[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 147 (Thursday, October 15, 1998)]
[House]
[Pages H10955-H10957]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
STATE DEPARTMENT BASIC AUTHORITIES ACT AMENDMENT
Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and concur in
the Senate amendment to the bill (H.R. 4660) to amend the State
Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 to provide rewards for
information leading to the arrest or conviction of any individual for
the commission of an act, or conspiracy to act, of international
terrorism, narcotics related offenses, or for serious violations of
international humanitarian law relating to the Former Yugoslavia, and
for other purposes.
The Clerk read as follows:
Senate amendment:
Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert:
TITLE I--DEPARTMENT OF STATE REWARDS PROGRAM
SEC. 101. REVISION OF PROGRAM.
Section 36 of the State Department Basic Authorities Act of
1956 (22 U.S.C. 2708) is amended to read as follows:
``SEC. 36. DEPARTMENT OF STATE REWARDS PROGRAM.
``(a) Establishment.--
``(1) In general.--There is established a program for the
payment of rewards to carry out the purposes of this section.
``(2) Purpose.--The rewards program shall be designed to
assist in the prevention of acts of international terrorism,
international narcotics trafficking, and other related
criminal acts.
``(3) Implementation.--The rewards program shall be
administered by the Secretary of State, in consultation, as
appropriate, with the Attorney General.
``(b) Rewards Authorized.--In the sole discretion of the
Secretary (except as provided in subsection (c)(2)) and in
consultation, as appropriate, with the Attorney General, the
Secretary may pay a reward to any individual who furnishes
information leading to--
``(1) the arrest or conviction in any country of any
individual for the commission of an act of international
terrorism against a United States person or United States
property;
``(2) the arrest or conviction in any country of any
individual conspiring or attempting to commit an act of
international terrorism against a United States person or
United States property;
``(3) the arrest or conviction in any country of any
individual for committing, primarily outside the territorial
jurisdiction of the United States, any narcotics-related
offense if that offense involves or is a significant part of
conduct that involves--
``(A) a violation of United States narcotics laws such that
the individual would be a major violator of such laws;
``(B) the killing or kidnapping of--
``(i) any officer, employee, or contract employee of the
United States Government while such individual is engaged in
official duties, or on account of that individual's official
duties, in connection with the enforcement of United States
narcotics laws or the implementing of United States narcotics
control objectives; or
``(ii) a member of the immediate family of any such
individual on account of that individual's official duties,
in connection with the enforcement of United States narcotics
laws or the implementing of United States narcotics control
objectives; or
``(C) an attempt or conspiracy to commit any act described
in subparagraph (A) or (B);
``(4) the arrest or conviction in any country of any
individual aiding or abetting in the commission of an act
described in paragraph (1), (2), or (3); or
``(5) the prevention, frustration, or favorable resolution
of an act described in paragraph (1), (2), or (3).
``(c) Coordination.--
``(1) Procedures.--To ensure that the payment of rewards
pursuant to this section does not duplicate or interfere with
the payment of informants or the obtaining of evidence or
information, as authorized to the Department of Justice, the
offering, administration, and payment of rewards under this
section, including procedures for--
``(A) identifying individuals, organizations, and offenses
with respect to which rewards will be offered;
``(B) the publication of rewards;
``(C) the offering of joint rewards with foreign
governments;
``(D) the receipt and analysis of data; and
``(E) the payment and approval of payment,
shall be governed by procedures developed by the Secretary of
State, in consultation with the Attorney General.
``(2) Prior approval of attorney general required.--Before
making a reward under this section in a matter over which
there is Federal criminal jurisdiction, the Secretary of
State shall obtain the concurrence of the Attorney General.
``(d) Funding.--
``(1) Authorization of appropriations.--Notwithstanding
section 102 of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act,
Fiscal Years 1986 and 1987 (Public Law 99-93; 99 Stat. 408),
but subject to paragraph (2), there are authorized to be
appropriated to the Department of State from time to time
such amounts as may be necessary to carry out this section.
[[Page H10956]]
``(2) Limitation.--No amount of funds may be appropriated
under paragraph (1) which, when added to the unobligated
balance of amounts previously appropriated to carry out this
section, would cause such amounts to exceed $15,000,000.
``(3) Allocation of funds.--To the maximum extent
practicable, funds made available to carry out this section
should be distributed equally for the purpose of preventing
acts of international terrorism and for the purpose of
preventing international narcotics trafficking.
``(4) Period of availability.--Amounts appropriated under
paragraph (1) shall remain available until expended.
``(e) Limitations and Certification.--
``(1) Maximum amount.--No reward paid under this section
may exceed $5,000,000.
``(2) Approval.--A reward under this section of more than
$100,000 may not be made without the approval of the
Secretary.
``(3) Certification for payment.--Any reward granted under
this section shall be approved and certified for payment by
the Secretary.
``(4) Nondelegation of authority.--The authority to approve
rewards of more than $100,000 set forth in paragraph (2) may
not be delegated.
``(5) Protection measures.--If the Secretary determines
that the identity of the recipient of a reward or of the
members of the recipient's immediate family must be
protected, the Secretary may take such measures in connection
with the payment of the reward as he considers necessary to
effect such protection.
``(f) Ineligibility.--An officer or employee of any entity
of Federal, State, or local government or of a foreign
government who, while in the performance of his or her
official duties, furnishes information described in
subsection (b) shall not be eligible for a reward under this
section.
``(g) Reports.--
``(1) Reports on payment of rewards.--Not later than 30
days after the payment of any reward under this section, the
Secretary shall submit a report to the appropriate
congressional committees with respect to such reward. The
report, which may be submitted in classified form if
necessary, shall specify the amount of the reward paid, to
whom the reward was paid, and the acts with respect to which
the reward was paid. The report shall also discuss the
significance of the information for which the reward was paid
in dealing with those acts.
``(2) Annual reports.--Not later than 60 days after the end
of each fiscal year, the Secretary shall submit a report to
the appropriate congressional committees with respect to the
operation of the rewards program. The report shall provide
information on the total amounts expended during the fiscal
year ending in that year to carry out this section, including
amounts expended to publicize the availability of rewards.
``(h) Publication Regarding Rewards Offered by Foreign
Governments.--Notwithstanding any other provision of this
section, in the sole discretion of the Secretary, the
resources of the rewards program shall be available for the
publication of rewards offered by foreign governments
regarding acts of international terrorism which do not
involve United States persons or property or a violation of
the narcotics laws of the United States.
``(i) Determinations of the Secretary.--A determination
made by the Secretary under this section shall be final and
conclusive and shall not be subject to judicial review.
``(j) Definitions.--As used in this section:
``(1) Act of international terrorism.--The term `act of
international terrorism' includes--
``(A) any act substantially contributing to the acquisition
of unsafeguarded special nuclear material (as defined in
paragraph (8) of section 830 of the Nuclear Proliferation
Prevention Act of 1994 (22 U.S.C. 3201 note)) or any nuclear
explosive device (as defined in paragraph (4) of that
section) by an individual, group, or non-nuclear-weapon state
(as defined in paragraph (5) of that section); and
``(B) any act, as determined by the Secretary, which
materially supports the conduct of international terrorism,
including the counterfeiting of United States currency or the
illegal use of other monetary instruments by an individual,
group, or country supporting international terrorism as
determined for purposes of section 6(j)(1)(A) of the Export
Administration Act of 1979 (50 U.S.C. App. 2405(j)(1)(A)).
``(2) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term
`appropriate congressional committees' means the Committee on
International Relations of the House of Representatives and
the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate.
``(3) Member of the immediate family.--The term `member of
the immediate family', with respect to an individual,
includes--
``(A) a spouse, parent, brother, sister, or child of the
individual;
``(B) a person with respect to whom the individual stands
in loco parentis; and
``(C) any person not covered by subparagraph (A) or (B) who
is living in the individual's household and is related to the
individual by blood or marriage.
``(4) Rewards program.--The term `rewards program' means
the program established in subsection (a)(1).
``(5) United states narcotics laws.--The term `United
States narcotics laws' means the laws of the United States
for the prevention and control of illicit trafficking in
controlled substances (as such term is defined in section
102(6) of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 802(6))).
``(6) United states person.--The term `United States
person' means--
``(A) a citizen or national of the United States; and
``(B) an alien lawfully present in the United States.''.
SEC. 102. REWARDS FOR INFORMATION CONCERNING INDIVIDUALS
SOUGHT FOR SERIOUS VIOLATIONS OF INTERNATIONAL
HUMANITARIAN LAW RELATING TO THE FORMER
YUGOSLAVIA.
(a) Authority.--In the sole discretion of the Secretary of
State (except as provided in subsection (b)(2)) and in
consultation, as appropriate, with the Attorney General, the
Secretary may pay a reward to any individual who furnishes
information leading to--
(1) the arrest or conviction in any country, or
(2) the transfer to, or conviction by, the International
Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia,
of any individual who is the subject of an indictment
confirmed by a judge of such tribunal for serious violations
of international humanitarian law as defined under the
statute of such tribunal.
(b) Procedures.--
(1) To ensure that the payment of rewards pursuant to this
section does not duplicate or interfere with the payment of
informants or the obtaining of evidence or information, as
authorized to the Department of Justice, subject to paragraph
(3), the offering, administration, and payment of rewards
under this section, including procedures for--
(A) identifying individuals, organizations, and offenses
with respect to which rewards will be offered;
(B) the publication of rewards;
(C) the offering of joint rewards with foreign governments;
(D) the receipt and analysis of data; and
(E) the payment and approval of payment,
shall be governed by procedures developed by the Secretary of
State, in consultation with the Attorney General.
(2) Before making a reward under this section in a matter
over which there is Federal criminal jurisdiction, the
Secretary of State shall obtain the concurrence of the
Attorney General.
(3) Rewards under this section shall be subject to any
requirements or limitations that apply to rewards under
section 36 of the State Department Basic Authorities Act of
1956 (22 U.S.C. 2708) with respect to the ineligibility of
government employees for rewards, maximum reward amount, and
procedures for the approval and certification of rewards for
payment.
(c) Reference.--For the purposes of subsection (a), the
statute of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former
Yugoslavia means the Annex to the Report of the Secretary
General of the United Nations pursuant to paragraph 2 of
Security Council Resolution 827 (1993) (S/25704).
(d) Determination of the Secretary.--A determination made
by the Secretary of State under this section shall be final
and conclusive and shall not be subject to judicial review.
(e) Priority.--Rewards under this section may be paid from
funds authorized to carry out section 36 of the State
Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 (22 U.S.C.). In the
Administration and payment of rewards under the rewards
program of section 36 of the State Department Basic
Authorities Act of 1956 (22 U.S.C.), the Secretary of State
shall ensure that priority is given for payments to
individuals described in section 36 of that Act and that
funds paid under this section are paid only after any and all
due and payable demands are met under section 36 of that Act.
(f) Reports.--The Secretary shall inform the appropriate
committees of rewards paid under this section in the same
manner as required by section 36(g) of the State Department
Basic Authorities Act of 1956 (22 U.S.C.).
TITLE II--EXTRADITION TREATIES INTERPRETATION ACT OF 1998
SEC. 201. SHORT TITLE.
This title may be cited as the ``Extradition Treaties
Interpretation Act of 1998''.
SEC. 202. FINDINGS.
Congress finds that--
(1) each year, several hundred children are kidnapped by a
parent in violation of law, court order, or legally binding
agreement and brought to, or taken from, the United States;
(2) until the mid-1970's, parental abduction generally was
not considered a criminal offense in the United States;
(3) since the mid-1970's, United States criminal law has
evolved such that parental abduction is now a criminal
offense in each of the 50 States and the District of
Columbia;
(4) in enacting the International Parental Kidnapping Crime
Act of 1993 (Public Law 103-173; 107 Stat. 1998; 18 U.S.C.
1204), Congress recognized the need to combat parental
abduction by making the act of international parental
kidnapping a Federal criminal offense;
(5) many of the extradition treaties to which the United
States is a party specifically list the offenses that are
extraditable and use the word ``kidnapping'', but it has been
the practice of the United States not to consider the term to
include parental abduction because these treaties were
negotiated by the United States prior to the development in
United States criminal law described in paragraphs (3) and
(4);
(6) the more modern extradition treaties to which the
United States is a party contain dual criminality provisions,
which provide for extradition where both parties make the
offense a felony, and therefore it is the practice of the
United States to consider such treaties to include parental
abduction if the other foreign state party also considers the
act of parental abduction to be a criminal offense; and
(7) this circumstance has resulted in a disparity in United
States extradition law which should be rectified to better
protect the interests of children and their parents.
[[Page H10957]]
SEC. 203. INTERPRETATION OF EXTRADITION TREATIES.
For purposes of any extradition treaty to which the United
States is a party, Congress authorizes the interpretation of
the terms ``kidnaping'' and ``kidnapping'' to include
parental kidnapping.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from New
York (Mr. Gilman) and the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Payne) each
will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New York (Mr. Gilman).
General Leave
Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may
have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks
on this measure.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from New York?
There was no objection.
Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
(Mr. GILMAN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his
remarks.)
Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, this measure enjoys strong bipartisan
support in the Congress and the executive branch. It raises the rewards
that can be offered to arrest terrorists, narcotraffickers and Yugoslav
war criminals. The House passed this measure by voice vote on October 8
and the Senate passed it yesterday.
When the other body considered this measure, it deleted the separate
funding authorization for rewards related to the arrest of Yugoslav war
criminals and added the text of S. 1266, the Extradition Treaties
Interpretation Act. S. 1266 passed the Senate by voice vote last year
and would permit divided American parents to levy extradition requests
on their former spouses who have kidnapped their children. I will note
that this language also has strong bipartisan support and the backing
of the administration.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume,
and I rise in support of H.R. 4660, as amended.
I would like to commend the gentleman from New York (Mr. Gilman) for
his leadership in bringing H.R. 4660 to the floor today. I understand
that the Senate has amended the bill. The amendment will interpret the
term ``kidnapping'' in any extradition treaty to which the U.S. is a
party to include parental kidnapping.
The amendment will result in three important changes: First, it will
cure a disparity between list and dual criminality extradition
treaties. Parental kidnapping is an extraditable offense under dual
criminality treaties but not list treaties. Second, it will enable the
Departments of State and Justice to pursue extradition requests under
list treaties for parental kidnapping. This change will grant law
enforcement officials the necessary flexibility to process extradition
requests. Currently we have two outstanding list treaty requests that
cannot be processed because this legislation is not in place. Finally,
it will harmonize the term ``parental kidnapping'' in list treaties
with U.S. domestic law which makes parental kidnapping a crime. The
bill has the support of the Department of Justice and State, and State
and local prosecutors.
Mr. Speaker, I support this important bill and I urge its adoption.
Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman
from Connecticut (Mr. Gejdenson).
Mr. GEJDENSON. Mr. Speaker, if I can yield to the chairman of the
committee for a question, I think we are doing good work here. Some of
us are concerned that the implementation language for the chemical
treaty, the ban on chemical weapons, could end up dying because there
are so many other issues that have been added to that particular bill.
I am just wondering what the chairman's intention is. I can guarantee
you near Democratic support if it is a clean bill on the chemical
treaty. If it has a number of other items on it, I am afraid we may not
see that bill pass in this session. I think that would just be wrong.
It is late in the session. We have got agreement on the chemical
portion. I would hope the chairman's plan is to bring a clean bill to
the floor rather rapidly.
Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
Mr. GEJDENSON. I yield to the gentleman from New York.
Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I would be pleased to relate the status. We
have been negotiating with regard to the proponents of the omnibus bill
to try to get as much of our reauthorization language in as well as the
chemical weapons measure. We are awaiting a final decision with regard
to that. It is still under negotiation.
Mr. GEJDENSON. I hope the chairman could at this point release the
chemical treaty while he is negotiating in the omnibus. The advantage
of that, of course, is that this is an important thing that I think the
chairman should if he does not, I think he does support, we ought to
get that done and you can continue to negotiate on the other matter.
Mr. GILMAN. If the gentleman will yield further, we certainly
recognize the importance of the chemical weapons bill. I want to assure
the gentleman we will try our best to try to make certain that we get
the reauthorization language and the chemical weapons measure before
the full House before we adjourn.
{time} 1330
Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I
yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
In concluding, Mr. Speaker, this bill says to terrorists they can run
but they cannot hide. Terrorists everywhere will have to live with the
paranoia that a price is on their head dead or alive, and it sends a
very important message, too, toward criminals, Number 1; and 2,
Karadzic and Milosevic that their days of freedom are numbered.
Mr. Speaker, I urge support for the measure.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Ballenger). The question is on the
motion offered by the gentleman from New York (Mr. Gilman) that the
House suspend the rules and concur in the Senate amendment to the bill,
H.R. 4660.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor
thereof) the rules were suspended and the Senate amendment was
concurred in.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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