[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2158 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2158
To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to authorize a dedicated
transnational repression working group within the Department of
Homeland Security to analyze and monitor transnational repression and
terrorism threats related to transnational repression, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 14, 2025
Mr. Pfluger (for himself, Mr. Magaziner, Mr. Evans of Colorado, Mr.
Ogles, Mr. McCaul, Mr. Guest, and Ms. Lee of Florida) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Homeland
Security, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, 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 amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to authorize a dedicated
transnational repression working group within the Department of
Homeland Security to analyze and monitor transnational repression and
terrorism threats related to transnational repression, 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 ``Countering Transnational Repression
Act of 2025''.
SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) transnational repression and terrorism threats related
to transnational repression by a foreign government or an agent
of a foreign government to target individuals in the United
States and persons outside of the United States are real and
growing;
(2) agents acting on behalf of hostile foreign governments
employ a range of transnational repression tactics, including
making threats, intimidation, harassment, surveillance,
stalking, silencing, and planning physical harm or the
kidnapping of individuals in the United States; and
(3) the Department of Homeland Security must take steps to
recognize, assess, and help address this threat, thereby
reducing risks to the people of the United States.
SEC. 3. WORKING GROUP TO COUNTER TRANSNATIONAL REPRESSION.
(a) In General.--Subtitle H of title VIII of the Homeland Security
Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 451 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the
following new section:
``SEC. 890E. WORKING GROUP TO COUNTER TRANSNATIONAL REPRESSION.
``(a) Working Group.--
``(1) Establishment.--There is established a Working Group,
to be known as the `Transnational Repression Working Group' (in
this section referred to as the `Working Group'), within the
Department, which shall be responsible for, in coordination
with the Office of Intelligence and Analysis, analyzing and
monitoring transnational repression and terrorism threats
related to transnational repression.
``(2) Director.--
``(A) Appointment of director.--The head of the
Working Group shall be a Director of the Transnational
Repression Working Group, who shall be appointed by the
Director of Homeland Security Investigations.
``(B) Reporting.--The Director of the Transnational
Repression Working Group shall report to the Secretary
and the Director of Homeland Security Investigations
regarding all administrative, operational, and security
matters of the Working Group.
``(3) Staffing.--The Director of Homeland Security
Investigations shall ensure the Working Group--
``(A) has a sufficient number of employees to
perform required duties; and
``(B) has at least one employee dedicated to
ensuring compliance with privacy laws and regulations.
``(4) Detailees authorized.--The Working Group may accept
and employ detailees with expertise in countering transnational
repression and terrorism threats related to transnational
repression or related fields from any element of the
intelligence community, or any other Federal agency the
Director of the Transnational Repression Working Group
determines appropriate, with or without reimbursement,
consistent with applicable laws and regulations regarding such
employees.
``(5) Information sharing.--The Working Group, in
coordination with the Office of Intelligence and Analysis,
shall review information relating to transnational repression
and terrorism threats related to transnational repression that
is gathered by Federal, State, local, Tribal, and territorial
partners, and the National Network of Fusion Centers, and
incorporate such information, as appropriate, into the Working
Group's own information relating to transnational repression
and terrorism threats related to transnational repression. The
Working Group shall ensure the dissemination to Federal, State,
local, Tribal, and territorial partners, and the National
Network of Fusion Centers, of information related to
transnational repression and terrorism threats related to
transnational repression.
``(6) Homeland security assessment on transnational
repression.--
``(A) Annual assessments.--Not later than 180 days
after the date of the enactment of this section and
annually thereafter for seven years, the Director of
Homeland Security Investigations, acting through the
Director of the Transnational Repression Working Group,
in coordination with the Office of Intelligence and
Analysis and the Office of the Director of National
Intelligence and the Federal Bureau of Investigation,
as appropriate, shall submit to the Committee on
Homeland Security of the House of Representatives and
the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental
Affairs of the Senate a report that assesses incidents
of transnational repression and terrorism threats
related to transnational repression during the
immediately preceding 12 months.
``(B) Contents.--Each assessment submitted under
subparagraph (A) shall also include the following:
``(i) An analysis of attempted incidents of
transnational repression and terrorism threats
related to transnational repression.
``(ii) A quantitative analysis of
transnational repression and terrorism threats
related to transnational repression, including
the number of individuals responsible for or
associated with such transnational repression
or terrorism threats related to transnational
repression, and an identification of the
country of citizenship or nationality of each
such individual, and the roles of the foreign
governments of such countries in enabling,
preventing, mitigating, and responding to
transnational repression and terrorism threats
related to transnational repression.
``(iii) Subject to appropriate protections
for sensitive information regarding law
enforcement investigations and operations, a
description of efforts by the Federal
Government to disrupt through investigation
transnational repression and terrorism threats
related to transnational repression.
``(iv) Any other matters the Director of
Homeland Security Investigations determines
relevant.
``(C) Form.--Each assessment under subparagraph (A)
shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may
include a classified annex only for the protection of
intelligence sources and methods relating to the
matters contained in such assessment. The Director of
Homeland Security Investigations shall post on a
publicly available website of the Department the
unclassified portion of each such assessment.
``(7) Sunset.--The Working Group shall terminate on the
date that is seven years after the date of the enactment of
this section.
``(b) Research.--Not later than one year after the date of the
enactment of this section, the Secretary, in coordination with the
Under Secretary for Science and Technology of the Department, the
Director of the Transnational Repression Office, and the Director of
Homeland Security Investigations, shall, to the extent practicable,
carry out research and development, including operational testing, of
technologies and techniques for enhancing the Department's support to
Federal, State, local, Tribal, and territorial officials relating to
countering transnational repression and terrorism threats related to
transnational repression.
``(c) Implementation.--All activities carried out pursuant to this
section--
``(1) shall be carried out in accordance with applicable
constitutional, privacy, civil rights, and civil liberties
protections; and
``(2) may not infringe upon the lawful exercise of free
speech by United States persons.
``(d) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) Agent of a foreign government.--The term `agent of a
foreign government' means an individual or entity that operates
subject to the direction and control of--
``(A) a foreign government; or
``(B) an official or entity of such foreign
government.
``(2) Foreign government.--The term `foreign government'
means the government of a foreign country.
``(3) Fusion center.--The term `fusion center' has the
meaning given such term in subsection (j) of section 210A.
``(4) Intelligence community.--The term `intelligence
community' has the meaning given such term in section 3(4) of
the National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3003(4)).
``(5) National network of fusion centers.--The term
`National Network of Fusion Centers' means a decentralized
arrangement of fusion centers intended to enhance individual
State and urban area fusion centers' ability to leverage the
capabilities and expertise of all such fusion centers for the
purpose of enhancing analysis and homeland security information
sharing nationally.
``(6) Transnational repression.--The term `transnational
repression' means an action of a foreign government or an agent
of a foreign government that satisfies each of the following:
``(A) The action involves--
``(i) any effort intended to coerce,
harass, or digitally or physically threaten,
including by force or reasonable fear of death
or serious bodily injury or imprisonment of a
person or an immediate family member of a
person, a person to take an action in the
interest of such a foreign government;
``(ii) any effort intended to harass or
coerce, including by force or fear, a person to
forebear from exercising the First Amendment
rights of such person or any other right
guaranteed to such person by the Constitution
or laws of the United States, or to retaliate
against a person for having exercised such a
right;
``(iii) an extrajudicial killing; or
``(iv) any act intended to further the
efforts specified in clause (i), (ii), or
(iii).
``(B) The action is engaged in for or in the
interests of such a foreign government.
``(C) The action--
``(i) occurs, in whole or in part, in the
United States; or
``(ii) is committed against a United States
person.
``(7) United states person.--The term `United States
person' has the meaning given such term in section 1637(d)(10)
of the Carl Levin and Howard P. `Buck' McKeon National Defense
Authorization Act for Fiscal year 2015 (50 U.S.C.
1708(d)(10)).''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents in section 1(b) of
the Homeland Security Act of 2002 is amended by inserting after the
item relating to section 890D the following new item:
``Sec. 890E. Working group to counter transnational repression.''.
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