[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3420 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 3420
To establish a Special Envoy for Humanitarian Aid Workers, and for
other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
December 10, 2025
Mr. Van Hollen (for himself, Mr. Merkley, and Mr. Sanders) introduced
the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee
on Foreign Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
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. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Commitment to Aid Workers Act''.
SEC. 2. SPECIAL ENVOY FOR HUMANITARIAN AID WORKERS.
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) Definitions.--In this subsection:
``(A) Aid worker.--The term `aid worker' means an
individual who provides humanitarian assistance to
people in need outside the United States.
``(B) Appropriate congressional committees.--The
term `appropriate congressional committees' means--
``(i) the Committee on Appropriations of
the Senate;
``(ii) the Committee on Foreign Relations
of the Senate;
``(iii) the Committee on Appropriations of
the House of Representatives; and
``(iv) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of
the House of Representatives.
``(2) Establishment.--There shall be a Special Envoy for
Humanitarian Aid Workers (referred to in this subsection as the
`Special Envoy'), who shall--
``(A) be appointed by the President; and
``(B) report to the Secretary of State.
``(3) Rank and status of ambassador.--The Special Envoy
shall have the rank and status of ambassador.
``(4) 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.
``(5) Annual report to congress.--Not later than 1 year
after the date of the enactment of this subsection, and
annually thereafter, the Special Envoy shall submit a report to
the appropriate congressional committees regarding the working
environment of the conflict areas in which 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 during the preceding 1-year
period; and
``(D) any policy recommendations.
``(6) Report on united nations office for the coordination
of humanitarian affairs.--Not later than 1 year after the date
of the enactment of this subsection, the Special Envoy, in
consultation with the Secretary of State, shall submit a report
to the appropriate congressional committees 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.''.
SEC. 3. 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) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) Active humanitarian aid mission.--The term `active
humanitarian aid mission' means an ongoing, organized effort
outside the United States through which United States
humanitarian assistance is being delivered or administered by
the international community, individual countries, or
international organizations--
``(A) to prevent and control nonpolitical and
nonmilitary crises; and
``(B) to mitigate the effects of such crises.
``(2) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term
`appropriate congressional committees' means--
``(A) the Committee on Appropriations of the
Senate;
``(B) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the
Senate;
``(C) the Committee on Appropriations of the House
of Representatives; and
``(D) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House
of Representatives.
``(3) Humanitarian aid worker.--The term `humanitarian aid
worker' means an individual who is participating in an active
humanitarian aid mission to provide assistance and resources to
people 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 Department of Defense Law of War Manual; or
``(B) if outside of a state of armed conflict,
would constitute murder or manslaughter (as such terms
are defined in sections 1111 and 1112 of title 18,
United States Code).
``(b) Prohibition on Assistance to Countries That Unlawfully Kill
or Fatally Injure Humanitarian Aid Workers.--
``(1) In general.--No security assistance (as defined in
section 502B(d)(2)) and no defense article or defense service
subject to the requirements under section 36 of the Arms Export
Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2776) 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
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 described in
paragraph (1) shall be submitted not later than 15 days before
such certification takes effect.
``(c) Aid Worker Independent Inquiry Group.--
``(1) Establishment.--Not later than 60 days after the
appointment of the Special Envoy for Humanitarian Aid Workers
pursuant to section 1(b)(2)(A) of the State Department Basic
Authorities Act of 1956 (22 U.S.C. 2651a(b)(2)(A)) (referred to
in this subsection as the `Special Envoy'), the President shall
establish the Aid Worker Independent Inquiry Group (referred to
in this section 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 section.
``(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 the
Special Envoy determines appropriate.
``(3) Incident reports to congress.--Not later than 90 days
after a death or detention described in paragraph (1) (or not
later than 45 days after such death or detention if the victim
is a United States citizen), the Special Envoy, in coordination
with the Group, shall submit a report to Congress 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 Law of War Manual.''.
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