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[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2318 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

112th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2318

     To authorize the Secretary of State to pay a reward to combat 
 transnational organized crime and for information concerning foreign 
  nationals wanted by international criminal tribunals, and for other 
                               purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 19, 2012

   Mr. Kerry (for himself, Mr. Boozman, Mr. Coons, Mr. Isakson, Ms. 
 Landrieu, Mr. Graham, and Mr. Durbin) introduced the following bill; 
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
     To authorize the Secretary of State to pay a reward to combat 
 transnational organized crime and for information concerning foreign 
  nationals wanted by international criminal tribunals, and for other 
                               purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Department of State Rewards Program 
Update and Technical Corrections Act of 2012''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    (a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) The Department of State's existing rewards programs 
        permit the payment of reward for information leading to the 
        arrest or conviction of--
                    (A) individuals who have committed, or attempted or 
                conspired to commit, certain acts of international 
                terrorism;
                    (B) individuals who have committed, or attempted or 
                conspired to commit, certain narcotics-related 
                offenses; and
                    (C) individuals who have been indicted by certain 
                international criminal tribunals.
            (2) The Department of State considers the rewards program 
        to be ``one of the most valuable assets the U.S. Government has 
        in the fight against international terrorism''. Since the 
        program's inception in 1984, the United States Government has 
        rewarded over 60 people who provided actionable information 
        that, according to the Department of State, prevented 
        international terrorist attacks or helped convict individuals 
        involved in terrorist attacks.
            (3) The program has been credited with providing 
        information in several high-profile cases, including the arrest 
        of Ramzi Yousef, who was convicted in the 1993 bombing of the 
        World Trade Center, the deaths of Uday and Qusay Hussein, who 
        United States military forces located and killed in Iraq after 
        receiving information about their locations, and the arrests or 
        deaths of several members of the Abu Sayyaf group, believed to 
        be responsible for the kidnappings and deaths of United States 
        citizens and Filipinos in the Philippines.
    (b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that the 
rewards program of the Department of State should be expanded in order 
to--
            (1) address the growing threat to important United States 
        interests from transnational criminal activity, such as 
        intellectual property rights piracy, money laundering, 
        trafficking in persons, arms trafficking, and cybercrime; and
            (2) target other individuals indicted by international, 
        hybrid, or mixed tribunals for genocide, war crimes, or crimes 
        against humanity.

SEC. 3. ENHANCED REWARDS AUTHORITY.

    Section 36 of the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 
(22 U.S.C. 2708) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)(2), by inserting ``serious violations 
        of international humanitarian law, transnational organized 
        crime,'' after ``international narcotics trafficking,'';
            (2) in subsection (b)--
                    (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by 
                striking ``Attorney General'' and inserting ``heads of 
                other relevant departments or agencies'';
                    (B) in paragraphs (4) and (5), by striking 
                ``paragraph (1), (2), or (3)'' both places it appears 
                and inserting ``paragraph (1), (2), (3), (8), or (9)'';
                    (C) in paragraph (6)--
                            (i) by inserting ``or transnational 
                        organized crime group'' after ``terrorist 
                        organization''; and
                            (ii) by striking ``or'' at the end;
                    (D) in paragraph (7)--
                            (i) in the matter preceding subparagraph 
                        (A), by striking ``, including the use by the 
                        organization of illicit narcotics production or 
                        international narcotics trafficking'' and 
                        inserting ``or transnational organized crime 
                        group, including the use by such organization 
                        or group of illicit narcotics production or 
                        international narcotics trafficking'';
                            (ii) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ``or 
                        transnational organized crime'' after 
                        ``international terrorism''; and
                            (iii) in subparagraph (B)--
                                    (I) by inserting ``or transnational 
                                organized crime group'' after 
                                ``terrorist organization''; and
                                    (II) by striking the period at the 
                                end and inserting a semicolon; and
                    (E) by adding at the end the following new 
                paragraphs:
            ``(8) the arrest or conviction in any country of any 
        individual for participating in, primarily outside the United 
        States, transnational organized crime;
            ``(9) the arrest or conviction in any country of any 
        individual conspiring to participate in or attempting to 
        participate in transnational organized crime; or
            ``(10) the arrest or conviction in any country, or the 
        transfer to or conviction by an international criminal tribunal 
        (including a hybrid or mixed tribunal), of any foreign national 
        accused of war crimes, crimes against humanity, or genocide, as 
        defined under the statute of such tribunal.'';
            (3) in subsection (g), by adding at the end the following 
        new paragraph:
            ``(3) Advance notification for international criminal 
        tribunal rewards.--Not less than 15 days before publicly 
        announcing that a reward may be offered for a particular 
        foreign national accused of war crimes, crimes against 
        humanity, or genocide, the Secretary of State shall submit to 
        the appropriate congressional committees a report, which may be 
        submitted in classified form if necessary, setting forth the 
        reasons why the arrest or conviction of such foreign national 
        is in the national interests of the United States.''; and
            (4) in subsection (k)--
                    (A) by redesignating paragraphs (5) and (6) as 
                paragraphs (7) and (8), respectively; and
                    (B) by inserting after paragraph (4) the following 
                new paragraphs:
            ``(5) Transnational organized crime.--The term 
        `transnational organized crime' means--
                    ``(A) racketeering activity (as such term is 
                defined in section 1961 of title 18, United States 
                Code) that involves at least one jurisdiction outside 
                the United States; or
                    ``(B) any other criminal offense punishable by a 
                term of imprisonment of at least four years under 
                Federal, State, or local law that involves at least one 
                jurisdiction outside the United States and that is 
                intended to obtain, directly or indirectly, a financial 
                or other material benefit.
            ``(6) Transnational organized crime group.--The term 
        `transnational organized crime group' means a group of persons 
        that includes one or more citizens of a foreign country, exists 
        for a period of time, and acts in concert with the aim of 
        engaging in transnational organized crime.''.

SEC. 4. TECHNICAL CORRECTION.

    Section 36(e)(1) of the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 
1956 (22 U.S.C. 2708) is amended by striking ``The Secretary shall 
authorize a reward of $50,000,000 for the capture or death or 
information leading to the capture or death of Osama bin Laden.''.

SEC. 5. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.

    Nothing in this Act or the amendments made by this Act shall be 
construed as authorizing the use of activity precluded under the 
American Servicemembers' Protection Act of 2002 (title II of Public Law 
107-206; 22 U.S.C. 7421 et seq.).
                                 <all>
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