[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 22 (Monday, February 5, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H760-H761]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
WAR CRIMES REWARDS EXPANSION ACT
Mr. ROYCE of California. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and
pass the bill (H.R. 3851) to amend the State Department Basic
Authorities Act of 1956 to provide for rewards for the arrest or
conviction of certain foreign nationals who have committed genocide or
war crimes, and for other purposes, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 3851
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 ``War Crimes Rewards Expansion
Act''.
SEC. 2. DEPARTMENT OF STATE REWARDS PROGRAM.
Paragraph (10) of section 36(b) of the State Department
Basic Authorities Act of 1956 (22 U.S.C. 2708(b)) is amended
by striking ``defined under the statute of such tribunal.''
and inserting the following: ``defined--
``(A) under the statute of such country or tribunal, as the
case may be; or
``(B) under United States law;''.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
California (Mr. Royce) and the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Brendan
F. Boyle) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California.
General Leave
Mr. ROYCE of California. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that
all Members may have 5 days to revise and extend their remarks and to
include any extraneous material in the Record on this measure.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from California?
There was no objection.
Mr. ROYCE of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I
may consume.
Mr. Speaker, let me just start by thanking the gentlewoman from North
Carolina (Ms. Foxx) who is very engaged on this issue; and my ranking
member on the Foreign Affairs Committee as well, Eliot Engel. They
introduced this bill together.
For the last 33 years, the Department of State War Crimes Rewards
Program has authorized the Secretary of State to offer rewards for the
arrest or the conviction of certain dangerous individuals. Originally
drafted to be used against international terrorists, this successful
program has been expanded over the years to include the use against
others who threaten our safety and our security. So this now includes
drug traffickers, war criminals, and perpetrators of genocide, some of
those efforts I had authored years ago.
But in 2012, we expanded it further to transnational organized crime.
At that time, my subcommittee held a hearing where the State Department
testified that one captured target, a narco terrorist, told DEA agents
that he could no longer trust anyone in his organization after a reward
was offered on his head.
What he said was: I felt like a hunted man.
Exactly. That is the rationale behind that program, and that is why
we expanded it then with my legislation and why we expand it today with
the legislation of Virginia Foxx and Eliot Engel, because our goal here
is to turn the table on these dangerous criminals and help ensure that
they have no safe haven from justice.
The bill before us today clarifies these authorities. The current
statute authorized rewards for the arrest or conviction of foreign
nationals for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide. Many
people often think of those things in connection with international
tribunals. But the U.S. also has domestic statutes on the books that
criminalize war crimes and criminalize genocide. This bill makes clear
that the State Department's rewards can be used in connection with the
prosecution of foreign nationals in U.S. courts for those crimes, as
well to make sure that inducement is there.
Tragically, these authorities continue to be necessary and we know
continue to be important. We live in a world where crimes against
humanity are perpetrated. We have seen two declared genocides in as
many decades. One in Darfur in 2004. I remember seeing firsthand a
young boy who had his hand amputated by the Janjaweed and by ISIS in
2016. Any of us can pick up our iPhone and see the results of that kind
of terror. We also see tragic ethnic cleansing against the Rohingya
right now in Burma.
So I again want to thank Congresswoman Foxx and Mr. Engel for their
work on the bill. It deserves our support.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. BRENDAN F. BOYLE of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself
such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this bill.
I would like to recognize Congresswoman Virginia Foxx and Ranking
Member Eliot Engel, along with Congressmen Randy Hultgren and James
McGovern, for their work on this bipartisan piece of legislation.
The War Crimes Rewards Expansion Act would clarify the War Crimes
Rewards Program. This program is an important tool for bringing to
justice the perpetrators of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and
genocide.
Under current law, the United States uses the program to pay rewards
for the arrest or conviction of foreign nationals who commit some of
the most heinous acts. In the past, bounties have helped find fugitives
from the former Yugoslavia to Rwanda.
The statute providing authorization for this program specifies that
rewards can be paid to individuals who furnish information leading to
arrests or convictions for war crimes, crimes against humanity, or
genocide, as those terms are defined under the statutes of
international tribunals.
H.R. 3851 clarifies that the Secretary of State can also choose to
pay rewards for arrests and convictions that take place under the laws
of the United States as well as other individual countries.
{time} 1745
Under certain circumstances, prosecutions will have the greatest
impact when they take place in domestic courts within the societies in
which those crimes occur. Doing so can help ensure the parties
understand the law, witnesses have access to the trials, and public
awareness is maximized. The clarification provided in this bill will
help build on the program's success, providing the State Department
with clear authority to use rewards for a wide range of prosecutions,
when appropriate.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this important piece of
bipartisan legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. ROYCE of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may
consume to the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Ms. Foxx), chairwoman
of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce and the author of
this bill.
Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Royce very much for his help
on this legislation.
Mr. Speaker, I am here to speak in support of the War Crimes Rewards
Expansion Act, introduced by my good friend Eliot Engel and me. It is
another excellent example today of bipartisanship here in the House.
As Chairman Royce said, this bill expands and reforms the War Crimes
Rewards Program, which provides bounties for perpetrators of the
world's worst human rights abusers.
The current program authorizes these rewards only for the purposes of
prosecutions in international tribunals. While experts can attest to
the necessity of international tribunals or mixed court tribunals in
limited circumstances, the program fails to offer
[[Page H761]]
the same advantages and incentives to prosecutions in national
jurisdictions using national courts.
There is already broad consensus that prosecuting perpetrators of
atrocities like the genocide that plagues religious minorities at the
hands of ISIS has the greatest impact when the prosecutions are
conducted within the society in which the crimes occurred.
When governments can keep these prosecutions within national
jurisdictions, witnesses have easier access to courts, public awareness
of these brutal atrocities is maximized, and parties will more likely
understand domestic laws. Furthermore, domestic trials are often
cheaper, quicker, and less resource intensive, meaning more resources
can be devoted to items like discovery and analysis.
Congress has already attested to the threat that these crimes posed
to U.S. interests, including the heavy price tag in the forms of
regional instability, refugee flows, economic losses, and
reconstruction costs.
A related program, the Rewards for Justice Program, authorizes
similar bounties for terrorists wanted by the United States for
violations of United States law, most famously, the one that was placed
upon Osama bin Ladin. The bounties have led to the disruption of
terrorist activities, but also to the prosecution of terrorists like
Ramzi Yousef, who was convicted in the 1993 bombing of the World Trade
Center.
Our bill would bring the War Crimes Rewards Program into conformity
with that standard by explicitly listing violations of U.S. law as a
basis for issuing the reward, not just the conviction by an
international tribunal. It would also allow the U.S. to work with our
allies to issue joint rewards, another provision in the terrorism
authorization that the human rights provision lacks.
This bill will leave important safeguards already incorporated into
the current program in place. These safeguards include the
ineligibility of government officials, consultation with the Attorney
General, and congressional notification of the awards.
Finally, Mr. Speaker, national governments are sovereign, and the
U.S. Government shouldn't be neglecting their proper role by offering
this tool solely to tribunals. Currently, there are efforts to
encourage the prosecution of ISIS perpetrators of rape and genocide
against Yazidis in national courts using domestic laws that provide for
such prosecutions. This bill would make it clear that the U.S.
Government should also be encouraging such efforts.
The genocide by ISIS fighters in the Middle East; war crimes
perpetrated by Syria's brutal dictator, Bashar al-Assad; and the North
Korean regime's crimes against its own people must all be opposed by
the United States. It is my hope that the passage of this bill will
send the signal that these brutal atrocities and the cowards who
perpetrate them will be hunted down and punished with all means
possible.
I thank my good friend and ranking member of the Foreign Affairs
Committee, Eliot Engel, for his role as the lead Democrat cosponsor of
this bipartisan legislation. Again, I thank Chairman Royce for bringing
this to the floor. Lastly, I thank the committee staff for their
thoughtful contributions and assistance.
Mr. BRENDAN F. BOYLE of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself
such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, again, I thank Congresswoman Foxx, as well as Ranking
Member Engel, for their legislation, as well as the other legislators
who worked on it.
This bill will help ensure that the War Crimes Rewards Program can be
used to the greatest possible effect, bringing the perpetrators of war
crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide to justice. It will give
the State Department clear authority to use rewards for perpetrators
who are brought to justice under international tribunals and in
domestic courts.
America must stand against human rights abusers and war criminals
abroad, and this bill helps advance that goal.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the bill, and I yield
back the balance of my time.
Mr. ROYCE of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of
my time.
Mr. Speaker, when we consider the human cost in terms of those who
commit war crimes or crimes against humanity, I reflect on some of the
victims of Charles Taylor's activities in Liberia and Sierra Leone. We
saw young children who had limbs amputated at the hands of the
Revolutionary United Front, supported by Charles Taylor. We have met
with children whose parents have been murdered by the perpetrators of
violence who believed they were beyond justice.
The concept behind having the Department of State Rewards Program
serves such an important purpose when we consider that it has helped
bring to the bar of justice around this planet those who have been
involved in war crimes. It has turned the table on dangerous war
terrorists and criminals.
This bill, sponsored by Virginia Foxx and Eliot Engel, continues to
expand that very effort to help ensure that they face justice but, just
as importantly, to send the message that others in the future who
contemplate behaving like Charles Taylor or committing this kind of
mayhem will also face the bar of justice. It will also encourage those
who are working with them to turn them over in order to get that
reward, leaving them in a state of perpetual anxiety so that they know
that, at any time, anyone in their organization could turn them over
for international justice. This bill helps advance that effort.
Again, I thank the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Ms. Foxx) and my
good friend from New York (Mr. Engel), as well, for sponsoring this
bill to make clear that this important authority includes justice meted
out by U.S. courts under U.S. law. This makes it clear that the
international provisions we seek to expand include the actions taken
here in the United States, and I congratulate them for bringing this
bill forward.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from California (Mr. Royce) that the House suspend the rules
and pass the bill, H.R. 3851, as amended.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
Mr. ROYCE of California. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the
ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a
quorum is not present.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further
proceedings on this question will be postponed.
The point of no quorum is considered withdrawn.
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