I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5917 

To amend the Sanctioning the Use of Civilians as Defenseless Shields Act 

to modify and extend that Act, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 10, 2023 

Mr. GALLAGHER (for himself and Mr. SHERMAN) introduced the following bill 

OCTOBER 25, 2023 

Referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committees on the Judiciary, and Armed Services, 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 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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Strengthening Tools 

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


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
2 

•HR 5917 IH

1 SEC. 2. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

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

3 implement and enforce sanctions against terrorist organi4 zations and other malign actors that use innocent civilians 

5 as human shields. 

6 SEC. 3. MODIFICATION AND EXTENSION OF SANCTIONING 

7 THE USE OF CIVILIANS AS DEFENSELESS 

8 SHIELDS ACT. 

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

10 Use of Civilians as Defenseless Shields Act (Public Law 

11 115–348; 50 U.S.C. 1701 note) is amended— 

12 (1) in subsection (b)— 

13 (A) by redesignating paragraph (3) as 

14 paragraph (4); and 

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

16 following: 

17 ‘‘(3) Each foreign person that the President de18 termines, on or after the date of the enactment of 

19 the Strengthening Tools to Counter the Use of 

20 Human Shields Act— 

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

22 Jihad or is knowingly acting on behalf of Pal23 estine Islamic Jihad; and 

24 ‘‘(B) knowingly orders, controls, or other25 wise directs the use of civilians protected as 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
3 

•HR 5917 IH

1 such by the law of war to shield military objec2 tives from attack.’’; 

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

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

5 respectively; and 

6 (3) by inserting after subsection (d) the fol7 lowing: 

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

9 120 days after receiving a request from the chairman and 

10 ranking member of one of the appropriate congressional 

11 committees with respect to whether a foreign person meets 

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

13 the President shall— 

14 ‘‘(1) determine if the person meets such cri15 teria; and 

16 ‘‘(2) submit a written justification to the chair17 man and ranking member detailing whether or not 

18 the President imposed or intends to impose sanc19 tions described in subsection (b) or (c) with respect 

20 to such person.’’. 

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

22 Use of Civilians as Defenseless Shields Act (Public Law 

23 115–348; 50 U.S.C. 1701 note) is amended— 

24 (1) by redesignating paragraph (7) as para25 graph (8); and 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
4 

•HR 5917 IH

1 (2) by inserting after paragraph (6) the fol2 lowing: 

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

4 ‘Palestine Islamic Jihad’ means— 

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

6 Jihad and designated by the Secretary of State 

7 as a foreign terrorist organization pursuant to 

8 section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality 

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

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

11 instrumentality of Palestine Islamic Jihad on 

12 the list of specially designated nationals and 

13 blocked persons maintained by the Office of 

14 Foreign Asset Control of the Department of the 

15 Treasury, the property or interests in property 

16 of which are blocked pursuant to the Inter17 national Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 

18 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.).’’. 

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

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

21 348; 50 U.S.C. 1701 note) is amended by striking ‘‘De22 cember 31, 2023’’ and inserting ‘‘December 31, 2030’’. 

23 (d) SEVERABILITY.—The Sanctioning the Use of Ci24 vilians as Defenseless Shields Act (Public Law 115–348; 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
5 

•HR 5917 IH

1 50 U.S.C. 1701 note) is amended by adding at the end 

2 the following: 

3 ‘‘SEC. 6. SEVERABILITY. 

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

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

6 be unconstitutional, the remainder of this Act, or the ap7 plication of that provision to other persons or cir8 cumstances, shall not be affected.’’. 

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

10 SHIELDS. 

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

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

13 shall submit to the congressional defense committees, the 

14 Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representa15 tives, and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Sen16 ate a report that contains the following: 

17 (1) A description of the lessons learned from 

18 the United States and its allies and partners in ad19 dressing the use of human shields by terrorist orga20 nizations such as Hamas, Hezbollah, Palestine Is21 lamic Jihad, and any other organization as deter22 mined by the Secretary of Defense. 

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

24 being taken by the Department of Defense to incor25 porate the lessons learned as identified in paragraph 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
6 

•HR 5917 IH

1 (1) into Department of Defense operating guidance, 

2 relevant capabilities, and tactics, techniques, and 

3 procedures to deter, counter, and address the chal4 lenge posed by the use of human shields and hold 

5 accountable terrorist organizations for the use of 

6 human shields. 

7 (3) A description of specific measures being de8 veloped and implemented by the United States Gov9 ernment to mobilize and leverage allied nations, in10 cluding member nations of the North Atlantic Trea11 ty Organization (NATO), to deter, counter, and hold 

12 accountable terrorist organizations for the use of 

13 human shields. 

14 (4) The current status of joint exercises, doc15 trine development, education, and training on coun16 tering the use of human shields in multinational cen17 ters of excellence. 

18 (5) The current status of participation of mem19 bers of the Armed Forces and Department of De20 fense civilian personnel in any multinational center 

21 of excellence for the purposes of countering the use 

22 of human shields. 

23 (6) The feasibility and advisability of beginning 

24 or continuing participation of members of the Armed 

25 Forces and Department of Defense civilian perVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:40 Nov 02, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5917.IH H5917

kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
7 

•HR 5917 IH

1 sonnel to promote the integration of joint exercises, 

2 doctrine development, education, and training on 

3 countering the use of human shields into multi4 national centers of excellence. 

5 (b) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘multi6 national center of excellence’’ has the meaning given that 

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

Æ 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB