Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress House Bill HR220 Compare Versions

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Old	New	Differences
1	1	IV
2	2	119THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION H. RES. 220
5	5	Expressing the sense of Congress regarding the need to designate Nigeria
6	6	a Country of Particular Concern for engaging in and tolerating system-
7	7	atic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom, and for
8	8	other purposes.
9	9	IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
10	10	MARCH11, 2025
11	11	Mr. S
12	12	MITHof New Jersey submitted the following resolution; which was
13	13	referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs
14	14	RESOLUTION
15	15	Expressing the sense of Congress regarding the need to
16	16	designate Nigeria a Country of Particular Concern for
17	17	engaging in and tolerating systematic, ongoing, and egre-
18	18	gious violations of religious freedom, and for other pur-
19	19	poses.
20	20	Whereas the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998
21	21	(Public Law 105–292) mandates the designation of
22	22	Countries of Particular Concern (CPC) for nations en-
23	23	gaged in or tolerating systematic, ongoing, and egregious
24	24	violations of religious freedom;
25	25	Whereas, Nigeria appears to maintain an open border policy
26	26	that enables radicalized Fulani Ethnic Militants (FEM)
27	27	and ISIS-linked extremist groups, including Lakurawa,
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30	30	•HRES 220 IH
31	31	to enter Nigeria unimpeded from Mali, Niger, Chad, and
32	32	Burkina Faso;
33	33	Whereas, for over a decade, Islamic terror organizations have
34	34	carried out mass murder, rape, kidnappings, and other
35	35	atrocities targeting mostly Nigerian Christians and non-
36	36	Fulani moderate Muslim populations, resulting in mass
37	37	displacement and destruction of places of worship, in
38	38	what appears to be a concerted effort for a Fulani-con-
39	39	trolled empire modeled upon the caliphate in northern
40	40	Nigeria established by Usman dan Fodio, in the late 18th
41	41	and early 19th century;
42	42	Whereas, prominent Christian and Muslim leaders have been
43	43	kidnapped or assassinated, including priests, pastors, and
44	44	imams who advocate for religious tolerance;
45	45	Whereas, activists speaking out against persecution have
46	46	faced threats, arrests, and harassment from both extrem-
47	47	ist groups and government authorities;
48	48	Whereas, northern Nigeria has seen the destruction of ‘‘over
49	49	18,000 churches since 2009’’ in attacks by Boko Haram
50	50	militants, Fulani herdsmen, and others, according to a
51	51	2023 Vatican report, and in 2021, the Department of
52	52	State reported five attacks on mosques by unidentified
53	53	gunmen, bandits, and Boko Haram;
54	54	Whereas, approximately 34,000 moderate non-Fulani Mus-
55	55	lims also died in attacks, since 2009, from extremist
56	56	groups for opposing radical Islamic ideologies;
57	57	Whereas, ethnic and religiously inspired violence occurring in
58	58	Nigeria is causing unspeakable suffering and the dis-
59	59	placement of between 3.5 to 5 million internally displaced
60	60	persons (IDPs) in northeastern Nigeria, and 343,000
61	61	registered Nigerian refugees in the Lake Chad region;
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64	64	•HRES 220 IH
65	65	Whereas, in 2020, the Department of State designated Nige-
66	66	ria a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) pursuant to
67	67	the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22
68	68	U.S.C. 6401 et seq.);
69	69	Whereas, in 2021, 2022, and 2023, the Department of State
70	70	omitted Nigeria from its CPC list and in 2024 did not
71	71	release a CPC list or its annual International Religious
72	72	Freedom Report;
73	73	Whereas these conflicts are often framed as resource-based
74	74	disputes between herders and farmers, but the systematic
75	75	targeting of Christian communities and religious leaders
76	76	points to an underlying religious dimension, compounded
77	77	by ethnicity;
78	78	Whereas, on May 22, 2024, then-Secretary of State Antony
79	79	Blinken testified to the House Committee on Appropria-
80	80	tions that the killings of Christian farmers in Nigeria
81	81	‘‘has nothing to do with religion,’’ a categorical statement
82	82	which is inconsistent with readily discernable evidence;
83	83	Whereas multiple media reports, including from BBC, CNN,
84	84	and Reuters, have highlighted religious persecution, at-
85	85	tacks on houses of worship, and the Government of Nige-
86	86	ria has been unable or unwilling to effectively investigate
87	87	and prosecute perpetrators of religiously motivated vio-
88	88	lence, leading to a culture of impunity;
89	89	Whereas blasphemy laws have also been used to target reli-
90	90	gious minorities and dissenters, with harsh penalties, in-
91	91	cluding death sentences;
92	92	Whereas, in 12 northern States, Sharia law is implemented
93	93	alongside secular law, leading to discrimination against
94	94	non-Muslims and even Muslims who do not adhere to
95	95	strict interpretations of Islamic law;
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98	98	•HRES 220 IH
99	99	Whereas the Department of State should have a coherent pol-
100	100	icy that acknowledges and addresses the ethnic, religious,
101	101	financial, security, and political dimensions of the stag-
102	102	gering levels of violence and internal displacement within
103	103	Nigeria, and that the Government of Nigeria must call
104	104	upon significant foreign support to house and feed those
105	105	displaced by the violence;
106	106	Whereas the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury is responsible for
107	107	tracking funds flowing into terrorist and organized crimi-
108	108	nal organizations who pose a threat to the national secu-
109	109	rity of the United States;
110	110	Whereas the United States and Nigeria are allies and trading
111	111	partners with important, shared security interests;
112	112	Whereas, since FY2020, the United States Government has
113	113	obligated more than $3.53 billion and disbursed more
114	114	than $2.24 billion in non-military foreign assistance to,
115	115	or for use in, Nigeria;
116	116	Whereas, since FY2020, the Department of Defense has obli-
117	117	gated in excess of $83,507,253 to provide military and
118	118	security assistance to the Government of Nigeria;
119	119	Whereas the United States foreign policy toward Nigeria
120	120	should consider these factors and justify the purposes for,
121	121	and amounts of, financial assistance provided by the
122	122	United States to and in Nigeria; to identify and justify
123	123	the outcomes of that assistance; and
124	124	Whereas the designation of Nigeria as a CPC would enhance
125	125	diplomatic efforts to encourage the Nigerian government
126	126	to take necessary actions to protect religious minorities
127	127	and uphold fundamental human rights: Now, therefore,
128	128	be it
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131	131	•HRES 220 IH
132	132	Resolved, That it is the Sense of the House of Rep-1
133	133	resentatives that— 2
134	134	(1) The Secretary of State should designate Ni-3
135	135	geria as a Country of Particular Concern under the 4
136	136	International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 6 5
137	137	U.S.C. 6401 et seq.), which mandates the designa-6
138	138	tion of Countries of Particular Concern (CPC) for 7
139	139	nations engaged in or tolerating systematic, ongoing, 8
140	140	and egregious violations of religious freedom; 9
141	141	(2) The Government of Nigeria must take im-10
142	142	mediate and effective steps to prevent religious per-11
143	143	secution, prosecute perpetrators of violence, take ac-12
144	144	tion to care for the millions of internally displaced 13
145	145	persons, and uphold constitutional protections for re-14
146	146	ligious freedom; 15
147	147	(3) The State Department should increase U.S. 16
148	148	diplomatic engagement with Nigerian officials to ad-17
149	149	dress religious freedom violations and develop strate-18
150	150	gies for long-term peace and stability; 19
151	151	(4) The United States should impose targeted 20
152	152	sanctions and other measures against individuals 21
153	153	and entities responsible for severe violations of reli-22
154	154	gious freedom in Nigeria; and 23
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157	157	•HRES 220 IH
158	158	(5) The United States is committed to pro-1
159	159	moting religious freedom and human rights as 2
160	160	foundational principles of U.S. foreign policy. 3
161	161	Æ
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