Frank R. Wolf International Religious Freedom Act

Long title	To amend the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 to improve the ability of the United States to advance religious freedom globally through enhanced diplomacy, training, counterterrorism, and foreign assistance efforts, and through stronger and more flexible political responses to religious freedom violations and violent extremism worldwide, and for other purposes.
Enacted by	the 114th United States Congress
Effective	December 16, 2016
Citations
Public law	114-281
Legislative history
Introduced in the House of Representatives as H.R. 1150 by Chris Smith on February 27, 2015 Committee consideration by House - Foreign Affairs, Financial Services, Oversight and Government Reform; Senate - Foreign Relations Passed the House of Representatives on May 16, 2016  Passed the Senate on December 10, 2016  Signed into law by President Barack Obama on December 16, 2016

The Frank R. Wolf International Religious Freedom Act (H.R. 1150, Pub. L.Tooltip Public Law (United States) 114–281 (text) (PDF)) "amends the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (IRFA) to state in the congressional findings that the freedom of thought and religion is understood to protect theistic and non-theistic beliefs as well as the right not to profess or practice any religion". The bill was named after Frank Wolf, a Republican Congressman for Virginia and staunch supporter of religious freedom, who introduced the original IRFA. While both religious and non-religious groups have signaled approval for the amendment,^[1] it has received particular attention for specifically protecting non-theists and those who claim no religion at all.^[2]

History

The International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 was first introduced as H.R. 2431 by Frank Wolf to the House of Representatives on September 9, 1997. Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) concurrently introduced the Senate version of the bill, S. 772. The legislation was passed on May 14, 1998, by a vote of 375-41, and was subsequently sent to the Senate. Under consideration, the bill was proposed to be modified by Senator Don Nickles. The Senate agreed to the propositions on October 9, 1998, approved by H.R. 2431 as amended by a vote of 98-0.

New legislation

The amended act requires the ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom to report directly to the Secretary of State. It establishes an "entities of particular concern" which is a companion to the "countries of particular concern" classification for non-government actors, such as the Islamic State (IS) and the Nigerian terrorist organization Boko Haram. The amended act institutes a "designated persons list" for individuals who violate religious freedom and authorizing the president to issue sanctions against those who participate in persecution.^[3]