[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4303 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 4303
To establish a Special Envoy for Humanitarian Aid Workers, and for
other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 7, 2025
Ms. Pingree (for herself, Mr. McGovern, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, Ms. Dean of
Pennsylvania, Ms. Tlaib, and Mr. Pocan) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish a Special Envoy for Humanitarian Aid Workers, 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. SPECIAL ENVOY FOR HUMANITARIAN AID WORKERS.
(a) In General.--Section 1 of the State Department Basic
Authorities Act of 1956 (22 U.S.C. 2651a) is amended by adding at the
end the following:
``(p) Special Envoy for Humanitarian Aid Workers.--
``(1) Establishment.--There shall be a Special Envoy for
Humanitarian Aid Workers, who shall be appointed by the
President and shall report to the Secretary of State.
``(2) Rank and status of ambassador.--The Special Envoy
shall have the rank and status of ambassador.
``(3) Duties.--The Special Envoy shall be responsible for--
``(A) inquiring into the death, fatal injury, or
detention of any aid worker in the course of providing
assistance as part of a humanitarian mission supported
by the United States;
``(B) advocating for the robust coordination and
deconfliction between humanitarian missions supported
by the United States, international bodies, and
relevant foreign security forces;
``(C) advocating for foreign countries to adopt
best practices, including security for aid workers, to
enable nongovernmental organizations to freely deliver
humanitarian aid and assistance;
``(D) developing and advocating, in consultation
with the Secretary of State, best practices for foreign
countries to work with humanitarian nongovernmental
organizations and civil society organizations; and
``(E) advocating for any other matter that supports
the efforts of nongovernmental organizations to provide
humanitarian assistance without the interference of the
security of a foreign country.
``(4) Report to congress.--Not later than 1 year after the
date of the enactment of this section, and annually thereafter,
the Special Envoy shall submit to the appropriate congressional
committees a report regarding the working environment of the
conflict areas in which humanitarian aid workers operate to
provide humanitarian assistance as part of a humanitarian
mission supported by the United States, including--
``(A) any security challenges that nongovernmental
organizations face in providing United States
humanitarian assistance;
``(B) the effectiveness of the United Nations
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in
deconflicting between nongovernmental organizations
providing humanitarian assistance and parties to
conflict;
``(C) how much humanitarian assistance the United
States has distributed in the preceding 1-year period;
and
``(D) any policy recommendations.
``(5) Definitions.--In this section:
``(A) Aid worker.--The term `aid worker' means an
individual who provides humanitarian assistance to
those in need outside the United States.
``(B) Appropriate congressional committees.--The
term `appropriate congressional committees' means--
``(i) the Committees on Appropriations of
the House of Representatives and Senate;
``(ii) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of
the House of Representatives; and
``(iii) the Committee on Foreign Relations
of the Senate.''.
(b) Report on OCHA.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the date of
the enactment of this section, the Special Envoy for
Humanitarian Aid Workers shall, in consultation with the
Secretary of State, submit to the appropriate congressional
committees a report regarding the effectiveness of the efforts
of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs with respect to coordination and
deconfliction between humanitarian nongovernmental
organizations and foreign countries as part of a humanitarian
response supported by the United States.
(2) Appropriate congressional committees defined.--In this
subsection, the term ``appropriate congressional committees''
means--
(A) the Committees on Appropriations of the Senate
and House of Representatives;
(B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House
of Representatives; and
(C) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the
Senate.
SEC. 2. INVESTIGATIONS INTO ANY KILLING OR FATAL INJURY OF HUMANITARIAN
AID WORKERS.
Chapter 1 of part III of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22
U.S.C. 2351 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``SEC. 620N. PROHIBITION ON ASSISTANCE TO COUNTRIES THAT UNLAWFULLY
KILL OR FATALLY INJURE HUMANITARIAN AID WORKERS.
``(a) Prohibition on Assistance to Countries That Unlawfully Kill
or Fatally Injure Humanitarian Aid Workers.--
``(1) In general.--No security assistance (as such term is
defined in section 502B) and no defense article or defense
service subject to the requirements of section 36 of the Arms
Export Control Act may be furnished to any foreign country if
the Secretary of State certifies to the appropriate
congressional committees that such foreign country has
unlawfully killed or fatally injured humanitarian aid workers
or refused reasonable requests to furnish relevant information
to the Secretary of the United States, unless the Secretary of
State also certifies to the appropriate congressional
committees that, in the determination of the Secretary, such
foreign country--
``(A) has taken sufficient action to investigate
previous violations, adopt corrective actions, take
effective steps to bring the responsible members of the
security force unit to justice, and coordinate active
humanitarian aid missions; and
``(B) will enable humanitarian aid workers to
participate in such missions without being unlawfully
killed or fatally injured.
``(2) Applicability.--A certification under paragraph (1)
shall be submitted not later than 15 days before the entry into
effect of such certification.
``(b) Aid Worker Independent Inquiry Group.--
``(1) Establishment.--Not later than 60 days after
appointment of the Special Envoy for Humanitarian Aid Workers,
the President shall establish an interagency group, to be known
as the Aid Worker Independent Inquiry Group (in this section
referred to as the `Group'), to assess and analyze the death or
detention of any individual participating in an active
humanitarian aid mission after the date of the enactment of
this Act.
``(2) Membership.--The Group shall be led by the Special
Envoy and consist of such number of representatives as the
Special Envoy may determine appropriate from--
``(A) the Department of Justice;
``(B) the Department of State, including--
``(i) relevant embassies;
``(ii) the Office of Foreign Assistance;
and
``(iii) relevant offices under the
Undersecretary for Political Affairs;
``(C) the Federal Bureau of Investigation;
``(D) the Office of the Director of National
Intelligence; and
``(E) any other Federal department or agency that
the Special Envoy may determine appropriate.
``(3) Report to congress.--Not later than 90 days after the
incidence of a death or detention described in paragraph (1),
the Special Envoy, in coordination with the Group, shall submit
to Congress a report that includes--
``(A) the cause of such death or detention;
``(B) with respect to a death--
``(i) a description of the events leading
up to such death;
``(ii) if the military of a foreign country
is responsible for causing the death of any
such aid worker;
``(iii) an assessment of the circumstances
surrounding such death, including the
information available to and intentions of the
unit of such military involved;
``(iv) information on the source of such
death, including the type of munitions used in
connection with such death, if any;
``(v) whether it is more likely than not
that any defense article used was transferred
from the United States or purchased by the
perpetrator from United States assistance; and
``(vi) any other detail that the Special
Envoy determines relevant to the circumstances
of the death;
``(C) with respect to a detention, information on
the grounds for such detention, including any criminal
charges and evidence against the detainee;
``(D) an assessment of the degree of cooperation
with the investigation of the death or detention by the
relevant foreign country, including whether such
country has furnished all requested information; and
``(E) a final assessment as to whether such death
or detention was consistent with the laws of the
international community, of the host country, and the
Department of Defense's Law of War Manual.
``(c) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) Active humanitarian aid mission.--The term `active
humanitarian aid mission' means an ongoing, organized effort
outside the United States where United States humanitarian
assistance is being delivered or administered by the
international community, individual countries, or international
organizations to prevent and control non-political and non-
military crises and to mitigate their effects.
``(2) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term
`appropriate congressional committees' means--
``(A) the Committees on Appropriations of the House
of Representatives and Senate;
``(B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House
of Representatives; and
``(C) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the
Senate.
``(3) Humanitarian aid worker.--The term `humanitarian aid
worker' means an individual participating in an active
humanitarian aid mission to provide assistance and resources to
those in need.
``(4) Unlawful killing.--The term `unlawful killing' means
the use of lethal force by a government or its agents that--
``(A) if in a state of armed conflict, is
inconsistent with the requirements of international
humanitarian law that are enshrined as principles in
the United States Department of Defense Law of War
Manual; or
``(B) if outside of a state of armed conflict,
would constitute homicide as defined in section 1111 or
1112 of title 18, United States Code.''.
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