<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><BillSummaries>
<item congress="116" measure-type="hr" measure-number="3289" measure-id="id116hr3289" originChamber="HOUSE" orig-publish-date="2019-06-13" update-date="2019-10-21">
<title>Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act of 2019</title>
<summary summary-id="id116hr3289v53" currentChamber="HOUSE" update-date="2019-10-21">
<action-date>2019-10-15</action-date>
<action-desc>Passed House</action-desc>
<summary-text><![CDATA[<p><b>Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act of 2019</b></p> <p>This bill addresses Hong Kong's status under U.S. law and imposes sanctions on those responsible for human rights violations in Hong Kong. (Hong Kong is part of China but has a largely separate legal and economic system.)</p> <p>The Department of State shall certify annually to Congress as to whether Hong Kong warrants its unique treatment under various treaties, agreements, and U.S. law. The analysis shall evaluate whether Hong Kong is upholding the rule of law and protecting rights enumerated in various documents, including (1) the agreement between the United Kingdom and China regarding Hong Kong's return to China, and (2) the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.</p> <p>The bill extends existing annual reporting requirements on matters of U.S. interest in Hong Kong through 2027 and expands such reports to include assessments of (1) limits to Hong Kong's autonomy, either self-imposed or due to China's actions; and (2) whether rescission of Hong Kong's special treatment would further erode Hong Kong's autonomy. </p> <p>The President shall annually report to Congress on Hong Kong's enforcement of U.S. export controls, including whether items of U.S. origin have been used for mass surveillance in China and whether Hong Kong has been used to evade sanctions on North Korea or Iran. </p> <p>The State Department&nbsp;shall notify Congress if any proposed or enacted law in Hong Kong negatively impacts U.S. interests, including by putting U.S. citizens at risk of rendition to China.</p> <p>The President shall impose property and visa-blocking sanctions on foreign persons responsible for gross human rights violations in Hong Kong.</p>]]></summary-text>
</summary>
<summary summary-id="id116hr3289v00" currentChamber="HOUSE" update-date="2019-09-16">
<action-date>2019-06-13</action-date>
<action-desc>Introduced in House</action-desc>
<summary-text><![CDATA[<p><b>Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act of 2019</b></p> <p>This bill directs various departments to assess whether political developments in Hong Kong justify changing Hong Kong's unique treatment under U.S. law. </p> <p>Hong Kong is part of China but has a largely separate legal and economic system.</p> <p>The Department of State shall report annually to Congress as to whether Hong Kong is sufficiently autonomous from China to justify its unique treatment. The report shall assess whether China has eroded Hong Kong's civil liberties and rule of law as protected by Hong Kong's Basic Law.</p> <p>The Department of Commerce shall report annually to Congress on China's efforts to use Hong Kong to evade U.S. export controls and sanctions.</p> <p>The President shall provide Congress an assessment as to whether to withdraw from the U.S.-Hong Kong extradition treaty, and what actions are needed to protect U.S. citizens and national security interests, if Hong Kong (1) amends its laws to allow the rendition of individuals to countries that lack defendants' rights protections, or (2) passes a national security law.</p> <p>The State Department shall allow otherwise qualified Hong Kong residents to obtain visas to work or study in the United States, even if the applicant had been arrested for participating in certain nonviolent protests supporting human rights or the rule of law.</p> <p>The President shall report to Congress a list of individuals responsible for abducting and torturing people for exercising internationally recognized human rights in Hong Kong. The bill bars such individuals from entering the United States and imposes sanctions on them.</p>]]></summary-text>
</summary>
</item>
<dublinCore xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/">
<dc:format>text/xml</dc:format>
<dc:language>EN</dc:language>
<dc:rights>Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.</dc:rights>
<dc:contributor>Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress</dc:contributor>
<dc:description>This file contains bill summaries for federal legislation. A bill summary describes the most significant provisions of a piece of legislation and details the effects the legislative text may have on current law and federal programs. Bill summaries are authored by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) of the Library of Congress. As stated in Public Law 91-510 (2 USC 166 (d)(6)), one of the duties of CRS is "to prepare summaries and digests of bills and resolutions of a public general nature introduced in the Senate or House of Representatives". For more information, refer to the User Guide that accompanies this file.</dc:description>
</dublinCore>
</BillSummaries>
