I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7132 

To provide accountability with respect to international reporting and 

monitoring of outbreaks of novel viruses and diseases. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 8, 2020 

Mr. FITZPATRICK (for himself and Mr. LAMB) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition 

to the Committees on Financial Services, the Judiciary, and Oversight 

and Reform, 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 provide accountability with respect to international reporting and monitoring of outbreaks of novel viruses and 

diseases. 

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 ‘‘Never Again Inter5 national Outbreak Prevention Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. LISTS OF FOREIGN COUNTRIES BASED ON COMPLI2 ANCE WITH INTERNATIONAL REPORTING 

3 AND MONITORING OF OUTBREAKS OF NOVEL 

4 VIRUSES AND DISEASES. 

5 (a) LISTS OF FOREIGN COUNTRIES.— 

6 (1) TIER 1 LIST.— 

7 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 

8 days after the date of the enactment of this 

9 Act, the Secretary of State shall establish a list 

10 of foreign countries that the Secretary deter11 mines meet the requirements described in sub12 section (b). 

13 (B) REFERENCE.—The list of foreign 

14 countries established under this paragraph shall 

15 be referred to as the ‘‘Tier 1 list’’. 

16 (2) TIER 2 LIST.— 

17 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 

18 days after the date of the enactment of this 

19 Act, the Secretary of State shall establish a list 

20 of foreign countries that the Secretary deter21 mines do not meet the requirements described 

22 in subsection (b) but are capable of meeting 

23 such requirements. 

24 (B) REVIEW.—The Secretary of State 

25 shall conduct a review on an ongoing basis of 

26 each country on the list established under this 


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1 paragraph to ensure that the country is taking 

2 appropriate steps to meet the requirements de3 scribed in subsection (b). 

4 (C) REFERENCE.—The list of foreign 

5 countries established under this paragraph shall 

6 be referred to as the ‘‘Tier 2 list’’. 

7 (3) TIER 3 LIST.— 

8 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 

9 days after the date of the enactment of this 

10 Act, the Secretary of State shall establish a list 

11 of foreign countries that the Secretary deter12 mines do not meet the requirements described 

13 in subsection (b) because such countries are not 

14 capable, based on financial, security, or govern15 ment infrastructure reasons, of meeting such 

16 requirements. 

17 (B) REFERENCE.—The list of foreign 

18 countries established under this paragraph shall 

19 be referred to as the ‘‘Tier 3 list’’. 

20 (4) UPDATES.—The Secretary of State shall 

21 submit to the appropriate congressional committees 

22 an updated Tier 1 list under paragraph (1), an up23 dated Tier 2 list under paragraph (2), and an up24 dated Tier 3 list under paragraph (3)— 


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1 (A) not later than one year after the date 

2 of the enactment of this Act and annually 

3 thereafter; and 

4 (B) as new information becomes available. 

5 (b) INTERNATIONAL REPORTING AND MONITORING

6 REQUIREMENTS DESCRIBED.—The requirements de7 scribed in this subsection are the following: 

8 (1) The foreign country has established proce9 dures and standards to comply with established 

10 international ‘‘sentinel surveillance’’ systems to col11 lect data, identify trends, identify outbreaks, and 

12 provide monitoring with respect to the burden of dis13 ease in a community. 

14 (2) The foreign country has established proce15 dures and standards to ensure that novel viruses 

16 and diseases are reported such international ‘‘sen17 tinel surveillance’’ systems not later than 3 days 

18 after identification. 

19 (c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec20 tion may be construed to apply with respect to the terri21 tory of a foreign country with respect to which the inter22 nationally recognized government of the country does not 

23 control due to armed conflict. 

24 (d) INCLUSION IN ANNUAL UNITED STATES GOV25 ERNMENT GLOBAL HEALTH SECURITY STRATEGY.—The 


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1 President shall ensure that the requirements of this sec2 tion are appropriately reflected in the annual United 

3 States Government Global Health Security Strategy. 

4 SEC. 3. PRESIDENTIAL ACTIONS WITH RESPECT TO FOR5 EIGN COUNTRIES ON THE TIER 2 LIST. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—The President, in consultation 

7 with the Secretary of State, shall take one or more of the 

8 actions described in subsection (b) (or commensurate ac9 tion in substitution thereto) with respect to a foreign coun10 try that is on the Tier 2 list established under section 2(a). 

11 (b) DESCRIPTION OF PRESIDENTIAL ACTIONS.—The 

12 Presidential actions referred to in this subsection are the 

13 following: 

14 (1) A private demarche. 

15 (2) An official public demarche. 

16 (3) A public condemnation. 

17 (4) A public condemnation within one or more 

18 multilateral fora. 

19 (5) The delay or cancellation of one or more 

20 scientific exchanges. 

21 (6) The delay or cancellation of one or more 

22 cultural exchanges. 

23 (7) The denial of one or more working, official, 

24 or state visits. 


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1 (8) The delay or cancellation of one or more 

2 working, official, or state visits. 

3 (9) The withdrawal, limitation, or suspension of 

4 United States development assistance in accordance 

5 with section 116 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 

6 1961. 

7 (10) The withdrawal, limitation, or suspension 

8 of United States security assistance in accordance 

9 with section 502B of the Foreign Assistance Act of 

10 1961. 

11 (11) Consistent with section 701 of the Inter12 national Financial Institutions Act of 1977, direct13 ing the United States executive directors of inter14 national financial institutions to oppose and vote 

15 against loans primarily benefiting the specific for16 eign government, agency, instrumentality. 

17 (12) Ordering the heads of the appropriate 

18 United States agencies not to issue any (or a speci19 fied number of) specific licenses, and not to grant 

20 any other specific authority (or a specified number 

21 of authorities), to export any goods or technology to 

22 the specific foreign government, agency, instrumen23 tality under— 

24 (A) the Export Control Reform Act of 

25 2018; 


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1 (B) the Arms Export Control Act; 

2 (C) the Atomic Energy Act of 1954; or 

3 (D) any other statute that requires the 

4 prior review and approval of the United States 

5 Government as a condition for the export or re6 export of goods or services. 

7 (13) Prohibiting any United States financial in8 stitution from making loans or providing credits to9 taling more than $10,000,000 in any 12-month pe10 riod to the specific foreign government, agency, in11 strumentality. 

12 (14) Prohibiting the United States Government 

13 from procuring, or entering into any contract for the 

14 procurement of, any goods or services from the for15 eign government, entities. 

16 (c) WAIVER.—The President may waive the applica17 tion of subsection (a) with respect to a foreign country 

18 if the President determines it is important to the national 

19 interests of the United States to do so. 

20 SEC. 4. SOVEREIGN IMMUNITY WAIVER. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 97 of title 28, United 

22 States Code, is amended by inserting after section 1605B 

23 the following: 


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1 ‘‘§ 1605C. Responsibility of foreign states for pan2 demic outbreaks 

3 ‘‘(a) RESPONSIBILITY OF FOREIGN STATES.—A for4 eign state shall not be immune from the jurisdiction of 

5 the courts of the United States in any case in which dam6 ages are sought against a foreign state for physical injury 

7 to person or property or death occurring in the United 

8 States and caused by a failure to abide the requirements 

9 laid out in paragraphs (1) and (2) of section 2(b) of the 

10 Never Again International Outbreak Prevention Act or are 

11 determined to have intentionally misled the international 

12 community or the WHO on the outbreak or spread of a 

13 health concern that leads to a pandemic. 

14 ‘‘(b) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—A foreign state shall 

15 not be subject to the jurisdiction of the courts of the 

16 United States under subsection (a) on the basis of an 

17 omission or a tortious act or acts that constitute mere neg18 ligence.’’. 

19 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.— 

20 (1) The table of sections for chapter 97 of title 

21 28, United States Code, is amended by inserting 

22 after the item relating to section 1605A the fol23 lowing: 

‘‘1605C. Responsibility of foreign states for pandemic outbreaks.’’. 

24 (2) Subsection 1605(g)(1)(A) of title 28, 

25 United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘but for 


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1 section 1605A or section 1605B’’ and inserting ‘‘but 

2 for section 1605A, 1605B, or 1605C’’. 

3 (c) STAY OF ACTIONS PENDING STATE NEGOTIA4 TIONS.— 

5 (1) EXCLUSIVE JURISDICTION.—The courts of 

6 the United States shall have exclusive jurisdiction in 

7 any action in which a foreign state is subject to the 

8 jurisdiction of a court of the United States under 

9 section 1605C of title 28, United States Code. 

10 (2) INTERVENTION.—The Attorney General 

11 may intervene in any action in which a foreign state 

12 is subject to the jurisdiction of a court of the United 

13 States under section 1605C of title 28, United 

14 States Code, for the purpose of seeking a stay of the 

15 civil action, in whole or in part. 

16 (3) STAY.— 

17 (A) IN GENERAL.—A court of the United 

18 States may stay a proceeding against a foreign 

19 state if the Secretary of State certifies that the 

20 United States is engaged in good faith discus21 sions with the foreign state defendant con22 cerning the resolution of the claims against the 

23 foreign state, or any other parties as to whom 

24 a stay of claims is sought. 

25 (B) DURATION.— 


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1 (i) IN GENERAL.—A stay under this 

2 subsection may be granted for not more 

3 than 180 days. 

4 (ii) EXTENSION.— 

5 (I) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney 

6 General may petition the court for an 

7 extension of the stay for additional 

8 180-day periods. 

9 (II) RECERTIFICATION.—A court 

10 shall grant an extension under sub11 clause (I) if the Secretary of State re12 certifies that the United States re13 mains engaged in good faith discus14 sions with the foreign state defendant 

15 concerning the resolution of the 

16 claims against the foreign state, or 

17 any other parties as to whom a stay 

18 of claims is sought. 

19 SEC. 5. IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS WITH RESPECT TO 

20 GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS OF FOREIGN COUN21 TRIES ON THE TIER 2 LIST. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—The President may impose the 

23 sanctions described in subsection (b) with respect to any 

24 foreign person the President determines, based on credible 

25 evidence— 


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1 (1) is a government official of a foreign country 

2 on the Tier 2 list established under section 2(a), or 

3 a senior associate of such an official, that is respon4 sible for, or complicit in, ordering, controlling, or 

5 otherwise directing, or financially benefits from, acts 

6 intended to deliberately conceal or distort informa7 tion about a public health emergency of international 

8 concern, including acts intended to deliberately with9 hold information from or obstruct the activities of 

10 the World Health Organization with respect to a 

11 public health emergency of international concern; or 

12 (2) has materially assisted, sponsored, or pro13 vided financial, material, or technological support 

14 for, or goods or services in support of, an act de15 scribed in paragraph (1). 

16 (b) SANCTIONS DESCRIBED.—The sanctions to be 

17 imposed with respect to a foreign person under subsection 

18 (a) are the following: 

19 (1) INADMISSIBILITY OF CERTAIN INDIVID20 UALS.— 

21 (A) INELIGIBILITY FOR VISAS, ADMISSION, 

22 OR PAROLE.—A foreign person who meets any 

23 of the criteria described subsection (a) is— 

24 (i) inadmissible to the United States; 


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1 (ii) ineligible to receive a visa or other 

2 documentation to enter the United States; 

3 and 

4 (iii) otherwise ineligible to be admitted 

5 or paroled into the United States or to re6 ceive any other benefit under the Immigra7 tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et 

8 seq.). 

9 (B) CURRENT VISAS REVOKED.—A foreign 

10 person subject to subsection (a) is subject to 

11 the following: 

12 (i) Revocation of any visa or other 

13 entry documentation regardless of when 

14 the visa or other entry documentation is or 

15 was issued. 

16 (ii) A revocation under clause (i) 

17 shall— 

18 (I) take effect immediately; and 

19 (II) automatically cancel any 

20 other valid visa or entry documenta21 tion that is in the foreign person’s 

22 possession. 

23 (2) BLOCKING OF PROPERTY.—The President 

24 shall exercise all of the powers granted to the Presi25 dent by the International Emergency Economic 


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1 Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) (except that 

2 the requirements of section 202 of such Act (50 

3 U.S.C. 1701) shall not apply) to the extent nec4 essary to block and prohibit all transactions in prop5 erty and interests in property of the person if such 

6 property and interests in property are in the United 

7 States, come within the United States, or are or 

8 come within the possession or control of a United 

9 States person. 

10 (c) CONSIDERATION OF CERTAIN INFORMATION IN

11 IMPOSING SANCTIONS.—In determining whether to im12 pose sanctions under subsection (a), the President shall 

13 consider— 

14 (1) information provided jointly by the chair15 person and ranking member of each of the appro16 priate congressional committees; and 

17 (2) credible information obtained by other coun18 tries and nongovernmental organizations that mon19 itor violations of human rights and global health 

20 issues, including issues related to infectious disease. 

21 (d) REQUESTS BY APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL

22 COMMITTEES.— 

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

24 after receiving a request that meets the require25 ments of paragraph (2) with respect to whether a 


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1 foreign person is described in subsection (a), the 

2 President shall— 

3 (A) determine if that person is so de4 scribed; and 

5 (B) submit a classified or unclassified re6 port to the chairperson and ranking member of 

7 the committee or committees that submitted the 

8 request with respect to that determination that 

9 includes— 

10 (i) a statement of whether or not the 

11 President imposed or intends to impose 

12 sanctions with respect to the person; and 

13 (ii) if the President imposed or in14 tends to impose sanctions, a description of 

15 those sanctions. 

16 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—A request under para17 graph (1) with respect to whether a foreign person 

18 is described in subsection (a) shall be submitted to 

19 the President in writing jointly by the chairperson 

20 and ranking member of one of the appropriate con21 gressional committees. 

22 (e) EXCEPTION TO COMPLY WITH UNITED NATIONS

23 HEADQUARTERS AGREEMENT AND LAW ENFORCEMENT

24 OBJECTIVES.—Sanctions under subsection (b)(1) shall 


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1 not apply to an individual if admitting the individual into 

2 the United States— 

3 (1) would further important law enforcement 

4 objectives; or 

5 (2) is necessary to permit the United States to 

6 comply with the Agreement regarding the Head7 quarters of the United Nations, signed at Lake Suc8 cess June 26, 1947, and entered into force Novem9 ber 21, 1947, between the United Nations and the 

10 United States, or other applicable international obli11 gations of the United States. 

12 (f) ENFORCEMENT OF BLOCKING OF PROPERTY.— 

13 A person that violates, attempts to violate, conspires to 

14 violate, or causes a violation of subsection (b)(2) or any 

15 regulation, license, or order issued to carry out that sub16 section shall be subject to the penalties set forth in sub17 sections (b) and (c) of section 206 of the International 

18 Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1705) to the 

19 same extent as a person that commits an unlawful act de20 scribed in subsection (a) of that section. 

21 (g) REPORTS REQUIRED.—Not later than 120 days 

22 after the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually 

23 thereafter, the President shall submit to the appropriate 

24 congressional committees a report that includes— 


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1 (1) a list of each foreign person with respect to 

2 which the President imposed sanctions under sub3 section (b) during the year preceding the submission 

4 of the report; 

5 (2) a description of the type of sanctions im6 posed with respect to each such person; 

7 (3) the number of foreign persons with respect 

8 to which the President— 

9 (A) imposed sanctions under subsection (b) 

10 during that year; or 

11 (B) terminated sanctions under subsection 

12 (h) during that year; 

13 (4) the dates on which such sanctions were im14 posed or terminated, as the case may be; 

15 (5) the reasons for imposing or terminating 

16 such sanctions; and 

17 (6) a description of the efforts of the President 

18 to encourage the governments of other countries to 

19 impose sanctions that are similar to the sanctions 

20 authorized by this section. 

21 (h) TERMINATION OF SANCTIONS.—The President 

22 may terminate the application of sanctions under this sec23 tion with respect to a person if the President determines 

24 and reports to the appropriate congressional committees 


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1 not later than 15 days before the termination of the sanc2 tions that— 

3 (1) credible information exists that the person 

4 did not engage in the activity for which sanctions 

5 were imposed; 

6 (2) the person has been prosecuted appro7 priately for the activity for which sanctions were im8 posed; 

9 (3) the foreign country of the person has been 

10 upgraded from the Tier 2 list to the Tier 1 list es11 tablished under section 2(a); and 

12 (4) the termination of the sanctions is in the 

13 national security interests of the United States. 

14 (i) REGULATORY AUTHORITY.—The President shall 

15 issue such regulations, licenses, and orders as are nec16 essary to carry out this section. 

17 (j) EXCEPTION RELATING TO IMPORTATION OF

18 GOODS.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—The authorities and require20 ments to impose sanctions under this section shall 

21 not include the authority to impose sanctions on the 

22 importation of goods. 

23 (2) GOOD DEFINED.—In this subsection, the 

24 term ‘‘good’’ means any article, natural or manmade 

25 substance, material, supply, or manufactured prodVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:55 Jun 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00017 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7132.IH H7132

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1 uct, including inspection and test equipment, and ex2 cluding technical data. 

3 (k) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

4 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT5 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com6 mittees’’ means— 

7 (A) the Committee on Banking, Housing, 

8 and Urban Affairs and the Committee on For9 eign Relations of the Senate; and 

10 (B) the Committee on Financial Services 

11 and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the 

12 House of Representatives. 

13 (2) FOREIGN PERSON.—The term ‘‘foreign per14 son’’ means a person that is not a United States 

15 person. 

16 (3) PERSON.—The term ‘‘person’’ means an in17 dividual or entity. 

18 (4) UNITED STATES PERSON.—The term 

19 ‘‘United States person’’ means— 

20 (A) an individual who is a United States 

21 citizen or an alien lawfully admitted for perma22 nent residence to the United States; 

23 (B) an entity organized under the laws of 

24 the United States or any jurisdiction within the 


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1 United States, including a foreign branch of 

2 such an entity; or 

3 (C) any person in the United States. 

4 SEC. 6. G–20 INVESTIGATION OF INTERNATIONAL RE5 SPONSE TO COVID–19. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—The President shall seek to work 

7 with the heads of other Group of Twenty (commonly re8 ferred to as the ‘‘G–20’’) countries and international orga9 nizations to— 

10 (1) investigate and prepare a report on the 

11 international response to the coronavirus disease 

12 2019 (commonly known as ‘‘COVID–19’’); and 

13 (2) conduct an audit of the World Health Orga14 nization relating to its actions in response to 

15 COVID–19. 

16 (b) UNITED NATIONS ACTIONS.—The Permanent 

17 United States Representative to the United Nations shall 

18 request the United Nations Office of Internal Oversight 

19 Services to establish a panel with representatives from 

20 each G–20 country and international organization to— 

21 (1) conduct a review of the World Health Orga22 nization’s response to COVID–19; and 

23 (2) make recommendations to the United Na24 tions and the United Nations Security Council on 

25 actions that can be taken to— 


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1 (A) ensure improved future responses; and 

2 (B) ensure accountability of World Health 

3 Organization officials for identified failures. 

4 SEC. 7. INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE TO WET MARKETS 

5 GLOBALLY. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Permanent United States 

7 Representative to the United Nations shall use the voice, 

8 vote, and influence of the United States to seek the adop9 tion in the United Nations General Assembly or Security 

10 Council of a resolution to ban wet markets described in 

11 subsection (b) globally. 

12 (b) WET MARKETS DESCRIBED.—A wet market de13 scribed in this subsection is a market where— 

14 (1) animals are sold, dead or alive, for human 

15 consumption; 

16 (2) the origin of such animals and their health 

17 cannot be certified; and 

18 (3) the conditions in which such animals are 

19 raised, kept, or sold are unhygienic. 

20 SEC. 8. PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY OF INTERNATIONAL 

21 CONCERN DEFINED. 

22 In this Act, the term ‘‘public health emergency of 

23 international concern’’ means a public health emergency 


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1 determined to be a public health emergency of inter2 national concern by the World Health Organization. 

Æ 


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