[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5690 Introduced in House (IH)]
110th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 5690
To exempt the African National Congress from treatment as a terrorist
organization for certain acts or events, provide relief for certain
members of the African National Congress regarding admissibility, and
for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
April 3, 2008
Mr. Berman (for himself, Mr. Thompson of Mississippi, Mr. Payne, and
Ms. Lee) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Foreign
Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in
each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the
jurisdiction of the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To exempt the African National Congress from treatment as a terrorist
organization for certain acts or events, provide relief for certain
members of the African National Congress regarding admissibility, and
for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Present-day South Africa was colonized by English and
Dutch settlers beginning in the 17th century. In 1909, the
English and Dutch formed the Union of South Africa, a settler
government that marginalized the African population and imposed
harsh taxes on every nonwhite person, forcing nonwhites into a
cruel wage-labor system that undermined the cohesion of their
societies.
(2) The African National Congress (ANC) was created in 1912
to advocate for the rights of black South Africans.
(3) In 1948, the Afrikaner Nationalist Party took control
of the government and imposed the apartheid system, a harsh
system of racial segregation, white economic privilege, and
total disenfranchisement of non-white African inhabitants.
(4) The ANC joined with other groups and engaged in mass
civil disobedience against apartheid in the 1940s and 1950s.
(5) The ANC was banned in 1960 by the South African
Government, and the ANC leadership was forced to go underground
or into exile.
(6) In 1964, Nelson Mandela, Ahmed Kathrada, Walter Sisulu,
Govan Mbeki, Andrew Mlangeni, Raymond Mhlaba, Elias Motsoaledi,
and Denis Goldberg were convicted and imprisoned for life for
their leadership in opposing apartheid.
(7) Although it was outlawed, the ANC led the resistance
effort against apartheid in the late 1970s and 1980s. During
this time, the ANC was classified as a terrorist organization
by the apartheid South African Government and many western
countries.
(8) The South African ban on the ANC was lifted in 1990,
and Nelson Mandela was released from prison on February 11,
1990.
(9) Between 1990 and 1994, the ANC negotiated with the
South African Government for black enfranchisement and an end
to apartheid, the results of which were the birth of a
multiracial, multiparty democracy in South Africa.
(10) The ANC became a registered political party in 1994.
Winning more than 60 percent of the presidential vote, Nelson
Mandela was inaugurated as president on May 10, 1994.
(11) In 2002, Tokyo Sexwale, former premier of Gauteng
Province and chairman of the ANC, was refused a visa to enter
the United States on the basis that he, along with other
prominent South African anti-apartheid figures such as Nelson
Mandela and Sidney Mufamadi, were still considered to be
inadmissible to the United States based on section 212 of the
Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182).
(12) In 2007, Barbara Masekela, former South African
Ambassador to the United States from 2003 to 2006, was denied a
visa to enter the United States to visit her ill cousin due to
her membership in the African National Congress, and she was
unable to obtain a waiver before her cousin's death.
(13) The ANC-led Government of South Africa is a strategic
partner with the United States in the fight against terrorism
and has adopted concrete counterterrorism policies and
measures, including information exchange, law enforcement
cooperation, and anti-money laundering to deny terrorists a
haven in South Africa.
(14) In the past, the Department of State provided waivers
to ANC leaders to enter the United States, but this remedy is
not appropriate for ANC leaders such as Mr. Mandela.
SEC. 2. REMOVAL OF CERTAIN AFFECTED INDIVIDUALS FROM CERTAIN UNITED
STATES GOVERNMENT DATABASES.
The Secretary of State, in coordination with the Attorney General,
the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Director of the Federal Bureau
of Investigation, and the Director of National Intelligence, shall take
all necessary steps to ensure that databases used to determine
admissibility to the United States are updated so that they are
consistent with the exemptions required under section 4.
SEC. 3. EXEMPTION OF AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS FROM TREATMENT AS
TERRORIST ORGANIZATION FOR CERTAIN ACTS OR EVENTS.
(a) In General.--For purposes of section 212(a)(3)(B)(vi) of the
Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(3)(B)(vi)), the
African National Congress shall not be treated as a terrorist
organization on the basis of any act or event occurring on or before
the date of the enactment of this Act.
(b) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section may be construed
to alter or limit the authority of the Secretary of State or Secretary
of Homeland Security to exercise discretionary authority pursuant to
section 212(d)(3)(B)(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8
U.S.C. 1182(d)(3)(B)(i)).
SEC. 4. RELIEF FOR CERTAIN MEMBERS OF THE AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS
REGARDING ADMISSIBILITY.
(a) In General.--For purposes of paragraphs (2)(A), (2)(B), and
(3)(B) of section 212(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8
U.S.C. 1182(a)), present and former members of the African National
Congress shall not be determined to be inadmissible on the basis of--
(1) their membership in or affiliation with such
organization; or
(2) anti-apartheid activities undertaken during the period
of apartheid rule in South Africa during the period from 1948
to 1990.
(b) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this subsection may be
construed to alter or limit the authority of the Secretary of State or
Secretary of Homeland Security to exercise discretionary authority
pursuant to section 212(d)(3)(B)(i) of the Immigration and Nationality
Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(d)(3)(B)(i)).
<all>