IIB 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5917 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 17, 2024 

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

AN ACT 

To amend the Sanctioning the Use of Civilians as Defenseless Shields Act to modify and extend that Act, 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 ‘‘Strengthening Tools 

3 to Counter the Use of Human Shields Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

5 It shall be the policy of the United States to fully 

6 implement and enforce sanctions against terrorist organi7 zations and other malign actors that use innocent civilians 

8 as human shields. 

9 SEC. 3. MODIFICATION AND EXTENSION OF SANCTIONING 

10 THE USE OF CIVILIANS AS DEFENSELESS 

11 SHIELDS ACT. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 3 of the Sanctioning the 

13 Use of Civilians as Defenseless Shields Act (Public Law 

14 115–348; 50 U.S.C. 1701 note) is amended— 

15 (1) in subsection (b)— 

16 (A) by redesignating paragraph (3) as 

17 paragraph (4); and 

18 (B) by inserting after paragraph (2) the 

19 following: 

20 ‘‘(3) Each foreign person that the President de21 termines, on or after the date of the enactment of 

22 the Strengthening Tools to Counter the Use of 

23 Human Shields Act— 

24 ‘‘(A) is a member of Palestine Islamic 

25 Jihad or is knowingly acting on behalf of Pal26 estine Islamic Jihad; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) knowingly orders, controls, or other2 wise directs the use of civilians protected as 

3 such by the law of war to shield military objec4 tives from attack.’’; 

5 (2) by redesignating subsections (e), (f), (g), 

6 (h), and (i) as subsections (f), (g), (h), (i), and (j), 

7 respectively; and 

8 (3) by inserting after subsection (d) the fol9 lowing: 

10 ‘‘(e) CONGRESSIONAL REQUESTS.—Not later than 

11 120 days after receiving a request from the chairman and 

12 ranking member of one of the appropriate congressional 

13 committees with respect to whether a foreign person meets 

14 the criteria of a person described in subsection (b) or (c), 

15 the President shall— 

16 ‘‘(1) determine if the person meets such cri17 teria; and 

18 ‘‘(2) submit a written justification to the chair19 man and ranking member detailing whether or not 

20 the President imposed or intends to impose sanc21 tions described in subsection (b) or (c) with respect 

22 to such person.’’. 

23 (b) DEFINITIONS.—Section 4 of the Sanctioning the 

24 Use of Civilians as Defenseless Shields Act (Public Law 

25 115–348; 50 U.S.C. 1701 note) is amended— 


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1 (1) by redesignating paragraph (7) as para2 graph (8); and 

3 (2) by inserting after paragraph (6) the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘(7) PALESTINE ISLAMIC JIHAD.—The term 

6 ‘Palestine Islamic Jihad’ means— 

7 ‘‘(A) the entity known as Palestine Islamic 

8 Jihad and designated by the Secretary of State 

9 as a foreign terrorist organization pursuant to 

10 section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality 

11 Act (8 U.S.C. 1189); or 

12 ‘‘(B) any person identified as an agent or 

13 instrumentality of Palestine Islamic Jihad on 

14 the list of specially designated nationals and 

15 blocked persons maintained by the Office of 

16 Foreign Asset Control of the Department of the 

17 Treasury, the property or interests in property 

18 of which are blocked pursuant to the Inter19 national Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 

20 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.).’’. 

21 (c) SUNSET.—Section 5 of the Sanctioning the Use 

22 of Civilians as Defenseless Shields Act (Public Law 115– 

23 348; 50 U.S.C. 1701 note) is amended by striking ‘‘De24 cember 31, 2023’’ and inserting ‘‘December 31, 2030’’. 


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1 (d) SEVERABILITY.—The Sanctioning the Use of Ci2 vilians as Defenseless Shields Act (Public Law 115–348; 

3 50 U.S.C. 1701 note) is amended by adding at the end 

4 the following: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 6. SEVERABILITY. 

6 ‘‘If any provision of this Act, or the application of 

7 such provision to any person or circumstance, is found to 

8 be unconstitutional, the remainder of this Act, or the ap9 plication of that provision to other persons or cir10 cumstances, shall not be affected.’’. 

11 SEC. 4. REPORT ON COUNTERING THE USE OF HUMAN 

12 SHIELDS. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 120 days after the 

14 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense 

15 shall submit to the congressional defense committees, the 

16 Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representa17 tives, and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Sen18 ate a report that contains the following: 

19 (1) A description of the lessons learned from 

20 the United States and its allies and partners in ad21 dressing the use of human shields by terrorist orga22 nizations such as Hamas, Hezbollah, Palestine Is23 lamic Jihad, and any other organization as deter24 mined by the Secretary of Defense. 


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1 (2) A description of a specific plan and actions 

2 being taken by the Department of Defense to incor3 porate the lessons learned as identified in paragraph 

4 (1) into Department of Defense operating guidance, 

5 relevant capabilities, and tactics, techniques, and 

6 procedures to deter, counter, and address the chal7 lenge posed by the use of human shields and hold 

8 accountable terrorist organizations for the use of 

9 human shields. 

10 (3) A description of specific measures being de11 veloped and implemented by the United States Gov12 ernment to mobilize and leverage allied nations, in13 cluding member nations of the North Atlantic Trea14 ty Organization (NATO), to deter, counter, and hold 

15 accountable terrorist organizations for the use of 

16 human shields. 

17 (4) The current status of joint exercises, doc18 trine development, education, and training on coun19 tering the use of human shields in multinational cen20 ters of excellence. 

21 (5) The current status of participation of mem22 bers of the Armed Forces and Department of De23 fense civilian personnel in any multinational center 

24 of excellence for the purposes of countering the use 

25 of human shields. 


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1 (6) The feasibility and advisability of beginning 

2 or continuing participation of members of the Armed 

3 Forces and Department of Defense civilian per4 sonnel to promote the integration of joint exercises, 

5 doctrine development, education, and training on 

6 countering the use of human shields into multi7 national centers of excellence. 

8 (b) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘multi9 national center of excellence’’ has the meaning given that 

10 term in section 344 of title 10, United States Code. 

Passed the House of Representatives April 16, 2024. 

Attest: KEVIN F. MCCUMBER, 

Clerk. 


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