Chris Smith: “I want to thank my good friend, Chairman Royce, for his leadership on this bill, the markup, and for the very timely…”

“I want to thank my good friend, Chairman Royce, for his leadership on this bill, the markup, and for the very timely recommendations he and staff made to improve it. I would like to thank Eliot Engel again for working hand in glove in a good, bipartisan effort to protect international religious freedom. As my good friend, Chairman Royce, noted a moment ago, 18 years ago Congress had the foresight to pass the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998. That landmark bill, authored by Congressman Frank Wolf of Virginia, made advancing the right to religious freedom a significant and profoundly serious U.S. foreign policy priority. Passage of the International Religious Freedom Act was not easy. There were determined opponents in Congress and in the Clinton administration. I know. I chaired the congressional hearings and the subcommittee markup. It was no cakewalk. But our opposition was overcome by the courage, tenacity, and vision of Frank Wolf, bolstered by a diverse, bipartisan, and ecumenical coalition of Members of Congress, ethnic minority and religions groups, and human rights organizations. That coalition has reassembled to support this bill today, the Frank R. Wolf International Religious Freedom Act.…”