WASHINGTON (ABP) — Congressional leaders have re-appointed three long-time advocates for religious liberty to a federal panel charged with monitoring worldwide conditions for freedom of conscience.
The leaders re-appointed Felice Gaer, Ricardo Ramirez and Nina Shea to the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom.
USCIRF is a non-partisan, independent government panel that reports and makes recommendations to other government agencies on religious liberty. It consists of nine voting members — three of whom are picked by the president, two by congressional leaders of the president's party and four by congressional leaders of the opposition party.
Gaer directs the American Jewish Committee's Jacob Blaustein Institute for the Advancement of Human Rights. She has extensive experience with United Nations affairs, and has been a member of the UN's Committee Against Torture since 1999. She also has served as USCIRF's chairperson and vice-chairperson. She was re-appointed by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (R-Calif.).
Ramirez is the bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Las Cruces, N.M. He is a member of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' International Policy Committee and has served as an advisor to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. He was re-appointed by Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.).
Shea directs the Center for Religious Freedom of Freedom House, a Washington-based human-rights group. She has been an international human-rights lawyer focusing on religious-freedom issues for almost 20 years, and authored a book on global persecution of Christians called “In the Lion's Den.” She was re-appointed by House Speaker Denny Hastert (R-Ill.).
All of the re-appointments are for two-year terms.