[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9707 Introduced in House (IH)]
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118th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 9707
To establish a reporting requirement for cases of transnational
repression against United States persons, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
September 19, 2024
Mr. Schiff (for himself, Mr. Goldman of New York, Ms. Lee of
California, Ms. Norton, Ms. Omar, Mr. Swalwell, Mr. McGovern, and Mr.
Valadao) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Foreign
Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in
each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the
jurisdiction of the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish a reporting requirement for cases of transnational
repression against United States persons, 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 ``Transnational Repression Reporting
Act of 2024''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) There have been allegations of transnational repression
against United States persons or persons in the United States,
including targeting political and human rights activists,
journalists, and members of religious and ethnic minority
groups.
(2) A large number of diaspora communities have experienced
a rise of incidents of intimidation, harassment, or, in some
cases, violence in the United States. However, transnational
repression against United States persons or persons in the
United States appear to be on the rise particularly from India,
Saudi Arabia, Iran, and China.
(3) Preliminary investigations suggest that individuals
associated with the Government of India may have played a role
in orchestrating the 2023 attempted assassination of Gurpatwant
Singh Pannun, a prominent Sikh activist living in New York. The
attempted assassination of Pannun appears to have been an
effort to silence his criticism of the Indian Government for
his advocacy for the rights of Sikhs and the creation of an
independent Sikh state, known as Khalistan, out of the Province
of Punjab in India, for which the Government of India has
declared Pannun a terrorist on the basis of sedition and
secessionism. The attempted assassination of Pannun followed
shortly after the successful assassination of Hardeep Singh
Nijjar in June 2023 in Canada, for which Prime Minister Justin
Trudeau stated that there was credible allegations of Indian
involvement.
(4) Saudi Arabia has engaged in a campaign of targeting
critics, former members of the royal family, women fleeing
gender-based discrimination, and journalists, as well as their
families. Saudi Arabia sentenced Prince Abdullah bin Faisal al
Saud to 30 years in prison after he discussed the imprisonment
of a royal cousin and fellow prince. Prince Abdullah made the
call from the United States while attending Northeastern
University as a graduate student. United States citizens are no
longer immune to these repressive measures. Saad al Madi, a
United States citizen, was imprisoned for tweets he posted that
were critical of the regime. Like Prince Abdullah, Saad al Madi
made his comments in the United States but was arrested in
Saudi Arabia while on a visit. While Saad Al Madi initially
received a virtual life sentence, he has been released but
remains in Saudi Arabia under a travel ban. Saudi Arabia was
also responsible for the brutal murder of United States-based
Washington Post columnist Jamal Khasshogi in a Saudi consulate
in Istanbul, Turkey in 2018.
(5) Iran has targeted dissidents and critics in the United
States for decades. Iran attempted to assassinate Masih
Alinejad, an Iranian journalist and rights activist, in 2022.
There are also credible allegations that Iran was involved in
an assassination plot against an Iranian-American writer in New
York and an Iranian defector living in Maryland, both in the
early 2020s. In 1980, Iran was involved in the successful
assassination of Ali Akbar Tabatabai, an Iranian dissident
living in Bethesda, Maryland. His killer, Dawud Salahuddin,
fled to Iran after the assassination, publicly confessing to
the murder and claiming he received $5,000 from the Iranian
Government carry it out. Iran has also engaged in assassination
attempts against officials of the United States Government who
were critical of the Iranian regime. A member of Iran's Islamic
Revolutionary Guard Corps allegedly hired an assassin in 2021
to murder former national security adviser John Bolton. And,
most recently, Iran was implicated in a plot to assassinate
former President Donald Trump in 2024. Iran was also implicated
in a plot to murder the Saudi ambassador to the United States
in 2012.
(6) China has attempted to silence its critics by employing
intimidation and harassment, particularly against members of
the Chinese diaspora living in the United States but having
relatives, citizenship, or financial ties to mainland China or
Hong Kong. In November 2023, supporters of the Chinese
Communist Party, with the aid of Chinese diplomats, attacked a
group of protesters in San Francisco. The victims of the
attack, most of whom had roots in China, East Turkestan, Hong
Kong, or Tibet, had gathered to protest President Xi Jinping's
visit to the city. There is also credible evidence that China
is repressing the freedoms of members of the Falun Gong, as
well as hindering the business operations of the Shen Yun
Performing Arts company. There is further evidence that China
continues to repress members of Uyghur ethnic communities who
are living abroad by threatening their relatives with
detention. China has also conducted surveillance against
Tibetan activists, using naturalized U.S. citizens of Chinese
descent or Chinese agents to infiltrate and spy on members of
pro-democracy groups in New York and other States.
(7) Notwithstanding the importance of a bilateral
relationship to the common interests of a stable and prosperous
region, any such relationship should be based on an alignment
of the shared values held in democratic institutions,
fundamental human rights, and respect for international laws
and norms.
(8) Acts of transnational repression violate the
sovereignty of nations, undermining the values that are
foundational in relationships within the international
community of nations.
(9) Transnational repression results in victims through the
silencing of critics and stifling speech, making it more
difficult for individuals to express freedoms, and giving pause
to the consideration of the potential costs for doing so.
(10) Transnational repression puts in jeopardy a country's
standing and reputation within the international community as
well as the bilateral relationship with the United States,
requiring actions by the government committing such offenses
that are commensurate with the seriousness of the violation.
SEC. 3. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.
(a) Annual Report.--Not later than 60 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Attorney General,
in coordination with the heads of other relevant Federal agencies,
shall submit a report to the appropriate congressional committees on
cases of transnational repression. The report shall include, for the
covered period, the following:
(1) A detailed description of each such case reported to
the Department of Justice or another relevant Federal agency,
including the nature of the transnational repression, the
individuals involved, and the location of each incident of
transnational repression associated with the case.
(2) An assessment of the case, using all available law
enforcement and intelligence resources, including an evaluation
of the foreign government's involvement in the case.
(3) The actions taken by the United States Government in
response to each case, including--
(A) diplomatic measures;
(B) law enforcement actions and criminal
prosecutions;
(C) civil and administrative actions, such as
targeted sanctions, fines and penalties, and entry
ineligibility of foreign persons;
(D) protective measures provided to victims; and
(E) collaboration of the United States Government
with other countries that have experienced similar
cases of transnational repression.
(4) The actions taken by the foreign government to address
the allegations of transnational repression, including any
findings of culpability and the holding of individuals
accountable.
(5) An assessment of the trends and patterns of
transnational repression in each foreign country in which
transnational repression has originated.
(b) Cases.--In preparing the first report under subsection (a), the
Attorney General shall include cases of alleged transnational
repression originating from the following countries:
(1) India, including the alleged assassination attempt of
Gurpatwant Pannun in 2023, and other acts of harassment and
intimidation against the Sikh community.
(2) Saudi Arabia, including the acts of harassment,
intimidation, and imprisonment against critics of the
government, such as the acts committed against Prince Abdullah
bin Faisal al Saud and Saad Almadi.
(3) Iran, including the threat of kidnapping and the threat
of assassination of journalists and rights activists, such as
Masih Alinejad, in 2022.
(4) China, including the harassment and intimidation of
human rights and pro-democracy activists, particularly former
residents of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region,
Uyghur ethnic communities, members of the Falun Gong and the
Shen Yun Performing Arts company, and Tibetan activists.
(c) Classification.--Each report under subsection (a) shall be
submitted in unclassified form and made available to the public. A
classified annex shall be made available to the Members of the
appropriate congressional committees, as needed, and maintained by the
Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the House of
Representatives and the Select Committee on Intelligence of the Senate.
(d) Privacy Protection.--In preparing the report under subsection
(a), the Attorney General shall comply with all applicable privacy,
civil rights, and civil liberties protections when identifying
individuals who have been the target of transnational repression.
(e) Covered Period.--In this section, the term ``covered period''
means--
(1) for the first report under subsection (a), the previous
10-year period; and
(2) for each subsequent report under subsection (a), the
previous one-year period.
SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be
necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act.
SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Transnational repression.--The term ``transnational
repression'' means any activity of a foreign government, or an
agent of a foreign government or a proxy thereof, that--
(A)(i) is any effort to harass, intimidate, or
digitally or physically threaten a person to either
take action or to refrain from taking action that would
be in the interest of the foreign government; or
(ii) is an attempt to prevent the person from
exercising any right that is protected under the First
Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, or
to retaliate against a person for having exercised such
a right; and
(B) targets a United States person or a person in
the United States, including through the harassment or
intimidation of immediate family members of the person.
(2) Relevant federal agencies.--The term ``relevant Federal
agencies'' means the Department of State, the Department of
Homeland Security, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the
Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and any other
agency determined appropriate by the Attorney General.
(3) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term
``appropriate congressional committees'' means the Committee on
the Judiciary of the House or Representatives, the Committee on
Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives, the Permanent
Select Committee on Intelligence of the House of
Representatives, the Committee on Appropriations of the House
of Representatives, the Committee on the Judiciary of the
Senate, the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate, the
Select Committee on Intelligence of the Senate, and the
Committee on Appropriations of the Senate.
(4) United states person.--The term ``United States
person'' means a citizen of the United States or an alien
lawfully admitted for permanent residence (as defined in
section 101(a)(20) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8
U.S.C. 1101(a)(20))), and includes minors.
SEC. 6. SUNSET.
This Act shall sunset on the earlier of December 31, 2030, or the
date that is 6 years after the date of enactment of this Act.
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