I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1702

To protect the constitutional right to travel to foreign countries.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 24, 1995

Mr. SERRANO introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on International Relations

A BILL

To protect the constitutional right to travel to foreign

countries.

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 ‘‘Freedom to Travel

5 Act of 1995’’.

6 SEC. 2. TRAVEL TO FOREIGN COUNTRIES.

7 (a) FREEDOM OF TRAVEL FOR UNITED STATES CITI8 ZENS AND LEGAL RESIDENTS.—The President shall not

9 restrict travel abroad by United States citizens or legal

10 residents, except to countries with which the United States

11 is at war, where armed hostilities are in progress, or where
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1 there is imminent danger to the public health or the phys2 ical safety of United States travelers.

3 (b) INTERNATIONAL EMERGENCY ECONOMIC POW4 ERS ACT.—Section 203(b) of the International Emergency

5 Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1702(b)) is amended—

6 (1) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of paragraphs

7 (2) and (3); and

8 (2) by amending paragraph (4) to read as fol9 lows:

10 ‘‘(4) any of the following transactions incident

11 to travel by individuals who are citizens or residents

12 of the United States:

13 ‘‘(A) any transactions ordinarily incident

14 to travel to or from any country, including the

15 importation into a country or the United States

16 of accompanied baggage for personal use only;

17 ‘‘(B) any transactions ordinarily incident to

18 travel or maintenance within any country, including

19 the payment of living expenses and the acquisition of

20 goods or services for personal use;

21 ‘‘(C) any transactions ordinarily incident

22 to the arrangement, promotion, or facilitation

23 of travel to, from, or within a country;

24 ‘‘(D) any transactions incident to non25 scheduled air, sea, or land voyages, except that
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1 this subparagraph does not authorize the car2 riage of articles into a country except accom3 panied baggage; and

4 ‘‘(E) normal banking transactions incident

5 to the activities described in the preceding pro6 visions of this paragraph, including the issu7 ance, clearing, processing, or payment of

8 checks, drafts, travelers checks, credit or debit

9 card instruments, or similar instruments;

10 except that this paragraph does not authorize the

11 importation into the United States of any goods for

12 personal consumption acquired in another country

13 other than those items described in paragraphs (1)

14 and (3); or’’.

15 (c) AMENDMENTS TO TRADING WITH THE ENEMY

16 ACT.—Section 5(b) of the Trading With the Enemy Act

17 (50 U.S.C. App. 5(b)) is amended by adding at the end

18 the following new paragraph:

19 ‘‘(5) The authority granted by the President in this

20 section does not include the authority to regulate or pro21 hibit, directly or indirectly, any of the following trans22 actions incident to travel by individuals who are citizens

23 or residents of the United States:

24 ‘‘(A) Any transactions ordinarily incident to

25 travel to or from any country, including importation
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1 into a country or the United States of accompanied

2 baggage for personal use only.

3 ‘‘(B) Any transactions ordinarily incident to

4 travel or maintenance within any country, including

5 the payment of living expenses and the acquisition of

6 goods or services for personal use.

7 ‘‘(C) Any transactions ordinarily incident to the

8 arrangement, promotion, or facilitation of travel to,

9 from, or within a country.

10 ‘‘(D) Any transactions incident to nonscheduled

11 air, sea, or land voyages, except that this subpara12 graph does not authorize the carriage of articles into

13 a country except accompanied baggage.

14 ‘‘(E) Normal banking transactions incident to

15 the activities described in the preceding provisions of

16 this paragraph, including the issuance, clearing,

17 processing, or payment of checks, drafts, travelers

18 checks, credit or debit card instruments, negotiable

19 instruments, or similar instruments.

20 This paragraph does not authorize the importation into

21 the United States of any goods for personal consumption

22 acquired in another country other than those items de23 scribed in paragraph (4).’’.
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1 SEC. 3. EDUCATIONAL, CULTURAL, AND SCIENTIFIC ACTIVI2 TIES AND EXCHANGES.

3 (a) INTERNATIONAL EMERGENCY ECONOMIC POW4 ERS ACT.—Section 203(b) of the International Emergency

5 Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1702(b)) is amended by

6 adding after paragraph (4) the following new paragraph:

7 ‘‘(5) financial or other transactions, or travel,

8 incident to—

9 ‘‘(A) activities of scholars;

10 ‘‘(B) other educational or academic activi11 ties;

12 ‘‘(C) exchanges in furtherance of any such

13 activities;

14 ‘‘(D) cultural activities and exchanges; or

15 ‘‘(E) public exhibitions or performances by

16 the nationals of one country in another country,

17 to the extent that any such activities, exchanges, ex18 hibitions, or performances are not otherwise con19 trolled for export under section 5 of the Export Ad20 ministration Act of 1979 and to the extent that,

21 with respect to such activities, exchanges, exhibi22 tions, or performances, no acts are prohibited by

23 chapter 37 of title 18, United States Code.’’.

24 (b) TRADING WITH THE ENEMY ACT.—Section 5(b)

25 of the Trading With the Enemy Act (50 U.S.C. App. 5(b))
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1 is amended by adding at the end the following new para2 graph:

3 ‘‘(6) The authority granted to the President in this

4 subsection does not include the authority to regulate or

5 prohibit, directly or indirectly, financial or other trans6 actions, or travel, incident to—

7 ‘‘(A) activities of scholars;

8 ‘‘(B) other educational or academic activities;

9 ‘‘(C) exchanges in furtherance of any such ac10 tivities;

11 ‘‘(D) cultural activities and exchanges; or

12 ‘‘(E) public exhibitions or performances by the

13 nationals of one country in another country,

14 to the extent that any such activities, exchanges, exhibi15 tions, or performances are not otherwise controlled for ex16 port under section 5 of the Export Administration Act of

17 1979 and to the extent that, with respect to such activi18 ties, exchanges, exhibitions, or performances, no acts are

19 prohibited by chapter 37 of title 18, United States Code.’’.

20 SEC. 4. APPLICABILITY.

21 (a) INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC EMERGENCY POW22 ERS ACT.—The amendments made by sections 2(a) and

23 3(a) apply to actions taken by the President under section

24 203 of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act

25 before the date of the enactment of this Act which are
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1 in effect on such date of enactment, and to actions taken

2 under such section on or after such date.

3 (b) TRADING WITH THE ENEMY ACT.—The authori4 ties conferred upon the President by section 5(b) of the

5 Trading With the Enemy Act, which were being exercised

6 with respect to a country on July 1, 1977, as a result

7 of a national emergency declared by the President before

8 such date, and are being exercised on the date of the en9 actment of this Act, do not include the authority to regu10 late or prohibit, directly or indirectly, any activity which

11 under section 5(b) (5) or (6) of the Trading With the

12 Enemy Act (as added by this Act) may not be regulated

13 or prohibited.

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