May 25, 2007 — Congressman Trent Franks (AZ-02) launched the first Members’ briefing this week for the bi-partisan Task Force on Religious Freedom, which he co-chairs with Congressman Emanuel Cleaver (MO-05).  Testifying at the briefing were Harold Hongju Koh, former Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and labor, and Dean of International Law at Yale Law School, Ambassador John Hanford, U.S. State Department Office of International Religious Freedom, and Nina Shea, Vice-Chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, among others.  The briefing focused on recent religious freedom developments in Egypt, as well as implications and recommendations for U.S. foreign policy in light of Egypt's poor human rights record and the worsening status of religious freedom.

Congressman Franks stated, “Religious freedom is the cornerstone of human liberty and the hallmark of a free society.  I am honored to have had the privilege of hosting the first Members’ briefing of the year for the Task Force on International Religious Freedom, and to have been joined by Representative Aderholt and many other Congressional staff.  Recognizing that an assault on religious freedom anywhere threatens the dignity and security of all human beings, we must never cease to be vigilant in guarding the most precious of our human liberties.  This Task Force will be a vehicle that will allow us to do just that – to continue advocating policies and affirming the right of every member of the human family to freely worship and live according to the dictates of their own conscience.”

Among the things discussed in the briefing were the plight of the Baha’is, the Egyptian blogger Abdel Kareem Amer, who was imprisoned for criticizing President Mubarak and insulting Islam on a personal webblog, and the continuing difficulties of members of other religious communities such as the Coptic Christians who face increasingly harsh government regulation.