[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 45 (Thursday, March 15, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3201-S3202]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Mr. Coburn, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Cornyn, 
        and Mr. Feingold):
  S. 888. A bill to amend section 1091 of title 18, United States Code, 
to allow the prosecution of genocide in appropriate circumstances; to 
the Committee on the Judiciary.
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of 
the bill be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                 S. 888

       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 ``Genocide Accountability Act 
     of 2007''.

     SEC. 2. GENOCIDE.

       Section 1091 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by 
     striking subsection (d) and inserting the following:
       ``(d) Required Circumstance for Offenses.--The circumstance 
     referred to in subsections (a) and (c) is that--
       ``(1) the offense is committed in whole or in part within 
     the United States;
       ``(2) the alleged offender is a national of the United 
     States (as that term is defined in section 101 of the 
     Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101));
       ``(3) the alleged offender is an alien lawfully admitted 
     for permanent residence in the United States (as that term is 
     defined in section 101 of the Immigration and Nationality Act 
     (8 U.S.C. 1101));
       ``(4) the alleged offender is a stateless person whose 
     habitual residence is in the United States; or
       ``(5) after the conduct required for the offense occurs, 
     the alleged offender is brought into, or found in, the United 
     States, even if that conduct occurred outside the United 
     States.''.

  Mr. COBURN. Mr. President, I rise today as the lead Republican 
sponsor of the Genocide Accountability Act of 2007. I thank my 
colleague, Senator Durbin, for introducing this important piece of 
legislation.
  Senator Durbin serves as the chairman and I serve as the ranking 
member of the new Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Law in the 
Senate Judiciary Committee. We held our first hearing, entitled 
``Genocide and the Rule of Law,'' on February 5, 2007. There could not 
be a more appropriate way to begin examining the law as it relates to 
human rights than to determine what we can and must do to prevent and 
stop genocide. The United States is a signatory of the Convention on 
the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. This convention 
provides that the contracting parties must ``undertake to prevent and 
to punish'' the crime of genocide. We have also passed a law 
implementing the Genocide Convention.
  However, our hearing demonstrated that there are changes that need to 
be made in law and foreign policy to respond to the ongoing genocide in 
Sudan and to any genocide that may occur elsewhere in the future. 
Fortunately, two of these changes can be accomplished right now.
  The first change can be accomplished through a bill Senators Durbin 
and Cornyn introduced last week, of which I am a cosponsor. That bill, 
the Sudan Divestment Authorization Act of 2007, will allow State and 
local governments to prohibit the investment of State assets in the 
Government of Sudan or companies with certain business relationships 
with Sudan, while the Government of Sudan is subject to sanctions under 
U.S. law. The second change can be accomplished through the bill we are 
introducing today, the Genocide Accountability Act of 2007. This act 
will ensure that our justice system has the authority to prosecute 
someone who has committed genocide if that person is found or brought 
into the United States.
  Under current law, the United States can deny admission to and 
exclude aliens from the United States on human rights grounds. The 
Attorney General can also consider avenues for the prosecution of 
aliens who have committed certain crimes, including genocide. However, 
the Attorney General can only prosecute a perpetrator of genocide if he 
committed his crimes within the United States or is a U.S. national.

[[Page S3202]]

  What does this mean? It means that if a person who plans or 
participates in the genocide occurring right now in Darfur travels to 
the United States on vacation, business, or even to live here for an 
extended period of time--as a refugee or student, for instance--a court 
in the United States cannot touch him. The best our justice system can 
do is deport him once his crime is discovered.
  Without question, it may be more appropriate in some cases to 
extradite someone who commits genocide to his home country or turn him 
over to an international tribunal. However, there are also times when a 
person's home country may not be willing to prosecute him and there is 
no viable alternative for prosecution. In these cases, extraditing a 
criminal would be no different than setting him free. This bill will 
not force our justice system to prosecute those who commit genocide 
just because they are found on our soil--it simply gives us the option. 
Nonetheless, in America we are blessed with great resources and the 
most effective and just legal system in the world. With these blessings 
comes great responsibility. It is contrary to our system of justice to 
allow perpetrators of genocide to go free without fear of prosecution.
  It simply makes no sense to withhold from our justice system the 
authority to prosecute someone who is found in the United States and 
who committed a crime as atrocious as genocide just because he is not 
American and did not commit the crime here. We have passed tough laws 
that ensure that we can prosecute anyone found in the United States who 
has committed terrorist acts or supports terrorism. We do not want to 
become a safe haven for terrorists, so I ask: Do we want to be a safe 
haven for those who have committed genocide? The answer should be 
clear.
  Fundamentally, we must decide if genocide is a bad enough crime, no 
matter where it happens, that it warrants the same treatment as 
terrorism-related crimes. I deeply believe that it is, and that is why 
I am proud to cosponsor this bill today.
                                 ______