[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3598 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3598

 To require commercial airlines to provide cash reimbursements, and to 
authorize the Secretary of State to waive or reimburse travel expenses, 
 for any United States citizen who is evacuated from a foreign country 
    and repatriated to the United States due to travel restrictions 
     implemented in response to COVID-19 or any future pandemic or 
                         international crisis.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 4, 2020

 Mr. Blumenthal (for himself, Mr. Markey, Ms. Warren, Ms. Harris, Ms. 
 Baldwin, Mr. Heinrich, Mr. Sanders, and Ms. Cortez Masto) introduced 
the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee 
                on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To require commercial airlines to provide cash reimbursements, and to 
authorize the Secretary of State to waive or reimburse travel expenses, 
 for any United States citizen who is evacuated from a foreign country 
    and repatriated to the United States due to travel restrictions 
     implemented in response to COVID-19 or any future pandemic or 
                         international crisis.

    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 ``Repatriation Reimbursement Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    (a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) The spread of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) and 
        subsequent travel restrictions issued by nations around the 
        world have left many United States citizens stranded overseas 
        as they sought to return to the United States.
            (2) On March 19, 2020, the Department of State issued a 
        Level 4 Health Advisory that--
                    (A) advised all United States citizens to avoid all 
                international travel due to the global impact of COVID-
                19;
                    (B) urged United States citizens overseas to seek 
                commercial departure options to return to the United 
                States unless they were prepared to remain abroad for 
                an indefinite period; and
                    (C) lead many United States citizens to seek 
                repatriation to the United States.
            (3) As a result of rapidly changing travel restrictions by 
        the United States and the closing of borders and airports in 
        numerous countries around the world--
                    (A) many commercial airlines cancelled flights and 
                failed to reimburse United States citizens for the 
                costs they had paid for such flights; and
                    (B) many United States citizens were left without 
                any return flight options.
            (4) In their efforts to comply with the Department of State 
        travel guidance, some United States citizens have been forced--
                    (A) to pay often exorbitant and unanticipated fees 
                directly to commercial airlines for emergency flights 
                to return to the United States; or
                    (B) to sign a promissory note to the Department of 
                State to commit to reimbursement for a flight chartered 
                by the repatriation task force through United States 
                embassies around the world.
    (b) Sense of Congress.--Given the precarious position of United 
States citizens who were stranded globally and the difficult economic 
conditions they may face upon returning to the United States, it is the 
sense of Congress that the commercial airline industry and the 
Department of State should fully reimburse or waive all travel costs 
for United States citizens who require repatriation to the United 
States as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

SEC. 3. REIMBURSEMENT OF CERTAIN TRAVEL EXPENSES BY COMMERCIAL 
              AIRLINES.

    (a) In General.--All travel expenses incurred, on or after December 
31, 2019, and on or before September 30, 2020, by any United States 
citizen as a direct result of any flight on a commercial airline that 
is cancelled or does not depart within 24 hours of its originally 
scheduled departure time shall be reimbursed, in cash, by the airline 
with which such flight was initially booked if the citizen was 
evacuated from a foreign country and repatriated to the United States 
due to travel restrictions implemented in response to COVID-19.
    (b) Requirement To Honor Original Ticket Price.--Notwithstanding 
any otherwise applicable contractual provision, any commercial airline 
that sold a ticket to a United States citizen described in subsection 
(a) for a flight from a foreign country to the United States during the 
period set forth in such subsection that, due to travel restrictions 
referred to in such subsection, was cancelled (by the passenger or by 
the airline) or was rescheduled to depart more than 24 hours after its 
originally scheduled departure time--
            (1) shall provide the passenger with a cash reimburse of 
        the total costs incurred by the passenger for any cancelled 
        flight;
            (2) shall waive any change fees associated with replacing 
        such ticket for another flight;
            (3) may not charge the passenger any more for the 
        replacement ticket than was charged for the original ticket; 
        and
            (4) shall provide the passenger with a cash reimbursement 
        for any amount paid by the passenger during the period set 
        forth in subsection (a) that is prohibited under paragraph (2) 
        or (3).
    (c) Funding.--
            (1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), a 
        commercial airline may use amounts appropriated or otherwise 
        made available to the commercial airline industry in any 
        appropriations Act enacted on or after March 1, 2020, in 
        response to COVID-19 to pay for the travel expenses described 
        in subsection (a).
            (2) Limitation.--A commercial airline may not use amounts 
        appropriated under section 4112 of the Coronavirus Economic 
        Stabilization Act of 2020 (title IV of division A of Public Law 
        116-136) to pay for the travel expenses described in subsection 
        (a).

SEC. 4. EMERGENCY TRANSPORTATION FOR UNITED STATES CITIZENS EVACUATED 
              FROM FOREIGN COUNTRIES DUE TO COVID-19 TRAVEL 
              RESTRICTIONS.

    (a) Waiver or Reimbursement of Travel Expenses.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary of State shall waive any 
        travel expenses paid by the Department of State on or after 
        December 31, 2019, for any United States citizen who is 
        evacuated from a foreign country and repatriated to the United 
        States due to travel restrictions implemented in response to 
        COVID-19 or any future pandemic or international crisis, as 
        determined by the Secretary.
            (2) Promissory notes.--Any promissory note signed by a 
        United States citizen to reimburse the Department of State for 
        travel expenses described in paragraph (1) shall be null and 
        void.
            (3) Conforming amendment.--Section 4 of the State 
        Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 (22 U.S.C. 2671) is 
        amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(e) In the case of a communicable disease for which the Federal 
Government has issued a travel alert or travel warning, the 
reimbursement requirements under subsections (b)(2)(A)(ii) and (d) 
shall not apply.''.
            (4) Reimbursement.--
                    (A) Authorization.--The Secretary of State shall 
                reimburse United States citizens who were evacuated 
                from a foreign country on or after December 31, 2019, 
                and repatriated to the United States due to travel 
                restrictions described in paragraph (1) for travel 
                expenses associated with such evacuation and 
                repatriation, including the costs of commercial or 
                charter flights and any ground transportation expenses 
                associated with travel to the foreign airport and from 
                the domestic airport to their homes in the United 
                States.
                    (B) Process.--The Secretary of State shall develop 
                an online process through which United States citizens 
                may submit claims for reimbursement for travel expenses 
                described in subparagraph (A).
    (b) Funding.--The Secretary of State may use amounts appropriated 
or otherwise made available to the Department of State in any 
appropriations Act enacted on or after March 1, 2020, in response to 
COVID-19 or any future pandemic or international crisis to pay for the 
travel expenses described in subsection (a).
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