[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1164 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
117th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1164
To impose sanctions with respect to foreign persons who engage in the
hostage-taking or wrongful detention of United States citizens or
aliens lawfully admitted for permanent residence, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
April 15, 2021
Mr. Cotton (for himself, Mr. Cruz, Mr. Young, and Mr. Scott of Florida)
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the
Committee on Foreign Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To impose sanctions with respect to foreign persons who engage in the
hostage-taking or wrongful detention of United States citizens or
aliens lawfully admitted for permanent residence, 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 ``Global Hostage Act of 2021''.
SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) authoritarian governments and non-state actors,
including terrorist groups, continue to engage in the hostage-
taking and prolonged unlawful or wrongful detention of United
States citizens or aliens lawfully admitted for permanent
residence in order to make political demands or extract
monetary concessions;
(2) the United States Government should fully utilize all
necessary and appropriate measures to prevent foreign
governments or non-state actors from engaging in such hostage-
taking or detention, including through the use of extradition
to try and convict the individuals who have participated in, or
are responsible for ordering, controlling, or otherwise
directing, the hostage-taking or detention; and
(3) the United States should encourage its allies and
partners to pursue the criminal prosecution and extradition of
foreign government officials and non-state actors that assist
in or benefit from such hostage-taking or detention to prevent
such governments and non-state actors from engaging in such
hostage-taking or detention in the future.
SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY.
It is the policy of the United States Government not to pay ransom
for the purpose of securing the release of United States citizens or
aliens lawfully admitted for permanent residence who are taken hostage
abroad.
SEC. 4. IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS WITH RESPECT TO POLITICALLY MOTIVATED
DETENTIONS.
(a) In General.--Not later than 90 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the President shall impose the sanctions
described in subsection (b) with respect to any foreign person the
President determines, based on credible evidence, on or after the date
of the enactment of this Act--
(1) knowingly participates in, or is knowingly responsible
for or complicit in, ordering, controlling, or otherwise
directing, the politically motivated harassment, abuse,
extortion, arrest, trial, conviction, sentencing, or
imprisonment of a United States citizen or an alien lawfully
admitted for permanent residence;
(2) provides significant financial, material, or
technological support for or to, or engages in a significant
transaction or a series of transactions totaling a significant
amount with, a foreign person described in paragraph (1);
(3) materially assists, sponsors, or provides financial,
material, or technological support for, or goods or services in
support of, an activity described in paragraph (1); or
(4) owns or controls or is owned or controlled by a foreign
person described in paragraphs (1), (2), or (3).
(b) Sanctions Described.--The sanctions to be imposed with respect
to a foreign person under subsection (a) are the following:
(1) Inadmissibility to united states.--In the case of an
alien subject to subsection (a)--
(A) denial of a visa to, and exclusion from the
United States of--
(i) the alien; and
(ii) any family member of the alien who is
also an alien; and
(B) revocation, in accordance with section 221(i)
of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C.
1201(i)), of any visa or other documentation of the
alien or family member.
(2) Blocking of property.--
(A) In general.--The blocking, in accordance with
the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50
U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), of all transactions in all
property and interests in property of a foreign person
subject to subsection (a) if such property and
interests in property are in the United States, come
within the United States, or come within the possession
or control of a United States person.
(B) Inapplicability of national emergency
requirement.--The requirements of section 202 of the
International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C.
1701) shall not apply for purposes of this subsection.
(c) Exceptions.--
(1) Exception to comply with united nations headquarters
agreement.--Sanctions under subsection (b)(1) shall not apply
to an alien if admitting the alien into the United States is
necessary to permit the United States to comply with the
Agreement regarding the Headquarters of the United Nations,
signed at Lake Success June 26, 1947, and entered into force
November 21, 1947, between the United Nations and the United
States, the Convention on Consular Relations, done at Vienna
April 24, 1963, and entered into force March 19, 1967, or other
applicable international obligations.
(2) Exception relating to importation of goods.--
(A) In general.--The authority to block and
prohibit all transactions in all property and interests
in property under subsection (b)(2) shall not include
the authority to impose sanctions on the importation of
goods.
(B) Good.--In this paragraph, the term ``good''
means any article, natural or manmade substance,
material, supply or manufactured product, including
inspection and test equipment, and excluding technical
data.
(d) Consideration of Certain Information in Imposing Sanctions.--In
determining whether to impose sanctions under subsection (a), the
President shall consider--
(1) information provided jointly by the chairperson and
ranking member of each of the appropriate congressional
committees; and
(2) credible information obtained by other countries and
nongovernmental organizations that monitor violations of human
rights.
(e) Requests by Appropriate Congressional Committees.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 90 days after receiving a
request in writing from the chairperson or ranking member of
one of the appropriate congressional committees with respect to
whether a foreign person has engaged in an activity described
in subsection (a), the President shall--
(A) determine if that foreign person has engaged in
such an activity; and
(B) submit to the chairperson and ranking member of
the committee that submitted the request a report with
respect to that determination that includes--
(i) a statement of whether or not the
President imposed or intends to impose
sanctions under subsection (a) with respect to
the foreign person; and
(ii) if the President imposed or intends to
impose sanctions, a description of the
sanctions.
(2) Form of report.--A report submitted under paragraph
(1)(B) shall be submitted in unclassified form but may include
a classified annex.
(f) Implementation; Penalties.--
(1) Implementation.--The President may exercise all
authorities provided to the President under sections 203 and
205 of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50
U.S.C. 1702 and 1704) to carry out this section.
(2) Penalties.--A person that violates, attempts to
violate, conspires to violate, or causes a violation of
subsection (b)(2) or any regulation, license, or order issued
to carry out that subsection shall be subject to the penalties
set forth in subsections (b) and (c) of section 206 of the
International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1705) to
the same extent as a person that commits an unlawful act
described in subsection (a) of that section.
(g) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Admission; admitted; alien; lawfully admitted for
permanent residence.--The terms ``admission'', ``admitted'',
``alien'', and ``lawfully admitted for permanent residence''
have the meanings given those terms in section 101 of the
Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101).
(2) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term
``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
(A) the Committee on Foreign Relations and the
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the
Senate; and
(B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the
Committee on Financial Services of the House of
Representatives.
(3) Family member.--The term ``family member'', with
respect to an individual, means--
(A) a spouse, child, parent, sibling, sibling's
child, grandchild, or grandparent of the individual;
and
(B) a child, parent, sibling, sibling's child,
grandchild, or grandparent of a spouse of the
individual.
(4) Foreign person.--The term ``foreign person'' means an
individual or entity that is not a United States person.
(5) Knowingly.--The term ``knowingly'', with respect to
conduct, a circumstance, or a result, means that a person has
actual knowledge, or should have known, of the conduct, the
circumstance, or the result.
(6) United states person.--The term ``United States
person'' means--
(A) a United States citizen or an alien lawfully
admitted for permanent residence to the United States;
or
(B) an entity organized under the laws of the
United States or any jurisdiction within the United
States, including a foreign branch of such an entity.
<all>