I 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6532 

To amend the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to establish 

certain procedures with respect to blocking property of charities. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 16, 2010 

Mr. ELLISON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend the International Emergency Economic Powers 

Act to establish certain procedures with respect to blocking property of charities. 

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 ‘‘Procedures for Sanc5 tions Against Charities Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PROCEDURES REGARDING BLOCKING PROPERTY 

7 OF CHARITIES. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The International Emergency 

9 Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) is amend10 ed— 


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1 (1) by redesignating section 208 as section 209; 

2 and 

3 (2) by inserting after section 207 the following 

4 new section: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 208. PROCEDURES REGARDING BLOCKING PROP6 ERTY OF CHARITIES. 

7 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

8 ‘‘(1) CHARITY.—The term ‘charity’ means an 

9 organization described in section 501(c)(3) of the 

10 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and exempt from tax 

11 under section 501(a) of such Code. 

12 ‘‘(2) SANCTION.—The term ‘sanction’ means 

13 the blocking of property under section 203(a). 

14 ‘‘(b) WARRANT REQUIREMENT.— 

15 ‘‘(1) WARRANT REQUIREMENT.—A sanction 

16 may be imposed that blocks property of a charity 

17 only pursuant to a warrant obtained in the same 

18 manner as provided for a search warrant under the 

19 Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. The court may 

20 issue such warrant if the United States dem21 onstrates that there is probable cause to believe 

22 that— 

23 ‘‘(A) the property with respect to which 

24 the warrant is sought is subject to the sanction; 

25 and 


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1 ‘‘(B) the property may be moved outside 

2 the jurisdiction of the United States. 

3 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.— 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The United States 

5 may impose a sanction that blocks property of 

6 a charity before applying to the court for a war7 rant under paragraph (1) if the United States 

8 has reason to believe that delay in seizure from 

9 such ex parte application may have an adverse 

10 result, including— 

11 ‘‘(i) endangering the life or physical 

12 safety of an individual; 

13 ‘‘(ii) flight from prosecution; 

14 ‘‘(iii) destruction of or tampering with 

15 evidence; 

16 ‘‘(iv) intimidation of potential wit17 nesses; or 

18 ‘‘(v) otherwise seriously jeopardizing 

19 an investigation. 

20 ‘‘(B) PROBABLE CAUSE SHOWING.—In a 

21 case in which property is subject to a sanction 

22 under subparagraph (A), the property shall be 

23 released from the order blocking it unless the 

24 United States makes the probable cause showVerDate Mar 15 2010 01:20 Dec 20, 2010 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6532.IH H6532

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1 ing required by paragraph (1) within 48 hours 

2 after the property is blocked. 

3 ‘‘(3) SUBSEQUENT COURT ACTIONS.—Upon a 

4 finding of probable cause, the court may issue the 

5 warrant. Upon the motion of the United States, the 

6 court may require the execution of satisfactory per7 formance bonds, create receiverships, appoint con8 servators, custodians, appraisers, accountants, or 

9 trustees, or take any other action to secure, main10 tain, or preserve the availability of the property that 

11 is the subject of the warrant. 

12 ‘‘(c) PROCEDURES REGARDING CHARITIES.—The 

13 President shall establish procedures with respect to the 

14 imposition of a sanction that blocks property of a charity 

15 in order to implement the following: 

16 ‘‘(1) PRIOR NOTICE; OPPORTUNITY FOR COM17 PLIANCE.—In any case in which the President an18 ticipates imposing such a sanction on a charity, the 

19 President shall, before imposing the sanction, notify 

20 the charity in writing, by delivery to the chief execu21 tive officer or chair of the governing body of the 

22 charity, of the facts, events, persons, and other rel23 evant information serving as the basis for imposing 

24 the sanction, and setting forth the steps the charity 

25 may take to avoid imposition of the sanction. 


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1 ‘‘(2) NOTICE.—If the sanction is imposed on 

2 the charity because the charity has failed to take the 

3 steps described in paragraph (1), or if paragraph (3) 

4 applies, the President shall notify the charity, in the 

5 manner described in paragraph (1), of the imposi6 tion of the sanction. 

7 ‘‘(3) EXIGENT CIRCUMSTANCES.—The notice 

8 under paragraph (1) need not be provided if the 

9 President determines that there is probable cause to 

10 believe that the property of the charity is subject to 

11 the sanction and that providing such notice and op12 portunity— 

13 ‘‘(A) will jeopardize the availability of the 

14 property; or 

15 ‘‘(B) may have an adverse result, includ16 ing— 

17 ‘‘(i) endangering the life or physical 

18 safety of an individual; 

19 ‘‘(ii) flight from prosecution; 

20 ‘‘(iii) destruction of or tampering with 

21 evidence; 

22 ‘‘(iv) intimidation of potential wit23 nesses; or 

24 ‘‘(v) otherwise seriously jeopardizing 

25 an investigation. 


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1 ‘‘(4) OPPORTUNITY TO PRESENT RESPONSE.— 

2 The President shall provide a charity notified under 

3 paragraph (1) or (2) of the imposition of a sanction 

4 an opportunity to provide a response to imposing the 

5 sanction, including a hearing on the record if so re6 quested by the charity. Such hearing or other pro7 ceeding agreed to by the parties shall be held not 

8 later than 60 days after the notice is provided. 

9 ‘‘(5) SUBSEQUENT ALLEGATIONS.—If, after no10 tice is provided under paragraph (1) or (2), addi11 tional allegations arise involving the charity that are 

12 or may provide additional bases for imposing the 

13 sanction involving blocking property of the charity, 

14 the procedures under this subsection shall apply with 

15 respect to such additional allegations. 

16 ‘‘(d) PERIODIC REVIEW OF BLOCKING ORDERS.— 

17 ‘‘(1) PERIODIC REVIEW.—The President shall— 

18 ‘‘(A) at least once in every 2-year period, 

19 review each sanction imposed that involves 

20 blocking the property of a charity in order to 

21 ensure that the basis for imposing the sanction 

22 remains valid; and 

23 ‘‘(B) provide the charity an opportunity for 

24 a hearing on the record with respect to such re25 view. 


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1 ‘‘(e) APPEALS.— 

2 ‘‘(1) ADMINISTRATIVE APPEAL.—The President 

3 shall provide to any charity on which a sanction is 

4 imposed that blocks the property of the charity, or 

5 is continued pursuant to a periodic review under 

6 subsection (d), an opportunity to appeal the sanction 

7 in accordance with the procedures set forth in sec8 tions 556 and 557 of title 5, United States Code, 

9 without regard to any exclusion set forth in section 

10 554(a) of such title. 

11 ‘‘(2) JUDICIAL APPEAL.—In any appeal under 

12 chapter 7 of title 5, United States Code, of a deter13 mination in a hearing under paragraph (1)— 

14 ‘‘(A) the court shall review the case de 

15 novo; and 

16 ‘‘(B) the burden is on the United States 

17 Government to establish, by a preponderance of 

18 the evidence, that the property is subject to the 

19 sanction. 

20 ‘‘(f) ACCESS TO CLASSIFIED INFORMATION.—At any 

21 hearing or other proceeding held at the request of a char22 ity under this section, the charity shall be entitled to be 

23 represented by counsel and shall be provided the oppor24 tunity to review the evidence of the Government with re25 spect to the sanction involved, consistent with procedures 


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1 analogous to those set forth in the Classified Information 

2 Procedures Act (18 U.S.C. App. 3), as determined by the 

3 court. 

4 ‘‘(g) CONFIDENTIALITY AND PRIVACY.—Property of 

5 a charity that is blocked pursuant to the imposition of a 

6 sanction may not be made available to a Government 

7 agency other than the Government agency responsible for 

8 blocking the property, except to the appropriate law en9 forcement agency pursuant to the Federal Rules of Crimi10 nal Procedure.’’. 

11 SEC. 3. APPLICABILITY. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (b), the 

13 amendments made by section 2 shall apply to any order 

14 that imposes a sanction blocking the property of a charity 

15 and that is issued under the International Emergency 

16 Economic Powers Act— 

17 (1) on or after the date of the enactment of this 

18 Act; or 

19 (2) before the date of the enactment of this 

20 Act, if the order is in effect on such date of enact21 ment. 

22 (b) PROCEDURES WITH RESPECT TO EXISTING OR23 DERS.—In the case of an order that imposes a sanction 

24 blocking the property of a charity and to which subsection 

25 (a)(2) applies— 


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1 (1) in lieu of the requirements under para2 graphs (1) and (2) of section 208(c) of the Inter3 national Emergency Economic Powers Act, as added 

4 by section 2 of this Act, the President shall provide, 

5 within 45 days after the date of the enactment of 

6 this Act, notice to the charity that is the subject of 

7 the order, by delivery to the chief executive officer 

8 or chair of the governing body of the charity, of the 

9 facts, events, persons, and other relevant informa10 tion that served as the basis for imposing the sanc11 tion; and 

12 (2) in applying paragraph (4) of such section 

13 208(c), the notice under paragraph (1) of this sub14 section shall be deemed be notice provided under 

15 paragraph (2) of such section 203(c). 

Æ 


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