[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 120 (Thursday, July 13, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Page S2661]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 525. Mr. RUBIO submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by
him to the bill S. 2226, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year
2024 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 appropriate place in title XII, insert the
following:
SEC. 12__. FOREIGN PORT SECURITY ASSESSMENTS.
(a) Short Title.--This section may be cited as the
``International Port Security Enforcement Act''.
(b) In General.--Section 70108 of title 46, United States
Code, is amended--
(1) in subsection (f)--
(A) in paragraph (1), by striking ``provided that'' and all
that follows and inserting the following: ``if--
``(A) the Secretary certifies that the foreign government
or international organization--
``(i) has conducted the assessment in accordance with
subsection (b); and
``(ii) has provided the Secretary with sufficient
information pertaining to its assessment (including
information regarding the outcome of the assessment); and
``(B) the foreign government that conducted the assessment
is not a state sponsor of terrorism (as defined in section
3316(h).''; and
(B) by amending paragraph (3) to read as follows:
``(3) Limitations.--Nothing in this section may be
construed--
``(A) to require the Secretary to treat an assessment
conducted by a foreign government or an international
organization as an assessment that satisfies the requirement
under subsection (a);
``(B) to limit the discretion or ability of the Secretary
to conduct an assessment under this section;
``(C) to limit the authority of the Secretary to repatriate
aliens to their respective countries of origin; or
``(D) to prevent the Secretary from requesting security and
safety measures that the Secretary considers necessary to
safeguard Coast Guard personnel during the repatriation of
aliens to their respective countries of origin.''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(g) State Sponsors of Terrorism and International
Terrorist Organizations.--The Secretary--
``(1) may not enter into an agreement under subsection
(f)(2) with--
``(A) a foreign government that is a state sponsor of
terrorism; or
``(B) a foreign terrorist organization; and
``(2) shall--
``(A) deem any port that is under the jurisdiction of a
foreign government that is a state sponsor of terrorism as
not having effective antiterrorism measures for purposes of
this section and section 70109; and
``(B) immediately apply the sanctions described in section
70110(a) to such port.''.
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