[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4732 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 4732

To establish a Global Climate Change Resilience Strategy, to authorize 
  the admission of climate-displaced persons, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 17, 2019

  Ms. Velazquez (for herself, Mrs. Napolitano, and Ms. Roybal-Allard) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
 Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committees on the Judiciary, 
and Energy and Commerce, 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 establish a Global Climate Change Resilience Strategy, to authorize 
  the admission of climate-displaced persons, 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. TABLE OF CONTENTS.

    The table of contents for this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Table of contents.
Sec. 2. Findings; sense of Congress.
Sec. 3. Definitions.
Sec. 4. Required data collection and reporting.
Sec. 5. Global Climate Change Resilience Strategy.
Sec. 6. Training of Foreign Service Officers in climate change 
                            resilience.
Sec. 7. Guidance on the humanitarian impacts of climate change.
Sec. 8. Admission of climate-displaced persons.
Sec. 9. Authorization of appropriations.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate 
        Change, the Earth's climate is now changing faster than at any 
        point in history.
            (2) The October 2018 report entitled ``Special Report on 
        Global Warming of 1.5 C'' by the Intergovernmental Panel on 
        Climate Change and the November 2018 Fourth National Climate 
        Assessment report found that a changing climate is--
                    (A) causing sea levels to rise;
                    (B) contributing to an increase in wildfires and 
                temperature extremes in some parts of the world; and
                    (C) contributing to an increase in heavy 
                precipitation in certain locations.
            (3) Forced displacement and forced migration are increasing 
        in the context of environmental changes and climate-induced 
        disruptions, including weather-related disasters, drought, 
        famine, and rising sea levels.
            (4) Climate-related events and disasters are causing a 
        person to be displaced from his or her home every second.
            (5) The United Nations Human Rights Council has recognized 
        that climate change poses an existential threat that has 
        already had a negative impact on the fulfilment of human 
        rights, specifically noting that--
                    (A) parties should, when taking action to address 
                climate change, respect, promote, and consider their 
                respective obligations on human rights; and
                    (B) the adverse effects of climate change are felt 
                most acutely by those segments of the population that 
                are already in vulnerable situations owing to factors 
                such as geography, poverty, gender, age, indigenous or 
                minority status, national or social origin, birth, or 
                other status and disability.
            (6) The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for 
        Human Rights has suggested that a person who cannot be 
        reasonably expected to return to his or her country of origin--
                    (A) should be considered a victim of forced 
                displacement; and
                    (B) should be granted at least a temporary stay in 
                the country where they have found refuge.
            (7) The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change affirms 
        with high confidence that societal adaptations in the near term 
        can help reduce the risks of climate change throughout the 21st 
        century.
            (8) Since 2013, typhoons and storms in the Philippines have 
        displaced nearly 15,000,000 people.
            (9) Violence in Burma's Rakhine State has forced nearly 
        1,000,000 Rohingya refugees into Bangladesh, where they are 
        exposed to the country's vulnerability to the effects of 
        extreme flooding and landslides worsened by climate change.
            (10) In 2019, extreme flooding in Northern and Northeast 
        India displaced at least 3,000,000 people, including almost 
        2,000,000 people in the Northern Indian state of Bihar and more 
        than 1,700,000 people in Northeastern Assam state.
            (11) The small Pacific island Nation of Kiribati is 
        preparing for large swaths of the country to be uninhabitable 
        and for its people to migrate with the skill to integrate into 
        their new host nation.
            (12) More than 150,000,000 people around the world now live 
        on land that will be below sea level or regular flood levels by 
        the end of the century unless adaptation measures are taken.
            (13) The effects of climate change also exacerbate social, 
        economic, and political tensions within and among nations.
            (14) In 2014, the Department of Defense Quadrennial Defense 
        Review cited the effects of climate change as a ``threat 
        multiplier'' that could aggravate stressors abroad.
            (15) In 2016, a memorandum from the National Intelligence 
        Counsel entitled ``Implications for U.S. National Security of 
        Anticipated Climate Change'' highlighted how climate change 
        could create or inflame tensions between nations in already 
        disputed regions, such as the Arctic.
            (16) Continued climate change will drive further 
        displacement. According to the International Organization for 
        Migration, by 2050, there could be as many as 200,000,000 
        climate-displaced persons, including those who are internally 
        displaced.
            (17) The United States has not systematically acted to 
        address climate displacement or to provide appropriate durable 
        solutions to those who are displaced.
    (b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that the United 
States should--
            (1) reduce its domestic greenhouse gas emissions on a scale 
        and rate proportionate to its historical responsibility and the 
        urgency of the threat of climate change;
            (2) welcome the shared responsibility of climate change 
        adaptation, global disaster risk reduction, resiliency 
        building, and disaster response and recovery;
            (3) assist in providing durable solutions for climate-
        displaced persons;
            (4) aid other countries in their climate change mitigation 
        efforts; and
            (5) work with the international community--
                    (A) to establish a framework to share such 
                responsibilities; and
                    (B) to ensure that the human rights of climate-
                displaced persons are acknowledged, respected, 
                protected, and fulfilled.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    Section 101(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
1101(a)) is amended--
            (1) by striking paragraph (8) and inserting the following:
    ``(8) The term `climate-displaced person' means any person who, for 
reasons of sudden or progressive change in the environment that 
adversely affects his or her life or living conditions--
            ``(A) is obliged to leave his or her habitual home, either 
        within his or her country of nationality or in another country;
            ``(B) is in need of a durable resettlement solution; and
            ``(C) whose government cannot or will not provide such 
        durable resettlement solution.''; and
            (2) by amending paragraph (34) to read as follows:
    ``(34) The term `designated application center' means any United 
States embassy or consulate, or other facility as the Secretary of 
State may delegate to accept applications for climate-displaced person 
status.''.

SEC. 4. REQUIRED DATA COLLECTION AND REPORTING.

    (a) Data Collection.--The President, in coordination with the 
Department of Commerce, the Environmental Protection Agency, the 
Department of State, the Director of National Intelligence, the 
Department of Defense, and other relevant agencies, shall collect and 
maintain data on displacement caused by climate change, including 
information from--
            (1) the International Organization for Migration;
            (2) the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees;
            (3) UNICEF; and
            (4) other international organizations that are collecting 
        such data.
    (b) Annual Report.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the President shall 
submit a report to the appropriate congressional committees that 
details the collection and analysis of the data described in subsection 
(a). The report required under this subsection shall be submitted in 
unclassified form, but may include a classified annex.

SEC. 5. GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE RESILIENCE STRATEGY.

    Section 117 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151p) 
is amended--
            (1) in subsection (b)--
                    (A) by inserting ``(1)'' after ``(b)''; and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(2)(A) The President is authorized to furnish assistance to 
programs and initiatives that--
            ``(i) promote resilience among communities facing harmful 
        impacts from climate change; and
            ``(ii) reduce the vulnerability of persons affected by 
        climate change.
    ``(B) There shall be, in the Department of State, a Coordinator of 
Climate Change Resilience, who shall coordinate the assistance 
authorized under this paragraph.''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(d)(1) The Secretary of State, in coordination with the 
Administrator of the United States Agency for International 
Development, shall establish a comprehensive, integrated, 10-year 
strategy, which shall be referred to as the `Global Climate Change 
Resilience Strategy', to mitigate the impacts of climate change on 
displacement and humanitarian emergencies.
    ``(2) The Global Climate Change Resilience Strategy shall--
            ``(A) focus on addressing slow-onset and rapid-onset 
        effects of events caused by climate change;
            ``(B) consider the effects of events caused by climate 
        change;
            ``(C) describe the key features of successful strategies to 
        prevent such conditions;
            ``(D) include specific objectives and multisectoral 
        approaches to the effects of events caused by climate change;
            ``(E) describe approaches that ensure national leadership, 
        as appropriate, and substantively engage with civil society, 
        local partners, and the affected communities, including 
        marginalized populations and underserved populations, in the 
        design, implementation, and monitoring of climate change 
        programs to best safeguard the future of those subject to 
        displacement;
            ``(F) assign roles for relevant Federal agencies to avoid 
        duplication of efforts, while ensuring that--
                    ``(i) the Department of State is responsible for--
                            ``(I) leading the Global Climate Change 
                        Resilience Strategy;
                            ``(II) establishing United States foreign 
                        policy;
                            ``(III) advancing diplomatic and political 
                        efforts;
                            ``(IV) guiding security assistance and 
                        related civilian security efforts to mitigate 
                        climate change threats; and
                            ``(V) providing overseas humanitarian 
                        assistance to respond to international and 
                        internal displacement caused by climate change 
                        and to coordinate the pursuit of durable 
                        solutions for climate-displaced persons, 
                        including resettlement into the United States;
                    ``(ii) the United States Agency for International 
                Development is--
                            ``(I) responsible for overseeing programs 
                        to prevent the effects of events caused by 
                        climate change; and
                            ``(II) the lead implementing agency for 
                        development and related nonsecurity program 
                        policy related to building resilience and 
                        achieving recovery; and
                    ``(iii) other Federal agencies support the 
                activities of the Department of State and the United 
                States Agency for International Development, as 
                appropriate, with the concurrence of the Secretary of 
                State and the Administrator of the United States Agency 
                for International Development;
            ``(G) describe programs that agencies will undertake to 
        achieve the stated objectives, including descriptions of 
        existing programs and funding by fiscal year and account;
            ``(H) identify mechanisms to improve coordination between 
        the United States, foreign governments, and international 
        organizations, including the World Bank, the United Nations, 
        regional organizations, and private sector organizations;
            ``(I) address efforts to expand public-private partnerships 
        and leverage private sector resources;
            ``(J) describe the criteria, metrics, and mechanisms for 
        monitoring and evaluation of programs and objectives in the 
        Global Climate Change Resilience Strategy; and
            ``(K) describe how the Global Climate Change Resilience 
        Strategy will ensure that programs are country-led and context-
        specific.
    ``(3) Not later than 270 days after the date of the enactment of 
this subsection, and annually thereafter, the President shall submit a 
report to the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the 
Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives, based in 
part on the information collected pursuant to this section, that 
details the Global Climate Change Resilience Strategy. The report shall 
be submitted in unclassified form, but may include a classified annex, 
if necessary.
    ``(4) Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of 
this subsection, the Secretary of State and the Coordinator of Global 
Climate Change Resilience shall brief the Committee on Foreign 
Relations of the Senate and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the 
House of Representatives regarding the progress made by the Federal 
Government in implementing the Global Climate Change Resilience 
Strategy.
    ``(5)(A) Not later than 270 days after the date of the enactment of 
this subsection, and annually thereafter, the Comptroller General of 
the United States, in cooperation and consultation with the Secretary 
of State, shall produce a report evaluating the progress that the 
Federal Government has made toward incorporating climate change into 
department and agency policies, including the resources that have been 
allocated for such purpose.
    ``(B) The report required under subparagraph (A) shall assess--
            ``(i) the degree to which the Department of State and the 
        United States Agency for International Development (USAID) 
        are--
                    ``(I) developing climate change risk assessments; 
                and
                    ``(II) providing guidance to missions on how to 
                include climate change risks in their integrated 
                country strategies;
            ``(ii) whether the Department of State and USAID have 
        sufficient resources to fulfill the requirements described in 
        paragraph (2); and
            ``(iii) any areas in which the Department of State and 
        USAID may lack sufficient resources to fulfill such 
        requirements.''.

SEC. 6. TRAINING OF FOREIGN SERVICE OFFICERS IN CLIMATE CHANGE 
              RESILIENCE.

    Section 708(a)(1) of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 
4028(a)(1)) is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (C), by striking ``and'' at the end;
            (2) in subparagraph (D), by striking the period at the end 
        and inserting ``; and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(E) for Foreign Service Officers who will be 
                assigned to a country from which climate-displaced 
                persons (as defined in section 101(a)(8) of the 
                Immigration and Nationality Act) have been displaced, 
                instruction on climate displacement, including the 
                Global Climate Change Resilience Strategy established 
                under section 117(d) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 
                1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151p(d)).''.

SEC. 7. GUIDANCE ON THE HUMANITARIAN IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE.

    The Secretary of State shall provide guidance to each United States 
diplomatic mission, in accordance with Executive Order 13677 (79 Fed. 
Reg. 58229), addressing the humanitarian impacts associated with 
climate change.

SEC. 8. ADMISSION OF CLIMATE-DISPLACED PERSONS.

    (a) Admission of Climate-Displaced Persons.--
            (1) In general.--Chapter 4 of title II of the Immigration 
        and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1221 et seq.) is amended by 
        adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 244A. CLIMATE-DISPLACED PERSONS.

    ``(a) Admission Goal.--
            ``(1) In general.--Notwithstanding section 207, the number 
        of climate-displaced persons who may be admitted under this 
        section in any fiscal year (beginning with fiscal year 2020) 
        shall be not fewer than the greater of--
                    ``(A) 50,000; or
                    ``(B) the number that the President determines, 
                before the beginning of the fiscal year and after 
                appropriate consultation with Congress, is justified by 
                humanitarian concerns or is otherwise in the national 
                interest.
            ``(2) Effect of numerical adjustment.--If the President 
        determines that the number of climate-displaced persons who may 
        be admitted in a fiscal year based on humanitarian concerns or 
        the national interest is greater than the number set forth in 
        paragraph (1)(A), the President shall--
                    ``(A) set the admissions level for climate-
                displaced persons at the same time as the President 
                determines the number of refugees who may be admitted 
                in such fiscal year under section 207; and
                    ``(B) follow all of the procedures relating to 
                refugee admissions under section 207, including the 
                requirement to engage in an appropriate consultation 
                with Congress.
    ``(b) Admissibility; Applications.--
            ``(1) In general.--
                    ``(A) Admissibility.--Subject to the numerical 
                limitation under subsection (a), the Secretary of 
                Homeland Security, pursuant to such regulations as the 
                Secretary may prescribe, may admit any climate-
                displaced person under this section who--
                            ``(i) is admissible;
                            ``(ii) is not described in section 
                        208(b)(2); and
                            ``(iii) is not described in paragraph (2).
                    ``(B) Applications.--Any alien described in 
                subparagraph (A), regardless of such alien's 
                immigration status, may apply for admission as a 
                climate-displaced person if the alien--
                            ``(i) is physically present in the United 
                        States;
                            ``(ii) arrives in the United States 
                        (whether or not at a designated port of arrival 
                        and including an alien who is brought to the 
                        United States after having been interdicted in 
                        international or United States waters); or
                            ``(iii) applies at a designated application 
                        center.
            ``(2) Limitations.--Except as provided in paragraph (3), an 
        alien may not apply for status as a climate-displaced person 
        if--
                    ``(A) the Secretary of Homeland Security determines 
                that the alien may be removed, pursuant to a bilateral 
                or multilateral agreement, to a country (other than the 
                country of the alien's nationality or, in the case of 
                an alien having no nationality, the country of the 
                alien's last habitual residence) that is outside of the 
                zone in which the sudden or progressive change in the 
                environment obliged the alien to leave his or her 
                residence, provided that such determination does not 
                violate our Nation's human rights obligations;
                    ``(B) the application is not filed within 1 year 
                after the date of the alien's arrival in the United 
                States; or
                    ``(C) an earlier application by the alien for 
                climate-displaced person status has been denied.
            ``(3) Exceptions.--
                    ``(A) Unaccompanied alien children.--Paragraph (2) 
                shall not apply to unaccompanied alien children (as 
                defined in section 462(g) of the Homeland Security Act 
                of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 279(g))).
                    ``(B) Changed circumstances.--Subparagraphs (B) and 
                (C) of paragraph (2) shall not apply if the alien 
                demonstrates, to the satisfaction of the Secretary of 
                Homeland Security that--
                            ``(i) extraordinary circumstances prevented 
                        the alien from filing an application within the 
                        period specified in paragraph (2)(B); or
                            ``(ii) changed circumstances materially 
                        affect the applicant's eligibility for climate-
                        displaced person status.
                    ``(C) Referrals authorized.--The Secretary of State 
                may also accept applications submitted on behalf of 
                eligible applicants for climate-displaced person status 
                by qualified international agencies.
            ``(4) Contents.--Applications submitted under this 
        subsection shall contain such information as the Secretary of 
        State, in consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security, 
        determines to be necessary to determine whether the applicant 
        is eligible for admission as a climate-displaced person.
            ``(5) Fees.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Except as provided in 
                subparagraph (B), an applicant for climate-displaced 
                person status shall not be charged a fee.
                    ``(B) Exception.--If an alien has applied for, and 
                been denied, climate-displaced person status on 2 or 
                more previous occasions, the Secretary may charge a 
                reasonable fee for any subsequent applications, which 
                shall be set at a level equal to the average cost of 
                adjudicating such applications.
    ``(c) Treatment of Climate-Displaced Persons.--
            ``(1) In general.--An alien who qualifies for climate-
        displaced person status under this section shall be eligible 
        for resettlement assistance, entitlement programs, and other 
        benefits available to refugees admitted under section 207.
            ``(2) Treatment of children and spouse.--
                    ``(A) In general.--A spouse or a child (as defined 
                in subparagraph (A), (B), (C), (D), or (E) of section 
                101(b)(1)) of an alien who is granted climate-displaced 
                person status under this section may, if not otherwise 
                eligible for such status, be granted the same status as 
                the climate-displaced person if accompanying, or 
                following to join, such alien.
                    ``(B) Treatment of children.--An unmarried alien 
                who seeks to accompany, or follow to join, a parent 
                granted climate-displaced person status under this 
                section, and who was younger than 21 years of age on 
                the date on which such parent applied for such status, 
                shall continue to be classified as a child for purposes 
                of this subsection and section 209(b)(3), if the alien 
                attains 21 years of age while such application is 
                pending.
    ``(d) Grounds for Ineligibility.--An alien may not be admitted as a 
climate-displaced person under this section if the alien is described 
in section 208(b)(2).''.
            (2) Clerical amendment.--The table of contents for the 
        Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 note) is amended 
        by inserting after the item relating to section 244 the 
        following:

``Sec. 244A. Climate-displaced persons.''.
    (b) Adjustment of Status.--Section 209(a)(1) of the Immigration and 
Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1159(a)) is amended by inserting ``or 244A'' 
before the em dash immediately preceding subparagraph (A).
    (c) Savings Provision.--
            (1) In general.--Nothing in section 244A of the Immigration 
        and Nationality Act, as added by subsection (a)(1), may be 
        construed to affect the United States commitment to the United 
        States Refugee Admissions Program.
            (2) Additional protections.--The protections described in 
        such section 244A are in addition to the refugee admissions 
        goal established by the Presidential determination described in 
        subsection (a)(1)(B) of such section.

SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 
necessary to carry out this Act.
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