The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is an independent, bipartisan U.S. federal government commission created by the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998. USCIRF Commissioners are appointed by the President and the leadership of both political parties in the Senate and the House of Representatives. USCIRF's principal responsibilities are to review the facts and circumstances of violations of religious freedom internationally and to make policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State, and the Congress. It describes itself as "rounded in and informed by the American experience". It is rooted in the U.S. Evangelical movement and its original intention was to protect Christians around the world. Such organisations as Christian Solidarity International, International Christian Concern, Open Doors and the Cardinal Kung Foundation as well as the lawyer Michael Horowitz were influences for the foundation of the International Religious Freedom Act.
It is funded entirely by the federal government on an annual basis and its staff members are government employees.
As of June 2010, the Commissioners are:
1) Leonard Leo (chair),Executive Vice President of the Federalist Society.
2) Elizabeth H. Prodromou (vice chair),Associate Director of the Institute on Culture, Religion and World Affairs and Assistant Professor of International Relations at Boston University.
3) Dr. Don Argue, Chancellor, Northwest University.
4) Talal Eid, Founder and Director of Religious Affairs, Islamic Institute of Boston.
5) Felice D. Gaer, Director, Jacob Blaustein Institute for the Advancement of Human Rights; The American Jewish Committee.
6) Richard Land,President, Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission. In 1999, An Anti-Hindu booklet was produced by the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. More-over, the Hindu American Foundation's 2007 report concluded that the International Mission Board's website spreads online Hatred, Extremism and Bigotry against Hindus.
7) Nina Shea, Center for Religious Freedom, Hudson Institute. Shea's work has primarily focused on religion, in particular on the persecution of Christians, a theme she has repeatedly used to push for interventionist U.S. policies dating back to the Contra wars in Nicaragua.
8) William Shaw, Immediate Past President of the National Baptist Convention, USA. Inc. and Pastor of White Rock Baptist Church in Philadelphia
The State Department's Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom serves as an ex-officio, non-voting member of the Commission. Past Commissioners include Preeta D. Bansal, John Hanford, Khaled Abou El Fadl, Charles J. Chaput, Michael K. Young, Firuz Kazemzadeh, Shirin R. Tahir-Kheli, John R. Bolton and Elliot Abrams.
The legislation authorizing the USCIRF had stated that the Commission would terminate on September 30, 2011, unless it was reauthorized or given a temporary extension. It was given several extensions by the Congress, but would have expired at 5:00 pm on Friday, December 16, 2011 had it not been reauthorized for a seven-year term (until 2018), on the morning of the 16th. This happened after a new reauthorization bill passed both Houses containing two amendments were made to it that Senator Dick Durbin, D-IL (the Senate Majority Whip) had wanted as a condition of releasing a hold he had secretly placed on the former version of the bill; he released it December 13, after the revisions were made. They stipulate that there will be a two-year limit on terms for commissioners, and that they will be under the same travel restrictions as employees of the Department of State.
Read more about United States Commission On International Religious Freedom: History, Duties and Responsibilities, Commissioners, Criticism and Controversy
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