FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 6, 2005

Contact: 
Anne Johnson, Director of Communications, (202) 523-3240, ext. 27

WASHINGTON - U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) Commissioner Archbishop Charles J. Chaput has been named by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as a member of the nine-member U.S. delegation to the Conference on Anti-Semitism and on Other Forms of Intolerance sponsored by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which will be held June 8-9 in Cordoba, Spain.  USCIRF Vice Chair Nina Shea and Commissioner Michael Cromartie have been named as advisors to the U.S. delegation.  The U.S. delegation will be led by New York Governor George E. Pataki.

The Cordoba conference will focus on practical steps to combat intolerance, including discrimination against religious and other minorities, building on last year's OSCE Conference on Anti-Semitism in Berlin and the Conference on Racism, Xenophobia and Discrimination in Brussels.  The OSCE consists of 55 nations, including the nations of Europe and Eurasia, the United States and Canada.