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[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1778 Introduced in House (IH)]

113th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1778

 To mandate training of members of the Foreign Service to protect the 
rights of United States citizens in the custody of foreign governments, 
   to deny entry into the United States of officials of any foreign 
government, including their immediate family members, who commit or who 
fail to rectify fundamental due process and human rights violations of 
United States citizens in the custody of a foreign government, and for 
                            other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 26, 2013

Mr. Smith of New Jersey (for himself and Ms. Velazquez) 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 mandate training of members of the Foreign Service to protect the 
rights of United States citizens in the custody of foreign governments, 
   to deny entry into the United States of officials of any foreign 
government, including their immediate family members, who commit or who 
fail to rectify fundamental due process and human rights violations of 
United States citizens in the custody of a foreign government, 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 ``Justice for Imprisoned Americans 
Overseas Act of 2013'' or the ``Jacob's Law of 2013''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) The President is required under section 2001 of the 
        Revised Statutes of the United States (22 U.S.C. 1732) to 
        demand the release of any citizen who has been unjustly 
        deprived of his liberty by or under the authority of any 
        foreign government, and to undertake appropriate means to 
        obtain the release of such citizen.
            (2) In a statement submitted to the Committee on the 
        Judiciary of the Senate on July 27, 2011, former Secretary of 
        State Hillary Clinton stated that ``[t]he State Department has 
        no greater responsibility than the protection of U.S. citizens 
        overseas--particularly when Americans find themselves in the 
        custody of a foreign government, facing an unfamiliar, and at 
        times unfair, legal system.''.
            (3) Some United States citizens in the custody of a foreign 
        government have been and continue to be denied fundamental due 
        process and human rights under both local and international law 
        by foreign government officials.
            (4) Mr. Jacob Ostreicher, who was detained in the notorious 
        Palmasola prison in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia, from June 
        4, 2011, until December 18, 2012, and was subsequently placed 
        under house arrest, is one of the United States citizens who 
        currently is enduring multiple, egregious, and continuous 
        violations of his fundamental due process and human rights 
        under both local and international law.
    (b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that foreign 
government officials responsible for violations of fundamental due 
process and human rights of United States citizens in the custody of a 
foreign government, as well as immediate family members of such 
officials, should not have the privilege of traveling to the United 
States while such violations are occurring.

SEC. 3. DEPARTMENT OF STATE PROTECTION OF UNITED STATES CITIZENS 
              ABROAD.

    (a) Training for Foreign Service Officers.--Subsection (a) of 
section 703 of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 4023) is 
amended--
            (1) in the first sentence, by striking ``The Secretary'' 
        and inserting ``(1) The Secretary''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
    ``(2) The professional development program referred to in paragraph 
(1) shall include the following:
            ``(A) The protocol that members of the Service are to 
        follow to protect the human rights and due process rights of 
        United States citizens who are in the custody of a foreign 
        government and who have notified the Department of State that 
        one or more of such rights is being violated.
            ``(B) Information relating to the international human 
        rights that may be relevant in the case of a United States 
        citizen described in paragraph (1), including the right of an 
        individual charged with a criminal offense to be presumed 
        innocent until proven guilty according to law as stated in the 
        International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
            ``(C) The means by which a member of the Service assigned 
        to a new post in a foreign country will be informed of the 
        legal rights of a United States citizen who is in the custody 
        of the government of such country pursuant to the laws of such 
        country.''.
    (b) Report to Congress.--Not later than 90 days after the date of 
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall submit to the 
appropriate congressional committees a report that describes the 
implementation of the new requirements of the professional development 
program required under paragraph (2) of subsection (a) of section 703 
of the Foreign Service Act of 1980, as added by subsection (a)(2) of 
this section.

SEC. 4. DENIAL OF ENTRY INTO THE UNITED STATES OF CERTAIN FOREIGN 
              GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS.

    (a) Denial of Entry.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, 
the Secretary of State may not issue any visa to, and the Secretary of 
Homeland Security shall deny entry to the United States of, any foreign 
government official identified pursuant to subsection (d)(1)(C) or any 
immediate family members of such official.
    (b) Permanent Ban.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, if 
any United States citizen identified pursuant to subsection (d)(1)(A) 
dies from any cause while in the custody of a foreign government, the 
government officials identified pursuant to subsection (d)(1)(C) in 
relation to such citizen and the immediate family members of such 
officials may not be issued any visa by the Secretary of State, and may 
not be admitted by the Secretary of Homeland Security, to the United 
States at any time on or after the date of the death of such citizen.
    (c) Current Visas Revoked.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 
law, the Secretary of State shall revoke, in accordance with section 
221(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1201(i)), the 
visa or other documentation of any alien who would be ineligible to 
receive such a visa or documentation under subsection (a) or (b) of 
this section.
    (d) Designation of Inadmissible Foreign Officials.--
            (1) Report to congress.--Not later than 30 days after the 
        date of the enactment of this Act and every 180 days thereafter 
        for five years, the Secretary of State shall submit to the 
        appropriate congressional committees a report that contains the 
        following:
                    (A) An identification of United States citizens who 
                are in the custody of a foreign government and whose 
                fundamental due process or human rights pursuant to the 
                laws of such government or international standards 
                binding on such government are being violated.
                    (B) An identification of the fundamental due 
                process or human rights violations that are being 
                committed against the citizens identified in 
                subparagraph (A).
                    (C) A list of the government officials who, based 
                on credible information, are responsible for the 
                violations of, or are failing to fulfill their official 
                responsibility to protect, the rights identified in 
                subparagraph (B) of any citizen identified in 
                subparagraph (A).
            (2) Additional reporting requirement.--In the case of each 
        semi-annual report required under paragraph (1), the Secretary 
        of State shall include a list of the names and titles of those 
        government officials identified in subparagraph (C) of such 
        paragraph, and the names and relationships of the immediate 
        family members of such officials who were denied a visa or 
        entry to the United States pursuant to subsection (a) or (b), 
        or whose visa was revoked pursuant to subsection (c), during 
        the immediately preceding 180-day period.
            (3) Form.--Each report required under paragraph (1) shall 
        be submitted in unclassified form.
            (4) Exception for classified annex.--The name of a person 
        to be included in each report required under paragraph (1) may 
        be submitted in a classified annex only if the President--
                    (A) determines that it is in the best interest of a 
                United States citizen identified pursuant to 
                subparagraph (A) of such paragraph, or that it is vital 
                for the national security interests of the United 
                States to do so;
                    (B) uses the annex in such a manner consistent with 
                congressional intent and the purposes of this Act; and
                    (C) 15 days before submitting the name in a 
                classified annex, provides to the appropriate 
                congressional committees notice of, and a justification 
                for, including or continuing to include each person in 
                such a classified annex despite any publicly available 
                credible information indicating that the government 
                official concerned is responsible for the violations 
                of, or is failing to fulfill an official responsibility 
                to protect, the rights of a United States citizen 
                identified in subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1).
            (5) Public availability.--The unclassified portion of the 
        report required under paragraph (1) shall be made available to 
        the public and published in the Federal Register.
    (e) Removal From Report Designation.--A government official may be 
removed from the lists required under subsection (d)(1)(C) if the 
President determines and reports to the appropriate congressional 
committees not less than 15 days before the removal from any such list 
of such governmental official that--
            (1) credible information exists that such government 
        official is not responsible for the violations of, or is 
        fulfilling any official responsibility to protect, the rights 
        identified in subsection (d)(1)(B) of any United States citizen 
        identified in subsection (d)(1)(A) who is in the custody of a 
        foreign government; or
            (2) such citizen has been released.
    (f) Requests by Chairpersons and Ranking Members of Appropriate 
Congressional Committees.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 120 days after receiving a 
        written request from the chairperson and ranking member of one 
        of the appropriate congressional committees with respect to 
        whether a person meets the criteria for being included on the 
        list required under subsection (d)(1)(C), the President shall 
        transmit a response to the chairperson and ranking member of 
        the committee which made the request with respect to the status 
        of such person.
            (2) Form.--The President may submit a response required 
        under paragraph (1) in classified form if the President 
        determines that it is in the best interest of a United States 
        citizen identified pursuant to subsection (d)(1)(A), or that it 
        is necessary for the national security interests of the United 
        States to do so.
            (3) Removal.--If the President removes from the list 
        required under subsection (d)(1)(C) a person who has been 
        included on such list at the request of the chairperson and 
        ranking member of one of the appropriate congressional 
        committees, the President shall provide the chairperson and 
        ranking member with any information that contributed to such 
        removal decision. The President may transmit such information 
        in classified form if the President determines that such is in 
        the best interest of a United States citizen identified 
        pursuant to subsection (d)(1)(A), or that it is in the national 
        security interests of the United States.
    (g) Nonapplicability of Confidentiality Requirement With Respect to 
Visa Records.--The President shall publish the list required under 
subsection (d)(1)(C) without regard to the requirements of section 
222(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1202(f)) with 
respect to confidentiality of records pertaining to the issuance or 
refusal of visas or permits to enter the United States.

SEC. 5. PROHIBITION ON CERTAIN FOREIGN ASSISTANCE.

    Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no assistance may be 
provided to an agency, instrumentality, or other entity of a foreign 
government that, based on credible information, is responsible for the 
violation of, or is failing to fulfill a responsibility to protect, the 
rights identified in section 4(d)(1)(B) of a United States citizen 
identified in section 4(d)(1)(A).

SEC. 6. EMBASSY WEBSITE POSTINGS.

    It is the sense of Congress that the website of the lead United 
States diplomatic or consular mission located in a country where a 
United States citizen identified in section 4(d)(1)(A) is in the 
custody of a foreign government should--
            (1) prominently indicate that the fundamental due process 
        or human rights of such citizen in the custody of the 
        government of such country are being violated, and
            (2) provide sufficient details about the case of such 
        citizen to alert other United States citizens of the potential 
        dangers of visiting such country.

SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
        ``appropriate congressional committees'' means the Committee on 
        Foreign Affairs and the Committee on the Judiciary of the House 
        of Representatives, and the Committee on Foreign Relations and 
        the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate.
            (2) Immediate family members.--The term ``immediate family 
        members'' means a spouse, daughter or son regardless of age, 
        parent, brother, sister, and fiance or fiancee.
            (3) International standards.--The term ``international 
        standards'' means standards specified in international 
        agreements to which the country concerned is a party, taking 
        into account any applicable reservations.
            (4) In the custody of a foreign government.--The term ``in 
        the custody of a foreign government'' means to be incarcerated, 
        under house arrest, or otherwise deprived of one's liberty, 
        including through the refusal of permission to leave the 
        country concerned, by the government of such country.
                                 <all>
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