United States Commission on International Religious Freedom Reauthorization Act of 2015

S 677/HR 2740 - Global Democracy Promotion Act: entire bill HR 2100/S 802 - Girls Count Act: entire bill HR 1340/S 713 - International Violence Against Women Act: provisions and amendments related to international family planning and reproductive health HR 590/S 302 - International Human Rights Defense Act: entire bill S 224 - Women, Peace, and Security Act: entire bill HR 439 - Illegal Entry Accountability Act: entire bill H Con Res 29 - Recognizing the disparate impact of climate change on women and the efforts of women globally to address climate change: entire bill H Res 145 - Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the Senate should ratify the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW): entire bill S Res 97 - A resolution supporting the goals of International Women's Day: entire bill HR 1205 - American Sovereignty Restoration Act: entire bill HR 1034 - To provide for an accounting of total United States contributions to the United Nations: entire bill HR 1039 - African Descent Affairs Act: entire bill S 1635 -- Department of State Operations Authorization and Embassy Security Act, Fiscal Year 2016: provisions and amendments related to international family planning and reproductive health HR 2772-- Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2016; provisions and amendments related to international family planning and reproductive health S 1238 - Annual report on the United States Contributions to the United Nations Act; provisions and amendments related to international family planning and reproductive health HR 2241-Global Health Innovation Act of 2015; provisions and amendments related to international family planning and reproductive health HR 2678--A bill to prohibit United States contributions to the United Nations Population Fund. HR 2621-China Human Rights Protection Act of 2015; provisions and amendments related to reproductive rights H Res 285--A resolution expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the United States should become an international human rights leader by ratifying and implementing certain core international conventions; entire bill HR 2368-Global Respect Act; entire bill S 1911/HR3706 - Reach Every Mother and Child Act S 1635--Fiscal State-Foreign Operations Appropriations; Amendments: Shaheen family planning amendment to increase the amount appropriated for family planning/reproductive health, to provide $35,000,000 for the United Nations Population Fund, and to permit funding for foreign nongovernmental organizations. S 2130--An Act Making Appropriations for National Security and other purposes (minibus with SFOPS) HR 2037/S 1798/S 2078/S 2079--United States Commission on International Religious Freedom Reauthorization Act of 2015 House Department of State Authorization

Client expense: $278,546 · Firm income: Not reported

Government targets: Administration for Children & Families (ACF), Centers For Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), Centers For Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Congressional Budget Office (CBO), Defense, Dept of (DOD), Executive Office of the President (EOP), Food & Drug Administration (FDA), HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Health & Human Services, Dept of (HHS), Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA), Office of Management & Budget (OMB), Peace Corps, SENATE, State, Dept of (DOS), U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Veterans Affairs, Dept of (VA)

On behalf of 61 organizations and individuals, including the client, who signed a multi-faith letter, made contacts in support of H.R. 1150, the Frank R. Wolf International Religious Freedom Act of 2015. We must work to create a context where people can live with their deepest differences. The recent turmoil in Syria, Iraq and Ukraine-including the alarming spike in incidents of violence and persecution of Christians, Muslim communities, and other religious minorities-offers the latest examples of what happens if we do not. The purpose of the bill is to update the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (IRFA) and improve the capacity of the U.S. government to advance religious freedom globally by giving the Administration and State Department new political tools to better counter violent extremism and sectarian violence, growing anti-Semitism and restriction on religious minorities (e.g., a tier system for IRF reports on countries of particular concern and a special watch list, annual actions on countries with severe IRF abuses, authority to sanction individuals responsible for committing severe violations of IRF or materially supporting terrorism or violent extremism, and the ability to designate non-state actors as part of the Country of Particular Concern list and a range of sanctions targeting individual members of such groups); expanding diplomatic training, counter-terrorism coordination, and foreign assistance efforts; and reauthorizing the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) through 2021. With the passage and implementation of H.R. 1150, a strengthened IRFA and a stronger IRF policy-as integrated into U.S. foreign policy and national security-the United States will send a clear and urgent message regarding the inherent dignity of every human being, as well as our common global security in the fight against persecution and religious extremism, and terrorism. Doing so is consistent with the best of our values, practically protecting our interests as a result. On behalf of 81 organizations and individuals, including the client, who signed a multi-faith letter, made contacts in support of H.R. 2037, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom Reauthorization Act of 2015. Religious freedom is a principle upon which our country was founded, and protecting it is essential to promoting a more just and free world and also a significant factor of our national security and related global interests. This bill is best suited to advance freedom of religion or belief by, among other provisions, maintaining USCIRFs independence and non-partisan staff, which we believe will protect the Commissions structure and mandate established by Congress in the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA). The most effective way to ensure the continuity of USCIRFs essential mandate to protect religious freedom worldwide is to pass HR 2037 before the Commissions current authorization expires on September 30, 2015. On behalf of 54 organizations and individuals, including the client, who signed a multi-faith letter, made contacts in support of the bipartisan, bicameral congressional letter sent to the President requesting that he move swiftly to fill the vacant post of Special Envoy for Religious Minorities in the Middle East and South Central Asia. The news headlines have been dominated recently with stories of almost unimaginable human suffering at the hands of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Religious minorities in these lands, among them the ancient Christian and Yezidi communities, have suffered grave injustices: displacement, forced conversion, kidnapping, rape and death. The Islamic State's murderous reach has extended beyond Iraq and Syria. Last summer Congress passed, with broad bipartisan support, legislation to create a Special Envoy for Religious Minorities in the Middle East and South Central Asia. The breadth of support for the legislation underscores the urgency of the perils facing these communities. In the seven months since the legislation became law discrimination, repression and outright violence against religious minorities has only escalated. We respectfully requested that the President swiftly fill the position. Doing so would signal to beleaguered communities in the Middle East, and beyond, that America stands with them. On behalf of 27 organizations and individuals, including the client, who signed a multi-faith letter, made contacts in support of H.R. 624, the Global Magnitsky Human Rights countability Act. The passage of H.R. 624 will demonstrate Americas commitment to protecting human rights-including religious freedom-worldwide. It will also send a strong message to the worlds worst human rights violators. It is a powerful tool to sanction and publicly name foreign individuals who commit gross violations-including extrajudicial killings, torture, enforced disappearances, and prolonged, arbitrary detention, or significant corruption-of internationally recognized human rights and freedoms in other countries. Religious freedom is written into the bill as the first example of a human right and freedom to be prioritized during implementation. The bill globalizes the Russia-specific Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act of 2012 (H.R. 6156), part of what became Public Law 112-208, which passed the House 365-43 and the Senate 92-4. It requires and authorizes the President to: Impose sanctions in the form of visa bans or revocations, and U.S. property transaction freezes, on foreign persons who he/she determines have committed gross violations of internationally recognized human rights and/or significant corruption in foreign countries; Publicly report the names of the persons he/she has sanctioned, and the sanctions applied (if the President classifies the name of an individual, he/she must still publicly report the country of citizenship); Respond in writing to written requests from the Chair and Ranking Member of an appropriate Congressional committee about foreign perpetrators who meet the criteria for sanctioning, no later than 120 days after receiving such requests; and Consider credible information from other countries and nongovernmental organizations. On behalf of 16 organizations and individuals, including the client, who signed a multi-faith letter, made contacts in support of legislation that will permanently extend the Special Immigrant Non-Minister portion of the Religious Worker Visa Program (RWVP). Unless Congress acts by September 30, 2015, the RWVP will expire, leaving religious denominations and organizations with no way to bring in, where necessary, permanent religious workers to staff their religious institutions and attend the urgent needs of the communities they serve. The Special Immigrant Non-Minister portion of the RWVP became law in 1990. Originally enacted with a sunset provision, it has enjoyed broad, bipartisan support in Congress and has been reauthorized seven times since then. Under this important program, a maximum of 5,000 visas each year are available for religious workers employed by a broad range of religious denominations and organizations. Religious communities throughout the United States that participate in the program have found these visas vital to carrying out their work. Some religious workers provide critical services in areas including religious education and care for vulnerable populations such as the elderly, immigrants, refugees, the homeless and hungry, abused and neglected children, and families at risk. Others work in areas as diverse as performing missionary work, designing and building temples, producing religious publications, sustaining prison ministries, and training health care professionals to provide religiously appropriate health care. On behalf of 28 organizations and individuals, including the client, who signed a multi-faith letter, made contacts to urge the United States government to engage leaders of the Kazakhstan government and express deep concerns about the 2011 Law on Religious Activity and Religious Associations in light of the recent Report of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief on his Mission to Kazakhstan. Certain provisions of the 2011 Religion Law are inconsistent with both Kazakhstans Constitution and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The Special Rapporteur made several substantive, reasonable and fair recommendations to bring the Constitution and Kazakh law fully into line with Article 18 of the ICCPR and other relevant international human rights standards. The U.S. government could urge the Kazakh government to make these changes to the law. On behalf of 15 organizations and individuals, including the client, who signed a multi-faith letter, made contacts to urge the United States Government to call for the release of the Bahrain 13, and to support all Bahrainis rights to Freedom of Religion by pressing the Bahraini Government to investigate the allegations of degrading treatment of the Bahrain 13 and hold those responsible accountable for their actions. Called attention to the continued detention and mistreatment of the Bahrain 13, a group of the most prominent Bahraini leaders arrested for peacefully protesting the Bahrainis government violation of its citizens human rights and religious freedoms. The Bahrain 13 includes prominent peaceful activists, human rights defenders, religious and political leaders, many of whom are also religious clerics. The Bahrain 13 are representative of the systemic crisis of religious discrimination in Bahrain, particularly at Jaw Prison. Their religious identity proves to be a vulnerability in the eyes of Jaw Prison guards who use it to degrade and humiliate them. Prison guards have committed multiple acts of religious persecution against the Bahrain 13, including shaving the heads and beards of the Shia Clerics and disrupting certain aspects of Shia prayer rituals.

Client expense: Not reported · Firm income: $20,000

Government targets: HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SENATE, State, Dept of (DOS), White House Office