USCIRF’s work as watchdog for global religious liberty threatened in US Senate

The work of the congressionally approved watchdog for global religious liberty will continue for at least another week.

Both the Senate and House of Representatives approved a spending bill Nov. 17 that includes funding for the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) and the entire federal government through Dec. 16. Had Congress not acted in time, the federal government — and USCIRF — would have shut down at the end of the day Nov. 18.

Southern Baptist religious liberty leader Richard Land said he is “delighted that USCIRF is out of immediate danger of going out of business. However, this is only a temporary stay of execution.”

It is the third time this fall Congress has approved a measure that keeps USCIRF operating temporarily. Legislators beat a Sept. 30 deadline by extending federal spending through Oct. 4. Then, the Senate and House passed a resolution to maintain funding through Nov. 18.

Efforts to reauthorize the bipartisan commission remain at a standstill in Congress, however. The House voted 391–21 in mid-September to reauthorize USCIRF for two more years, but the bill met a roadblock in the Senate. Using one of the chamber’s rules, a single senator reportedly has put a hold on the reauthorization legislation. A senator who takes such action is not required to disclose his identity.

USCIRF has played a major role in bringing attention to the persecution of Christians and other religious practitioners since it was established by the International Religious Freedom Act in 1998. The bipartisan panel advises the White House, State Department and Congress on the status of religious freedom overseas. Among its responsibilities is to make a yearly report on global conditions for religious adherents and to recommend to the State Department governments that it believes qualify as “countries of particular concern,” a designation reserved for the world’s worst violators of religious liberty.  (BP)