[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2943 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

111th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2943

 To require the Attorney General to consult with appropriate officials 
  within the executive branch prior to making the decision to try an 
       unprivileged enemy belligerent in Federal civilian court.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            January 21, 2010

 Ms. Collins (for herself, Mr. Lieberman, Mr. Bennett, Mr. Ensign, and 
   Mr. Bond) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
               referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To require the Attorney General to consult with appropriate officials 
  within the executive branch prior to making the decision to try an 
       unprivileged enemy belligerent in Federal civilian court.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. CONSULTATION REQUIREMENT.

    (a) In General.--Subject to subsection (b), no action shall be 
taken by the Attorney General, or any officer or employee of the 
Department of Justice, to--
            (1) initiate a custodial interrogation of; or
            (2) file a civilian criminal complaint, information, or 
        indictment against;
any foreign person detained by the United States Government because 
they may have engaged in conduct constituting an act of war against the 
United States, terrorism, or material support to terrorists, or 
activities in preparation therefor.
    (b) Consultation.--
            (1) In general.--Subject to paragraph (2), the Attorney 
        General shall consult with the Director of National 
        Intelligence, the Director of the National Counterterrorism 
        Center, the Secretary of Homeland Security, and the Secretary 
        of Defense prior to taking any action identified in subsection 
        (a).
            (2) Presidential direction.--If, following consultation 
        under paragraph (1), the Director of National Intelligence, the 
        Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, the Secretary 
        of Homeland Security, or the Secretary of Defense believe that 
        any action identified in subsection (a) and proposed by the 
        Attorney General may prevent the collection of intelligence 
        related to terrorism or threats of violence against the United 
        States or its citizens, the Attorney General may not initiate 
        such action without specific direction from the President.
    (c) Annual Report.--The Attorney General shall report annually to 
appropriate committees of jurisdiction regarding the number of 
occasions on which direction was sought from the President under 
subsection (b)(2) and the number of times, on those occasions, that the 
President directed actions identified in section (a) against such 
foreign person.
    (d) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Appropriate committees of jurisdiction.--The term 
        ``appropriate committees of jurisdiction'' shall include--
                    (A) the Committee on Homeland Security and 
                Governmental Affairs of the Senate;
                    (B) the Committee on Homeland Security of the House 
                of Representatives;
                    (C) the Select Committee on Intelligence of the 
                Senate;
                    (D) the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence 
                of the House of Representatives; and
                    (E) the Committees on Armed Services and Judiciary 
                of the Senate and the Committees on Armed Services and 
                Judiciary of the House of Representatives.
            (2) Act of war, terrorism, material support to 
        terrorists.--The terms ``act of war'', ``terrorism'', and 
        ``material support to terrorists'' shall have the meanings 
        given such terms in title 18, United States Code.
    (e) Savings Clause.--Nothing in this section shall prevent the 
Attorney General, or any officer or employee of the Department of 
Justice, from apprehending or detaining an individual as authorized by 
the Constitution or laws of the United States except to the extent that 
activities incident to such apprehension or detention are specifically 
identified in subsection (a).
                                 <all>