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[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9707 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>

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.
                                 <all>
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