Frank R. Wolf International Religious Freedom Act

rdf:langString Frank R. Wolf International Religious Freedom Act

rdf:langString Frank R. Wolf International Religious Freedom Act

rdf:langString Senate

rdf:langString House of Representatives

rdf:langString House - Foreign Affairs, Financial Services, Oversight and Government Reform; Senate - Foreign Relations

rdf:langString 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.

rdf:langString The Frank R. Wolf International Religious Freedom Act (H.R. 1150, Pub.L. 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 "Freedom from Religious Persecution Act of 1997", which served as a catalyst for religious freedom legislation in the 1990s. The original International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 was introduced by Senator Don Nickles on March 26, 1998, and was passed by the Senate on October 8, 1998, then passed without conference by the House on October 10, 1998. IRFA was passed as an amendment in the nature of a substitute (in its entirety, including the title) to H.R. 2431, the Freedom from Religious Persecution Act of 1997, a bill which had been introduced by Frank Wolf and Arlen Specter in May of 1997, but which never passed the Senate. While both religious and non-religious groups have signaled approval for the 2016 amendment, it has received particular attention for specifically protecting non-theists and those who claim no religion at all. The Frank Wolf Act does not materially change the 1998 IRFA legislation, which already contained the authority to enact the 2016 provisions, but it spells out certain provisions in greater detail and specificity.