I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2215 

To ensure that United States taxpayer dollars are not used to fund terrorist 

entities in Lebanon, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 16, 2011 

Mr. BERMAN (for himself, Mr. ISSA, Mr. BOUSTANY, and Mr. RAHALL) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign 

Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on Financial Services, for a 

period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 

consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To ensure that United States taxpayer dollars are not used 

to fund terrorist entities in Lebanon, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Hezbollah Anti-Ter5 rorism Act of 2011’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. LIMITATION ON ASSISTANCE TO A HEZBOLLAH-DE2 PENDENT GOVERNMENT OF LEBANON. 

3 (a) DECLARATION OF POLICY.—It shall be the policy 

4 of the United States— 

5 (1) to promote the sovereignty, independence, 

6 and territorial integrity of Lebanon; 

7 (2) to oppose those organizations, individuals, 

8 and countries that practice or support terrorism or 

9 use Lebanon as a base to instigate attacks of any 

10 kind against Lebanese citizens, the United States, 

11 the West, and the State of Israel; 

12 (3) to promote the rule of law, democracy, the 

13 cessation of terrorism and incitement, and good gov14 ernance in Lebanon; and 

15 (4) to urge members of the international com16 munity to avoid contact with and refrain from sup17 porting the terrorist organization Hezbollah until it 

18 agrees to renounce violence and disarm. 

19 (b) AMENDMENTS.—Chapter 1 of part III of the For20 eign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2351 et seq.) is 

21 amended— 

22 (1) by redesignating the second section 620J 

23 (as added by section 651 of the Department of 

24 State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs 

25 Appropriations Act, 2008 (division J of Public Law 

26 110–161; 121 Stat. 2341) as section 620M; and 


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1 (2) by adding at the end the following new sec2 tion: 

3 ‘‘SEC. 620N. LIMITATION ON ASSISTANCE TO A HEZBOLLAH4 DEPENDENT GOVERNMENT OF LEBANON. 

5 ‘‘(a) LIMITATION.—Assistance may not be provided 

6 under this Act to or for the benefit of a Hezbollah-depend7 ent Government of Lebanon unless a certification de8 scribed in subsection (c) or a recertification described in 

9 subsection (d) is in effect. 

10 ‘‘(b) EXCEPTIONS.—Subsection (a) shall not apply 

11 with respect to the following: 

12 ‘‘(1) ASSISTANCE TO MEET BASIC HUMAN

13 NEEDS.—Assistance to meet food, water, medicine, 

14 health, or sanitation needs, or other assistance to 

15 meet basic human needs. 

16 ‘‘(2) ASSISTANCE TO PROMOTE DEMOCRACY.— 

17 Assistance to promote democracy, human rights, 

18 rule-of-law, and freedom of the press, provided that 

19 such assistance does not directly benefit Hezbollah 

20 or any other foreign terrorist organization. 

21 ‘‘(3) ASSISTANCE TO PROMOTE DISAR22 MAMENT.—Assistance to promote disarmament of 

23 Lebanese militia, including Hezbollah. 

24 ‘‘(4) ASSISTANCE TO THE IMET PROGRAM.—As25 sistance to support the United States Government’s 


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1 International Military Education and Training 

2 (IMET) program. 

3 ‘‘(5) ASSISTANCE TO EDUCATIONAL INSTITU4 TIONS.—Assistance to the American University of 

5 Beirut, the Lebanese American University, and 

6 other Lebanese educational institutions. 

7 ‘‘(c) CERTIFICATION.—A certification described in 

8 subsection (a) is a certification transmitted by the Presi9 dent to Congress that contains a determination of the 

10 President that— 

11 ‘‘(1) Hezbollah has ceased its support for ter12 rorism, renounced violence, and disarmed; or 

13 ‘‘(2) the Government of Lebanon has made de14 monstrable progress toward dismantling all 

15 Hezbollah terrorist and military infrastructure with16 in Lebanon, arresting and bringing all wanted 

17 Hezbollah terrorists to justice, ending all Hezbollah 

18 imports of military and terrorism-related equipment, 

19 destroying unauthorized Hezbollah arms factories, 

20 thwarting and preempting terrorist attacks, and 

21 fully cooperating with United Nations Interim Force 

22 in Lebanon (UNIFIL) peacekeepers. 

23 ‘‘(d) RECERTIFICATIONS.—Not later than 90 days 

24 after the date on which the President transmits to ConVerDate Mar 15 2010 18:59 Jun 20, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2215.IH H2215

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1 gress an initial certification under subsection (c), and 

2 every six months thereafter— 

3 ‘‘(1) the President shall transmit to Congress a 

4 recertification that the conditions described in sub5 section (c) are continuing to be met; or 

6 ‘‘(2) if the President is unable to make such a 

7 recertification, the President shall transmit to Con8 gress a report that contains the reasons therefor. 

9 ‘‘(e) CONGRESSIONAL NOTIFICATION.—Assistance 

10 made available under this Act to Lebanon may not be pro11 vided until 15 days after the date on which the President 

12 has provided notice thereof to the appropriate congres13 sional committees in accordance with the procedures appli14 cable to reprogramming notifications under section 

15 634A(a) of this Act. 

16 ‘‘(f) NATIONAL SECURITY WAIVER.—The President 

17 may waive on a case-by-case basis the requirement to 

18 make a certification under subsection (c) or a recertifi19 cation under subsection (d) if the President— 

20 ‘‘(1) determines and certifies in writing to the 

21 appropriate congressional committees that it is vital 

22 to the national security interests of the United 

23 States to do so; and 


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1 ‘‘(2) submits to the appropriate congressional 

2 committees a report describing the reasons for the 

3 determination, including— 

4 ‘‘(A) a description of the reason or reasons 

5 the President is unable to make a certification 

6 under subsection (c) or a recertification under 

7 subsection (d); and 

8 ‘‘(B) a description of the potential impact 

9 of the waiver on United States regional inter10 ests. 

11 ‘‘(g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

12 ‘‘(1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT13 TEES.—The term ‘appropriate congressional com14 mittees’ means— 

15 ‘‘(A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

16 and the Committee on Appropriations of the 

17 House of Representatives; and 

18 ‘‘(B) the Committee on Foreign Relations 

19 and the Committee on Appropriations of the 

20 Senate. 

21 ‘‘(2) FOREIGN TERRORIST ORGANIZATION.— 

22 The term ‘foreign terrorist organization’ means an 

23 organization designated as a foreign terrorist organi24 zation by the Secretary of State in accordance with 


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1 section 219(a) of the Immigration and Nationality 

2 Act (8 U.S.C. 1189(a)). 

3 ‘‘(3) HEZBOLLAH-DEPENDENT GOVERNMENT

4 OF LEBANON.—The term ‘Hezbollah-dependent Gov5 ernment of Lebanon’ means— 

6 ‘‘(A) a Lebanese government in which 

7 Hezbollah is the majority element in a gov8 erning coalition; 

9 ‘‘(B) a Lebanese government in which 

10 Hezbollah is the architect or primary forger of 

11 the governing coalition; or 

12 ‘‘(C) a Lebanese government which de13 pends on Hezbollah, even from outside that 

14 government, for its parliamentary majority.’’. 

15 (c) PREVIOUSLY OBLIGATED FUNDS.—The provi16 sions of section 620N of the Foreign Assistance Act of 

17 1961, as added by subsection (b) of this section, shall be 

18 applicable to the unexpended balances of funds obligated 

19 prior to the date of the enactment of this Act. 


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1 SEC. 3. LIMITATION ON ASSISTANCE TO HEZBOLLAH-IN2 FLUENCED MINISTRIES, AGENCIES, AND IN3 STRUMENTALITIES OF A GOVERNMENT OF 

4 LEBANON IN WHICH HEZBOLLAH IS A MINOR5 ITY ELEMENT IN A GOVERNING COALITION. 

6 (a) AMENDMENT.—Chapter 1 of part III of the For7 eign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2351 et seq.), as 

8 amended by section 2(b)(2) of this Act, is further amended 

9 by adding at the end the following new section: 

10 ‘‘SEC. 620O. LIMITATION ON ASSISTANCE TO HEZBOLLAH11 INFLUENCED MINISTRIES, AGENCIES, AND 

12 INSTRUMENTALITIES OF A GOVERNMENT OF 

13 LEBANON IN WHICH HEZBOLLAH IS A MINOR14 ITY ELEMENT IN A GOVERNING COALITION. 

15 ‘‘(a) LIMITATION.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a Govern17 ment of Lebanon in which Hezbollah is a minority 

18 element in a governing coalition, assistance may not 

19 be provided under this Act to, or to the benefit of, 

20 any ministry, agency, or instrumentality in which 

21 the chief official or other senior-level officials are 

22 members of Hezbollah or which is otherwise effec23 tively controlled by Hezbollah unless a certification 

24 described in section 620N(c) or a recertification de25 scribed in 620N(d) is in effect. 


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1 ‘‘(2) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENT.—A certifi2 cation described in section 620N(c)(2) may be made 

3 for purposes of subsection (a) only if the President 

4 determines that Hezbollah has fully cooperated with 

5 the Government of Lebanon in making demonstrable 

6 progress toward meeting the conditions specified in 

7 section 620N(c)(2). 

8 ‘‘(b) EXCEPTIONS.—Subsection (a) shall not apply 

9 with respect to assistance described in paragraphs (1) 

10 through (4) of section 620N(b). 

11 ‘‘(c) CONGRESSIONAL NOTIFICATION.—Assistance 

12 made available under this Act to Lebanon may not be pro13 vided until 15 days after the date on which the President 

14 has provided notice thereof to the appropriate congres15 sional committees in accordance with the procedures appli16 cable to reprogramming notifications under section 

17 634A(a) of this Act. 

18 ‘‘(d) NATIONAL SECURITY WAIVER.—The President 

19 may waive on a case-by-case basis the requirement to 

20 make a certification under section 620N(c) for purposes 

21 of subsection (a) or a recertification under section 

22 620N(d) for purposes of subsection (a) if the President— 

23 ‘‘(1) determines and certifies in writing to the 

24 appropriate congressional committees that it is vital 


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1 to the national security interests of the United 

2 States to do so; and 

3 ‘‘(2) submits to the appropriate congressional 

4 committees a report describing the reasons for the 

5 determination, including— 

6 ‘‘(A) a description of the reason or reasons 

7 the President is unable to make a certification 

8 under section 620N(c) for purposes of sub9 section (a) or a recertification under section 

10 620N(d) for purposes of subsection (a); and 

11 ‘‘(B) a description of the potential impact 

12 of the waiver on United States regional inter13 ests. 

14 ‘‘(e) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘appro15 priate congressional committees’ has the meaning given 

16 the term in section 620N(g).’’. 

17 (b) PREVIOUSLY OBLIGATED FUNDS.—The provi18 sions of section 620O of the Foreign Assistance Act of 

19 1961, as added by subsection (a) of this section, shall be 

20 applicable to the unexpended balances of funds obligated 

21 prior to the date of the enactment of this Act. 

22 SEC. 4. LIMITATION ON ASSISTANCE FOR NONGOVERN23 MENTAL ORGANIZATIONS FOR LEBANON. 

24 (a) AMENDMENT.—Chapter 1 of part III of the For25 eign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2351 et seq.), as 


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1 amended by sections 2(b)(2) and 3(a) of this Act, is fur2 ther amended by adding at the end the following new sec3 tion: 

4 ‘‘SEC. 620P. LIMITATION ON ASSISTANCE FOR NONGOVERN5 MENTAL ORGANIZATIONS FOR LEBANON. 

6 ‘‘(a) LIMITATION.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Assistance may be provided 

8 under this Act to nongovernmental organizations 

9 working in Lebanon only during a period for which 

10 a certification described in section 620N(c) or a re11 certification described in section 620N(d) is in ef12 fect. 

13 ‘‘(2) APPLICABILITY.—The limitation on assist14 ance under paragraph (1) applies only during a pe15 riod for which a Hezbollah-dependent Government of 

16 Lebanon is in power. 

17 ‘‘(b) EXCEPTIONS.—Subsection (a) shall not apply 

18 with respect to the following: 

19 ‘‘(1) ASSISTANCE TO MEET BASIC HUMAN

20 NEEDS, PROMOTE DEMOCRACY, AND PROMOTE DIS21 ARMAMENT.—Assistance described in paragraphs 

22 (1), (2), and (3) of section 620N(b). 

23 ‘‘(2) ASSISTANCE FOR INDIVIDUAL MEMBERS

24 OF THE LEBANESE GOVERNMENT.—Assistance, 

25 other than funding of salaries or salary supplements, 


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1 to individual members of the Lebanese Government 

2 who the President determines are not members of 

3 Hezbollah or any other foreign terrorist organiza4 tion, for the purposes of facilitating the attendance 

5 of such members in programs for the development of 

6 institutions of democratic governance, including en7 hancing the transparent and accountable operations 

8 of such institutions. 

9 ‘‘(3) OTHER TYPES OF ASSISTANCE.—Any 

10 other type of assistance if the President— 

11 ‘‘(A) determines that the provision of such 

12 assistance is in the national security interest of 

13 the United States; and 

14 ‘‘(B) not less than 30 days prior to the ob15 ligation of amounts for the provision of such as16 sistance— 

17 ‘‘(i) consults with the appropriate con18 gressional committees regarding the spe19 cific programs, projects, and activities to 

20 be carried out using such assistance; and 

21 ‘‘(ii) submits to the appropriate con22 gressional committees a written memo23 randum that contains the determination of 

24 the President under subparagraph (A), 


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1 with an explanation as to the reasons for 

2 the President’s determination. 

3 ‘‘(c) CONGRESSIONAL NOTIFICATION.—Assistance 

4 made available under this Act to nongovernmental organi5 zations for Lebanon may not be provided until 15 days 

6 after the date on which the President has provided notice 

7 thereof to the appropriate congressional committees in ac8 cordance with the procedures applicable to reprogramming 

9 notifications under section 634A(a) of this Act. 

10 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the terms ‘ap11 propriate congressional committees’, ‘foreign terrorist or12 ganization’, and ‘Hezbollah-dependent Government of 

13 Lebanon’ have the meanings given such terms in section 

14 620N(g).’’. 

15 (b) OVERSIGHT AND RELATED REQUIREMENTS.— 

16 (1) OVERSIGHT.—For each of the fiscal years 

17 2011 and 2012, the Secretary of State shall certify 

18 to the appropriate congressional committees not 

19 later than 30 days prior to the initial obligation of 

20 amounts assistance to nongovernmental organiza21 tions for Lebanon under the Foreign Assistance Act 

22 of 1961 that procedures have been established to en23 sure that the Comptroller General of the United 

24 States will have access to appropriate United States 


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1 financial information in order to review the use of 

2 such assistance. 

3 (2) VETTING.— 

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—Prior to any obligation 

5 of for each of the fiscal years 2011 and 2012 

6 for assistance to nongovernmental organizations 

7 for Lebanon under the Foreign Assistance Act 

8 of 1961, the Secretary of State shall take all 

9 appropriate steps to ensure that such assistance 

10 is not provided to or through any individual or 

11 entity that the Secretary knows, or has reason 

12 to believe, advocates, plans, sponsors, engages 

13 in, or has engaged in, terrorist activity. 

14 (B) PROCEDURES.—The Secretary of 

15 State shall, as appropriate, establish procedures 

16 specifying the steps to be taken in carrying out 

17 this paragraph and shall terminate assistance 

18 to any individual or entity that the Secretary 

19 has determined advocates, plans, sponsors, or 

20 engages in terrorist activity. 

21 (C) DEFINITION.—In this paragraph, the 

22 term ‘‘terrorist activity’’ has the meaning given 

23 the term in section 212(a)(3)(B)(iii) of the Im24 migration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182). 


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1 (3) PROHIBITION.—No amounts made available 

2 for fiscal year 2011 or 2012 for assistance to non3 governmental organizations for Lebanon under the 

4 Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 may be made avail5 able for the purpose of recognizing or otherwise hon6 oring individuals who commit, or have committed, 

7 acts of terrorism. 

8 SEC. 5. INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS. 

9 (a) REQUIREMENT.—The President should direct the 

10 United States Executive Director at each international fi11 nancial institution to use the voice, vote, and influence of 

12 the United States to prohibit assistance to the Hezbollah13 dependent Government of Lebanon (other than assistance 

14 described under subsection (b)) during any period for 

15 which a certification described in section 620N(c) of the 

16 Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 or a recertification de17 scribed in section 620N(d) of such Act (as added by sec18 tion 2(b)(2) of this Act) is not in effect with respect to 

19 the Hezbollah-dependent Government of Lebanon. 

20 (b) EXCEPTIONS.—The prohibition on assistance de21 scribed in subsection (a) should not apply with respect to 

22 the following types of assistance: 

23 (1) Assistance to meet food, water, medicine, or 

24 sanitation needs, or other assistance to meet basic 

25 human needs. 


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1 (2) Assistance to promote democracy, human 

2 rights, freedom of the press, non-violence, reconcili3 ation, and peaceful coexistence, provided that such 

4 assistance does not directly benefit Hezbollah or 

5 other foreign terrorist organizations. 

6 (c) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘inter7 national financial institution’’ has the meaning given the 

8 term in section 1701(c)(2) of the International Financial 

9 Institutions Act (22 U.S.C. 262r(c)(2)). 

10 SEC. 6. REPORTING REQUIREMENT. 

11 Not later than 90 days after the date of the enact12 ment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Secretary 

13 of State shall submit to the appropriate congressional 

14 committees a report that— 

15 (1) describes the steps that have been taken by 

16 the United States Government to ensure that other 

17 countries and international organizations, including 

18 multilateral development banks, do not provide di19 rect assistance to the Hezbollah-dependent Govern20 ment of Lebanon for any period for which a certifi21 cation described in section 620N(c) of the Foreign 

22 Assistance Act of 1961 or a recertification described 

23 in section 620N(d) of such Act (as added by section 

24 2(b)(2) of this Act) is not in effect; and 


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1 (2) identifies any countries and international 

2 organizations, including multilateral development 

3 banks, that are providing direct assistance to the 

4 Hezbollah-dependent Government of Lebanon during 

5 such a period, and describes the nature and amount 

6 of such assistance. 

7 SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS. 

8 In this Act: 

9 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT10 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com11 mittees’’ means— 

12 (A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and 

13 the Committee on Appropriations of the House 

14 of Representatives; and 

15 (B) the Committee on Foreign Relations 

16 and the Committee on Appropriations of the 

17 Senate. 

18 (2) HEZBOLLAH-DEPENDENT GOVERNMENT OF

19 LEBANON.—The term ‘‘Hezbollah-dependent Gov20 ernment of Lebanon’’ has the meaning given the 

21 term in section 620N(g) of the Foreign Assistance 

22 Act of 1961 (as added by section 2(b)(2) of this 

23 Act). 

Æ 


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