IIB 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2037 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 16, 2019 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

AN ACT 

To encourage accountability for the murder of Washington 

Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. 

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 Human 

3 Rights and Accountability Act of 2019’’. 

4 SEC. 2. REPORT ON INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY ASSESS5 MENT RELATING TO THE KILLING OF WASH6 INGTON POST COLUMNIST JAMAL 

7 KHASHOGGI. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days after the 

9 date of the enactment of this Act, the Director of National 

10 Intelligence shall submit to the appropriate congressional 

11 committees a report consisting of— 

12 (1) a determination and presentation of evi13 dence with respect to the advance knowledge and 

14 role of any current or former official of the Govern15 ment of Saudi Arabia or any current or former sen16 ior Saudi political figure over the directing, ordering, 

17 or tampering of evidence in the killing of Wash18 ington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi; and 

19 (2) a list of foreign persons that the Director 

20 of National Intelligence has high confidence— 

21 (A) were responsible for, or complicit in, 

22 ordering, controlling, or otherwise directing an 

23 act or acts contributing to or causing the death 

24 of Jamal Khashoggi; 

25 (B) knowingly and materially assisted, 

26 sponsored, or provided financial, material, or 


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1 technological support for, or goods or services 

2 in support of, an activity described in subpara3 graph (A); or 

4 (C) impeded the impartial investigation of 

5 the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, including 

6 through the tampering of evidence relating to 

7 the investigation. 

8 (b) FORM.— 

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) NAMES OF FOREIGN PERSONS LISTED.— 

13 The name of each foreign person listed in the report 

14 described in subsection (a)(2) shall be included in 

15 the unclassified portion of the report unless the Di16 rector of National Intelligence determines that such 

17 disclosure would undermine United States intel18 ligence sources and methods or threaten the national 

19 security interests of the United States. 

20 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

21 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT22 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com23 mittees’’ means— 


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1 (A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and 

2 the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence 

3 of the House of Representatives; and 

4 (B) the Committee on Foreign Relations 

5 and the Select Committee on Intelligence of the 

6 Senate. 

7 (2) KNOWINGLY.—The term ‘‘knowingly’’, with 

8 respect to conduct, a circumstance, or a result, 

9 means that a person has actual knowledge, or should 

10 have known, of the conduct, the circumstance, or the 

11 result. 

12 SEC. 3. SANCTIONS WITH RESPECT TO FOREIGN PERSONS 

13 THAT ENGAGE IN ACTIVITIES DESCRIBED IN 

14 SECTION 2(a)(2). 

15 (a) IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS.—On and after the 

16 date that is 120 days after the date of the enactment of 

17 this Act, the sanctions described in subsection (b) shall 

18 be imposed with respect to each foreign person listed in 

19 the report described in section 2(a)(2). 

20 (b) SANCTIONS DESCRIBED.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—The sanctions described in 

22 this subsection are the following: 

23 (A) INELIGIBILITY FOR VISAS AND ADMIS24 SION TO THE UNITED STATES.— 


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1 (i) Inadmissibility to the United 

2 States. 

3 (ii) Ineligibility to receive a visa or 

4 other documentation to enter the United 

5 States. 

6 (iii) Ineligibility to otherwise be ad7 mitted or paroled into the United States or 

8 to receive any other benefit under the Im9 migration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

10 1101 et seq.). 

11 (B) CURRENT VISAS REVOKED.— 

12 (i) Revocation of any visa or other 

13 entry documentation regardless of when 

14 the visa or other entry documentation is or 

15 was issued. 

16 (ii) A revocation under clause (i) 

17 shall— 

18 (I) take effect immediately; and 

19 (II) automatically cancel any 

20 other valid visa or entry documenta21 tion that is in the foreign person’s 

22 possession. 

23 (2) EXCEPTION TO COMPLY WITH INTER24 NATIONAL OBLIGATIONS.—Sanctions under para25 graph (1) shall not apply with respect to a foreign 


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1 person if admitting or paroling the person into the 

2 United States is necessary to permit the United 

3 States to comply with the Agreement regarding the 

4 Headquarters of the United Nations, signed at Lake 

5 Success June 26, 1947, and entered into force No6 vember 21, 1947, between the United Nations and 

7 the United States, or other applicable international 

8 obligations. 

9 (3) WAIVER IN THE INTEREST OF NATIONAL

10 SECURITY.—The President may waive the applica11 tion of this section with respect to a foreign person 

12 who is A–1 visa eligible and who is present in or 

13 seeking admission into the United States for pur14 poses of official business if the President determines 

15 and transmits to the appropriate congressional com16 mittees written notice and justification not later 

17 than 15 days before the granting of such waiver, 

18 that such a waiver is in the national security inter19 ests of the United States. 

20 (c) SUSPENSION OF SANCTIONS.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—The President may suspend 

22 in whole or in part the imposition of sanctions other23 wise required under this section for periods not to 

24 exceed 180 days if the President certifies to the apVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:24 Jul 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2037.RFS H2037

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1 propriate congressional committees that the fol2 lowing criteria have been met in Saudi Arabia: 

3 (A) The Government of Saudi Arabia has 

4 released any individual who is a journalist, 

5 blogger, human rights defender, advocate for 

6 religious liberty, or civil society activist detained 

7 by the Government of Saudi Arabia. 

8 (B) The Government of Saudi Arabia is 

9 cooperating in outstanding criminal proceedings 

10 in the United States in which a Saudi citizen or 

11 national departed from the United States while 

12 the citizen or national was awaiting trial or sen13 tencing for a criminal offense committed in the 

14 United States. 

15 (C) The Government of Saudi Arabia is re16 fraining from the obstruction of the free expres17 sion of opinion and restriction of individuals 

18 from engaging in public criticism of the political 

19 sphere. 

20 (D) The Government of Saudi Arabia has 

21 made verifiable commitments to cease the prac22 tice of harming citizens of Saudi Arabia con23 ducting peaceful dissent, whether or not those 

24 citizens reside in Saudi Arabia, including enVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:24 Jul 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2037.RFS H2037

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1 forced repatriation, disappearance, arrest, im2 prisonment, or harassment. 

3 (E) The Government of Saudi Arabia has 

4 taken verifiable steps to hold accountable Saudi 

5 violators of human rights, whether or not those 

6 violations took place in Saudi Arabia. 

7 (F) The Government of Saudi Arabia has 

8 taken verifiable steps to repeal any law or regu9 lation that requires Saudi women to obtain ap10 proval from a male guardian in order to leave 

11 the country. 

12 (G) The Government of Saudi Arabia— 

13 (i) has made public the names of all 

14 individuals under prosecution for the mur15 der of Jamal Khashoggi and associated 

16 crimes and the details of the charges such 

17 individuals face; 

18 (ii) has made public the trial pro19 ceedings and all evidence against the ac20 cused; 

21 (iii) has invited international, inde22 pendent experts to monitor the trials; 

23 (iv) has made public details of efforts 

24 to establish the location of Mr. 

25 Khashoggi’s remains and associated findVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:24 Jul 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2037.RFS H2037

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1 ings and returned his body to his family; 

2 and 

3 (v) has made public the rationale for 

4 why ten of the individuals initially detained 

5 were later released without charge. 

6 (H) The Government of Saudi Arabia has 

7 disbanded any units of its intelligence or secu8 rity apparatus dedicated to the forced repatri9 ation of dissidents in other countries. 

10 (I) The Government of Saudi Arabia is co11 operating with efforts to investigate the murder 

12 of Jamal Khashoggi being conducted by law en13 forcement authorities in the United States and 

14 Turkey, or by the United Nations. 

15 (2) REPORT.—Accompanying the certification 

16 described in paragraph (1), the President shall sub17 mit to the appropriate congressional committees a 

18 report that contains a detailed description of Saudi 

19 Arabia’s adherence to the criteria described in the 

20 certification. 

21 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

22 (1) ADMITTED; ALIEN.—The terms ‘‘admitted’’ 

23 and ‘‘alien’’ have the meanings given those terms in 

24 section 101 of the Immigration and Nationality Act 

25 (8 U.S.C. 1101). 


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1 (2) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT2 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com3 mittees’’ means— 

4 (A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the 

5 Committee on the Judiciary, and the Perma6 nent Select Committee on Intelligence of the 

7 House of Representatives; and 

8 (B) the Committee on Foreign Relations, 

9 the Committee on the Judiciary, and the Select 

10 Committee on Intelligence of the Senate. 

11 (3) FOREIGN PERSON.—The term ‘‘foreign per12 son’’ has the meaning given such term in section 

13 595.304 of title 31, Code of Federal Regulations (as 

14 in effect on the day before the date of the enactment 

15 of this Act), except that such term does not include 

16 an entity (as such term is described in such section). 

17 (4) FOREIGN PERSON WHO IS A–1 VISA ELIGI18 BLE.—The term ‘‘foreign person who is A–1 visa eli19 gible’’ means an alien described in section 

20 101(a)(15)(A)(i) of the Immigration and Nationality 

21 Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(A)(i)). 

22 (5) UNITED STATES PERSON.—The term 

23 ‘‘United States person’’ means— 


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1 (A) a United States citizen or an alien law2 fully admitted for permanent residence to the 

3 United States; or 

4 (B) an entity organized under the laws of 

5 the United States or any jurisdiction within the 

6 United States, including a foreign branch of 

7 such an entity. 

8 SEC. 4. REPORT ON SAUDI ARABIA’S HUMAN RIGHTS 

9 RECORD. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days after the 

11 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, 

12 in accordance with section 502B(c) of the Foreign Assist13 ance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2304(c)), shall submit to the 

14 appropriate congressional committees report in writing 

15 that— 

16 (1) includes the information required under 

17 paragraph (1) of such section 502B(c) with respect 

18 to Saudi Arabia; 

19 (2) describes the extent to which officials of the 

20 Government of Saudi Arabia, including members of 

21 the military or security services, are responsible for 

22 or complicit in gross violations of internationally rec23 ognized human rights, including violations of the 

24 human rights of journalists, bloggers, human rights 


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1 defenders, and those who support women’s rights or 

2 religious freedom; 

3 (3) describes violations of human rights in 

4 Saudi Arabia by officials of the Government of 

5 Saudi Arabia, including against journalists, bloggers, 

6 human rights defenders, and civil society activists; 

7 (4) describes United States actions to address 

8 Saudi violations of human rights, including against 

9 journalists, bloggers, human rights defenders, and 

10 civil society activists, including demands for clem11 ency review of these cases; 

12 (5) describes any intolerant content in edu13 cational materials published by Saudi Arabia’s Min14 istry of Education that are used in schools both in15 side Saudi Arabia and at schools throughout the 

16 world; and 

17 (6) describes United States actions to encour18 age Saudi Arabia to retrieve and destroy materials 

19 with intolerant material and revise teacher manuals 

20 and retrain teachers to reflect changes in edu21 cational materials and promote tolerance. 

22 (b) FORM.—The report required by subsection (a) 

23 shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may include 

24 a classified annex. 


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1 (c) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES DE2 FINED.—In the section, the term ‘‘appropriate congres3 sional committees’’ means— 

4 (1) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the 

5 Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the 

6 House of Representatives; and 

7 (2) the Committee on Foreign Relations and 

8 the Select Committee on Intelligence of the Senate. 

9 SEC. 5. DETERMINATION OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS. 

10 The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of 

11 complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, 

12 shall be determined by reference to the latest statement 

13 titled ‘‘Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation’’ for this 

14 Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional Record 

15 by the Chairman of the House Budget Committee, pro16 vided that such statement has been submitted prior to the 

17 vote on passage. 

Passed the House of Representatives July 15, 2019. 

Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, 

Clerk. 


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