with the appropriate security clearance access to classified
information, in order to fulfill the duties and responsibilities of
their positions.''.
(d) Application of Antidiscrimination Laws.--Subsection (g) of
section 204 of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22
U.S.C. 6432b) is amended by inserting ``, including discrimination on
the basis of religion'' after ``employment discrimination''.
SEC. 5. STANDARDS OF CONDUCT AND DISCLOSURE.
Paragraph (2) of section 208(d)(2) of the International Religious
Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6435a(d)(2)) is amended by adding at the
end the following new subparagraph:
``(H) Intern, fellowship, and volunteer programs
that are primarily of educational benefit to the
intern, fellow, or volunteer. Sponsoring private
parties may provide compensation and benefits to
interns, fellows, and volunteers, provided that no
conflict of interest arises. The number, duration, and
funding source of any such internship, fellowship, or
volunteer programs shall be described in the annual
financial report required by subsection (e).''.
SEC. 6. EXTENSION AND TERMINATION OF AUTHORITY.
The International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 is amended--
(1) in subsection (a) of section 207 (22 U.S.C. 6435), by
striking ``2014'' and inserting ``2019''; and
(2) in section 209 (22 U.S.C. 6436), by striking
``September 30, 2014'' and inserting ``September 30, 2019''.
Passed the House of Representatives July 8, 2014.
Attest:
KAREN L. HAAS,
Clerk.