[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2037 Referred in Senate (RFS)]
<DOC>
116th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2037
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
July 16, 2019
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
AN ACT
To encourage accountability for the murder of Washington Post columnist
Jamal Khashoggi.
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 ``Saudi Arabia Human Rights and
Accountability Act of 2019''.
SEC. 2. REPORT ON INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY ASSESSMENT RELATING TO THE
KILLING OF WASHINGTON POST COLUMNIST JAMAL KHASHOGGI.
(a) In General.--Not later than 30 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Director of National Intelligence shall
submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report consisting
of--
(1) a determination and presentation of evidence with
respect to the advance knowledge and role of any current or
former official of the Government of Saudi Arabia or any
current or former senior Saudi political figure over the
directing, ordering, or tampering of evidence in the killing of
Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi; and
(2) a list of foreign persons that the Director of National
Intelligence has high confidence--
(A) were responsible for, or complicit in,
ordering, controlling, or otherwise directing an act or
acts contributing to or causing the death of Jamal
Khashoggi;
(B) knowingly and materially assisted, sponsored,
or provided financial, material, or technological
support for, or goods or services in support of, an
activity described in subparagraph (A); or
(C) impeded the impartial investigation of the
killing of Jamal Khashoggi, including through the
tampering of evidence relating to the investigation.
(b) Form.--
(1) In general.--The report required by subsection (a)
shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may include a
classified annex.
(2) Names of foreign persons listed.--The name of each
foreign person listed in the report described in subsection
(a)(2) shall be included in the unclassified portion of the
report unless the Director of National Intelligence determines
that such disclosure would undermine United States intelligence
sources and methods or threaten the national security interests
of the United States.
(c) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term
``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
(A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the
Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the House
of Representatives; and
(B) the Committee on Foreign Relations and the
Select Committee on Intelligence of the Senate.
(2) Knowingly.--The term ``knowingly'', with respect to
conduct, a circumstance, or a result, means that a person has
actual knowledge, or should have known, of the conduct, the
circumstance, or the result.
SEC. 3. SANCTIONS WITH RESPECT TO FOREIGN PERSONS THAT ENGAGE IN
ACTIVITIES DESCRIBED IN SECTION 2(A)(2).
(a) Imposition of Sanctions.--On and after the date that is 120
days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the sanctions
described in subsection (b) shall be imposed with respect to each
foreign person listed in the report described in section 2(a)(2).
(b) Sanctions Described.--
(1) In general.--The sanctions described in this subsection
are the following:
(A) Ineligibility for visas and admission to the
united states.--
(i) Inadmissibility to the United States.
(ii) Ineligibility to receive a visa or
other documentation to enter the United States.
(iii) Ineligibility to otherwise 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.--
(i) Revocation of any visa or other entry
documentation regardless of when the visa or
other entry documentation is or was issued.
(ii) A revocation under clause (i) shall--
(I) take effect immediately; and
(II) automatically cancel any other
valid visa or entry documentation that
is in the foreign person's possession.
(2) Exception to comply with international obligations.--
Sanctions under paragraph (1) shall not apply with respect to a
foreign person if admitting or paroling the person 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.
(3) Waiver in the interest of national security.--The
President may waive the application of this section with
respect to a foreign person who is A-1 visa eligible and who is
present in or seeking admission into the United States for
purposes of official business if the President determines and
transmits to the appropriate congressional committees written
notice and justification not later than 15 days before the
granting of such waiver, that such a waiver is in the national
security interests of the United States.
(c) Suspension of Sanctions.--
(1) In general.--The President may suspend in whole or in
part the imposition of sanctions otherwise required under this
section for periods not to exceed 180 days if the President
certifies to the appropriate congressional committees that the
following criteria have been met in Saudi Arabia:
(A) The Government of Saudi Arabia has released any
individual who is a journalist, blogger, human rights
defender, advocate for religious liberty, or civil
society activist detained by the Government of Saudi
Arabia.
(B) The Government of Saudi Arabia is cooperating
in outstanding criminal proceedings in the United
States in which a Saudi citizen or national departed
from the United States while the citizen or national
was awaiting trial or sentencing for a criminal offense
committed in the United States.
(C) The Government of Saudi Arabia is refraining
from the obstruction of the free expression of opinion
and restriction of individuals from engaging in public
criticism of the political sphere.
(D) The Government of Saudi Arabia has made
verifiable commitments to cease the practice of harming
citizens of Saudi Arabia conducting peaceful dissent,
whether or not those citizens reside in Saudi Arabia,
including enforced repatriation, disappearance, arrest,
imprisonment, or harassment.
(E) The Government of Saudi Arabia has taken
verifiable steps to hold accountable Saudi violators of
human rights, whether or not those violations took
place in Saudi Arabia.
(F) The Government of Saudi Arabia has taken
verifiable steps to repeal any law or regulation that
requires Saudi women to obtain approval from a male
guardian in order to leave the country.
(G) The Government of Saudi Arabia--
(i) has made public the names of all
individuals under prosecution for the murder of
Jamal Khashoggi and associated crimes and the
details of the charges such individuals face;
(ii) has made public the trial proceedings
and all evidence against the accused;
(iii) has invited international,
independent experts to monitor the trials;
(iv) has made public details of efforts to
establish the location of Mr. Khashoggi's
remains and associated findings and returned
his body to his family; and
(v) has made public the rationale for why
ten of the individuals initially detained were
later released without charge.
(H) The Government of Saudi Arabia has disbanded
any units of its intelligence or security apparatus
dedicated to the forced repatriation of dissidents in
other countries.
(I) The Government of Saudi Arabia is cooperating
with efforts to investigate the murder of Jamal
Khashoggi being conducted by law enforcement
authorities in the United States and Turkey, or by the
United Nations.
(2) Report.--Accompanying the certification described in
paragraph (1), the President shall submit to the appropriate
congressional committees a report that contains a detailed
description of Saudi Arabia's adherence to the criteria
described in the certification.
(d) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Admitted; alien.--The terms ``admitted'' and ``alien''
have the meanings given those terms in section 101 of the
Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101).
(2) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term
``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
(A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee
on the Judiciary, and the Permanent Select Committee on
Intelligence of the House of Representatives; and
(B) the Committee on Foreign Relations, the
Committee on the Judiciary, and the Select Committee on
Intelligence of the Senate.
(3) Foreign person.--The term ``foreign person'' has the
meaning given such term in section 595.304 of title 31, Code of
Federal Regulations (as in effect on the day before the date of
the enactment of this Act), except that such term does not
include an entity (as such term is described in such section).
(4) Foreign person who is a-1 visa eligible.--The term
``foreign person who is A-1 visa eligible'' means an alien
described in section 101(a)(15)(A)(i) of the Immigration and
Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(A)(i)).
(5) 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 any jurisdiction within the United
States, including a foreign branch of such an entity.
SEC. 4. REPORT ON SAUDI ARABIA'S HUMAN RIGHTS RECORD.
(a) In General.--Not later than 30 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, in accordance with
section 502B(c) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C.
2304(c)), shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees
report in writing that--
(1) includes the information required under paragraph (1)
of such section 502B(c) with respect to Saudi Arabia;
(2) describes the extent to which officials of the
Government of Saudi Arabia, including members of the military
or security services, are responsible for or complicit in gross
violations of internationally recognized human rights,
including violations of the human rights of journalists,
bloggers, human rights defenders, and those who support women's
rights or religious freedom;
(3) describes violations of human rights in Saudi Arabia by
officials of the Government of Saudi Arabia, including against
journalists, bloggers, human rights defenders, and civil
society activists;
(4) describes United States actions to address Saudi
violations of human rights, including against journalists,
bloggers, human rights defenders, and civil society activists,
including demands for clemency review of these cases;
(5) describes any intolerant content in educational
materials published by Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Education
that are used in schools both inside Saudi Arabia and at
schools throughout the world; and
(6) describes United States actions to encourage Saudi
Arabia to retrieve and destroy materials with intolerant
material and revise teacher manuals and retrain teachers to
reflect changes in educational materials and promote tolerance.
(b) Form.--The report required by subsection (a) shall be submitted
in unclassified form, but may include a classified annex.
(c) Appropriate Congressional Committees Defined.--In the section,
the term ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
(1) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Permanent
Select Committee on Intelligence of the House of
Representatives; and
(2) the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Select
Committee on Intelligence of the Senate.
SEC. 5. DETERMINATION OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS.
The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of complying
with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, shall be determined by
reference to the latest statement titled ``Budgetary Effects of PAYGO
Legislation'' for this Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional
Record by the Chairman of the House Budget Committee, provided that
such statement has been submitted prior to the vote on passage.
Passed the House of Representatives July 15, 2019.
Attest:
CHERYL L. JOHNSON,
Clerk.