[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5722 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5722

  To mandate reporting requirements for convicted sex traffickers and 
  other sex offenders intending to engage in international travel, to 
provide advance notice of convicted sex offenders who intend to travel 
     outside the United States to the government of the country of 
destination, to prevent entry into the United States by any foreign sex 
                   offender, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 8, 2008

 Mr. Smith of New Jersey (for himself, Mr. Payne, Mr. Fortenberry, Mr. 
  Pitts, Mr. Wolf, Mrs. Drake, Ms. Ros-Lehtinen, Mr. Chabot, and Mr. 
  Wilson of South Carolina) introduced the following bill; which was 
 referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the 
Committee on the Judiciary, 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 mandate reporting requirements for convicted sex traffickers and 
  other sex offenders intending to engage in international travel, to 
provide advance notice of convicted sex offenders who intend to travel 
     outside the United States to the government of the country of 
destination, to prevent entry into the United States by any foreign sex 
                   offender, 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. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``International Megan's Law of 2008''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND DECLARATION OF PURPOSES.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) Megan Nicole Kanka, who was 7 years old, was abducted, 
        sexually assaulted, and murdered in 1994, in the State of New 
        Jersey by a violent predator who had been convicted previously 
        of a sex offense.
            (2) In 1996, Congress adopted Megan's Law (Public Law 104-
        145) as a means to encourage States to inform the public of sex 
        offenders who had been convicted and are present in their 
        communities.
            (3) In 2006, Congress adopted the Sex Offender Registration 
        and Notification Act (title I of Public Law 109-248), which 
        further strengthens the national standards for sex offender 
        registration and public notification.
            (4) Since 2003, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement 
        has made nearly 11,000 arrests, including over 9,100 arrests of 
        non-United States citizens, of persons suspected of illegally 
        exploiting children. Violations include child pornography, 
        child sex tourism and facilitators, and trafficking of minors.
            (5) It is estimated that more than 2 million children are 
        exploited each year in the global commercial sex trade.
    (b) Declaration of Purposes.--The purposes of this Act and the 
amendments made by this Act are to prevent the international travel of 
sex traffickers and other sex offenders who intend to commit a sexual 
offense by--
            (1) expanding access to information about known sex 
        offenders in the United States who intend to travel outside the 
        United States;
            (2) ensuring that foreign nationals who have committed a 
        sex offense are denied entry into the United States;
            (3) including information in the annual report to Congress 
        required by section 110(b)(1) of the Trafficking Victims 
        Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7107(b)(1)) regarding the 
        establishment of systems to identify and provide notice of 
        international travel by sex offenders to destination countries; 
        and
            (4) providing assistance to foreign countries under the 
        Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to meet the requirements 
        described in paragraph (3).

SEC. 3. SEX OFFENDER TRAVEL REPORTING REQUIREMENT.

    (a) Duty To Report.--An individual who is required to register 
pursuant to section 113 of the Sex Offender Registration and 
Notification Act shall notify an appropriate jurisdiction or 
jurisdictions in conformity with the rules issued under subsection (b) 
not later than 21 days before departure to or arrival from a foreign 
place. A jurisdiction so notified shall promptly inform the Secretary 
of Homeland Security and the Attorney General.
    (b) Rules for Reporting.--Not later than 90 days after the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security and the 
Attorney General shall make rules to carry out subsection (a) in the 
light of the purposes of this Act. Such rules--
            (1) shall establish procedures for reporting under 
        subsection (a);
            (2) shall set forth the information required to be 
        reported; and
            (3) may provide for appropriate alternative reporting in 
        situations, such as emergencies, where the requirement of 
        subsection (a) is impracticable or inappropriate.
    (c) Criminal Penalty for Failure To Report.--
            (1) New offense.--Section 2250 of title 18, United States 
        Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(d) Whoever knowingly fails to report his or her travel to or 
from a foreign place as required by the International Megan's Law of 
2007 shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 10 
years, or both.''.
            (2) Amendment to heading of section.--The heading for 
        section 2250 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by 
        inserting ``or report international travel'' after 
        ``register''.
            (3) Conforming amendment to affirmative defense.--Section 
        2250(b) of title 18, United States Code, is amended by 
        inserting ``or (d)'' after ``(a)''.
            (4) Conforming amendment to federal penalties for violent 
        crimes.--Section 2250(c) of title 18, United States Code, is 
        amended by inserting ``or (d)'' after ``(a)'' each place it 
        appears.
            (5) Clerical amendment.--The item relating to section 2250 
        in the table of sections at the beginning of chapter 109B of 
        title 18, United States Code, is amended by inserting ``or 
        report international travel'' after ``register''.
    (d) Duty To Notify Sex Offenders of Reporting Requirement.--When an 
official is required under the Sex Offender Registration and 
Notification Act to notify an offender of a duty to register under that 
Act, the official shall also, at the same time--
            (1) notify that offender of that offender's duty to report 
        under this section and the procedure for fulfilling that duty; 
        and
            (2) require the offender to read and sign a form stating 
        that the duty to report and the procedure for reporting has 
        been explained and that the offender understands the reporting 
        requirement.

SEC. 4. NOTIFICATION TO FOREIGN AUTHORITIES OF INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL BY 
              SEX OFFENDERS.

    (a) In General.--In order to protect children and others and 
prevent sex trafficking, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall 
establish a system in consultation with the Attorney General and the 
Secretary of State whereby the appropriate authorities in relevant 
foreign countries or territories are notified in a timely manner about 
travel outside the United States by persons required to register under 
the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act and to report 
pursuant to section 3 of this Act.
    (b) Foreign Authorities To Be Given Sufficient Information.--Each 
foreign authority notified under subsection (a) shall be given 
sufficient identifying information so as to be able to properly 
identify and track the registered individual.
    (c) Technical Assistance.--The Secretary of State may provide 
technical assistance to foreign authorities in order to enable such 
authorities to participate more effectively in the notification program 
established under this section.

SEC. 5. IMMIGRATION LAW REFORM TO PREVENT ADMISSION OF SEX OFFENDERS TO 
              THE UNITED STATES.

    Section 212(a)(2) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 
U.S.C.1182(a)(2)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(J) Sex offenders.--Any alien convicted of, or 
                who admits having committed, or who admits committing 
                acts which constitute the essential elements of, a sex 
                offense (as defined in section 111 of the Sex Offender 
                Registration and Notification Act (title I of Public 
                Law 109-248)) is inadmissible.''.

SEC. 6. ANNUAL REPORT ON STATUS OF SEVERE FORMS OF TRAFFICKING IN 
              PERSONS AND IMPLEMENTATION ASSESSMENT.

    (a) In General.--Section 110(b)(1) of the Trafficking Victims 
Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7107(b)(1)) is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (C), by striking ``and'' at the end;
            (2) by redesignating subparagraph (D) as subparagraph (E); 
        and
            (3) by inserting after subparagraph (C) the following:
                    ``(D)(i) a list of those countries that have 
                established a system--
                            ``(I) to identify sex offenders (as defined 
                        for purposes of the Sex Offender Registration 
                        and Notification Act (title I of Public Law 
                        109-248; 42 U.S.C. 16911)) traveling to the 
                        United States or any other country; and
                            ``(II) to notify the United States or the 
                        other country of--
                                    ``(aa) the identity of the 
                                individual,
                                    ``(bb) the nature of the sex 
                                offense for which the individual was 
                                convicted, and
                                    ``(cc) the anticipated manner, 
                                date, and time of the individual's 
                                arrival in the United States or the 
                                other country,
                        prior to the individual's travel;
                    ``(ii) a list of those countries that are making 
                substantial progress in establishing a system pursuant 
                to clause (i), and the estimated time of completion;
                    ``(iii) a list of those countries that do not have 
                and are not making substantial progress in establishing 
                a system pursuant to clause (i); and
                    ``(iv) an assessment as to the progress made and 
                difficulties that exist in establishing a system 
                pursuant to clause (i) on a global scale, and the 
                extent of inter-country cooperation with respect to sex 
                offender travel notifications; and''.
    (b) Assessment Required.--Not later than two years after the date 
of the enactment of this Act, the President shall transmit to the 
appropriate congressional committees an assessment based on the 
information provided pursuant to subparagraph (D) of section 110(b)(1) 
of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7107(b)(1) 
(as added by subsection (a) of this section), as to how an amendment to 
section 108(a) of such Act (22 U.S.C. 7106(a)) to include the 
establishment of a system described in subparagraph (D) of section 
110(b)(1) of such Act (as added by subsection (a) of this section) 
would facilitate and contribute to advancing the establishment of such 
a system on a global scale.
    (c) Appropriate Congressional Committees Defined.--For purposes of 
subsection (b), the term ``appropriate congressional committees'' means 
the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and 
the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate.

SEC. 7. ASSISTANCE TO FOREIGN COUNTRIES TO MEET MINIMUM STANDARDS FOR 
              THE ELIMINATION OF TRAFFICKING.

    (a) In General.--The President is strongly encouraged to exercise 
the authorities of section 134 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 
(22 U.S.C. 2152d) to provide assistance to foreign countries directly, 
or through nongovernmental and multilateral organizations, for 
programs, projects, and activities designed to establish systems to 
identify and provide notification of sex offenders traveling to the 
United States or any other country.
    (b) Definition.--In this section, the term ``sex offender'' has the 
meaning given the term for purposes of the Sex Offender Registration 
and Notification Act (title I of Public Law 109-248; 42 U.S.C. 16911)).

SEC. 8. CONGRESSIONAL REPORT.

    (a) Report Required.--Not later than one year after the enactment 
of this Act and every year for 4 years thereafter, the President shall 
submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report on the 
implementation of this Act and the amendments made by this Act, 
including--
            (1) the number of sex offenders who report travel to or 
        from a foreign place pursuant to section 3(a) of this Act;
            (2) the number of sex offenders prosecuted and convicted 
        for failing to report travel to or from a foreign place 
        pursuant to section 3(a) of this Act; and
            (3) what actions have been taken, if any, by foreign 
        countries and territories of destination following notification 
        pursuant to section 4 of this Act.
    (b) Appropriate Congressional Committees Defined.--For purposes of 
subsection (a), the term ``appropriate congressional committees'' means 
the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and 
the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate.

SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    To carry out this Act and the amendments made by this Act, there 
are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary for 
each of the fiscal years 2009 through 2013.
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