Whereas religious freedom is a universally recognized human right and the protection and promotion of this right globally attracts broad support; Whereas the United States has a long tradition of advancing and protecting religious freedom, understanding that this fundamental right is critical for a flourishing society and essential to protect human dignity and national stability; Whereas religious freedom includes the right of an individual to worship, think, speak, and act, including in public and in private, in accordance with the beliefs of the individual; Whereas the free exercise of religion must stand for the right to practice any faith or to choose no faith at all; Whereas this year marks the 70th anniversary of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which recognizes that Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance ; Whereas this year also marks the 20th anniversary of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 ( 22 U.S.C. 6401 et seq.), which made religious freedom a United States foreign policy priority and created the position of Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom at the Department of State and the bipartisan United States Commission on International Religious Freedom; Whereas given the United States commitment to advance religious freedom and to the international covenants that guarantee it as the inalienable right of every human being, United States foreign policy is committed to— (1) promoting freedom of religion globally as a fundamental human right and as a source of stability and prosperity for all countries; (2) assisting emerging democracies to implement freedom of religion and to protect individual conscience