[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6010 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6010

 To prohibit the extrajudicial killing of United States citizens, and 
                          for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 30, 2010

 Mr. Kucinich (for himself, Mr. Conyers, Mr. Filner, Mr. Grijalva, Mr. 
    Stark, Mr. Ellison, and Mr. Jackson of Illinois) introduced the 
     following bill; which was referred to the Select Committee on 
 Intelligence (Permanent Select), and in addition to the Committees on 
   the Judiciary and Armed Services, 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 prohibit the extrajudicial killing of United States citizens, 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) On January 27, 2010, The Washington Post revealed that 
        United States citizens have been included on lists maintained 
        by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the Joint Special 
        Operations Command (JSOC) to be assassinated.
            (2) The January 27 Washington Post article reported that 
        the JSOC and CIA maintain lists of individuals deemed ``High 
        Value Targets'' and ``High Value Individuals'', whom they seek 
        to kill or capture, that the lists currently include United 
        States citizens, and that the President has authorized military 
        operations with the express understanding that a United States 
        citizen may be killed.
            (3) Admiral Dennis C. Blair, then the Director of National 
        Intelligence, in testimony before the House Select Committee on 
        Intelligence on February 3, 2010, confirmed the policy of 
        including United States citizens on such lists, stating that 
        ``a decision to use lethal force against a U.S. citizen must 
        get special permission'' before the targeting of a United 
        States citizen can be granted and that ``being a U.S. citizen 
        will not spare an American from getting assassinated by 
        military or intelligence operatives overseas if the individual 
        is working with terrorists and planning to attack fellow 
        Americans.''
            (4) The Obama administration has publicly authorized the 
        extrajudicial killing of Anwar Al-Awlaki, a United States 
        citizen born in New Mexico who is accused of involvement in 
        terrorist organizations abroad, the first confirmed United 
        States citizen to be added to a CIA list of targets for capture 
        or killing.
            (5) According to an article published in The Nation in 
        November 2009, the private security contractor Blackwater 
        Worldwide, now Xe Services, is intimately involved with the 
        targeted assassination programs run by the CIA and JSOC in 
        Pakistan.
            (6) Department of Defense Instruction 1100.22, issued on 
        April 12, 2010, states that ``security is inherently 
        governmental'' and that the ``U.S. Government has exclusive 
        responsibility for discretionary decisions concerning the 
        appropriate, measured use of combat power, including the 
        offensive use of destructive or deadly force on behalf of the 
        United States'', particularly in operations that have virtually 
        no transparency, accountability, or oversight.
            (7) United States Attorney General Eric J. Holder 
        recognized that the Department of Justice has successfully 
        prosecuted many terrorism defendants in Federal courts, stating 
        on Friday, November 13, 2009, that ``for over two hundred 
        years, our nation has relied on a faithful adherence to the 
        rule of law to bring criminals to justice . . . Once again we 
        will ask our legal system to rise to that challenge, and I am 
        confident it will answer the call with fairness and justice''.
            (8) Executive Order 12333 (46 Fed. Reg. 59941; relating to 
        United States intelligence activities), issued by President 
        Ronald Reagan in 1981, stated, ``No person employed by or 
        acting on behalf of the United States Government shall engage 
        in, or conspire to engage in, assassination''.
            (9) Executive Order 11905 (41 Fed. Reg. 7703; relating to 
        United States foreign intelligence activities), issued by 
        President Gerald Ford in 1976, stated, ``No employee of the 
        United States Government shall engage in, or conspire to engage 
        in, political assassination''.

SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) due process of law is a fundamental principle in the 
        United States Constitution, the United States has a commitment 
        to the principles included in the Bill of Rights, and no United 
        States citizen, regardless of location, can be ``deprived of 
        life, liberty, property, without due process of law'', as 
        stated in Article XIV of the Constitution;
            (2) the participation in, or planning of activities, by the 
        United States Government that result in the extrajudicial 
        killing of a United States citizen undermines the rule of law 
        and the moral standing of the United States in the world;
            (3) the United States and other responsible nations have a 
        vital interest in upholding the rule of law;
            (4) the authority granted to the President in the 
        Authorization for Use of Military Force (50 U.S.C. 1541 note), 
        following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, is not 
        limitless;
            (5) this authority has been used by the Executive Branch to 
        circumvent the role of Congress as a co-equal branch of 
        Government, to justify holding prisoners indefinitely at 
        Guantanamo Bay, for mass domestic spying on United States 
        citizens in violation of their most basic constitutional 
        rights, and to use lethal force against United States citizens 
        abroad who are believed to participate in terrorist activities 
        absent judicial review;
            (6) the notion that the constitutional rights of one 
        citizen can be revoked to protect the constitutional rights of 
        other citizens should be rejected;
            (7) the use of extrajudicial force against a citizen of the 
        United States that is outside of the internationally recognized 
        battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan constitutes a violation of 
        the law of armed conflict; and
            (8) it is in the best interest of the United States to 
        respect the rule of law and set the example for upholding the 
        principles of international and domestic law.

SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON THE EXTRAJUDICIAL KILLING OF UNITED STATES 
              CITIZENS.

    (a) Prohibition.--No one, including the President, may instruct a 
person acting within the scope of employment with the United States 
Government or an agent acting on behalf of the United States Government 
to engage in, or conspire to engage in, the extrajudicial killing of a 
United States citizen.
    (b) Report on United States Citizens on Targeted Assassination 
Lists.--Not later than 7 days after the date of the enactment of this 
Act, the President shall submit to the congressional intelligence 
committees a report on the identity of each United States citizen that 
is on the list of the Joint Special Operations Command or the Central 
Intelligence Agency as ``high value individuals'' or ``high value 
targets''.
    (c) Assurances to Congress.--Not later than 7 days after the date 
of the enactment of this Act, the President shall submit to the 
congressional intelligence committees a written assurance that no 
United States citizens are being added to the list of the Joint Special 
Operations Command or the Central Intelligence Agency as ``high value 
individuals'' or ``high value targets''.
    (d) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Congressional intelligence committees.--The term 
        ``congressional intelligence committees'' means--
                    (A) the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence 
                of the House of Representatives; and
                    (B) the Select Committee on Intelligence of the 
                Senate.
            (2) Extrajudicial killing.--The term ``extrajudicial 
        killing''--
                    (A) means a premeditated and intentional use of 
                lethal force against a United States citizen; and
                    (B) does not include--
                            (i) the use of lethal force against a 
                        United States citizen after a trial and finding 
                        of guilt for such citizen by an appropriate 
                        tribunal consistent with due process of law;
                            (ii) the use of lethal force against a 
                        United States citizen who is directly 
                        participating in hostilities in a zone of 
                        active armed conflict and the United States is 
                        a party to such conflict; and
                            (iii) the use of lethal force against a 
                        United States citizen that is authorized for 
                        law enforcement personnel under certain 
                        circumstances, including self-defense, defense 
                        of others, and enabling the release of 
                        hostages.
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