[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>