The Clapham Group + Venn Action Release Scorecard

 We are pleased to report that Venn Action and the Clapham Group have released  the International Religious Freedom (IRF) Scorecard, grading all members of Congress on their prioritization of international religious freedom during the first half of the 113th Congress (2012-2013).While violations of religious freedom continue to occur at an alarming rate around the world, our study found that a startlingly low number of Congressmen and Senators make religious freedom a priority. View the scorecard to see how your federal legislators scored. Both Republicans and Democrats can do more before this Congress adjourns.Two Senators received A+ grades:•    Marco Rubio – R (FL)•    John Cornyn – R (TX)Four Senators received A grades:•    Roy Blunt – R (MO)•    John Boozman – R (AR)•    Dick Durbin – D (IL)•    James Inhofe – R (OK)One Representative received an A+ score:•    Frank Wolf – R (VA)One Representative received an A score:•    Trent Franks – R (AZ)Two key achievements in the 113th session that the Venn Institute supported include:•    Passage of House Resolution 301, which provides for the establishment of the Special Envoy to Promote Religious Freedom of Religious Minorities in the Near East and South Central Asia, by overwhelming bi-partisan support.  Senator Mike Lee (UT) and Senator Tom Coburn (OK) both have placed holds on the Senate version, S. 653, preventing it from going to a vote in the Senate.•    The unanimous passage of Senate Resolution 75, which condemns the government of Iran for its state-sponsored persecution of its Baha'i minority and its continued violation of the International Covenants on Human RightsThe need to protect and promote religious freedom is more urgent now than ever.  We are hopeful that additional, important scored items will be moved to a vote before the end of the 113th session.  We will publish a final scorecard for the 113th session in the first quarter of 2015 and will be adding more scored items before that time.