[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2621 Introduced in House (IH)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2621

   To impose sanctions against individuals who are nationals of the 
People's Republic of China who are responsible for gross violations of 
    internationally recognized human rights committed against other 
 individuals in the People's Republic of China, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              June 2, 2015

 Mr. Smith of New Jersey (for himself and Mr. Lipinski) 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 impose sanctions against individuals who are nationals of the 
People's Republic of China who are responsible for gross violations of 
    internationally recognized human rights committed against other 
 individuals in the People's Republic of China, 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 ``China Human Rights Protection Act of 
2015''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
        ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
                    (A) the Committee on Armed Services, the Committee 
                on Financial Services, the Committee on Foreign 
                Affairs, the Committee on Homeland Security, and the 
                Committee on the Judiciary of the House of 
                Representatives; and
                    (B) the Committee on Armed Services, the Committee 
                on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, the Committee 
                on Foreign Relations, the Committee on Homeland 
                Security and Governmental Affairs, and the Committee on 
                the Judiciary of the Senate.
            (2) Gross violations of internationally recognized human 
        rights.--The term ``gross violations of internationally 
        recognized human rights'' includes--
                    (A) extrajudicial killings;
                    (B) torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading 
                treatment or punishment;
                    (C) prolonged arbitrary detention, causing the 
                disappearance of individuals by the abduction and 
                clandestine detention of those individuals;
                    (D) forced abortion or sterilization;
                    (E) psychiatric or medical experimentation or organ 
                harvesting of individuals without consent or obtained 
                in detention; and
                    (F) other flagrant denial of the right to life, 
                liberty, or the security of an individual.
            (3) United states person.--The term ``United States 
        person'' means--
                    (A) a United States citizen or an alien lawfully 
                admitted for permanent residence to the United States; 
                or
                    (B) an entity organized under the laws of the 
                United States or of any jurisdiction within the United 
                States, including a foreign branch of such an entity.

SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF SANCTIONS FOR GROSS VIOLATIONS OF 
              INTERNATIONALLY RECOGNIZED HUMAN RIGHTS.

    (a) In General.--The President shall impose the sanctions described 
in subsection (b) with respect to an individual who is a national of 
the People's Republic of China the President determines, based on 
credible information--
            (1) is responsible for gross violations of internationally 
        recognized human rights committed against other individuals in 
        the People's Republic of China, particularly those individuals 
        who seek to obtain, exercise, defend, or promote 
        internationally recognized human rights and freedoms, such as 
        the freedoms of religion, expression, association, and 
        assembly, and the rights to a fair trial and democratic 
        elections;
            (2) acted as an agent of or on behalf of another individual 
        who is a national of the People's Republic of China in a matter 
        relating to an activity described in paragraph (1); or
            (3) has materially assisted, sponsored, or provided 
        financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or 
        services in support of, an activity described in paragraph (1).
    (b) Sanctions Described.--The sanctions described in this 
subsection are the following:
            (1) Inadmissibility to united states.--
                    (A) In general.--Ineligibility of the individual to 
                receive a visa to enter the United States or to be 
                admitted to the United States.
                    (B) Revocation.--If the individual has been issued 
                a visa or other documentation, revocation, in 
                accordance with section 221(i) of the Immigration and 
                Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1201(i)), of the visa or 
                other documentation.
            (2) Blocking of property.--
                    (A) In general.--The blocking, in accordance with 
                the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 
                U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), of all transactions in all 
                property and interests in property of the individual if 
                such property and interests in property are in the 
                United States, come within the United States, or are or 
                come within the possession or control of a United 
                States person.
                    (B) Inapplicability of national emergency 
                requirement.--The requirements of section 202 of the 
                International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 
                1701) shall not apply for purposes of this section.
    (c) Regulatory Authority.--The President shall issue such 
regulations, licenses, and orders as are necessary to carry out this 
section.

SEC. 4. WAIVER AUTHORITY AND EXCEPTION TO COMPLY WITH UNITED NATIONS 
              HEADQUARTERS AGREEMENT.

    (a) Waiver Authority.--The President may waive the application of 
sanctions under section 3 with respect to an individual who is a 
national of the People's Republic of China if the President--
            (1) determines that such a waiver is in the national 
        security interests of the United States; and
            (2) not later than 30 days prior to granting such a waiver, 
        submits to the appropriate congressional committees notice of, 
        and a justification for, the waiver.
    (b) Exception To Comply With United Nations Headquarters 
Agreement.--Sanctions under sections 3(b)(1) shall not apply to an 
individual who is a national of the People's Republic of China if 
admitting the individual into the United States is necessary to permit 
the United States to comply with the Agreement regarding the 
Headquarters of the United Nations, signed at Lake Success June 26, 
1947, and entered into force November 21, 1947, between the United 
Nations and the United States, or other applicable international 
obligations of the United States.

SEC. 5. TERMINATION OF SANCTIONS.

    The President may terminate the application of sanctions under 
section 3 with respect to an individual who is a national of the 
People's Republic of China if the President determines and reports to 
the appropriate congressional committees not later than 15 days before 
the termination of the sanctions that--
            (1) credible information exists that the individual did not 
        engage in the activity for which sanctions were imposed;
            (2) the individual has been prosecuted appropriately for 
        the activity for which sanctions were imposed; or
            (3) the individual has credibly demonstrated a significant 
        change in behavior, has paid an appropriate consequence for the 
        activity for which sanctions were imposed, and has credibly 
        committed to not engage in an activity described in section 3 
        in the future.

SEC. 6. ESTABLISHMENT OF CHINA HUMAN RIGHTS DOCUMENTATION CENTER.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of State shall seek to provide for 
the establishment of and provide funding for an independent, 
nongovernmental organization, to be referred to as the China Human 
Rights Documentation Center, to--
            (1) compile, publish, and archive credible evidence of 
        nationals of the People's Republic of China who commit gross 
        violations of internationally recognized human rights against 
        individuals in the People's Republic of China;
            (2) receive evidence of such violations from 
        nongovernmental organizations and governmental entities;
            (3) establish an online and searchable database, in English 
        and in Chinese, and establish other multi-media information 
        platforms, in English and in Chinese, of credible evidence of 
        such violations for research and educational purposes; and
            (4) compile, publish, and archive credible evidence of 
        individuals who are nationals of the People's Republic of China 
        who are engaged in--
                    (A) censorship of the Internet, restrictions on the 
                freedom of expression, the free flow of news and 
                information, and the silencing of peaceful dissent 
                against government policy or practice;
                    (B) threats, surveillance, censorship, detention, 
                beatings, or the denials or delays of visas of United 
                States or other foreign journalists working in China;
                    (C) threats, beatings, surveillance, detention, or 
                threats to the loss of jobs or professional status made 
                against--
                            (i) individuals who are human rights 
                        lawyers seeking to represent clients detained 
                        in extra-legal detention centers;
                            (ii) individuals considered by the United 
                        Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention to 
                        be detained arbitrarily in China, including 
                        Tibetans, Uyghurs, and individuals who are 
                        members of the Falun Gong;
                            (iii) individuals who are democracy, labor, 
                        environmental, or free speech advocates;
                            (iv) individuals who are petitioners or 
                        bloggers;
                            (v) individuals accused in governmental 
                        anti-corruption campaigns; and
                            (vi) individuals from religious communities 
                        that are independent of government-approved 
                        religious organizations;
                    (D) restrictions on the right to freedom of 
                religion and the ability to exercise peaceful religious 
                practice, in public and private, independent of 
                government restrictions or oversight of religious 
                teachings or choice of religious leaders, particularly 
                the arrest and detention of religious leaders, the 
                destruction of property or heavy fines, and the 
                ``patriotic education'' of religious leaders;
                    (E) implementing China's population control 
                policies, including through the coercive and persistent 
                monitoring of fertility, the issuing of heavy fines, 
                and threats made for the loss of employment or the 
                denial of residency and other government benefits to 
                children born beyond the government-prescribed limit;
                    (F) profiting from or overseeing slave labor, 
                particularly in detention facilities, or from sex or 
                bride trafficking or those engaged in beating, 
                threatening, or detaining individuals seeking to 
                disrupt trafficking in persons networks;
                    (G) profiting from the sale of organs harvested 
                from an individual without consent or while an 
                individual is in detention;
                    (H) disrupting or prohibiting, through violence, 
                intimidation, discrimination, or threats, attempts to 
                organize independent trade unions or to engage in 
                efforts of collective bargaining; or
                    (I) prosecuting, sentencing, or those involved in 
                the continued detention of individuals determined by 
                the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention 
                to have been detained arbitrarily.
    (b) Authorization of Appropriations.--Of the funds authorized to be 
appropriated to the Department of State for each fiscal year beginning 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, such funds as may be 
necessary to carry out this section are authorized to be appropriated 
to carry out this section for such fiscal year.
    (c) Regulatory Authority.--The President shall issue such 
regulations, licenses, and orders as are necessary to carry out this 
section.

SEC. 7. USE OF CREDIBLE EVIDENCE FOR SANCTIONS DETERMINATIONS AND 
              REPORTS.

    In making determinations to impose sanctions under section 3 and 
for purposes of preparing and submitting reports to Congress under 
sections 8 and 9, the President should use any credible evidence--
            (1) compiled and published by the China Human Rights 
        Documentation Center established under section 6;
            (2) compiled and published by the Department of State and 
        other appropriate Federal departments and agencies; and
            (3) submitted to the President by the chairperson and 
        ranking member of appropriate congressional committees.

SEC. 8. REPORTS BY PRESIDENT TO CONGRESS.

    (a) Report Required.--
            (1) In general.--The President shall submit to the 
        appropriate congressional committees on an annual basis a 
        report that includes--
                    (A) a list of individuals who are nationals of the 
                People's Republic of China with respect to which the 
                President imposed sanctions pursuant to section 3 
                during the calendar year preceding the submission of 
                the report;
                    (B) a description of the type of sanctions imposed 
                with respect to each individual;
                    (C) the number of individuals with respect to which 
                the President imposed sanctions under section 3(a) 
                during that year;
                    (D) the dates on which such sanctions were imposed 
                or terminated, as the case may be;
                    (E) the reasons for imposing or terminating such 
                sanctions; and
                    (F) a description of the efforts of the President 
                to encourage the governments of other countries to 
                impose sanctions that are similar to the sanctions 
                authorized by section 3.
            (2) Dates for submission.--
                    (A) Initial report.--The President shall submit the 
                initial report required by this subsection not later 
                than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this 
                Act.
                    (B) Subsequent reports.--
                            (i) In general.--The President shall submit 
                        each subsequent report required by this 
                        subsection on December 10, or the first day 
                        thereafter on which both Houses of Congress are 
                        in session, of--
                                    (I) the calendar year in which the 
                                initial report is submitted if the 
                                initial report is submitted before 
                                December 10 of such calendar year; and
                                    (II) each subsequent calendar year.
                            (ii) Congressional statement.--Congress 
                        notes that December 10 of each calendar year 
                        has been recognized in the United States and 
                        internationally since 1950 as ``Human Rights 
                        Day'' and thus the importance of December 10 of 
                        each calendar year as the date of submission of 
                        the subsequent reports required by this 
                        subsection.
    (b) Form of Report.--
            (1) In general.--The report required by subsection (a) 
        shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may include a 
        classified annex.
            (2) Exception.--The name of an individual who is a national 
        of the People's Republic of China to be included in the list 
        required by subsection (a)(1) by reason of the imposition of 
        sanctions pursuant to section 3 may be submitted in the 
        classified annex authorized by paragraph (1) only if the 
        President--
                    (A) determines that it is vital for the national 
                security interests of the United States to do so; and
                    (B) uses the annex in a manner consistent with 
                congressional intent and the purposes of this Act.
    (c) Public Availability.--
            (1) In general.--The unclassified portion of the report 
        required by subsection (a) shall be made available to the 
        public, including through publication in the Federal Register.
            (2) Nonapplicability of confidentiality requirement with 
        respect to visa records.--The President shall publish the list 
        required by subsection (a)(1) without regard to the 
        requirements of section 222(f) of the Immigration and 
        Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1202(f)) with respect to 
        confidentiality of records pertaining to the issuance or 
        refusal of visas or permits to enter the United States.

SEC. 9. REPORT BY COMPTROLLER GENERAL TO CONGRESS ON IMPLEMENTATION OF 
              THIS ACT.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 1 year after the date of submission 
of the initial report to Congress under section 8, the Comptroller 
General of the United States shall submit to the appropriate 
congressional committees a report on the following:
            (1) A description and assessment of the process--
                    (A) to determine whether an individual who is a 
                national of the People's Republic of China has engaged 
                in an activity described in section 3 and whether 
                sanctions under section 3 should be imposed with 
                respect to the individual;
                    (B) to determine whether the identity of an 
                individual who is a national of the People's Republic 
                of China with respect to which the President has 
                imposed sanctions pursuant to section 3 should be 
                classified; and
                    (C) whether the inclusion of the identity of an 
                individual who is a national of the People's Republic 
                of China in the unclassified version of the report has 
                had any noticeable positive benefits in curtailing 
                gross violations of internationally recognized human 
                rights in the People's Republic of China.
            (2) An assessment of the implementation of this Act.
    (b) Consultation.--The Comptroller General shall consult with the 
appropriate congressional committees and nongovernmental organizations 
for purposes of preparing the report required by subsection (a).
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