[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3542 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3542

       To impose sanctions against Hamas for gross violations of 
    internationally recognized human rights by reason of the use of 
          civilians as human shields, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 28, 2017

    Mr. Wilson of South Carolina (for himself, Mr. Moulton, Ms. Ros-
  Lehtinen, and Mr. Deutch) 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 Hamas for gross violations of 
    internationally recognized human rights by reason of the use of 
          civilians as human shields, 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 ``Hamas Human Shields Prevention 
Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Human shields are civilians, prisoners of war, and 
        other noncombatants whose presence is designed to protect 
        combatants and military objects from attack, and the use of 
        human shields violates international law.
            (2) Throughout the 2006-2007 takeover of Gaza by Hamas, the 
        organization engaged in summary executions and torture, and put 
        the lives of civilians at constant risk.
            (3) Since that 2006-2007 takeover of Gaza, Hamas forces 
        have repeatedly fired rockets at the Israeli Defense Forces and 
        at Israeli civilian areas, from civilian areas predominantly 
        occupied by Palestinians including hospitals, mosques, and 
        schools, putting Palestinian lives at constant risk.
            (4) It is common practice for the Israeli Defense Forces to 
        drop aerial leaflets, make announcements over radio, place 
        phone calls, and send text messages warning of a coming 
        military strike before targeting terrorists operating near 
        Palestinian civilian areas.
            (5) Hamas leaders routinely discourage Palestinian 
        civilians from heeding these warnings, instructing them to 
        remain in their homes, and, in some cases, force civilians to 
        gather on the roofs of their homes to act as human shields.
            (6) In 2010, Hamas forced children to work as laborers in 
        the tunnel networks between Gaza and Egypt.
            (7) On June 9, 2017, the United Nations Relief and Works 
        Agency announced it had discovered Hamas tunnels under two of 
        its schools in the Gaza Strip, adding it was ``unacceptable 
        that students and staff are placed at risk in such a way.''.
            (8) Hamas was designated as a foreign terrorist 
        organization by the Secretary of State on October 8, 1997.
            (9) In addition to Hamas, other foreign terrorist 
        organizations, such as the Islamic State, al-Qa'ida, and al-
        Shabaab, typically use civilians as human shields.
            (10) Congress has repeatedly condemned the use of human 
        shields by Hamas and other foreign terrorist organizations.

SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY.

    It shall be the policy of the United States to--
            (1) officially and publicly condemn the use of human 
        shields by Hamas as an act of terrorism and a violation of 
        human rights and international humanitarian law; and
            (2) take effective action against those engaging in, 
        supporting, facilitating, or enabling the use of human shields.

SEC. 4. UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL.

    The President should direct the United States Permanent 
Representative to the United Nations to use the voice, vote, and 
influence of the United States at the United Nations Security Council 
to secure support for a resolution that would impose multilateral 
sanctions against Hamas for the use of human shields.

SEC. 5. SANCTIONS ON FOREIGN PERSONS RESPONSIBLE FOR GROSS VIOLATIONS 
              OF INTERNATIONALLY RECOGNIZED HUMAN RIGHTS.

    (a) In General.--The President shall impose the sanctions described 
in subsection (b) with respect to the following:
            (1) Each foreign person that the President determines, 
        based on credible evidence--
                    (A) is a member of Hamas or is acting on behalf of 
                Hamas; and
                    (B) is responsible for, complicit in, or 
                responsible for ordering, controlling, or otherwise 
                directing the use of human shields by Hamas.
            (2) Each foreign person and each agency or instrumentality 
        of a foreign state that the President determines has--
                    (A) directly or indirectly, significantly 
                facilitated any act described in paragraph (1)(B) with 
                respect to the use of human shields by Hamas;
                    (B) provided material support to a person listed 
                under paragraph (1); or
                    (C) attempted to so facilitate or so support such 
                acts or persons.
    (b) Sanctions Described.--The sanctions described in this 
subsection are the following:
            (1) Blocking of property.--The President shall exercise all 
        of the powers granted to the President under the International 
        Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) to the 
        extent necessary to block and prohibit all transactions in 
        property and interests in property of the foreign person 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.
            (2) Aliens ineligible for visas, admission, or parole.--
                    (A) Visas, admission, or parole.--An alien who the 
                Secretary of State or the Secretary of Homeland 
                Security (or a designee of either such Secretaries) 
                knows, or has reason to believe, meets any of the 
                criteria described in subsection (a) is--
                            (i) inadmissible to the United States;
                            (ii) ineligible to receive a visa or other 
                        documentation to enter the United States; and
                            (iii) otherwise ineligible to be admitted 
                        or paroled into the United States or to receive 
                        any other benefit under the Immigration and 
                        Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.).
                    (B) Current visas revoked.--The issuing consular 
                officer, the Secretary of State, or the Secretary of 
                Homeland Security (or a designee of either such 
                Secretaries) shall revoke any visa or other entry 
                documentation issued to an alien who meets any of the 
                criteria described in subsection (a) regardless of when 
                issued. A revocation under this subparagraph shall take 
                effect immediately and shall automatically cancel any 
                other valid visa or entry documentation that is in the 
                possession of such alien.
    (c) Waiver.--The President may, on a case-by-case basis, waive the 
application of a sanction under this section with respect to a person 
or an agency or instrumentality of a foreign state for a 120-day period 
if the President certifies to the appropriate congressional committees, 
not less than 15 days before the start of such 120-day period, that 
such waiver is vital to the national security interest of the United 
States.
    (d) Penalties.--The penalties provided for in subsections (b) and 
(c) of section 206 of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act 
(50 U.S.C. 1705) shall apply to any person that violates, attempts to 
violate, conspires to violate, or causes a violation of any regulation 
promulgated to carry out this section to the same extent that such 
penalties apply to a person that knowingly commits an unlawful act 
described in section 206(a) of such Act.
    (e) Regulations.--
            (1) In general.--The President may exercise all authorities 
        provided to the President under sections 203 and 205 of the 
        International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1702 and 
        1704) for purposes of carrying out this section.
            (2) Issuance of regulations.--Not later than 180 days after 
        the date of the enactment of this Act, the President shall 
        prescribe such regulations as may be necessary to implement 
        this section.
            (3) Notification to congress.--Not later than 10 days 
        before the promulgation of a regulation under paragraph (2), 
        the President shall brief the appropriate congressional 
        committees on the proposed regulation and the provisions of 
        this section implemented by such regulation.
    (f) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section may be 
construed--
            (1) to limit the authorities of the President pursuant to 
        the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 
        et seq.) or any other relevant provision of law; or
            (2) to apply with respect to any activity subject to the 
        reporting requirements under title V of the National Security 
        Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3091 et seq.), or to any authorized 
        intelligence activities of the United States.

SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Admitted; alien.--The terms ``admitted'' and ``alien'' 
        have the meanings given such terms in section 101 of the 
        Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101).
            (2) Agency or instrumentality of a foreign state.--The term 
        ``agency or instrumentality of a foreign state'' has the 
        meaning given such term in section 1603(b) of title 28, United 
        States Code.
            (3) Appropriate congressional committees.--In this section, 
        the term ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
                    (A) the Committee on Financial Services and the 
                Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of 
                Representatives; and
                    (B) the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban 
                Affairs and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the 
                Senate.
            (4) Foreign person.--The term ``foreign person'' means--
                    (A) an individual who is not a United States 
                citizen or an alien lawfully admitted for permanent 
                residence to the United States; or
                    (B) an entity that is not a United States person.
            (5) Hamas.--The term ``Hamas'' means--
                    (A) the entity known as Hamas and designated by the 
                Secretary of State as foreign terrorist organization 
                pursuant to section 219 of the Immigration and 
                Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1189); or
                    (B) any person identified as an agent, 
                instrumentality, or affiliate of Hamas on the list of 
                specially designated nationals and blocked persons 
                maintained by the Office of Foreign Asset Control of 
                the Department of Treasury, the property or interests 
                in property of which are blocked pursuant to the 
                International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 
                1701 et seq.).
            (6) 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.
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