Chris Smith: “I am disappointed, and I know many of my colleagues are, that the Senate amendments have somewhat weakened our bill. For…”

“I am disappointed, and I know many of my colleagues are, that the Senate amendments have somewhat weakened our bill. For example, the House had given the President a great deal of flexibility in deciding whether to impose sanctions against governments that severely persecute religious believers, but the Senate stretches flexibility almost to the breaking point. Even with the Senate amendments, let me say very clearly that the bill creates what I sincerely hope will be a strong and independent Commission on International Religious Freedom, which can be a voice on behalf of persecuted people around the world, and it provides modest but important safeguards for refugees and asylum seekers. I just wanted to make it very clear that our Subcommittee on International Operations and Human Rights, which I chair, will work with the Commission and watch closely to ensure that it acts boldly and in an unfettered way to expose religious persecution wherever and whenever it exists, even when it is not politically expedient.”