[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3526 Introduced in House (IH)]

113th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3526

 To permit persons subject to the jurisdiction of the United States to 
 enter into transactions with certain sanctioned foreign persons that 
 are customary, necessary, and incidental to the donation or provision 
of goods or services to prevent or alleviate the suffering of civilian 
                  populations, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           November 18, 2013

   Mr. Smith of New Jersey introduced the following bill; which was 
 referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the 
Committee on the Judiciary, 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 permit persons subject to the jurisdiction of the United States to 
 enter into transactions with certain sanctioned foreign persons that 
 are customary, necessary, and incidental to the donation or provision 
of goods or services to prevent or alleviate the suffering of civilian 
                  populations, 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 ``Humanitarian Assistance Facilitation 
Act of 2013''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The 2011-2012 drought in East Africa, part of a 
        persistent weather trend in the region, was exacerbated by 
        stagnating agricultural development and unsustainable forms of 
        livelihood. Moreover, in Somalia, the hardest hit country in 
        the region, the terrorist group al-Shabaab obstructed the 
        delivery of humanitarian assistance and directly threatened aid 
        agencies. Thus, the famine was a foreseeable and, with 
        unimpeded delivery of aid, a preventable event.
            (2) It is estimated that 4 million Somalis were affected by 
        the drought and famine in the region and several million remain 
        vulnerable to this day. According to the May 2013 report issued 
        by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization and the 
        Famine Early Warning System Network, the Somalia famine 
        resulted in 258,000 deaths between October 2010 and April 2012. 
        More than half of those deaths were children under the age of 
        five.
            (3) Because of laws prohibiting activities that may 
        directly or indirectly support terrorist organizations, a 
        general or specific license issued by the Department of the 
        Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is needed to 
        enable United States humanitarian organizations to legally 
        provide assistance in al-Shabaab-controlled areas of Somalia 
        particularly with respect to activities that require 
        interactions or dealings with al-Shabaab.
            (4) The United States Agency for International Development 
        (USAID) has an OFAC-specific license to operate in these 
        conditions in Somalia that covers the organizations that USAID 
        funds, but not organizations that operate with their own 
        funding or funding solely from non-United States Government 
        sources, and also not the non-United States Government funding 
        of organizations that operate with both United States 
        Government and non-United States Government funding, unless 
        USAID authorizes both types of funding to be covered under such 
        OFAC-specific license. Organizations that operate in al-
        Shabaab-controlled areas without such a license can be subject 
        to prosecution for violating United States law, at least with 
        respect to activities or transactions that involve al-Shabaab, 
        even incidentally.
            (5) Prior to OFAC issuing USAID its license, no licenses 
        for humanitarian assistance to the people of Somalia were 
        issued before the United Nations declared a famine in al-
        Shabaab-controlled areas of Somalia.
            (6) In pursuit of eliminating aid in any form to terrorist 
        organizations, Executive orders have had the effect of undoing 
        protections for humanitarian operations in areas controlled by 
        such organizations previously contained in the International 
        Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C.1701 et seq.) and 
        sections 2339A and 2339B of title 18, United States Code 
        (commonly known as the ``Material Support Statutes''). 
        Furthermore, the prohibitions contained in such Executive 
        orders and the Material Support Statutes discouraged and, in 
        some instances, prohibited donors from contributing to aid 
        efforts for all of Somalia. In some cases, the unintended 
        consequences included preventing humanitarian organizations 
        from establishing access to civilians and providing them with 
        life-saving aid, while empowering terrorist organizations that 
        became the sole conduit of aid.

SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of Congress that humanitarian organizations, acting 
in good faith and with the appropriate restrictions and controls in 
place, should not be prevented, directly or indirectly by Executive 
orders or counterterrorism laws, from accessing and providing aid to 
civilian populations before or early on in humanitarian crises, such as 
in the famine in al-Shabaab-controlled areas of Somalia.

SEC. 4. AMENDMENTS TO SECTION 203 OF THE INTERNATIONAL EMERGENCY 
              ECONOMIC POWERS ACT.

    (a) Additional Exception.--
            (1) In general.--Section 203 of the International Emergency 
        Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1702) is amended--
                    (A) in subsection (b)(2)--
                            (i) by inserting after ``to relieve human 
                        suffering'' the following: ``including 
                        donations to foreign persons subject to 
                        sanctions under this Act in order to achieve 
                        such purposes,''; and
                            (ii) by striking ``or'' at the end;
                    (B) by redesignating subsection (c) as subsection 
                (d); and
                    (C) by inserting after subsection (b) the 
                following:
    ``(c) Additional Exception.--
            ``(1) In general.--The authority granted to the President 
        by this section does not include the authority to further 
        restrict, by regulation or otherwise, directly or indirectly--
                    ``(A) transactions, by a person subject to the 
                jurisdiction of the United States, with a foreign 
                person that is subject to sanctions under this Act that 
                are customary, necessary, and incidental to the 
                donation or provision of goods or services by the 
                person subject to the jurisdiction of the United States 
                or its foreign representatives to civilian populations 
                to prevent or alleviate the suffering of such civilian 
                populations, if--
                            ``(i) the person subject to the 
                        jurisdiction of the United States has acted in 
                        good faith without intent to further the aims 
                        or objectives of the foreign person and has 
                        used its best efforts to minimize any such 
                        transactions;
                            ``(ii) the goods or services provided to 
                        the civilian population--
                                    ``(I) are limited to articles such 
                                as food, clothing, and medicine; and
                                    ``(II) are not capable of being 
                                used to carry out any terrorist 
                                activity (as defined in section 
                                212(a)(3)(B)(iii) of the Immigration 
                                and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
                                1182(a)(3)(B)(iii)));
                            ``(iii) the person subject to the 
                        jurisdiction of the United States--
                                    ``(I) prior to, or not later than 
                                10 business days after, the first 
                                instance of entering into any 
                                transaction described in this 
                                subparagraph, provides to the Secretary 
                                of State initial notice summarizing the 
                                nature and extent of its operations in 
                                connection with providing such goods or 
                                services; and
                                    ``(II) at least once each year 
                                during which the person enters into any 
                                transaction described in this 
                                subparagraph, provides to the Secretary 
                                of State subsequent notice summarizing 
                                the nature and extent of its operations 
                                in connection with donating or 
                                providing such goods or services; and
                            ``(iv) the person, including any director, 
                        officer, or employee of the person, is not the 
                        subject of or directly named in any publicly-
                        available debarment, suspension, or Executive 
                        order that prohibits receipt of funding from 
                        the United States Government; and
                    ``(B) engaging in any speech or communication with 
                a foreign person that is subject to sanctions under 
                this Act to prevent or alleviate the suffering of a 
                civilian population, including speech or communication 
                to reduce or eliminate the frequency and severity of 
                violent conflict and reducing its impact on the 
                civilian population.
            ``(2) Rule of construction.--Nothing contained in paragraph 
        (1) shall be construed to authorize the President to prohibit 
        the export of standard, commercially-available goods or 
        services, including communications equipment, software and 
        computers, that are necessary to carry out operations related 
        to the provision of goods or services to prevent or alleviate 
        the suffering of civilian populations that are under the 
        control of a foreign person subject to sanctions under this 
        Act.''.
            (2) Effective date.--The amendments made by paragraph (1) 
        take effect on the date of enactment of this Act and apply with 
        respect to transactions described in section 203(c)(1) of the 
        International Emergency Economic Powers Act, as added by 
        paragraph (1), entered into on or after such date of enactment.
    (b) Advisory Council To Prevent and Alleviate Human Suffering in 
Areas Under the Control of Certain Sanctioned Foreign Persons.--Section 
203 of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C.1702), 
as amended by subsection (a) of this section, is further amended by 
adding at the end the following:
    ``(e) Advisory Council To Prevent and Respond to Human Suffering in 
Areas Affected by Certain Sanctioned Foreign Persons.--
            ``(1) Establishment.--No later than 90 days after the date 
        of enactment of the Humanitarian Assistance Facilitation Act of 
        2013, the Secretary of State shall, in consultation with the 
        Attorney General, Secretary of Defense, Secretary of the 
        Treasury and the Secretary of Commerce, establish an Advisory 
        Council on United States Policy Related to Non-Governmental 
        Activities to Prevent and Respond to Human Suffering in Areas 
        Affected By Certain Sanctioned Foreign Persons (hereafter in 
        this subsection referred to as the `Advisory Council').
            ``(2) Membership.--The Advisory Council shall be composed 
        of not less than 15 members appointed by the Secretary of State 
        from among individuals who are experts in the fields of peace-
        building, humanitarian aid in areas of armed conflict, 
        representatives from organizations directly involved in the 
        delivery of aid in areas of armed conflict, and other experts 
        with relevant expertise as determined by the Secretary of 
        State.
            ``(3) Duties.--The Advisory Council shall--
                    ``(A) review existing laws, regulations, Executive 
                orders, and administrative actions regulating or 
                prohibiting, directly or indirectly, peacebuilding 
                activities and the provision of humanitarian aid and 
                development assistance in areas under the control of 
                foreign persons that are subject to sanctions under 
                United States law;
                    ``(B) conduct additional research and study as 
                necessary on the subjects of counter-terrorism and 
                security measures in relation to the delivery of 
                humanitarian aid and development assistance;
                    ``(C) report to the Secretary of State on its 
                findings; and
                    ``(D) make recommendations to the Secretary of 
                State and other officials described in paragraph (1) 
                (as appropriate) on the most efficient and effective 
                means of limiting diversion of humanitarian aid and 
                development assistance while also preserving the 
                impartiality of humanitarian aid and development 
                assistance and the ability of humanitarian 
                organizations to prevent and relieve human suffering of 
                civilian populations.
            ``(4) Termination.--Section 14(a)(2) of the Federal 
        Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) (relating to termination 
        of advisory committees) shall not apply to the Advisory 
        Council.''.

SEC. 5. AMENDMENTS TO SECTION 2339B OF TITLE 18, UNITED STATES CODE.

    (a) Definition of Material Support or Resources.--Section 
2339B(g)(4) of title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at 
the end before the semicolon the following: ``, except that such term 
does not include engaging in speech or communication with a terrorist 
organization to prevent or alleviate the suffering of a civilian 
population, including speech or communication to reduce or eliminate 
the frequency and severity of violent conflict and reducing its impact 
on the civilian population''.
    (b) Additional Exception.--Section 2339B(j) of title 18, United 
States Code, is amended--
            (1) by striking ``No person'' and inserting the following:
            ``(1) In general.--No person''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(2) Additional exception.--No person may be prosecuted 
        under this section in connection with knowingly providing 
        `material support or resources' to a foreign terrorist 
        organization, or attempting or conspiring to do so, if--
                    ``(A) the material support or resources consists 
                only of transactions that are customary, necessary, and 
                incidental to the donation or provision of goods or 
                services by persons who are not controlled by the 
                foreign terrorist organization to civilian populations, 
                if--
                            ``(i) the goods or services are limited 
                        articles such as food, clothing, and medicine 
                        intended to be used to relieve human suffering; 
                        and
                            ``(ii) the goods or services are not 
                        capable of being used to carry out any 
                        terrorist activity (as defined in section 
                        212(a)(3)(B)(iii) of the Immigration and 
                        Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(3)(B)(iii)));
                    ``(B) the person, in donating or providing such 
                goods or services to the civilian population, acts in 
                good faith without intent to further the aims or 
                objectives of the foreign terrorist organization and 
                uses its best efforts to minimize any transaction with 
                a foreign terrorist organization;
                    ``(C) the person--
                            ``(i) prior to, or not later than 10 
                        business days after, the first instance of 
                        entering into any transaction described in 
                        subparagraph (A), provides to the Secretary of 
                        State notice summarizing the nature and extent 
                        of its operations in connection with providing 
                        such goods or services; and
                            ``(ii) at least once each year during which 
                        the person enters into any transaction 
                        described in subparagraph (A), provides to the 
                        Secretary of State notice summarizing the 
                        nature and extent of its operations in 
                        connection with providing such goods or 
                        services; and
                    ``(D) the person donating or providing such goods 
                or services, including any director, officer, or 
                employee of the person is not the subject of or 
                directly named in any publicly-available debarment, 
                suspension, or Executive order that prohibits receipt 
                of funding from the Federal Government.''.
            (3) Effective date.--The amendments made by paragraphs (1) 
        and (2) take effect on the date of enactment of this Act and 
        apply with respect to transactions described in section 
        2339B(j)(2) of title 18, United States Code, as added by 
        paragraph (2), entered into on or after such date of enactment.
                                 <all>