[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5965 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 5965

To amend the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 to provide 
 for an exemption of reimbursement for certain travel to return to the 
                 United States, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 17, 2023

 Mr. Smith of New Jersey (for himself and Ms. Manning) introduced the 
                             following bill

                            October 25, 2023

              Referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 to provide 
 for an exemption of reimbursement for certain travel to return to 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. EXEMPTION OF REIMBURSEMENT FOR CERTAIN TRAVEL TO RETURN TO 
              THE UNITED STATES.

    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 loans made after October 6, 2023, for purposes 
of evacuations from Israel in response to the Hamas terrorist attacks 
of October 2023, the reimbursement requirements under subsections 
(b)(2)(A)(ii) and (d) shall not apply.''.

SEC. 2. COMPTROLLER GENERAL REPORT.

    (a) In General.--The Comptroller General of the United States shall 
submit to Congress a report on any commercial airfare price 
manipulation and instances of price gouging by airlines relating to the 
evacuation of United States citizens from Israel after the Hamas 
attacks in October 2023.
    (b) Matters To Be Included.--The report required by subsection (a) 
shall include the following:
            (1) A comparison of airfare ticket prices before the 
        attacks and after the attacks, disaggregated by--
                    (A) air carriers;
                    (B) flights originating in Israel, Turkey, Jordan, 
                Egypt, Lebanon, and Greece; and
                    (C) airports designated as primary evacuation 
                destinations by the Department of State.
            (2) A proposal to provide for a voluntary survey 
        opportunity for individuals described in subsection (a) to 
        submit information regarding instances of such price 
        manipulation.
            (3) An analysis of whether any actions regarding price 
        manipulation or other changes violated United States law.
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