I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1288 

To halt Saudi support for institutions that fund, train, incite, encourage, 

or in any other way aid and abet terrorism, to secure full Saudi cooperation in the investigation of terrorist incidents, to halt the issuance of 

visas to citizens of Saudi Arabia until the President certifies that the 

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia does not discriminate in the issuance of visas 

on the basis of religious affiliation or heritage, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 3, 2009 

Mr. WEINER (for himself, Mr. CROWLEY, Ms. BERKLEY, Mr. NADLER of New 

York, and Mrs. TAUSCHER) 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 halt Saudi support for institutions that fund, train, incite, 

encourage, or in any other way aid and abet terrorism, 

to secure full Saudi cooperation in the investigation of 

terrorist incidents, to halt the issuance of visas to citizens of Saudi Arabia until the President certifies that 

the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia does not discriminate in 

the issuance of visas on the basis of religious affiliation 

or heritage, 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 ‘‘Saudi Arabia Account3 ability Act of 2009’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress makes the following findings: 

6 (1) United Nations Security Council Resolution 

7 1373 (2001) mandates that all states ‘‘refrain from 

8 providing any form of support, active or passive, to 

9 entities or persons involved in terrorist acts’’, take 

10 ‘‘the necessary steps to prevent the commission of 

11 terrorist acts’’, and ‘‘deny safe haven to those who 

12 finance, plan, support, or commit terrorist acts’’. 

13 (2) The Council on Foreign Relations concluded 

14 in an October 2002 report on terrorist financing 

15 that ‘‘[f]or years, individuals and charities based in 

16 Saudi Arabia have been the most important source 

17 of funds for al-Qaeda, and for years, Saudi officials 

18 have turned a blind eye to this problem’’. 

19 (3) In a June 2004 report entitled ‘‘Update on 

20 the Global Campaign Against Terrorist Financing’’, 

21 the Council on Foreign Relations reported that 

22 ‘‘[w]e find it regrettable and unacceptable that since 

23 September 11, 2001, we know of not a single Saudi 

24 donor of funds to terrorist groups who has been 

25 publicly punished’’. 


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1 (4) According to the final report of the Na2 tional Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the 

3 United States, when asked where terrorist leaders 

4 would likely locate their bases, military officers and 

5 government officials repeatedly listed Saudi Arabia 

6 as a prime location. 

7 (5) A report released on January 28, 2005 by 

8 Freedom House’s Center for Religious Freedom 

9 found that Saudi Arabia is the state most respon10 sible for the propagation of material promoting ha11 tred, intolerance, and violence within United States 

12 mosques and Islamic centers, and that these publica13 tions are often official publications of a Saudi min14 istry or distributed by the Embassy of Saudi Arabia 

15 in Washington, DC. 

16 (6) During a July 2003 hearing on terrorism 

17 before the Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology 

18 and Homeland Security of the Committee on the Ju19 diciary of the Senate, David Aufhauser, General 

20 Counsel of the Treasury Department, stated that 

21 Saudi Arabia is, in many cases, the ‘‘epicenter’’ of 

22 financing for terrorism. 

23 (7) The New York Times, citing United States 

24 and Israeli sources, reported on September 17, 

25 2003, that at least 50 percent of the current operVerDate Nov 24 2008 03:15 Mar 05, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1288.IH H1288

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1 ating budget of Hamas comes from ‘‘people in Saudi 

2 Arabia’’. 

3 (8) The Middle East Media Research Institute 

4 concluded in a July 3, 2003, report on Saudi sup5 port for Palestinian terrorists that ‘‘for decades, the 

6 royal family of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has 

7 been the main financial supporter of Palestinian 

8 groups fighting Israel’’. The report notes specifically 

9 that Saudi-sponsored organizations have funneled 

10 over $4,000,000,000 to finance the Palestinian 

11 intifada that began in September 2000. 

12 (9) A joint committee of the Select Committee 

13 on Intelligence of the Senate and the Permanent Se14 lect Committee on Intelligence of the House of Rep15 resentatives issued a report on July 24, 2003, that 

16 quotes various United States Government personnel 

17 who complained that the Saudis refused to cooperate 

18 in the investigation of Osama bin Laden and his net19 work both before and after the September 11, 2001, 

20 terrorist attacks. 

21 (10) After the 1996 bombing of the Khobar 

22 Towers housing complex at Dahran, Saudi Arabia, 

23 which killed 19 United States Air Force personnel 

24 and wounded approximately 400 people, the Govern25 ment of Saudi Arabia refused to allow United States 


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1 officials to question individuals held in detention by 

2 the Saudis in connection with the attack. 

3 (11) As recounted by counterterrorism officials 

4 in a September 2003 issue of Time Magazine, Saudi 

5 Arabia denied United States officials access to sev6 eral suspects in the custody of the Government of 

7 Saudi Arabia, including a Saudi Arabian citizen in 

8 detention for months who had knowledge of exten9 sive plans to inject poison gas in the New York City 

10 subway system. 

11 (12) The United States Commission on Inter12 national Religious Freedom has reported that Saudi 

13 Arabian Government-funded textbooks used both in 

14 Saudi Arabia and also in North American Islamic 

15 schools and mosques have been found to encourage 

16 incitement to violence against non-Muslims. 

17 (13) There are indications that, since the May 

18 12, 2003, suicide bombings in Riyadh, the Govern19 ment of Saudi Arabia is making a more serious ef20 fort to combat terrorism. 

21 (14) An official website of the Saudi Arabian 

22 Government’s Supreme Commission for Tourism in23 cluded the following text: 

24 ‘‘Visas will not be issued for the following 

25 groups of people: 


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1 ‘‘An Israeli passport holder or a passport 

2 that has an Israeli arrival/departure stamp. 

3 ‘‘Those who don’t abide by the Saudi tra4 ditions concerning appearance and behaviors. 

5 Those under the influence of alcohol will not be 

6 permitted into the Kingdom. 

7 ‘‘There are certain regulations for pilgrims 

8 and you should contact the consulate for more 

9 information. 

10 ‘‘Jewish People.’’. 

11 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

12 It is the sense of Congress that— 

13 (1) it is imperative that the Government of 

14 Saudi Arabia immediately and unconditionally— 

15 (A) provide complete, unrestricted, and un16 obstructed cooperation to the United States, in17 cluding the unsolicited sharing of relevant intel18 ligence in a consistent and timely fashion, in 

19 the investigation of groups and individuals that 

20 are suspected of financing, supporting, plotting, 

21 or committing an act of terror against United 

22 States citizens anywhere in the world, including 

23 within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; 

24 (B) permanently close all charities, schools, 

25 or other organizations or institutions in the 


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1 Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that fund, train, in2 cite, encourage, or in any other way aid and 

3 abet terrorism anywhere in the world (hereafter 

4 in this Act referred to as ‘‘Saudi-based terror 

5 organizations’’), including by means of pro6 viding support for the families of individuals 

7 who have committed acts of terrorism; 

8 (C) end funding or other support by the 

9 Government of Saudi Arabia for charities, 

10 schools, and any other organizations or institu11 tions outside the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that 

12 train, incite, encourage, or in any other way aid 

13 and abet terrorism anywhere in the world (here14 after in this Act referred to as ‘‘offshore terror 

15 organizations’’), including by means of pro16 viding support for the families of individuals 

17 who have committed acts of terrorism; and 

18 (D) block all funding from private Saudi 

19 citizens and entities to any Saudi-based terror 

20 organization or offshore terrorism organization; 

21 and 

22 (2) the President, in deciding whether to make 

23 the certification under section 4, should judge 

24 whether the Government of Saudi Arabia has contin25 ued and sufficiently expanded the efforts to combat 


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1 terrorism that it redoubled after the May 12, 2003, 

2 bombing in Riyadh. 

3 SEC. 4. SANCTIONS. 

4 (a) RESTRICTIONS ON EXPORTS AND DIPLOMATIC

5 TRAVEL.—Unless the President makes the certification 

6 described in subsection (c), the President shall take the 

7 following actions: 

8 (1) Prohibit the export to the Kingdom of 

9 Saudi Arabia, and prohibit the issuance of a license 

10 for the export to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, of— 

11 (A) any defense articles or defense services 

12 on the United States Munitions List under sec13 tion 38 of the Arms Export Control Act (22 

14 U.S.C. 2778) for which special export controls 

15 are warranted under such Act (22 U.S.C. 2751 

16 et seq.); and 

17 (B) any item identified on the Commerce 

18 Control List maintained under part 774 of title 

19 15, Code of Federal Regulations. 

20 (2) Restrict travel of Saudi diplomats assigned 

21 to Washington, District of Columbia, New York, 

22 New York, the Saudi Consulate General in Houston, 

23 or the Saudi Consulate in Los Angeles to a 25-mile 

24 radius of Washington, District of Columbia, New 

25 York, New York, the Saudi Consulate General in 


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1 Houston, or the Saudi Consulate in Los Angeles, re2 spectively. 

3 (b) WAIVER.—The President may waive the applica4 tion of subsection (a) if the President— 

5 (1) determines that it is in the national security 

6 interest of the United States to do so; and 

7 (2) submits to the appropriate congressional 

8 committees a report that contains the reasons for 

9 such determination. 

10 (c) CERTIFICATION.—The President shall transmit to 

11 the appropriate congressional committees a certification of 

12 any determination made by the President after the date 

13 of the enactment of this Act that the Government of Saudi 

14 Arabia— 

15 (1) is fully cooperating with the United States 

16 in investigating and preventing terrorist attacks; 

17 (2) has permanently closed all Saudi-based ter18 ror organizations; 

19 (3) has ended any funding or other support by 

20 the Government of Saudi Arabia for any offshore 

21 terror organization; and 

22 (4) has exercised maximum efforts to block all 

23 funding from private Saudi citizens and entities to 

24 offshore terrorist organizations. 


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1 SEC. 5. REPORT. 

2 (a) REQUIREMENT FOR REPORT.—Not later than six 

3 months after the date of the enactment of this Act and 

4 annually thereafter until the President makes the certifi5 cation described in section 4(c), the Secretary of State 

6 shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees 

7 a report on the progress made by the Government of Saudi 

8 Arabia toward meeting the conditions described in para9 graphs (1) through (4) of such section. 

10 (b) FORM.—The report submitted under subsection 

11 (a) shall be in unclassified form but may include a classi12 fied annex. 

13 SEC. 6. CESSATION OF VISA ISSUANCE. 

14 Beginning on the day after the date of the enactment 

15 of this Act, no visa shall be issued by the Government of 

16 the United States to a citizen of Saudi Arabia until the 

17 President certifies that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia does 

18 not discriminate in the issuance of visas on the basis of 

19 religious affiliation or heritage. 

20 SEC. 7. APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES DE21 FINED. 

22 In this Act, the term ‘‘appropriate congressional com23 mittees’’ means the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the 

24 House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign 

25 Relations of the Senate. 

Æ 


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