[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7443 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>






118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 7443

  To authorize a dedicated transnational repression office within the 
 Department of Homeland Security's Homeland Security Investigations to 
  analyze and monitor transnational repression and related terrorism 
threats and require Homeland Security Investigations to take actions to 
                   prevent transnational repression.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 23, 2024

 Mr. Pfluger (for himself and Mr. Magaziner) introduced the following 
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Homeland Security, and in 
    addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, 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 authorize a dedicated transnational repression office within the 
 Department of Homeland Security's Homeland Security Investigations to 
  analyze and monitor transnational repression and related terrorism 
threats and require Homeland Security Investigations to take actions to 
                   prevent transnational repression.

    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 ``Combating Transnational Repression 
Act of 2024''.

SEC. 2. TRANSNATIONAL REPRESSION.

    (a) Findings and Sense of Congress Regarding Transnational 
Repression.--
            (1) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
                    (A) The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), 
                Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) National 
                Security Division (NSD), Special Interest 
                Investigations Unit (SIIU), collaborates with Federal, 
                State, and local partners to investigate allegations of 
                transnational repression.
                    (B) HSI, through its investigative authorities, 
                works to deter, dismantle, and mitigate criminal 
                enterprises and hostile foreign government actors 
                engaged in transnational repression.
                    (C) In October 2023, the Government Accountability 
                Office (GAO) published a report that found agency 
                actions are needed to address harassment of dissidents 
                and other tactics of transnational repression in the 
                United States.
                    (D) According to GAO, several Federal agencies work 
                to address transnational repression, including DHS's 
                Office of Intelligence and Analysis, which works to 
                produce intelligence that support Federal, State, and 
                local government entities to develop protective and 
                support measures in response to threats of 
                transnational repression, as well as DHS's Office of 
                Partnership and Engagement (OPE), which meets with 
                stakeholders and victims of transnational repression to 
                understand the range of transnational repression 
                activities in the United States. For example, DHS 
                hosted a listening session in March 2022 with 
                stakeholders to learn about issues facing communities 
                in the United States. DHS has also issued reporting for 
                State and local law enforcement agencies to raise 
                awareness about acts of transnational repression.
                    (E) DHS's OPE also works to share available Federal 
                resources to help disrupt threats of transnational 
                repression against United States citizens, with 
                Federal, State, local, Tribal, and international 
                partners so they coordinate countering acts of 
                transnational repression and preparing best practices.
            (2) Sense of congress.--It is the sense of Congress that--
                    (A) transnational repression and related terrorism 
                threats by a foreign government or an agent of a 
                foreign government to target individuals in the United 
                States and persons outside of the United States are 
                real and growing;
                    (B) agents acting on behalf of hostile foreign 
                governments employ a range of transnational repression 
                tactics, including making threats, intimidation, 
                harassment, surveillance, stalking, silencing, and 
                planning physical harm or the kidnapping of individuals 
                in the United States; and
                    (C) the Department of Homeland Security must take 
                steps to recognize, assess, and help address this 
                threat, thereby reducing risks to the people of the 
                United States.
    (b) Office To Combat Transnational Repression.--
            (1) In general.--Subtitle H of title VIII of the Homeland 
        Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 451 et seq.) is amended by 
        adding at the end the following new section:

``SEC. 890E. TRANSNATIONAL REPRESSION.

    ``(a) Office To Analyze, Monitor, and Investigate Transnational 
Repression.--
            ``(1) In general.--There is established an office, to be 
        known as the `Transnational Repression Office' (in this section 
        referred to as the `Office'), in the National Security Division 
        of Homeland Security Investigations, which shall be responsible 
        for analyzing and monitoring transnational repression and 
        related terrorism threats.
            ``(2) Director of the office.--
                    ``(A) Appointment of director.--The head of the 
                Office shall be the Director of the Transnational 
                Repression Office, who shall be appointed by the 
                Director of Homeland Security Investigations.
                    ``(B) Reporting.--The Director of the Transnational 
                Repression Office shall report to the Secretary and the 
                Director of Homeland Security Investigations regarding 
                all administrative, operational, and security matters 
                of the Office.
            ``(3) Staffing.--The Director of Homeland Security 
        Investigations shall ensure the Office--
                    ``(A) has a sufficient number of employees to 
                perform required duties; and
                    ``(B) has at least one employee dedicated to 
                ensuring compliance with privacy laws and regulations.
            ``(4) Detailees authorized.--The Office may accept and 
        employ detailees with expertise in countering transnational 
        repression and related terrorism threats or related fields from 
        any element of the intelligence community, or any other Federal 
        agency the Director of the Transnational Repression Office 
        determines appropriate, with or without reimbursement, 
        consistent with applicable laws and regulations regarding such 
        employees.
            ``(5) Information sharing.--The Office shall review 
        information relating to transnational repression and related 
        terrorism threats that is gathered by Federal, State, local, 
        Tribal, and territorial partners, and the National Network of 
        Fusion Centers, and incorporate such information, as 
        appropriate, into the Office's own information relating to 
        transnational repression and related terrorism threats. The 
        Office shall ensure the dissemination to Federal, State, local, 
        Tribal, and territorial partners, and the National Network of 
        Fusion Centers, of information related to transnational 
        repression and related terrorism threats.
            ``(6) Homeland security assessment on transnational 
        repression.--
                    ``(A) Annual assessments.--Not later than 180 days 
                after the date of the enactment of this section and 
                annually thereafter for ten years, the Director of 
                Homeland Security Investigations, acting through the 
                Director of the Transnational Repression Office, shall 
                submit to the Committee on Homeland Security of the 
                House of Representatives and the Committee on Homeland 
                Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate a 
                report that assesses incidents of transnational 
                repression and related terrorism threats during the 
                immediately preceding 12 months.
                    ``(B) Contents.--Each assessment submitted under 
                subparagraph (A) shall also include the following:
                            ``(i) An analysis attempted incidents of 
                        transnational repression and related terrorism 
                        threats.
                            ``(ii) A quantitative analysis of 
                        transnational repression and related terrorism 
                        threats, including the number of individuals 
                        responsible for or associated with such 
                        transnational repression or related terrorism 
                        threats, and an identification of the country 
                        of citizenship or nationality of each such 
                        individual, and the roles of the foreign 
                        governments of such countries in enabling, 
                        preventing, mitigating, and responding to 
                        transnational repression and related terrorism 
                        threats.
                            ``(iii) Subject to appropriate protections 
                        for sensitive information regarding law 
                        enforcement investigations and operations, a 
                        description of efforts by the Department to 
                        disrupt through investigation transnational 
                        repression and related terrorism threats.
                            ``(iv) Any other matters the Director of 
                        Homeland Security Investigations determines 
                        relevant.
                    ``(C) Form.--Each assessment under subparagraph (A) 
                shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may 
                include a classified annex only for the protection of 
                intelligence sources and methods relating to the 
                matters contained in each such assessment. The Director 
                of Homeland Security Investigations shall post on a 
                publicly available website of Homeland Security 
                Investigations the unclassified portion of each such 
                assessment.
            ``(7) Sunset.--The Office shall terminate on the date that 
        is ten years after the date of the enactment of this section.
    ``(b) Research.--Not later than one year after the date of the 
enactment of this section, the Secretary, in coordination with the 
Under Secretary for Science and Technology of the Department, the 
Director of the Transnational Repression Office, and the Director of 
Homeland Security Investigations, shall, to the extent practicable, 
carry out research and development, including operational testing, of 
technologies and techniques for enhancing the Department's security and 
situational awareness support to Federal, State, local, Tribal, and 
territorial officials relating to combating transnational repression 
and related terrorism threats, in accordance with applicable 
constitutional, privacy, civil rights, and civil liberties protections.
    ``(c) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) Agent of a foreign government.--The term `agent of a 
        foreign government' means an individual or entity that operates 
        subject to the direction or control of--
                    ``(A) a foreign government; or
                    ``(B) an official or entity of such foreign 
                government.
            ``(2) Foreign government.--The term `foreign government' 
        means the government of a foreign country.
            ``(3) Fusion center.--The term `fusion center' has the 
        meaning given such term in subsection (j) of section 210A of 
        the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 124h).
            ``(4) 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)).
            ``(5) National network of fusion centers.--The term 
        `National Network of Fusion Centers' means a decentralized 
        arrangement of fusion centers intended to enhance individual 
        State and urban area fusion centers' ability to leverage the 
        capabilities and expertise of all such fusion centers for the 
        purpose of enhancing analysis and homeland security information 
        sharing nationally.
            ``(6) Transnational repression.--The term `transnational 
        repression' means an action of a foreign government or an agent 
        of a foreign government that satisfies each of the following:
                    ``(A) The action involves--
                            ``(i) any effort intended to coerce, 
                        harass, or digitally or physically threaten, 
                        including by force or reasonable fear of death 
                        or serious bodily injury or imprisonment of a 
                        person or an immediate family member of a 
                        person, a person to take an action in the 
                        interest of such a foreign government;
                            ``(ii) any effort intended to harass or 
                        coerce, including by force or fear, a person to 
                        forebear from exercising their First Amendment 
                        rights or any other right guaranteed to the 
                        person by the Constitution or laws of the 
                        United States, or to retaliate against a person 
                        for having exercised such a right;
                            ``(iii) an extrajudicial killing; or
                            ``(iv) any act intended to further the 
                        efforts specified in clause (i), (ii), or 
                        (iii).
                    ``(B) The action is engaged in for or in the 
                interests of such a foreign government.
                    ``(C) The action--
                            ``(i) occurs, in whole or in part, in the 
                        United States; or
                            ``(ii) is committed against a United States 
                        person.
            ``(7) United states person.--The term `United States 
        person' has the meaning given such term in section 1637(d)(10) 
        of the Carl Levin and Howard P. `Buck' McKeon National Defense 
        Authorization Act for Fiscal year 2015 (50 U.S.C. 
        1708(d)(10)).''.
            (2) Clerical amendment.--The table of contents in section 
        1(b) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 is amended by 
        inserting after the item relating to section 890D the following 
        new item:

``Sec. 890E. Transnational repression.''.
                                 <all>