[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4507 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>






116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 4507

    To protect Saudi dissidents in the United States, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 26, 2019

 Mr. Connolly introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
 Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Permanent Select 
 Committee on Intelligence, 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 Saudi dissidents in 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.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Protection of Saudi Dissidents Act 
of 2019''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist and Washington Post 
        columnist, was killed and dismembered in the Saudi consulate in 
        Istanbul, Turkey on October 2, 2018, by agents with close ties 
        to the Government of Saudi Arabia.
            (2) Khashoggi was a longtime resident of the United States, 
        living in Virginia under an ``O'' visa and was in the process 
        of applying for a permanent residency. Two of his four children 
        are United States citizens.
            (3) For many years, Khashoggi wrote on Saudi political and 
        cultural issues and after criticisms of Crown Prince Mohammed 
        Bin Salman, Khashoggi chose to reside in the United States due 
        to his growing fear of arrest in Saudi Arabia. From a self-
        imposed exile, he wrote monthly columns in the Washington Post, 
        including columns that criticized various Saudi policies.
            (4) On October 2, 2018, Khashoggi visited the Saudi 
        consulate in Istanbul with his fiancee to conduct routine 
        consular matters. She waited for him for over ten hours outside 
        the consulate, but he never re-emerged. The Turkish authorities 
        subsequently reported that Khashoggi was murdered inside the 
        Saudi consulate.
            (5) For over two weeks following the murder, Saudi Arabia 
        denied any knowledge of Khashoggi's whereabouts and claimed the 
        allegations were ``false'' and ``baseless''. However, on 
        October 20, 2018, state television in Saudi Arabia reported 
        that the journalist was murdered in a ``rogue operation'' under 
        the orders of intelligence officers.
            (6) Though Saudi Arabia has detained 21 people, dismissed 
        two senior officials, and charged eleven people for Khashoggi's 
        murder, the Government of Saudi Arabia has denied that Saudi 
        leadership ordered the killing and has refused to extradite any 
        suspects to Turkey.
            (7) To date the United States Government has taken no 
        actions to force an independent, international investigation of 
        the killing of Jamal Khashoggi nor shown any willingness to 
        hold accountable the highest levels of Saudi leadership.

SEC. 3. RESTRICTIONS ON TRANSFERS OF DEFENSE ARTICLES AND SERVICES, ANY 
              DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION SERVICES, AND ANY MAJOR DEFENSE 
              EQUIPMENT TO SAUDI ARABIA.

    (a) Initial Period.--During the 120-day period beginning on the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the President may not transfer, 
sell, or authorize a license for export of any defense articles or 
services, any design and construction services, or any major defense 
equipment under the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2751 et seq.), 
regardless of the amount of such articles, services, or equipment, to 
an intelligence, internal security, or law enforcement agency or 
instrumentality of the Government of Saudi Arabia, or to any person 
acting as an agent of or on behalf of such agency or instrumentality.
    (b) Subsequent Periods.--
            (1) In general.--During the 120-day period beginning on the 
        day after the end of the 120-day period described in subsection 
        (a), and every 120 days thereafter, the President may not 
        transfer, sell, or authorize a license for export of any 
        defense articles or services, any design and construction 
        services, or any major defense equipment under the Arms Export 
        Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2751 et seq.), regardless of the amount 
        of such articles, services, or equipment, to an intelligence, 
        internal security, or law enforcement agency or instrumentality 
        of the Government of Saudi Arabia, or to any person acting as 
        an agent of or on behalf of such agency or instrumentality, 
        unless the President submits to the chairman and ranking member 
        of the appropriate congressional committees a certification 
        described in paragraph (2) with respect to such 120-day period.
            (2) Certification.--A certification described in this 
        paragraph is a certification that contains a determination of 
        the President that--
                    (A) the Government of Saudi Arabia is cooperating 
                with an independent, international investigation into 
                the murder of Jamal Khashoggi;
                    (B) the Government of Saudi Arabia has released any 
                individual who is a journalist, blogger, human rights 
                defender, advocate for religious freedom, or civil 
                society activist detained by the Government of Saudi 
                Arabia for such individual's work;
                    (C) the Government of Saudi Arabia is refraining 
                from arresting, detaining, and harassing individuals 
                for blasphemy and apostasy, and is protecting the equal 
                rights of all citizens to freedom of religion or 
                belief;
                    (D) the Government of Saudi Arabia has taken 
                verifiable steps to end the torture of detainees; and
                    (E) the Government of Saudi Arabia has disbanded 
                any units of its intelligence or security apparatus 
                dedicated to the forced repatriation, silencing, or 
                killing of dissidents in other countries.
    (c) Appropriate Congressional Committees Defined.--In this section, 
the term ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
            (1) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on 
        Armed Services of the House of Representatives; and
            (2) the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Committee on 
        Armed Services of the Senate.

SEC. 4. REPORT ON CONSISTENT PATTERN OF ACTS OF INTIMIDATION OR 
              HARASSMENT DIRECTED AGAINST INDIVIDUALS IN THE UNITED 
              STATES.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) Section 6 of the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 
        2756) states that no export licenses may be issued to any 
        country determined by the President to be engaged in a 
        consistent pattern of acts of intimidation or harassment 
        directed against individuals in the United States.
            (2) Section 6 of the Arms Export Control Act further 
        requires the President to report any such determination 
        promptly to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the 
        Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives, 
        and to the chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations of 
        the Senate.
    (b) Report.--Not later than 60 days after the date of the enactment 
of this Act, the President shall submit to the Committee on Foreign 
Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign 
Relations of the Senate a report on whether any official of the 
Government of Saudi Arabia engaged in a consistent pattern of acts of 
intimidation or harassment directed against Jamal Khashoggi or any 
individual in the United States.
    (c) Form.--The report required by subsection (b) shall be submitted 
in unclassified form but may contain a classified annex.

SEC. 5. REPORT AND CERTIFICATION WITH RESPECT TO SAUDI DIPLOMATS AND 
              DIPLOMATIC FACILITIES IN THE UNITED STATES.

    (a) Report.--Not later than 120 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State and the Director of 
National Intelligence shall submit to the appropriate congressional 
committees a report covering the three year period before such date 
regarding whether and to what extent covered persons used diplomatic 
credentials or covered facilities to monitor, track, surveil, harass, 
or harm other Saudi nationals living in the United States.
    (b) Certification.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 120 days after the date of 
        the enactment of this Act and annually thereafter for five 
        years, the Secretary of State shall, if the Secretary 
        determines that such is the case, submit to the appropriate 
        congressional committees a certification that covered persons 
        are not using diplomatic credentials or covered facilities to 
        monitor, track, surveil, harass, or harm Saudi nationals living 
        in the United States during the time period covered by each 
        such certification.
            (2) Failure to submit certification.--If the Secretary of 
        State does not submit a certification under paragraph (1), the 
        Secretary shall--
                    (A) close one or more covered facilities for such 
                period of time until the Secretary does submit such a 
                certification; and
                    (B) submit to the appropriate congressional 
                committee a report that contains--
                            (i) a detailed explanation of why the 
                        Secretary is unable to make such a 
                        certification; and
                            (ii) an identification of the locations of 
                        the covered facilities referred to in 
                        subparagraph (A).
    (c) Form.--Each report required by subsection (a) and the 
certification and report required by subsection (b) shall be submitted 
in unclassified form but may contain a classified annex.
    (d) 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) Covered facility.--The term ``covered facility'' means 
        a diplomatic or consular facility of Saudi Arabia in the United 
        States.
            (3) Covered person.--The term ``covered person'' means a 
        Saudi national credentialed to a covered facility.

SEC. 6. REPORT ON THE DUTY TO WARN OBLIGATION OF THE GOVERNMENT OF THE 
              UNITED STATES.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds that Intelligence Community Directive 
191 provides that--
            (1) when an element of the intelligence community of the 
        United States collects or acquires credible and specific 
        information indicating an impending threat of intentional 
        killing, serious bodily injury, or kidnapping directed at a 
        person, the agency must ``warn the intended victim or those 
        responsible for protecting the intended victim, as 
        appropriate''; and
            (2) when issues arise with respect to whether the threat 
        information rises to the threshold of ``duty to warn'', the 
        directive calls for resolution in favor of warning the intended 
        victim.
    (b) Report.--Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment 
of this Act, the Director of National Intelligence shall submit to the 
appropriate congressional committees a report with respect to--
            (1) whether and how the intelligence community fulfilled 
        its duty to warn Jamal Khashoggi of threats to his life and 
        liberty pursuant to Intelligence Community Directive 191; and
            (2) in the case of the intelligence community not 
        fulfilling its duty to warn as described in paragraph (1), why 
        the intelligence community did not fulfill this duty.
    (c) Form.--The report required by subsection (b) shall be submitted 
in unclassified form but may contain a classified annex.
    (d) 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) Duty to warn.--The term ``duty to warn'' has the 
        meaning given that term in Intelligence Community Directive 
        191, as in effect on July 21, 2015.
            (3) Intelligence community.--The term ``intelligence 
        community'' has the meaning given such term in section 3(4) of 
        the National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3003(4)).
                                 <all>