[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2619 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2619
To require a report on sanctions under the Robert Levinson Hostage
Recovery and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
April 3, 2025
Mr. Baumgartner (for himself, Mr. Moskowitz, Ms. Tenney, Mr. Amodei of
Nevada, and Ms. Salazar) introduced the following bill; which was
referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, 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 require a report on sanctions under the Robert Levinson Hostage
Recovery and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act, 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 ``No Paydays for Hostage-Takers Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) The Islamic Republic of Iran has a long history of
hostage-taking and wrongful detention of United States
nationals, including its illegal detention of 52 American
diplomats from 1979 to 1981.
(2) The Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage-Taking
Accountability Act (22 U.S.C. 1741 et seq.), named in honor of
Robert Levinson, the longest-held hostage in United States
history who is presumed to have been killed by the regime while
in Iranian custody, authorizes sanctions with respect to
foreign persons who are responsible for or complicit in
hostage-taking or unlawful or wrongful detention of United
States nationals abroad.
SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY.
It shall be the policy of the United States to undertake additional
actions and impose strict penalties to deter the Government of Iran and
other hostile governments and non-state actors from hostage-taking or
wrongfully detaining United States nationals.
SEC. 4. REPORT AND CERTIFICATION ON RESTRICTED IRANIAN FUNDS RELEASED
TO QATAR.
(a) In General.--Not later than 90 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, and every 180 days thereafter for 6 years, the
President shall submit to the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the
Committee on Financial Services of the House of Representatives and the
Committee on Foreign Relations and the Committee on Banking, Housing,
and Urban Affairs of the Senate the following:
(1) A report on the $6,000,000,000 in funds transferred
from restricted Iranian accounts in the Republic of South Korea
to restricted accounts in Qatar on or after August 9, 2023.
(2) A certification as to whether credible evidence or
intelligence exists that any of the funds transferred have been
used for any purpose other than humanitarian purposes.
(3) A certification as to whether credible evidence or
intelligence exists that the funds transferred have enabled the
Government of Iran to increase spending on defense,
intelligence, or malign foreign activities.
(b) Matters To Be Included.--The report required by subsection
(a)(1) shall include the following:
(1) An itemized list of all transactions involving the use
of funds transferred, including the value of such transactions,
the parties to such transactions, the financial institutions
involved, the goods purchased in each transaction, the
destinations and end user of such goods, the date on which the
United States was notified of such transaction, and the date
the transaction occurred.
(2) The quantity of funds described in subsection (a)(1) in
restricted accounts in Qatar at the beginning and end of each
reporting period.
(3) A thorough description of the process the United States
Government utilized during the reporting period to review
transactions involving the use of funds transferred in order to
verify that such transactions were humanitarian in nature.
SEC. 5. REVIEW AND DETERMINATION AND REPORTS ON SANCTIONS UNDER THE
ROBERT LEVINSON HOSTAGE RECOVERY AND HOSTAGE-TAKING
ACCOUNTABILITY ACT.
(a) Review and Determination.--Not later than 180 days after the
date of the enactment of this Act, and on an annual basis thereafter
for 6 years, the President shall--
(1) review all cases of the hostage-taking of a United
States national in Iran or at the direction of the Government
of Iran and all cases of the unlawful or wrongful detention of
a United States national in Iran or at the direction of the
Government of Iran that have occurred during the preceding 10-
year period; and
(2) make a determination as to whether any foreign person,
based on credible evidence--
(A) is responsible for or complicit in, or
responsible for ordering, controlling, or otherwise
directing, the hostage-taking of the United States
national or the unlawful or wrongful detention of the
United States national; or
(B) knowingly provides financial, material, or
technological support for, or goods or services in
support of, an activity described in subparagraph (A).
(b) Reports.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, and on an annual basis thereafter for 6 years,
the President shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees
a report that--
(1) identifies all foreign persons with respect to which
the President has made a determination under subsection (a)(2);
and
(2) with respect to each such foreign person--
(A) states whether sanctions have been imposed
under section 306 of the Robert Levinson Hostage
Recovery and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act (22
U.S.C. 1741d) or will be imposed within 30 days of the
date of the submission of the report; and
(B) for whom sanctions have not been imposed or
will not be imposed under section 306 of such Act,
provides a description of the specific authority under
which otherwise applicable sanctions are being waived,
have otherwise been determined not to apply, or are not
being imposed and a complete justification of the
decision to waive or otherwise not apply the sanctions
authorized by such sanctions programs and authorities.
SEC. 6. REQUIREMENT TO LIMIT TRAVEL OF IRANIAN DIPLOMATS AT THE UNITED
NATIONS.
(a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
(1) United States visa restrictions on sanctioned
individuals often contain exceptions for activities in order to
permit the United States to comply with the Agreement regarding
the headquarters of the United Nations signed at Lake Success
June 26, 1947, and entered into force November 21, 1947,
between the United Nations and the United States.
(2) Section 6 of Public Law 80-357 (commonly known as the
``United Nations Headquarters Agreement Act'') provides
``Nothing in the agreement shall be construed as in any way
diminishing, abridging, or weakening the right of the United
States to safeguard its own security.''.
(3) Congress has directed the President to use the
President's authority, including the authorities contained in
section 6 of Public Law 80-357, to deny any individual's
admission to the United States as a representative to the
United Nations if the President determines that such individual
has been found to have been engaged in espionage activities or
a terrorist activity directed against the United States or its
allies and may pose a threat to United States national security
interests.
(b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that Iran's
longstanding hostage-taking and wrongful detention of United States
nationals, assassination plots against United States nationals outside
and within the United States, and intelligence activities are a
security or terrorist threat to the United States and United States
interests and shall be a primary consideration in limiting travel of
Iranian diplomats seeking admission to the United States for United
Nations activities and their family members.
(c) Denial of Visas.--Section 407(a)(1) of the Foreign Relations
Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1990 and 1991 (8 U.S.C. 1102 note) is
amended--
(1) by striking ``(1)'' and inserting ``(1)(A)'';
(2) by striking ``and'' at the end and inserting ``or'';
and
(3) by adding further at the end the following:
``(B) has been sanctioned pursuant to Executive Order 13224
(66 Fed. Reg. 49079; relating to blocking property and
prohibiting transactions with persons who commit, threaten to
commit, or support terrorism) or Executive Order 13382 (70 Fed.
Reg. 38567; relating to blocking property of weapons of mass
destruction proliferators and their supporters) as of the date
of the enactment of the No Paydays for Hostage-Takers Act;
and''.
(d) Report.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter for 3 years, the
President shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a
report on whether the President has taken action to restrict the travel
of Iranian diplomats seeking admission to the United States for United
Nations activities and their family members and identifying each such
instance in which visas were denied or travel was restricted.
SEC. 7. REPORT ON BLOCKED IRANIAN ASSETS.
Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this
Act, and annually thereafter for 3 years, the President shall submit to
the appropriate congressional committees a report that includes the
following:
(1) An itemized list of any identifiable assets with a
valuation of more than $100,000 belonging to Iranian
individuals and entities that are or have been blocked or
otherwise frozen pursuant to any sanctions program under any
jurisdiction globally, in the prior 2 years.
(2) Any changes to the status of such assets, including
unblocking, unfreezing, or transferring such assets, in the
prior 2 years.
(3) With respect to any changes identified in paragraph
(2), whether the United States Government took any action,
including waiving of sanctions, that related to such unblocking
or unfreezing, and a justification for any such United States
actions.
SEC. 8. REPORT ON INTERNATIONAL EFFORTS TO FREEZE AND SEIZE IRANIAN
ASSETS.
(a) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that the
Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Treasury, and the Attorney
General should, to the extent practicable--
(1) carry out a coordinated international effort to find,
restrain, freeze, and where appropriate and legally authorized,
seize, confiscate or forfeit the assets of those individuals
and entities that have been sanctioned in connection with
Iran's malign activities, including hostage-taking, wrongful
detention, and human rights violations; and
(2) work with foreign governments--
(A) to share intelligence of financial
investigations, as appropriate;
(B) to oversee the assets identified pursuant to
paragraph (1); and
(C) to provide technical assistance to help
governments establish the necessary legal framework to
carry out asset forfeitures.
(b) Report.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter for 3 years, the
President shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a
report on actions described in subsection (a).
SEC. 9. DETERMINATION AND REPORT ON INVALIDATING UNITED STATES
PASSPORTS FOR TRAVEL TO IRAN.
(a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
(1) The Secretary of State maintains authority to restrict
the use of United States passports for travel to or use in a
country or area which the Secretary has determined is a country
or area in which there is imminent danger to the public health
or physical safety of United States travelers, in accordance
with section 51.63 of title 22, Code of Federal Regulations.
(2) In 2017, the Secretary of State declared United States
passports invalid for travel to, in, or through North Korea,
unless specially validated for such travel, after United States
citizen Otto Warmbier suffered grievous injuries in North
Korean custody, which led to his death.
(3) The ban on use of United States passports for travel to
North Korea was renewed in 2023.
(b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that the
Secretary of State should declare United States passports invalid for
travel to, in, or through Iran due to the imminent danger to the public
health and physical safety of United States travelers stemming from the
threat of wrongful detention or being taken hostage by the Iranian
regime.
(c) Determination and Report.--Not later than 90 days after the
date of enactment of this Act and annually thereafter for 3 years, the
Secretary of State shall determine and report to the Committee on
Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Committee on
Foreign Relations of the Senate--
(1) whether the travel of United States persons to Iran
presents an imminent danger to the public health or physical
safety of United States travelers; and
(2) whether the Secretary is exercising his authority to
declare United States passports invalid for travel to, in, or
through Iran.
SEC. 10. STRATEGY TO DETER HOSTAGE-TAKING.
Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this
Act, the President shall develop and submit to Congress a strategy to
deter and prevent wrongful detention and hostage-taking by United
States adversaries, including identifying penalties for wrongful
detention and hostage-taking, identifying clear United States
Government policies barring the payment of ransom or transactions that
could be viewed as ransom by the United States Government, and
detailing plans to coordinate with United States allies and partners on
such strategy.
SEC. 11. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Appropriate congressional committees.--the term
``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
(A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the
Committee on the Judiciary of the House of
Representatives; and
(B) the Committee on Foreign Relations and the
Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate.
(2) Foreign person.--The term ``foreign person''--
(A) means an individual or entity that is not a
United States person; and
(B) includes a foreign state (as such term is
defined in section 1603 of title 28, United States
Code).
(3) United states national.--The term ``United States
national'' has the meaning given that term in section 307(2) of
the Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage-Taking
Accountability Act (22 U.S.C. 1741e(2)).
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