Religious freedom panel wins 11th-hour reprieve
With a last-minute vote in mid-December, Congress saved an
independent religious freedom watchdog commission that was about to
shut down.
The bill reauthorizing the U.S. Commission on
International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) for a three-year period was
held up in the Senate for almost three months before passing with an
amendment on December 13. The House approved it December 16, the same
day the commission was set to close.
"I'm very pleased to see that
the Congress has reauthorized the commission, and we can get back into
the business of doing what we do best, which is monitoring conditions
for religious freedom around the world," said USCIRF chairman Leonard
Leo.
