[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.

                          ____________________