{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://eshoo.house.gov/news-stories/press-releases/eshoo-smith-international-religious-freedom-legislation-sent-to-president/", "Eshoo, Smith International Religious Freedom Legislation Sent to President", "2016-12-14", "2016", "2016-12", "Democrat", "House", "CA", "Anna Eshoo", "E000215", "eshoo.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Eshoo, Smith International Religious Freedom Legislation Sent to President \r\n                    December 14th, 2016\r\n                        \r\n                        WASHINGTON, D.C.\u2014Rep. Anna G. Eshoo (D- CA), Co-Chair of the Religious Minorities in the Middle East Caucus, issued the following statement after legislation she co-authored with Rep. Chris Smith (R- NJ) was sent to the President for his signature. The bipartisan Frank Wolf International Religious Freedom Act (H.R. 1150) will expand the International Religious Freedom Act sponsored by former Rep. Frank Wolf in 1998 to better address escalating religious persecution globally and give the Administration and the U.S. State Department new resources to improve U.S. religious freedom diplomacy efforts globally.\n\u201cAs the daughter\u00a0of\u00a0Christians who fled persecution in the Middle East,\u201d Eshoo said,\u00a0\u201cthe importance\u00a0of\u00a0religious\u00a0freedom\u00a0is interwoven in the history\u00a0of\u00a0my family as it is in the history\u00a0of\u00a0the United States. The\u00a0freedom\u00a0of\u00a0religion\u00a0embodied in the First Amendment is one\u00a0of\u00a0the most important and foundational rights in our country and it is what makes our nation a shining beacon\u00a0of\u00a0freedom\u00a0and tolerance for the entire world.\n\u201cIt is also in the U.S. national security interest that the value\u00a0of\u00a0freedom\u00a0of\u00a0religion be extended to all citizens of the world. Through the Frank Wolf International Religious Freedom Act, the U.S. government will receive new resources to help improve our religious freedom diplomacy efforts globally.\n\u201cI\u2019m proud to honor my former colleague Congressman Frank Wolf with our legislation. Through his tireless efforts, religious freedom is now being taken seriously as a foreign policy issue.\u201d\nThe bill:\n \nStrengthens the Special Advisor for religious freedom at the National Security Council\nRequires international religious freedom training for all Foreign Service Officers\nRequires that the Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom report directly to the Secretary of State\nElevates the position of the ambassador within the federal government\nCreates a comprehensive religious prisoners list\u2014persons who are detained, imprisoned, tortured and subject to forced renunciation of faith\nCreates a \u201cDesignated Persons List\u201d for individuals who commit egregious violations of religious freedom\nCreates an \u201cEntity of Particular Concern\u201d designation for non-state actors like terrorist groups\nRequires more frequent presidential actions to counter severe religious freedom violations globally\nCreates a \u201cSpecial Watch List\u201d\u2014two tier system at State (CPC countries/Special Watch List)\nSets congressional expectations for staffing of the International Religious Freedom office and expansion of Religious Freedom Program grants\n \nRepresentative Eshoo is the Co-Chair of the Religious Minorities in the Middle East Caucus and together with former Congressman Frank Wolf, founded the Religious Minorities in the Middle East Caucus in 2008.\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["http://eshoo.house.gov/news-stories/press-releases/eshoo-smith-international-religious-freedom-legislation-sent-to-president/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.769458943977952, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}