I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2621 

To impose sanctions against individuals who are nationals of the People’s 

Republic of China who are responsible for gross violations of internationally recognized human rights committed against other individuals in 

the People’s Republic of China, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 2, 2015 

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey (for himself and Mr. LIPINSKI) 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 impose sanctions against individuals who are nationals 

of the People’s Republic of China who are responsible 

for gross violations of internationally recognized human 

rights committed against other individuals in the People’s Republic of China, 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 ‘‘China Human Rights 

5 Protection Act of 2015’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT4 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com5 mittees’’ means— 

6 (A) the Committee on Armed Services, the 

7 Committee on Financial Services, the Com8 mittee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee on 

9 Homeland Security, and the Committee on the 

10 Judiciary of the House of Representatives; and 

11 (B) the Committee on Armed Services, the 

12 Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban 

13 Affairs, the Committee on Foreign Relations, 

14 the Committee on Homeland Security and Gov15 ernmental Affairs, and the Committee on the 

16 Judiciary of the Senate. 

17 (2) GROSS VIOLATIONS OF INTERNATIONALLY

18 RECOGNIZED HUMAN RIGHTS.—The term ‘‘gross vio19 lations of internationally recognized human rights’’ 

20 includes— 

21 (A) extrajudicial killings; 

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

24 (C) prolonged arbitrary detention, causing 

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1 tion and clandestine detention of those individ2 uals; 

3 (D) forced abortion or sterilization; 

4 (E) psychiatric or medical experimentation 

5 or organ harvesting of individuals without con6 sent or obtained in detention; and 

7 (F) other flagrant denial of the right to 

8 life, liberty, or the security of an individual. 

9 (3) UNITED STATES PERSON.—The term 

10 ‘‘United States person’’ means— 

11 (A) a United States citizen or an alien law12 fully admitted for permanent residence to the 

13 United States; or 

14 (B) an entity organized under the laws of 

15 the United States or of any jurisdiction within 

16 the United States, including a foreign branch of 

17 such an entity. 

18 SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF SANCTIONS FOR GROSS VIOLA19 TIONS OF INTERNATIONALLY RECOGNIZED 

20 HUMAN RIGHTS. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—The President shall impose the 

22 sanctions described in subsection (b) with respect to an 

23 individual who is a national of the People’s Republic of 

24 China the President determines, based on credible infor25 mation— 


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1 (1) is responsible for gross violations of inter2 nationally recognized human rights committed 

3 against other individuals in the People’s Republic of 

4 China, particularly those individuals who seek to ob5 tain, exercise, defend, or promote internationally rec6 ognized human rights and freedoms, such as the 

7 freedoms of religion, expression, association, and as8 sembly, and the rights to a fair trial and democratic 

9 elections; 

10 (2) acted as an agent of or on behalf of another 

11 individual who is a national of the People’s Republic 

12 of China in a matter relating to an activity described 

13 in paragraph (1); or 

14 (3) has materially assisted, sponsored, or pro15 vided financial, material, or technological support 

16 for, or goods or services in support of, an activity 

17 described in paragraph (1). 

18 (b) SANCTIONS DESCRIBED.—The sanctions de19 scribed in this subsection are the following: 

20 (1) INADMISSIBILITY TO UNITED STATES.— 

21 (A) IN GENERAL.—Ineligibility of the indi22 vidual to receive a visa to enter the United 

23 States or to be admitted to the United States. 

24 (B) REVOCATION.—If the individual has 

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1 ocation, in accordance with section 221(i) of the 

2 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

3 1201(i)), of the visa or other documentation. 

4 (2) BLOCKING OF PROPERTY.— 

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—The blocking, in ac6 cordance with the International Emergency 

7 Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), 

8 of all transactions in all property and interests 

9 in property of the individual if such property 

10 and interests in property are in the United 

11 States, come within the United States, or are or 

12 come within the possession or control of a 

13 United States person. 

14 (B) INAPPLICABILITY OF NATIONAL EMER15 GENCY REQUIREMENT.—The requirements of 

16 section 202 of the International Emergency 

17 Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701) shall 

18 not apply for purposes of this section. 

19 (c) REGULATORY AUTHORITY.—The President shall 

20 issue such regulations, licenses, and orders as are nec21 essary to carry out this section. 


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1 SEC. 4. WAIVER AUTHORITY AND EXCEPTION TO COMPLY 

2 WITH UNITED NATIONS HEADQUARTERS 

3 AGREEMENT. 

4 (a) WAIVER AUTHORITY.—The President may waive 

5 the application of sanctions under section 3 with respect 

6 to an individual who is a national of the People’s Republic 

7 of China if the President— 

8 (1) determines that such a waiver is in the na9 tional security interests of the United States; and 

10 (2) not later than 30 days prior to granting 

11 such a waiver, submits to the appropriate congres12 sional committees notice of, and a justification for, 

13 the waiver. 

14 (b) EXCEPTION TO COMPLY WITH UNITED NATIONS

15 HEADQUARTERS AGREEMENT.—Sanctions under sections 

16 3(b)(1) shall not apply to an individual who is a national 

17 of the People’s Republic of China if admitting the indi18 vidual into the United States is necessary to permit the 

19 United States to comply with the Agreement regarding the 

20 Headquarters of the United Nations, signed at Lake Suc21 cess June 26, 1947, and entered into force November 21, 

22 1947, between the United Nations and the United States, 

23 or other applicable international obligations of the United 

24 States. 


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1 SEC. 5. TERMINATION OF SANCTIONS. 

2 The President may terminate the application of sanc3 tions under section 3 with respect to an individual who 

4 is a national of the People’s Republic of China if the Presi5 dent determines and reports to the appropriate congres6 sional committees not later than 15 days before the termi7 nation of the sanctions that— 

8 (1) credible information exists that the indi9 vidual did not engage in the activity for which sanc10 tions were imposed; 

11 (2) the individual has been prosecuted appro12 priately for the activity for which sanctions were im13 posed; or 

14 (3) the individual has credibly demonstrated a 

15 significant change in behavior, has paid an appro16 priate consequence for the activity for which sanc17 tions were imposed, and has credibly committed to 

18 not engage in an activity described in section 3 in 

19 the future. 

20 SEC. 6. ESTABLISHMENT OF CHINA HUMAN RIGHTS DOCU21 MENTATION CENTER. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State shall seek 

23 to provide for the establishment of and provide funding 

24 for an independent, nongovernmental organization, to be 

25 referred to as the China Human Rights Documentation 

26 Center, to— 


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1 (1) compile, publish, and archive credible evi2 dence of nationals of the People’s Republic of China 

3 who commit gross violations of internationally recog4 nized human rights against individuals in the Peo5 ple’s Republic of China; 

6 (2) receive evidence of such violations from non7 governmental organizations and governmental enti8 ties; 

9 (3) establish an online and searchable database, 

10 in English and in Chinese, and establish other multi11 media information platforms, in English and in Chi12 nese, of credible evidence of such violations for re13 search and educational purposes; and 

14 (4) compile, publish, and archive credible evi15 dence of individuals who are nationals of the Peo16 ple’s Republic of China who are engaged in— 

17 (A) censorship of the Internet, restrictions 

18 on the freedom of expression, the free flow of 

19 news and information, and the silencing of 

20 peaceful dissent against government policy or 

21 practice; 

22 (B) threats, surveillance, censorship, deten23 tion, beatings, or the denials or delays of visas 

24 of United States or other foreign journalists 

25 working in China; 


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1 (C) threats, beatings, surveillance, deten2 tion, or threats to the loss of jobs or profes3 sional status made against— 

4 (i) individuals who are human rights 

5 lawyers seeking to represent clients de6 tained in extra-legal detention centers; 

7 (ii) individuals considered by the 

8 United Nations Working Group on Arbi9 trary Detention to be detained arbitrarily 

10 in China, including Tibetans, Uyghurs, and 

11 individuals who are members of the Falun 

12 Gong; 

13 (iii) individuals who are democracy, 

14 labor, environmental, or free speech advo15 cates; 

16 (iv) individuals who are petitioners or 

17 bloggers; 

18 (v) individuals accused in govern19 mental anti-corruption campaigns; and 

20 (vi) individuals from religious commu21 nities that are independent of government22 approved religious organizations; 

23 (D) restrictions on the right to freedom of 

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1 pendent of government restrictions or oversight 

2 of religious teachings or choice of religious lead3 ers, particularly the arrest and detention of reli4 gious leaders, the destruction of property or 

5 heavy fines, and the ‘‘patriotic education’’ of re6 ligious leaders; 

7 (E) implementing China’s population con8 trol policies, including through the coercive and 

9 persistent monitoring of fertility, the issuing of 

10 heavy fines, and threats made for the loss of 

11 employment or the denial of residency and 

12 other government benefits to children born be13 yond the government-prescribed limit; 

14 (F) profiting from or overseeing slave 

15 labor, particularly in detention facilities, or 

16 from sex or bride trafficking or those engaged 

17 in beating, threatening, or detaining individuals 

18 seeking to disrupt trafficking in persons net19 works; 

20 (G) profiting from the sale of organs har21 vested from an individual without consent or 

22 while an individual is in detention; 

23 (H) disrupting or prohibiting, through vio24 lence, intimidation, discrimination, or threats, 

25 attempts to organize independent trade unions 


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1 or to engage in efforts of collective bargaining; 

2 or 

3 (I) prosecuting, sentencing, or those in4 volved in the continued detention of individuals 

5 determined by the United Nations Working 

6 Group on Arbitrary Detention to have been de7 tained arbitrarily. 

8 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Of the 

9 funds authorized to be appropriated to the Department 

10 of State for each fiscal year beginning after the date of 

11 the enactment of this Act, such funds as may be necessary 

12 to carry out this section are authorized to be appropriated 

13 to carry out this section for such fiscal year. 

14 (c) REGULATORY AUTHORITY.—The President shall 

15 issue such regulations, licenses, and orders as are nec16 essary to carry out this section. 

17 SEC. 7. USE OF CREDIBLE EVIDENCE FOR SANCTIONS DE18 TERMINATIONS AND REPORTS. 

19 In making determinations to impose sanctions under 

20 section 3 and for purposes of preparing and submitting 

21 reports to Congress under sections 8 and 9, the President 

22 should use any credible evidence— 

23 (1) compiled and published by the China 

24 Human Rights Documentation Center established 

25 under section 6; 


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1 (2) compiled and published by the Department 

2 of State and other appropriate Federal departments 

3 and agencies; and 

4 (3) submitted to the President by the chair5 person and ranking member of appropriate congres6 sional committees. 

7 SEC. 8. REPORTS BY PRESIDENT TO CONGRESS. 

8 (a) REPORT REQUIRED.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The President shall submit 

10 to the appropriate congressional committees on an 

11 annual basis a report that includes— 

12 (A) a list of individuals who are nationals 

13 of the People’s Republic of China with respect 

14 to which the President imposed sanctions pur15 suant to section 3 during the calendar year pre16 ceding the submission of the report; 

17 (B) a description of the type of sanctions 

18 imposed with respect to each individual; 

19 (C) the number of individuals with respect 

20 to which the President imposed sanctions under 

21 section 3(a) during that year; 

22 (D) the dates on which such sanctions 

23 were imposed or terminated, as the case may 

24 be; 


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1 (E) the reasons for imposing or termi2 nating such sanctions; and 

3 (F) a description of the efforts of the 

4 President to encourage the governments of 

5 other countries to impose sanctions that are 

6 similar to the sanctions authorized by section 3. 

7 (2) DATES FOR SUBMISSION.— 

8 (A) INITIAL REPORT.—The President shall 

9 submit the initial report required by this sub10 section not later than 180 days after the date 

11 of the enactment of this Act. 

12 (B) SUBSEQUENT REPORTS.— 

13 (i) IN GENERAL.—The President shall 

14 submit each subsequent report required by 

15 this subsection on December 10, or the 

16 first day thereafter on which both Houses 

17 of Congress are in session, of— 

18 (I) the calendar year in which the 

19 initial report is submitted if the initial 

20 report is submitted before December 

21 10 of such calendar year; and 

22 (II) each subsequent calendar 

23 year. 

24 (ii) CONGRESSIONAL STATEMENT.— 

25 Congress notes that December 10 of each 


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1 calendar year has been recognized in the 

2 United States and internationally since 

3 1950 as ‘‘Human Rights Day’’ and thus 

4 the importance of December 10 of each 

5 calendar year as the date of submission of 

6 the subsequent reports required by this 

7 subsection. 

8 (b) FORM OF REPORT.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The report required by sub10 section (a) shall be submitted in unclassified form, 

11 but may include a classified annex. 

12 (2) EXCEPTION.—The name of an individual 

13 who is a national of the People’s Republic of China 

14 to be included in the list required by subsection 

15 (a)(1) by reason of the imposition of sanctions pur16 suant to section 3 may be submitted in the classified 

17 annex authorized by paragraph (1) only if the Presi18 dent— 

19 (A) determines that it is vital for the na20 tional security interests of the United States to 

21 do so; and 

22 (B) uses the annex in a manner consistent 

23 with congressional intent and the purposes of 

24 this Act. 

25 (c) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The unclassified portion of 

2 the report required by subsection (a) shall be made 

3 available to the public, including through publication 

4 in the Federal Register. 

5 (2) NONAPPLICABILITY OF CONFIDENTIALITY

6 REQUIREMENT WITH RESPECT TO VISA RECORDS.— 

7 The President shall publish the list required by sub8 section (a)(1) without regard to the requirements of 

9 section 222(f) of the Immigration and Nationality 

10 Act (8 U.S.C. 1202(f)) with respect to confiden11 tiality of records pertaining to the issuance or re12 fusal of visas or permits to enter the United States. 

13 SEC. 9. REPORT BY COMPTROLLER GENERAL TO CON14 GRESS ON IMPLEMENTATION OF THIS ACT. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

16 date of submission of the initial report to Congress under 

17 section 8, the Comptroller General of the United States 

18 shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees 

19 a report on the following: 

20 (1) A description and assessment of the proc21 ess— 

22 (A) to determine whether an individual 

23 who is a national of the People’s Republic of 

24 China has engaged in an activity described in 

25 section 3 and whether sanctions under section 


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1 3 should be imposed with respect to the indi2 vidual; 

3 (B) to determine whether the identity of 

4 an individual who is a national of the People’s 

5 Republic of China with respect to which the 

6 President has imposed sanctions pursuant to 

7 section 3 should be classified; and 

8 (C) whether the inclusion of the identity of 

9 an individual who is a national of the People’s 

10 Republic of China in the unclassified version of 

11 the report has had any noticeable positive bene12 fits in curtailing gross violations of internation13 ally recognized human rights in the People’s 

14 Republic of China. 

15 (2) An assessment of the implementation of this 

16 Act. 

17 (b) CONSULTATION.—The Comptroller General shall 

18 consult with the appropriate congressional committees and 

19 nongovernmental organizations for purposes of preparing 

20 the report required by subsection (a). 

Æ 


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