Former Trump ambassador launches international religious freedom conference
Sam Brownback, former US ambassador for international religious freedom in the Trump administration, helped launch a conference on international religious freedom in Washington, DC, on July 13, bringing together an array of faith and political leaders with the goal of tackling discrimination around the globe.
The three-day IRF Summit 2021 “is about relationship-building,” said Brownback, who previously represented Kansas in the US Senate and then served as governor. “We really need to have civil society and religious leaders building relationships to stand up for each other’s religious freedom.”
Brownback touted the conference’s relatively diverse group of presenters, which included House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (via video), along with sponsors such as the National Council of Churches and HIAS, a Jewish refugee group that sued the Trump administration in 2019.
