United States Commission on International Religious Freedom Reauthorization Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2503 To reauthorize the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES SEPTEMBER 18, 2019 Mr. RUBIO (for himself, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. GARDNER, Mr. DURBIN, and Mr. COONS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and re- ferred to the Committee on Foreign Relations A BILL To reauthorize the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘United States Commis- 4 sion on International Religious Freedom Reauthorization 5 Act of 2019’’. 6 SEC. 2. REAUTHORIZATION. 7 Section 209 of the International Religious Freedom 8 Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6436) is amended by striking 9 ‘‘2019’’ and inserting ‘‘2023’’. 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:57 Sep 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2503.IS S2503 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 2503 IS SEC. 3. COMPOSITION OF COMMISSION. 1 Section 201 of the International Religious Freedom 2 Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6431) is amended— 3 (1) in subsection (b)(2)— 4 (A) by striking ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—’’; and 5 (B) by striking subparagraph (B); 6 (2) in subsection (c)(1)— 7 (A) by striking ‘‘2 years’’ and inserting ‘‘3 8 years’’; and 9 (B) by striking the second and third sen- 10 tences and inserting the following: ‘‘Individuals 11 serving on the Commission on the date of the 12 enactment of the United States Commission on 13 International Religious Freedom Reauthoriza- 14 tion Act of 2019 who were previously re- 15 appointed to the Commission may not remain 16 in office after the end of the term for which the 17 member was appointed. Individuals serving on 18 the Commission as of such date of enactment 19 who were not previously reappointed to the 20 Commission may be reappointed for 1 addi- 21 tional 2-year term. Individuals appointed to the 22 Commission on or after such date of enactment 23 may not serve more than 1 term as members of 24 the Commission under any circumstance. Indi- 25 viduals whose service as members of the Com- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:57 Sep 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2503.IS S2503 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 2503 IS mission ended before such date of enactment 1 may not be reappointed to the Commission.’’; 2 (3) by amending subsection (d) to read as fol- 3 lows: 4 ‘‘(d) ELECTION OF CHAIR AND VICE CHAIR.—At the 5 first meeting of the Commission after May 30 of each 6 year, a majority of the members of the Commission who 7 are present and voting shall elect a Chair and a Vice 8 Chair. The Vice Chair shall have been appointed by an 9 officeholder from a different political party than the office- 10 holder who appointed the member of the Commission who 11 was elected Chair. The positions of Chair and Vice Chair 12 shall be rotated annually between members who were ap- 13 pointed to the Commission by officeholders of different po- 14 litical parties.’’; 15 (4) in subsection (f), by striking ‘‘Country Re- 16 port on Human Rights Practices’’ and inserting 17 ‘‘International Religious Freedom Report’’; and 18 (5) by adding at the end the following: 19 ‘‘(j) REMOVAL.—If a payment is made under section 20 415(a) of the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 21 (2 U.S.C. 1415(a)) for an award or settlement in connec- 22 tion with a claim alleging a violation of unlawful harass- 23 ment, intimidation, reprisal, or discrimination under the 24 Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1301 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:57 Sep 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2503.IS S2503 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 2503 IS et seq.) that was committed personally by an individual 1 who, at the time of committing the violation, was a Mem- 2 ber of the Commission, the Member shall be removed from 3 the Commission.’’. 4 SEC. 4. DUTIES AND POWERS OF THE COMMISSION. 5 (a) DUTIES.—Section 202 of the International Reli- 6 gious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6432) is amend- 7 ed— 8 (1) in subsection (a)(1), by inserting ‘‘globally 9 and the abuse of religion to justify human rights vio- 10 lations, including those’’ after ‘‘freedom’’; and 11 (2) in subsection (e)— 12 (A) by striking ‘‘The Commission’’ and in- 13 serting the following: 14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission’’; and 15 (B) by adding at the end the following: 16 ‘‘(2) TRACKING; REVIEW.—The Commission 17 shall regularly— 18 ‘‘(A) track the implementation by the 19 United States Government of the recommenda- 20 tions it makes under paragraph (1); and 21 ‘‘(B) review, to the extent practicable, the 22 effectiveness of such implemented recommenda- 23 tions in advancing religious freedom inter- 24 nationally.’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:57 Sep 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2503.IS S2503 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 2503 IS (b) POWERS.—Section 203(e) of the International 1 Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6432a(e)) is 2 amended— 3 (1) by striking ‘‘The Members of the Commis- 4 sion’’ and inserting the following: 5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Members of the Com- 6 mission’’; 7 (2) in paragraph (1), as redesignated, by insert- 8 ing ‘‘When a member of the Commission is speaking 9 at a public event in his or her capacity as a private 10 citizen, the event sponsor shall not identify the mem- 11 ber’s affiliation with the Commission in any printed 12 materials or when introducing the member.’’ after 13 ‘‘private citizens.’’; and 14 (3) by adding at the end the following: 15 ‘‘(2) SPEAKING AT EVENTS IN OFFICIAL CAPAC- 16 ITY.—When a Member of the Commission is invited 17 to speak at an event in his or her capacity as a 18 Commissioner, the Member shall provide notice of 19 the request to all Commissioners and the Executive 20 Director as soon as the Commissioner becomes 21 aware of the request. When a specific Commissioner 22 is requested to speak at an event, but a different 23 Commissioner has more relevant subject-matter ex- 24 pertise, the Commission may propose that a dif- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:57 Sep 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2503.IS S2503 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 2503 IS ferent Commissioner speak at the event. If more 1 than 1 Commissioner would like to speak at an event 2 and interested Commissioners cannot reach a timely, 3 amicable decision on who shall speak, the Commis- 4 sion, as a whole, shall decide who shall speak by ma- 5 jority vote. Speeches and responses to questions at 6 events shall reflect the views of the Commission. 7 Speeches and other prepared materials must be cir- 8 culated to all Commissioners in advance of the 9 event.’’. 10 SEC. 5. COMMISSION PERSONNEL MATTERS. 11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 204 of the International 12 Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6432b) is 13 amended— 14 (1) in subsection (a)— 15 (A) by striking ‘‘, without regard to civil 16 service laws and regulations,’’; 17 (B) by striking ‘‘and such other additional 18 personnel’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘. The 19 Executive Director, with the approval of the 20 Chair and the Vice Chair, may appoint or ter- 21 minate additional senior staff’’; and 22 (C) by inserting ‘‘The Executive Director, 23 in consultation with the relevant Directors, may 24 appoint or terminate such junior staff as may 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:57 Sep 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2503.IS S2503 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •S 2503 IS be necessary to enable the Commission to per- 1 form its duties.’’ after ‘‘duties.’’; 2 (2) in subsection (b)— 3 (A) by striking ‘‘fix the compensation of 4 the Executive Director and other personnel’’ 5 and inserting ‘‘provide reasonable compensation 6 to the Executive Director’’; 7 (B) by striking ‘‘and other personnel may 8 not exceed the rate payable for level V of the 9 Executive Schedule under section 5316’’ and in- 10 serting ‘‘may not exceed the rate payable under 11 level II of the Executive Schedule under section 12 5313’’; and 13 (C) by adding at the end the following: 14 ‘‘The rate of pay for other personnel of the 15 Commission may not exceed the rate payable 16 for level IV of the Executive Schedule under 17 section 5315 of such title. All employees of the 18 Commission shall otherwise be treated as em- 19 ployees whose pay is disbursed by the Secretary 20 of the Senate, including for purposes of apply- 21 ing the Standing Rules of the Senate. The 22 Commission shall be treated as an employing 23 office of the Senate’’; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:57 Sep 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2503.IS S2503 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •S 2503 IS (3) in subsection (f), by striking ‘‘the commis- 1 sion, for the executive director’’ and inserting ‘‘the 2 Commission, for the Executive Director’’; and 3 (4) by striking subsection (g). 4 (b) COVERAGE OF COMMISSION EMPLOYEES.—Sec- 5 tion 101(b) of the Congressional Accountability Act (2 6 U.S.C. 1301) is amended— 7 (1) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘the United 8 States Commission on International Religious Free- 9 dom,’’ after ‘‘With respect to’’; 10 (2) in paragraph (2)— 11 (A) by redesignating subparagraphs (A) 12 and (B) as clauses (i) and (ii); 13 (B) by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ before ‘‘Subject to 14 paragraph (3),’’; and 15 (C) by adding at the end the following: 16 ‘‘(B) Legal assistance and representation 17 under this chapter, including assistance and 18 representation with respect to the proposal or 19 acceptance of the disposition of a claim under 20 this chapter, shall be provided to the United 21 States Commission on International Religious 22 Freedom by the Office of Senate Chief Counsel 23 for Employment of the Senate, in the case of 24 assistance and representation in connection 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:57 Sep 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2503.IS S2503 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •S 2503 IS with a claim filed under subchapter IV (includ- 1 ing all subsequent proceedings under such sub- 2 chapter in connection with such claim).’’; and 3 (3) in paragraph (3)— 4 (A) in subparagraph (B), by striking 5 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 6 (B) in subparagraph (C), by striking the 7 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 8 (C) by adding at the end the following: 9 ‘‘(D) the term ‘United States Commission 10 on International Religious Freedom’ means the 11 Commission established under section 201 of 12 the International Religious Freedom Act of 13 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6431 et seq.).’’. 14 SEC. 6. COMMISSION TRAVEL AND ANNUAL DISCLOSURES. 15 (a) DUTIES.—Section 201(i) of the International Re- 16 ligious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6431(i)) is 17 amended by striking ‘‘are subject to’’ and inserting ‘‘shall 18 comply with’’. 19 (b) POWERS.—Section 203(f) of the International 20 Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6432a(f)) is 21 amended— 22 (1) by striking ‘‘The Members of the Commis- 23 sion’’ and inserting the following: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:57 Sep 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2503.IS S2503 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •S 2503 IS ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Members of the Com- 1 mission’’; and 2 (2) by adding at the end the following: 3 ‘‘(2) PROHIBITION AGAINST PAYMENT OF OFFI- 4 CIAL TRAVEL BY NON-FEDERAL SOURCES.—Mem- 5 bers of the Commission and Commission staff may 6 not accept payment from a non-Federal source for 7 expenses related to official travel on behalf of the 8 Commission.’’. 9 (c) ANNUAL DISCLOSURES.—Section 203 of the 10 International Religious Freedom Act of 1998, as amended 11 by subsection (b), is further amended by adding at the 12 end the following: 13 ‘‘(g) ANNUAL DISCLOSURES.—Not later than March 14 1 of each year, each Member of the Commission shall sub- 15 mit a report to the appropriate congressional committees 16 (as defined in section 4(a) of the United States Commis- 17 sion on International Religious Freedom Reauthorization 18 Act of 2015 (22 U.S.C. 6433a(a)) that discloses, with re- 19 spect to the most recently concluded 12-month period— 20 ‘‘(1) any travel by the Member outside of the 21 United States that was paid for or reimbursed by a 22 person or entity other than the Member, a relative 23 of the Member, or the Federal Government, includ- 24 ing— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:57 Sep 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2503.IS S2503 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 •S 2503 IS ‘‘(A) who paid for or reimbursed the trav- 1 el; 2 ‘‘(B) a good faith estimate of the cost of 3 the travel; and 4 ‘‘(C) brief details of the travel and events 5 related to such travel; and 6 ‘‘(2) any instances in which the Member was 7 identified as a Commissioner while speaking at, or 8 otherwise participating in, a public event in his or 9 her capacity as a private citizen.’’. 10 SEC. 7. STRATEGIC PLAN. 11 Section 4(d) of the United States Commission on 12 International Religious Freedom Reauthorization Act of 13 2015 (22 U.S.C. 6433a(d)) is amended by striking ‘‘Not 14 later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of 15 the Act, and not less frequently than biennially thereafter’’ 16 and inserting ‘‘Not later than December 15, 2019, and 17 every 2 years thereafter’’. 18 SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 19 Section 207(a) of the International Religious Free- 20 dom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6435(a)) is amended by strik- 21 ing ‘‘$3,500,000 for each of the fiscal years 2016 to 22 2019’’ and inserting ‘‘$4,500,000 for each of the fiscal 23 years 2019 through 2023’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:57 Sep 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2503.IS S2503 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 12 •S 2503 IS SEC. 9. RECORD RETENTION. 1 Section 208 of the International Religious Freedom 2 Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6435a) is amended by adding at 3 the end the following: 4 ‘‘(f) COMMISSION RECORDS.—The Commission shall 5 comply with all of the records management requirements 6 set forth in chapter 31 of title 44, United States Code 7 (commonly referred to as the ‘Federal Records Act of 8 1950’). 9 ‘‘(g) OFFICIAL EMAIL FOR COMMISSION BUSI- 10 NESS.—When conducting any Commission business 11 through email, Commission Members and staff shall use 12 official Commission email.’’. 13 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:57 Sep 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S2503.IS S2503 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS