Robert T. Frank

When our Founding Fathers signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776, they considered religious freedom one of Americans’ most fundamental rights.

Thomas Jefferson, who wrote the Declaration of Independence, also wrote the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom. He considered these two of his most important accomplishments, along with founding the University of Virginia, and left instructions for them to be inscribed on his tombstone.

Today, our commitment to religious freedom has gone global, and it has become part of the fabric of our diplomacy. In 1998, Congress passed the International Religious Freedom Act, and now the State Department issues an annual report on religious freedom.