[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4573 Introduced in House (IH)]

113th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4573

 To protect children from exploitation, especially sex trafficking in 
 tourism, by providing advance notice of intended travel by registered 
child-sex offenders outside the United States to the government of the 
 country of destination, requesting foreign governments to notify the 
 United States when a known child-sex offender is seeking to enter the 
                 United States, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 6, 2014

   Mr. Smith of New Jersey (for himself, Mrs. Ellmers, and Mr. Wolf) 
 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 protect children from exploitation, especially sex trafficking in 
 tourism, by providing advance notice of intended travel by registered 
child-sex offenders outside the United States to the government of the 
 country of destination, requesting foreign governments to notify the 
 United States when a known child-sex offender is seeking to enter the 
                 United States, 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 AND TABLE OF CONTENTS.

    (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``International 
Megan's Law to Prevent Demand for Child Sex Trafficking''.
    (b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this Act is as 
follows:

Sec. 1. Short title and table of contents.
Sec. 2. Findings.
Sec. 3. Definitions.
Sec. 4. Angel Watch Center.
Sec. 5. Authority to restrict passports.
Sec. 6. Sense of Congress provisions.
Sec. 7. Enhancing the minimum standards for the elimination of 
                            trafficking.
Sec. 8. Assistance to foreign countries to meet minimum standards for 
                            the elimination of trafficking.
Sec. 9. Rules of construction.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Megan Nicole Kanka, who was 7 years old, was abducted, 
        sexually assaulted, and murdered in 1994, in the State of New 
        Jersey by a violent predator living across the street from her 
        home. Unbeknownst to Megan Kanka and her family, he had been 
        convicted previously of a sex offense against a child.
            (2) In 1996, Congress adopted Megan's Law (Public Law 104-
        145) as a means to encourage States to protect children by 
        identifying the whereabouts of sex offenders and providing the 
        means to monitor their activities.
            (3) Law enforcement reports indicate that known child-sex 
        offenders are traveling internationally, and that the criminal 
        background of such individuals may not be known to local law 
        enforcement prior to their arrival.
            (4) The commercial sexual exploitation of minors in child 
        sex trafficking and pornography is a global phenomenon. The 
        International Labour Organization has estimated that 1.8 
        million children worldwide are victims of child sex trafficking 
        and pornography each year.
            (5) Child sex tourism, where an individual travels to a 
        foreign country and engages in sexual activity with a child in 
        that country, is a form of child exploitation and, where 
        commercial, child sex trafficking.
            (6) According to research conducted by The Protection 
        Project of The Johns Hopkins University Paul H. Nitze School of 
        Advanced International Studies, sex tourists from the United 
        States who target children form a significant percentage of 
        child sex tourists in some of the most significant destination 
        countries for child sex tourism.
            (7) In order to protect children, it is essential that 
        United States law enforcement be able to identify child-sex 
        offenders in the United States who are traveling abroad and 
        child-sex offenders from other countries entering the United 
        States. Such identification requires cooperative efforts 
        between the United States and foreign governments. In exchange 
        for providing notice of child-sex offenders traveling to the 
        United States, foreign authorities will expect United States 
        authorities to provide reciprocal notice of child-sex offenders 
        traveling to their countries.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Appropriate congressional committees.--Except as 
        otherwise provided, the term ``appropriate congressional 
        committees'' means--
                    (A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee 
                on the Judiciary, and the Committee on Homeland 
                Security of the House of Representatives; and
                    (B) the Committee on Foreign Relations, the 
                Committee on the Judiciary, and the Committee on 
                Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the 
                Senate.
            (2) Center.--The term ``Center'' means the Angel Watch 
        Center established pursuant to section 4(a).
            (3) Child-sex offender.--
                    (A) In general.--The term ``child-sex offender'' 
                means a sex offender described in paragraph (2), (3), 
                or (4) of section 111 of the Adam Walsh Child 
                Protection and Safety Act of 2006 (42 U.S.C. 16911) who 
                is convicted of a child-sex offense.
                    (B) Definition of convicted.--In this paragraph, 
                the term ``convicted'' has the meaning given the term 
                in paragraph (8) of section 111 of such Act.
            (4) Child-sex offense.--
                    (A) In general.--The term ``child-sex offense'' 
                means a specified offense against a minor as defined in 
                paragraph (7) of section 111 of the Adam Walsh Child 
                Protection and Safety Act of 2006 (42 U.S.C. 16911), 
                including--
                            (i) an offense (unless committed by a 
                        parent or guardian) involving kidnapping;
                            (ii) an offense (unless committed by a 
                        parent or guardian) involving false 
                        imprisonment;
                            (iii) solicitation to engage in sexual 
                        conduct;
                            (iv) use in a sexual performance;
                            (v) solicitation to practice prostitution;
                            (vi) video voyeurism as described in 
                        section 1801 of title 18, United States Code;
                            (vii) possession, production, or 
                        distribution of child pornography;
                            (viii) criminal sexual conduct involving a 
                        minor, or the use of the Internet to facilitate 
                        or attempt such conduct; and
                            (ix) any conduct that by its nature is a 
                        sex offense against a minor.
                    (B) Foreign convictions.--A foreign conviction is 
                not a child-sex offense for purposes of this Act to the 
                same extent and in the same manner as a foreign 
                conviction is not a sex offense for purposes of the 
                Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 (42 
                U.S.C. 16911) as described in section 111(5)(B) of such 
                Act.
            (5) Jurisdiction.--The term ``jurisdiction'' means any of 
        the following:
                    (A) A State.
                    (B) The District of Columbia.
                    (C) The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
                    (D) Guam.
                    (E) American Samoa.
                    (F) The Northern Mariana Islands.
                    (G) The United States Virgin Islands.
                    (H) To the extent provided in, and subject to the 
                requirements of, section 127 of the Adam Walsh Child 
                Protection and Safety Act of 2006 (42 U.S.C. 16927), a 
                federally recognized Indian tribe.
            (6) Minor.--The term ``minor'' means an individual who has 
        not attained the age of 18 years.
            (7) Passport card.--The term ``passport card'' means a 
        document issued by the Department of State pursuant to section 
        7209 of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 
        2004 (Public Law 108-458; 8 U.S.C. 1185 note).

SEC. 4. ANGEL WATCH CENTER.

    (a) Establishment.--Not later than 90 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall 
establish within the Child Exploitation Investigations Unit of United 
States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) of the Department of 
Homeland Security a Center, to be known as the ``Angel Watch Center'', 
to carry out the activities specified in subsection (d).
    (b) Leadership.--The Center shall be headed by the Director of ICE, 
in collaboration with the Commissioner of United States Customs and 
Border Protection (CBP) and in consultation with the Attorney General.
    (c) Members.--The Center shall consist of the following:
            (1) The Director of ICE.
            (2) The Commissioner of CBP.
            (3) Individuals who are designated as analysts in ICE or 
        CBP.
            (4) Individuals who are designated as program managers in 
        ICE or CBP.
    (d) Activities.--
            (1) In general.--The Center shall carry out the following 
        activities:
                    (A) Receive information on travel by child-sex 
                offenders.
                    (B) Transmit notice of impending or current 
                international travel by child-sex offenders to the 
                Secretary of State, accompanied by an advisory 
                regarding whether or not the period of validity of the 
                passport of the child-sex offender should be limited to 
                one year or such period of time as the Secretary of 
                State shall determine appropriate.
                    (C) Establish a system to maintain and archive all 
                relevant information, including the response of 
                destination countries to notifications under subsection 
                (e) where available, and decisions not to transmit 
                notification abroad.
                    (D) Establish an annual review process to ensure 
                that the Center is consistent in procedures to provide 
                notification to destination countries or not to provide 
                notification to destination countries, as appropriate.
            (2) Information required.--The United States Marshals 
        Service's National Sex Offender Targeting Office shall make 
        available to the Center information on travel by child-sex 
        offenders in a timely manner for purposes of carrying out the 
        activities described in paragraph (1) and subsection (e).
    (e) Additional Activity Related to Transmission of Notice.--
            (1) In general.--The Center may transmit notice of 
        impending or current international travel of child-sex 
        offenders to the country or countries of destination of such 
        child-sex offenders, including to the visa-issuing agent or 
        agents in the United States of such country or countries, as 
        follows:
                    (A) The notice may be transmitted through such 
                means as determined appropriate by the Center, 
                including through an ICE attache.
                    (B) If the Center has reason to believe that 
                transmission of the notice poses a risk to the life or 
                well-being of the child-sex offender, the Center shall 
                make every reasonable effort to issue a warning to the 
                child-sex offender of such risk.
            (2) Sunset.--The authority of paragraph (1) shall terminate 
        with respect to a child-sex offender beginning as of the close 
        of the last day of the registration period of such child-sex 
        offender under section 115 of the Adam Walsh Child Protection 
        and Safety Act of 2006 (42 U.S.C. 16915).
    (f) Complaint Review.--The Center shall establish a mechanism to 
receive complaints from child-sex offenders affected by notifications 
of destination countries of such child-sex offenders under subsection 
(e).
    (g) Consultations.--The Center shall seek to engage in ongoing 
consultations with--
            (1) nongovernmental organizations, including faith-based 
        organizations, that have experience and expertise in 
        identifying and preventing child sex tourism and rescuing and 
        rehabilitating minor victims of international sexual 
        exploitation and trafficking;
            (2) the governments of countries interested in cooperating 
        in the creation of an international sex offender travel 
        notification system or that are primary destination or source 
        countries for international sex tourism; and
            (3) Internet service and software providers regarding 
        available and potential technology to facilitate the 
        implementation of an international sex offender travel 
        notification system, both in the United States and in other 
        countries.
    (h) Technical Assistance.--The Secretary of Homeland Security and 
the Secretary of State may provide technical assistance to foreign 
authorities in order to enable such authorities to participate more 
effectively in the notification program system established under this 
section.

SEC. 5. AUTHORITY TO RESTRICT PASSPORTS.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of State is authorized to--
            (1) limit to 1 year or such period of time as the Secretary 
        of State shall determine appropriate the period of validity of 
        a passport issued to a child-sex offender; and
            (2) revoke the passport or passport card of an individual 
        who has been convicted by a court of competent jurisdiction in 
        a foreign country of a child-sex offense.
    (b) Limitation for Return to United States.--Notwithstanding 
subsection (a), in no case shall a United States citizen convicted by a 
court of competent jurisdiction in a foreign country of a child-sex 
offense be precluded from entering the United States due to a passport 
revocation under such subsection.
    (c) Reapplication.--An individual whose passport or passport card 
was revoked pursuant to subsection (a)(2) may reapply for a passport or 
a passport card at any time after such individual has returned to the 
United States.
    (d) Time Limitation.--The time limitation on validity or revocation 
of a passport or passport card under subsection (a) may not exceed the 
applicable registration period for the child-sex offender to register 
pursuant to section 115 of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety 
Act of 2006 (42 U.S.C. 16915).

SEC. 6. SENSE OF CONGRESS PROVISIONS.

    (a) Bilateral Agreements.--It is the sense of Congress that the 
President should negotiate memoranda of understanding or other 
bilateral agreements with foreign governments to further the purposes 
of this Act and the amendments made by this Act, including by--
            (1) establishing systems to receive and transmit notices as 
        required by title I of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and 
        Safety Act of 2006 (42 U.S.C. 16901 et seq.); and
            (2) establishing mechanisms for private companies and 
        nongovernmental organizations to report on a voluntary basis 
        suspected child pornography or exploitation to foreign 
        governments, the nearest United States embassy in cases in 
        which a possible United States citizen may be involved, or 
        other appropriate entities.
    (b) Notification to the United States of Child-Sex Offenses 
Committed Abroad.--It is the sense of Congress that the President 
should formally request foreign governments to notify the United States 
when a United States citizen has been arrested, convicted, sentenced, 
or completed a prison sentence for a child-sex offense in the foreign 
country.

SEC. 7. ENHANCING THE MINIMUM STANDARDS FOR THE ELIMINATION OF 
              TRAFFICKING.

    Section 108(b)(4) of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 
(22 U.S.C. 7106(b)(4)) is amended by adding at the end before the 
period the following: ``, including cases involving nationals of that 
country who are suspected of engaging in severe forms of trafficking of 
persons in another country''.

SEC. 8. ASSISTANCE TO FOREIGN COUNTRIES TO MEET MINIMUM STANDARDS FOR 
              THE ELIMINATION OF TRAFFICKING.

    The President is strongly encouraged to exercise the authorities of 
section 134 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2152d) to 
provide assistance to foreign countries directly, or through 
nongovernmental and multilateral organizations, for programs, projects, 
and activities, including training of law enforcement entities and 
officials, designed to establish systems to identify sex offenders and 
provide and receive notification of child sex offender international 
travel.

SEC. 9. RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.

    (a) Department of Justice.--Nothing in this Act shall be construed 
to preclude or alter the jurisdiction or authority of the Department of 
Justice under the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 
(42 U.S.C. 16901 et seq.) or any other provision law, or to affect the 
work of the United States Marshals Service with INTERPOL.
    (b) Angel Watch Center.--Nothing in this Act shall be construed to 
preclude the Angel Watch Center from transmitting notice on sex 
offenders as defined in section 111 of the Adam Walsh Child Protection 
and Safety Act of 2006 (42 U.S.C. 16911).
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