[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2318 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]
S.2318
One Hundred Twelfth Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE SECOND SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,
the third day of January, two thousand and twelve
An Act
To authorize the Secretary of State to pay a reward to combat
transnational organized crime and for information concerning foreign
nationals wanted by international criminal tribunals, 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 ``Department of State Rewards Program
Update and Technical Corrections Act of 2012''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS.
(a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
(1) The Department of State's existing rewards programs permit
the payment of reward for information leading to the arrest or
conviction of--
(A) individuals who have committed, or attempted or
conspired to commit, certain acts of international terrorism;
(B) individuals who have committed, or attempted or
conspired to commit, certain narcotics-related offenses; and
(C) individuals who have been indicted by certain
international criminal tribunals.
(2) The Department of State considers the rewards program to be
``one of the most valuable assets the U.S. Government has in the
fight against international terrorism''. Since the program's
inception in 1984, the United States Government has rewarded over
60 people who provided actionable information that, according to
the Department of State, prevented international terrorist attacks
or helped convict individuals involved in terrorist attacks.
(3) The program has been credited with providing information in
several high-profile cases, including the arrest of Ramzi Yousef,
who was convicted in the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center,
the deaths of Uday and Qusay Hussein, who United States military
forces located and killed in Iraq after receiving information about
their locations, and the arrests or deaths of several members of
the Abu Sayyaf group, believed to be responsible for the
kidnappings and deaths of United States citizens and Filipinos in
the Philippines.
(b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that the
rewards program of the Department of State should be expanded in order
to--
(1) address the growing threat to important United States
interests from transnational criminal activity, such as
intellectual property rights piracy, money laundering, trafficking
in persons, arms trafficking, and cybercrime; and
(2) target other individuals indicted by international, hybrid,
or mixed tribunals for genocide, war crimes, or crimes against
humanity.
SEC. 3. ENHANCED REWARDS AUTHORITY.
Section 36 of the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956
(22 U.S.C. 2708) is amended--
(1) in subsection (a)(2), by inserting ``serious violations of
international humanitarian law, transnational organized crime,''
after ``international narcotics trafficking,'';
(2) in subsection (b)--
(A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by striking
``Attorney General'' and inserting ``heads of other relevant
departments or agencies'';
(B) in paragraphs (4) and (5), by striking ``paragraph (1),
(2), or (3)'' both places it appears and inserting ``paragraph
(1), (2), (3), (8), or (9)'';
(C) in paragraph (6)--
(i) by inserting ``or transnational organized crime
group'' after ``terrorist organization''; and
(ii) by striking ``or'' at the end;
(D) in paragraph (7)--
(i) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by
striking ``, including the use by the organization of
illicit narcotics production or international narcotics
trafficking'' and inserting ``or transnational organized
crime group, including the use by such organization or
group of illicit narcotics production or international
narcotics trafficking'';
(ii) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ``or
transnational organized crime'' after ``international
terrorism''; and
(iii) in subparagraph (B)--
(I) by inserting ``or transnational organized crime
group'' after ``terrorist organization''; and
(II) by striking the period at the end and
inserting a semicolon; and
(E) by adding at the end the following new paragraphs:
``(8) the arrest or conviction in any country of any individual
for participating in, primarily outside the United States,
transnational organized crime;
``(9) the arrest or conviction in any country of any individual
conspiring to participate in or attempting to participate in
transnational organized crime; or
``(10) the arrest or conviction in any country, or the transfer
to or conviction by an international criminal tribunal (including a
hybrid or mixed tribunal), of any foreign national accused of war
crimes, crimes against humanity, or genocide, as defined under the
statute of such tribunal.'';
(3) in subsection (g), by adding at the end the following new
paragraph:
``(3) Advance notification for international criminal tribunal
rewards.--Not less than 15 days before publicly announcing that a
reward may be offered for a particular foreign national accused of
war crimes, crimes against humanity, or genocide, the Secretary of
State shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a
report, which may be submitted in classified form if necessary,
setting forth the reasons why the arrest or conviction of such
foreign national is in the national interests of the United
States.''; and
(4) in subsection (k)--
(A) by redesignating paragraphs (5) and (6) as paragraphs
(7) and (8), respectively; and
(B) by inserting after paragraph (4) the following new
paragraphs:
``(5) Transnational organized crime.--The term `transnational
organized crime' means--
``(A) racketeering activity (as such term is defined in
section 1961 of title 18, United States Code) that involves at
least one jurisdiction outside the United States; or
``(B) any other criminal offense punishable by a term of
imprisonment of at least four years under Federal, State, or
local law that involves at least one jurisdiction outside the
United States and that is intended to obtain, directly or
indirectly, a financial or other material benefit.
``(6) Transnational organized crime group.--The term
`transnational organized crime group' means a group of persons that
includes one or more citizens of a foreign country, exists for a
period of time, and acts in concert with the aim of engaging in
transnational organized crime.''.
SEC. 4. TECHNICAL CORRECTION.
Section 36(e)(1) of the State Department Basic Authorities Act of
1956 (22 U.S.C. 2708) is amended by striking ``The Secretary shall
authorize a reward of $50,000,000 for the capture or death or
information leading to the capture or death of Osama bin Laden.''.
SEC. 5. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.
Nothing in this Act or the amendments made by this Act shall be
construed as authorizing the use of activity precluded under the
American Servicemembers' Protection Act of 2002 (title II of Public Law
107-206; 22 U.S.C. 7421 et seq.).
SEC. 6. FUNDING.
The Secretary of State shall use amounts appropriated or otherwise
made available to the Emergencies in the Diplomatic and Consular
Services account of the Department of State to pay rewards authorized
pursuant to this Act and to carry out other activities related to such
rewards authorized under section 36 of the State Department Basic
Authorities Act (22 U.S.C. 2708).
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Vice President of the United States and
President of the Senate.