[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4600 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4600

   To prohibit the use of funds to transfer or release an individual 
    detained at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base to the custody of another 
                                country.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            February 4, 2010

 Ms. Ros-Lehtinen (for herself, Mr. Boehner, Mr. McKeon, Mr. Smith of 
Texas, Mr. King of New York, Mr. Hoekstra, Mr. Lewis of California, Ms. 
   Granger, and Mr. Pence) introduced the following bill; which was 
              referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To prohibit the use of funds to transfer or release an individual 
    detained at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base to the custody of another 
                                country.

    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) On January 22, 2009, President Obama signed Executive 
        Order 13492, requiring the detention facilities at the 
        Guantanamo Bay Naval Base (Guantanamo) to be closed ``as soon 
        as practicable'', but not later than one year from the date of 
        the order.
            (2) A task force of United States Government agencies, 
        including the Departments of Homeland Security, Defense, State, 
        and Justice and the Central Intelligence Agency and the Federal 
        Bureau of Investigation, has reportedly concluded that large 
        numbers of the detainees held at the United States military 
        facility at Guantanamo pose a severe and permanent threat 
        United States national security and thus should be held 
        indefinitely without trial under the laws of war.
            (3) Despite this conclusion by United States national 
        security and intelligence agencies, the Obama Administration 
        continues to plan for additional transfers of detainees to 
        other countries.
            (4) According to a report by the Government Accountability 
        Office, as of March 2009, the principal ``rehabilitation 
        center'' in Saudi Arabia used to rehabilitate 250 former 
        Guantanamo detainees in order to prevent such detainees from 
        resuming their war on the United States had a recidivism rate 
        of 20 percent.
            (5) In July 2007, a Department of Defense spokesman stated 
        that, ``Our reports indicate that at least 30 former Guantanamo 
        detainees have taken part in anti-coalition militant activities 
        after leaving United States detention. Some have been killed in 
        combat in Afghanistan and Pakistan.''. According to the 
        Department of Defense, the recidivism rate of all former 
        Guantanamo detainees was 14 percent in May 2009.
            (6) In some instances, countries and organizations have 
        expressed strong reluctance to accept any or additional former 
        Guantanamo detainees, citing security as their primary concern, 
        such as:
                    (A) Australia: ``Assessing those requests from a 
                case-by-case basis, they had not met our stringent 
                national security and immigration criteria and have 
                been rejected.'', stated Julia Gillard, Acting 
                Australian Prime Minister, on January 3, 2009.
                    (B) Hungary: ``Hungary is likely to take one or two 
                former detainees provided they get the green light from 
                parliament after a national security check-up. . . . We 
                are going to study each case, taking the safety of 
                Hungary and of Hungarians as our first priority.'', 
                announced Hungarian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman 
                Zsuzsanna Matrai on June 19, 2009.
                    (C) Switzerland: On January 12, 2010, in a 15-10 
                vote, a Swiss Parliamentary Security Committee voted 
                against accepting any more detainees from Guantanamo, 
                citing ``heightened'' security concerns due to the 
                Christmas Detroit bombing attempt.
                    (D) European Parliament: ``Many of the detainees, 
                for example, who went to Afghanistan after September 
                11, [2001,] have attended training camps for 
                terrorists. And those who did so were no tourists 
                wanting to admire the beauty of the country, but remain 
                potential terrorists.'', stated Harthmuth Nassauer, a 
                German member of the European Parliament, on February 
                4, 2009.

SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON USE OF FUNDS FOR TRANSFER OR RELEASE OF 
              INDIVIDUALS DETAINED AT GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE.

    (a) In General.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no 
funds made available to any relevant executive branch agency may be 
used to encourage, facilitate, or otherwise effect the transfer or 
release of any individual currently detained at Guantanamo to the 
custody of the individual's country of origin or a third country unless 
the President makes the certification described in subsection (b).
    (b) Presidential Certification.--The certification described in 
this subsection is a written certification that the President submits 
to the appropriate congressional committees that contains each of the 
following with respect to an individual currently detained at 
Guantanamo or an individual covered by this section who is proposed to 
be transferred or released into the custody of another country:
            (1) A certification that the government of the country--
                    (A) exercises effective control over all of its 
                territory;
                    (B) does not allow any area of its territory to be 
                used as a safe haven or sanctuary by terrorists or 
                insurgent groups, including Al Qaeda; and
                    (C) has effectively and verifiably tracked the 
                movements and activities of all individuals who had 
                been detained at Guantanamo who are transferred or 
                released into its custody, including any individual who 
                may have subsequently left the country, and has 
                provided the United States Government with all relevant 
                information relating thereto.
            (2) A certification that there is no confirmed case of any 
        individual who had been detained at Guantanamo who reengaged in 
        any actual or planned act of terrorism or threat to United 
        States citizens or members of the United States Armed Forces 
        subsequent to being transferred or released to such country.
    (c) Additional Prohibition.--
            (1) In general.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 
        law, no funds made available to the Department of State may be 
        used to provide assistance to the government of a country to 
        which an individual currently detained at Guantanamo is to be 
        transferred or released for use by the security forces of such 
        country unless the President makes the certification described 
        in subsection (b).
            (2) Waiver.--The President may waive the prohibition of 
        paragraph (1) if the President determines that--
                    (A) it is vital to the national security of the 
                United States to do so; and
                    (B) the government of the country has taken 
                effective action to meet the requirements of subsection 
                (b).

SEC. 3. REPORT.

    (a) In General.--Accompanying each certification submitted pursuant 
to section 2(b), and every 90 days thereafter, the Secretary of State 
shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report that 
describes--
            (1) the ability and willingness of the government of the 
        country to which an individual currently detained at Guantanamo 
        is to be transferred or released to continuously track the 
        movements and activities of all individuals who have been 
        detained at Guantanamo who have been transferred or released to 
        such country, including any such individuals who have 
        subsequently left the country;
            (2) any activity by any individual who had been detained at 
        Guantanamo who has been transferred or released to such country 
        that has contributed to any actual or planned act of terrorism 
        or threat to United States citizens or members of the United 
        States Armed Forces subsequent to being transferred or released 
        to such country;
            (3) the extent to which the government of the country has 
        provided the information described in paragraphs (1) and (2) to 
        United States Government authorities; and
            (4) the steps taken by the government of the country to 
        comply with the requirements in this Act.
    (b) Form.--The report required by subsection (a) shall be submitted 
in an unclassified form, but may contain a classified annex.

SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
        ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
                    (A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the 
                Committee on Appropriations of the House of 
                Representatives; and
                    (B) the Committee on Foreign Relations and the 
                Committee on Appropriations of the Senate.
            (2) Individual currently detained at guantanamo.--The term 
        ``individual currently detained at Guantanamo'' has the meaning 
        given the term under section 1(c) of Executive Order 13492.
            (3) Relevant executive branch agency.--The term ``relevant 
        executive branch agency'' means--
                    (A) the Department of State;
                    (B) the United States Agency for International 
                Development; and
                    (C) any other United States Government department, 
                agency, instrumentality, or representative carrying out 
                any provision of law that is classified under Budget 
                Function 150 (International Affairs).
            (4) Sanctuary.--The term ``sanctuary'' has the meaning 
        given the term in section 140(d)(5) of the Foreign Relations 
        Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1988 and 1989 (22 U.S.C. 
        2656f(d)(5)).
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