[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3844 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3844

 To establish the United States Commission to Monitor Slavery and its 
                         Eradication in Sudan.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 16, 2007

Mr. Smith of New Jersey (for himself, Ms. Watson, Mr. Fortenberry, Mr. 
Wolf, Mr. Tancredo, Mr. Frank of Massachusetts, Mr. Franks of Arizona, 
 and Mr. Souder) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
                    the Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To establish the United States Commission to Monitor Slavery and its 
                         Eradication in Sudan.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Eradication of Slavery in Sudan Act 
of 2007''.

SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT AND COMPOSITION.

    (a) In General.--There is established the United States Commission 
to Monitor Slavery and its Eradication in Sudan (in this Act referred 
to as the ``Commission'').
    (b) Membership.--
            (1) Appointment.--The Commission shall be composed of five 
        members, who are not employees of the Federal Government and 
        who shall be appointed as follows:
                    (A) One member of the Commission shall be appointed 
                by the President.
                    (B) One member of the Commission shall be appointed 
                by the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
                    (C) One member of the Commission shall be appointed 
                by the majority leader of the Senate.
                    (D) One member shall be appointed by the minority 
                leader of the House of Representatives.
                    (E) One member shall be appointed by the minority 
                leader of the Senate.
            (2) Selection.--
                    (A) In general.--Members of the Commission shall be 
                selected from among distinguished individuals noted for 
                their knowledge about Sudan and who have experience in 
                fields relevant to the issues of abduction and 
                enslavement of persons, human rights, and international 
                law.
                    (B) Security clearances.--Each member of the 
                Commission shall be required to obtain an appropriate 
                security clearance necessary to carry out the purposes 
                of this Act.
            (3) Time of appointment.--The appointments required under 
        paragraph (1) shall be made not later than 90 days after the 
        date of the enactment of this Act.
    (c) Term of Office.--The term of office of each member of the 
Commission shall be three years. Members of the Commission shall be 
eligible for reappointment to a second term.
    (d) Time for Meetings and Elections of Chair.--
            (1) Initial meeting.--Not later than 60 days after all the 
        appointments have been made under subsection (b), the 
        Commission shall hold its initial meeting.
            (2) Election of chair.--A majority of the members of the 
        Commission present and voting at the initial meeting shall 
        elect the Chair of the Commission.
            (3) Subsequent meetings.--The Commission shall meet at the 
        call of the Chair or, if no Chair has been elected for that 
        calendar year, at the call of three voting members of the 
        Commission.
            (4) Subsequent elections of chair.--At the first meeting of 
        the Commission in each calendar year, a majority of the members 
        of the Commission present and voting shall elect the Chair of 
        the Commission.
    (e) Executive Director.--Not later than 60 days after the initial 
meeting under subsection (d)(1), the Chair, in consultation with the 
members of the Commission, shall hire an Executive Director.
    (f) Duties of Executive Director.--The Executive Director hired 
under subsection (e) shall--
            (1) prepare a workplan for the Commission's duties under 
        section 3;
            (2) devise a budget for the annual operations of the 
        Commission;
            (3) hire staff and consultants for the Commission;
            (4) develop working relationships with like-minded civil 
        society organizations; and
            (5) work with the General Services Administration to 
        identify offices for the Commission and take all necessary 
        actions for the Commission to occupy its space, acquire 
        equipment, and secure all necessary services.
    (g) Quorum.--Three voting members of the Commission shall 
constitute a quorum for purposes of conducting the affairs of the 
Commission.
    (h) Vacancies.--Any vacancy of the Commission shall not affect its 
powers, but shall be filled in the manner in which the original 
appointment was made.
    (i) Administrative Support.--The President shall provide working 
space for the Commission at no cost through the General Services 
Administration.
    (j) Funding.--Members of the Commission shall be allowed travel 
expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, at rates 
authorized for employees of agencies under subchapter I of chapter 57 
of title 5, United States Code, while away from their homes or regular 
places of business in the performance of services for the Commission.

SEC. 3. RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE COMMISSION.

    (a) In General.--The Commission shall have as its primary 
responsibilities--
            (1) reporting on progress made by the Government of Sudan 
        and nongovernmental organizations in identifying the location 
        of slaves in Sudan and ensuring their freedom;
            (2) working with the Government of Sudan to ensure safe 
        passage of freed slaves and family reunification;
            (3) documenting existing cases of slavery and working to 
        prevent new cases from occurring;
            (4) assessing and reporting on the needs of former slaves 
        for access to basic education and skills training, as well as 
        medical, social, and psychological support for their effective 
        rehabilitation and reintegration into society;
            (5) identifying those individuals and groups responsible 
        for slavery and reporting on whether such individuals and 
        groups are brought to justice;
            (6) reviewing programs of relevant United States Government 
        agencies with respect to slavery in Sudan, including the United 
        States Agency for International Development, the Department of 
        State, the President's Interagency Task Force to Monitor and 
        Combat Trafficking in Persons, and the Human Smuggling and 
        Trafficking Center; and
            (7) recommending actions to be taken by the United States 
        Government with respect to the Government of Sudan in response 
        to the Sudanese Government's inaction to eradicate slavery, in 
        accordance with subsection (c).
    (b) Hearings and Sessions.--The Commission may, for the purpose of 
carrying out its duties under this Act, hold such hearings, sit and act 
at such times and places, take such testimony, and receive such 
evidence as the Commission determines necessary.
    (c) Policy Review and Recommendations.--
            (1) In general.--The Commission, in evaluating United 
        States Government policies, shall consider policy options and 
        recommend actions to be taken by the United States Government 
        in accordance with paragraph (2) with respect to the Government 
        of Sudan.
            (2) Failure to act to eradicate slavery.--To the extent 
        that the Government of Sudan fails to act to eradicate slavery, 
        such options and actions referred to in paragraph (1) may 
        include diplomatic inquiries, diplomatic protests, official 
        public protest, demarche of protest, condemnation within 
        multilateral fora, delay or cancellation of cultural or 
        scientific exchanges, delay or cancellation of working, 
        official, or state visits, reduction or termination of certain 
        assistance funds, imposition of targeted or broad trade 
        sanctions, and withdrawal of the chief of mission.

SEC. 4. REPORT OF THE COMMISSION.

    (a) In General.--Not later than October 1st of each year, the 
Commission shall submit to the Secretary of State a report on the 
efforts of the Commission with respect to its responsibilities under 
subsection (a) of section 3.
    (b) Classified Form of Report.--The report may be submitted in 
classified form, together with a public summary of policy 
recommendations made pursuant to section 3(c), if the classification of 
information would further the purposes of this Act.
    (c) Individual or Dissenting Views.--Each member of the Commission 
may include the individual or dissenting views of the member.

SEC. 5. APPLICABILITY OF OTHER LAWS.

    The Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not apply 
to the Commission.

SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    (a) In General.--There are authorized to be appropriated to the 
Commission $1,500,000 for fiscal year 2008 and $2,000,000 for fiscal 
year 2009 to carry out the purposes of this Act.
    (b) Availability of Funds.--Amounts authorized to be appropriated 
under subparagraph (a) are authorized to remain available until 
expended, but not later than the date of the termination of the 
Commission.

SEC. 7. TERMINATION.

    The Commission shall terminate six years after the initial 
appointment of all of the members of the Commission.
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