I 

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. VELA ́ZQUEZ) 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. 


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1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Justice for Imprisoned 

5 Americans Overseas Act of 2013’’ or the ‘‘Jacob’s Law 

6 of 2013’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

8 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

9 (1) The President is required under section 

10 2001 of the Revised Statutes of the United States 

11 (22 U.S.C. 1732) to demand the release of any cit12 izen who has been unjustly deprived of his liberty by 

13 or under the authority of any foreign government, 

14 and to undertake appropriate means to obtain the 

15 release of such citizen. 

16 (2) In a statement submitted to the Committee 

17 on the Judiciary of the Senate on July 27, 2011, 

18 former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stated that 

19 ‘‘[t]he State Department has no greater responsi20 bility than the protection of U.S. citizens overseas— 

21 particularly when Americans find themselves in the 

22 custody of a foreign government, facing an unfa23 miliar, and at times unfair, legal system.’’. 

24 (3) Some United States citizens in the custody 

25 of a foreign government have been and continue to 


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1 be denied fundamental due process and human 

2 rights under both local and international law by for3 eign government officials. 

4 (4) Mr. Jacob Ostreicher, who was detained in 

5 the notorious Palmasola prison in Santa Cruz de la 

6 Sierra, Bolivia, from June 4, 2011, until December 

7 18, 2012, and was subsequently placed under house 

8 arrest, is one of the United States citizens who cur9 rently is enduring multiple, egregious, and contin10 uous violations of his fundamental due process and 

11 human rights under both local and international law. 

12 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con13 gress that foreign government officials responsible for vio14 lations of fundamental due process and human rights of 

15 United States citizens in the custody of a foreign govern16 ment, as well as immediate family members of such offi17 cials, should not have the privilege of traveling to the 

18 United States while such violations are occurring. 

19 SEC. 3. DEPARTMENT OF STATE PROTECTION OF UNITED 

20 STATES CITIZENS ABROAD. 

21 (a) TRAINING FOR FOREIGN SERVICE OFFICERS.— 

22 Subsection (a) of section 703 of the Foreign Service Act 

23 of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 4023) is amended— 

24 (1) in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘The Sec25 retary’’ and inserting ‘‘(1) The Secretary’’; and 


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1 (2) by adding at the end the following new 

2 paragraph: 

3 ‘‘(2) The professional development program referred 

4 to in paragraph (1) shall include the following: 

5 ‘‘(A) The protocol that members of the Service 

6 are to follow to protect the human rights and due 

7 process rights of United States citizens who are in 

8 the custody of a foreign government and who have 

9 notified the Department of State that one or more 

10 of such rights is being violated. 

11 ‘‘(B) Information relating to the international 

12 human rights that may be relevant in the case of a 

13 United States citizen described in paragraph (1), in14 cluding the right of an individual charged with a 

15 criminal offense to be presumed innocent until prov16 en guilty according to law as stated in the Inter17 national Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. 

18 ‘‘(C) The means by which a member of the 

19 Service assigned to a new post in a foreign country 

20 will be informed of the legal rights of a United 

21 States citizen who is in the custody of the govern22 ment of such country pursuant to the laws of such 

23 country.’’. 

24 (b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 90 days 

25 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 


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1 of State shall submit to the appropriate congressional 

2 committees a report that describes the implementation of 

3 the new requirements of the professional development pro4 gram required under paragraph (2) of subsection (a) of 

5 section 703 of the Foreign Service Act of 1980, as added 

6 by subsection (a)(2) of this section. 

7 SEC. 4. DENIAL OF ENTRY INTO THE UNITED STATES OF 

8 CERTAIN FOREIGN GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS. 

9 (a) DENIAL OF ENTRY.—Notwithstanding any other 

10 provision of law, the Secretary of State may not issue any 

11 visa to, and the Secretary of Homeland Security shall deny 

12 entry to the United States of, any foreign government offi13 cial identified pursuant to subsection (d)(1)(C) or any im14 mediate family members of such official. 

15 (b) PERMANENT BAN.—Notwithstanding any other 

16 provision of law, if any United States citizen identified 

17 pursuant to subsection (d)(1)(A) dies from any cause 

18 while in the custody of a foreign government, the govern19 ment officials identified pursuant to subsection (d)(1)(C) 

20 in relation to such citizen and the immediate family mem21 bers of such officials may not be issued any visa by the 

22 Secretary of State, and may not be admitted by the Sec23 retary of Homeland Security, to the United States at any 

24 time on or after the date of the death of such citizen. 


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1 (c) CURRENT VISAS REVOKED.—Notwithstanding 

2 any other provision of law, the Secretary of State shall 

3 revoke, in accordance with section 221(i) of the Immigra4 tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1201(i)), the visa or 

5 other documentation of any alien who would be ineligible 

6 to receive such a visa or documentation under subsection 

7 (a) or (b) of this section. 

8 (d) DESIGNATION OF INADMISSIBLE FOREIGN OFFI9 CIALS.— 

10 (1) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 30 

11 days after the date of the enactment of this Act and 

12 every 180 days thereafter for five years, the Sec13 retary of State shall submit to the appropriate con14 gressional committees a report that contains the fol15 lowing: 

16 (A) An identification of United States citi17 zens who are in the custody of a foreign govern18 ment and whose fundamental due process or 

19 human rights pursuant to the laws of such gov20 ernment or international standards binding on 

21 such government are being violated. 

22 (B) An identification of the fundamental 

23 due process or human rights violations that are 

24 being committed against the citizens identified 

25 in subparagraph (A). 


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1 (C) A list of the government officials who, 

2 based on credible information, are responsible 

3 for the violations of, or are failing to fulfill their 

4 official responsibility to protect, the rights iden5 tified in subparagraph (B) of any citizen identi6 fied in subparagraph (A). 

7 (2) ADDITIONAL REPORTING REQUIREMENT.— 

8 In the case of each semi-annual report required 

9 under paragraph (1), the Secretary of State shall in10 clude a list of the names and titles of those govern11 ment officials identified in subparagraph (C) of such 

12 paragraph, and the names and relationships of the 

13 immediate family members of such officials who 

14 were denied a visa or entry to the United States 

15 pursuant to subsection (a) or (b), or whose visa was 

16 revoked pursuant to subsection (c), during the im17 mediately preceding 180-day period. 

18 (3) FORM.—Each report required under para19 graph (1) shall be submitted in unclassified form. 

20 (4) EXCEPTION FOR CLASSIFIED ANNEX.—The 

21 name of a person to be included in each report re22 quired under paragraph (1) may be submitted in a 

23 classified annex only if the President— 

24 (A) determines that it is in the best inter25 est of a United States citizen identified pursuVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:17 May 02, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1778.IH H1778

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1 ant to subparagraph (A) of such paragraph, or 

2 that it is vital for the national security interests 

3 of the United States to do so; 

4 (B) uses the annex in such a manner con5 sistent with congressional intent and the pur6 poses of this Act; and 

7 (C) 15 days before submitting the name in 

8 a classified annex, provides to the appropriate 

9 congressional committees notice of, and a jus10 tification for, including or continuing to include 

11 each person in such a classified annex despite 

12 any publicly available credible information indi13 cating that the government official concerned is 

14 responsible for the violations of, or is failing to 

15 fulfill an official responsibility to protect, the 

16 rights of a United States citizen identified in 

17 subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1). 

18 (5) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The unclassified 

19 portion of the report required under paragraph (1) 

20 shall be made available to the public and published 

21 in the Federal Register. 

22 (e) REMOVAL FROM REPORT DESIGNATION.—A gov23 ernment official may be removed from the lists required 

24 under subsection (d)(1)(C) if the President determines 

25 and reports to the appropriate congressional committees 


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1 not less than 15 days before the removal from any such 

2 list of such governmental official that— 

3 (1) credible information exists that such gov4 ernment official is not responsible for the violations 

5 of, or is fulfilling any official responsibility to pro6 tect, the rights identified in subsection (d)(1)(B) of 

7 any United States citizen identified in subsection 

8 (d)(1)(A) who is in the custody of a foreign govern9 ment; or 

10 (2) such citizen has been released. 

11 (f) REQUESTS BY CHAIRPERSONS AND RANKING

12 MEMBERS OF APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT13 TEES.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 120 days 

15 after receiving a written request from the chair16 person and ranking member of one of the appro17 priate congressional committees with respect to 

18 whether a person meets the criteria for being in19 cluded on the list required under subsection 

20 (d)(1)(C), the President shall transmit a response to 

21 the chairperson and ranking member of the com22 mittee which made the request with respect to the 

23 status of such person. 

24 (2) FORM.—The President may submit a re25 sponse required under paragraph (1) in classified 


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1 form if the President determines that it is in the 

2 best interest of a United States citizen identified 

3 pursuant to subsection (d)(1)(A), or that it is nec4 essary for the national security interests of the 

5 United States to do so. 

6 (3) REMOVAL.—If the President removes from 

7 the list required under subsection (d)(1)(C) a person 

8 who has been included on such list at the request of 

9 the chairperson and ranking member of one of the 

10 appropriate congressional committees, the President 

11 shall provide the chairperson and ranking member 

12 with any information that contributed to such re13 moval decision. The President may transmit such in14 formation in classified form if the President deter15 mines that such is in the best interest of a United 

16 States citizen identified pursuant to subsection 

17 (d)(1)(A), or that it is in the national security inter18 ests of the United States. 

19 (g) NONAPPLICABILITY OF CONFIDENTIALITY RE20 QUIREMENT WITH RESPECT TO VISA RECORDS.—The 

21 President shall publish the list required under subsection 

22 (d)(1)(C) without regard to the requirements of section 

23 222(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

24 1202(f)) with respect to confidentiality of records perVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:17 May 02, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1778.IH H1778

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1 taining to the issuance or refusal of visas or permits to 

2 enter the United States. 

3 SEC. 5. PROHIBITION ON CERTAIN FOREIGN ASSISTANCE. 

4 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no as5 sistance may be provided to an agency, instrumentality, 

6 or other entity of a foreign government that, based on 

7 credible information, is responsible for the violation of, or 

8 is failing to fulfill a responsibility to protect, the rights 

9 identified in section 4(d)(1)(B) of a United States citizen 

10 identified in section 4(d)(1)(A). 

11 SEC. 6. EMBASSY WEBSITE POSTINGS. 

12 It is the sense of Congress that the website of the 

13 lead United States diplomatic or consular mission located 

14 in a country where a United States citizen identified in 

15 section 4(d)(1)(A) is in the custody of a foreign govern16 ment should— 

17 (1) prominently indicate that the fundamental 

18 due process or human rights of such citizen in the 

19 custody of the government of such country are being 

20 violated, and 

21 (2) provide sufficient details about the case of 

22 such citizen to alert other United States citizens of 

23 the potential dangers of visiting such country. 

24 SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS. 

25 In this Act: 


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1 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT2 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com3 mittees’’ means the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

4 and the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of 

5 Representatives, and the Committee on Foreign Re6 lations and the Committee on the Judiciary of the 

7 Senate. 

8 (2) IMMEDIATE FAMILY MEMBERS.—The term 

9 ‘‘immediate family members’’ means a spouse, 

10 daughter or son regardless of age, parent, brother, 

11 sister, and fiance ́ or fiance ́e. 

12 (3) INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS.—The term 

13 ‘‘international standards’’ means standards specified 

14 in international agreements to which the country 

15 concerned is a party, taking into account any appli16 cable reservations. 

17 (4) IN THE CUSTODY OF A FOREIGN GOVERN18 MENT.—The term ‘‘in the custody of a foreign gov19 ernment’’ means to be incarcerated, under house ar20 rest, or otherwise deprived of one’s liberty, including 

21 through the refusal of permission to leave the coun22 try concerned, by the government of such country. 

Æ 


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