May 23, 2001

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 23, 2001

Contact:
Lawrence J. Goodrich, Communications Director, (202) 523-3240, ext. 27

Michael K. Young, Dean of the George Washington University Law School in Washington, D.C., has been reappointed to the Commission on International Religious Freedom by Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott. Mr. Young will serve until May 14, 2003. He previously served as a Commissioner during the May 15, 1999 to May 14, 2001 term.

Dean Young served as the Commission's Vice Chairman from June 1999 to June 2000. He joined the George Washington University Law School as Dean in 1998 after serving as the Fuyo Professor of Japanese Law and Legal Institutions at the School of Law of Columbia University. He also served as Director of the Center for Japanese Legal Studies, the Center for Korean Legal Studies, and the Project on Religion, Rights, and Religious Freedom at Columbia University. During the administration of President George Bush, he served as Ambassador for Trade and Environmental Affairs, Deputy Under Secretary for Economic and Agricultural Affairs, and Deputy Legal Adviser to the U.S. Department of State.

The Commission consists of nine voting Commissioners and the Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, who is a non-voting member. Three Commissioners are selected by the President, two by the leaders of the President's party in Congress, and four by the congressional leaders of the other party. Commissioners serve for a two-year term and are eligible for reappointment. Dean Young is the second Commissioner to be named for the term May 15, 2001 to May 14, 2003, joining Nina Shea, who was appointed by Speaker of the House J. Dennis Hastert.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom was created by the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 to monitor the status of freedom of thought, conscience, and religion or belief abroad, as defined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and related international instruments, and to give independent policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State and the Congress." src="https://www.uscirf.org/images/layout/subbottomtext1.gif" />

Hon. Elliott Abrams,Chair
  • Dr. Firuz Kazemzadeh,Vice ChairRabbi David SapersteinLaila Al-Marayati, M.D.Hon. John R. BoltonDean Michael K. YoungArchbishop Theodore E. McCarrickNina SheaJustice Charles Z. SmithAmbassador Robert Seiple,Ex-OfficioSteven T. McFarland,Executive Director