[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2525 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 2525
To address transnational repression by foreign governments against
private individuals, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
July 29, 2025
Mr. Merkley (for himself and Mr. Sullivan) introduced the following
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign
Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To address transnational repression by foreign governments against
private individuals, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Transnational
Repression Policy Act''.
(b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this Act is as
follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Statement of policy.
Sec. 3. Defined term.
Sec. 4. Interagency strategy.
Sec. 5. Training.
Sec. 6. Department of Homeland Security and Department of Justice
efforts to combat transnational repression
in the United States.
SEC. 2. STATEMENT OF POLICY.
It is the policy of the United States--
(1) to protect persons within the United States, and United
States nationals who are outside of the United States, from
actions by foreign governments, or individuals acting on behalf
of foreign governments, that violate internationally recognized
human rights;
(2) to encourage cooperation with like-minded foreign
partners to mitigate transnational repression; and
(3) to pursue criminal prosecutions, as appropriate, and
undertake other steps, such as facilitating mutual legal
assistance, in accordance with United States law, to hold
foreign governments and individuals acting on behalf of foreign
governments, including unregistered foreign agents, accountable
for engaging in transnational repression.
SEC. 3. DEFINED TERM.
In this Act, the term ``transnational repression'' refers to a
range of tactics deployed by a foreign government, or agents or proxies
of a foreign government, to reach beyond their borders to intimidate,
silence, harass, coerce, or harm individuals, such as political
dissidents, activists, journalists, political opponents, religious and
ethnic minority groups, international students, and members of diaspora
and exile communities.
SEC. 4. INTERAGENCY STRATEGY.
(a) In General.--Not later than 270 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, in coordination with the
heads of other appropriate Federal departments and agencies, shall
submit a report to the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate,
the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate, the Committee on Foreign
Affairs of the House of Representatives, and the Committee on the
Judiciary of the House of Representatives that contains a United States
strategy--
(1) to increase international awareness of transnational
repression;
(2) to raise the costs borne by governments engaging in
transnational repression by holding such governments
accountable and protecting targeted individuals and groups; and
(3) to increase collaboration and coordination concerning
transnational repression with like-minded allies and partners
and in multilateral venues and international organizations.
(b) Matters To Be Included.--
(1) Diplomacy.--The strategy required under subsection (a)
shall include--
(A) a strategy for advancing joint initiatives in
multilateral and international organizations to expand
awareness, accountability, and best practices to
mitigate and build capacity to counter transnational
repression;
(B) a plan for establishing or strengthening
regional and international coalitions to monitor and
respond to cases of transnational repression, including
reprisals faced by human rights defenders and other
activists for engaging at multilateral organizations,
such as the United Nations;
(C) an analysis of the advantages and disadvantages
of the designation of a special rapporteur for
transnational repression appointed by the Secretary-
General of the United Nations;
(D) a plan for engaging with foreign diplomatic or
consular missions in the United States whose personnel
abuse intimidate, threaten, attack, or undermine the
human rights and fundamental freedoms of exiles and
members of diasporas in the United States; and
(E) a description of the public affairs and public
diplomacy efforts, including at multilateral
institutions and international exchanges, to be used to
draw critical attention to, and oppose acts of,
transnational repression.
(2) Assistance programming.--The strategy shall include
sufficient funding for civil society and nongovernmental
organizations that support victims of transnational repression
and conduct research and analysis of global trends and
incidents of transnational repression.
(3) Law enforcement in the united states.--The strategy
shall--
(A) consider updates to United States law to
address tactics of transnational repression,
including--
(i) the criminalization of gathering
information about private individuals in
diaspora and exile communities on behalf of, or
enabling the ability of, a foreign government
to harass, intimidate, or harm an individual
due to membership in such a community; and
(ii) the expansion of the definition of
foreign agents under the Foreign Registrations
Act of 1938 (22 U.S.C. 611 et seq.) and section
951 of title 18, United States Code;
(B) coordinate between the Federal Bureau of
Investigation, the Department of State, the Department
of Homeland Security, United States intelligence
agencies, and domestic law enforcement agencies in
partner countries, including options for countering the
use of surveillance technology and export licensing
policy in transnational repression;
(C) consider unintended negative impacts of
expanded legal authorities on the civil liberties of
communities targeted by transnational repression,
taking into account the views of affected communities;
(D) develop outreach strategies to connect law
enforcement and local municipal officials with targeted
diaspora communities to ensure individuals who are
vulnerable to transnational repression are aware of the
Federal and local resources available without putting
them at further risk, including policy and programmatic
responses based on input from such communities; and
(E) examine and review the legality of foreign
governments establishing overseas police service
stations, or equivalent facilities, to monitor members
of the diaspora.
(c) Additional Matters To Be Included.--In addition to the matters
set forth in subsection (b), the report required under subsection (a)
should include--
(1) to the extent practicable, information regarding--
(A) the governments that perpetrate transnational
repression;
(B) countries in which incidents of transnational
repression are prevalent;
(C) governments that are complicit in aiding
transnational repression;
(D) individuals, whether United States citizens or
foreign nationals, who are complicit in transnational
repression as agents or proxies of a foreign government
and are operating in the United States, unless
identifying those individuals could interfere with law
enforcement efforts; and
(E) groups of people that are most vulnerable to
transnational repression in the United States and, to
the extent possible, in foreign countries; and
(2) a description of any actions taken by the United States
Government to address transnational repression under existing
law, including--
(A) section 212(a)(3)(C) of the Immigration and
Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(3)(C));
(B) section 1263 of the Global Magnitsky Human
Rights Accountability Act (22 U.S.C. 10102);
(C) section 7031(c) of the Department of State,
Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations
Act, 2020 (division G of Public Law 116-94; 8 U.S.C.
1182 note);
(D) prosecutions and the statutory authority
authorizing such prosecutions; and
(E) which agencies are conducting outreach to
victims of transnational repression and the form of
such outreach.
(d) Form.--The strategy required under subsection (a) shall be
submitted in unclassified form, but may include a classified annex, if
necessary.
(e) Updates.--The Secretary of State shall provide the
congressional committee referred to in subsection (a) with annual
updates regarding the implementation of such strategy.
SEC. 5. TRAINING.
(a) Department of State Personnel.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary of State should make
training available to Department of State personnel, including
overseas mission leadership, as appropriate, and if it pertains
to their countries of assignment, with respect to--
(A) tactics and practices used by perpetrators;
(B) governments known to employ transnational
repression;
(C) governments that cooperate with other
governments engaged in transnational repression;
(D) tools of digital surveillance and other cyber
tools used in transnational repression activities; and
(E) United States policy priorities.
(2) Authorization of appropriations.--There is authorized
to be appropriated such amounts as may be necessary for fiscal
year 2026 to develop and implement the curriculum described in
paragraph (1).
(b) United States Officials Responsible for Domestic Threats of
Transnational Repression.--
(1) In general.--To better recognize and prevent
transnational repression, the Attorney General, in consultation
with the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Director of
National Intelligence, civil society, and the business
community, shall provide training with respect to--
(A) tactics and practices used by perpetrators;
(B) governments known to employ transnational
repression;
(C) which communities and locations in the United
States are most vulnerable to transnational repression;
(D) tools of digital surveillance and other cyber
tools used in transnational repression activities; and
(E) United States policy priorities.
(2) Training recipients.--Those receiving the training
described in paragraph (1) should be--
(A) employees or task force members of--
(i) the Department of Homeland Security,
including U.S. Customs and Border Protection,
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, and
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and
any other employees the Secretary of Homeland
Security determines should receive such
training;
(ii) the Department of Justice, including
the--
(I) Federal Bureau of
Investigation; and
(II) INTERPOL Washington; and
(iii) the Office of Refugee Resettlement of
the Department of Health and Human Services;
(B) other Federal, State, and local law enforcement
and municipal officials receiving instruction at the
Federal Law Enforcement Training Center; and
(C) appropriate private sector and community
partners of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
(3) Authorization of appropriations.--There is authorized
to be appropriated such amounts as may be necessary for fiscal
year 2026 to develop and provide the curriculum and training
described in paragraph (1).
SEC. 6. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY AND DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
EFFORTS TO COMBAT TRANSNATIONAL REPRESSION IN THE UNITED
STATES.
(a) In General.--The Attorney General, in consultation with the
Secretary of Homeland Security and the Director of the Federal Bureau
of Investigation, shall--
(1) not later than 270 days after the date of the enactment
of this Act, publish a toolkit or guide that describes existing
Federal resources to assist and protect individuals and
communities targeted by transnational repression in the United
States;
(2) in cooperation with the heads of other Federal
agencies, conduct proactive outreach so that individuals in
targeted communities are informed about the types of criminal
incidents that should be reported to the Federal Bureau of
Investigation;
(3) organize annual trainings with caseworker staff in
congressional offices regarding the tactics of transnational
repression and the resources available to constituents; and
(4) produce an assessment of how data that is purchased by
governments perpetrating transnational repression is misused
by--
(A) entities that are exporting dual-use spyware
technology to any governments engaged in transnational
repression;
(B) entities that are buying and selling personally
identifiable information that can be used to track and
surveil potential victims; and
(C) entities that are exporting items on the
Commerce Control List (as set forth in Supplement No. 1
to part 774 of the Export Administration Regulations
under subchapter C of chapter VII of title 15, Code of
Federal Regulations) to any governments engaged in
transnational repression that can be misused for human
rights abuses.
(b) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be
appropriated such amounts as may be necessary for fiscal year 2026 for
the research, development, outreach, and training activities described
in subsection (a).
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