Rubio, Eshoo receive religious liberty awards

WASHINGTON—An independent religious freedom coalition recognized Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., on Tuesday for their commitment to protecting the freedoms of religious minorities around the world. Organizers said it was easy to pick this year’s religious liberty leaders and decide who should receive special recognition.

“When we got together to vote on recipients, there was not one word of dissent for [Rubio and Eshoo],” said Greg Mitchell, co-chair of the International Religious Freedom Roundtable.

The roundtable started as an informal and off-the-record place for policymakers and religious freedom advocates to share ideas on how to protect the persecuted. This is the second year the group decided to recognize achievement for international religious freedom.

About three-fourths of the world’s population live in countries with governmental restrictions on religious expression or in areas where they suffer persecution from groups hostile to them.

“We can’t impose religious liberty, but I think we have the moral, and quite frankly, the national security obligation to ensure that we’re a voice on behalf of it around the world,” Rubio told me ahead of accepting the award. “I don’t want religious liberty to be an option or a box to be checked. I want it to be made a priority.”

Last year, Rubio led the Senate’s charge to preserve the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF). After Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., sought to make reforms that many religious freedom advocates said would have weakened the commission, Rubio countered with legislation to increase the body’s effectiveness. The net result was a four-year reauthorization that maintained current operations and set in motion an internal review of the organization.

“We owe our existence to him,” said USCIRF chairman Robert P. George, who called the former Republican presidential candidate the panel’s “go to guy” in the Senate.

USCIRF serves as an independent, nonpartisan advisory panel to raise awareness for threats to international religious freedom and make recommendations to the president, secretary of state, and Congress.

Eshoo also spent last year raising awareness for persecuted religious groups and played a key role in passing legislation to establish the State Department’s special adviser for religious minorities in the Near East and South Central Asia. The administration appointed Knox Thames to the post in September, and he in turn played a key role in the State Department’s recent decision to declare genocide in Iraq and Syria. Eshoo, along with Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, R-Neb., also worked on the House genocide resolution.

Last week, that resolution passed unanimously 393 to 0—putting pressure on the State Department to make the same declaration. And on Thursday, Secretary of State John Kerry took note of the congressional outcry and officially declared ISIS atrocities in Iraq and Syria amounted to genocide.

A declaration of genocide from the executive branch is both significant and rare. Kerry’s decision marked only the second time in history an administration acknowledged genocide amid ongoing conflict. The coalition recognized Eshoo as the cornerstone of the declaration process.

“What took place last week was historic,” Eshoo said. “Religious freedom is one of the greatest exports of our nation. … So yes, the United States of America has an enormous stake in this.”

Rubio and Eshoo also have advocated for individuals facing religious persecution in various hostile countries. Rubio was the Senate’s lead sponsor on a resolution to release Meriam Yahia Ibrahim, a pregnant South Sudanese woman imprisoned and sentenced to death because of her faith. Eshoo, along with Rubio and others, advocated for the release of Saeed Abedini, the Christian pastor who spent more than three years in an Iranian prison for his faith. He was finally released earlier this year.

Both of the roundtable’s award-winners praised the Obama administration for recognizing genocidal acts in the Middle East. Eshoo called the declaration an important first step the U.S. would build on to resolve conflict. But Rubio lacks confidence the White House will be active enough going forward.

“For whatever reason, it doesn’t seem to be a priority for them,” Rubio said. “They don’t like to be told what to do, there is always resistance. … So we’ll continue to push as policymakers.”