[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5387 Introduced in House (IH)]
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117th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 5387
To require United States persons visiting or residing in highly
dangerous foreign countries to register with the Department of State,
and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
September 27, 2021
Mr. Sherman introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Foreign Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require United States persons visiting or residing in highly
dangerous foreign countries to register with the Department of State,
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 ``Secure American Foreign Evacuation
Act''.
SEC. 2. LIST OF HIGHLY DANGEROUS FOREIGN COUNTRIES.
(a) In General.--Not later than 30 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the President shall submit to Congress a list of
foreign countries or parts thereof that meet one or more of the
following conditions:
(1) The foreign country is a country the government of
which the Secretary of State determines has repeatedly provided
support for international terrorism pursuant to--
(A) section 1754(c)(1)(A) of the Export Control
Reform Act of 2018 (50 U.S.C. 4318(c)(1)(A));
(B) section 620A of the Foreign Assistance Act of
1961 (22 U.S.C. 2371);
(C) section 40 of the Arms Export Control Act (22
U.S.C. 2780); or
(D) any other provision of law.
(2) The foreign country is a country in which the United
States has deployed armed forces that are engaged in
hostilities as defined by the War Powers Resolution (50 U.S.C.
1541 et seq.).
(3) The President has made determination that the foreign
country or any part thereof is very hazardous, based on the
potential for violence and armed conflict in the country or
part thereof, and there is a high probability that United
States persons visiting or residing in such country or part
thereof will need to be evacuated.
(b) Reference.--A foreign country or part thereof included on the
list required by subsection (a) shall be designated as a ``Highly
Dangerous Foreign Country'' for purposes of this Act.
(c) Updates.--The President shall submit to Congress an updated
list under subsection (a)--
(1) not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment
of this Act and every 180 days thereafter; and
(2) as new information becomes available.
SEC. 3. REGISTRATION SYSTEM FOR UNITED STATES PERSONS VISITING OR
RESIDING IN HIGHLY DANGEROUS FOREIGN COUNTRIES.
(a) In General.--The Secretary of State shall require a United
States person intending to visit or reside in a Highly Dangerous
Foreign Country to register with the Department of State under existing
protocols and to meet the requirements described in subsection (b).
(b) Requirements Described.--A United States person intending to
visit or reside in a Highly Dangerous Foreign Country shall meet the
following requirements:
(1) The person shall notify the Department of State of the
proposed visit or residence not later than 5 days after the
person's departure from the United States or another foreign
country for purposes of undertaking the visit or residence.
(2) If the person violates the requirement of paragraph
(1), the Secretary of State shall impose and collect a fee of
$500 from the person--
(A) as soon as practicable after the violation
occurs; or
(B) at the time of renewal of the person's United
States passport.
(c) Waiver.--The Secretary of State may adopt regulations to waive
the fee required under subsection (b)(2) in extraordinary
circumstances.
(d) Effective Date; Transition Provisions.--
(1) Effective date.--This section takes effect on the date
of the enactment of this Act and applies with respect to any
United States person intending to visit or reside in a Highly
Dangerous Foreign Country after the date that is 60 days after
such date of enactment.
(2) Transition provisions.--Any United States person--
(A) visiting or residing in a Highly Dangerous
Foreign Country before the date described in paragraph
(1) shall register with the Department of State under
existing protocols and meet the requirements of
subsection (b) not later than 180 days after the date
of the enactment of this Act; and
(B) visiting or residing in a Highly Dangerous
Foreign Country that is included on the list required
by section 2(a) after the date described in paragraph
(1) shall register with the Department of State under
existing protocols and meet the requirements of
subsection (b) not later than 6 days after the date on
which the Country is included on the list.
SEC. 4. PRIORITY IN EVACUATING UNITED STATES PERSONS FROM HIGHLY
DANGEROUS FOREIGN COUNTRIES.
The United States Government shall, when evacuating United States
persons from a Highly Dangerous Foreign Country, give priority to those
United States persons who have complied with the requirements of
section 3.
SEC. 5. REPORTING REQUIREMENT.
Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act,
the Secretary of State shall submit to Congress a report on the
registration system for United States persons visiting or residing in
highly dangerous foreign countries described in section 3 and how to
improve the system in the future.
SEC. 6. UNITED STATES PERSON DEFINED.
In this Act, the term ``United States person'' means a United
States citizen or alien admitted for permanent residence to the United
States.
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