The Bill, which sailed through the Senate in a 98-0 vote in a 100-member chamber, gives President Bill Clinton options to withdraw foreign aid, block export licences, loan prohibitions and ban new government contracts on nations violating religious freedom. It, however, empowers the President to waive the sanctions to safeguard ``important national interests.'' It also provides for nomination of an ambassador for international religious freedom in the State Department.

The Bill is expected to get through the House of Representatives and the White House. The Department has said 77 countries engage in religious persecution, with China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Pakistan, Sudan, China and Vietnam named by human rights groups as the worst offenders.