[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4507 Introduced in House (IH)]
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116th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 4507
To protect Saudi dissidents in the United States, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
September 26, 2019
Mr. Connolly introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Permanent Select
Committee on Intelligence, for a period to be subsequently determined
by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as
fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To protect Saudi dissidents in the United States, and for other
purposes.
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 ``Protection of Saudi Dissidents Act
of 2019''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist and Washington Post
columnist, was killed and dismembered in the Saudi consulate in
Istanbul, Turkey on October 2, 2018, by agents with close ties
to the Government of Saudi Arabia.
(2) Khashoggi was a longtime resident of the United States,
living in Virginia under an ``O'' visa and was in the process
of applying for a permanent residency. Two of his four children
are United States citizens.
(3) For many years, Khashoggi wrote on Saudi political and
cultural issues and after criticisms of Crown Prince Mohammed
Bin Salman, Khashoggi chose to reside in the United States due
to his growing fear of arrest in Saudi Arabia. From a self-
imposed exile, he wrote monthly columns in the Washington Post,
including columns that criticized various Saudi policies.
(4) On October 2, 2018, Khashoggi visited the Saudi
consulate in Istanbul with his fiancee to conduct routine
consular matters. She waited for him for over ten hours outside
the consulate, but he never re-emerged. The Turkish authorities
subsequently reported that Khashoggi was murdered inside the
Saudi consulate.
(5) For over two weeks following the murder, Saudi Arabia
denied any knowledge of Khashoggi's whereabouts and claimed the
allegations were ``false'' and ``baseless''. However, on
October 20, 2018, state television in Saudi Arabia reported
that the journalist was murdered in a ``rogue operation'' under
the orders of intelligence officers.
(6) Though Saudi Arabia has detained 21 people, dismissed
two senior officials, and charged eleven people for Khashoggi's
murder, the Government of Saudi Arabia has denied that Saudi
leadership ordered the killing and has refused to extradite any
suspects to Turkey.
(7) To date the United States Government has taken no
actions to force an independent, international investigation of
the killing of Jamal Khashoggi nor shown any willingness to
hold accountable the highest levels of Saudi leadership.
SEC. 3. RESTRICTIONS ON TRANSFERS OF DEFENSE ARTICLES AND SERVICES, ANY
DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION SERVICES, AND ANY MAJOR DEFENSE
EQUIPMENT TO SAUDI ARABIA.
(a) Initial Period.--During the 120-day period beginning on the
date of the enactment of this Act, the President may not transfer,
sell, or authorize a license for export of any defense articles or
services, any design and construction services, or any major defense
equipment under the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2751 et seq.),
regardless of the amount of such articles, services, or equipment, to
an intelligence, internal security, or law enforcement agency or
instrumentality of the Government of Saudi Arabia, or to any person
acting as an agent of or on behalf of such agency or instrumentality.
(b) Subsequent Periods.--
(1) In general.--During the 120-day period beginning on the
day after the end of the 120-day period described in subsection
(a), and every 120 days thereafter, the President may not
transfer, sell, or authorize a license for export of any
defense articles or services, any design and construction
services, or any major defense equipment under the Arms Export
Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2751 et seq.), regardless of the amount
of such articles, services, or equipment, to an intelligence,
internal security, or law enforcement agency or instrumentality
of the Government of Saudi Arabia, or to any person acting as
an agent of or on behalf of such agency or instrumentality,
unless the President submits to the chairman and ranking member
of the appropriate congressional committees a certification
described in paragraph (2) with respect to such 120-day period.
(2) Certification.--A certification described in this
paragraph is a certification that contains a determination of
the President that--
(A) the Government of Saudi Arabia is cooperating
with an independent, international investigation into
the murder of Jamal Khashoggi;
(B) the Government of Saudi Arabia has released any
individual who is a journalist, blogger, human rights
defender, advocate for religious freedom, or civil
society activist detained by the Government of Saudi
Arabia for such individual's work;
(C) the Government of Saudi Arabia is refraining
from arresting, detaining, and harassing individuals
for blasphemy and apostasy, and is protecting the equal
rights of all citizens to freedom of religion or
belief;
(D) the Government of Saudi Arabia has taken
verifiable steps to end the torture of detainees; and
(E) the Government of Saudi Arabia has disbanded
any units of its intelligence or security apparatus
dedicated to the forced repatriation, silencing, or
killing of dissidents in other countries.
(c) Appropriate Congressional Committees Defined.--In this section,
the term ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
(1) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on
Armed Services of the House of Representatives; and
(2) the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Committee on
Armed Services of the Senate.
SEC. 4. REPORT ON CONSISTENT PATTERN OF ACTS OF INTIMIDATION OR
HARASSMENT DIRECTED AGAINST INDIVIDUALS IN THE UNITED
STATES.
(a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
(1) Section 6 of the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C.
2756) states that no export licenses may be issued to any
country determined by the President to be engaged in a
consistent pattern of acts of intimidation or harassment
directed against individuals in the United States.
(2) Section 6 of the Arms Export Control Act further
requires the President to report any such determination
promptly to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the
Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives,
and to the chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations of
the Senate.
(b) Report.--Not later than 60 days after the date of the enactment
of this Act, the President shall submit to the Committee on Foreign
Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign
Relations of the Senate a report on whether any official of the
Government of Saudi Arabia engaged in a consistent pattern of acts of
intimidation or harassment directed against Jamal Khashoggi or any
individual in the United States.
(c) Form.--The report required by subsection (b) shall be submitted
in unclassified form but may contain a classified annex.
SEC. 5. REPORT AND CERTIFICATION WITH RESPECT TO SAUDI DIPLOMATS AND
DIPLOMATIC FACILITIES IN THE UNITED STATES.
(a) Report.--Not later than 120 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State and the Director of
National Intelligence shall submit to the appropriate congressional
committees a report covering the three year period before such date
regarding whether and to what extent covered persons used diplomatic
credentials or covered facilities to monitor, track, surveil, harass,
or harm other Saudi nationals living in the United States.
(b) Certification.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 120 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act and annually thereafter for five
years, the Secretary of State shall, if the Secretary
determines that such is the case, submit to the appropriate
congressional committees a certification that covered persons
are not using diplomatic credentials or covered facilities to
monitor, track, surveil, harass, or harm Saudi nationals living
in the United States during the time period covered by each
such certification.
(2) Failure to submit certification.--If the Secretary of
State does not submit a certification under paragraph (1), the
Secretary shall--
(A) close one or more covered facilities for such
period of time until the Secretary does submit such a
certification; and
(B) submit to the appropriate congressional
committee a report that contains--
(i) a detailed explanation of why the
Secretary is unable to make such a
certification; and
(ii) an identification of the locations of
the covered facilities referred to in
subparagraph (A).
(c) Form.--Each report required by subsection (a) and the
certification and report required by subsection (b) shall be submitted
in unclassified form but may contain a classified annex.
(d) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term
``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
(A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the
Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the House
of Representatives; and
(B) the Committee on Foreign Relations and the
Select Committee on Intelligence of the Senate.
(2) Covered facility.--The term ``covered facility'' means
a diplomatic or consular facility of Saudi Arabia in the United
States.
(3) Covered person.--The term ``covered person'' means a
Saudi national credentialed to a covered facility.
SEC. 6. REPORT ON THE DUTY TO WARN OBLIGATION OF THE GOVERNMENT OF THE
UNITED STATES.
(a) Findings.--Congress finds that Intelligence Community Directive
191 provides that--
(1) when an element of the intelligence community of the
United States collects or acquires credible and specific
information indicating an impending threat of intentional
killing, serious bodily injury, or kidnapping directed at a
person, the agency must ``warn the intended victim or those
responsible for protecting the intended victim, as
appropriate''; and
(2) when issues arise with respect to whether the threat
information rises to the threshold of ``duty to warn'', the
directive calls for resolution in favor of warning the intended
victim.
(b) Report.--Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment
of this Act, the Director of National Intelligence shall submit to the
appropriate congressional committees a report with respect to--
(1) whether and how the intelligence community fulfilled
its duty to warn Jamal Khashoggi of threats to his life and
liberty pursuant to Intelligence Community Directive 191; and
(2) in the case of the intelligence community not
fulfilling its duty to warn as described in paragraph (1), why
the intelligence community did not fulfill this duty.
(c) Form.--The report required by subsection (b) shall be submitted
in unclassified form but may contain a classified annex.
(d) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term
``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
(A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the
Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the House
of Representatives; and
(B) the Committee on Foreign Relations and the
Select Committee on Intelligence of the Senate.
(2) Duty to warn.--The term ``duty to warn'' has the
meaning given that term in Intelligence Community Directive
191, as in effect on July 21, 2015.
(3) Intelligence community.--The term ``intelligence
community'' has the meaning given such term in section 3(4) of
the National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3003(4)).
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