[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1547 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1547

  To provide for notification regarding crimes committed by diplomats.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 7, 1997

  Mr. Hefley introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                  Committee on International Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To provide for notification regarding crimes committed by diplomats.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. NOTIFICATION OF CRIMES COMMITTED BY DIPLOMATS.

    Title II of the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 (22 
U.S.C. 4301 et seq.; commonly referred to as the ``Foreign Missions 
Act'') is amended by inserting after section 204A the following:

``SEC. 204B. CRIMES COMMITTED BY DIPLOMATS.

    ``(a) Records.--(1) The Director shall develop and maintain records 
on each incident in which an individual with immunity from the criminal 
jurisdiction of the United States under the Vienna Convention who the 
Director reasonably believes has committed a serious criminal offense 
within the United States which was not subject to the criminal 
jurisdiction of the United States. Each such record shall include--
            ``(A) the identity of such individual;
            ``(B) the nature of the offense committed by such 
        individual, including whether against property or persons;
            ``(C) whether such offense involved reckless driving or 
        driving while intoxicated; and
            ``(D) the number and nature of all other criminal offenses 
        committed in the United States by such individual.
    ``(2) The Director shall submit an annual report to the Congress on 
the incidents occurring during the preceding year. The report shall 
include the information maintained under paragraph (1).
    ``(b) Education and Encouragement of Local Law Enforcement 
Individuals.--The Director shall take such steps as may be necessary--
            ``(1) to educate local law enforcement officials on the 
        extent of the immunity from criminal jurisdiction provided to 
        members of a foreign mission, and family members of such 
        members, under the Vienna Convention; and
            ``(2) to encourage local law enforcement officials to fully 
        investigate, charge, and prosecute, to the extent consistent 
        with immunity from criminal jurisdiction under the Vienna 
        Convention, any member of a foreign mission, and any family 
        member of such a member, who commits a serious criminal offense 
        within the United States.
    ``(c) Interference With Local Prosecutions.--No officer or employee 
of the Department of State may interfere with any investigation, 
charge, or prosecution by a State or local government of--
            ``(1) an alien who is a member of a foreign mission,
            ``(2) a family member of an alien described in subparagraph 
        (A), or
            ``(3) any other alien,
        not covered by immunity from the criminal jurisdiction of the 
        United States under the Vienna Convention.
    ``(d) Notification of Diplomatic Corps.--The Director shall notify 
the members of each foreign mission of United States policies relating 
to criminal offenses (particularly crimes of violence) committed by 
such members, and the family members of such members, including the 
policy of obtaining criminal indictments, requiring such members to 
leave the country, and declaring such members persona non grata.
    ``(e) Vienna Convention.--For the purposes of this section, the 
term `Vienna Convention' means the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic 
Relations of April 18, 1961 (TIAS numbered 7502; 23 UST 3227), entered 
into force with respect to the United States on December 13, 1972.''.
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