O Come and Protect Ye Faithful
December 05, 2016
If there's anyone busier than Santa, it's Congress. With just a handful of days left before members jingle their way home for Christmas, most leaders are scrambling to put a bow on the 114th Session. Hill offices are hoping to crank through a pile of unfinished business before Friday, when the House and Senate hope to adjourn. Before then, the to-do list is a diverse basket of priorities from funding the government to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
One of the bills at the top of our list, which we hope Congress can squeeze onto its schedule, is Rep. Chris Smith's (R-N.J.) "Frank Wolf International Religious Freedom Act," which would help turn the floodlights on the dark world of faith-based hostility.
Under this administration, religious liberty hasn't been pushed to the back seat -- it has no seat at the table of U.S. priorities. In the waning days of 2016, conservatives are racing to fill the diplomatic gap left by this White House and help lay the groundwork for a new administration to combat a crisis that's caused the blood of countless innocents around the world to be spilled.
Under Rep. Smith's bill, America would create a "special watch list of countries or violent state actors that have engaged in or tolerated such violations, but do not yet meet the criteria for designation as countries of particular concern for religious freedom."
As Frank Wolf and I explained in a joint column on the subject, the bill would hold offending countries to a higher level of accountability. It would also direct the president to appoint a Special Adviser for Global Religion Engagement and International Religious Freedom, a clear sign to the world that Americans take this issue seriously in U.S. foreign policy. If this president won't talk about religious persecution, Congress must. In the absence of strong leadership, our enemies only gain more power to destroy this fundamental right.
Fortunately, religious liberty has a friend in President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence, who both understand that America has a legal and moral obligation to speak and act on behalf of this universal right.
Leaders in the House and Senate can help jumpstart that priority by adding the bill to their list of must-pass legislation this week. Back in 2015, the idea was so popular that it sailed through the House on unanimous consent. The best gift America could give the world this Christmas is new hope that people can once again hear the message of the child who was born in a manger without fear.
Tony Perkins' Washington Update is written with the aid of FRC senior writers.
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