II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 3155 

To impose sanctions with respect to individuals responsible for the death 

of Jamal Khashoggi, to protect human rights in the sale, export, and 

transfer of defense articles and defense services to Saudi Arabia, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 3, 2021 

Mr. MENENDEZ (for himself, Mr. LEAHY, and Mr. WYDEN) introduced the 

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To impose sanctions with respect to individuals responsible 

for the death of Jamal Khashoggi, to protect human 

rights in the sale, export, and transfer of defense articles 

and defense services to Saudi Arabia, 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 ‘‘Jamal Khashoggi 

5 Human Rights Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 


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1 (1) On October 2, 2018, Washington Post jour2 nalist Jamal Khashoggi was murdered by agents of 

3 the Government of Saudi Arabia in the consulate of 

4 Saudi Arabia in Istanbul, Turkey, after having been 

5 monitored through commercial surveillance software. 

6 (2) In 2019, the Department of Justice charged 

7 2 Saudi Arabian former employees of Twitter with 

8 acting as illegal agents of the Government of Saudi 

9 Arabia, using their employee access to obtain private 

10 information on dissidents and critics of Saudi Arabia 

11 at the behest of that Government, and, according to 

12 public reporting and human rights groups, the Gov13 ernment of Saudi Arabia has also used commercial 

14 spyware to monitor the movements and communica15 tions of dozens of activists and journalists around 

16 the world and in the United States. 

17 (3) On July 30, 2019, the Committee on For18 eign Relations of the Senate approved, in a bipar19 tisan vote, S. 398, 116th Congress, known as the 

20 Saudi Arabia Accountability and Yemen Act of 

21 2019, which required, among other things, the impo22 sition of sanctions on any person involved in the 

23 death of Jamal Khashoggi. 

24 (4) The National Defense Authorization Act for 

25 Fiscal Year 2020 (Public Law 116–92; 133 Stat. 


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1 1198), enacted on December 20, 2019, required the 

2 Director of National Intelligence to submit to Con3 gress a report including the identification of those 

4 who carried out, participated in, ordered, or were 

5 otherwise complicit in or responsible for the death of 

6 Jamal Khashoggi. 

7 (5) On February 26, 2021, consistent with the 

8 National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 

9 2020, the Director of National Intelligence released 

10 a report entitled ‘‘Assessing the Saudi Government’s 

11 Role in the Killing of Jamal Khashoggi’’, concluding 

12 that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman 

13 approved the operation that killed Khashoggi. The 

14 Director’s report also identified other senior officials 

15 of the Government of Saudi Arabia who ‘‘partici16 pated in, ordered, or were otherwise complicit in or 

17 responsible for the death of Jamal Khashoggi on be18 half of Muhammad bin Salman’’. 

19 (6) Section 7031(c) of the Consolidated Appro20 priations Act, 2021 (Public Law 116–260) requires 

21 the Secretary of State to deny entry into the United 

22 States of ‘‘officials of foreign governments and their 

23 immediate family members about whom the Sec24 retary of State has credible information have been 


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1 involved, directly or indirectly, in . . . a gross viola2 tion of human rights’’. 

3 (7) Section 6 of the Arms Export Control Act 

4 (22 U.S.C. 2756) prohibits weapons transfers to for5 eign countries determined by the President to be en6 gaged in a ‘‘pattern of acts of intimidation or har7 assment directed against individuals in the United 

8 States’’. 

9 (8) In February 2020, the Federal Bureau of 

10 Investigation declassified its assessment that offi11 cials of the Government of Saudi Arabia ‘‘almost 

12 certainly assist United States-based [citizens of 

13 Saudi Arabia] in fleeing the United States because 

14 of legal issues, undermining the United States judi15 cial process’’. 

16 (9) Section 502B(a)(3) of the Foreign Assist17 ance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2304(a)(3)) directs the 

18 President to formulate and conduct international se19 curity assistance programs of the United States in 

20 a manner which will ‘‘avoid identification of the 

21 United States, through such programs, with govern22 ments which deny to their people internationally rec23 ognized human rights and fundamental freedoms’’. 

24 (10) Secretary of State Antony Blinken has af25 firmed the United States national interest in preVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:05 Nov 04, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3155.IS S3155

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1 venting authoritarian foreign governments from 

2 reaching beyond their borders to intimidate or harm 

3 persons within the United States, stating, ‘‘As a 

4 matter of safety for all within our borders, perpetra5 tors targeting perceived dissidents on behalf of any 

6 foreign government should not be permitted to reach 

7 American soil . . . We have made absolutely clear 

8 that extraterritorial threats and assaults by Saudi 

9 Arabia against activists, dissidents, and journalists 

10 must end.’’. 

11 SEC. 3. IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS WITH RESPECT TO PER12 SONS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE DEATH OF 

13 JAMAL KHASHOGGI. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—On and after the date that is 90 

15 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, all per16 sons named in the qualifying report shall be subject to 

17 the same sanctions as a person included on the list of spe18 cially designated nationals and blocked persons main19 tained by the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the De20 partment of the Treasury. 

21 (b) NATIONAL SECURITY WAIVER.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—The President may, on a 

23 case-by-case basis, waive for a period of not more 

24 than 90 days the imposition of sanctions under sub25 section (a) with respect to a person if the President 


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1 submits to the appropriate congressional commit2 tees— 

3 (A) a written determination that the waiv4 er is vital to the national security interests of 

5 the United States; 

6 (B) a detailed explanation of how the waiv7 er is vital to those interests; and 

8 (C) a certification that the Government of 

9 Saudi Arabia is making significant progress to10 ward meeting the following criteria: 

11 (i) The Government of Saudi Arabia 

12 has brought to justice officials of the Gov13 ernment of Saudi Arabia and members of 

14 the royal family of Saudi Arabia named in 

15 the qualifying report. 

16 (ii) The Government of Saudi Arabia 

17 is not detaining, charging, or imposing 

18 travel bans on citizens or legal residents of 

19 the United States or any other third coun20 try for political reasons, including criticism 

21 of policies of that Government, peaceful 

22 advocacy of political beliefs, or the pursuit 

23 of United States citizenship. 

24 (iii) The Government of Saudi Arabia 

25 is cooperating in outstanding criminal proVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:05 Nov 04, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3155.IS S3155

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1 ceedings in the United States in which a 

2 citizen or national of Saudi Arabia de3 parted from the United States while the 

4 citizen or national was awaiting trial or 

5 sentencing for a criminal offense com6 mitted in the United States. 

7 (iv) The Government of Saudi Arabia 

8 is not detaining, charging, or imposing 

9 travel bans on citizens of Saudi Arabia, in10 cluding civil society activists, journalists, 

11 bloggers, lawyers, or religious figures, for 

12 political reasons, including criticism of 

13 policies of that Government or peaceful ad14 vocacy of political beliefs. 

15 (v) The Government of Saudi Arabia 

16 has disbanded any units of its intelligence 

17 or security apparatus dedicated to the 

18 forced repatriation of dissidents or critical 

19 voices in other countries. 

20 (vi) The Government of Saudi Arabia 

21 has made meaningful commitments to a 

22 multilateral framework on the lawful use, 

23 sale, and transfer of digital surveillance 

24 items and services that can be used to 

25 abuse human rights. 


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1 (vii) The Government of Saudi Arabia 

2 has instituted meaningful legal reforms to 

3 protect the rights of freedom of expression, 

4 religion, and due process, and women’s 

5 rights, in its judicial system. 

6 (2) RENEWAL.—A waiver issued under para7 graph (1) with respect to an individual may be re8 newed, on a case-by-case basis, if the President sub9 mits to the appropriate congressional committees, 

10 with respect to each such waiver, the determination, 

11 explanation, and certification required under para12 graph (1). 

13 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

14 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT15 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com16 mittees’’ means— 

17 (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations, 

18 the Committee on Appropriations, and the 

19 Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban 

20 Affairs of the Senate; and 

21 (B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the 

22 Committee on Appropriations, and the Com23 mittee on Financial Services of the House of 

24 Representatives. 


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1 (2) QUALIFYING REPORT.—The term ‘‘quali2 fying report’’ means the report issued by the Office 

3 of the Director of National Intelligence entitled ‘‘As4 sessing the Saudi Government’s Role in the Killing 

5 of Jamal Khashoggi’’, dated February 11, 2021, and 

6 declassified by Director of National Intelligence 

7 Avril D. Haines on February 25, 2021. 

8 SEC. 4. REPORT ON AND SUSPENSION OF ASSISTANCE FOR 

9 INCIDENTS OF ARBITRARY DETENTION, VIO10 LENCE, AND STATE-SANCTIONED HARASS11 MENT BY THE GOVERNMENT OF SAUDI ARA12 BIA AGAINST UNITED STATES PERSONS AND 

13 FAMILY MEMBERS. 

14 (a) REPORT REQUIRED.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

16 after the date of the enactment of this Act, and 

17 every 180 days thereafter, the Secretary of State, in 

18 consultation with the Director of National Intel19 ligence and the Director of the Federal Bureau of 

20 Investigation, shall submit to the appropriate con21 gressional committees a report on incidents of arbi22 trary detention, violence, and state-sanctioned har23 assment committed by the Government of Saudi 

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1 ily members who are not United States persons, in 

2 the United States or foreign countries. 

3 (2) MATTERS TO BE INCLUDED.—Each report 

4 required by paragraph (1) shall include the fol5 lowing: 

6 (A) A detailed description of the incidents 

7 described in paragraph (1) that took place dur8 ing the 1-year period preceding the date on 

9 which the report is submitted. 

10 (B) A certification of whether Saudi Ara11 bia is engaging in a ‘‘consistent pattern of acts 

12 of intimidation or harassment directed against 

13 individuals in the United States’’ for purposes 

14 of section 6 of the Arms Export Control Act 

15 (22 U.S.C. 2756). 

16 (C) A description of any actions taken to 

17 deter incidents of intimidation or harassment 

18 committed by the security agencies of such Gov19 ernment against United States persons and 

20 their family members who are not United 

21 States persons. 

22 (3) FORM.—Each report required by paragraph 

23 (1) shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may 

24 include a classified annex if necessary. 


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1 (b) SUSPENSION OF ASSISTANCE.—If the President 

2 determines in any report submitted under subsection (a) 

3 that the Government of Saudi Arabia has engaged in a 

4 pattern of acts of intimidation or harassment directed 

5 against United States persons or their family members 

6 who are not United States persons, the President shall 

7 cancel or suspend any letter of offer, credit, guarantee, 

8 or export license with the Government, in compliance with 

9 section 6 of the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 

10 2756), until such time as the President determines that 

11 the pattern of acts of intimidation or harassment has 

12 ceased. 

13 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

14 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT15 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com16 mittees’’ means— 

17 (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations, 

18 the Committee on Armed Services, the Com19 mittee on Appropriations, the Committee on Fi20 nance, and the Select Committee on Intelligence 

21 of the Senate; and 

22 (B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the 

23 Committee on Armed Services, the Committee 

24 on Appropriations, the Committee on Ways and 


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1 Means, and the Permanent Select Committee 

2 on Intelligence of the House of Representatives. 

3 (2) UNITED STATES PERSON.—The term 

4 ‘‘United States person’’ means— 

5 (A) a citizen of the United States or an 

6 alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence 

7 to the United States; or 

8 (B) an entity organized under the laws of 

9 the United States or any jurisdiction within the 

10 United States, including a foreign branch of 

11 such entity. 

12 SEC. 5. PROTECTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE SALE, EX13 PORT, AND TRANSFER OF DEFENSE ARTI14 CLES AND DEFENSE SERVICES TO SAUDI 

15 ARABIA. 

16 (a) ASSESSMENT AND CERTIFICATIONS RE17 QUIRED.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days be19 fore any letter of offer to sell a defense article or de20 fense service controlled for export to Saudi Arabia is 

21 concluded, or any license to export or transfer such 

22 an article or service to Saudi Arabia is authorized, 

23 the Secretary of State shall transmit to the appro24 priate congressional committees the following: 


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1 (A) An assessment by the Secretary of the 

2 risk that the article or service will be used in 

3 the commission of violations of international 

4 humanitarian law or internationally recognized 

5 human rights. 

6 (B) A certification that the Government of 

7 Saudi Arabia has provided a written commit8 ment not to use such article or service in the 

9 commission, or to enable the commission, of a 

10 violation of international humanitarian law or 

11 internationally recognized human rights. 

12 (C) A certification that an effective end13 use monitoring program will be instituted to en14 sure that such article or service is not used to 

15 violate international humanitarian law or inter16 nationally recognized human rights. 

17 (D) A certification that the United States 

18 Government has secured the legal right to re19 quire the return of any United States-origin de20 fense article sold, exported, or transferred to 

21 Saudi Arabia if the article has been used in the 

22 commission, or has enabled the commission, of 

23 a violation of international humanitarian law or 

24 internationally recognized human rights. 


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1 (2) BIANNUAL REPORT ON END-USE MONI2 TORING.—On a biannual basis, the Secretary shall 

3 submit to the appropriate congressional committees 

4 a report on the results of the end-use monitoring 

5 program described in paragraph (1)(C). 

6 (b) RESTRICTION ON SERVICES.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—No export license may be 

8 issued and no letter of offer may be concluded by 

9 the United States Government for the provision of 

10 services for military, paramilitary, security, or intel11 ligence-gathering activities to Saudi Arabia. 

12 (2) EXCEPTIONS.—The restriction under para13 graph (1) shall not apply to the provision, under the 

14 supervision and monitoring of United States Govern15 ment personnel, of logistics, supply, repair, support, 

16 or training services associated with the lawful export 

17 of defense articles, or training in support of those 

18 services, upon certification by the Secretary of State 

19 to the appropriate committees of Congress that such 

20 services will not be used in the surveillance or har21 assment of activists, critics of the Government of 

22 Saudi Arabia, journalists, bloggers, lawyers, and re23 ligious figures in Saudi Arabia. 

24 (3) END-USE MONITORING.—Beginning not 

25 later than 45 days after the date of the enactment 


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1 of this Act, and thereafter on a quarterly basis, the 

2 Secretary shall— 

3 (A) verify whether any defense services 

4 provided pursuant to export licenses or other 

5 authorizations are enabling the provision of 

6 services described in paragraph (1); and 

7 (B) submit to the appropriate congres8 sional committees a report on the results of 

9 such verification. 

10 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

11 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT12 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com13 mittees’’ means— 

14 (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations 

15 and the Committee on Finance of the Senate; 

16 and 

17 (B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and 

18 the Committee on Ways and Means of the 

19 House of Representatives. 

20 (2) DEFENSE ARTICLE; DEFENSE SERVICE.— 

21 The terms ‘‘defense article’’ and ‘‘defense service’’ 

22 have the meanings given those terms in section 47 

23 of the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2794). 


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1 SEC. 6. BRIEFINGS AND REPORT ON USE OF COMMERCIAL 

2 SURVEILLANCE TECHNOLOGY AGAINST 

3 JOURNALISTS. 

4 (a) BRIEFINGS.—Not later than 60 days after the 

5 date of the enactment of this Act and periodically there6 after upon request, the Secretary of State, the Chief Exec7 utive Officer of the United States Agency for Global 

8 Media, and the heads of other relevant agencies shall pro9 vide briefings to the appropriate congressional committees 

10 on— 

11 (1) the utilization by foreign governments, in12 cluding the Government of Saudi Arabia, of commer13 cially available cyberintrusion and other surveillance 

14 technology to target journalists, media companies, 

15 dissidents and activists, and United States persons 

16 and interests; and 

17 (2) the efforts the executive branch is taking to 

18 combat such utilization. 

19 (b) REPORT REQUIRED.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

21 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec22 retary of State, in consultation with the Director of 

23 National Intelligence, shall submit to the appro24 priate congressional committees a report on— 

25 (A) the utilization by foreign governments, 

26 including the Government of Saudi Arabia, of 


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1 commercially available cyberintrusion and other 

2 surveillance technology to target journalists, 

3 media companies, dissidents and activists, and 

4 United States persons and interests; and 

5 (B) the efforts the executive branch is tak6 ing to combat such utilization. 

7 (2) FORM.—Thereport required by paragraph 

8 (1) shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may 

9 include a classified annex if necessary. 

10 (c) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES DE11 FINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate congres12 sional committees’’ means— 

13 (1) the Committee on Foreign Relations, the 

14 Committee on Armed Services, the Committee on 

15 Appropriations, the Committee on Finance, and the 

16 Select Committee on Intelligence of the Senate; and 

17 (2) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the 

18 Committee on Armed Services, the Committee on 

19 Appropriations, the Committee on Ways and Means, 

20 and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence 

21 of the House of Representatives. 

22 SEC. 7. JAMAL KHASHOGGI PRESS FREEDOM AWARD. 

23 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF AWARD.—The Secretary of 

24 State may annually present the ‘‘Jamal Khashoggi Press 

25 Freedom Award’’ (referred to in this section as the 


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1 ‘‘Award’’) to not more than 5 individuals or organizations 

2 who have demonstrated extraordinary efforts in jour3 nalism in the face of harassment, detention, prosecution, 

4 or obstruction by foreign governments or non-state actors. 

5 (b) ELIGIBLE RECIPIENTS.—To the maximum extent 

6 practicable, the Secretary of State shall present the Award 

7 to— 

8 (1) individuals who are United States citizens 

9 or foreign nationals; and 

10 (2) domestic or foreign private, nongovern11 mental organizations. 

12 (c) SELECTION PROCEDURE.—The Secretary of 

13 State shall establish procedures for selecting recipients of 

14 the Award. 

15 (d) REPORT.—The Secretary of State shall submit an 

16 annual report to the appropriate congressional committees 

17 that— 

18 (1) lists the recipients of the Award for that 

19 year; and 

20 (2) explains the procedures for selecting such 

21 recipients. 

22 (e) AWARD CEREMONY.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State shall 

24 host an annual ceremony for recipients of the Award 

25 as soon as practicable after the date on which the 


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1 Secretary submits the report required under sub2 section (d). 

3 (2) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—The Secretary of 

4 State may pay the reasonable travel costs incurred 

5 by each Award recipient and his or her guest to at6 tend the ceremony. 

7 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

8 are authorized to be appropriated, for each of the fiscal 

9 years 2022 through 2027, such sums as may be necessary 

10 to carry out this section. 

11 (g) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES

12 DEFINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate con13 gressional committees’’ means— 

14 (1) the Committee on Foreign Relations and 

15 the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate; and 

16 (2) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the 

17 Committee on Appropriations of the House of Rep18 resentatives. 

Æ 


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