I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1623 

To protect children from sexual exploitation by mandating reporting requirements for convicted sex traffickers and other sex offenders against minors 

intending to engage in international travel, providing advance notice 

of intended travel by high risk sex offenders outside the United States 

to the government of the country of destination, preventing entry into 

the United States by any foreign sex offender against a minor, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 19, 2009 

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey (for himself, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. FORTENBERRY, Mr. 

BOOZMAN, Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, Mr. BURTON of Indiana, Ms. 

GRANGER, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, Mr. MANZULLO, Mr. BILIRAKIS, and Mr. 

POE of Texas) 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 protect children from sexual exploitation by mandating 

reporting requirements for convicted sex traffickers and 

other sex offenders against minors intending to engage 

in international travel, providing advance notice of intended travel by high risk sex offenders outside the 

United States to the government of the country of destination, preventing entry into the United States by any 

foreign sex offender against a minor, 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 AND TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘International Megan’s Law of 2009’’. 

6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

7 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title and table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Findings and declaration of purposes. 

Sec. 3. Definitions. 

Sec. 4. Sex offender travel reporting requirement. 

Sec. 5. Foreign registration requirement for sex offenders. 

Sec. 6. High risk sex offender assessment. 

Sec. 7. International Sex Offender Travel Center. 

Sec. 8. Authority to restrict passports. 

Sec. 9. Reporting violation procedure. 

Sec. 10. Immunity for good faith conduct. 

Sec. 11. Immigration law reform to prevent admission of sex offenders against 

minors to the United States. 

Sec. 12. Sense of Congress provisions. 

Sec. 13. Annual report on status of severe forms of trafficking in persons and 

implementation assessment. 

Sec. 14. Assistance to foreign countries to meet minimum standards for the 

elimination of trafficking. 

Sec. 15. International sex offender travel study. 

Sec. 16. Congressional reports. 

Sec. 17. Authorization of appropriations. 

8 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND DECLARATION OF PURPOSES. 

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

10 (1) Megan Nicole Kanka, who was 7 years old, 

11 was abducted, sexually assaulted, and murdered in 

12 1994, in the State of New Jersey by a violent pred13 ator living across the street from her home. Unbe14 knownst to Megan Kanka and her family, he had 

15 been convicted previously of a sex offense against a 

16 child. 


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1 (2) In 1996, Congress adopted Megan’s Law 

2 (Public Law 104–145) as a means to encourage 

3 States to protect children by identifying the where4 abouts of sex offenders and providing the means to 

5 monitor their activities. 

6 (3) The sexual exploitation of minors is a global 

7 phenomenon. The International Labour Organiza8 tion estimates that 1.8 million children worldwide 

9 are exploited each year through prostitution and 

10 pornography. 

11 (4) According to ECPAT International, all chil12 dren are adversely affected by being commercially 

13 sexually exploited. Commercial sexual exploitation 

14 can result in serious, lifelong, even life-threatening 

15 consequences for the physical, psychological, spir16 itual, emotional and social development and well17 being of a child. 

18 (5) ECPAT International reports that children 

19 who are commercially sexually exploited are at great 

20 risk of contracting HIV or AIDS and are unlikely to 

21 receive adequate medical care. Children are also at 

22 great risk of physical violence—those who make an 

23 attempt to escape or counter their abuse may be se24 verely injured or killed. The psychological effects of 


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1 child sexual exploitation and threats usually plague 

2 the victims for the rest of their lives. 

3 (6) ECPAT International further reports that 

4 children who have been exploited typically report 

5 feelings of shame, guilt, and low self-esteem. Some 

6 children do not believe they are worthy of rescue; 

7 some suffer from stigmatization or the knowledge 

8 that they were betrayed by someone whom they had 

9 trusted; others suffer from nightmares, sleepless10 ness, hopelessness, and depression—reactions similar 

11 to those exhibited in victims of torture. To cope, 

12 some children attempt suicide or turn to substance 

13 abuse. Many find it difficult to reintegrate success14 fully into society once they become adults. 

15 (7) According to ECPAT International, child 

16 sex tourism is a specific form of child prostitution 

17 and is a developing phenomenon. Child sex tourism 

18 is defined as the commercial sexual exploitation of 

19 children by people who travel from one place to an20 other and there engage in sexual acts with minors. 

21 This type of exploitation can occur anywhere in the 

22 world and no country or tourism destination is im23 mune. 

24 (8) According to research conducted by The 

25 Protection Project of The Johns Hopkins University 


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1 Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International 

2 Studies, sex tourists from the United States who 

3 target children form a significant percentage of child 

4 sex tourists in some of the most significant countries 

5 of destination for child sex tourism. 

6 (9) According to the National Center for Miss7 ing and Exploited Children, most victims of sex of8 fenders are children and youth, and sex offenders 

9 have a high risk of reoffending. 

10 (10) Media reports indicate that known sex of11 fenders who have committed crimes against children 

12 are traveling internationally, and that the criminal 

13 background of such individuals may not be known to 

14 local law enforcement prior to their arrival. A report 

15 in January 2006 cited Interpol Vietnam as stating 

16 that German police had sent a list of 21 German 

17 child molesters who may have entered or may have 

18 been planning to enter Vietnam. In January 2008, 

19 a defense contractor listed on the United States Na20 tional Sex Offender Registry was arrested in Iraq, 

21 who had in his possession a camera containing mul22 tiple images of indecent photos of Iraqi children. In 

23 April 2008, a United States registered sex offender 

24 received a prison sentence for engaging in illicit sex25 ual activity with a 15-year old United States citizen 


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1 girl in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico in ex2 change for money and crack cocaine. In May 2008, 

3 a South Korean newspaper reported that the United 

4 States Immigration and Customs Enforcement 

5 Attache ́ in Seoul provided South Korean authorities 

6 with a list of five United States sex offenders who 

7 had previously visited Korea. 

8 (11) Sex offenders are also attempting to enter 

9 the United States. In April 2008, a lifetime reg10 istered sex offender from the United Kingdom at11 tempted to enter the United States with the inten12 tion of living with a woman who he had met on the 

13 Internet and her young daughters. He was refused 

14 entry based on information about his sex offender 

15 status that had been provided to United States im16 migration officials from Interpol London. 

17 (12) Child sex tourists may travel overseas to 

18 commit sexual offenses against minors for the fol19 lowing reasons: perceived anonymity; law enforce20 ment in certain countries is perceived as scarce, cor21 rupt, or unsophisticated; perceived immunity from 

22 retaliation because the child sex tourist is a United 

23 States citizen; the child sex tourist has the financial 

24 ability to impress and influence the local population; 

25 the child sex tourist can ‘‘disappear’’ after a brief 


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1 stay; the child sex tourist can target children meet2 ing their desired preference; and, there is no need to 

3 expend time and effort ‘‘grooming’’ the victim. 

4 (13) Individuals who have sexually exploited 

5 children and who have been arrested in and deported 

6 from a foreign country have used long-term pass7 ports to evade return to their country of citizenship 

8 where they faced possible charges and instead have 

9 moved to a third country where they have continued 

10 to exploit and abuse children. 

11 (14) The United States is obligated under Arti12 cle 10 of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on 

13 the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, 

14 Child Prostitution and Child Pornography to, among 

15 other things, take all necessary steps to strengthen 

16 international cooperation by multilateral, regional, 

17 and bilateral arrangements for the prevention and 

18 detection of those responsible for acts involving the 

19 sale of children, child prostitution, child pornog20 raphy, and child sex tourism. The United States also 

21 is required to promote international cooperation and 

22 coordination between authorities of other States 

23 Parties to the Convention, national and international 

24 nongovernmental organizations and international or25 ganizations to achieve these objectives. 


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1 (15) Article 10 of the Optional Protocol to the 

2 Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale 

3 of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornog4 raphy further mandates that the United States and 

5 other States Parties in a position to do so provide 

6 financial, technical, or other assistance through ex7 isting multilateral, regional, bilateral, or other pro8 grams. 

9 (16) In order to protect children, it is essential 

10 that United States law enforcement be able to iden11 tify child sex offenders in the United States who are 

12 traveling abroad and child sex offenders from other 

13 countries entering the United States. Such identi14 fication requires cooperative efforts between the 

15 United States and foreign governments. In exchange 

16 for providing notice of sex offenders traveling to the 

17 United States, foreign authorities will expect United 

18 States authorities to provide reciprocal notice of sex 

19 offenders traveling to their countries. 

20 (17) International law enforcement entities, in21 cluding Interpol and the United States Immigration 

22 and Customs Enforcement agency, currently are 

23 sharing information about sex offenders traveling 

24 internationally on an ad hoc basis, and the tech25 nology to detect and notify foreign governments 


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1 about travel by sex offenders against minors is avail2 able, but a legal structure and additional resources 

3 are needed to systematize and coordinate these de4 tection and notice efforts. 

5 (18) Officials from the United Kingdom, Aus6 tralia, Spain, and other countries have expressed in7 terest in working with the United States Govern8 ment for increased international cooperation to pro9 tect children from sexual exploitation, and are call10 ing for formal arrangements to ensure that the risk 

11 posed by traveling sex offenders is combated most 

12 effectively. 

13 (b) DECLARATION OF PURPOSES.—The purpose of 

14 this Act and the amendments made by this Act is to pro15 tect children from sexual exploitation by preventing or 

16 monitoring the international travel of sex traffickers and 

17 other sex offenders who pose a risk of committing a sexual 

18 offense against a minor while traveling by— 

19 (1) establishing a system in the United States 

20 to identify sex offenders who pose a high risk of re21 offending against children and who intend to travel 

22 outside the United States for the purpose of noti23 fying the appropriate officials in destination coun24 tries of the criminal background and intent to travel 

25 by such individuals; 


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1 (2) strongly encouraging and assisting foreign 

2 governments to establish a sex offender travel notifi3 cation system and to inform United States authori4 ties when a sex offender intends to travel or has de5 parted on travel to the United States; 

6 (3) providing the Secretary of State with the 

7 discretion to temporarily rescind the passport or 

8 passport card of an individual who has been arrested 

9 for, is under investigation for, or has been charged 

10 with a sex offense against a minor, revoke the pass11 port or passport card of an individual who has been 

12 sentenced overseas for a sex offense against a minor, 

13 or limit the period of validity of a passport or pass14 port card issued to a high risk sex offender against 

15 a minor; 

16 (4) preventing admission of foreign sex offend17 ers against minors to the United States; 

18 (5) including information in the annual report 

19 to Congress required by section 110(b)(1) of the 

20 Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 

21 U.S.C. 7107(b)(1)) regarding efforts of foreign gov22 ernments to establish systems to identify and pro23 vide notice of international travel by sex offenders 

24 against minors to destination countries and to reVerDate Nov 24 2008 23:14 Mar 20, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1623.IH H1623

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1 spond in a timely manner to the receipt of such no2 tices; and 

3 (6) providing assistance to foreign countries 

4 under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to meet 

5 the requirements described in paragraph (5). 

6 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT9 TEES.—Except as otherwise provided, the term ‘‘ap10 propriate congressional committees’’ means— 

11 (A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and 

12 the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of 

13 Representatives; and 

14 (B) the Committee on Foreign Relations 

15 and the Committee on the Judiciary of the Sen16 ate. 

17 (2) HIGH RISK SEX OFFENDER.—The term 

18 ‘‘high risk sex offender’’ means a sex offender as de19 fined under paragraph (5) who is determined pursu20 ant to section 6 to pose a high risk of harm to chil21 dren in a country to which he or she intends to trav22 el. 

23 (3) MINOR.—The term ‘‘minor’’ means an indi24 vidual who has not attained the age of 18 years. 


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1 (4) PASSPORT CARD.—The term ‘‘passport 

2 card’’ means a document issued by the Department 

3 of State pursuant to section 7209 of the Intelligence 

4 Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 

5 (Public Law 108–458; 8 U.S.C. 1185 note). 

6 (5) SEX OFFENDER.—The term ‘‘sex offender’’ 

7 means an individual who is required by State law to 

8 register on a sex offender registry for having been 

9 convicted of a sex offense as defined in this Act. 

10 (6) SEX OFFENSE.— 

11 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘sex offense’’ 

12 means a criminal offense, including a Federal 

13 offense, against a minor that involves any of 

14 the following: 

15 (i) Solicitation to engage in sexual 

16 conduct. 

17 (ii) Use in a sexual performance. 

18 (iii) Solicitation to practice prostitu19 tion (whether for financial or other forms 

20 of remuneration). 

21 (iv) Video voyeurism as described in 

22 section 1801 of title 18, United States 

23 Code. 

24 (v) Possession, production, or dis25 tribution of child pornography. 


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1 (vi) Criminal sexual conduct involving 

2 a minor, or the use of the Internet to fa3 cilitate or attempt such conduct. 

4 (vii) Sex trafficking of children as de5 scribed in section 1591 of title 18, United 

6 States Code. 

7 (viii) Transporting a minor in inter8 state or foreign commerce, or in any com9 monwealth, territory, or possession of the 

10 United States, with intent that the indi11 vidual engage in prostitution, or in any 

12 sexual activity for which any person can be 

13 charged with a criminal offense. 

14 (ix) Any other conduct that by its na15 ture is a sex offense against a minor. 

16 (B) EXCEPTIONS.—The term ‘‘sex of17 fense’’ shall not include: 

18 (i) A foreign conviction if it was not 

19 obtained with sufficient safeguards for fun20 damental fairness and due process for the 

21 accused under guidelines or regulations es22 tablished under section 112 of the Sex Of23 fender Registration and Notification Act 

24 (title I of Public Law 109–248; 42 U.S.C. 

25 16911). 


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1 (ii) An offense involving consensual 

2 sexual conduct if the victim was at least 13 

3 years old and the offender was not more 

4 than 4 years older than the victim. 

5 (7) RESIDES.—The term ‘‘resides’’ means, with 

6 respect to an individual, the location of the individ7 ual’s home or other place where the individual habit8 ually lives. 

9 (8) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ includes any en10 tity within the United States that by its law requires 

11 sex offenders to register in a sex offender registry. 

12 SEC. 4. SEX OFFENDER TRAVEL REPORTING REQUIRE13 MENT. 

14 (a) DUTY TO REPORT.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—A sex offender shall notify 

16 an appropriate jurisdiction or jurisdictions of his or 

17 her intention to travel, in conformity with the rules 

18 issued under subsection (b), not later than 21 days 

19 before departure from or arrival in the United 

20 States. A jurisdiction so notified shall promptly in21 form the United States Immigration and Customs 

22 Enforcement Special Agent in Charge (hereinafter in 

23 this Act referred to as the ‘‘ICE SAC’’), any suc24 cessor to the functions of that official. 


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1 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The duty to report re2 quired under paragraph (1) shall take effect on the 

3 date that is 90 days after the date of the enactment 

4 of this Act. 

5 (b) RULES FOR REPORTING.—Not later than 90 days 

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

7 of Homeland Security and the Attorney General shall 

8 make rules to carry out subsection (a) in light of the pur9 poses of this Act. Such rules— 

10 (1) shall establish procedures for reporting 

11 under subsection (a); 

12 (2) shall set forth the information required to 

13 be reported, including— 

14 (A) name(s); 

15 (B) date of birth; 

16 (C) social security number; 

17 (D) passport or passport card number and 

18 date and place of issuance; 

19 (E) basis of criminal conviction; 

20 (F) travel itinerary and purpose of the 

21 trip; 

22 (G) travel companions; and 

23 (H) contact information prior to departure 

24 and during travel; 


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1 (3) may provide for appropriate alternative re2 porting in situations, such as personal or humani3 tarian emergencies or legitimate business exigencies, 

4 where the requirement of subsection (a) is impracti5 cable or inappropriate; and 

6 (4) shall provide appropriate transitional provi7 sions in order to make the phase-in of the require8 ments of this Act practicable. 

9 (c) CRIMINAL PENALTY FOR FAILURE TO REGISTER

10 OR REPORT.— 

11 (1) NEW OFFENSE.—Section 2250 of title 18, 

12 United States Code, is amended by adding at the 

13 end the following: 

14 ‘‘(d) Whoever knowingly fails to register with United 

15 States officials in a foreign country or to report his or 

16 her travel to or from a foreign country as required by the 

17 International Megan’s Law of 2009 shall be fined under 

18 this title or imprisoned not more than 10 years, or both.’’. 

19 (2) AMENDMENT TO HEADING OF SECTION.— 

20 The heading for section 2250 of title 18, United 

21 States Code, is amended by inserting ‘‘or report 

22 international travel’’ after ‘‘register’’. 

23 (3) CONFORMING AMENDMENT TO AFFIRMA24 TIVE DEFENSE.—Section 2250(b) of title 18, United 


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1 States Code, is amended by inserting ‘‘or (d)’’ after 

2 ‘‘(a)’’. 

3 (4) CONFORMING AMENDMENT TO FEDERAL

4 PENALTIES FOR VIOLENT CRIMES.—Section 2250(c) 

5 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by in6 serting ‘‘or (d)’’ after ‘‘(a)’’ each place it appears. 

7 (5) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The item relating 

8 to section 2250 in the table of sections at the begin9 ning of chapter 109B of title 18, United States 

10 Code, is amended by inserting ‘‘or report inter11 national travel’’ after ‘‘register’’. 

12 (d) DUTY TO NOTIFY SEX OFFENDERS OF REPORT13 ING AND INTERNATIONAL REGISTRATION REQUIRE14 MENT.—When an official is required under State law to 

15 notify a sex offender (as defined in section (3)(5)) of a 

16 duty to register as a sex offender under the law of that 

17 State, the official shall also, at the same time— 

18 (1) notify that offender of that offender’s duties 

19 to report international travel under this section and 

20 to register under section 5, and the procedure for 

21 fulfilling those duties; and 

22 (2) require the offender to read and sign a form 

23 stating that those duties to report and register, and 

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1 plained and that the offender understands those du2 ties and that procedure. 

3 SEC. 5. FOREIGN REGISTRATION REQUIREMENT FOR SEX 

4 OFFENDERS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year after the 

6 date of the enactment of this Act, a United States diplo7 matic or consular mission in each foreign country shall 

8 establish and maintain a countrywide sex offender registry 

9 for sex offenders (as defined in section (3)(5)) from the 

10 United States who temporarily or permanently reside in 

11 such country. Such registry shall include the information 

12 specified in subsection (d). 

13 (b) INTERNATIONAL REGISTRY REQUIREMENT FOR

14 SEX OFFENDERS.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—A sex offender who is a 

16 United States citizen or an alien lawfully admitted 

17 for permanent residence in the United States— 

18 (A) who resides in a foreign country for 

19 more than 21 consecutive days, or 

20 (B) who resides in a foreign country for 

21 more than 30 days within a 6-month period, 

22 shall register, and keep such registration current, at 

23 the United States diplomatic or consular mission in 

24 such country until such time as the sex offender de25 parts such country or until such time has elapsed as 


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1 the sex offender would have otherwise been required 

2 to register in the State of conviction for such sex of3 fense, whichever is sooner. 

4 (2) KEEPING THE REGISTRATION CURRENT.— 

5 Subject to the duration requirement under para6 graph (1), not later than five business days after 

7 each change of name, residence, or employment or 

8 student status, or any change in any of the other in9 formation specified in subsection (d)(1), a sex of10 fender residing in a foreign country shall notify a 

11 United States diplomatic or consular mission in such 

12 country for the purpose of providing information re13 lating to such change for inclusion in the sex of14 fender registry maintained by such mission under 

15 subsection (a). 

16 (3) REGISTRATION AND NOTIFICATION PROCE17 DURE.—Not later than 270 days after the date of 

18 the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, in 

19 consultation with the Attorney General, shall issue 

20 regulations for the establishment and maintenance 

21 of the registries described in subsection (a), includ22 ing the manner for registering and changing infor23 mation as specified in paragraphs (1) and (2). 

24 (c) CRIMINAL PENALTIES FOR NONREGISTRATION.— 

25 A sex offender who fails to register under subsection (b) 


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1 shall be punished in accordance with subsection (d) of sec2 tion 2250 of title 18, United States Code, as added by 

3 paragraph (1) of section 4(c) of this Act. 

4 (d) INFORMATION REQUIRED IN REGISTRATION.— 

5 (1) PROVIDED BY THE SEX OFFENDER.—A sex 

6 offender described in subsection (b) shall provide the 

7 following information: 

8 (A) Name (including any alias used by the 

9 sex offender). 

10 (B) Passport or passport card, and visa 

11 type and number, if applicable. 

12 (C) Social Security number of the sex of13 fender. 

14 (D) Address of each residence at which the 

15 sex offender resides or will reside in that coun16 try and the address of any residence maintained 

17 in the United States. 

18 (E) Purpose for the sex offender’s resi19 dence in the country. 

20 (F) Name and address of any place where 

21 the sex offender is an employee or will be an 

22 employee. 

23 (G) Name and address of any place where 

24 the sex offender is a student or will be a stu25 dent. 


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1 (H) State in which the sex offender was 

2 convicted and the State or States in which the 

3 sex offender was most recently legally required 

4 to register. 

5 (I) The license plate number and a de6 scription of any vehicle owned or operated by 

7 the sex offender. 

8 (J) The date or approximate date when the 

9 sex offender plans to leave the country. 

10 (K) Any other information required by the 

11 Secretary of State. 

12 (2) PROVIDED BY THE DIPLOMATIC OR CON13 SULAR MISSION.—The United States diplomatic or 

14 consular mission at which a sex offender registers 

15 shall collect and ensure that the following informa16 tion is included in the registry maintained by such 

17 mission: 

18 (A) A physical description of the sex of19 fender. 

20 (B) The criminal history of the sex of21 fender, including— 

22 (i) the text of the provision of law de23 fining the criminal offense for which the 

24 sex offender is registered, as obtained from 


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1 the International Sex Offender Travel Cen2 ter (established pursuant to section 7); 

3 (ii) the date of all arrests and convic4 tions; 

5 (iii) the status of parole, probation, or 

6 supervised release; 

7 (iv) registration status; and 

8 (v) the existence of any outstanding 

9 arrest warrants for the sex offender. 

10 (C) The time period for which the sex of11 fender is required to register pursuant to the 

12 law of the State of conviction. 

13 (D) A current photograph of the sex of14 fender obtained from the most current State 

15 sex offender registration with respect to that in16 dividual. 

17 (E) Any other information required by the 

18 Secretary of State. 

19 (e) PERIODIC IN PERSON VERIFICATION.—Not less 

20 often than every six months, a sex offender who is reg21 istered under subsection (b) shall appear in person at the 

22 United States diplomatic or consular mission where the 

23 sex offender is registered to allow such mission to take 

24 a current photograph of the sex offender and to verify the 


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1 information in the registry maintained by such mission 

2 under subsection (a). 

3 (f) TRANSMISSION OF REGISTRY INFORMATION TO

4 THE NATIONAL SEX OFFENDER REGISTRY.—For the pur5 pose of keeping domestic law enforcement informed as to 

6 the status of a sex offender required to register under this 

7 section, when a United States diplomatic or consular mis8 sion receives information about a sex offender for the sex 

9 offender registry maintained by such mission under sec10 tion (a), such mission shall immediately transmit such in11 formation to the Attorney General who shall include that 

12 information in the National Sex Offender Registry, estab13 lished under section 119 of the Sex Offender Registration 

14 and Notification Act (Public Law 109–248), or other ap15 propriate databases. 

16 (g) ACTIONS TO BE TAKEN IF A SEX OFFENDER

17 FAILS TO COMPLY.—When a United States diplomatic or 

18 consular mission has reason to believe that a sex offender 

19 has failed to comply with the requirements of this section, 

20 such mission shall notify the International Sex Offender 

21 Travel Center and revise the sex offender registry main22 tained by such mission under subsection (a) to reflect the 

23 nature of such failure. 

24 (h) FEDERAL ASSISTANCE REGARDING VIOLATIONS

25 OF REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS.—The first sentence 


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1 of subsection (a) of section 142 of the Sex Offender Reg2 istration and Notification Act (Public Law 109–248; 42 

3 U.S.C. 16941) is amended by inserting before the period 

4 at the end the following: ‘‘, including under the Inter5 national Megan’s Law of 2009’’. 

6 SEC. 6. HIGH RISK SEX OFFENDER ASSESSMENT. 

7 (a) SEX OFFENDER RISK ASSESSMENT GUIDE8 LINES.—Not later than 90 days after the date of the en9 actment of this Act, the Commissioner of United States 

10 Immigration and Customs Enforcement shall issue direc11 tives to the ICE SAC for the assessment of sex offend12 ers— 

13 (1) who report international travel pursuant to 

14 section 4(a), or 

15 (2) whose travel is reported pursuant to sub16 section (b), 

17 for purposes of determining whether such sex offenders 

18 are high risk sex offenders. 

19 (b) LAW ENFORCEMENT NOTIFICATION.—Federal, 

20 State, or local law enforcement entities or officials who 

21 have reasonable grounds to believe that a sex offender is 

22 traveling outside the United States and poses a danger 

23 to minor children may notify the ICE SAC and provide 

24 as much information as practicable in accordance with sec25 tion 4(b)(2). 


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1 (c) INFORMATION SHARING AND ACTION.—Upon re2 ceipt of the information pursuant to section 4(a) or sub3 section (b) of this section about a sex offender who intends 

4 to travel outside the United States, the ICE SAC shall 

5 assess the information in accordance with the risk assess6 ment guidelines issued under subsection (a) of this section. 

7 If the ICE SAC determines that the sex offender is a high 

8 risk sex offender, the ICE SAC shall— 

9 (1) forward to the International Sex Offender 

10 Travel Center information and analysis concerning 

11 such determination; and 

12 (2) forward to the Secretary of State the infor13 mation referred to in paragraph (1), together with 

14 an advisory regarding whether or not the period of 

15 validity of the passport or passport card of the high 

16 risk sex offender should be limited to one year or 

17 such period of time as the Secretary of State shall 

18 determine appropriate. 

19 (d) REPORT.—Upon the issuance of the risk assess20 ment guidelines under subsection (a), the Commissioner 

21 shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees 

22 a report on such guidelines. The Commissioner may sub23 mit such report in ‘‘sensitive’’ form if the Commissioner 

24 determines that such would further the purposes of this 

25 Act. 


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1 SEC. 7. INTERNATIONAL SEX OFFENDER TRAVEL CENTER. 

2 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 30 days after 

3 the date of the enactment of this Act, the President shall 

4 establish the International Sex Offender Travel Center 

5 (hereinafter in this section referred to as the ‘‘Center’’) 

6 to carry out the activities specified in subsection (d). 

7 (b) PARTICIPANTS.—The Center shall include rep8 resentatives from the following departments and agencies: 

9 (1) The Department of State, including the Of10 fice to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, 

11 the Bureau of Consular Affairs, the Bureau of Inter12 national Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, 

13 and the Bureau of Diplomatic Security. 

14 (2) The Department of Homeland Security, in15 cluding United States Immigration and Customs 

16 Enforcement and United States Customs and Bor17 der Protection. 

18 (3) The Department of Justice, including the 

19 Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Office of Sex 

20 Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, 

21 Registering and Tracking, the Criminal Division 

22 Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, and the 

23 United States Marshals Service. 

24 (4) INTERPOL—United States National Cen25 tral Bureau. 

26 (5) The Coast Guard. 


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1 (6) Such other officials as may be determined 

2 by the President. 

3 (c) LEADERSHIP.—The Center shall be headed by the 

4 Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security for United 

5 States Immigration and Customs Enforcement. 

6 (d) ACTIVITIES.—The Center shall carry out the fol7 lowing activities: 

8 (1) Receive high risk sex offender determina9 tions made by the ICE SAC pursuant to section 6. 

10 (2) Transmit notice of impending or current 

11 international travel of high risk sex offenders to the 

12 country or countries of destination of such sex of13 fenders as follows: 

14 (A) The notice may be transmitted 

15 through such means as determined appropriate 

16 by the Center, including through an attache ́ of 

17 United States Immigration and Customs En18 forcement, Interpol, or such other appropriate 

19 means as determined by the Center. 

20 (B) If the Center determines that trans21 mission of the notice could potentially pose a 

22 risk to the life or well-being of the high risk sex 

23 offender, the Center shall make every reason24 able effort to issue a warning to the high risk 

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1 mission of such notice to the country or coun2 tries and may use its discretion not to transmit 

3 such notice. 

4 (3) Provide a means of alerting Center per5 sonnel regarding those sex offenders who have not 

6 reported travel as required by section 4 by inte7 grating available, relevant data on an ongoing basis 

8 into an existing centralized database that will iden9 tify sex offenders who are initiating travel, currently 

10 traveling, or have traveled outside the United States. 

11 (4) Respond to requests for information by a 

12 United States diplomatic or consular mission at 

13 which a sex offender is registering in accordance 

14 with section 5, and obtain and transmit the informa15 tion required by such mission pursuant to subsection 

16 (d)(2) of such section. 

17 (e) CONSULTATIONS.—The Center shall engage in 

18 ongoing consultations with— 

19 (1) the National Center for Missing and Ex20 ploited Children (NCMEC), End Child Prostitution, 

21 Child Pornography, and Trafficking of Children for 

22 Sexual Purposes (ECPAT–USA, Inc.), World Vision, 

23 and other nongovernmental organizations that have 

24 experience and expertise in identifying and pre25 venting child sex tourism and rescuing and rehabiliVerDate Nov 24 2008 23:14 Mar 20, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00028 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1623.IH H1623

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1 tating minor victims of international sexual exploi2 tation; 

3 (2) the governments of countries interested in 

4 cooperating in the creation of an international sex 

5 offender travel notification system or that are pri6 mary destination or source countries for inter7 national sex tourism; and 

8 (3) Internet service providers regarding avail9 able and potential technology to facilitate the imple10 mentation of an international sex offender travel no11 tification system, both in the United States and in 

12 other countries. 

13 (f) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary of 

14 State may provide technical assistance to foreign authori15 ties in order to enable such authorities to participate more 

16 effectively in the notification program system established 

17 under this section. 

18 SEC. 8. AUTHORITY TO RESTRICT PASSPORTS. 

19 The Secretary of State is authorized to— 

20 (1) rescind the passport or passport card of an 

21 individual awaiting trial for an offense against a 

22 minor which, if the individual is convicted, would 

23 render the individual a sex offender, until such time 

24 as the individual is either so convicted or acquitted; 


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1 (2) rescind the passport or passport card of an 

2 individual or the travel permit of an individual who 

3 is a lawful permanent resident who has been con4 victed by a court of competent jurisdiction in a for5 eign country of a sex offense (as defined in para6 graph 5 of section 3 of the Sex Offender Registra7 tion and Notification Act (title I of Public Law 109– 

8 248; 42 U.S.C. 16911)) until such time as the indi9 vidual returns to the United States and is deter10 mined eligible for the reissuance of such passport, 

11 passport card, or travel permit, as the case may be; 

12 and 

13 (3) limit to one year or such period of time as 

14 the Secretary of State shall determine appropriate 

15 the period of validity of a passport or passport card 

16 issued to a high risk sex offender. 

17 SEC. 9. REPORTING VIOLATION PROCEDURE. 

18 Not later than the date of the initial integration of 

19 available, relevant data into the existing centralized data20 base required under section 7(d)(3), the Secretary of 

21 State, the Secretary of Homeland Security, and the Attor22 ney General shall promulgate rules to establish the proce23 dure to be followed when such database identifies an indi24 vidual seeking to travel or returning from travel outside 


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1 the United States as a sex offender who failed to report 

2 prior to such travel as required under section 4. 

3 SEC. 10. IMMUNITY FOR GOOD FAITH CONDUCT. 

4 The Federal Government, jurisdictions, political sub5 divisions of jurisdictions, and their agencies, officers, em6 ployees, and agents shall be immune from liability for good 

7 faith conduct under this Act. 

8 SEC. 11. IMMIGRATION LAW REFORM TO PREVENT ADMIS9 SION OF SEX OFFENDERS AGAINST MINORS 

10 TO THE UNITED STATES. 

11 Section 212(a)(2) of the Immigration and Nationality 

12 Act (8 U.S.C.1182(a)(2)) is amended by adding at the end 

13 the following: 

14 ‘‘(J) SEX OFFENDERS.—Any alien con15 victed of, or who admits having committed, or 

16 who admits committing acts which constitute 

17 the essential elements of, a sex offense (as de18 fined in section 3 of the International Megan’s 

19 Law of 2009) is inadmissible.’’. 

20 SEC. 12. SENSE OF CONGRESS PROVISIONS. 

21 (a) BILATERAL AGREEMENTS.—It is the sense of 

22 Congress that the President should enter into memoran23 dums of understanding or other bilateral agreements with 

24 foreign governments to further the purposes of this Act, 

25 including by— 


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1 (1) establishing systems to receive and transmit 

2 notices as required by section 4; 

3 (2) requiring Internet service providers and 

4 other private companies located in foreign countries 

5 to report evidence of child exploitation; and 

6 (3) establishing mechanisms for private compa7 nies and nongovernmental organizations to report on 

8 a voluntary basis suspected child pornography or ex9 ploitation to foreign governments, the nearest 

10 United States embassy in cases in which a possible 

11 United States citizen may be involved, or other ap12 propriate entities. 

13 (b) MINIMUM AGE OF CONSENT.—It is the sense of 

14 Congress that the President should strongly encourage 

15 those foreign countries that have an age of consent to sex16 ual activity below the age of 18 to raise the age of consent 

17 to the age of 18 in order to better protect children and 

18 young adolescents from domestic and international sexual 

19 exploitation. 

20 (c) NOTIFICATION TO THE UNITED STATES OF SEX

21 OFFENSES COMMITTED ABROAD.—It is the sense of Con22 gress that the President should formally request foreign 

23 governments to notify the United States when a United 

24 State citizen has been arrested, convicted, sentenced, or 


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1 completed a prison sentence for a sex offense against a 

2 minor in the foreign country. 

3 SEC. 13. ANNUAL REPORT ON STATUS OF SEVERE FORMS 

4 OF TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS AND IMPLE5 MENTATION ASSESSMENT. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 110(b)(1) of the Traf7 ficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 

8 7107(b)(1)) is amended— 

9 (1) in subparagraph (E), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

10 the end; 

11 (2) by redesignating subparagraph (F) as sub12 paragraph (G); and 

13 (3) by inserting after subparagraph (E) the fol14 lowing: 

15 ‘‘(F)(i) within each country narrative, a 

16 statement as to whether the country has estab17 lished or is making substantial progress in es18 tablishing a system— 

19 ‘‘(I) to identify sex offenders 

20 (who have committed a sex offense as 

21 defined in section 3 of the Inter22 national Megan’s Law of 2009) trav23 eling to the United States or any 

24 other country; 


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1 ‘‘(II) to notify the United States 

2 or the other country, to the extent 

3 practicable, of— 

4 ‘‘(aa) the identity of the in5 dividual, 

6 ‘‘(bb) the nature of the sex 

7 offense for which the individual 

8 was convicted, and 

9 ‘‘(cc) the anticipated man10 ner, date, and time of the indi11 vidual’s arrival in the United 

12 States or the other country, 

13 prior to the individual’s travel; and 

14 ‘‘(III) to respond in an appro15 priate and timely manner to notices 

16 received from other countries of sex 

17 offenders traveling from those coun18 tries to the country concerned; and 

19 ‘‘(ii) an overall assessment as to the 

20 progress made and difficulties that exist in 

21 establishing a system pursuant to clause 

22 (i) on a global scale, and the extent of 

23 inter-country cooperation with respect to 

24 sex offender travel notifications; and’’. 


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1 (b) ASSESSMENT REQUIRED.—Not later than two 

2 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

3 President shall transmit to the appropriate congressional 

4 committees an assessment based on the information pro5 vided pursuant to subparagraph (F) of section 110(b)(1) 

6 of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 

7 U.S.C. 7107(b)(1)) (as added by subsection (a) of this sec8 tion), as to how an amendment to section 108(a) of such 

9 Act (22 U.S.C. 7106(a)) to include the establishment of 

10 a system described in subparagraph (F) of section 

11 110(b)(1) of such Act (as added by subsection (a) of this 

12 section) would facilitate and contribute to advancing the 

13 establishment of such a system on a global scale. 

14 (c) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES DE15 FINED.—For purposes of subsection (b), the term ‘‘appro16 priate congressional committees’’ means the Committee on 

17 Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and the 

18 Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate. 

19 SEC. 14. ASSISTANCE TO FOREIGN COUNTRIES TO MEET 

20 MINIMUM STANDARDS FOR THE ELIMI21 NATION OF TRAFFICKING. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—The President is strongly encour23 aged to exercise the authorities of section 134 of the For24 eign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2152d) to provide 

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1 governmental and multilateral organizations, for pro2 grams, projects, and activities, including training of law 

3 enforcement entities and officials, designed to establish 

4 systems to identify sex offenders and provide and receive 

5 notification of child sex offender international travel. 

6 (b) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘sex of7 fender’’ means an individual who has been convicted of 

8 a sex offense as defined in section 3. 

9 SEC. 15. INTERNATIONAL SEX OFFENDER TRAVEL STUDY. 

10 (a) STUDY REQUIRED.—The Secretary of State, the 

11 Attorney General, and the Comptroller General of the 

12 United States shall jointly undertake a study of— 

13 (1) whether, and if so how many, United States 

14 citizens who are arrested overseas for a sexual of15 fense against an adult have been previously arrested 

16 for or convicted of a sex offense in the United 

17 States; 

18 (2) the number of minors who are exploited by 

19 sex tourists globally on an annual basis, and the 

20 country of origin of such tourists; 

21 (3) the number of United States citizens and 

22 permanent residents who sexually exploit minors 

23 outside the United States; and 


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1 (4) the number of victims per United States cit2 izen and permanent resident who sexually exploit mi3 nors outside the United States. 

4 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 18 months after the 

5 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, 

6 the Attorney General, and the Comptroller General of the 

7 United States shall jointly submit to the appropriate con8 gressional committees a report that contains the results 

9 of the study required under subsection (a). 

10 SEC. 16. CONGRESSIONAL REPORTS. 

11 (a) INITIAL REPORT.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

13 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

14 President shall transmit to the appropriate congres15 sional committees a report on the implementation of 

16 this Act, including— 

17 (A) the procedures established for imple18 menting section 6; 

19 (B) how the International Sex Offender 

20 Travel Center has been established under sec21 tion 7, including the role and responsibilities of 

22 the respective departments and agencies that 

23 are participating in the Center, and how those 

24 roles are being coordinated to accomplish the 


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1 purposes of this Act and the amendments made 

2 by this Act; 

3 (C) the implementation of the integrated 

4 database as required under section 7(d)(3), in5 cluding which Federal department or agency is 

6 responsible for each task of submitting, updat7 ing, deconflicting, and removing the respective 

8 data; 

9 (D) the consultations that are being con10 ducted pursuant to section 7(e), and a sum11 mary of the discussions that have taken place 

12 in the course of those consultations; 

13 (E) what, if any, assistance has been pro14 vided pursuant to section 7(f) and section 12; 

15 and 

16 (F) the reporting violation procedure es17 tablished pursuant to section 9. 

18 (2) FORM.—The report required under para19 graph (1) may be transmitted in classified form if 

20 such classification would further the purposes of this 

21 Act or the amendments made by this Act. 

22 (b) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than one year after 

23 the date of the enactment of this Act, and every year for 

24 4 years thereafter, the President shall transmit to the ap25 propriate congressional committees a report on the impleVerDate Nov 24 2008 23:14 Mar 20, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00038 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1623.IH H1623

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1 mentation of this Act and the amendments made by this 

2 Act, including— 

3 (1) the number of United States sex offenders 

4 who report travel to or from a foreign country pur5 suant to section 4(a); 

6 (2) the number of United States sex offenders 

7 charged, prosecuted, and convicted for failing to re8 port travel to or from a foreign country pursuant to 

9 section 4(a); 

10 (3) the number of positive identifications of in11 dividuals falsely identified as sex offenders through 

12 the database implemented pursuant to section 

13 7(d)(3), and how each case was handled or cor14 rected; 

15 (4) what actions have been taken, if any, by 

16 foreign countries and territories of destination fol17 lowing notification pursuant to section 7(d)(2); 

18 (5) the number of United States citizens or per19 manent residents arrested overseas for sex offenses, 

20 and in each instance— 

21 (A) the country of arrest; 

22 (B) any prior criminal conviction or re23 ported criminal behavior in the United States; 

24 (C) whether the individual was required to 

25 and did report pursuant to section 4; and 


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1 (D) if the individual reported travel pursu2 ant to section 4, whether the individual was 

3 deemed not to be a high risk sex offender by 

4 the ICE SAC; and 

5 (6) recommendations as to how the United 

6 States can more fully participate in international law 

7 enforcement cooperative efforts to combat child sex 

8 exploitation. 

9 SEC. 17. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

10 To carry out this Act and the amendments made by 

11 this Act, there are authorized to be appropriated such 

12 sums as may be necessary for each of the fiscal years 2009 

13 through 2013. 

Æ 


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