[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 123 (Tuesday, July 18, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3091-S3092]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 928. Mrs. SHAHEEN (for herself and Mr. Graham) submitted an 
amendment intended to be proposed by her 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 end of subtitle B of title XII, add the following:

     SEC. 1225. MODIFICATION OF ESTABLISHMENT OF COORDINATOR FOR 
                   DETAINED ISIS MEMBERS AND RELEVANT POPULATIONS 
                   IN SYRIA.

       (a) Definitions.--In this section:
       (1) Appropriate committees of congress.--The term 
     ``appropriate committees of Congress'' means--
       (A) the Committee on Armed Services, the Committee on 
     Foreign Relations, the Committee on the Judiciary, the 
     Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, the Select 
     Committee on Intelligence, and the Committee on 
     Appropriations of the Senate; and
       (B) the Committee on Armed Services, the Committee on 
     Foreign Affairs, the Committee on the Judiciary, the 
     Committee on Financial Services, the Permanent Select 
     Committee on Intelligence, and the Committee on 
     Appropriations of the House of Representatives.
       (2) ISIS member.--The term ``ISIS member'' means a person 
     who was part of, or substantially supported, the Islamic 
     State in Iraq and Syria.
       (3) Senior coordinator.--The term ``Senior Coordinator'' 
     means the coordinator for detained ISIS members and relevant 
     displaced populations in Syria designated under subsection 
     (a) of section 1224 of the National Defense Authorization Act 
     for Fiscal Year 2020 (Public Law 116-92; 133 Stat. 1642), as 
     amended by subsection (d).
       (b) Sense of Congress.--
       It is the sense of Congress that--
       (A) ISIS detainees held by the Syrian Democratic Forces and 
     ISIS-affiliated individuals located within displaced persons 
     camps in Syria pose a significant and growing humanitarian 
     challenge and security threat to the region;
       (B) the vast majority of individuals held in displaced 
     persons camps in Syria are women and children, approximately 
     50 percent of whom are under the age of 12 at the al-Hol 
     camp, and they face significant threats of violence and 
     radicalization, as well as lacking access to adequate 
     sanitation and health care facilities;
       (C) there is an urgent need to seek a sustainable solution 
     to such camps through repatriation and reintegration of the 
     inhabitants;
       (D) the United States should work closely with 
     international allies and partners to facilitate the 
     repatriation and reintegration efforts required to provide a 
     long-term solution for such camps and prevent the resurgence 
     of ISIS; and
       (E) if left unaddressed, such camps will continue to be 
     drivers of instability that jeopardize the long-term 
     prospects for peace and stability in the region.
       (c) Statement of Policy.--It is the policy of the United 
     States that--
       (1) ISIS-affiliated individuals located within displacement 
     camps in Syria, and other inhabitants of displacement camps 
     in Syria, be repatriated and, where appropriate, prosecuted, 
     or where possible, reintegrated into their country of origin, 
     consistent with all relevant domestic laws and applicable 
     international laws prohibiting refoulement; and
       (2) the camps will be closed as soon as is practicable.
       (d) Modification of Establishment of Coordinator for 
     Detained ISIS Members and Relevant Displaced Populations in 
     Syria.--Section 1224 of the National Defense Authorization 
     Act for Fiscal Year 2020 (Public Law 116-92; 133 Stat. 1642) 
     is amended--
       (1) by striking subsection (a);
       (2) by amending subsection (b) to read as follows:
       ``(a) Designation.--
       ``(1) In general.--The President, in consultation with the 
     Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of State, the Director of 
     National Intelligence, the Secretary of the Treasury, the 
     Administrator of the United States Agency for International 
     Development, and the Attorney General, shall designate an 
     existing official to serve within the executive branch as 
     senior-level coordinator to coordinate, in conjunction with 
     other relevant agencies, matters related to ISIS members who 
     are in the custody of the Syrian Democratic Forces and other 
     relevant displaced populations in Syria, including--
       ``(A) by engaging foreign partners to support the 
     repatriation and disposition of such individuals, including 
     by encouraging foreign partners to repatriate, transfer, 
     investigate, and prosecute such ISIS members, and share 
     information;
       ``(B) coordination of all multilateral and international 
     engagements led by the Department of State and other agencies 
     that are related to the current and future handling, 
     detention, and prosecution of such ISIS members;
       ``(C) the funding and coordination of the provision of 
     technical and other assistance to foreign countries to aid in 
     the successful investigation and prosecution of such ISIS 
     members, as appropriate, in accordance with relevant domestic 
     laws, international humanitarian law, and other 
     internationally recognized human rights and rule of law 
     standards;
       ``(D) coordination of all multilateral and international 
     engagements related to humanitarian access and provision of 
     basic services to, and freedom of movement and security and 
     safe return of, displaced persons at camps or facilities in 
     Syria that hold family members of such ISIS members;
       ``(E) coordination with relevant agencies on matters 
     described in this section; and
       ``(F) any other matter the President considers relevant.
       ``(2) Rule of construction.--If, on the date of the 
     enactment of the National Defense Authorization Act for 
     Fiscal Year 2024, an individual has already been designated, 
     consistent with the requirements and responsibilities 
     described in paragraph (1), the requirements under that 
     paragraph shall be considered to be satisfied with respect to 
     such individual until the date on which such individual no 
     longer serves as the Senior Coordinator.'';
       (3) in subsection (c), by striking ``subsection (b)'' and 
     inserting ``subsection (a)'';
       (4) in subsection (d), by striking ``subsection (b)'' and 
     inserting ``subsection (a)'';
       (5) in subsection (e), by striking ``January 31, 2021'' and 
     inserting ``January 31, 2025'';
       (6) in subsection (f)--
       (A) by redesignating paragraph (2) as paragraph (3);
       (B) by inserting after paragraph (1) the following new 
     paragraph (2):
       ``(2) Senior coordinator.--The term `Senior Coordinator' 
     means the individual designated under subsection (a).''; and
       (C) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
       ``(4) Relevant agencies.--The term `relevant agencies' 
     means--
       ``(A) the Department of State;
       ``(B) the Department of Defense;
       ``(C) the Department of the Treasury;
       ``(D) the Department of Justice;
       ``(E) the United States Agency for International 
     Development;
       ``(F) the Office of the Director of National Intelligence; 
     and
       ``(G) any other agency the President considers relevant.''; 
     and
       (7) by redesignating subsections (c) through (f) as 
     subsections (b) through (e), respectively.
       (e) Strategy on ISIS-Related Detainee and Displacement 
     Camps in Syria.--
       (1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
     the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, in 
     coordination with the Secretary of Defense, the Director of 
     National Intelligence, the Secretary of the Treasury, the 
     Administrator of the United States Agency for International 
     Development, and the Attorney General, shall submit to the 
     appropriate committees of Congress an interagency strategy 
     with respect to ISIS-affiliated individuals and ISIS-related 
     detainee and other displaced persons camps in Syria.
       (2) Elements.--The strategy required by paragraph (1) shall 
     include--
       (A) methods to address--
       (i) disengagement from and prevention of recruitment into 
     violence, violent extremism, and other illicit activity in 
     such camps;
       (ii) efforts to encourage and facilitate repatriation and, 
     as appropriate, investigation and prosecution of foreign 
     nationals from such camps, consistent with all relevant 
     domestic and applicable international laws;
       (iii) the return and reintegration of displaced Syrian and 
     Iraqi women and children into their communities of origin;
       (iv) international engagement to develop processes for 
     repatriation and reintegration of foreign nationals from such 
     camps;

[[Page S3092]]

       (v) contingency plans for the relocation of detained and 
     displaced persons who are not able to be repatriated from 
     such camps;
       (vi) efforts to improve the humanitarian conditions in such 
     camps, including through the delivery of medicine, 
     psychosocial support, clothing, education, and improved 
     housing; and
       (vii) assessed humanitarian and security needs of all camps 
     and detainment facilities based on prioritization of such 
     camps and facilities most at risk of humanitarian crises, 
     external attacks, or internal violence;
       (B) an assessment of--
       (i) rehabilitation centers in northeast Syria, including 
     humanitarian conditions and processes for admittance and 
     efforts to improve both humanitarian conditions and 
     admittance processes for such centers and camps, as well as 
     on the prevention of youth radicalization; and
       (ii) processes for being sent to, and resources directed 
     towards, rehabilitation centers and programs in countries 
     that receive returned ISIS affiliated individuals, with a 
     focus on the prevention of radicalization of minor children;
       (C) a plan to improve, in such camps--
       (i) security conditions, including by training of personnel 
     and through construction; and
       (ii) humanitarian conditions;
       (D) a framework for measuring progress of humanitarian, 
     security, and repatriation efforts with the goal of closing 
     such camps; and
       (E) any other matter the Secretary of State considers 
     appropriate.
       (3) Form.--The strategy required by paragraph (1) shall be 
     submitted in unclassified form but may include a classified 
     annex that is transmitted separately.
       (f) Annual Interagency Report.--
       (1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
     the enactment of this Act, and not less frequently than 
     annually thereafter through January 31, 2025, the Senior 
     Coordinator, in coordination with the relevant agencies, 
     shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a 
     detailed report that includes the following:
       (A) A detailed description of the facilities and camps 
     where detained ISIS members, and families with perceived ISIS 
     affiliation, are being held and housed, including--
       (i) a description of the security and management of such 
     facilities and camps;
       (ii) an assessment of resources required for the security 
     of such facilities and camps;
       (iii) an assessment of the adherence by the operators of 
     such facilities and camps to international humanitarian law 
     standards; and
       (iv) an assessment of children held within such facilities 
     and camps that may be used as part of smuggling operations to 
     evade security at the facilities and camps.
       (B) A description of all efforts undertaken by, and the 
     resources needed for, the United States Government to address 
     deficits in the humanitarian environment and security of such 
     facilities and camps.
       (C) A description of all multilateral and international 
     engagements related to humanitarian access and provision of 
     basic services to, and freedom of movement and security and 
     safe return of, displaced persons at camps or facilities in 
     Iraq, Syria, and any other area affected by ISIS activity, 
     including a description of--
       (i) support for efforts by the Syrian Democratic Forces to 
     facilitate the return and reintegration of displaced people 
     from Iraq and Syria;
       (ii) repatriation efforts with respect to displaced women 
     and children and male children aging into adults while held 
     in these facilities and camps;
       (iii) any current or future potential threat to United 
     States national security interests posed by detained ISIS 
     members or displaced families, including an analysis of the 
     al-Hol camp and annexes; and
       (iv) United States Government plans and strategies to 
     respond to any threat identified under clause (iii).
       (D) The number of individuals repatriated from the custody 
     of the Syrian Democratic Forces.
       (E) An analysis of factors on the ground in Syria and Iraq 
     that may result in the unintended release of detained or 
     displaced ISIS members, and an assessment of any measures 
     available to mitigate such releases.
       (F) A detailed description of efforts to encourage the 
     final disposition and security of detained or displaced ISIS 
     members with other countries and international organizations.
       (G) A description of foreign repatriation and 
     rehabilitation programs deemed successful systems to model, 
     and an analysis of the long-term results of such programs.
       (H) A description of the manner in which the United States 
     Government communicates regarding repatriation and 
     disposition efforts with the families of United States 
     citizens believed to have been victims of a criminal act by a 
     detained or displaced ISIS member, in accordance with section 
     503(c) of the Victims' Rights and Restitution Act of 1990 (34 
     U.S.C. 20141(c)) and section 3771 of title 18, United States 
     Code.
       (I) An analysis of all efforts between the United States 
     and partner countries within the Global Coalition to Defeat 
     ISIS or other countries to share related information that may 
     aid in resolving the final disposition of ISIS members, and 
     any obstacles that may hinder such efforts.
       (J) Any other matter the Coordinator considers appropriate.
       (2) Form.--The report required by paragraph (1) shall be 
     submitted in unclassified form but may include a classified 
     annex that is transmitted separately.
       (g) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section, or an 
     amendment made by this section, may be construed--
       (1) to limit the authority of any Federal agency to 
     independently carry out the authorized functions of such 
     agency; or
       (2) to impair or otherwise affect the activities performed 
     by that agency as granted by law.
                                 ______