WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Roy Blunt (Mo.) continued his efforts to fight for religious freedom around the world, noting to officials that appointing a special envoy “should not be a budget discussion. This is either important or it’s not important. You can find the money to do this if you wanted to.”

During a hearing this week before the U.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs, Blunt asked the Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom, David Saperstein, about President Barack Obama’s need to appoint a special envoy to promote religious freedom among religious minorities in the Middle East.

Blunt asked Chief Counsel at American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), Jay Sekulow, about the status of U.S. citizen Pastor Saeed Abedini, who has been imprisoned in Iran for his faith. Blunt has been vocal in calling for Abedini’s release, and he was outspoken in calling for the release of Meriam Ibrahim, a Sudanese woman who was also jailed with her children for professing her Christian faith.

Blunt also highlighted the important distinction between freedom of worship and freedom of religion last month when questioning U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry during a U.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs hearing.

Last year, Blunt introduced and Congress passed the bipartisan Near East and South Central Asia Religious Freedom Act, which encouraged President Obama to appoint a special envoy to promote religious freedom among religious minorities in the Middle East. Seven months after the bill was signed into law, the president has not appointed a special envoy.