118 S3299 IS: Saving Americans in Foreign Evacuations (SAFE) Act U.S. Senate 2023-11-14 text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.

II118th CONGRESS1st SessionS. 3299IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATESNovember 14 (legislative day, November 13), 2023Mrs. Blackburn (for herself and Ms. Rosen) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign RelationsA BILLTo provide that United States citizens evacuating Israel shall not be required to reimburse the United States Government, and for other purposes.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Saving Americans in Foreign Evacuations (SAFE) Act.

2.

Requirement to provide free travel to United States citizens evacuating Israel

Notwithstanding section 4(b)(2)(A)(ii) of the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 (22 U.S.C. 2671(b)(2)(A)(ii)), private United States citizens and permanent resident aliens evacuating Israel in response to the October 7, 2023, attack by Hamas and the resulting war and civil unrest shall not be required to reimburse the United States Government for travel organized by the Department of State during fiscal year 2024 pursuant to such section.

3.

Report

(a)

In general

Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall submit to Congress a report examining the feasibility of expanding the reimbursement requirement under section (2) to future evacuations worldwide.(b)

Elements

The report required under subsection (a) shall include the following elements:(1)The estimated annual costs of providing cost-free flights and other forms of transportation.(2)A description of the additional responsibilities the Department would bear under such a requirement.(3)A description of additional authorities the Department would need to under such a requirement.(4)A description of moral hazard issues that may arise from such a requirement.

4.

Authorization of appropriations

There is authorized to be appropriated $2,000,000 for fiscal year 2024 for the Department of State to carry out activities under this Act.