Brownback appointed to religious freedom post

Brownback appointed to religious freedom post

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate narrowly confirmed Kansas’ Republican Gov. Sam Brownback as ambassador at large for international religious freedom. The 50–49 vote Jan. 24 required Vice President Mike Pence in his role as president of the Senate to break a tie, with all Democrats opposed and two Republicans absent.

In his new position, Brownback will lead the Office of International Religious Freedom, whose mission is to promote religious freedom as a “core objective of U.S. foreign policy,” according to the website of the U.S. State Department.

The duties of the department include monitoring religious persecution and discrimination worldwide, developing programs to promote religious freedom and identifying and denouncing regimes that are severe persecutors on the basis of religious belief.

A former U.S. senator, Brownback faced opposition from LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) groups for rescinding a 2007 Kansas executive order giving state employees protection from discrimination based on sexual orientation or sexual identity.

The most recent ambassador was Rabbi David Saperstein, appointed by former President Barack Obama in 2014 and the only non-Christian who has held the position since it was created in 1998 during the administration of President Bill Clinton. (TAB)