I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2320 

To direct the President to submit to Congress a report on fugitives currently 

residing in other countries whose extradition is sought by the United 

States and related matters. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 12, 2019 

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey (for himself and Mr. SIRES) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To direct the President to submit to Congress a report 

on fugitives currently residing in other countries whose 

extradition is sought by the United States and related 

matters. 

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 ‘‘Walter Patterson and 

5 Werner Foerster Justice and Extradition Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) Extradition is the formal surrender of a 

2 person by one state to another state for prosecution 

3 or punishment. 

4 (2) Refusal by other nations to extradite or oth5 erwise render to the United States fugitives within 

6 their jurisdiction who have been convicted of com7 mitting crimes on United States soil impedes the ju8 dicial process and undermines the rule of law. 

9 (3) The United States has bilateral extradition 

10 treaties with more than 100 nations and an extra11 dition agreement with the European Union. 

12 (4) The United States has bilateral extradition 

13 treaties with Portugal and Cuba. 

14 (5) The failure to bring criminal fugitives to 

15 justice in the United States is an affront to the vic16 tims of those crimes. 

17 (6) The refusal of Portugal, a close ally and 

18 good friend of the United States, to extradite George 

19 Wright, convicted of the 1962 murder of Walter 

20 Patterson, fugitive from justice since his 1970 es21 cape from the Bayside State Prison in New Jersey, 

22 is a deplorable example of a failure to extradite, and 

23 has caused ongoing suffering and stress to Mr. Pat24 terson’s surviving family and friends. 


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1 (7) The refusal of Cuba to extradite or other2 wise render Joanne Chesimard, an escaped convict 

3 who fled to Cuba after killing Werner Foerster, New 

4 Jersey State Trooper, is a deplorable example of a 

5 failure to extradite or otherwise render, and has 

6 caused ongoing suffering and stress to Mr. 

7 Foerster’s surviving family and friends. 

8 (8) The refusals to extradite George Wright 

9 and Joanne Chesimard are emblematic of a number 

10 of such refusals from other nations, such that 

11 United States policies and efforts to secure extra12 dition and the extradition policies of countries from 

13 which the United States seeks extradition and ren14 dition bear further examination. 

15 (9) Such examination will be promoted by the 

16 issuance of a public report on the status of extra17 dition requests by the United States and related 

18 matters. 

19 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to provide 

20 information necessary to evaluate and thereby strengthen 

21 United States Government efforts to extradite fugitives. 

22 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

23 It is the sense of Congress that in meetings with for24 eign officials of countries from which the United States 

25 seeks the extradition of fugitives, United States ambasVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:35 Apr 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2320.IH H2320

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1 sadors and other senior officials should prioritize advocacy 

2 on fulfilling United States extradition requests, including 

3 extradition of George Wright, an escaped convict and the 

4 murderer of Walter Patterson of New Jersey, and Joanne 

5 Chesimard, an escaped convict and the murderer of New 

6 Jersey State Trooper Werner Foerster. 

7 SEC. 4. REPORT. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 270 days after the 

9 date of the enactment of this Act, and not later than the 

10 end of each 12-month period thereafter, the President 

11 shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees 

12 a report on the following: 

13 (1) The number of fugitives, and others for 

14 whom the United States Government is seeking ex15 tradition or rendition, currently residing in other 

16 countries whose extradition is sought by the United 

17 States and a list of those countries. 

18 (2) Diplomatic and other efforts, if any, the 

19 United States has undertaken to secure the return 

20 of such fugitives. 

21 (3) The average length of time these cases have 

22 been outstanding. 

23 (4) How many of these cases have been resolved 

24 to the satisfaction of the United States. 


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1 (5) Factors that have been barriers to the reso2 lution of these cases. 

3 (6) Information on the number of United States 

4 citizens whose extradition has been sought by other 

5 countries during the past 5 years, a list of those 

6 countries seeking extradition, and the outcomes of 

7 those requests. 

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

9 shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may include 

10 a classified annex if necessary. 

11 (c) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘appro12 priate congressional committees’’ means— 

13 (1) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the 

14 Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Rep15 resentatives; and 

16 (2) the Committee on Foreign Relations and 

17 the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate. 

Æ 


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