Christian lawmaker takes on new calling speaking out for 'those who can't speak' after departing Congress
Former Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler, R-Mo., says she seeks to use her new role as a commissioner on the bipartisan U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom to help persecuted believers "advance the cause of Christianity around the world."
Last month, USCIRF, a Congressionally-mandated independent body of experts set up to make recommendations to the U.S. State Department and the U.S. Congress on global religious freedom matters, welcomed three new commissioners, including Hartzler.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., nominated his former colleague, who served in the lower chamber of U.S. Congress from 2011-2023.
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Hartzler's appointment comes more than a year after she retired to seek an open U.S. Senate seat in Missouri but lost in the Republican primary to the state's then-Attorney General Eric Schmitt.
"I'm looking forward to speaking up for those who cannot speak for themselves around the world, those who are persecuted for their faith," she said in a recent interview with The Christian Post. "And it will be good to reconnect with my former members of Congress as well as members of the administration to try to advance this cause."
Hartzler, 63, said that she accepted Christ when she was 9, and Jesus has been the Lord of her life since then.
"And I want to do what I can to glorify Him and to help others be able to come to know him or live out their faith," she said. "This opportunity is a way to live out Hebrews 13:3, which says, 'Remember those who were imprisoned as if you were their fellow prisoner and those who are mistreated as though you were suffering.'"
"This is an opportunity to speak out for those who cannot speak out for themselves and hopefully advance the cause of Christianity around the world," she reiterated.
Hartzler said that while she was aware of USCIRF during her time in Congress, she didn't actively pursue the volunteer role after her departure from Washington. She said she was contacted by House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., who asked if she would be interested in a two-year term as a USCIRF commissioner.
"And I prayed about it and looked into it further and felt like this was definitely an opportunity to be able to make a difference for our Christian brothers and sisters around the world and all people of faith," she said.
"Majority Leader Scalise passed along my recommendation to Speaker Mike Johnson, who went ahead and made that appointment. And I feel very honored to have this opportunity, that they thought of me and they've entrusted me with this very important mission of speaking up for the persecuted individuals around the world and advancing religious freedom," she added.
As a former House Armed Services Committee member, Hartzler said she has always been concerned about China. She said she has "worked to try to not only secure our national defense but also shine the light on what China was doing to Christians, to the Uyghur Muslims, to the Falun Gong and other people of faith in China."
"They have been imprisoning the underground church … and pastors there for years. There are reports that they perform organ harvesting on the believers of Falun Gong," she said.
Hartzler recalled that during the Trump administration, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declared China was committing genocide against the Uyghur Muslims in the Xinjiang Province.
"I hope to be able to continue to advocate for those people of faith in China and to try to encourage China to change its ways," she said.
"I'm also concerned about many other countries, particularly Nigeria, where 80% of the Christians who were killed in 2021 were from Nigeria," she noted. "In fact, since 2015, there's been over [50,000] Christians who have been killed there, 18,000 churches and 2,200 Christian schools destroyed."
Like many other religious freedom advocates, Hartzler expressed concern about the Biden administration's removal of Nigeria from the State Department's list of countries of particular concern after the Trump administration had placed it there toward the end of Trump's term.
The CPC label is reserved for nations with egregious violations of religious freedom. Countries that receive that designation can be subject to what Hartzler summarized as "economic sanctions and other ramifications."
Hartzler remains hopeful that "the next administration, whether it's President Biden or whether it's President Trump, will redesignate Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern."
She believes the U.S. has a "huge influence around the world" and "should use that influence for good to help people who desire to be able to live out their faith according to their deeply held beliefs."
"I hope I'll be able to advocate for people to get out of prison that are in prison because of their faith," she continued.
While Hartzler acknowledged that Americans "have a unique opportunity to live out our faith without being tortured or put in prison," she maintained that there has been an increase in "hostility towards [the] Christian faith here in America as well as other faiths."
"We, for many years, have enjoyed religious freedom here, but we're starting to see those freedoms being stifled and vilified as well. So that's not the role of USCIRF, which is focusing on foreign and international threats to religious freedom. But I'm hopeful as we shine the light on abuses in other countries, it will spur people here in our own country to appreciate the freedoms we have and preserve them here as well."
As Hartzler is one of three new commissioners appointed to USCIRF last month by leaders in Washington, the other commissioner picked by Johnson, Maureen Ferguson, is a senior fellow at the Catholic Association and co-host of the nationally syndicated radio show "Conversations with Consequences."
Ferguson serves on the board of directors for the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast and the de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture at the University of Notre Dame. She is also a member of the advisory board at the Belmont Abbey Center, which USCIRF describes as "an initiative of Belmont Abbey College that seeks to restore civil society, cultivate religious freedom, and reclaim the public square for the common good."
The third new commissioner, Asif Mahmood, was appointed by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y. Mahmood is a "practicing physician, human rights activist, interracial and inter-faith community organizer, and philanthropist" with experience working in Democrat politics. He currently chairs the Organization for Social Media Safety and serves on the board of Hope the Mission, a homeless shelter in California.
Two additional members of USCIRF, Stephen Schneck and Eric Ueland, were reappointed by President Joe Biden and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., respectively, for new two-year terms. The sixth USCIRF Commissioner, Susie Gelman, will continue to serve in her role until her term expires next year. The appointment of Hartzler and the other new commissioners comes as the terms of six previous members of USCIRF expired last month.
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com
