To amend the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 to include the desecration of cemeteries among the many forms of violations of the right to religious freedom.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume, and I rise in strong support of H.R. 4028, the Protect Cemeteries Act, which I authored.

This resolution amends the International Religious Freedom Act to include the desecration of cemeteries among the forms of violations of the right to religious freedom.

I would like to thank Chairman Royce and Ranking Member Engel for helping to craft and advance this bipartisan resolution and for recognizing the seriousness of cemetery desecration. There is truly a bipartisan and collaborative spirit on the Foreign Affairs Committee, and that is a testament to its excellent leadership.

I would also like to thank Congressman Doug Collins for his partnership here and valuable contributions to the bill, and thank you to both Republican and Democratic committee staffs for recognizing the value of this resolution and working so hard to bring it to the floor today.

I would particularly like to thank Janice Kaguyutan, Jessica Kahan, and Doug Campbell for all their help and great work. Thanks as well to Agudath Israel and to Dr. Bernard Fryshman for his dogged advocacy on this issue over many years.

The resolution is short, but--I believe--very significant. We are strengthening the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 by addressing the sanctity of burial grounds. Pursuant to this act, the United States can impose penalties on countries that obstruct religious freedom. These include, but are not limited to cutting foreign aid, imposing trade sanctions, and canceling cultural and scientific exchanges.

There are two related problems we seek to address through this legislation. One is the religiously motivated vandalism of cemeteries that occurs with alarming regularity. The second is the building and development over cemeteries in places where there are no communities remaining to protect and look out for the cemeteries. H.R. 4028 will give our diplomats a new tool they can use to protect our interests.

H.R. 4028 also empowers the commissions on International Religious Freedom and on the Preservation of America's Heritage Abroad. The latter commission was established in the 1980s through legislation introduced by the late Congressman Stephen Solarz.

It works to identify and preserve cemeteries, memorials, and buildings in foreign countries that are associated with the cultural heritage of Americans, and it does much work in areas of the former Soviet Union, where Jewish communities were destroyed by the Holocaust and where power subsequently passed to atheistic, communist regimes.

It is essential that we act to protect religious freedom in these areas where, as we know, political instability and anti-Semitism are widespread. The genocides of the 20th century destroyed communities and left their burial grounds uncared for and unpreserved.

The preservation of cemeteries often reflects the religious tolerance and freedom of the countries in which they

are located. It is my hope that this resolution will help promote such preservation and greater tolerance, respect, and empathy around the world, as well as honest assessments of history. I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 4028.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Seeing no other speakers, I yield myself the balance of my time to close.

Mr. Speaker, unfortunately, anti-Semitism and religious intolerance remain all too prevalent in our world. We grapple with these issues in some form every day.

This resolution will give American officials real tools with which to promote not only religious tolerance, but truth, truth in the form of preservation and recognition of the memories of those who came before us, and only through truth can we realize a better world.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4028) to amend the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 to include the desecration of cemeteries among the many forms of violations of the right to religious freedom, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, the fundamental freedom to practice the religion of one's choosing is a fundamental right and an essential element of democratic governance. Religious organizations of all kinds view their cemeteries, Mr. Speaker, as hallowed ground, deserving of respect and protection. Freedom of religion includes the right to gather at these sacred sites and to pay our respects to the beloved faithful who have gone before us.

Yet, in many places around the world, the desecration of religious cemeteries is an ongoing problem: sometimes through vandalism by intolerant groups; sometimes by construction or demolition without proper consultation of religious authorities. For example, Mr. Speaker, earlier this month, more than 50 graves were vandalized in a Jewish cemetery in northeast Hungary--their headstones toppled and smashed.

I was proud to be an original cosponsor of a similar effort by former Congressman Robert Turner last Congress, and I want to commend the gentlelady from New York (Ms. Meng) for her leadership in introducing H.R. 4028 this year. The International Religious Freedom Act of 1998, which this bill modifies, guides U.S. policy in promoting freedom of religion around the world.

Among other aspects, that law requires the State Department to report annually on violations of religious freedom abroad. By adding ``desecration of cemeteries'' to the examples of religious freedom violations listed in that act, H.R. 4028 says loudly and clearly that Congress and the American people stand in staunch opposition to the deliberate desecration of religious burial grounds.

In this way, the bill provides extra incentives for foreign governments to respect the rights of religious organizations regarding cemetery preservation.

In addition to Ms. Meng, I also want to recognize the important contributions of the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Collins) during the Foreign Affairs Committee markup of this bill. Their bipartisan efforts have led to the good bill before us today, which deserves our unanimous support.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith), chairman of the Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

In closing, Mr. Speaker, I want to, again, thank Ms. Meng for her wonderful leadership role in this and many other pieces of legislation going through our Foreign Affairs Committee and commend Mr. Collins, as well, for this blow against hatred and intolerance and in favor of religious free exercise around the world. I strongly support the bill by Ms. Meng, H.R. 4028.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 4028 introduced by my good friend and colleague, the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Meng), which adds desecration of cemeteries as a violation of religious freedom identified in the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998.

Sadly, such an addition is necessary because we have seen repeated acts of desecration of cemeteries occurring throughout the world, especially in Europe, but also in the United States, including my own State of New Jersey.

Jewish cemeteries seem to be a particular target of desecration. By some counts, attacks on Jewish cemeteries have been on the rise over the last several years. We have tried to document that again and again in our work at the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and the Organization for Security Cooperation itself.

A number of Jewish organizations as well have come forward with extraordinarily demoralizing numbers of cemeteries, as well as synagogues that have been attacked, as there is a rising tide of anti- Semitism.

I chaired a hearing on May 22 on the International Religious Freedom Act with a focus on the Commission on Religious Freedom, and one of the things that was brought forward in vivid detail has been the lack of enforcement and the lack of due diligence on the part of the administration when it comes to the International Religious Freedom Act. Not since 2011 has there been a designation of what we call country of particular concern, CPC status, or the dishonorable status that it conveys ought to be done every year.

Congressman Frank Wolf, the author of IRFA, the International Religious Freedom Act, made it very clear it is law, and I would point out for the record that I chaired all of the hearings in the House as that bill was working its way through the House. We have had, I believe, a dereliction of duty on the part of the administration to do what it has to do under IRFA.

There has been no designation since 2011. The commission pointed out that there are eight countries that ought to be so designated, followed by eight others, including Vietnam, that needed to be added to the list, making a total of 16 countries that are then liable to sanctions, the 18 or so sanctions that are prescribed in the legislation, again, authored by Mr. Wolf.

I am so glad Ms. Meng is adding this to the list, but the list itself and all of the other violations need to be taken seriously by the administration. Hope springs eternal. I hope they do it sooner rather than later--like today--but I won't hold my breath.

I say this because it is a very, very serious issue, and that was brought forward at our hearing just the other day.

Finally, Mr. Speaker, there are other groups, including the Ahmadi religious minority in Pakistan. We heard testimony on May 22 about how their gravestones are being violated as well.

By far, Jewish people have their cemeteries desecrated and others as well, and it is a terrible and despicable act of violence against individuals and religious freedom.

Mr. President, I wish to express my appreciation that the Senate has passed H.R. 4028, a bipartisan bill Representatives Grace Meng and Doug Collins introduced that amends the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 to include the desecration of cemeteries among the many forms of violations of the right to religious freedom. Last month, Senator Risch and I introduced a Senate companion bill, S. 2466, to H.R. 4028.

In 1998, Congress passed the International Religious Freedom Act to affirm America's commitment to religious freedom, enshrined both in the U.S. Constitution and in numerous international human rights instruments. The act acknowledges the pressure and persecution that many people around the world face because of their religious beliefs and requires the Department of State to issue an annual report on international religious freedom.

Freedom of religion requires respect for those practicing their faith alone as well as in community with others. It also requires protection for those who identify as members of a religious community, for the symbols of the community, for the houses of worship, and for other institutions of the community. The defacing or destruction of a cemetery based on an affiliation with a particular religious or spiritual group should not be tolerated by governments and must factor into our international religious freedom reporting. This bill, H.R. 4028, will ensure inclusion of these acts in the annual State Department reports and will better aid those of us working to monitor and combat anti-Semitism and other religious discrimination.

There is no question that we need to report on these crimes. In recent years, we have witnessed with growing concern a number of cases involving the desecration of Jewish cemeteries in the Netherlands, Hungary, Russia, Poland, France, Germany, Georgia, Moldova, and Argentina. This legislation is even more important and timely given the rise in anti-Semitism across Europe. In just the past few weeks, large- scale anti-Semitic protests have taken place in major cities across Europe. In this year's European Union elections, extremist parties espousing anti-Semitic platforms have made alarming progress. And in Hungary and Greece, extremist parliamentary parties associated with street militias have been successful in elections.

I have served on the Helsinki Commission for nearly 20 years. During my tenure, I have worked tirelessly to combat anti-Semitism and religious discrimination. Ensuring that religiously motivated cemetery desecration is reported is the first important step to combating this serious crime.

I thank Senator Risch for his leadership on this issue. I also thank Senators Menendez and Corker for taking up H.R. 4028 and moving it quickly through the Senate Foreign Relations

Committee. Finally, I thank my colleagues on both sides of the aisle supporting this bill and for helping to recognize the desecration of cemeteries as a violation of the right to religious freedom.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of Congresswoman Meng's legislation. Including language that protects cemeteries is consequential as every culture and faith hold final resting places as sacred ground.

Just two months ago in March vandals broke into a Jewish cemetery in Hungary. The vandals spray-painted swastikas and anti-Semitic messages on the Jewish tombstones to show their hatred.

This is a stark reminder of the travesties against personal freedoms abroad. These incidents are not isolated and often coincide with other violations against religious freedom.

Desecrating the cemetery of another religious or ethnic group is a very defiant way to express hatred and inflict pain. The religious or ethnic groups that care for the cemeteries are having their religious rights trampled on.

These prejudice acts are especially devastating when tolerated or encouraged by the local or national government.

The final resting place for the deceased deserve the respect of all regardless of personal beliefs or religion and deserve to be added to the list of violations to the International Religious Freedom Act.

I want to thank Congresswoman Meng for authoring this legislation and bringing this issue to Congress' attention.