I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3526 

To permit persons subject to the jurisdiction of the United States to enter 

into transactions with certain sanctioned foreign persons that are customary, necessary, and incidental to the donation or provision of goods 

or services to prevent or alleviate the suffering of civilian populations, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 18, 2013 

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee 

on the Judiciary, 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 permit persons subject to the jurisdiction of the United 

States to enter into transactions with certain sanctioned 

foreign persons that are customary, necessary, and incidental to the donation or provision of goods or services 

to prevent or alleviate the suffering of civilian populations, 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Humanitarian Assist3 ance Facilitation Act of 2013’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress finds the following: 

6 (1) The 2011–2012 drought in East Africa, 

7 part of a persistent weather trend in the region, was 

8 exacerbated by stagnating agricultural development 

9 and unsustainable forms of livelihood. Moreover, in 

10 Somalia, the hardest hit country in the region, the 

11 terrorist group al-Shabaab obstructed the delivery of 

12 humanitarian assistance and directly threatened aid 

13 agencies. Thus, the famine was a foreseeable and, 

14 with unimpeded delivery of aid, a preventable event. 

15 (2) It is estimated that 4 million Somalis were 

16 affected by the drought and famine in the region 

17 and several million remain vulnerable to this day. 

18 According to the May 2013 report issued by the 

19 United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization 

20 and the Famine Early Warning System Network, 

21 the Somalia famine resulted in 258,000 deaths be22 tween October 2010 and April 2012. More than half 

23 of those deaths were children under the age of five. 

24 (3) Because of laws prohibiting activities that 

25 may directly or indirectly support terrorist organiza26 tions, a general or specific license issued by the DeVerDate Mar 15 2010 21:18 Nov 20, 2013 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3526.IH H3526

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1 partment of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets 

2 Control (OFAC) is needed to enable United States 

3 humanitarian organizations to legally provide assist4 ance in al-Shabaab-controlled areas of Somalia par5 ticularly with respect to activities that require inter6 actions or dealings with al-Shabaab. 

7 (4) The United States Agency for International 

8 Development (USAID) has an OFAC-specific license 

9 to operate in these conditions in Somalia that covers 

10 the organizations that USAID funds, but not orga11 nizations that operate with their own funding or 

12 funding solely from non-United States Government 

13 sources, and also not the non-United States Govern14 ment funding of organizations that operate with 

15 both United States Government and non-United 

16 States Government funding, unless USAID author17 izes both types of funding to be covered under such 

18 OFAC-specific license. Organizations that operate in 

19 al-Shabaab-controlled areas without such a license 

20 can be subject to prosecution for violating United 

21 States law, at least with respect to activities or 

22 transactions that involve al-Shabaab, even inciden23 tally. 

24 (5) Prior to OFAC issuing USAID its license, 

25 no licenses for humanitarian assistance to the people 


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1 of Somalia were issued before the United Nations 

2 declared a famine in al-Shabaab-controlled areas of 

3 Somalia. 

4 (6) In pursuit of eliminating aid in any form to 

5 terrorist organizations, Executive orders have had 

6 the effect of undoing protections for humanitarian 

7 operations in areas controlled by such organizations 

8 previously contained in the International Emergency 

9 Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C.1701 et seq.) and 

10 sections 2339A and 2339B of title 18, United States 

11 Code (commonly known as the ‘‘Material Support 

12 Statutes’’). Furthermore, the prohibitions contained 

13 in such Executive orders and the Material Support 

14 Statutes discouraged and, in some instances, prohib15 ited donors from contributing to aid efforts for all 

16 of Somalia. In some cases, the unintended con17 sequences included preventing humanitarian organi18 zations from establishing access to civilians and pro19 viding them with life-saving aid, while empowering 

20 terrorist organizations that became the sole conduit 

21 of aid. 

22 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

23 It is the sense of Congress that humanitarian organi24 zations, acting in good faith and with the appropriate re25 strictions and controls in place, should not be prevented, 


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1 directly or indirectly by Executive orders or counterter2 rorism laws, from accessing and providing aid to civilian 

3 populations before or early on in humanitarian crises, such 

4 as in the famine in al-Shabaab-controlled areas of Soma5 lia. 

6 SEC. 4. AMENDMENTS TO SECTION 203 OF THE INTER7 NATIONAL EMERGENCY ECONOMIC POWERS 

8 ACT. 

9 (a) ADDITIONAL EXCEPTION.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 203 of the Inter11 national Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 

12 U.S.C. 1702) is amended— 

13 (A) in subsection (b)(2)— 

14 (i) by inserting after ‘‘to relieve 

15 human suffering’’ the following: ‘‘including 

16 donations to foreign persons subject to 

17 sanctions under this Act in order to 

18 achieve such purposes,’’; and 

19 (ii) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end; 

20 (B) by redesignating subsection (c) as sub21 section (d); and 

22 (C) by inserting after subsection (b) the 

23 following: 

24 ‘‘(c) ADDITIONAL EXCEPTION.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The authority granted to 

2 the President by this section does not include the 

3 authority to further restrict, by regulation or other4 wise, directly or indirectly— 

5 ‘‘(A) transactions, by a person subject to 

6 the jurisdiction of the United States, with a for7 eign person that is subject to sanctions under 

8 this Act that are customary, necessary, and in9 cidental to the donation or provision of goods or 

10 services by the person subject to the jurisdiction 

11 of the United States or its foreign representa12 tives to civilian populations to prevent or allevi13 ate the suffering of such civilian populations, 

14 if— 

15 ‘‘(i) the person subject to the jurisdic16 tion of the United States has acted in good 

17 faith without intent to further the aims or 

18 objectives of the foreign person and has 

19 used its best efforts to minimize any such 

20 transactions; 

21 ‘‘(ii) the goods or services provided to 

22 the civilian population— 

23 ‘‘(I) are limited to articles such 

24 as food, clothing, and medicine; and 


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1 ‘‘(II) are not capable of being 

2 used to carry out any terrorist activity 

3 (as defined in section 

4 212(a)(3)(B)(iii) of the Immigration 

5 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

6 1182(a)(3)(B)(iii))); 

7 ‘‘(iii) the person subject to the juris8 diction of the United States— 

9 ‘‘(I) prior to, or not later than 10 

10 business days after, the first instance 

11 of entering into any transaction de12 scribed in this subparagraph, provides 

13 to the Secretary of State initial notice 

14 summarizing the nature and extent of 

15 its operations in connection with pro16 viding such goods or services; and 

17 ‘‘(II) at least once each year dur18 ing which the person enters into any 

19 transaction described in this subpara20 graph, provides to the Secretary of 

21 State subsequent notice summarizing 

22 the nature and extent of its operations 

23 in connection with donating or pro24 viding such goods or services; and 


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1 ‘‘(iv) the person, including any direc2 tor, officer, or employee of the person, is 

3 not the subject of or directly named in any 

4 publicly-available debarment, suspension, 

5 or Executive order that prohibits receipt of 

6 funding from the United States Govern7 ment; and 

8 ‘‘(B) engaging in any speech or commu9 nication with a foreign person that is subject to 

10 sanctions under this Act to prevent or alleviate 

11 the suffering of a civilian population, including 

12 speech or communication to reduce or eliminate 

13 the frequency and severity of violent conflict 

14 and reducing its impact on the civilian popu15 lation. 

16 ‘‘(2) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing con17 tained in paragraph (1) shall be construed to au18 thorize the President to prohibit the export of stand19 ard, commercially-available goods or services, includ20 ing communications equipment, software and com21 puters, that are necessary to carry out operations re22 lated to the provision of goods or services to prevent 

23 or alleviate the suffering of civilian populations that 

24 are under the control of a foreign person subject to 

25 sanctions under this Act.’’. 


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1 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 

2 by paragraph (1) take effect on the date of enact3 ment of this Act and apply with respect to trans4 actions described in section 203(c)(1) of the Inter5 national Emergency Economic Powers Act, as added 

6 by paragraph (1), entered into on or after such date 

7 of enactment. 

8 (b) ADVISORY COUNCIL TO PREVENT AND ALLEVI9 ATE HUMAN SUFFERING IN AREAS UNDER THE CONTROL

10 OF CERTAIN SANCTIONED FOREIGN PERSONS.—Section 

11 203 of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act 

12 (50 U.S.C.1702), as amended by subsection (a) of this 

13 section, is further amended by adding at the end the fol14 lowing: 

15 ‘‘(e) ADVISORY COUNCIL TO PREVENT AND RE16 SPOND TO HUMAN SUFFERING IN AREAS AFFECTED BY

17 CERTAIN SANCTIONED FOREIGN PERSONS.— 

18 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—No later than 90 days 

19 after the date of enactment of the Humanitarian As20 sistance Facilitation Act of 2013, the Secretary of 

21 State shall, in consultation with the Attorney Gen22 eral, Secretary of Defense, Secretary of the Treasury 

23 and the Secretary of Commerce, establish an Advi24 sory Council on United States Policy Related to 

25 Non-Governmental Activities to Prevent and ReVerDate Mar 15 2010 21:19 Nov 20, 2013 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3526.IH H3526

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1 spond to Human Suffering in Areas Affected By 

2 Certain Sanctioned Foreign Persons (hereafter in 

3 this subsection referred to as the ‘Advisory Coun4 cil’). 

5 ‘‘(2) MEMBERSHIP.—The Advisory Council 

6 shall be composed of not less than 15 members ap7 pointed by the Secretary of State from among indi8 viduals who are experts in the fields of peace-build9 ing, humanitarian aid in areas of armed conflict, 

10 representatives from organizations directly involved 

11 in the delivery of aid in areas of armed conflict, and 

12 other experts with relevant expertise as determined 

13 by the Secretary of State. 

14 ‘‘(3) DUTIES.—The Advisory Council shall— 

15 ‘‘(A) review existing laws, regulations, Ex16 ecutive orders, and administrative actions regu17 lating or prohibiting, directly or indirectly, 

18 peacebuilding activities and the provision of hu19 manitarian aid and development assistance in 

20 areas under the control of foreign persons that 

21 are subject to sanctions under United States 

22 law; 

23 ‘‘(B) conduct additional research and 

24 study as necessary on the subjects of counter25 terrorism and security measures in relation to 


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1 the delivery of humanitarian aid and develop2 ment assistance; 

3 ‘‘(C) report to the Secretary of State on its 

4 findings; and 

5 ‘‘(D) make recommendations to the Sec6 retary of State and other officials described in 

7 paragraph (1) (as appropriate) on the most effi8 cient and effective means of limiting diversion 

9 of humanitarian aid and development assistance 

10 while also preserving the impartiality of human11 itarian aid and development assistance and the 

12 ability of humanitarian organizations to prevent 

13 and relieve human suffering of civilian popu14 lations. 

15 ‘‘(4) TERMINATION.—Section 14(a)(2) of the 

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

17 (relating to termination of advisory committees) 

18 shall not apply to the Advisory Council.’’. 

19 SEC. 5. AMENDMENTS TO SECTION 2339B OF TITLE 18, 

20 UNITED STATES CODE. 

21 (a) DEFINITION OF MATERIAL SUPPORT OR RE22 SOURCES.—Section 2339B(g)(4) of title 18, United States 

23 Code, is amended by adding at the end before the semi24 colon the following: ‘‘, except that such term does not in25 clude engaging in speech or communication with a terVerDate Mar 15 2010 21:18 Nov 20, 2013 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3526.IH H3526

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1 rorist organization to prevent or alleviate the suffering of 

2 a civilian population, including speech or communication 

3 to reduce or eliminate the frequency and severity of violent 

4 conflict and reducing its impact on the civilian popu5 lation’’. 

6 (b) ADDITIONAL EXCEPTION.—Section 2339B(j) of 

7 title 18, United States Code, is amended— 

8 (1) by striking ‘‘No person’’ and inserting the 

9 following: 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—No person’’; and 

11 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(2) ADDITIONAL EXCEPTION.—No person may 

13 be prosecuted under this section in connection with 

14 knowingly providing ‘material support or resources’ 

15 to a foreign terrorist organization, or attempting or 

16 conspiring to do so, if— 

17 ‘‘(A) the material support or resources 

18 consists only of transactions that are cus19 tomary, necessary, and incidental to the dona20 tion or provision of goods or services by persons 

21 who are not controlled by the foreign terrorist 

22 organization to civilian populations, if— 

23 ‘‘(i) the goods or services are limited 

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1 cine intended to be used to relieve human 

2 suffering; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) the goods or services are not ca4 pable of being used to carry out any ter5 rorist activity (as defined in section 

6 212(a)(3)(B)(iii) of the Immigration and 

7 Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

8 1182(a)(3)(B)(iii))); 

9 ‘‘(B) the person, in donating or providing 

10 such goods or services to the civilian population, 

11 acts in good faith without intent to further the 

12 aims or objectives of the foreign terrorist orga13 nization and uses its best efforts to minimize 

14 any transaction with a foreign terrorist organi15 zation; 

16 ‘‘(C) the person— 

17 ‘‘(i) prior to, or not later than 10 

18 business days after, the first instance of 

19 entering into any transaction described in 

20 subparagraph (A), provides to the Sec21 retary of State notice summarizing the na22 ture and extent of its operations in connec23 tion with providing such goods or services; 

24 and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) at least once each year during 

2 which the person enters into any trans3 action described in subparagraph (A), pro4 vides to the Secretary of State notice sum5 marizing the nature and extent of its oper6 ations in connection with providing such 

7 goods or services; and 

8 ‘‘(D) the person donating or providing 

9 such goods or services, including any director, 

10 officer, or employee of the person is not the 

11 subject of or directly named in any publicly12 available debarment, suspension, or Executive 

13 order that prohibits receipt of funding from the 

14 Federal Government.’’. 

15 (3) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 

16 by paragraphs (1) and (2) take effect on the date 

17 of enactment of this Act and apply with respect to 

18 transactions described in section 2339B(j)(2) of title 

19 18, United States Code, as added by paragraph (2), 

20 entered into on or after such date of enactment. 

Æ 


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