II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 490 

To require the President to remove the extension of certain privileges, exemptions, and immunities to the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Offices 

if Hong Kong no longer enjoys a high degree of autonomy from the 

People’s Republic of China, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 16, 2023 

Mr. RUBIO (for himself and Mr. MERKLEY) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To require the President to remove the extension of certain 

privileges, exemptions, and immunities to the Hong Kong 

Economic and Trade Offices if Hong Kong no longer 

enjoys a high degree of autonomy from the People’s 

Republic of China, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Hong Kong Economic 

5 and Trade Office (HKETO) Certification Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. CERTIFICATION ON WHETHER TO EXTEND CERTAIN 

2 PRIVILEGES, EXEMPTIONS, AND IMMUNITIES 

3 TO THE HONG KONG ECONOMIC AND TRADE 

4 OFFICES IN THE UNITED STATES. 

5 (a) CERTIFICATION REQUIRED.—Not later than 30 

6 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, and 

7 thereafter as part of each certification required by the Sec8 retary of State under section 205(a)(1)(A) of the United 

9 States-Hong Kong Policy Act of 1992 (22 U.S.C. 

10 5725(a)(1)(A)), the President shall submit to the appro11 priate congressional committees a certification that— 

12 (1) the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Of13 fices— 

14 (A) merit extension and application of the 

15 privileges, exemptions, and immunities specified 

16 in subsection (b); or 

17 (B) no longer merit extension and applica18 tion of the privileges, exemptions, and immuni19 ties specified in subsection (b); and 

20 (2) a detailed report justifying that certifi21 cation. 

22 (b) PRIVILEGES, EXEMPTIONS, AND IMMUNITIES

23 SPECIFIED.—The privileges, exemptions, and immunities 

24 specified in this subsection are the privileges, exemptions, 

25 and immunities extended and applied to the Hong Kong 

26 Economic and Trade Offices under section 1 of the Act 


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1 entitled ‘‘An Act to extend certain privileges, exemptions, 

2 and immunities to Hong Kong Economic and Trade Of3 fices’’, approved June 27, 1997 (22 U.S.C. 288k). 

4 (c) EFFECT OF CERTIFICATION.— 

5 (1) TERMINATION.—If the President certifies 

6 under subsection (a)(1)(B) that the Hong Kong 

7 Economic and Trade Offices no longer merit exten8 sion and application of the privileges, exemptions, 

9 and immunities specified in subsection (b), the Hong 

10 Kong Economic and Trade Offices shall terminate 

11 operations not later than 180 days after the date on 

12 which that certification is delivered to the appro13 priate congressional committees. 

14 (2) CONTINUED OPERATIONS.—If the President 

15 certifies under subsection (a)(1)(A) that the Hong 

16 Kong Economic and Trade Offices merit extension 

17 and application of the privileges, exemptions, and 

18 immunities specified in subsection (b), the Hong 

19 Kong Economic and Trade Offices may continue op20 erations for the one-year period following the date of 

21 that certification or until the next certification re22 quired under section 205(a)(1)(A) of the United 

23 States-Hong Kong Policy Act of 1992 (22 U.S.C. 

24 5725(a)(1)(A)) is submitted, whichever occurs first, 


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1 unless a disapproval resolution is enacted under sub2 section (f). 

3 (d) REVOCATION OF EXTENSION AND APPLICATION

4 OF PRIVILEGES, EXEMPTIONS, AND IMMUNITIES.—The 

5 President may revoke the extension and application to the 

6 Hong Kong Economic and Trade Offices of the privileges, 

7 exceptions, and immunities specified in subsection (b). 

8 (e) TERMINATION OF CERTIFICATION REQUIRE9 MENT.—If the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Offices 

10 terminate operations in the United States, whether pursu11 ant to subsection (c) or otherwise, the President shall not 

12 issue additional certifications under subsection (a)(1) after 

13 the date on which those operations terminated. 

14 (f) CONGRESSIONAL REVIEW.— 

15 (1) DISAPPROVAL RESOLUTION.—In this sub16 section, the term ‘‘disapproval resolution’’ means 

17 only a joint resolution of either House of Congress— 

18 (A) the title of which is the following: ‘‘A 

19 joint resolution disapproving the certification by 

20 the President that the Hong Kong Economic 

21 and Trade Offices continue to merit extension 

22 and application of certain privileges, exemp23 tions, and immunities.’’; and 

24 (B) the sole matter after the resolving 

25 clause of which is the following: ‘‘Congress disVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:20 Mar 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S490.IS S490

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1 approves of the certification by the President 

2 under section 2(a)(1)(A) of the Hong Kong 

3 Economic and Trade Office (HKETO) Certifi4 cation Act that the Hong Kong Economic and 

5 Trade Offices merit extension and application 

6 of certain privileges, exemptions, and immuni7 ties, on lll.’’, with the blank space being 

8 filled with the appropriate date. 

9 (2) INTRODUCTION.—A disapproval resolution 

10 may be introduced— 

11 (A) in the House of Representatives, by 

12 the majority leader or the minority leader; and 

13 (B) in the Senate, by the majority leader 

14 (or the majority leader’s designee) or the mi15 nority leader (or the minority leader’s des16 ignee). 

17 (3) FLOOR CONSIDERATION IN HOUSE OF REP18 RESENTATIVES.—If a committee of the House of 

19 Representatives to which a disapproval resolution 

20 has been referred has not reported the resolution 

21 within 10 legislative days after the date of referral, 

22 that committee shall be discharged from further con23 sideration of the resolution. 

24 (4) CONSIDERATION IN SENATE.— 


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1 (A) COMMITTEE REFERRAL.—A dis2 approval resolution introduced in the Senate 

3 shall be referred to the Committee on Foreign 

4 Relations. 

5 (B) REPORTING AND DISCHARGE.—If the 

6 Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate 

7 has not reported the resolution within 10 legis8 lative days after the date of referral of the reso9 lution, that committee shall be discharged from 

10 further consideration of the resolution and the 

11 resolution shall be placed on the appropriate 

12 calendar. 

13 (C) PROCEEDING TO CONSIDERATION.— 

14 Notwithstanding Rule XXII of the Standing 

15 Rules of the Senate, it is in order at any time 

16 after the Committee on Foreign Relations re17 ports a disapproval resolution to the Senate or 

18 has been discharged from consideration of such 

19 a resolution (even though a previous motion to 

20 the same effect has been disagreed to) to move 

21 to proceed to the consideration of the resolu22 tion, and all points of order against the resolu23 tion (and against consideration of the resolu24 tion) are waived. The motion to proceed is not 

25 debatable. The motion is not subject to a moVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:20 Mar 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S490.IS S490

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1 tion to postpone. A motion to reconsider the 

2 vote by which the motion is agreed to or dis3 agreed to shall not be in order. 

4 (D) RULINGS OF THE CHAIR ON PROCE5 DURE.—Appeals from the decisions of the Chair 

6 relating to the application of the rules of the 

7 Senate, as the case may be, to the procedure re8 lating to a disapproval resolution shall be de9 cided without debate. 

10 (E) CONSIDERATION OF VETO MES11 SAGES.—Debate in the Senate of any veto mes12 sage with respect to a disapproval resolution, 

13 including all debatable motions and appeals in 

14 connection with the resolution, shall be limited 

15 to 10 hours, to be equally divided between, and 

16 controlled by, the majority leader and the mi17 nority leader or their designees. 

18 (5) RULES RELATING TO SENATE AND HOUSE

19 OF REPRESENTATIVES.— 

20 (A) TREATMENT OF SENATE RESOLUTION

21 IN HOUSE.—In the House of Representatives, 

22 the following procedures shall apply to a dis23 approval resolution received from the Senate 

24 (unless the House has already passed a resolu25 tion relating to the same proposed action): 


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1 (i) The resolution shall be referred to 

2 the appropriate committees. 

3 (ii) If a committee to which a resolu4 tion has been referred has not reported the 

5 resolution within 10 legislative days after 

6 the date of referral, that committee shall 

7 be discharged from further consideration 

8 of the resolution. 

9 (iii) Beginning on the third legislative 

10 day after each committee to which a reso11 lution has been referred reports the resolu12 tion to the House or has been discharged 

13 from further consideration thereof, it shall 

14 be in order to move to proceed to consider 

15 the resolution in the House. All points of 

16 order against the motion are waived. Such 

17 a motion shall not be in order after the 

18 House has disposed of a motion to proceed 

19 on the resolution. The previous question 

20 shall be considered as ordered on the mo21 tion to its adoption without intervening 

22 motion. The motion shall not be debatable. 

23 A motion to reconsider the vote by which 

24 the motion is disposed of shall not be in 

25 order. 


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1 (iv) The resolution shall be considered 

2 as read. All points of order against the res3 olution and against its consideration are 

4 waived. The previous question shall be con5 sidered as ordered on the resolution to 

6 final passage without intervening motion 

7 except 2 hours of debate equally divided 

8 and controlled by the offeror of the motion 

9 to proceed (or a designee) and an oppo10 nent. A motion to reconsider the vote on 

11 passage of the resolution shall not be in 

12 order. 

13 (B) TREATMENT OF HOUSE RESOLUTION

14 IN SENATE.— 

15 (i) RECEIVED BEFORE PASSAGE OF

16 SENATE RESOLUTION.—If, before the pas17 sage by the Senate of a disapproval resolu18 tion, the Senate receives an identical reso19 lution from the House of Representatives, 

20 the following procedures shall apply: 

21 (I) That resolution shall not be 

22 referred to a committee. 

23 (II) With respect to that resolu24 tion— 


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1 (aa) the procedure in the 

2 Senate shall be the same as if no 

3 resolution had been received from 

4 the House of Representatives; 

5 but 

6 (bb) the vote on passage 

7 shall be on the resolution from 

8 the House of Representatives. 

9 (ii) RECEIVED AFTER PASSAGE OF

10 SENATE RESOLUTION.—If, following pas11 sage of a disapproval resolution in the Sen12 ate, the Senate receives an identical resolu13 tion from the House of Representatives, 

14 that resolution shall be placed on the ap15 propriate Senate calendar. 

16 (iii) NO SENATE COMPANION.—If a 

17 disapproval resolution is received from the 

18 House of Representatives, and no com19 panion resolution has been introduced in 

20 the Senate, the Senate procedures under 

21 this subsection shall apply to the resolution 

22 from the House of Representatives. 

23 (C) APPLICATION TO REVENUE MEAS24 URES.—The provisions of this subparagraph 

25 shall not apply in the House of Representatives 


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1 to a disapproval resolution that is a revenue 

2 measure. 

3 (6) RULES OF HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

4 AND SENATE.—This paragraph is enacted by Con5 gress— 

6 (A) as an exercise of the rulemaking power 

7 of the Senate and the House of Representa8 tives, respectively, and as such is deemed a part 

9 of the rules of each House, respectively, and su10 persedes other rules only to the extent that it 

11 is inconsistent with such rules; and 

12 (B) with full recognition of the constitu13 tional right of either House to change the rules 

14 (so far as relating to the procedure of that 

15 House) at any time, in the same manner, and 

16 to the same extent as in the case of any other 

17 rule of that House. 

18 (g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

19 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT20 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com21 mittees’’ means the Committee on Foreign Relations 

22 of the Senate and the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

23 of the House of Representatives. 

24 (2) HONG KONG ECONOMIC AND TRADE OF25 FICES.—The term ‘‘Hong Kong Economic and 


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1 Trade Offices’’ has the meaning given that term in 

2 section 1(c) of the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to extend 

3 certain privileges, exemptions, and immunities to 

4 Hong Kong Economic and Trade Offices’’, approved 

5 June 27, 1997 (22 U.S.C. 288k). 

6 SEC. 3. LIMITATION ON CONTRACTING RELATING TO HONG 

7 KONG ECONOMIC AND TRADE OFFICES. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—On and after the date of the en9 actment of this Act, an entity of the United States Gov10 ernment may enter into an agreement or partnership with 

11 the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Offices to promote 

12 tourism, culture, business, or other matters relating to 

13 Hong Kong only if— 

14 (1) the President has submitted to the Com15 mittee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the 

16 Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Rep17 resentatives a certification under section 2(a)(1)(A) 

18 that the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Offices 

19 merit extension and application of certain privileges, 

20 exemptions, and immunities; and 

21 (2) a disapproval resolution under section 2(f) 

22 is not enacted during the 90-day period following the 

23 submission of that certification. 

24 (b) CERTIFICATION.— 


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1 (1) EXISTING AGREEMENTS AND PARTNER2 SHIPS.—Not later than 100 days after the date of 

3 the enactment of this Act, any entity of the United 

4 States Government or any entity that holds a cur5 rent Federal contract with the United States Gov6 ernment that has in effect an agreement or partner7 ship with the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Of8 fices, shall submit to the Secretary of State and the 

9 Administrator of the General Services Administra10 tion a certification described in paragraph (3) with 

11 respect to each such agreement or partnership. 

12 (2) NEW AGREEMENTS AND PARTNERSHIPS.— 

13 Not later than 15 days after entering into an agree14 ment or partnership with the Hong Kong Economic 

15 and Trade Offices, an entity of the United States 

16 Government or an entity that holds a current Fed17 eral contract with the United States Government 

18 shall submit to the Secretary of State and the Ad19 ministrator of the General Services Administration a 

20 certification described in paragraph (3) with respect 

21 to that agreement or partnership. 

22 (3) CERTIFICATION DESCRIBED.—With respect 

23 to an agreement or partnership with the Hong Kong 

24 Economic and Trade Offices, a certification de25 scribed in this paragraph is a certification that the 


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1 agreement or partnership does not promote efforts 

2 by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Ad3 ministrative Region and the Government of the Peo4 ple’s Republic of China— 

5 (A) to justify the dismantling of the auton6 omy of Hong Kong and the freedoms and rule 

7 of law guaranteed by the Sino-British Joint 

8 Declaration of 1984; or 

9 (B) to portray within the United States 

10 the Government of the Hong Kong Special Ad11 ministrative Region or the Government of the 

12 People’s Republic of China as protecting the 

13 rule of law or the human rights and civil lib14 erties of the people of Hong Kong. 

15 (c) HONG KONG ECONOMIC AND TRADE OFFICES

16 DEFINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘Hong Kong Eco17 nomic and Trade Offices’’ has the meaning given that 

18 term in section 1(c) of the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to extend 

19 certain privileges, exemptions, and immunities to Hong 

20 Kong Economic and Trade Offices’’, approved June 27, 

21 1997 (22 U.S.C. 288k). 

22 SEC. 4. POLICY OF UNITED STATES ON PROMOTION OF AU23 TONOMY OF GOVERNMENT OF THE HONG 

24 KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION. 

25 It is the policy of the United States— 


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1 (1) to ensure that entities of the United States 

2 Government do not knowingly assist in the pro3 motion of Hong Kong as a free and autonomous city 

4 or the Government of the Hong Kong Special Ad5 ministrative Region as committed to protecting the 

6 human rights of the people of Hong Kong or fully 

7 maintaining the rule of law required for human 

8 rights and economic prosperity as long as the Sec9 retary of State continues to certify under section 

10 205(a)(1) of the United States-Hong Kong Policy 

11 Act of 1992 (22 U.S.C. 5725(a)(1)) that Hong 

12 Kong does not enjoy a high degree of autonomy 

13 from the People’s Republic of China and does not 

14 warrant treatment under the laws of the United 

15 States in the same manner as those laws were ap16 plied to Hong Kong before July 1, 1997; 

17 (2) to recognize that promotion of Hong Kong 

18 as described in paragraph (1) should be considered 

19 propaganda for the efforts of the People’s Republic 

20 of China to dismantle rights and freedom guaran21 teed to the residents of Hong Kong by the Inter22 national Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and 

23 the Sino-British Joint Declaration of 1984; 

24 (3) to ensure that entities of the United States 

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1 ganda of the People’s Republic of China regarding 

2 Hong Kong; and 

3 (4) to engage with the Government of the Hong 

4 Kong Special Administrative Region, through all rel5 evant entities of the United States Government, 

6 seeking the release of political prisoners, the end of 

7 arbitrary detentions, the resumption of a free press 

8 and fair and free elections open to all candidates, 

9 and the restoration of an independent judiciary. 

Æ 


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