II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 230 

To express United States foreign policy with respect to, and to strengthen 

United States advocacy on behalf of, individuals persecuted and denied 

their rights in foreign countries on account of gender, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 13, 2009 

Mrs. BOXER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To express United States foreign policy with respect to, 

and to strengthen United States advocacy on behalf of, 

individuals persecuted and denied their rights in foreign 

countries on account of gender, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

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

5 ‘‘International Women’s Freedom Act of 2009’’. 

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

7 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 


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Sec. 2. Findings; policy. 

Sec. 3. Definitions. 

TITLE I—DEPARTMENT OF STATE ACTIVITIES 

Sec. 101. Office on International Women’s Rights; Ambassador at Large for 

International Women’s Rights. 

Sec. 102. Reports. 

Sec. 103. Establishment of a women’s rights internet site. 

Sec. 104. Training for foreign service officers. 

Sec. 105. High-level contacts with nongovernmental organizations. 

Sec. 106. Programs and allocations of funds by United States missions abroad. 

Sec. 107. Prisoner lists and issue briefs on women’s rights concerns. 

TITLE II—COMMISSION ON INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S RIGHTS 

Sec. 201. Establishment and composition. 

Sec. 202. Duties of the Commission. 

Sec. 203. Powers of the Commission. 

Sec. 204. Commission personnel matters. 

Sec. 205. Reports of the Commission. 

Sec. 206. Applicability of other laws. 

Sec. 207. Standards of conduct and disclosure. 

Sec. 208. Authorization of appropriations. 

Sec. 209. Termination. 

TITLE III—NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL 

Sec. 301. Special Adviser on International Women’s Rights. 

TITLE IV—PRESIDENTIAL ACTIONS 

Subtitle A—Targeted Responses to Violations of Women’s Rights Abroad 

Sec. 401. Presidential actions in response to violations of women’s rights. 

Sec. 402. Presidential actions in response to particularly severe violations of 

women’s rights. 

Sec. 403. Consultations. 

Sec. 404. Report to Congress. 

Sec. 405. Description of Presidential actions. 

Sec. 406. Effects on existing contracts. 

Sec. 407. Presidential waiver. 

Sec. 408. Publication in Federal Register. 

Sec. 409. Termination of Presidential actions. 

Sec. 410. Preclusion of judicial review. 

Subtitle B—Strengthening Existing Law 

Sec. 421. United States assistance. 

Sec. 422. Multilateral assistance. 

Sec. 423. Exports of certain items used in particularly severe violations of women’s rights. 

TITLE V—PROMOTION OF WOMEN’S RIGHTS 

Sec. 501. Assistance for promoting women’s rights. 

Sec. 502. International broadcasting. 

Sec. 503. International exchanges. 


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Sec. 504. Foreign service awards. 

TITLE VI—REFUGEE, ASYLUM, AND CONSULAR MATTERS 

Sec. 601. Use of annual report. 

Sec. 602. Refugee training. 

Sec. 603. Reform of asylum policy. 

Sec. 604. Inadmissibility of foreign government officials who have engaged in 

particularly severe violations of women’s rights. 

Sec. 605. Study on the effect of expedited removal provisions on asylum claims. 

TITLE VII—MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS 

Sec. 701. Business codes of conduct. 

1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; POLICY. 

2 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find3 ings: 

4 (1) Support for human rights is a cornerstone 

5 of American foreign policy, and the advance of wom6 en’s rights and the advance of liberty are ultimately 

7 inseparable. 

8 (2) A number of international human rights in9 struments, as well as several international declara10 tions, have recognized the equal rights of men and 

11 women and articulated specific aspects of women’s 

12 human rights, including the Universal Declaration of 

13 Human Rights, the Charter of the United Nations, 

14 the International Covenant on Civil and Political 

15 Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, 

16 Social and Cultural Rights, the Convention on the 

17 Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against 

18 Women, the Inter-American Convention on the Pre19 vention, Punishment and Eradication of Violence 


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1 Against Women, the Declaration on the Elimination 

2 of Violence against Women, and the Beijing Dec3 laration and Platform for Action. 

4 (3) Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of 

5 Human Rights recognizes that ‘‘[a]ll human beings 

6 are born free and equal in dignity and rights’’, and 

7 article 7 recognizes that ‘‘[a]ll are equal before the 

8 law and are entitled without any discrimination to 

9 equal protection of the law’’. Article 3 of the Inter10 national Covenant on Civil and Political Rights rec11 ognizes that the State Parties to the Covenant ‘‘un12 dertake to ensure the equal right of men and women 

13 to the enjoyment of all civil and political rights set 

14 forth in the Covenant’’. Article 26 of the Covenant 

15 provides that ‘‘[a]ll persons are equal before the law 

16 and are entitled without any discrimination to the 

17 equal protection of the law. In this respect, the laws 

18 of each State Party shall prohibit any discrimination 

19 and guarantee to all persons equal and effective pro20 tection against discrimination on any ground such as 

21 race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other 

22 opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or 

23 other status’’. The Preamble of the Charter of the 

24 United Nations affirms the equal rights of men and 

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1 tect the fundamental rights of their citizens and to 

2 pursue justice for all. Women’s rights are funda3 mental rights, regardless of race, country, creed, or 

4 nationality, and should never be arbitrarily abridged 

5 by any government. 

6 (4) Barbaric treatment of women persists in 

7 many parts of the world. Women suffer both govern8 ment-sponsored and government-tolerated violations 

9 of their human rights. In countries where women are 

10 subject to particularly severe restrictions, women 

11 cannot work outside the home, cannot attend schools 

12 or universities, cannot drive, cannot leave the home 

13 without a male companion, may only use segregated 

14 transportation, cannot obtain a passport or travel 

15 without the permission of a male relative, must wear 

16 particular clothing, must black out house windows in 

17 public view, cannot obtain quality health education, 

18 and have limited access to health care because a 

19 male relative must be present or because male doc20 tors are not allowed to touch female patients. The 

21 ‘‘In-depth study on all forms of violence against 

22 women’’ conducted by the Secretary General of the 

23 United Nations found that in many countries, wom24 en’s economic opportunities are severely limited be25 cause of discrimination in employment, property 


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1 rights, and access to resources. These inequalities 

2 work to limit women’s independence and make them 

3 more vulnerable to further discrimination, including 

4 violence. 

5 (5) Violence against women is a form of dis6 crimination which is pervasive throughout all parts 

7 of the world. In many countries, governments con8 done or perpetrate violence against women. Women 

9 are subject to various manifestations of brutal vio10 lence, including female genital mutilation, honor 

11 killings, domestic violence, gender-based murders, 

12 rape, trafficking, forced early marriage, and the mal13 treatment of widows. Perpetration of violence by the 

14 country can include custodial violence, forced steri15 lization, sexual violence during armed conflict, and 

16 policies on forced pregnancy and forced abortion. Vi17 olence against women has consequences for their 

18 health and well-being, their economic security, and 

19 the economic development of their communities and 

20 countries. 

21 (6) Though not confined to a particular region 

22 or regime, violations of women’s rights are often 

23 particularly widespread, systematic, and heinous 

24 under totalitarian governments and in countries with 


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1 militant, politicized religious majorities or with 

2 strong tribal traditions. 

3 (7) Congress has recognized and denounced 

4 international violations of women’s rights through 

5 the adoption of the following resolutions: 

6 (A) Senate Resolution 68 of the 106th 

7 Congress, expressing the sense of the Senate re8 garding the treatment of women and girls by 

9 the Taliban in Afghanistan. 

10 (B) Senate Concurrent Resolution 42 of 

11 the 107th Congress, condemning the Taliban 

12 for their discriminatory policies towards women. 

13 (C) Senate Concurrent Resolution 86 of 

14 the 107th Congress, expressing the sense of 

15 Congress that women from all ethnic groups in 

16 Afghanistan should participate in the economic 

17 and political reconstruction of Afghanistan. 

18 (D) House Resolution 393 of the 108th 

19 Congress, commending Afghan women for their 

20 participation in Afghan government and civil 

21 society, encouraging the inclusion of Afghan 

22 women in the political and economic life of Af23 ghanistan, and advocating the protection of the 

24 human rights of all Afghans, particularly 

25 women, in the Afghanistan Constitution. 


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1 (E) Senate Resolution 74 of the 109th 

2 Congress, designating March 8, 2005, as Inter3 national Women’s Day. 

4 (b) POLICY.—It shall be the policy of the United 

5 States to do the following: 

6 (1) To condemn violations of women’s rights, 

7 and to promote, and to assist other governments in 

8 promoting, the fundamental human rights of women. 

9 (2) To seek to channel United States security 

10 and development assistance to governments other 

11 than those found to be engaged in gross violations 

12 of the rights of women, as set forth in the Foreign 

13 Assistance Act of 1961, in the International Finan14 cial Institutions Act, and in other formulations of 

15 United States human rights policy. 

16 (3) To be vigorous and flexible, reflecting both 

17 the unwavering commitment of the United States to 

18 women’s rights and the desire of the United States 

19 for the most effective and principled response, in 

20 light of the range of violations of women’s rights by 

21 a variety of persecuting regimes, and the status of 

22 the relations of the United States with different na23 tions. 

24 (4) To work with foreign governments that af25 firm and protect women’s rights, in order to develop 


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1 multilateral documents and initiatives to combat vio2 lations of women’s rights and promote the right of 

3 women to enjoy their human rights abroad. 

4 (5) Standing for liberty and standing with the 

5 disadvantaged, to use and implement appropriate 

6 tools in the United States foreign policy apparatus, 

7 including diplomatic, political, commercial, chari8 table, educational, and cultural channels, to promote 

9 respect for women’s rights by all governments and 

10 peoples. 

11 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

12 In this Act: 

13 (1) AMBASSADOR AT LARGE.—The term ‘‘Am14 bassador at Large’’ means the Ambassador at Large 

15 for International Women’s Rights appointed under 

16 section 101(b). 

17 (2) ANNUAL REPORT.—The term ‘‘Annual Re18 port’’ means the Annual Report on International 

19 Women’s Rights described in section 102(b). 

20 (3) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT21 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com22 mittees’’— 

23 (A) means the Committee on Foreign Re24 lations of the Senate and the Committee on 


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1 Foreign Affairs of the House of Representa2 tives; and 

3 (B) includes, in the case of any determina4 tion made with respect to the taking of Presi5 dent action under paragraphs (9) through (15) 

6 of section 405(a), the committees described in 

7 subparagraph (A) and, where appropriate, the 

8 Committee on Financial Services of the House 

9 of Representatives and the Committee on Bank10 ing, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate. 

11 (4) COMMENSURATE ACTION.—The term ‘‘com12 mensurate action’’ means action taken by the Presi13 dent under section 405(b). 

14 (5) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 

15 means the United States Commission on Inter16 national Women’s Rights established in section 

17 201(a). 

18 (6) COUNTRY REPORTS ON HUMAN RIGHTS

19 PRACTICES.—The term ‘‘Country Reports on 

20 Human Rights Practices’’ means the annual report 

21 required to be submitted by the Secretary of State 

22 to Congress under sections 116(d) and 502B(b) of 

23 the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961. 

24 (7) EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.—The term ‘‘Execu25 tive Summary’’ means the Executive Summary to 


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1 the Annual Report, as described in section 

2 102(b)(1)(F). 

3 (8) GOVERNMENT OR FOREIGN GOVERN4 MENT.—The term ‘‘government’’ or ‘‘foreign govern5 ment’’ includes any agency or instrumentality of the 

6 government. 

7 (9) HUMAN RIGHTS REPORTS.—The term 

8 ‘‘Human Rights Reports’’ means all reports sub9 mitted by the Secretary of State to Congress under 

10 sections 116 and 502B of the Foreign Assistance 

11 Act of 1961. 

12 (10) OFFICE.—The term ‘‘Office’’ means the 

13 Office on International Women’s Rights established 

14 in section 101(a). 

15 (11) PARTICULARLY SEVERE VIOLATIONS OF

16 WOMEN’S RIGHTS.—The term ‘‘particularly severe 

17 violations of women’s rights’’ means systematic, on18 going, egregious violations of women’s rights, includ19 ing violations such as— 

20 (A) denying women freedoms that are 

21 guaranteed for men; 

22 (B) torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrad23 ing treatment or punishment; 

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1 tional practices such as honor killings and fe2 male genital mutilation, abduction, trafficking, 

3 forced sterilization or forced abortion, and cus4 todial violence; 

5 (D) limiting or denying access to health 

6 care and health education; or 

7 (E) other flagrant denials to women or 

8 girls of the right to life, liberty, or the security 

9 of persons. 

10 (12) SPECIAL ADVISER.—The term ‘‘Special 

11 Adviser’’ means the Special Adviser to the President 

12 on International Women’s Rights described in sec13 tion 101(l) of the National Security Act of 1947, as 

14 added by section 301 of this Act. 

15 (13) VIOLATIONS OF WOMEN’S RIGHTS.—The 

16 term ‘‘violations of women’s rights’’ means violations 

17 of the internationally recognized human rights of 

18 women, as set forth in the international instruments 

19 referred to in section 2(a)(2) and as described in 

20 section 2(a)(3), including violations such as— 

21 (A) arbitrary prohibitions on, restrictions 

22 on, or punishment for— 

23 (i) women engaging in activities that 

24 men are permitted to engage in; 


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1 (ii) travel, employment, or education 

2 for girls or women; 

3 (iii) clothing for girls or women; 

4 (iv) political participation and voting 

5 for women; and 

6 (v) possession and distribution of lit7 erature pertaining to women’s human 

8 rights; 

9 (B) discriminatory laws or customary prac10 tices which deprive women of equal rights, such 

11 as those pertaining to marriage and family rela12 tions, nationality and citizenship, legal capacity, 

13 and access to economic resources; or 

14 (C) any of the following acts if committed 

15 because an individual is a girl or woman: deten16 tion, forced labor or prostitution, imprisonment, 

17 forced mass resettlement, beating, torture, mu18 tilation, sexual assault and rape, enslavement, 

19 murder, and execution. 


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1 TITLE I—DEPARTMENT OF 

2 STATE ACTIVITIES 

3 SEC. 101. OFFICE ON INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S RIGHTS; 

4 AMBASSADOR AT LARGE FOR INTER5 NATIONAL WOMEN’S RIGHTS. 

6 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF OFFICE.—There is estab7 lished within the Department of State an Office on Inter8 national Women’s Rights that shall be headed by the Am9 bassador at Large for International Women’s Rights ap10 pointed under subsection (b). 

11 (b) APPOINTMENT.—The Ambassador at Large shall 

12 be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and 

13 consent of the Senate. 

14 (c) DUTIES.—The Ambassador at Large shall have 

15 the following responsibilities: 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The primary responsibility 

17 of the Ambassador at Large shall be to advance 

18 women’s rights abroad, to denounce the violation of 

19 those rights, and to recommend appropriate re20 sponses by the United States Government when 

21 those rights are violated. 

22 (2) ADVISORY ROLE.—The Ambassador at 

23 Large shall be a principal adviser to the President 

24 and the Secretary of State regarding matters affect25 ing women’s rights abroad and, with advice from the 


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1 Commission, shall make recommendations regard2 ing— 

3 (A) the policies of the United States Gov4 ernment toward governments that violate wom5 en’s rights or that fail to ensure the rights of 

6 individual women; and 

7 (B) policies to advance women’s rights 

8 abroad. 

9 (3) DIPLOMATIC REPRESENTATION.—Subject to 

10 the direction of the President and the Secretary of 

11 State, the Ambassador at Large is authorized to 

12 represent the United States in matters and cases 

13 relevant to women’s rights abroad in— 

14 (A) contacts with foreign governments, 

15 intergovernmental organizations, specialized 

16 agencies of the United Nations, the Organiza17 tion on Security and Cooperation in Europe, 

18 and other international organizations of which 

19 the United States is a member; and 

20 (B) multilateral conferences and meetings 

21 relevant to women’s rights abroad. 

22 (4) REPORTING RESPONSIBILITIES.—The Am23 bassador at Large shall have the reporting respon24 sibilities described in section 102. 


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1 (5) SENIOR COORDINATOR FOR INTERNATIONAL

2 WOMEN’S ISSUES.—The Ambassador at Large shall, 

3 in addition to his or her other duties, assume the 

4 duties of the Senior Coordinator for International 

5 Women’s Issues of the Department of State. 

6 (d) FUNDING.—The Secretary of State shall provide 

7 the Ambassador at Large with such funds as may be nec8 essary for the hiring of staff for the Office, for the conduct 

9 of investigations by the Office, and for necessary travel 

10 to carry out the provisions of this section. 

11 SEC. 102. REPORTS. 

12 (a) PORTIONS OF ANNUAL HUMAN RIGHTS RE13 PORTS.—The Ambassador at Large shall assist the Sec14 retary of State in preparing those portions of the Human 

15 Rights Reports that relate to women’s rights and freedom 

16 from discrimination based on gender and those portions 

17 of other information provided to the Congress under sec18 tions 116 and 502B of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 

19 (22 U.S.C. 2304(a)(1)) that relate to the right to freedom 

20 from discrimination based on sex. 

21 (b) ANNUAL REPORT ON INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S

22 RIGHTS.— 

23 (1) DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION.—On Sep24 tember 1 of each year or the first day thereafter on 

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1 sion, the Secretary of State, with the assistance of 

2 the Ambassador at Large, and taking into consider3 ation the recommendations of the Commission, shall 

4 prepare and transmit to the Congress an Annual Re5 port on International Women’s Rights 

6 supplementing the most recent Human Rights Re7 ports by providing additional detailed information 

8 with respect to matters involving international wom9 en’s rights. Each Annual Report shall contain the 

10 following: 

11 (A) STATUS OF WOMEN’S RIGHTS.—A de12 scription of the status of women’s rights in 

13 each foreign country, including— 

14 (i) trends toward improvement in the 

15 respect and protection of women’s rights 

16 and trends toward deterioration of such 

17 rights; 

18 (ii) violations of women’s rights en19 gaged in or tolerated by the government of 

20 that country; and 

21 (iii) particularly severe violations of 

22 women’s rights engaged in or tolerated by 

23 the government of that country. 

24 (B) VIOLATIONS OF WOMEN’S RIGHTS.— 

25 An assessment and description of the nature 


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1 and extent of violations of women’s rights in 

2 each foreign country, including gender-based 

3 discrimination by governmental and nongovern4 mental entities, discrimination targeted at indi5 viduals or particular groups of women, and the 

6 existence of government policies violating wom7 en’s rights. 

8 (C) UNITED STATES POLICIES.—A descrip9 tion of United States actions and policies in 

10 support of women’s rights in each foreign coun11 try engaging in or tolerating violations of wom12 en’s rights, including a description of the meas13 ures and policies implemented during the pre14 ceding 12 months by the United States under 

15 this title and titles IV and V in opposition to 

16 violations of women’s rights and in support of 

17 international women’s rights. 

18 (D) INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS IN EF19 FECT.—A description of any binding agreement 

20 with a foreign government entered into by the 

21 United States under section 401(b) or 402(c). 

22 (E) TRAINING AND GUIDELINES OF GOV23 ERNMENT PERSONNEL.—A description of— 

24 (i) the training described in section 

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1 ality Act (as amended by section 603(b) of 

2 this Act), the last sentence of section 

3 708(a) of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 

4 (as amended by section 602(a) of this 

5 Act), and sections 208(e) and 240(f) of the 

6 Immigration and Nationality Act (as 

7 amended by section 603 of this Act), on 

8 violations of women’s rights that is pro9 vided to immigration judges and consular, 

10 refugee, immigration, and asylum officers; 

11 and 

12 (ii) the development and implementa13 tion of the guidelines described in sub14 sections (f)(3) and (g) of 207(g) section 

15 207 of the Immigration and Nationality 

16 Act (as amended by section 602 of this 

17 Act). 

18 (F) EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.—An executive 

19 summary to the annual report highlighting the 

20 status of women’s rights in certain foreign 

21 countries and including the following: 

22 (i) COUNTRIES IN WHICH THE

23 UNITED STATES IS ACTIVELY PROMOTING

24 WOMEN’S RIGHTS.—An identification of 

25 foreign countries in which the United 


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1 States is actively promoting women’s 

2 rights. This section of the report shall in3 clude a description of actions taken by the 

4 United States to promote the internation5 ally recognized human rights of women 

6 and oppose violations of such rights under 

7 title IV and title V of this Act during the 

8 period covered by the Annual Report. Any 

9 country designated as a country of par10 ticular concern for women’s rights under 

11 section 402(b)(1) shall be included in this 

12 section of the report. 

13 (ii) COUNTRIES OF SIGNIFICANT IM14 PROVEMENT IN WOMEN’S RIGHTS.—An 

15 identification of foreign countries the gov16 ernments of which have demonstrated sig17 nificant improvement in the protection and 

18 promotion of the internationally recognized 

19 human rights of women during the period 

20 covered by the Annual Report. This section 

21 of the report shall include a description of 

22 the nature of the improvement and an 

23 analysis of the factors contributing to such 

24 improvement, including actions taken by 

25 the United States under this Act. 


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1 (2) CLASSIFIED ADDENDUM.—If the Secretary 

2 of State determines that it is in the national security 

3 interests of the United States or is necessary for the 

4 safety of individuals to be identified in the Annual 

5 Report or is necessary to further the purposes of 

6 this Act, any information required by paragraph (1), 

7 including measures or actions taken by the United 

8 States, may be summarized in the Annual Report or 

9 the Executive Summary and submitted in more de10 tail in a classified addendum to the Annual Report 

11 or the Executive Summary. 

12 (c) PREPARATION OF REPORTS REGARDING VIOLA13 TIONS OF WOMEN’S RIGHTS.— 

14 (1) STANDARDS AND INVESTIGATIONS.—The 

15 Secretary of State shall ensure that United States 

16 missions abroad maintain a consistent reporting 

17 standard and thoroughly investigate reports of viola18 tions of the internationally recognized human rights 

19 of women. 

20 (2) CONTACTS WITH NONGOVERNMENTAL OR21 GANIZATIONS.—In compiling data and assessing the 

22 respect of women’s rights for the Human Rights Re23 ports, the Annual Report, and the Executive Sum24 mary, United States mission personnel shall, as ap25 propriate, seek out and maintain contacts with womVerDate Nov 24 2008 02:58 Jan 14, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00021 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S230.IS S230

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1 en’s and human rights nongovernmental organiza2 tions, with the consent of those organizations, in3 cluding receiving reports and updates from such or4 ganizations and, when appropriate, investigating 

5 such reports. 

6 (d) AMENDMENTS TO THE FOREIGN ASSISTANCE

7 ACT OF 1961.— 

8 (1) CONTENT OF HUMAN RIGHTS REPORTS FOR

9 COUNTRIES RECEIVING ECONOMIC ASSISTANCE.— 

10 Section 116(d) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 

11 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151n(d)) is amended— 

12 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para13 graph (10); 

14 (B) by striking the period at the end of 

15 paragraph (11) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

16 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(12) wherever applicable, violations of women’s 

18 rights, including particularly severe violations of 

19 women’s rights (as defined in section 3 of the Inter20 national Women’s Freedom Act of 2009).’’. 

21 (2) CONTENTS OF HUMAN RIGHTS REPORTS

22 FOR COUNTRIES RECEIVING SECURITY ASSIST23 ANCE.—Section 502B(b) of the Foreign Assistance 

24 Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2304(b)) is amended— 


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1 (A) in the first sentence, by inserting ‘‘and 

2 the Ambassador at Large for International 

3 Women’s Rights’’ after ‘‘Religious Freedom’’; 

4 and 

5 (B) in the fourth sentence by inserting 

6 after ‘‘1998)’’ the following: ‘‘, and information 

7 on violations of women’s rights, including par8 ticularly severe violations of women’s rights (as 

9 defined in section 3 of the International Wom10 en’s Freedom Act of 2009)’’. 

11 SEC. 103. ESTABLISHMENT OF A WOMEN’S RIGHTS INTER12 NET SITE. 

13 In order to facilitate access by nongovernmental orga14 nizations and by the public around the world to inter15 national documents on the protection of women’s rights, 

16 the Secretary of State, with the assistance of the Ambas17 sador at Large, shall establish and maintain an Internet 

18 site containing major international documents relating to 

19 women’s rights, the Annual Report, the Executive Sum20 mary, and any other documentation or references to other 

21 sites as deemed appropriate or relevant by the Ambas22 sador at Large. 


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1 SEC. 104. TRAINING FOR FOREIGN SERVICE OFFICERS. 

2 Section 708(a) of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 

3 (22 U.S.C. 4028(a)) is amended by adding at the end the 

4 following flush sentence: 

5 ‘‘After January 1, 2010, such training shall include in6 struction on the internationally recognized rights of 

7 women and the various aspects and manifestations of vio8 lations of women’s rights.’’. 

9 SEC. 105. HIGH-LEVEL CONTACTS WITH NONGOVERN10 MENTAL ORGANIZATIONS. 

11 United States chiefs of mission shall seek out and 

12 contact any women’s nongovernmental organizations to 

13 provide high-level meetings with such nongovernmental or14 ganizations where appropriate and beneficial. United 

15 States chiefs of mission and Foreign Service officers 

16 abroad shall seek to meet with imprisoned women’s rights 

17 advocates where appropriate and beneficial. 

18 SEC. 106. PROGRAMS AND ALLOCATIONS OF FUNDS BY 

19 UNITED STATES MISSIONS ABROAD. 

20 It is the sense of the Congress that— 

21 (1) United States diplomatic missions in coun22 tries the governments of which engage in or tolerate 

23 violations of the internationally recognized human 

24 rights of women should develop, as part of annual 

25 program planning, a strategy to promote respect for 


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1 the internationally recognized human rights of 

2 women; and 

3 (2) in allocating or recommending the allocation 

4 of funds or recommending candidates for programs 

5 and grants funded by the United States Govern6 ment, United States diplomatic missions should give 

7 particular consideration to those programs and can8 didates deemed to assist in the promotion of wom9 en’s rights. 

10 SEC. 107. PRISONER LISTS AND ISSUE BRIEFS ON WOMEN’S 

11 RIGHTS CONCERNS. 

12 (a) SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.—To encourage in13 volvement with women’s rights concerns at every possible 

14 opportunity and by all appropriate representatives of the 

15 United States Government, it is the sense of the Congress 

16 that officials of the executive branch of the United States 

17 Government should promote increased advocacy on such 

18 issues during meetings between foreign dignitaries and ex19 ecutive branch officials or Members of Congress. 

20 (b) PRISONER LISTS AND ISSUE BRIEFS ON

21 WOMEN’S RIGHTS CONCERNS.—The Secretary of State, 

22 in consultation with the Ambassador at Large, the Under 

23 Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs, the 

24 Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human 

25 Rights and Labor, United States chiefs of mission abroad, 


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1 regional experts, and nongovernmental human rights 

2 groups, shall prepare and maintain issue briefs on wom3 en’s rights, on a country-by-country basis, consisting of 

4 lists of persons believed to be imprisoned, detained, or 

5 placed under house arrest because of their gender, to6 gether with brief evaluations and critiques of the policies 

7 of the respective country restricting women’s rights. In 

8 considering the inclusion of names of prisoners on such 

9 lists, the Secretary of State shall exercise appropriate dis10 cretion, including concerns regarding the safety, security, 

11 and benefit to such prisoners. 

12 (c) AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION.—The Secretary 

13 shall, as appropriate, provide women’s rights issue briefs 

14 under subsection (b) to executive branch officials and 

15 Members of Congress in anticipation of bilateral contacts 

16 with foreign leaders, both in the United States and 

17 abroad. 

18 TITLE II—COMMISSION ON 

19 INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S 

20 RIGHTS 

21 SEC. 201. ESTABLISHMENT AND COMPOSITION. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is established the United 

23 States Commission on International Women’s Rights. 

24 (b) MEMBERSHIP.— 


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1 (1) APPOINTMENT.—The Commission shall be 

2 composed of— 

3 (A) the Ambassador at Large, who shall 

4 serve ex officio as a nonvoting member of the 

5 Commission; and 

6 (B) nine other members, who shall be 

7 United States citizens who are not being paid 

8 as officers or employees of the United States, 

9 and who shall be appointed as follows: 

10 (i) Three members of the Commission 

11 shall be appointed by the President. 

12 (ii) Three members of the Commission 

13 shall be appointed by the President pro 

14 tempore of the Senate, of which two of the 

15 members shall be appointed upon the rec16 ommendation of the leader in the Senate of 

17 the political party that is not the political 

18 party of the President, and of which one of 

19 the members shall be appointed upon the 

20 recommendation of the leader in the Sen21 ate of the other political party. 

22 (iii) Three members of the Commis23 sion shall be appointed by the Speaker of 

24 the House of Representatives, of which two 

25 of the members shall be appointed upon 


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1 the recommendation of the leader in the 

2 House of the political party that is not the 

3 political party of the President, and of 

4 which one of the members shall be ap5 pointed upon the recommendation of the 

6 leader in the House of the other political 

7 party. 

8 (2) SELECTION.— 

9 (A) IN GENERAL.—Members of the Com10 mission shall be selected from among distin11 guished individuals noted for their knowledge 

12 and experience in fields relevant to the issue of 

13 international women’s rights, including foreign 

14 affairs, direct experience abroad, human rights, 

15 and international law. 

16 (B) SECURITY CLEARANCES.—Each mem17 ber of the Commission shall be required to ob18 tain a security clearance. 

19 (3) TIME OF APPOINTMENT.—The appoint20 ments required by paragraph (1) shall be made not 

21 later than 120 days after the date of the enactment 

22 of this Act. 

23 (c) TERMS.—The term of office of each member of 

24 the Commission shall be 2 years, beginning on the date 

25 of the initial appointment of all of the members of the 


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1 Commission. Members of the Commission shall be eligible 

2 for reappointment. 

3 (d) ELECTION OF CHAIRPERSON.—At the first meet4 ing of the Commission in each calendar year, a majority 

5 of the members of the Commission present and voting 

6 shall elect the Chairperson of the Commission. 

7 (e) QUORUM.—Six voting members of the Commis8 sion shall constitute a quorum for purposes of transacting 

9 business. 

10 (f) MEETINGS.—Each year, within 15 days, or as 

11 soon as practicable, after the issuance of the Country Re12 ports on Human Rights Practices, the Commission shall 

13 convene. The Commission shall otherwise meet at the call 

14 of the Chairperson or, if no Chairperson has been elected 

15 for that calendar year, at the call of six voting members 

16 of the Commission. 

17 (g) VACANCIES.—Any vacancy of the Commission 

18 shall not affect its powers, but shall be filled in the manner 

19 in which the original appointment was made. 

20 (h) ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT.—The Administrator 

21 of General Services shall provide to the Commission on 

22 a reimbursable basis (or, in the discretion of the Adminis23 trator, on a nonreimbursable basis) such administrative 

24 support services as the Commission may request to carry 

25 out the provisions of this title. 


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1 (i) FUNDING.—Members of the Commission shall be 

2 allowed travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of sub3 sistence, at rates authorized for employees of agencies 

4 under subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, United States 

5 Code, while away from their homes or regular places of 

6 business in the performance of services for the Commis7 sion. 

8 SEC. 202. DUTIES OF THE COMMISSION. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall have as its 

10 primary responsibility— 

11 (1) the annual and ongoing review of the facts 

12 and circumstances of violations of women’s rights 

13 presented in the Country Reports on Human Rights 

14 Practices, the Annual Report, and the Executive 

15 Summary, as well as information from other sources 

16 as appropriate; and 

17 (2) the making of policy recommendations to 

18 the President, the Secretary of State, and the Con19 gress with respect to matters involving international 

20 women’s rights. 

21 (b) POLICY REVIEW AND RECOMMENDATIONS IN RE22 SPONSE TO VIOLATIONS.—The Commission, in evaluating 

23 United States Government policies in response to viola24 tions of women’s rights, shall consider and recommend op25 tions for policies of the United States Government with 


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1 respect to each foreign country the government of which 

2 has engaged in or tolerated violations of women’s rights, 

3 including particularly severe violations of women’s rights. 

4 Such options include diplomatic inquiry, diplomatic pro5 test, official public demarche, condemnation within multi6 lateral fora, delay or cancellation of cultural or scientific 

7 exchanges, delay or cancellation of working, official, or 

8 state visits, reduction of certain assistance funds, termi9 nation of certain assistance funds, imposition of targeted 

10 trade sanctions, imposition of broad trade sanctions, and 

11 withdrawal of the chief of mission. 

12 (c) POLICY REVIEW AND RECOMMENDATIONS IN RE13 SPONSE TO PROGRESS.—The Commission, in evaluating 

14 the United States Government policies with respect to 

15 countries found to be taking deliberate steps and making 

16 significant improvement with respect to women’s rights, 

17 shall consider and recommend policy options, including 

18 private commendation, diplomatic commendation, official 

19 public commendation, commendation within multilateral 

20 fora, an increase in cultural or scientific exchanges, or 

21 both, termination or reduction of existing Presidential ac22 tions, an increase in certain assistance funds, and invita23 tions for working, official, or state visits. 

24 (d) EFFECTS ON WOMEN.—Together with specific 

25 policy recommendations provided under subsections (b) 


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1 and (c), the Commission shall also indicate its evaluation 

2 of the potential effects of those policies, if implemented, 

3 on women in the country in question. 

4 (e) MONITORING.—The Commission shall, on an on5 going basis, monitor facts and circumstances of violations 

6 of women’s rights, in consultation with independent 

7 human rights groups and nongovernmental organizations, 

8 including churches and other religious communities, and 

9 make such recommendations as may be necessary to the 

10 appropriate officials and offices of the United States Gov11 ernment. 

12 SEC. 203. POWERS OF THE COMMISSION. 

13 (a) HEARINGS AND SESSIONS.—The Commission 

14 may, for the purpose of carrying out its duties under this 

15 title, hold hearings, sit and act at times and places in the 

16 United States, take testimony, and receive evidence as the 

17 Commission considers advisable to carry out the purposes 

18 of this title. 

19 (b) INFORMATION FROM FEDERAL AGENCIES.—The 

20 Commission may secure directly from any Federal depart21 ment or agency such information as the Commission con22 siders necessary to carry out the provisions of this section. 

23 Upon request of the Chairperson of the Commission, the 

24 head of such department or agency shall furnish such in25 formation to the Commission, subject to applicable law. 


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1 (c) POSTAL SERVICES.—The Commission may use 

2 the United States mails in the same manner and under 

3 the same conditions as other departments and agencies of 

4 the Federal Government. 

5 (d) ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES.—The Commis6 sion may adopt such regulations relating to administrative 

7 procedure as may be reasonably necessary to enable it to 

8 carry out this title. 

9 (e) VIEWS OF THE COMMISSION.—The Members of 

10 the Commission may speak in their capacity as private 

11 citizens. Statements on behalf of the Commission shall be 

12 issued in writing over the names of the Members. The 

13 Commission shall in its written statements clearly describe 

14 its statutory authority, distinguishing that authority from 

15 that of appointed or elected officials of the United States 

16 Government. Oral statements, if practicable, shall include 

17 a similar description. 

18 (f) TRAVEL.—The Members of the Commission may, 

19 with the approval of the Commission, conduct such travel 

20 as is necessary to carry out the purposes of this title. Each 

21 trip must be approved by a majority of the Commission. 

22 This subsection shall not apply to the Ambassador at 

23 Large, whose travel shall not require approval by the Com24 mission. 


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1 SEC. 204. COMMISSION PERSONNEL MATTERS. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Commission may, without re3 gard to the civil service laws and regulations, appoint and 

4 terminate an Executive Director and such other additional 

5 personnel as may be necessary to enable the Commission 

6 to perform its duties. The decision to employ or terminate 

7 an Executive Director shall be made by an affirmative vote 

8 of at least 6 of the 9 members of the Commission. 

9 (b) COMPENSATION.—The Commission may fix the 

10 compensation of the Executive Director and other per11 sonnel without regard to the provisions of chapter 51 and 

12 subchapter III of chapter 53 of title 5, United States 

13 Code, relating to classification of positions and General 

14 Schedule pay rates, except that the rate of pay for the 

15 Executive Director and other personnel may not exceed 

16 the rate payable for level V of the Executive Schedule 

17 under section 5316 of such title. 

18 (c) PROFESSIONAL STAFF.—The Commission and 

19 the Executive Director shall hire Commission staff on the 

20 basis of professional and nonpartisan qualifications. Com21 missioners may not individually hire staff of the Commis22 sion. Staff shall serve the Commission as a whole and may 

23 not be assigned to the particular service of a single Com24 missioner or a specified group of Commissioners. This 

25 subsection does not prohibit staff personnel from assisting 


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1 individual members of the Commission with particular 

2 needs related to their duties. 

3 (d) STAFF AND SERVICES OF OTHER FEDERAL

4 AGENCIES.— 

5 (1) DEPARTMENT OF STATE.—The Secretary of 

6 State shall assist the Commission by providing on a 

7 reimbursable or nonreimbursable basis to the Com8 mission such staff and administrative services as 

9 may be necessary and appropriate to perform its 

10 functions. 

11 (2) OTHER FEDERAL AGENCIES.—Upon the re12 quest of the Commission, the head of any Federal 

13 department or agency may detail, on a reimbursable 

14 or nonreimbursable basis, any of the personnel of 

15 that department or agency to the Commission to as16 sist it in carrying out its functions under this title. 

17 The detail of any such personnel shall be without 

18 interruption or loss of civil service or Foreign Serv19 ice status or privilege. 

20 (e) SECURITY CLEARANCES.—The Executive Direc21 tor shall be required to obtain a security clearance. The 

22 Executive Director may request, on a needs-only basis and 

23 in order to perform the duties of the Commission, that 

24 other personnel of the Commission be required to obtain 

25 a security clearance. The level of clearance shall be the 


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1 lowest necessary to appropriately perform the duties of the 

2 Commission. 

3 (f) COST.—The Commission shall reimburse all ap4 propriate Government agencies for the cost of obtaining 

5 clearances for members of the Commission, for the Execu6 tive Director, and for any other personnel. 

7 SEC. 205. REPORTS OF THE COMMISSION. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than May 1 of each 

9 year, the Commission shall submit a report to the Presi10 dent, the Secretary of State, and the Congress setting 

11 forth its recommendations for United States policy options 

12 based on its evaluations under section 202. 

13 (b) CLASSIFIED FORM OF REPORT.—The report may 

14 be submitted in classified form, together with a public 

15 summary of recommendations, if the classification of in16 formation in the report would further the purposes of this 

17 Act. 

18 (c) INDIVIDUAL OR DISSENTING VIEWS.—Each 

19 member of the Commission may include the individual or 

20 dissenting views of the member. 

21 (d) FINANCIAL REPORT.—The Commission shall, not 

22 later than January 1 of each year, submit to the Com23 mittee on International Relations and the Committee on 

24 Appropriations of the House of Representatives, and to 

25 the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Committee 


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1 on Appropriations of the Senate, a report detailing and 

2 identifying the expenditures of the Commission in the pre3 ceding fiscal year. 

4 SEC. 206. APPLICABILITY OF OTHER LAWS. 

5 The Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) 

6 shall not apply to the Commission. 

7 SEC. 207. STANDARDS OF CONDUCT AND DISCLOSURE. 

8 (a) COOPERATION WITH NONGOVERNMENTAL ORGA9 NIZATIONS, THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE, AND CON10 GRESS.—The Commission shall, in performing the Com11 mission’s duties under this title, seek to effectively and 

12 freely cooperate with all governmental and nongovern13 mental entities engaged in the promotion of women’s 

14 rights abroad. 

15 (b) CONFLICT OF INTEREST AND ANTINEPOTISM.— 

16 (1) MEMBER AFFILIATIONS.—Except as pro17 vided in paragraph (3), in order to ensure the inde18 pendence and integrity of the Commission, the Com19 mission may not compensate any nongovernmental 

20 agency, project, or person related to or affiliated 

21 with any member of the Commission, whether in 

22 that member’s direct employ or not. Staff employed 

23 by the Commission may not serve in the employ of 

24 any nongovernmental agency, project, or person reVerDate Nov 24 2008 02:58 Jan 14, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00037 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S230.IS S230

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1 lated to or affiliated with any member of the Com2 mission while employed by the Commission. 

3 (2) STAFF COMPENSATION.—Staff of the Com4 mission may not receive compensation from any 

5 other source for work performed in carrying out the 

6 duties of the Commission while employed by the 

7 Commission. 

8 (3) EXCEPTION.— 

9 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara10 graph (B), paragraph (1) shall not apply to 

11 payments made for items such as conference 

12 fees or the purchase of periodicals or other 

13 similar expenses, if such payments would not 

14 cause the aggregate value paid to any agency, 

15 project, or person for a fiscal year to exceed 

16 $250. 

17 (B) LIMITATION.—Notwithstanding sub18 paragraph (A), the Commission shall not give 

19 special preference to any agency, project, or 

20 person related to or affiliated with any member 

21 of the Commission. 

22 (4) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection, the term 

23 ‘‘affiliated’’ means the relationship between a mem24 ber of the Commission and— 


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1 (A) an individual who holds the position of 

2 officer, trustee, partner, director, or employee 

3 of an agency, project, or person of which that 

4 member, or relative of that member of, the 

5 Commission is an officer, trustee, partner, di6 rector, or employee; or 

7 (B) a nongovernmental agency or project 

8 of which that member, or a relative of that 

9 member, of the Commission is an officer, trust10 ee, partner, director, or employee. 

11 (c) CONTRACT AUTHORITY.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the availability of 

13 appropriations, the Commission may contract with 

14 and compensate Government agencies or persons for 

15 the conduct of activities necessary to the discharge 

16 of its functions under this title. Any such person 

17 shall be hired without interruption or loss of civil 

18 service or Foreign Service status or privilege. The 

19 Commission may not procure temporary and inter20 mittent services under section 3109(b) of title 5, 

21 United States Code, or under other contracting au22 thority other than that allowed under this title. 

23 (2) EXPERT STUDY.—In the case of a study re24 quested under section 605 of this Act, the Commis25 sion may, subject to the availability of appropriaVerDate Nov 24 2008 02:58 Jan 14, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00039 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S230.IS S230

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1 tions, contract with experts and shall provide the 

2 funds for such a study. The Commission shall not be 

3 required to provide the funds for that part of the 

4 study conducted by the Comptroller General of the 

5 United States. 

6 (d) GIFTS.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—In order to preserve its inde8 pendence, the Commission may not accept, use, or 

9 dispose of gifts or donations of services or property. 

10 An individual Commissioner or employee of the 

11 Commission may not, in his or her capacity as a 

12 Commissioner or employee, knowingly accept, use, or 

13 dispose of gifts or donations of services or property, 

14 unless he or she in good faith believes such gifts or 

15 donations to have a value of less than $50 and a cu16 mulative value during a calendar year of less than 

17 $100. 

18 (2) EXCEPTIONS.—This subsection shall not 

19 apply to the following: 

20 (A) Gifts provided on the basis of a per21 sonal friendship with a Commissioner or em22 ployee, unless the Commissioner or employee 

23 has reason to believe that the gift was provided 

24 because of the Commissioner’s position and not 

25 because of the personal friendship. 


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1 (B) Gifts provided on the basis of a family 

2 relationship. 

3 (C) The acceptance of training, invitations 

4 to attend or participate in conferences or such 

5 other events as are related to the conduct of the 

6 duties of the Commission, or food or refresh7 ment associated with such activities. 

8 (D) Items of nominal value or gifts of esti9 mated value of $10 or less. 

10 (E) De minimis gifts provided by a foreign 

11 leader or state, not exceeding a value of $260. 

12 Gifts believed by Commissioners to be in excess 

13 of $260, but which would create offense or em14 barrassment to the United States Government 

15 if refused, shall be accepted and turned over to 

16 the United States Government in accordance 

17 with the Foreign Gifts and Decorations Act of 

18 1966 and the rules and regulations governing 

19 such gifts provided to Members of Congress. 

20 (F) Informational materials such as docu21 ments, books, videotapes, periodicals, or other 

22 forms of communications. 

23 (G) Goods or services provided by any 

24 agency or component of the Government of the 


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1 United States, including any commission estab2 lished under the authority of the Government. 

3 SEC. 208. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be appro5 priated to the Commission such sums as may be necessary 

6 to carry out this title. 

7 (b) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Amounts authorized 

8 to be appropriated under subsection (a) are authorized to 

9 remain available until expended, but not later than the 

10 date on which the Commission terminates. 

11 SEC. 209. TERMINATION. 

12 The Commission shall terminate 12 years after the 

13 date of the initial appointment of all of the members of 

14 the Commission. 

15 TITLE III—NATIONAL SECURITY 

16 COUNCIL 

17 SEC. 301. SPECIAL ADVISER ON INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S 

18 RIGHTS. 

19 Section 101 of the National Security Act of 1947 (50 

20 U.S.C. 402) is amended by adding at the end the following 

21 new subsection: 

22 ‘‘(m) It is the sense of the Congress that there should 

23 be within the staff of the National Security Council a Spe24 cial Adviser to the President on International Women’s 

25 Rights, whose position should be comparable to that of 


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1 a director within the Executive Office of the President. 

2 The Special Adviser should serve as a resource for execu3 tive branch officials, compiling and maintaining informa4 tion on the facts and circumstances of violations of wom5 en’s rights (as defined in section 3 of the International 

6 Women’s Freedom Act of 2009), and making policy rec7 ommendations. The Special Adviser should serve as liaison 

8 with the Ambassador at Large for International Women’s 

9 Rights, the United States Commission on International 

10 Women’s Rights, the Congress, and, as advisable, women’s 

11 nongovernmental organizations.’’. 

12 TITLE IV—PRESIDENTIAL 

13 ACTIONS 

14 Subtitle A—Targeted Responses to 

15 Violations of Women’s Rights 

16 Abroad 

17 SEC. 401. PRESIDENTIAL ACTIONS IN RESPONSE TO VIOLA18 TIONS OF WOMEN’S RIGHTS. 

19 (a) RESPONSE TO VIOLATIONS OF WOMEN’S

20 RIGHTS.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.— 

22 (A) UNITED STATES POLICY.—It shall be 

23 the policy of the United States— 

24 (i) to oppose violations of women’s 

25 rights that are or have been engaged in or 


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1 tolerated by the governments of foreign 

2 countries; and 

3 (ii) to promote women’s rights in 

4 those countries through the actions de5 scribed in subsection (b). 

6 (B) REQUIREMENT OF PRESIDENTIAL AC7 TION.—For each foreign country the govern8 ment of which engages in or tolerates violations 

9 of women’s rights, the President shall oppose 

10 such violations and promote the human rights 

11 of women in that country through the actions 

12 described in subsection (b). 

13 (2) BASIS OF ACTIONS.—Each action taken 

14 under paragraph (1)(B) shall be based upon infor15 mation regarding violations of women’s rights, as de16 scribed in the latest Country Reports on Human 

17 Rights Practices, the Annual Report and Executive 

18 Summary, and on any other evidence available, and 

19 shall take into account any findings or recommenda20 tions by the Commission with respect to the foreign 

21 country. 

22 (b) PRESIDENTIAL ACTIONS.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraphs (2) 

24 and (3), the President, in consultation with the Sec25 retary of State, the Ambassador at Large, the SpeVerDate Nov 24 2008 02:58 Jan 14, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00044 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S230.IS S230

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1 cial Adviser, and the Commission, shall, as expedi2 tiously as practicable in response to the violations 

3 described in subsection (a) by the government of a 

4 foreign country— 

5 (A) take one or more of the actions de6 scribed in paragraphs (1) through (15) of sec7 tion 405(a) (or commensurate action in substi8 tution therefor) with respect to that country; or 

9 (B) negotiate and enter into a binding 

10 agreement with the government of that country, 

11 as described in section 405(c). 

12 (2) DEADLINE FOR ACTIONS.—Not later than 

13 September 1 of each year, the President shall take 

14 action under any of paragraphs (1) through (15) of 

15 section 405(a) (or commensurate action in substi16 tution therefor) with respect to each foreign country 

17 the government of which has engaged in or tolerated 

18 violations of women’s rights at any time since Sep19 tember 1 of the preceding year, except that in the 

20 case of action under any of paragraphs (9) through 

21 (15) of section 405(a) (or commensurate action in 

22 substitution therefor)— 

23 (A) the action may only be taken after the 

24 requirements of sections 403 and 404 have been 

25 satisfied; and 


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1 (B) the September 1 limitation shall not 

2 apply. 

3 (3) AUTHORITY FOR DELAY OF PRESIDENTIAL

4 ACTIONS.—The President may delay action that is 

5 described in any of paragraphs (9) through (15) of 

6 section 405(a) (or commensurate action in substi7 tution therefor)— 

8 (A) if the President determines and cer9 tifies to the Congress that a single, additional 

10 period of time, not to exceed 90 days, is nec11 essary for any of the purposes set forth in sec12 tion 402(c)(3); and 

13 (B) only until the expiration of that addi14 tional period. 

15 (c) IMPLEMENTATION.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out subsection 

17 (b), the President shall— 

18 (A) take the action or actions that most 

19 appropriately respond to the nature and sever20 ity of the violations of women’s rights; 

21 (B) seek to the fullest extent possible to 

22 target action as narrowly as practicable with re23 spect to the agency or instrumentality of the 

24 foreign government, or specific officials thereof, 

25 that are responsible for such violations; and 


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1 (C) when appropriate, make every reason2 able effort to conclude a binding agreement 

3 concerning the cessation of such violations in 

4 countries with which the United States has dip5 lomatic relations. 

6 (2) GUIDELINES FOR PRESIDENTIAL AC7 TIONS.—In addition to the guidelines under para8 graph (1), the President, in determining whether to 

9 take a Presidential action under paragraphs (9) 

10 through (15) of section 405(a) (or commensurate ac11 tion in substitution therefor), shall seek to minimize 

12 any adverse effects on— 

13 (A) the population of the country whose 

14 government is targeted by the Presidential ac15 tion or actions; and 

16 (B) the humanitarian activities of United 

17 States and foreign nongovernmental organiza18 tions in that country. 

19 SEC. 402. PRESIDENTIAL ACTIONS IN RESPONSE TO PAR20 TICULARLY SEVERE VIOLATIONS OF WOM21 EN’S RIGHTS. 

22 (a) RESPONSE TO PARTICULARLY SEVERE VIOLA23 TIONS OF WOMEN’S RIGHTS.— 

24 (1) UNITED STATES POLICY.—It shall be the 

25 policy of the United States— 


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1 (A) to oppose particularly severe violations 

2 of women’s rights that are or have been en3 gaged in or tolerated by the governments of for4 eign countries; and 

5 (B) to promote the rights of women in 

6 those countries through the actions described in 

7 subsection (c). 

8 (2) REQUIREMENT OF PRESIDENTIAL AC9 TION.—Whenever the President determines that the 

10 government of a foreign country has engaged in or 

11 tolerated particularly severe violations of women’s 

12 rights, the President shall oppose such violations 

13 and promote women’s rights through one or more of 

14 the actions described in subsection (c). 

15 (b) DESIGNATIONS OF COUNTRIES OF PARTICULAR

16 CONCERN FOR WOMEN’S RIGHTS.— 

17 (1) ANNUAL REVIEW.— 

18 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than Sep19 tember 1 of each year, the President shall re20 view the status of women’s rights in each for21 eign country to determine whether the govern22 ment of that country has engaged in or toler23 ated particularly severe violations of women’s 

24 rights in that country during the preceding 12 

25 months or since the date of the last review of 


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1 that country under this subparagraph, which2 ever period is longer. The President shall des3 ignate each country the government of which 

4 has engaged in or tolerated violations described 

5 in this subparagraph as a country of particular 

6 concern for women’s rights. 

7 (B) BASIS OF REVIEW.—Each review con8 ducted under subparagraph (A) shall be based 

9 upon information contained in the latest Coun10 try Reports on Human Rights Practices, the 

11 Annual Report, and on any other evidence 

12 available, and shall take into account any find13 ings or recommendations of the Commission 

14 with respect to the foreign country. 

15 (C) IMPLEMENTATION.—Any review under 

16 subparagraph (A) of a foreign country may 

17 take place singly or jointly with the review of 

18 one or more countries and may take place at 

19 any time prior to September 1 of the respective 

20 year. 

21 (2) DETERMINATIONS OF RESPONSIBLE PAR22 TIES.—For the government of each country des23 ignated as a country of particular concern for wom24 en’s rights under paragraph (1)(A), the President 

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1 tality and specific officials of the government that 

2 are responsible for the particularly severe violations 

3 of women’s rights engaged in or tolerated by that 

4 government in order to appropriately target Presi5 dential actions under this section in response to the 

6 violations. 

7 (3) CONGRESSIONAL NOTIFICATION.—Whenever 

8 the President designates a country as a country of 

9 particular concern for women’s rights under para10 graph (1)(A), the President shall, as soon as prac11 ticable after the designation is made, transmit to the 

12 appropriate congressional committees— 

13 (A) the designation of the country, signed 

14 by the President; and 

15 (B) the identification, if any, of responsible 

16 parties determined under paragraph (2). 

17 (c) PRESIDENTIAL ACTIONS WITH RESPECT TO

18 COUNTRIES OF PARTICULAR CONCERN FOR WOMEN’S

19 RIGHTS.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraphs (2), 

21 (3), (4), and (5), with respect to each country of 

22 particular concern for women’s rights designated 

23 under subsection (b)(1)(A), the President shall, after 

24 the requirements of sections 403 and 404 have been 

25 satisfied, but not later than 90 days after the date 


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1 of designation of the country under that subsection, 

2 carry out one or more of the following actions under 

3 subparagraph (A) or subparagraph (B): 

4 (A) PRESIDENTIAL ACTIONS.—One or 

5 more of the Presidential actions described in 

6 paragraphs (9) through (15) of section 405(a), 

7 as determined by the President. 

8 (B) COMMENSURATE ACTIONS.—Commen9 surate action in substitution for any action de10 scribed in subparagraph (A). 

11 (2) SUBSTITUTION OF BINDING AGREE12 MENTS.— 

13 (A) IN GENERAL.—In lieu of carrying out 

14 action under paragraph (1), the President may 

15 conclude a binding agreement with the respec16 tive foreign government as described in section 

17 405(c). The existence of a binding agreement 

18 under this paragraph with a foreign government 

19 may be considered by the President prior to 

20 making any determination or taking any action 

21 under this title. 

22 (B) STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing 

23 in this paragraph may be construed to author24 ize the entry of the United States into an 


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1 agreement covering matters outside the scope of 

2 violations of women’s rights. 

3 (3) AUTHORITY FOR DELAY OF PRESIDENTIAL

4 ACTIONS.—If, on or before the date that the Presi5 dent is required (but for this paragraph) to take ac6 tion under paragraph (1), the President determines 

7 and certifies to the Congress that a single, addi8 tional period of time not to exceed 90 days is nec9 essary— 

10 (A) for a continuation of negotiations that 

11 have been commenced with the government of 

12 that country to bring about a cessation of the 

13 violations by the foreign country, 

14 (B) for a continuation of multilateral nego15 tiations into which the United States has en16 tered to bring about a cessation of the viola17 tions by the foreign country, or 

18 (C)(i) for a review of corrective action 

19 taken by the foreign country after designation 

20 of that country as a country of particular con21 cern, or 

22 (ii) in anticipation that corrective action 

23 will be taken by the foreign country during that 

24 additional period of time, 


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1 then the President shall not be required to take 

2 action until the expiration of that additional pe3 riod of time. 

4 (4) EXCEPTION FOR ONGOING PRESIDENTIAL

5 ACTION UNDER THIS ACT.—The President shall not 

6 be required to take action under this subsection in 

7 the case of a country of particular concern for wom8 en’s rights, if, with respect to that country— 

9 (A) the President has taken action pursu10 ant to this Act in a preceding year; 

11 (B) such action is in effect at the time the 

12 country is designated as a country of particular 

13 concern for women’s rights under this section; 

14 and 

15 (C) the President reports to the Congress 

16 the information described in paragraphs (1), 

17 (2), (3), and (4) of section 404(a) regarding the 

18 actions in effect with respect to that country. 

19 (5) EXCEPTION FOR ONGOING MULTIPLE

20 BROAD-BASED SANCTIONS IN RESPONSE TO HUMAN

21 RIGHTS VIOLATIONS.—If, at the time the President 

22 determines a country to be a country of particular 

23 concern for women’s rights, that country is already 

24 subject to multiple, broad-based sanctions imposed 

25 in significant part in response to human rights 


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1 abuses, and such sanctions are ongoing, the Presi2 dent may determine that one or more of these sanc3 tions also satisfies the requirements of this sub4 section. In the report to the Congress under section 

5 404(a), and, as applicable, in the information pub6 lished under section 408, the President shall des7 ignate the specific sanction or sanctions which the 

8 President determines satisfy the requirements of this 

9 subsection. The sanctions so designated shall remain 

10 in effect as provided in section 409. 

11 (d) STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION.—A determination 

12 under this Act, or any amendment made by this Act, that 

13 a foreign country has engaged in or tolerated particularly 

14 severe violations of women’s rights shall not be construed 

15 to require the termination of assistance or other activities 

16 with respect to that country under any other provision of 

17 law, including section 116 or 502B of the Foreign Assist18 ance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151n, 2304). 

19 SEC. 403. CONSULTATIONS. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—As soon as practicable after the 

21 President decides under section 401 to take an action 

22 under any of paragraphs (9) through (15) of section 

23 405(a) (or commensurate action in substitution therefor) 

24 with respect to a country in response to violations of wom25 en’s rights, or not later than 90 days after the President 


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1 designates a country as a country of particular concern 

2 for women’s rights under section 402, as the case may 

3 be, the President shall carry out the consultations required 

4 in this section. 

5 (b) DUTY TO CONSULT WITH FOREIGN GOVERN6 MENTS PRIOR TO TAKING PRESIDENTIAL ACTIONS.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—The President shall— 

8 (A) request consultation with the govern9 ment of the country concerned regarding the 

10 violations giving rise to the designation of that 

11 country as a country of particular concern for 

12 women’s rights, or to Presidential action under 

13 section 401, as the case may be; and 

14 (B) if agreed to, enter into such consulta15 tions, privately or publicly. 

16 (2) USE OF MULTILATERAL FORA.—If the 

17 President determines it to be appropriate, consulta18 tions under paragraph (1) may be sought and may 

19 occur in a multilateral forum, but, in any event, the 

20 President shall consult with appropriate foreign gov21 ernments for the purposes of achieving a coordinated 

22 international policy on actions that may be taken 

23 with respect to a country described in subsection (a), 

24 prior to implementing any such action. 


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1 (3) ELECTION OF NONDISCLOSURE OF NEGO2 TIATIONS TO PUBLIC.—If negotiations are under3 taken or an agreement is concluded with a foreign 

4 government regarding steps to cease the pattern of 

5 violations by that government, and if public disclo6 sure of such negotiations or agreement would jeop7 ardize the negotiations or the implementation of 

8 such agreement, as the case may be, the President 

9 may refrain from disclosing such negotiations and 

10 such agreement to the public, except that the Presi11 dent shall inform the appropriate congressional com12 mittees of the nature and extent of such negotiations 

13 and any agreement reached. 

14 (c) DUTY TO CONSULT WITH HUMANITARIAN ORGA15 NIZATIONS.—The President should consult with appro16 priate humanitarian and human rights organizations con17 cerning the potential impact of United States policies to 

18 promote women’s rights in countries described in sub19 section (a). 

20 (d) DUTY TO CONSULT WITH UNITED STATES IN21 TERESTED PARTIES.—The President shall, as appro22 priate, consult with interested parties in the United 

23 States, including the Commission on International Wom24 en’s Rights, with respect to the potential impact of in25 tended Presidential action or actions in countries deVerDate Nov 24 2008 02:58 Jan 14, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00056 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S230.IS S230

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1 scribed in subsection (a) on economic or other interests 

2 of the United States. 

3 SEC. 404. REPORT TO CONGRESS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (b), not 

5 later than 90 days after the President decides under sec6 tion 401 to take action under paragraphs (9) through (15) 

7 of section 405(a) (or commensurate action in substitution 

8 therefor) with respect to a country, in response to viola9 tions of women’s rights by that country, or not later than 

10 90 days after the President designates a country as a 

11 country of particular concern for women’s rights under 

12 section 402, as the case may be, the President shall submit 

13 a report to the Congress containing the following: 

14 (1) IDENTIFICATION OF PRESIDENTIAL AC15 TIONS.—An identification of the action or actions 

16 described in paragraphs (9) through (15) of section 

17 405(a) (or commensurate action in substitution 

18 therefor) to be taken with respect to the foreign 

19 country. 

20 (2) DESCRIPTION OF VIOLATIONS.—A descrip21 tion of the violations giving rise to the action or ac22 tions to be taken. 

23 (3) PURPOSE OF PRESIDENTIAL ACTIONS.—A 

24 description of the purpose of the action or actions. 

25 (4) EVALUATION.— 


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1 (A) DESCRIPTION.—An evaluation, in con2 sultation with the Secretary of State, the Am3 bassador at Large, the Commission, the Special 

4 Adviser, the parties described in subsections (c) 

5 and (d) of section 403, and whomever else the 

6 President deems appropriate, of the effects of 

7 the action or actions on— 

8 (i) the government of the foreign 

9 country; 

10 (ii) the population of the country; and 

11 (iii) the United States economy and 

12 other interested parties. 

13 (B) AUTHORITY TO WITHHOLD DISCLO14 SURE.—The President may withhold part or all 

15 of such evaluation from the public but shall 

16 provide the evaluation to the Congress in its en17 tirety. 

18 (5) STATEMENT OF POLICY OPTIONS.—A state19 ment that noneconomic policy options designed to 

20 bring about cessation of the violations of women’s 

21 rights have reasonably been exhausted, including the 

22 consultations required in section 403. 

23 (6) DESCRIPTION OF MULTILATERAL NEGOTIA24 TIONS.—A description of multilateral negotiations 

25 sought or carried out, if appropriate and applicable. 


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1 (b) DELAY IN TRANSMITTAL OF REPORT.—If, on or 

2 before the date that the President is required (but for this 

3 subsection) to submit a report under subsection (a) to the 

4 Congress, the President determines and certifies to the 

5 Congress, under section 401(b)(3) or 402(c)(3), that a 

6 single, additional period of time not to exceed 90 days is 

7 necessary, then the President shall not be required to sub8 mit the report to the Congress until the expiration of that 

9 additional period of time. 

10 SEC. 405. DESCRIPTION OF PRESIDENTIAL ACTIONS. 

11 (a) DESCRIPTION OF PRESIDENTIAL ACTIONS.—Ex12 cept as provided in subsection (d), the Presidential actions 

13 referred to in this subsection are the 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) Directing the Export-Import Bank of the 

8 United States, the Overseas Private Investment Cor9 poration, or the Trade and Development Agency not 

10 to approve the issuance of any (or a specified num11 ber of) guarantees, insurance, extensions of credit, 

12 or participations in the extension of credit with re13 spect to the specific government, agency, instrumen14 tality, or official found or determined by the Presi15 dent to be responsible for the violations under sec16 tion 401 or 402. 

17 (11) The withdrawal, limitation, or suspension 

18 of United States security assistance in accordance 

19 with section 502B of the Foreign Assistance Act of 

20 1961. 

21 (12) Consistent with section 701 of the Inter22 national Financial Institutions Act, directing the 

23 United States executive directors of international fi24 nancial institutions to oppose and vote against loans 

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1 ment, agency, instrumentality, or official found or 

2 determined by the President to be responsible for 

3 the violations under section 401 or 402. 

4 (13) Ordering the heads of the appropriate 

5 United States agencies not to issue any (or a speci6 fied number of) specific licenses, and not to grant 

7 any other specific authority (or a specified number 

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

9 the specific foreign government, agency, instrumen10 tality, or official found or determined by the Presi11 dent to be responsible for the violations under sec12 tion 401 or 402, under— 

13 (A) the Export Administration Act of 1979 

14 (as continued in effect under the International 

15 Emergency Economic Powers Act); 

16 (B) the Arms Export Control Act; 

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

18 (D) any other statute that requires the 

19 prior review and approval of the United States 

20 Government as a condition for the export or re21 export of goods or services. 

22 (14) Prohibiting any United States financial in23 stitution from making loans or providing credits to24 taling more than $10,000,000 in any 12-month pe25 riod to the specific foreign government, agency, inVerDate Nov 24 2008 02:58 Jan 14, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00061 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S230.IS S230

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1 strumentality, or official found or determined by the 

2 President to be responsible for the violations under 

3 section 401 or 402. 

4 (15) Prohibiting the United States Government 

5 from procuring, or entering into any contract for the 

6 procurement of, any goods or services from the for7 eign government, agency, instrumentality, or official 

8 found or determined by the President to be respon9 sible for the violations under section 401 or 402. 

10 (b) COMMENSURATE ACTION.—Except as provided in 

11 subsection (d), the President may substitute any other ac12 tion authorized by law for any action described in para13 graphs (1) through (15) of subsection (a) if such action 

14 is commensurate in effect to the action substituted and 

15 if the action would further the policy of the United States 

16 set forth in section 2(b) of this Act. The President shall 

17 seek to take all appropriate and feasible actions authorized 

18 by law to obtain the cessation of the violations. If commen19 surate action is taken, the President shall report such ac20 tion, together with an explanation for taking such action, 

21 to the appropriate congressional committees. 

22 (c) BINDING AGREEMENTS.—The President may ne23 gotiate and enter into a binding agreement with a foreign 

24 government against which sanctions would otherwise be 

25 imposed that obligates that government to cease, or take 


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1 substantial steps to address and phase out, the act, policy, 

2 or practice constituting the violation or violations of wom3 en’s rights. The entry into force of a binding agreement 

4 for the cessation of the violations shall be a primary objec5 tive for the President in responding to a foreign govern6 ment that has engaged in or tolerated particularly severe 

7 violations of women’s rights. 

8 (d) EXCEPTIONS.—Any action taken pursuant to 

9 subsection (a) or (b) may not prohibit or restrict the provi10 sion of medicine, medical equipment or supplies, food, or 

11 other humanitarian assistance. 

12 SEC. 406. EFFECTS ON EXISTING CONTRACTS. 

13 The President shall not be required to apply or main14 tain any Presidential action under this subtitle— 

15 (1) in the case of procurement of defense arti16 cles or defense services— 

17 (A) under existing contracts or sub18 contracts, including the exercise of options for 

19 production quantities, to satisfy requirements 

20 essential to the national security of the United 

21 States; 

22 (B) if the President determines in writing 

23 and so reports to the Congress that the person 

24 or other entity to which the Presidential action 

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1 plier of the defense articles or services, that the 

2 defense articles or services are essential, and 

3 that alternative sources are not readily or rea4 sonably available; or 

5 (C) if the President determines in writing 

6 and so reports to the Congress that such arti7 cles or services are essential to the national se8 curity under defense coproduction agreements; 

9 or 

10 (2) to products or services provided under con11 tracts entered into before the date on which the 

12 President publishes his intention to take the Presi13 dential action. 

14 SEC. 407. PRESIDENTIAL WAIVER. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (b), the 

16 President may waive the application of any of the actions 

17 described in paragraphs (9) through (15) of section 405(a) 

18 (or commensurate action in substitution therefor) with re19 spect to a country, if the President determines and so re20 ports to the appropriate congressional committees that— 

21 (1) the government of that country has ceased 

22 the violations giving rise to the Presidential action; 

23 (2) the exercise of such waiver authority would 

24 further the purposes of this Act; or 


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1 (3) the important national interest of the 

2 United States requires the exercise of such waiver 

3 authority. 

4 (b) CONGRESSIONAL NOTIFICATION.—Not later than 

5 the date of the exercise of a waiver under subsection (a), 

6 the President shall notify the appropriate congressional 

7 committees of the waiver or the intention to exercise the 

8 waiver, together with a detailed justification therefor. 

9 SEC. 408. PUBLICATION IN FEDERAL REGISTER. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (b), the 

11 President shall cause to be published in the Federal Reg12 ister the following: 

13 (1) DETERMINATIONS OF GOVERNMENTS, OFFI14 CIALS, AND ENTITIES OF PARTICULAR CONCERN.— 

15 Any designation of a country of particular concern 

16 for women’s rights under section 402(b)(1), together 

17 with, when applicable and to the extent practicable, 

18 the identities of the officials or entities determined 

19 to be responsible for the violations under section 

20 402(b)(2). 

21 (2) PRESIDENTIAL ACTIONS.—A description of 

22 any Presidential action under paragraphs (9) 

23 through (15) of section 405(a) (or commensurate ac24 tion in substitution therefor) and the effective date 

25 of the Presidential action. 


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1 (3) DELAYS IN TRANSMITTAL OF PRESI2 DENTIAL ACTION REPORTS.—Any delay in trans3 mittal of a Presidential action report, as described 

4 in section 404(b). 

5 (4) WAIVERS.—Any waiver under section 407. 

6 (b) LIMITED DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION.—The 

7 President may limit publication of information under this 

8 section in the same manner and to the same extent as 

9 the President may limit the publication of findings and 

10 determinations described in section 654(c) of the Foreign 

11 Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2414(c)), if the Presi12 dent determines that the publication of information under 

13 this section— 

14 (1) would be harmful to the national security of 

15 the United States; or 

16 (2) would not further the purposes of this Act. 

17 SEC. 409. TERMINATION OF PRESIDENTIAL ACTIONS. 

18 Any Presidential action taken under this Act with re19 spect to a foreign country shall terminate on the earlier 

20 of the following dates: 

21 (1) TERMINATION DATE.—The date that is 2 

22 years after the effective date of the Presidential ac23 tion, unless expressly reauthorized by law. 

24 (2) FOREIGN GOVERNMENT ACTIONS.—The 

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1 tion with the Commission, and certifies to the Con2 gress that the government of the foreign country has 

3 ceased or taken substantial and verifiable steps to 

4 cease the particularly severe violations of women’s 

5 rights. 

6 SEC. 410. PRECLUSION OF JUDICIAL REVIEW. 

7 No court shall have jurisdiction to review any Presi8 dential determination or agency action under this Act or 

9 any amendment made by this Act. 

10 Subtitle B—Strengthening Existing 

11 Law 

12 SEC. 421. UNITED STATES ASSISTANCE. 

13 (a) IMPLEMENTATION OF PROHIBITION ON ECO14 NOMIC ASSISTANCE.—Section 116(c) of the Foreign As15 sistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151n(c)) is amended— 

16 (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by 

17 inserting ‘‘and the Ambassador at Large for Inter18 national Women’s Rights’’ after ‘‘Religious Free19 dom’’; 

20 (2) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 

21 (2); 

22 (3) by striking the period at the end of para23 graph (3) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

24 (4) by adding at the end the following new 

25 paragraph: 


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1 ‘‘(4) whether the government— 

2 ‘‘(A) has engaged in or tolerated particu3 larly severe violations of women’s rights, as de4 fined in section 3 of the International Women’s 

5 Freedom Act of 2009; or 

6 ‘‘(B) has failed to undertake serious and 

7 sustained efforts to combat particularly severe 

8 violations of women’s rights (as defined in sec9 tion 3 of the International Women’s Freedom 

10 Act of 2009), when such efforts could have been 

11 reasonably undertaken.’’. 

12 (b) IMPLEMENTATION OF PROHIBITION ON MILITARY

13 ASSISTANCE.—Section 502B(a)(4) of the Foreign Assist14 ance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2304(a)(4)) is amended— 

15 (1) by striking ‘‘(A)’’ and inserting ‘‘(A)(i)’’; 

16 (2) by striking ‘‘(B)’’ and inserting ‘‘(ii)’’; 

17 (3) by striking the period at the end and insert18 ing ‘‘; or’’; and 

19 (4) by adding at the end the following: 

20 ‘‘(B)(i) has engaged in or tolerated particularly 

21 severe violations of women’s rights, as defined in 

22 section 3 of the International Women’s Freedom Act 

23 of 2009; or 

24 ‘‘(ii) has failed to undertake serious and sus25 tained efforts to combat particularly severe violaVerDate Nov 24 2008 02:58 Jan 14, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00068 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S230.IS S230

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1 tions of women’s rights when such efforts could have 

2 been reasonably undertaken.’’. 

3 SEC. 422. MULTILATERAL ASSISTANCE. 

4 Section 701 of the International Financial Institu5 tions Act (22 U.S.C. 262d) is amended— 

6 (1) by redesignating the second subsection (g) 

7 as subsection (h); and 

8 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub9 section: 

10 ‘‘(i) In determining whether the government of a 

11 country engages in a pattern of gross violations of inter12 nationally recognized human rights, as described in sub13 section (a), the President shall give particular consider14 ation to whether a foreign government— 

15 ‘‘(1) has engaged in or tolerated particularly se16 vere violations of women’s rights, as defined in sec17 tion 3 of the International Women’s Freedom Act of 

18 2009; or 

19 ‘‘(2) has failed to undertake serious and sus20 tained efforts to combat particularly severe viola21 tions of women’s rights when such efforts could have 

22 been reasonably undertaken.’’. 


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1 SEC. 423. EXPORTS OF CERTAIN ITEMS USED IN PARTICU2 LARLY SEVERE VIOLATIONS OF WOMEN’S 

3 RIGHTS. 

4 (a) MANDATORY LICENSING.—Notwithstanding any 

5 other provision of law, the Secretary of Commerce, with 

6 the concurrence of the Secretary of State, shall include 

7 on the list of crime control and detection instruments or 

8 equipment controlled for export and reexport under sec9 tion 6(n) of the Export Administration Act of 1979 (50 

10 U.S.C. App. 2405(n)) (as continued in effect under the 

11 International Emergency Economic Powers Act), or under 

12 any other provision of law, items being exported or reex13 ported to countries of particular concern for women’s 

14 rights that the Secretary of Commerce, with the concur15 rence of the Secretary of State, and in consultation with 

16 appropriate officials including the Under Secretary of 

17 State for Democracy and Global Affairs, Assistant Sec18 retary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, 

19 and the Ambassador at Large, determines are being used 

20 or are intended for use directly and in significant measure 

21 to carry out particularly severe violations of women’s 

22 rights. 

23 (b) LICENSING BAN.—The prohibition on the 

24 issuance of a license for export of crime control and detec25 tion instruments or equipment under section 502B(a)(2) 

26 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 


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1 2304(a)(2)) shall apply to the export and reexport of any 

2 item included under subsection (a) on the list of crime con3 trol instruments. 

4 TITLE V—PROMOTION OF 

5 WOMEN’S RIGHTS 

6 SEC. 501. ASSISTANCE FOR PROMOTING WOMEN’S RIGHTS. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find8 ings: 

9 (1) In many countries where severe violations of 

10 women’s rights occur, there is insufficient statutory 

11 legal protection for women, a lack of enforcement of 

12 the law, or insufficient cultural and social under13 standing of international norms of women’s rights. 

14 (2) Accordingly, in the provision of foreign as15 sistance, the United States should make a priority of 

16 promoting and developing legal protections and en17 forcement, as well as cultural respect for women’s 

18 rights. 

19 (b) ALLOCATION OF FUNDS FOR INCREASED PRO20 MOTION OF WOMEN’S RIGHTS.—Section 116(e) of the 

21 Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151n(e)) is 

22 amended by inserting ‘‘and the rights of women’’ after 

23 ‘‘free religious belief and practice’’. 


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1 SEC. 502. INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING. 

2 Section 303(a)(8) of the United States International 

3 Broadcasting Act of 1994 (22 U.S.C. 6202(a)(8)) is 

4 amended by inserting ‘‘and women’s rights’’ after ‘‘reli5 gion’’. 

6 SEC. 503. INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGES. 

7 Section 102(b) of the Mutual Educational and Cul8 tural Exchange Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2452(b)) is 

9 amended— 

10 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ after paragraph (11); 

11 (2) by striking the period at the end of para12 graph (12) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

13 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(13) promoting respect for and guarantees of 

15 women’s rights abroad by interchanges and visits be16 tween the United States and other nations of lead17 ers, scholars, and legal experts in the field of wom18 en’s rights.’’. 

19 SEC. 504. FOREIGN SERVICE AWARDS. 

20 (a) PERFORMANCE PAY.—Section 405(d) of the For21 eign Service Act of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 3965(d)) is amended 

22 in the second sentence by inserting ‘‘and women’s rights’’ 

23 after ‘‘freedom of religion’’. 

24 (b) FOREIGN SERVICE AWARDS.—Section 614 of the 

25 Foreign Service Act of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 4013) is amended 


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1 in the last sentence by inserting ‘‘and women’s rights,’’ 

2 after ‘‘freedom of religion’’. 

3 TITLE VI—REFUGEE, ASYLUM, 

4 AND CONSULAR MATTERS 

5 SEC. 601. USE OF ANNUAL REPORT. 

6 The Annual Report, together with other relevant doc7 umentation, shall serve as a resource for immigration 

8 judges and consular, refugee, and asylum officers in cases 

9 involving claims of mistreatment on the grounds of gender. 

10 Absence of reference by the Annual Report to conditions 

11 described by the alien shall not constitute the sole grounds 

12 for a denial of the alien’s claim. 

13 SEC. 602. REFUGEE TRAINING. 

14 (a) TRAINING FOR FOREIGN SERVICE OFFICERS.— 

15 Section 708(b) of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 (22 

16 U.S.C. 4028(b)) is amended by striking ‘‘and on religious 

17 persecution’’ and inserting ‘‘, on religious persecution, and 

18 on gender-based discrimination’’. 

19 (b) CONSULTATION WITH CONGRESS CONCERNING

20 ADMISSIONS OF REFUGEES.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 207 of the Immigra22 tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1157) is amend23 ed— 

24 (A) in subsection (d)(1), in the first sen25 tence, by inserting ‘‘, information relating to 


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1 gender-based discrimination against such refu2 gees in their countries of nationality or last ha3 bitual residence,’’ after ‘‘resettlement during 

4 the fiscal year’’; 

5 (B) in subsection (e)— 

6 (i) in the matter preceding paragraph 

7 (1), by inserting ‘‘the Secretary of State 

8 and’’ before ‘‘designated’’; 

9 (ii) by redesignating paragraph (7) as 

10 paragraph (8); and 

11 (iii) by inserting after paragraph (6) 

12 the following new paragraph: 

13 ‘‘(7) A description of any gender-based dis14 crimination experienced by such refugees in their 

15 countries of nationality or last habitual residence.’’. 

16 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 

17 by paragraph (1) shall take effect beginning with the 

18 first fiscal year that begins after the date of the en19 actment of this Act. 

20 (c) GUIDELINES AND TRAINING FOR OFFICIALS AD21 JUDICATING REFUGEE CASES.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Such section is further 

23 amended— 

24 (A) in subsection (f), by adding at the end 

25 the following new paragraph: 


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1 ‘‘(3) The Secretary of Homeland Security, in con2 sultation with the Secretary of State, shall develop and 

3 implement training guidelines related to nondiscrimination 

4 in the adjudication of such cases as a result of the gender, 

5 race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular so6 cial group, or political opinion of the alien applying to be 

7 admitted as a refugee under this section. Such training 

8 guidelines shall be culturally sensitive and shall provide 

9 the officials subject to such training with the tools to pro10 vide a nonbiased and nonadversarial atmosphere for the 

11 purpose of adjudicating such cases.’’; and 

12 (B) by adding at the end the following new 

13 subsection: 

14 ‘‘(g)(1) The Secretary of Homeland Security, in con15 sultation with the Secretary of State, shall promulgate 

16 regulations to ensure— 

17 ‘‘(A) uniform procedures for the establishment 

18 of agreements between the United States Govern19 ment and designated entities and personnel respon20 sible for the preparation of refugee case files for use 

21 in refugee adjudications; and 

22 ‘‘(B) uniform procedures regarding the prepara23 tion of such files by such entities and personnel. 

24 ‘‘(2) Such regulations shall ensure that— 


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1 ‘‘(A) such files accurately reflect the informa2 tion provided by the alien seeking admission as a 

3 refugee under this section; and 

4 ‘‘(B) such aliens are not disadvantaged or de5 nied such admission as a result of faulty case file 

6 preparation.’’. 

7 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 

8 by paragraph (1) shall take effect and apply with re9 spect to aliens seeking admission as refugees under 

10 section 207 of the Immigration and Nationality Act 

11 (8 U.S.C. 1157) beginning with the first fiscal year 

12 that begins after the date of the enactment of this 

13 Act. 

14 SEC. 603. REFORM OF ASYLUM POLICY. 

15 (a) LANGUAGE TRANSLATION SERVICES.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 208(d) of the Immi17 gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1158(d)) is 

18 amended by adding at the end the following new 

19 paragraph: 

20 ‘‘(8) LANGUAGE TRANSLATION SERVICES.— 

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of 

22 Homeland Security, in consultation with the 

23 Secretary of State, shall promulgate regulations 

24 that provide that the United States does not 

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1 vidual who demonstrates a bias or potential 

2 bias on the grounds of gender, race, religion, 

3 nationality, membership in a particular social 

4 group, or political opinion in connection with 

5 the giving of testimony by an alien before the 

6 trier of fact under subsection (b)(1)(B) or an 

7 asylum officer under section 235(b)(1)(B). 

8 ‘‘(B) PROHIBITION ON ASSISTANCE BY

9 CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS.—The Secretary of 

10 Homeland Security, in consultation with the 

11 Secretary of State, shall promulgate regulations 

12 to provide that the United States does not use 

13 the language translation services of an indi14 vidual who is an interpreter for or other em15 ployee of an airline owned by a country the gov16 ernment of which the Secretary of Homeland 

17 Security, in consultation with the Secretary of 

18 State, has determined has engaged in persecu19 tion on the grounds of gender, race, religion, 

20 nationality, membership in a particular social 

21 group, or political opinion in connection with 

22 the giving of testimony by an alien before the 

23 trier of fact under subsection (b)(1)(B) or an 

24 asylum officer under section 235(b)(1)(B).’’. 


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1 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made 

2 by paragraph (1) shall apply to the use of language 

3 translation services after the date of the enactment 

4 of this Act. 

5 (b) TRAINING FOR OFFICIALS.—Section 208 of the 

6 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1158) is 

7 amended by adding at the end the following new sub8 section: 

9 ‘‘(f) TRAINING FOR OFFICIALS.—In addition to the 

10 training that is provided to officers adjudicating asylum 

11 cases under this section and asylum officers under section 

12 235(b)(1)(E), the Secretary of Homeland Security, in con13 sultation with the Secretary of State, the Ambassador at 

14 Large for International Women’s Rights of the Depart15 ment of State, the Director of the George P. Shultz Na16 tional Foreign Affairs Training Center (commonly re17 ferred to as the ‘Foreign Service Institute’), and other ap18 propriate officials, shall provide to such officers training 

19 relating to the nature of gender-based discrimination in 

20 foreign countries (including country-specific conditions), 

21 instruction concerning internationally recognized women’s 

22 rights, and information regarding state sponsored and 

23 non-state sponsored applicable distinctions in a foreign 

24 country between the treatment of men and women.’’. 


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1 (c) TRAINING FOR IMMIGRATION JUDGES CON2 DUCTING PROCEEDINGS FOR DECIDING THE INADMIS3 SIBILITY OR DEPORTABILITY OF AN ALIEN.—Section 240 

4 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1229a) 

5 is amended by adding at the end the following new sub6 section: 

7 ‘‘(f) TRAINING FOR IMMIGRATION JUDGES CON8 DUCTING PROCEEDINGS FOR DECIDING THE INADMIS9 SIBILITY OR DEPORTABILITY OF AN ALIEN.—The Attor10 ney General shall provide to immigration judges training 

11 related to the nature of gender-based discrimination in 

12 foreign countries (including country-specific conditions), 

13 instruction concerning internationally recognized women’s 

14 rights, and information regarding state sponsored and 

15 non-state sponsored distinctions in a foreign country be16 tween the treatment of men and women.’’. 

17 SEC. 604. INADMISSIBILITY OF FOREIGN GOVERNMENT OF18 FICIALS WHO HAVE ENGAGED IN PARTICU19 LARLY SEVERE VIOLATIONS OF WOMEN’S 

20 RIGHTS. 

21 (a) INELIGIBILITY FOR VISAS AND ADMISSION TO

22 THE UNITED STATES.—Section 212(a)(2) of the Immi23 gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(2)) is 

24 amended by adding at the end the following new subpara25 graph: 


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1 ‘‘(J) FOREIGN GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS

2 WHO HAVE ENGAGED IN PARTICULARLY SE3 VERE VIOLATIONS OF WOMEN’S RIGHTS.—Any 

4 alien who, while serving as a foreign govern5 ment official, was responsible for or directly 

6 carried out, at any time during the preceding 

7 24-month period, particularly severe violations 

8 of women’s rights, as defined in section 3 of the 

9 International Women’s Freedom Act of 2009, 

10 and the spouse, son, or daughter, if any, of 

11 such official, is inadmissible.’’. 

12 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

13 subsection (a) shall apply to determinations of admissi14 bility made on or after the date of the enactment of this 

15 Act. 

16 SEC. 605. STUDY ON THE EFFECT OF EXPEDITED REMOVAL 

17 PROVISIONS ON ASYLUM CLAIMS. 

18 (a) STUDY.— 

19 (1) COMPTROLLER GENERAL.—The Comp20 troller General of the United States shall conduct a 

21 study alone or, upon request by the Commission 

22 under paragraph (2), in cooperation with experts in23 vited by the Commission, to determine whether im24 migration officers (including asylum officers (as de25 fined in section 235(b)(1)(E) of the Immigration 


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1 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1225(b)(1)(E))) per2 forming duties under section 235(b) of such Act 

3 with respect to aliens who may be eligible for asylum 

4 are engaging in any of the following conduct: 

5 (A) Failing to inform an alien of the right 

6 to seek protection in the United States if (s)he 

7 has any reason to fear persecution in his or her 

8 home country. 

9 (B) Encouraging aliens expressing a fear 

10 of gender-based persecution to withdraw their 

11 applications for admission. 

12 (C) Determining aliens are ineligible for 

13 asylum before referring such aliens for an inter14 view by an asylum officer for a determination of 

15 whether they have a credible fear of persecution 

16 (within the meaning of section 235(b)(1)(B)(v) 

17 of such Act). 

18 (D) Incorrectly failing to keep complete 

19 records of a decision to enforce expedited re20 moval and an alien’s reasons for the withdrawal 

21 of an asylum application. 

22 (E) Improperly using detention as a deter23 rent to an alien’s pursuing an asylum claim. 


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1 (F) Improperly detaining asylum seekers 

2 who establish a credible fear, identity, commu3 nity ties, and who do not pose a security risk. 

4 (G) Improperly detaining asylum seekers 

5 in jail-like facilities where staff is not given spe6 cific training on the special needs of asylum 

7 seekers. 

8 (2) COMMISSION REQUEST FOR PARTICIPATION

9 BY EXPERTS ON REFUGEE AND ASYLUM ISSUES.— 

10 The Commission may invite experts who are recog11 nized for their expertise and knowledge of refugee 

12 and asylum issues to cooperate with the Comptroller 

13 General in carrying out paragraph (1). 

14 (b) REPORTS.— 

15 (1) COMPTROLLER GENERAL.—Not later than 

16 one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

17 the Comptroller General of the United States shall 

18 submit to the Committee on the Judiciary of the 

19 House of Representatives, the Committee on the Ju20 diciary of the Senate, the Committee on Foreign Af21 fairs of the House of Representatives, and the Com22 mittee on Foreign Relations of the Senate a report 

23 containing the findings of the study conducted under 

24 subsection (a). If the experts referred to in such 

25 subsection were involved in conducting such study, 


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1 the Comptroller General shall allow such experts to 

2 include in the report a section setting forth their 

3 views and conclusions. 

4 (2) EXPERTS.—In the case of a Commission re5 quest under subsection (a)(2), the experts invited by 

6 the Commission under such subsection may submit 

7 a report to the committees described in paragraph 

8 (1). Such report may be submitted with the Comp9 troller General’s report under paragraph (1) or inde10 pendently. 

11 (c) ACCESS TO PROCEEDINGS.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para13 graph (2), to facilitate the completion of the duties 

14 described in this section, the Comptroller General 

15 and the experts, if any, referred to in subsection 

16 (a)(2) shall have unrestricted access to all stages of 

17 all inspections of aliens for admission under section 

18 235(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 

19 U.S.C. 1225(b)). 

20 (2) EXCEPTION.—Paragraph (1) shall not 

21 apply with respect to the inspection if— 

22 (A) the alien concerned objects to such ac23 cess; or 

24 (B) the Secretary of Homeland Security 

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1 ceeding would be threatened by such access, so 

2 long as any restrictions on the access of experts 

3 invited by the Commission under subsection 

4 (a)(2) do not contravene international law. 

5 TITLE VII—MISCELLANEOUS 

6 PROVISIONS 

7 SEC. 701. BUSINESS CODES OF CONDUCT. 

8 (a) CONGRESSIONAL FINDING.—Congress recognizes 

9 the increasing importance of transnational corporations as 

10 global actors, and their potential for providing positive 

11 leadership in their host countries in the area of human 

12 rights. 

13 (b) SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.—It is the sense of 

14 the Congress that transnational corporations operating 

15 overseas, particularly those corporations operating in 

16 countries the governments of which have engaged in or 

17 tolerated violations of women’s rights, as identified in the 

18 Annual Report, should adopt codes of conduct— 

19 (1) upholding the rights of their female employ20 ees; and 

21 (2) ensuring that a worker’s gender shall in no 

22 way affect, or be allowed to affect, the status or 

23 terms of his or her employment. 

Æ 


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