[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1191 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>






115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1191

To ensure effective implementation of the Child Soldier Prevention Act 
  of 2008 and hold governments accountable for involving children in 
  armed conflict activities, whether as combatants, servants, or sex 
                                slaves.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 16, 2017

   Mr. Smith of New Jersey (for himself, Ms. Wilson of Florida, Mr. 
    Hultgren, Mr. McGovern, and Mr. Weber of Texas) introduced the 
 following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To ensure effective implementation of the Child Soldier Prevention Act 
  of 2008 and hold governments accountable for involving children in 
  armed conflict activities, whether as combatants, servants, or sex 
                                slaves.

    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 ``Child Soldier Prevention Act of 
2017''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The recruitment or use of children in armed conflict is 
        unacceptable for any government or government supported entity 
        receiving United States assistance.
            (2) The recruitment or use of children in armed conflict, 
        including direct combat, support roles, and sexual slavery, 
        continued during 2015-2016 in Afghanistan, South Sudan, Sudan, 
        Burma, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Iraq, Nigeria, Rwanda, 
        Somalia, Syria, and Yemen.
            (3) Police forces of the Government of Afghanistan 
        participate in counter-terrorism operations, direct and 
        indirect combat, security operations, fight alongside regular 
        armies, and are targeted for violence by the Taliban as well as 
        by other opposition groups.
            (4) Entities of the Government of Afghanistan, particularly 
        the Afghan Local Police and Afghan National Police, continue to 
        recruit children to serve as combatants or as servants, 
        including as sex slaves.
            (5) In February 2016, a 10-year-old boy was assassinated by 
        the Taliban after he had been publically honored by Afghan 
        local police forces for his assistance in combat operations 
        against the Taliban.
            (6) Recruitment and use of children in armed conflict by 
        government forces has continued in 2016 in South Sudan with the 
        return to hostilities.
            (7) At least 650 children have been recruited and used in 
        armed conflict in South Sudan in 2016, and at least 16,000 have 
        been recruited since the country's civil war began in 2013.

SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO THE CHILD SOLDIERS PREVENTION ACT OF 2008.

    (a) Definitions.--Section 402(2)(A) of the Child Soldiers 
Prevention Act of 2008 (22 U.S.C. 2370c(2)(A)) is amended by inserting 
``, police, or other security forces'' after ``governmental armed 
forces'' each place it appears.
    (b) Prohibition.--Section 404 of the Child Soldiers Prevention Act 
of 2008 (22 U.S.C. 2370c-1) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)--
                    (A) by inserting ``, police, or other security 
                forces'' after ``governmental armed forces''; and
                    (B) by striking ``recruit and use child soldiers'' 
                and inserting ``recruit or use child soldiers'';
            (2) in subsection (b)(2) to read as follows:
            ``(2) Notification.--Not later than 45 days after the date 
        of submission of the report required under section 110(b) of 
        the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, the Secretary 
        of State--
                    ``(A) shall formally notify any government included 
                in the list required under paragraph (1); and
                    ``(B) shall notify the appropriate congressional 
                committees that the requirements of subparagraph (A) 
                have been met.'';
            (3) in subsection (c)(1), by adding at the end before the 
        period the following: ``and certifies to the appropriate 
        congressional committees that such government is taking 
        effective and continuing steps to address the problem of child 
        soldiers''; and
            (4) in subsection (e)(1), by striking ``for international 
        military education, training, and'' and inserting ``under 
        section 541 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 
        2347) through the Defense Institute for International Legal 
        Studies or the Center for Civil-Military Relations at the Naval 
        Post-Graduate School and provide''.
    (c) Reports.--Section 405 of the Child Soldiers Prevention Act of 
2008 (22 U.S.C. 2370c-2) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (c)--
                    (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by 
                striking ``, during any of the 5 years following the 
                date of the enactment of this Act,'';
                    (B) by redesignating paragraphs (2) through (4) as 
                paragraphs (3) through (5), respectively;
                    (C) by inserting after paragraph (1) (as so 
                amended) the following:
            ``(2) a description and the amount of any assistance 
        withheld under this title pursuant to the application to those 
        countries of the prohibition in section 404(a);''; and
                    (D) in paragraph (5) (as so redesignated), by 
                inserting ``and the amount'' after ``a description''; 
                and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(d) Information To Be Included in Annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report.--If a country is notified pursuant to section 404(b)(2), or a 
waiver is granted pursuant to section 404(c)(1), the Secretary of State 
shall include in the report required under section 110(b) of the 
Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7107(b)) the 
information required to be included in the annual report to Congress 
under paragraphs (1) through (5) of subsection (c).''.
                                 <all>