[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4699 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4699

To establish appropriate procedures and sanctions to ensure that unpaid 
parking fines and penalties owed to New York City by foreign countries 
                               are paid.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 9, 2002

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To establish appropriate procedures and sanctions to ensure that unpaid 
parking fines and penalties owed to New York City by foreign countries 
                               are paid.

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

SECTION 1. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

    (a) Findings.--The Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) The City of New York is host to the diplomatic 
        representatives of 289 missions and consulates of foreign 
        countries located in the city.
            (2) Foreign diplomats in New York City incurred more than 
        $21 million dollars in fines and penalties on more than 200,000 
        parking tickets issued by the municipality between 1997 and 
        2000.
            (3) Many of the parking fines were issued due to safety 
        violations, including the blocking of fire hydrants, which put 
        lives of residents of the city in danger.
            (4) The legal doctrine of diplomatic immunity prohibits the 
        imposition of traditional sanctions to ensure payment of such 
        parking fines.
            (5) Section 545 of Public Law 107-115 provided that ``an 
        amount equivalent to 110 percent of the total unpaid fully 
        adjudicated parking fines and penalties owed to the District of 
        Columbia and New York City, New York by such country as of the 
        date of the enactment of this Act that were incurred after the 
        first day of the fiscal year preceding the current fiscal year 
        shall be withheld from obligation for such country until the 
        Secretary of State certifies and reports in writing to the 
        appropriate congressional committees that such fines and 
        penalties are fully paid to the governments of the District of 
        Columbia and New York City, New York''.
    (b) Purpose.--It is the purpose of this Act to establish 
appropriate procedures and sanctions to ensure that parking fines and 
penalties incurred in New York City by foreign countries are paid.

SEC. 2. SANCTIONS.

    (a) Sanctions.--Whenever a foreign country owes to New York City, 
New York, unpaid fully adjudicated parking fines and penalties as of 
September 15 of each year, and until the Secretary of State receives 
certification that such fines and penalties have been paid--
            (1) the Secretary of State shall deny the issuance or 
        renewal of any diplomatic license plates for vehicles for that 
        country;
            (2) notwithstanding any other provision of law, the 
        Secretary of State shall withhold from obligation funds 
        available for that country under part I of the Foreign 
        Assistance Act of 1961; and
            (3) notwithstanding any other provision of law, unobligated 
        funds available for that country under part I of the Foreign 
        Assistance Act of 1961 are authorized to be reappropriated to 
        pay any fully adjudicated parking fines and penalties owed by 
        that country to New York City, New York.
    (b) Standard for Determination.--For the purposes of this Act, the 
term ``fully adjudicated'' includes circumstances in which the 
registrant has not responded to the parking violation summons or has 
not followed the appropriate adjudication procedure to challenge the 
summons and the period of time for payment or challenge of the summons 
has lapsed.

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