State Department Still Refusing to Give House GOPers Info on Overseas Atheism Grants

Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) speaks at a press conference following a Republican caucus at the U.S. Capitol, in Washington, on June 8, 2022. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

State Department officials are continuing to refuse House Republican demands for information regarding grants of U.S. tax dollars to advance atheism in foreign countries, according to Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.).

Banks, who is chairman of the Republican Study Committee (RSC), expressed frustration with a lengthy Dec. 1 telephone conference call with Mariah Mercer, an assistant to Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom Rashad Hussain.

Hussain heads the State Department’s Office of International Religious Freedom (OIRF). The OIRF’s mission is to promote “universal respect for freedom of religion or belief for all as a core objective of U.S. foreign policy. We monitor religiously motivated abuses, harassment, and discrimination worldwide, and recommend, develop, and implement policies and programs to address these concerns.”

Mercer declined to provide any information regarding the recipients of the grants, the amounts given in the grants, or how the recipients were selected. She also declined to describe the metric, if any, being used by State Department officials to evaluate the performance of the grant recipients.

Because, under the Constitution, all federal spending must originate with the approval of the House of Representatives, it has been routine since 1789 for executive branch officials to provide on request information to congressional committees, as well as to individual senators and representatives, regarding how appropriated funds are being spent.

Also participating in the conference call with Banks were House Republicans Tim Burchett of Tennessee, Ralph Norman of South Carolina, Andy Biggs of Arizona, and Bob Good of Virginia.

“After six months and multiple letters, the Biden State Department is still hiding basic information about their funding of atheism abroad. They know that the details would outrage American taxpayers and they’re worried they’d also expose the program as unconstitutional. Congress gave them this money but apparently we’re not allowed to know which countries are getting the money. It’s insane,” Banks said in a statement emailed to reporters.

Separately, Banks told The Epoch Times the “Biden State Department has abused U.S. taxpayer dollars to push critical race theory, fly the pride flag at the Vatican, fund atheist networks abroad, and fund gender transition surgeries. U.S. taxpayers deserve diplomats who champion their values abroad, but the Biden State Department stands for the far-Left only.”

Banks’ comments follow a warning he issued in August to Secretary of State Antony Blinken for the department to preserve all documents concerning the grants.

The grants were originally announced in April 2021 by the State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL) with a published notice describing them as “DRL FY20 IRF Promoting and Defending Religious Freedom Inclusive of Atheist, Humanist, Non-Practicing and Non-Affiliated Individuals,” Banks explained in a June letter to President Joe Biden and Blinken.

The grants were to be awarded under a competitive process, according to the announcement, and would be for amounts up to $500,000 each. The grants were intended to go to organizations committed to the practice and spread of atheism and humanism in South and Central Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa.

Many of the countries in those areas have Muslim majority populations, with governments enforcing Islamic codes that make it illegal to express or practice any other faith. It is thought the atheism grants are the first such funding ever awarded by the State Department.

In the June letter to Biden and Blinken, Banks told them that “to be clear, atheism and ‘humanism’” are official belief systems. As an initial matter, therefore, we would like to know what other United States government programs supported with appropriated funds are being used either to encourage, inculcate, or to disparage any official belief system—atheist, humanist, Christian, Muslim, or otherwise.

“It is one thing for the Department to be tolerant and respectful of a wide range of belief systems, and to encourage governments to respect the religious freedom interests of their citizens. It is quite another for the United States government to work actively to empower atheists, humanists, non-practicing, and non-affiliated in public decision-making.

“Any such program—for any religiously-identifiable group—in the United States would be unconstitutional. In addition to its constitutionally dubious legal foundation, we also question how such a grant or cooperative agreement program advances the foreign policy interests of the United States.”

Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), who is expected to become chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee when the 118th Congress convenes Jan. 3, is a member of the RSC. The atheism grants would be covered by the oversight authority of the foreign affairs panel.

A congressional GOP source who asked not to be identified said Republicans on the foreign affairs panel are very interested in seeing the information sought by Banks regarding the atheism grants and will be prepared to issue subpoenas if necessary after the new Congress convenes.