[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2135 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]
S.2135
One Hundred Tenth Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE SECOND SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Thursday,
the third day of January, two thousand and eight
An Act
To prohibit the recruitment or use of child soldiers, to designate
persons who recruit or use child soldiers as inadmissible aliens, to
allow the deportation of persons who recruit or use child soldiers, 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 ``Child Soldiers Accountability Act of
2008''.
SEC. 2. ACCOUNTABILITY FOR THE RECRUITMENT AND USE OF CHILD SOLDIERS.
(a) Crime for Recruiting or Using Child Soldiers.--
(1) In general.--Chapter 118 of title 18, United States Code,
is amended by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 2442. Recruitment or use of child soldiers
``(a) Offense.--Whoever knowingly--
``(1) recruits, enlists, or conscripts a person to serve while
such person is under 15 years of age in an armed force or group; or
``(2) uses a person under 15 years of age to participate
actively in hostilities;
knowing such person is under 15 years of age, shall be punished as
provided in subsection (b).
``(b) Penalty.--Whoever violates, or attempts or conspires to
violate, subsection (a) shall be fined under this title or imprisoned
not more than 20 years, or both and, if death of any person results,
shall be fined under this title and imprisoned for any term of years or
for life.
``(c) Jurisdiction.--There is jurisdiction over an offense
described in subsection (a), and any attempt or conspiracy to commit
such offense, if--
``(1) the alleged offender is a national of the United States
(as defined in section 101(a)(22) of the Immigration and
Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(22))) or an alien lawfully
admitted for permanent residence in the United States (as defined
in section 101(a)(20) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(20));
``(2) the alleged offender is a stateless person whose habitual
residence is in the United States;
``(3) the alleged offender is present in the United States,
irrespective of the nationality of the alleged offender; or
``(4) the offense occurs in whole or in part within the United
States.
``(d) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) Participate actively in hostilities.--The term
`participate actively in hostilities' means taking part in--
``(A) combat or military activities related to combat,
including sabotage and serving as a decoy, a courier, or at a
military checkpoint; or
``(B) direct support functions related to combat, including
transporting supplies or providing other services.
``(2) Armed force or group.--The term `armed force or group'
means any army, militia, or other military organization, whether or
not it is state-sponsored, excluding any group assembled solely for
nonviolent political association.''.
(2) Statute of limitations.--Chapter 213 of title 18, United
States Code is amended by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 3300. Recruitment or use of child soldiers
``No person may be prosecuted, tried, or punished for a violation
of section 2442 unless the indictment or the information is filed not
later than 10 years after the commission of the offense.''.
(3) Clerical amendment.--Title 18, United States Code, is
amended--
(A) in the table of sections for chapter 118, by adding at
the end the following:
``2442. Recruitment or use of child soldiers.'';
and
(B) in the table of sections for chapter 213, by adding at
the end the following:
``3300. Recruitment or use of child soldiers.''.
(b) Ground of Inadmissibility for Recruiting or Using Child
Soldiers.--Section 212(a)(3) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8
U.S.C. 1182(a)(3)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(G) Recruitment or use of child soldiers.--Any alien who
has engaged in the recruitment or use of child soldiers in
violation of section 2442 of title 18, United States Code, is
inadmissible.''.
(c) Ground of Removability for Recruiting or Using Child
Soldiers.--Section 237(a)(4) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8
U.S.C. 1227(a)(4)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(F) Recruitment or use of child soldiers.--Any alien who
has engaged in the recruitment or use of child soldiers in
violation of section 2442 of title 18, United States Code, is
deportable.''.
(d) Asylum and Withholding of Removal.--
(1) Issuance of regulations.--Not later than 60 days after the
date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General and the
Secretary of Homeland Security shall promulgate final regulations
establishing that, for purposes of sections 241(b)(3)(B)(iii) and
208(b)(2)(A)(iii) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C.
1231(b)(3)(B)(iii); 8 U.S.C. 1158(b)(2)(A)(iii)), an alien who is
deportable under section 237(a)(4)(F) of such Act (8 U.S.C.
1227(a)(4)(F)) or inadmissible under section 212(a)(3)(G) of such
Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(3)(G)) shall be considered an alien with
respect to whom there are serious reasons to believe that the alien
committed a serious nonpolitical crime.
(2) Authority to waive certain regulatory requirements.--The
requirements of chapter 5 of title 5, United States Code (commonly
referred to as the ``Administrative Procedure Act''), chapter 35 of
title 44, United States Code (commonly referred to as the
``Paperwork Reduction Act''), or any other law relating to
rulemaking, information collection, or publication in the Federal
Register, shall not apply to any action to implement paragraph (1)
to the extent the Attorney General or the Secretary Homeland of
Security determines that compliance with any such requirement would
impede the expeditious implementation of such paragraph.
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Vice President of the United States and
President of the Senate.