I 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5379 

To impose sanctions on individuals that are responsible for the commission 

of serious and ongoing violations of human rights or gross violations 

of human rights against nationals of the People’s Republic of China 

or their family members, to protect universal freedoms in the People’s 

Republic of China, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 31, 2014 

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committees 

on Financial Services, the Judiciary, and Ways and Means, 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 on individuals that are responsible for 

the commission of serious and ongoing violations of 

human rights or gross violations of human rights against 

nationals of the People’s Republic of China or their 

family members, to protect universal freedoms 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, 

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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘China Human Rights 

3 Protection Act of 2014’’. 

4 SEC. 2. IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS ON INDIVIDUALS RE5 SPONSIBLE FOR COMMISSION OF SERIOUS 

6 AND ONGOING VIOLATIONS OF HUMAN 

7 RIGHTS OR GROSS VIOLATIONS OF HUMAN 

8 RIGHTS AGAINST NATIONALS OF THE PEO9 PLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA OR THEIR FAMILY 

10 MEMBERS. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 

12 (e), the President shall— 

13 (1) impose sanctions described in paragraph 

14 (1)(A) of subsection (c) and paragraph (2) of such 

15 subsection (as applicable) with respect to each indi16 vidual on the list required by subsection (b)(1); and 

17 (2) impose sanctions described in subpara18 graphs (A) and (B) of subsection (c)(1) with respect 

19 to each individual on the list required by subsection 

20 (b)(2). 

21 (b) LISTS REQUIRED.— 

22 (1) INDIVIDUALS RESPONSIBLE FOR COMMIS23 SION OF SERIOUS AND ONGOING VIOLATIONS OF

24 HUMAN RIGHTS.—Not later than 120 days after the 

25 date of the enactment of this Act, the President 

26 shall submit to the appropriate congressional commstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

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1 mittees a list of individuals that the President deter2 mines are responsible for or complicit in, or respon3 sible for directing, the commission of serious and on4 going violations of human rights against nationals of 

5 the People’s Republic of China or their family mem6 bers, regardless of whether such abuses occurred in 

7 China. 

8 (2) INDIVIDUALS RESPONSIBLE FOR GROSS VIO9 LATIONS OF HUMAN RIGHTS.—Not later than 120 

10 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

11 President shall submit to the appropriate congres12 sional committees a list of individuals that the Presi13 dent determines— 

14 (A) are responsible for or complicit in, or 

15 responsible for directing, the commission of 

16 gross violations of human rights against nation17 als of the People’s Republic of China or their 

18 family members, regardless of whether such 

19 abuses occurred in China; or 

20 (B) have benefitted materially or finan21 cially from the commission of serious and ongo22 ing violations of human rights described in 

23 paragraph (1) or the commission of gross viola24 tions of human rights described in subpara25 graph (A). 

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1 (3) UPDATES OF LISTS.—The President shall 

2 submit to the appropriate congressional committees 

3 updated lists under paragraphs (1) and (2)— 

4 (A) not less frequently than on annual 

5 basis; and 

6 (B) as new information becomes available. 

7 (4) FORM; PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.— 

8 (A) FORM.—The lists required by para9 graphs (1) and (2) shall be submitted in unclas10 sified form but may contain a classified annex. 

11 (B) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The unclassi12 fied portion of the lists required by paragraphs 

13 (1) and (2) shall be made available to the pub14 lic and published in the Federal Register. 

15 (5) NONAPPLICABILITY OF CONFIDENTIALITY

16 REQUIREMENT WITH RESPECT TO VISA RECORDS.— 

17 The President shall publish the lists required by 

18 paragraphs (1) and (2) without regard to the re19 quirements of section 222(f) of the Immigration and 

20 Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1202(f)) with respect to 

21 confidentiality of records pertaining to the issuance 

22 or refusal of visas or permits to enter the United 

23 States. 

24 (c) SANCTIONS DESCRIBED.— 

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

2 this paragraph are the following: 

3 (A) PROHIBITION ON ENTRY AND ADMIS4 SION TO THE UNITED STATES.—In the case of 

5 an individual whose name appears on the list 

6 required by paragraph (1) or (2) of subsection 

7 (b)— 

8 (i) ineligibility to receive a visa to 

9 enter the United States or to be admitted 

10 to the United States; or 

11 (ii) if the individual has been issued a 

12 visa or other documentation, revocation, in 

13 accordance with section 221(i) of the Im14 migration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

15 1201(i)), of the visa or other documenta16 tion. 

17 (B) FINANCIAL SANCTIONS.— 

18 (i) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an 

19 individual whose name appears on the list 

20 required by subsection (b)(2), the Presi21 dent shall impose sanctions authorized 

22 pursuant to section 203 of the Inter23 national Emergency Economic Powers Act 

24 (50 U.S.C. 1702) with respect to the indi25 vidual, including blocking of the property 

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1 of, and restricting or prohibiting financial 

2 transactions and the exportation and im3 portation of property Act by, the individual 

4 if such property and interests in property 

5 are in the United States, come within the 

6 United States, or are or come within the 

7 possession or control of a United States 

8 person. 

9 (ii) INAPPLICABILITY OF NATIONAL

10 EMERGENCY REQUIREMENT.—The require11 ments of section 202 of the International 

12 Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 

13 U.S.C. 1701) shall not apply for purposes 

14 of this subparagraph. 

15 (2) ADDITIONAL SANCTIONS.—The sanctions 

16 described in this paragraph are the following: 

17 (A) INDIVIDUALS ON LIST FOR TWO CON18 SECUTIVE YEARS.—In the case of an individual 

19 whose name appears on the list required by 

20 subsection (b)(1) for two consecutive years but 

21 does not appear on the list required by sub22 section (b)(2) for such two consecutive years, 

23 the individual and any immediate family mem24 ber of the individual shall be ineligible to par25 ticipate in or receive any benefit from any promstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

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1 gram, project, or activity that is funded by the 

2 United States Government. 

3 (B) INDIVIDUALS ON LIST FOR THREE

4 CONSECUTIVE YEARS.— 

5 (i) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an 

6 individual whose name appears on the list 

7 required by subsection (b)(1) for three con8 secutive years but does not appear on the 

9 list required by subsection (b)(2) for such 

10 three consecutive years, the President shall 

11 impose sanctions authorized pursuant to 

12 section 203 of the International Emer13 gency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 

14 1702) with respect to the individual, in15 cluding blocking of the property of, and re16 stricting or prohibiting financial trans17 actions and the exportation and importa18 tion of property Act by, the individual if 

19 such property and interests in property are 

20 in the United States, come within the 

21 United States, or are or come within the 

22 possession or control of a United States 

23 person. 

24 (ii) INAPPLICABILITY OF NATIONAL

25 EMERGENCY REQUIREMENT.—The requiremstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

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1 ments of section 202 of the International 

2 Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 

3 U.S.C. 1701) shall not apply for purposes 

4 of this subparagraph. 

5 (C) REGULATORY AUTHORITY.—The Presi6 dent shall issue such regulations, licenses, and 

7 orders as are necessary to carry out this para8 graph. 

9 (d) REQUESTS BY CHAIRPERSON AND RANKING

10 MEMBER OF APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT11 TEES.—Not later than 120 days after receiving a written 

12 request from the chairperson and ranking member of one 

13 of the appropriate congressional committees with respect 

14 to whether an individual has engaged in an activity de15 scribed in subsection (b)(1) or subsection (b)(2)(A) or 

16 meets the requirements of subparagraph (B) of subsection 

17 (b)(2), the President shall— 

18 (1) determine if that individual has engaged in 

19 such an activity or meets such requirements; and 

20 (2) submit to the chairperson and ranking 

21 member of that committee a report with respect to 

22 that determination that includes— 

23 (A) a statement of whether or not the 

24 President imposed or intends to impose sanc25 tions with respect to the individual; and 

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1 (B) if the President imposed or intends to 

2 impose sanctions, a description of those sanc3 tions. 

4 (e) EXCEPTION TO COMPLY WITH UNITED NATIONS

5 HEADQUARTERS AGREEMENT.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Sanctions under paragraph 

7 (1) or (2) of subsection (c) shall not apply to an in8 dividual if admitting the individual into the United 

9 States is necessary to permit the United States to 

10 comply with the Agreement regarding the Head11 quarters of the United Nations, signed at Lake Suc12 cess June 26, 1947, and entered into force Novem13 ber 21, 1947, between the United Nations and the 

14 United States, or other applicable international obli15 gations of the United States. 

16 (2) NOTIFICATION.—The President shall sub17 mit to the appropriate congressional committees a 

18 notification that paragraph (1) applies to an indi19 vidual prior to the application of paragraph (1) to 

20 the individual. 

21 (f) TERMINATION OF SANCTIONS.—The President 

22 may terminate the application of sanctions under sub23 section (c) with respect to an individual if the President 

24 determines and reports to the appropriate congressional 

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1 committees on the day the individual is removed from the 

2 list that— 

3 (1) credible information exists that the indi4 vidual did not engage in the activity for which sanc5 tions were imposed; 

6 (2) the individual has been prosecuted appro7 priately for the activity for which sanctions were im8 posed; or 

9 (3) the individual has credibly demonstrated a 

10 significant change in behavior, has paid an appro11 priate consequence for the activities for which sanc12 tions were imposed, and has credibly committed to 

13 not engage in an activity described in subparagraph 

14 (A) or (B) of subsection (b)(1) or meets the require15 ments of subparagraph (C) of subsection (b)(1). 

16 (g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

17 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT18 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com19 mittees’’ means— 

20 (A) the Committee on Armed Services, the 

21 Committee on Financial Services, the Com22 mittee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee on 

23 Homeland Security, and the Committee on the 

24 Judiciary of the House of Representatives; and 

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1 (B) the Committee on Armed Services, the 

2 Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban 

3 Affairs, the Committee on Foreign Relations, 

4 the Committee on Homeland Security and Gov5 ernmental Affairs, and the Committee on the 

6 Judiciary of the Senate. 

7 (2) HUMAN RIGHTS DEFINITIONS.— 

8 (A) GROSS VIOLATIONS OF HUMAN

9 RIGHTS.—The term ‘‘gross violations of human 

10 rights’’ means, with respect to an individual, 

11 the act of torture, forced disappearance, extra12 judicial killing, rape, prolonged and harsh de13 tention, forced abortion or sterilization, or other 

14 severe and ongoing deprivations of individual 

15 liberty, including psychiatric or medical experi16 mentation or organ harvesting of the individual 

17 detained for exercising internationally guaran18 teed human rights. 

19 (B) SERIOUS AND ONGOING VIOLATIONS

20 OF HUMAN RIGHTS.—The term ‘‘serious and 

21 ongoing violations of human rights’’ means, 

22 with respect to an individual, violations of free23 dom of expression or Internet censorship, free24 dom of religion, freedom of assembly and asso25 ciation, or the right of due process such that 

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1 the individual is not able to engage freely in 

2 such activities without fear of arrest, intimida3 tion, arbitrary detention, property destruction 

4 or confiscation, heavy fines, or loss of jobs or 

5 professional status. 

6 (3) UNITED STATES PERSON.—The term 

7 ‘‘United States person’’ means— 

8 (A) a natural person who is a citizen of the 

9 United States or who owes permanent alle10 giance to the United States; and 

11 (B) a corporation or other legal entity 

12 which is organized under the laws of the United 

13 States, any State or territory thereof, or the 

14 District of Columbia, if natural persons de15 scribed in subparagraph (A) own, directly or in16 directly, more than 50 percent of the out17 standing capital stock or other beneficial inter18 est in such legal entity. 

19 SEC. 3. ESCALATING SANCTIONS FOR INDIVIDUALS WHO 

20 COMMIT ONGOING AND SERIOUS ABUSES OF 

21 INTERNATIONALLY RECOGNIZED HUMAN 

22 RIGHTS AGAINST CHINESE NATIONALS OR 

23 THEIR FAMILIES. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—Any individual who remains on 

25 the list created by section 2(b)(1)(A) for 2 consecutive 

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1 years, and is not specially identified for committing or 

2 being responsible for committing gross violations of inter3 nationally recognized human rights, shall incur additional 

4 penalties or sanctions, including the following: 

5 (1) Such individuals and their immediate family 

6 members shall be denied from engaging or benefit7 ting from any Federal program or institution. 

8 (2) The President shall require that the individ9 uals on list under section 2(b)(1)(A), and their im10 mediate family members, shall not engage in or ben11 efit from any Federal program or institution. 

12 (3) The President shall order the removal indi13 viduals on the list under section 2(b)(1)(A) and their 

14 immediate family members from any Federal pro15 gram or institution. 

16 (4) The President shall submit to the appro17 priate congressional committee not later than the 

18 last day of each fiscal year, a list of the family mem19 bers denied from engaging in or benefitting from 

20 any Federal program or institution. 

21 (5) Exceptions to this section may include those 

22 family members who are known to have publicly dis23 avowed the human rights abuses of individuals found 

24 on the list created by section 2(b)(1)(A) and those, 

25 who are enrolled in said Federal program or institumstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

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1 tions, on the day before the list described in this sec2 tion is submitted to Congress. 

3 (b) CONTINUING OFFENDERS.—Any individual who 

4 remains on the list created by section (2)(b)(1)(A) for 

5 three consecutive years, and is not already specially identi6 fied for committing or being responsible for committing 

7 gross violations of internationally recognized human 

8 rights, shall incur additional penalties or sanctions such 

9 as: 

10 (1) FINANCIAL SANCTIONS.—The President 

11 shall impose sanctions authorized pursuant to sec12 tion 203 of the International Emergency Economic 

13 Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1702) with respect to an in14 dividual whose name appears on the list required by 

15 section 2(b)(1), in including blocking of the property 

16 of, and restricting or prohibiting financial trans17 actions and the exportation and importation of prop18 erty Act if such property and interests in property 

19 are in the United States, come within the United 

20 States, or are or come within the possession or con21 trol of a United States person. 

22 (2) WAIVER.—The President may waive the ap23 plication of this subsection for the same reasons 

24 stated in section 2(e) above. 

25 (c) ENFORCEMENT.— 

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1 (1) PENALTIES.—A person that violates, at2 tempts to violate, conspires to violate, or causes a 

3 violation of this section or section 2(c) or 2(d) above 

4 or any regulation, license, or order issued to carry 

5 out said sections shall be subject to the penalties set 

6 forth in subsections (b) and (c) of section 206 of the 

7 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 

8 U.S.C. 1705) to the same extent as a person that 

9 commits gross violations of internationally recog10 nized human rights. 

11 (2) REQUIREMENTS FOR FINANCIAL INSTITU12 TIONS.—Not later than 120 days after the date of 

13 the enactment of this Act, the President shall pre14 scribe regulations requiring each financial institution 

15 that is a United States person and has within its 

16 possession or control assets that are property or in17 terests in property of a foreign person on the lists 

18 required by section 2(b)(1)(B) and those later iden19 tified in section 3(b) to certify to the President that, 

20 to the best of the knowledge of the financial institu21 tion, the financial institution has frozen all assets 

22 within the possession or control of the financial in23 stitution that are required to be frozen. 

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1 (d) REGULATORY AUTHORITY.—The Secretary of the 

2 Treasury shall issue such regulations, licenses, and orders 

3 as are necessary to carry out this section. 

4 (e) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘Federal 

5 program or institution’’ means any program or institution 

6 that receives funds from the Federal Government. 

7 SEC. 4. TO FURTHER PROTECT THE INTERNATIONALLY 

8 RECOGNIZED RIGHT OF FREE EXPRESSION, 

9 ENSURE THE FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION, 

10 AND PROTECT FOREIGN JOURNALISTS AND 

11 MEDIA PERSONNEL IN CHINA. 

12 (a) LIMITATION ON I-VISAS.—Section 101(a)(15)(I) 

13 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

14 1101(a)(15)(I)) is amended by inserting ‘‘subject to sec15 tion 214(s),’’ before ‘‘upon a basis’’. 

16 (b) RESTRICTIONS ON VISAS TO EXECUTIVES OF

17 STATE-OWNED MEDIA.—Section 214 of the Immigration 

18 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1184) is amended by add19 ing at the end the following: 

20 ‘‘(s) RESTRICTIONS ON VISAS TO EXECUTIVES OF

21 STATE-OWNED MEDIA.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of aliens who 

23 are executives at a state-controlled media organiza24 tion from the People’s Republic of China and are 

25 seeking classification under section 101(a)(15)(I), 

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1 the visas may be refused to such aliens if any United 

2 States media personnel were expelled, had visas de3 nied, or faced intimidation or violence in the course 

4 of working in China in the prior fiscal year. 

5 ‘‘(2) Visas to such aliens, in proportion to the 

6 expulsions, visa denials or delays experienced by 

7 U.S. journalists or media personnel working in 

8 China during the prior fiscal year, may be refused 

9 or delayed. 

10 ‘‘(3) For purposes of this subsection— 

11 ‘‘(A) the term ‘state-controlled media 

12 worker from the People’s Republic of China’ 

13 means a representative of a media organization 

14 owned, operated, or controlled by the People’s 

15 Republic of China, including— 

16 ‘‘(i) China Central Television; 

17 ‘‘(ii) China Daily; 

18 ‘‘(iii) China National Radio; 

19 ‘‘(iv) China News Service; 

20 ‘‘(v) China Radio International; 

21 ‘‘(vi) China Youth Daily; 

22 ‘‘(vii) Economic Daily; 

23 ‘‘(viii) Global Times; 

24 ‘‘(ix) Guangming Daily; 

25 ‘‘(x) Legal Daily; 

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1 ‘‘(xi) Liberation Army Daily; 

2 ‘‘(xii) People’s Daily; or 

3 ‘‘(xiii) Xinhua News Agency. 

4 ‘‘(B) REVOCATION OF CERTAIN VISAS; 

5 NONIMMIGRANT STATUS.—Not later than 30 

6 days after the date of the enactment of this sec7 tion, the President shall order the revocation, 

8 delay, or refusal of a sufficient number of visas 

9 already issued to executives of state-controlled 

10 media organizations from the People’s Republic 

11 of China in proportion to the expulsions, visa 

12 delays or denials, and intimidation experienced 

13 by personnel from U.S. journalist or media per14 sonnel organizations in the previous 12 months 

15 prior to the Act’s passage. 

16 ‘‘(C) REPORTING ON RESTRICTIONS ON

17 FOREIGN MEDIA IN CHINA.—The Department 

18 of State, in the Annual Country Reports on 

19 Human Rights Conditions shall include infor20 mation and details on intimidation, travel re21 strictions, visa denials and delays, and expul22 sions of foreign media personnel from China 

23 and the censoring and blocking of media cor24 porations’ Web sites within China. 

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1 ‘‘(D) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the 

2 sense of Congress that restrictions on the ac3 tivities of U.S. journalists and media personnel 

4 in China and the censorship and blockage of 

5 news media Web sites damages the competitive6 ness of U.S. media corporations and should be 

7 considered a restriction of trade and an unfair 

8 competitive advantage benefitting Chinese gov9 ernment-controlled media organizations. As 

10 such, the U.S. Government should link to any 

11 bilateral investment treaty, currently being ne12 gotiated, language that guarantees fair treat13 ment of journalists, a reciprocal number of 

14 journalist visas, and free and unfettered oper15 ation of news Web sites in China.’’. 

Æ 

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