US Codex
Pub. L.
Notes

Title III — Presidential Actions

114th Congress · Approved Dec 16, 2016 · 130 Stat. 1426

TITLE III Presidential Actions

SEC. 301. Non-State Actor Designations.

(a)
In General.— The President, concurrent with the annual foreign country review required under section 402(b)(1)(A) of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6442(b)(1)(A)), shall—
(1)
review and identify any non-state actors operating in any such reviewed country or surrounding region that have engaged in particularly severe violations of religious freedom; and
(2)
designate, in a manner consistent with such Act, each such non-state actor as an entity of particular concern for religious freedom.
(b)
Report.— Whenever the President designates a non-state actor under subsection (a) as an entity of particular concern for religious freedom, the President, as soon as practicable after the designation is made, shall submit a report to the appropriate congressional committees that describes the reasons for such designation.
(c)
Actions.— The President should take specific actions, when practicable, to address severe violations of religious freedom of non-state actors that are designated under subsection (a)(2).
(d)
Department of State Annual Report.— The Secretary of State should include information detailing the reasons the President designated a non-state actor as an entity of particular concern for religious freedom under subsection (a) in the Annual Report required under section 102(b)(1) of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6412(b)(1)).
(e)
Sense of Congress.— It is the sense of Congress that—
(1)
the Secretary of State should work with Congress and the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom—
(A)
to create new political, financial, and diplomatic tools to address severe violations of religious freedom by non-state actors; and
(B)
to update the actions the President can take under section 405 of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6445);
(2)
governments must ultimately be held accountable for the abuses that occur in their territories; and
(3)
any actions the President takes after designating a non-state actor as an entity of particular concern should also involve high-level diplomacy with the government of the country in which the non-state actor is operating.
(f)
Determinations of Responsible Parties.— In order to appropriately target Presidential actions under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6401 et seq.), the President, with respect to each non-state actor designated as an entity of particular concern for religious freedom under subsection (a), shall seek to determine, to the extent practicable, the specific officials or members that are responsible for the particularly severe violations of religious freedom engaged in or tolerated by such non-state actor.
(g)
Definitions.— In this section, the terms “appropriate congressional committees”, “non-state actor”, and “particularly severe violations of religious freedom” have the meanings given such terms in section 3 of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6402), as amended by section 3 of this Act.

SEC. 302. Presidential Actions in Response to Particularly Severe Violations of Religious Freedom.

Section 402 of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6442) is amended—
(1)
in subsection (b)—
(A)
in paragraph (1)—
(i)
by amending subparagraph (A) to read as follows:

“(A) In general.—Not later than 90 days after the date on which each Annual Report is submitted under section 102(b), the President shall—

“(i) review the status of religious freedom in each foreign country to determine whether the government of that country has engaged in or tolerated particularly severe violations of religious freedom in each such country during the preceding 12 months or longer;

“(ii) designate each country the government of which has engaged in or tolerated violations described in clause (i) as a country of particular concern for religious freedom; and

“(iii) designate each country that engaged in or tolerated severe violations of religious freedom during the previous year, but does not meet, in the opinion of the President at the time of publication of the Annual Report, all of the criteria described in section 3(15) for designation under clause (ii) as being placed on a ‘Special Watch List’.”

; and

(ii)
in subparagraph (C), by striking “ prior to September 1 of the respective year” and inserting “ before the date on which each Annual Report is submitted under section 102(b)”;
(B)
by amending paragraph (3) to read as follows:

“(3) Congressional notification.—

“(A) In general.—Whenever the President designates a country as a country of particular concern for religious freedom under paragraph (1)(A)(ii), the President, not later than 90 days after such designation, shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees—

“(i) the designation of the country, signed by the President;

“(ii) the identification, if any, of responsible parties determined under paragraph (2); and

“(iii) a description of the actions taken under subsection (c), the purposes of the actions taken, and the effectiveness of the actions taken.

“(B) Removal of designation.—A country that is designated as a country of particular concern for religious freedom under paragraph (1)(A)(ii) shall retain such designation until the President determines and reports to the appropriate congressional committees that the country should no longer be so designated.”

; and

(C)
by adding at the end the following:

“(4) Effect on designation as country of particular concern.—The presence or absence of a country from the Special Watch List in any given year shall not preclude the designation of such country as a country of particular concern for religious freedom under paragraph (1)(A)(ii) in any such year.”

; and

(2)
in subsection (c)(5), by striking “ the President must designate the specific sanction or sanctions which he determines satisfy the requirements of this subsection.” and inserting “ the President shall designate the specific sanction or sanctions that the President determines satisfy the requirements under this subsection and include a description of the impact of such sanction or sanctions on each country.”.

SEC. 303. Report to Congress.

Section 404(a)(4)(A) of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6444(a)(4)(A)) is amended—
(1)
in clause (ii), by striking “ and” at the end;
(2)
in clause (iii), by striking the period at the end and inserting “ ; and”; and
(3)
by adding at the end the following:

“(iv) the impact on the advancement of United States interests in democracy, human rights, and security, and a description of policy tools being applied in the country, including programs that target democratic stability, economic growth, and counterterrorism.”

SEC. 304. Presidential Waiver.

Section 407 of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6447) is amended—
(1)
in subsection (a)—
(A)
by striking “ subsection (b)” and inserting “ subsection (c)”;
(B)
by inserting “ , for a single, 180-day period,” after “ may waive”;
(C)
by striking paragraph (1); and
(D)
by redesignating paragraphs (2) and (3) as paragraphs (1) and (2), respectively;
(2)
by redesignating subsection (b) as subsection (c);
(3)
by inserting after subsection (a) the following:

“(b) Additional Authority.—Subject to subsection (c), the President may waive, for any additional specified period of time after the 180-day period described in subsection (a), the application of any of the actions described in paragraphs (9) through (15) of section 405(a) (or a commensurate substitute action) with respect to a country, if the President determines and reports to the appropriate congressional committees that—

“(1) the respective foreign government has ceased the violations giving rise to the Presidential action; or

“(2) the important national interest of the United States requires the exercise of such waiver authority.”

(4)
in subsection (c), as redesignated, by inserting “ or (b)” after “ subsection (a)”; and
(5)
by adding at the end the following:

“(d) Sense of Congress.—It is the sense of Congress that—

“(1) ongoing and persistent waivers of the application of any of the actions described in paragraphs (9) through (15) of section 405(a) (or commensurate substitute action) with respect to a country do not fulfill the purposes of this Act; and

“(2) because the promotion of religious freedom is an important interest of United States foreign policy, the President, the Secretary of State, and other executive branch officials, in consultation with Congress, should seek to find ways to address existing violations, on a case-by-case basis, through the actions described in section 405 or other commensurate substitute action.”

SEC. 305. Publication in the Federal Register.

Section 408(a)(1) of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6448(a)(1)) is amended by adding at the end the following: “ Any designation of a non-state actor as an entity of particular concern for religious freedom under section 301 of the Frank R. Wolf International Religious Freedom Act and, if applicable and to the extent practicable, the identities of individuals determined to be responsible for violations described in subsection (f) of such section.”.