[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 262 Introduced in House (IH)]
110th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. CON. RES. 262
Expressing the sense of Congress regarding Saudi Arabia's policies
relating to religious practice and tolerance, including Saudi Arabia's
commitment to revise Saudi textbooks to remove intolerant and violent
references.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
November 15, 2007
Mr. Israel (for himself, Mr. Wolf, and Mr. Weiner) submitted the
following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on
Foreign Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of Congress regarding Saudi Arabia's policies
relating to religious practice and tolerance, including Saudi Arabia's
commitment to revise Saudi textbooks to remove intolerant and violent
references.
Whereas, in September 2004, the Secretary of State, as the President's designee,
designated Saudi Arabia as a ``country of particular concern'' (CPC)
under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6401 et
seq.) for engaging in systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of
religious freedom;
Whereas, in July 2006, as a result of bilateral discussions mandated by Saudi
Arabia's CPC designation, the Secretary of State identified and
announced, and the Government of Saudi Arabia confirmed, policies that
the Government of Saudi Arabia was ``pursuing and will continue to
pursue for the purpose of promoting greater freedom for religious
practice and increased tolerance for religious groups'';
Whereas as a result of the Government of Saudi Arabia confirming such policies,
the Secretary of State, as the President's designee, continued to waive
the application of actions under section 405(a) of the International
Religious Freedom Act of 1998, as authorized by section 407 of such Act;
Whereas such policies include a comprehensive review and revision of educational
materials and other literature sent outside Saudi Arabia to ensure that
all intolerant references are removed, including, when possible,
attempting to retrieve previously distributed materials that contain
intolerant references;
Whereas such policies include revising Saudi textbooks to remove intolerant
references that disparage Muslims or non-Muslims or that promote hatred
toward other religions or religious groups;
Whereas the Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007
(Public Law 110-53) requires the President to report to Congress on
progress made by the Government of Saudi Arabia ``to facilitate
political, economic, and social reforms, including greater religious
freedom ...'';
Whereas members of United States Commission on International Religious Freedom
(USCIRF) traveled to Saudi Arabia in May and June of 2007, and found
that the Government of Saudi Arabia has made insubstantial progress
toward implementing its July 2006 policies relating to religious
practice and tolerance, and has not been transparent in the
implementation of such policies;
Whereas USCIRF found that the Government of Saudi Arabia permits the public
practice of only one interpretation of Islam in Saudi Arabia and
requires public behavior to conform to this interpretation, thereby
violating standards of universal human rights and resulting in
discrimination and human rights violations against members of indigenous
Muslim communities who follow other interpretations of Islam, such as
Shi'as, Ismailis, and nonconforming Sunnis;
Whereas the Government of Saudi Arabia's harsh enforcement of its interpretation
of Islam adversely affects the human rights of women in Saudi Arabia,
including freedoms of speech, movement, association, and religion,
freedom from coercion, access to education, and full equality before the
law;
Whereas the Government of Saudi Arabia's harsh enforcement of its interpretation
of Islam also adversely affects the human rights of both Muslim and non-
Muslim expatriate workers;
Whereas between two million and three million non-Muslim workers, including
Christians, Hindus, Buddhists, and others, reside in Saudi Arabia for
temporary employment;
Whereas labor contracts in Saudi Arabia often include provisions requiring
expatriate workers to conform to Saudi religious customs and traditions,
thereby violating the expatriate workers' human rights;
Whereas the Government of Saudi Arabia's Commission to Promote Virtue and
Prevent Vice exercises largely unchecked power to curtail the freedoms
of speech, assembly, and association, and the courts in Saudi Arabia
offer neither due process to protect the individual nor effective
remedies for violations of such rights;
Whereas official school textbooks in Saudi Arabia have previously included
language encouraging violence that adversely affects the interests of
the United States;
Whereas several studies, including studies by Saudi experts, point to serious
concerns that language encouraging violence toward others misguides
students into believing that in order to safeguard their religion, they
must violently repress, and even physically eliminate, the ``other'';
Whereas a 2006 report by the Center for Religious Freedom and the Gulf Institute
analyzing several Saudi textbooks from the 2005-2006 school year found
that ``a ninth grade Saudi textbook on Hadith teaches teenagers in
apocalyptic terms that violence towards Jews, Christians and other
unbelievers is sanctioned by God'';
Whereas such textbook states, ``the hour [of judgment] will not come until the
Muslims fight the Jews and kill them'';
Whereas the Government of Saudi Arabia claimed publicly that it revised its
textbooks and removed language that promotes intolerance and encourages
violence;
Whereas the Government of Saudi Arabia, despite repeated requests by the
Secretary of State and Members of Congress over a period of several
years, has failed to make a complete set of its current textbooks
available to support its claim that such language has been eliminated;
Whereas, in June 2007, during its visit to Saudi Arabia, USCIRF found evidence
that intolerant and inflammatory text remains in textbooks provided by
the Government of Saudi Arabia;
Whereas Saudi textbooks are used outside Saudi Arabia, including in the United
States;
Whereas the Islamic Saudi Academy (ISA), with campuses in Alexandria and
Fairfax, Virginia, is the only school in the United States that operates
with the direct authority of the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia;
Whereas the ISA operates on two northern Virginia properties owned or leased by
the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia, with property being leased by ``the
Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia d/b/a (doing business as) the Islamic
Saudi Academy'';
Whereas Saudi Arabia's Ambassador to the United States is the chairman of the
ISA's board of directors, which, according to the ISA's Web site,
``oversees the educational and administrative operation'' and ``provides
direction and guidance to every aspect of'' the ISA's operations;
Whereas the ISA is funded by the Government of Saudi Arabia, and, on numerous
occasions, officials from the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia have spoken
to the press on the ISA's behalf, including in response to inquiries
about the ISA's curriculum;
Whereas the ISA uses the Government of Saudi Arabia's ``curriculum, syllabus,
and materials'' in the portion of its programming taught in Arabic;
Whereas USCIRF has recommended that the Secretary of State open diplomatic talks
with the Government of Saudi Arabia in order to obtain official Saudi
textbooks used at the ISA; and
Whereas USCIRF recommends that the ISA should be closed until the official Saudi
textbooks used at the ISA are made available for comprehensive public
examination and are found to be consistent with the Government of Saudi
Arabia's commitment to revise such textbooks to remove intolerant and
violent references: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring),
That it is the sense of Congress that--
(1) the Secretary of State, as the President's designee,
should continue to designate Saudi Arabia as a ``country of
particular concern'' under the International Religious Freedom
Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6401 et seq.) for engaging in
systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious
freedom;
(2) the Secretary of State should create a formal mechanism
to monitor implementation of the Government of Saudi Arabia's
July 2006 policies relating to religious practice and tolerance
as part of every meeting of the United States-Saudi Arabia
Strategic Dialogue, and ensure that United States
representatives to each relevant working group of such
Strategic Dialogue, after each session, or at least every six
months, submit to Congress a report on their findings;
(3) the Secretary of State should submit to Congress a
report on progress by the Government of Saudi Arabia toward
implementing its July 2006 policies relating to religious
practice and tolerance, including--
(A) the transparency of the Government of Saudi
Arabia toward the implementation of such policies; and
(B) any benchmarks or timetables established for
implementation of such policies;
(4) the Secretary of State should immediately begin
diplomatic discussions with the Government of Saudi Arabia with
the goals of--
(A) having the Government of Saudi Arabia close the
Islamic Saudi Academy (ISA) until such time as the
official Saudi textbooks used at the ISA are made
available for comprehensive public examination in the
United States; and
(B) ensuring a verifiable prohibition of any scheme
aimed at continuing funding by the Government of Saudi
Arabia to the ISA through other indirect means;
(5) the Secretary of State should conclude such discussions
not later than 90 days after the date of the adoption of this
concurrent resolution, and, while the discussions are ongoing,
the Secretary should also be preparing to take action under
title II of the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956
(22 U.S.C. 4301 et seq.) (relating to authorities relating to
the regulation of foreign missions), if such action becomes
necessary; and
(6) at the conclusion of the 90-day period, the Secretary
of State should submit to Congress a report on the results of
such discussions, including--
(A) if the Secretary secured the release of the
Saudi textbooks used at the ISA for comprehensive
public examination, and if the Secretary has determined
that such textbooks contain language encouraging
violence, what actions the Secretary plans to take in
response under applicable United States laws, including
under title II of the State Department Basic
Authorities Act of 1956; and
(B) if the Secretary did not secure the release of
the Saudi textbooks, what actions the Secretary plans
to take under title II of the State Department Basic
Authorities Act of 1956 to close the ISA on the grounds
that the nondiplomatic activities of the ISA cannot be
conducted by and through an embassy, and because
significant concerns remain about whether what is being
taught at the ISA promotes religious intolerance and
may adversely affect the interests of the United
States.
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