[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 390 Introduced in House (IH)]







104th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 390

 Concerning the prohibition on the use of United States passports for 
                           travel to Lebanon.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 22, 1996

Mr. Hoke submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
                  Committee on International Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Concerning the prohibition on the use of United States passports for 
                           travel to Lebanon.

    Resolved, 

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This resolution shall be known as the ``Freedom of Travel to 
Lebanon Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The House of Representatives finds that--
            (1) on January 26, 1987, the Department of State issued a 
        prohibition on the use of United States passports for travel to 
        Lebanon, creating a ban on travel to Lebanon by United States 
        citizens;
            (2) the ban on travel to Lebanon was instituted during a 
        time of civil war, anarchy, and general lawlessness in Lebanon, 
        when the safety and well-being of United States citizens were 
        at serious risk, American hostages were being taken, and 
        hundreds of lives were being lost due to acts of terrorism;
            (3) the civil war in Lebanon ended in 1990, and the last 
        United States hostage held in Lebanon was freed on December 4, 
        1991;
            (4) there has been no incident of violence against any 
        United States citizen in Lebanon since December 4, 1991;
            (5) the United States and Lebanon have made special joint 
        efforts to agree upon and sign international conventions 
        against terrorism which would address crimes committed against 
        United States citizens in Lebanon during the civil war;
            (6) security in Lebanon has improved demonstrably since the 
        end of the civil war due to, among other efforts, the exchange 
        of security delegations between the United States and Lebanon 
        to monitor ongoing progress on security;
            (7) the United States maintains an economic and military 
        assistance program in Lebanon;
            (8) it is estimated that more than 45,000 United States 
        citizens, including Members of Congress, traveled to Lebanon in 
        the past 4 years, either in circumvention of the ban on travel 
        to Lebanon through the use of passports from countries other 
        than the United States by dual nationals, or under United 
        States regulations which permit travel in urgent humanitarian 
        cases;
            (9) people in the United States of Lebanese descent who 
        have families residing in Lebanon and who are not willing to 
        defy the ban on travel to Lebanon are seriously harmed by this 
        ban and are prevented from being reunited with their loved ones 
        in Lebanon;
            (10) the United States has eased certain restrictions with 
        respect to the ban on travel to Lebanon to permit airline 
        tickets to be issued for travel directly from the United States 
        to Beirut by nationals from countries other than the United 
        States and United States citizens who have obtained the 
        appropriate waiver from the Department of State;
            (11) the Lebanese Government has initiated a 10-year, 
        $18,000,000,000 reconstruction effort, and from 1993 through 
        1995 awarded more than 500 contracts worth more than 
        $2,700,000,000 to business firms for development, 
        reconstruction, and consulting projects;
            (12) the ban on travel to Lebanon creates a major 
        impediment to United States firms that wish to bid for 
        contracts in Lebanon;
            (13) it is in the national interest of the United States 
        for United States businesses to participate in the 
        reconstruction of Lebanon, since such participation will bring 
        economic benefit to the United States;
            (14) it is in the national interest of the United States 
        for there to be an independent, politically and economically 
        self-reliant Lebanon which is a stabilizing state in the 
        region;
            (15) it is in the national interest of the United States to 
        assist actively the Government of Lebanon to attain the 
        principles of democracy in the region;
            (16) travel advisories, rather than travel bans, are in 
        effect for travel to countries such as Bosnia, Rwanda, Haiti, 
        Colombia, and Peru, in which United States citizens have 
        historically experienced as serious a risk to their safety as 
        they do in traveling to Lebanon; and
            (17) in determining whether to restrict the use of United 
        States passports for travel to any country, the Secretary of 
        State should apply consistent criteria.

SEC. 3. SENSE OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

    It is the sense of the House of Representatives that--
            (1) the Secretary of State should change the prohibition on 
        the use of United States passports for travel to Lebanon to a 
        travel advisory because American citizens have been safely 
        traveling to Lebanon since 1991, and it appears that the risk 
        posed to the safety of American citizens is no greater in 
        Lebanon than it is in other countries for which the United 
        States is maintaining travel advisories;
            (2) the Secretary of State should identify those conditions 
        in Lebanon that pose a risk to United States citizens and 
        provide suggestions for the Government of Lebanon to ameliorate 
        those risks; and
            (3) if deciding to renew the ban on travel to Lebanon, the 
        Secretary of State should--
                    (A) create a new waiver category to permit 
                exceptions for United States business personnel who 
                wish to travel to Lebanon for business purposes; and
                    (B) expand the present humanitarian waiver 
                provisions to permit American citizens of Lebanese 
                descent to travel to Lebanon for family reunification 
                purposes.

SEC. 4. TRANSMITTAL.

    The Clerk of the House of Representatives shall transmit a copy of 
this resolution to the Secretary of State.
                                 <all>