USCIRF Welcomes Five New Commissioners and elects new Chair and Vice Chair

July 22, 2024

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is an independent, bipartisan federal government entity established by the U.S. Congress with the passage of the IRF Act of 1998 to monitor, analyze, and report on threats to religious freedom abroad. USCIRF makes foreign policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State and Congress intended to deter religious persecution and promote freedom of religion or belief.

Nine USCIRF Commissioners are appointed (three by the President, two by leaders of the President’s party in Congress, and four by the congressional leaders of the party not in the White House) to serve for two years. Commissioners are eligible for reappointment. Recent appointments to USCIRF appear below.

Meir Soloveichik serves as the rabbi of Congregation Shearith Israel in Manhattan, the oldest Jewish congregation in the United States. He is also the director of the Zahava and Moshael Straus Center for Torah and Western Thought at Yeshiva University. Soloveichik attended Yeshiva University where he received his rabbinic ordination from the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary. He received his PhD in religion from Princeton University and is a Senior Scholar at Tikvah, a think tank and educational institution in New York City. In 2018, Soloveichik was awarded the Canterbury Medal for his work on behalf of religious liberty by the Becket Fund. (Appointed by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.)

Mohamed Elsanousi serves as the Executive Director of the Network for Religious and Traditional Peacemakers, a global network that bridges grassroots peacemakers and global players to work towards sustainable peace. He previously served as Interfaith and Government Relations Director at the Islamic Society of North America. He also served on the Core Group Taskforce for the U.S. Department of State on Religion and Foreign Policy. (Appointed by President Joseph R. Biden.)

Maureen Ferguson is a Senior Fellow with The Catholic Association and co-host of the nationally syndicated radio show Conversations with Consequences. She serves on the Advisory Committee for the de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture at the University of Notre Dame. Ferguson is on the Advisory Board of The Belmont House, an initiative of Belmont Abbey College that seeks to restore civil society, cultivate religious freedom, and reclaim the public square for the common good. She is also a member of the Board of Directors of the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast. (Appointed by Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Mike Johnson R-LA).

Vicky Hartzler served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2011 to 2023 representing the Fourth District of Missouri. While in Congress, Hartzler served on the House Armed Services and Agriculture Committees, as well as the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC). Through the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission’s Defending Freedom Project, she advocated for the release of religious prisoners of conscience in China. Hartzler introduced “The Combatting the Persecution of Christians in China Act” and supported multiple pieces of legislation in support of Uyghur Muslims. (Appointed by Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Mike Johnson R-LA).

Asif Mahmood is a practicing physician, human rights activist, interracial and inter-faith community organizer, and philanthropist. He led the advocacy for many human rights campaigns focused on South Asia. Mahmood was a Delegate for the Democratic National Convention from 2008 to 2016 and held many roles in presidential campaigns.  He is also currently the Chair of the Organization for Social Media Safety (OFSSMS) and Board Member of Hope the Mission, one of the largest homeless shelters in California. (Appointed by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries D-NY).

Stephen Schneck was reappointed by President Joseph R. Biden and he was elected as Chair of the bipartisan commission. During his time at USCIRF, Chair Schneck has led many meetings hearings, and delegations, including visits to Cox’s Bazaar in Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Sri Lanka. A well-known advocate for Catholic social justice teachings in public life, he currently serves on the governing boards of both Catholic Climate Covenant and Catholic Mobilizing Network. He previously served the administration of President Barack Obama as a member of the White House Advisory Council for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. Chair Schneck retired from The Catholic University of America in 2018, after more than thirty years as a professor, department chair, and dean. At the university, he was also the founder and long-time director of the Institute for Policy Research and Catholic Studies.

I am honored to serve as Chair of the Commission. I will dedicate the next year to leading this team with Vice Chair Ueland to further promote freedom of religion or belief abroad. Vice Chair Ueland has a breadth of experience in the Legislative and Executive branches and is an invaluable member of USCIRF. International religious freedom is not a Republican or Democratic issue, but rather a bipartisan concern where we must all work together,” said USCIRF Chair Schneck.

Eric Ueland was reappointed by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and he was elected as Vice Chair.  Vice Chair Ueland is a Visiting Fellow at the Heritage Institution and a member of the Board of Advisors at the Center for Constitutional Liberty at Benedictine College. In 2020-21, he served as the Senior Official (Acting Undersecretary) for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights at the U.S. Department of State, after some time as a Senior Advisor and then Acting Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary. Previously, he served as the Director of the Office of U.S. Foreign Assistance Resources at the State Department, as a Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, and then as the White House Director of Legislative Affairs.

Together with Chair Schneck and my colleagues, I am eager to continue our shared efforts to call out foreign governments perpetrating or tolerating severe violations of the fundamental, universal right to religious freedom. USCIRF will remain diligent in providing recommendations to the President, Secretary of State, and Congress to deter religious persecution and promote freedom of religion and belief abroad,” stated Vice Chair Ueland. “As the newly elected Chair and Vice Chair, we urge Congress to swiftly pass the USCIRF Reauthorization Act of 2024 so we can continue the vital work of the Commission beyond September 30, 2024.”

Susie Gelman’s term continues through May 2025. A graduate of Harvard University and Georgetown University Law Center, she served as board chair of Israel Policy Forum from 2016-2023. She previously served for three terms as president of the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington, one term as Federation’s campaign co-chair, and is a lifetime member of the Federation’s Board of Directors. She previously co-chaired the Israel Religious Expressions Platform (iRep) of the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA), an initiative that focused on pluralism through freedom of choice of marriage in Israel. Susie was the inaugural chair of the Birthright Israel Foundation and served for many years as a member of its board as well as the Taglit-Birthright Israel Planning Committee. She served as co-chair of UJC (now JFNA) Israel and co-chaired JFNA’s General Assembly in Jerusalem in both 2003 and 2013. Susie is a member of the Board of Governors of The Hebrew University, an honorary fellow of Brandeis University, and is past president of the Georgetown Day School Board of Trustees, where she served on the board for 12 years. She is the past president of the Goldman Environmental Foundation, where she continues to serve on the board.