[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 90 (Wednesday, June 8, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Page S3664]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 4600. Mr. CORNYN submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by
him to the bill S. 2943, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year
2017 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military
construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy,
to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for
other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:
At the end of subtitle H of title XII, add the following:
SEC. 1277. REPORT ON POTENTIAL VIOLATIONS BY IRAN OF THE
RIGHT UNDER INTERNATIONAL LAW TO CONDUCT
INNOCENT PASSAGE.
(a) In General.--Not later than 60 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall
submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report
that includes a determination with respect to whether, during
or after the incident that began on January 12, 2016, in
which forces of Iran boarded two United States Navy riverine
combat vessels and detained at gunpoint the crews of those
vessels, any of the actions of the forces of Iran constituted
a violation of the right under international law to conduct
innocent passage.
(b) Actions to Be Assessed.--In assessing actions of the
forces of Iran under subsection (a), the Secretary shall
consider, at a minimum, the following actions:
(1) The stopping, boarding, search, and seizure of the two
United States Navy riverine combat vessels in the incident
described in subsection (a).
(2) The removal from their vessels and detention of members
of the United States Armed Forces in that incident.
(3) The theft or confiscation of electronic navigational
equipment or any other equipment from the vessels.
(4) The forcing of one or more members of the United States
Armed Forces to apologize for their actions.
(5) The display, videotaping, or photographing of members
of the United States Armed Forces and the subsequent
broadcasting or other use of those photographs or videos.
(6) The forcing of female members of the United States
Armed Forces to wear head coverings.
(c) Description of Actions.--In the case of each action
that the Secretary determines under subsection (a) is a
violation of the right under international law to conduct
innocent passage, the Secretary shall include in the report
required by that subsection a description of the action and
an explanation of how the action violated that right.
(d) Form of Report.--The report required by subsection (a)
shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may include a
classified annex.
(e) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term
``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
(A) the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate; and
(B) the Committee on Armed Services of the House of
Representatives.
(2) Forces of iran.--The term ``forces of Iran'' means the
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, members of other military
or paramilitary units of the Government of Iran, and other
agents of that Government.
(3) Innocent passage.--The term ``innocent passage'' means
the principle under customary international law that all
vessels have the right to conduct innocent passage through
another country's territorial waters for the purpose of
continuous and expeditious traversing.
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