Sec. 2. Findings; policy
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Section 2 of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 ( 22 U.S.C. 6401 ) is amended— in subsection (a)— in paragraph (4), in the fourth sentence, by inserting prohibitions on ritual animal slaughter, male infant circumcision, censorship of religious content, or worship on the Internet, after confiscations of property, ; in paragraph (5), by amending the second sentence to read as follows: In many countries, religious believers are forced to meet secretly, and religious leaders and believers are targeted by national security forces, violent nonstate actors, and hostile mobs. ; by redesignating paragraph
(7)as paragraph (9); and by inserting after paragraph
(6)the following new paragraphs: There is growing evidence that demonstrates a connection between the absence of religious freedom and increased levels of persecution of religious minorities, religiously motivated conflict, violent extremism, and terrorism, including the kind of terrorism that has reached the United States. It is increasingly clear that understanding religion and the political and security implications of religious motivation and conviction is critical to the success of United States diplomacy and foreign policy initiatives as there are studies that show— 75 percent of the world’s population lives in countries where the right to the freedom of religion and belief is severely restricted, either by the government or violent nonstate actors; and 84 percent of the world’s population identifies strongly with a specific religious group. ; and in subsection (b), by adding at the end the following new paragraph: Because the promotion of international religious freedom is a foreign policy strategy that protects other, related human rights, advances democracy abroad, and is linked directly to United States interests in stability, security, and development globally, the promotion of international religious freedom requires new and evolving policies, religion engagement strategies, and diplomatic responses that are drawn from the expertise of the national security agencies, the diplomatic services, Congress, and other governmental agencies and nongovernmental organizations, and are coordinated across and carried out by the entire range of Federal agencies that are engaged with or conduct negotiations or United States Government funded programs with governments or violent nonstate actors that engage in or tolerate violations of religious freedom. .
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