According to a recent Freedom House survey:
· 85 “free” countries recognize basic political rights and civil liberties—representing 41% of the global population, or 2.5 billion people.
· 59 “partly free” countries have only limited respect for political rights and civil liberties—representing 24% of the world’s population, or 1.5 billion people.
· 48 “not free” countries lack basic political rights and deny basic civil liberties—representing 35% of the people on earth—2.2 billion human beings. More than half of the world’s people live under governments that do not respect freedom.
The Subcommittee on Freedom, Civil Liberties, and Human Rights is working to advance the founding Republican principles of individual freedom, human equality, and civil rights at home and abroad. It is continuing the work of the Americas Subcommittee of the 107th Congress to combat dictatorship in the Western Hemisphere, to promote free trade among free peoples, to protect and consolidate threatened democracies, and to spread political and economic freedom around the world where democracy does not exist. It is working with all Republican Representatives to ensure that GOP legislation is fully consistent with these fundamental principles, to develop new legislation, and to recommend appropriate oversight.
For activities of Chairman Lincoln Diaz-Balart's Policy Subcommittee in the 107th Congress, see the archives.
