VOA常速英语2019--美国鼓吹自己关注宗教自由（在线收听）

The United States is committed to promoting and protecting religious freedom around the world. This is why the United States Congress passed the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998. The bill aimed to strengthen the promotion of religious freedom as a part of U.S. foreign policy. The law also established the bi-partisan Commission on International Religious Freedom. The Commission is independent from other government agencies, said current Chairman Tony Perkins:

美国致力于在世界范围内促进并保护宗教自由。正因如此，美国国会于1998年通过了《国际宗教自由法》。该法案旨在加大力度促进宗教自由，将其作为美国外交政策的一部分。该法案还建立了代表两党的国际宗教自由委员会。该委员会独立于其他政府机关，现任委员会主席托尼·帕金森表示：

This was to create an independent watchdog organization that was separate from the administration -- a creation of Congress that could report with unflinching focus on religious freedom, undistracted by other issues, whether they be policy issues, diplomatic issues, we're focused on one issue and one issue only.

这是为了创建一个独立的监察组织，与政府相独立——创建一个这样的国会：可以毫不畏缩地关注宗教自由并提出报告，同时不因其他问题而分散注意力，不管是政治问题也好，外交问题也罢，我们关注一个问题的时候就全心投入。

The Commission’s nine members are appointed by the President and by the leadership of the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. They hail from different political parties and different religious backgrounds, but are unified by their mission:

该委员会的9名成员由总统指定，也由美国众议院和参议院领袖指定。他们来自不同的政治党派，有不同的宗教背景，但对于自己的使命，他们是统一战线的：

We work to track abuse of religious freedom, persecution, raise awareness of the issue, but also we make recommendations to the president, to the secretary of state, and to the Congress on how to address these issues of religious persecution, so that people everywhere can have the benefit of practicing what the 1948 Universal Declaration of Rights says is a fundamental human right and that is the freedom of religion.

我们努力追踪践踏宗教自由、迫害宗教人士，同时提高大家对这个问题的意识；与此同时，我们也会向总统、国务卿、国会做推荐，推荐如何解决这些宗教迫害的问题。这样一来，所有地方的人都能得益于践行1948年《世界人权宣言》的内容，而该宣言指出了基本人权，而宗教自由就是一项基本人权。

These recommendations are provided throughout the year as the Commission interacts with Congress and the Executive Branch of the U.S. government. They are also promoted through op-eds, press releases and articles, and summarized in an annual report. The Commission meets with senior government officials, representatives of nongovernmental organizations, religious leaders, victims of persecution, and other stakeholders from around the world. The Commission’s Religious Prisoners of Conscience Project calls for the release of individuals who have been imprisoned for their beliefs by oppressive regimes. Chairman Perkins noted that countries that protect religious freedom enjoy greater economic and social stability.

该委员会会全年做推荐，与此同时，该委员会也会与国会和美国政府的行政分支做互动。促进推荐提出的方式还有：专栏、新闻稿、文章、年度报告的总结。该委员会经常会见一些高级政府官员、非政府组织的代表、宗教领袖、宗教迫害的受害者等利益相关方，这些人来自世界各地。该委员会有一个宗教良知囚犯项目，该项目呼吁释放那些因个人信仰而被压迫性政权关入牢里的人。主席帕金森表示，保护宗教自由的国家经济和社会更稳定。

We can move the needle on this issue, said Chairman Perkins.

我们可以为这个问题带来变化，主席帕金森如是说道。