Rep. French Hill (AR-02) and Senator James Lankford (R-OK) led a bicameral letter to President Biden on the pressing need for a nominee to the position of Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom. The Members also emphasized the importance of America remaining a world leader in defending and promoting religious liberty for all people of any faith, especially in countries where people are violently targeted for their faith such as Burma, China, and Syria.
The members wrote, “Religious freedom, one of the most basic human rights for all people, has historically been an area of sincere bipartisan support and agreement in American foreign policy. The federal government has made significant strides in promoting the rights of individuals worldwide to have a faith, live their faith, change their faith, or have no faith at all in addition to condemning the persecution of religious minorities.”
The letter was signed by Senators Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Roy Blunt (R-MO), Marco Rubio (R-FL), and by Congressmen Juan Vargas (D-CA), Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) and Henry Cuellar (D-TX).
In April, Rep. Hill issued a statement on the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom’s (USCIRF) 2021 Annual Report and co-authored an op-ed with USCIRF Commissioner James Carr on supporting Coptic Christians in Egypt.
In February, Rep. Hill and Rep. David Cicilline (RI-01) introduced H.Res. 117, Supporting Coptic Christians in Egypt. The resolution calls on the Egyptian government to take further action to promote religious tolerance and end religious discrimination against Egypt’s Christian population.
Original source can be found here.
