I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5907 

To criminalize transnational repression, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 6, 2023 

Mr. SCHIFF (for himself, Mr. QUIGLEY, Mr. HIMES, Ms. NORTON, Mr. 

COHEN, Mr. CARSON, Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI, Mr. 

MCGOVERN, and Mr. CASE) introduced the following bill 

OCTOBER 25, 2023 

Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee 

on Foreign Affairs, 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 criminalize transnational repression, 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 ‘‘Stop Transnational 

5 Repression Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) Transnational repression is not currently 

2 codified or defined in United States law. 

3 (2) The Federal Bureau of Investigation defines 

4 transnational repression as foreign government 

5 breach of national borders through physical and dig6 ital means to intimidate, silence, coerce, harass, or 

7 harm members of diaspora and exile communities in 

8 violation of United States law. Transnational repres9 sion is often used to silence individuals who are per10 ceived to oppose or are critical of a government, in11 cluding journalists, writers and artists, human rights 

12 defenders, religious or ethnic minority groups, and 

13 political opponents. Methods of transnational repres14 sion may include physical and digital stalking, har15 assment, computer hacking, phone tapping, 

16 INTERPOL abuse, criminal threats, assaults, at17 tempted kidnappings, coerced repatriation, and de18 taining family members in the home country. 

19 (3) Transnational repression is not limited to 

20 physical acts of intimidation and harassment. Ac21 cording to Citizen Lab, ‘‘digital transnational repres22 sion’’ tools are used to facilitate government reach 

23 beyond borders to gain access to social media and 

24 email accounts, including through phishing attacks, 

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1 downs, SIM card hacks, and fake invitations to con2 ferences. For human rights activists and dissidents, 

3 this has a serious impact on their advocacy work 

4 and sense of security, even if they have relocated to 

5 escape physical intimidation. 

6 (4) On February 23, 2022, the National Secu7 rity Division of the Department of Justice launched 

8 a ‘‘Strategy for Countering Nation-State Threats’’ 

9 in order to support a comprehensive, ‘‘whole-of-gov10 ernment’’ approach to addressing threats the United 

11 States faces from hostile nations, including 

12 transnational repression. 

13 (5) Throughout 2022, the Department of Jus14 tice charged a number of individuals with stalking, 

15 harassing, and illicitly acting as agents of foreign 

16 governments, who allegedly perpetrated 

17 transnational repression to silence United States 

18 residents who were critics of the People’s Republic 

19 of China. 

20 (6) In January 2023, the Department of Jus21 tice announced charges and arrests in a case involv22 ing an assassination plot directed from Iran against 

23 a critic of the regime. The Department stated, 

24 ‘‘These charges are just the latest example of indiVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:39 Nov 02, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5907.IH H5907

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1 viduals in Iran directing deadly violence on U.S. 

2 soil.’’. 

3 (7) Transnational repression is a growing prob4 lem. The Department of Justice has reported an 

5 ‘‘alarming rise in plots emanating from Iran, China, 

6 Russia, and elsewhere, targeting people in the 

7 United States’’. As of April 2023, Freedom House 

8 has documented 854 direct, physical cases of 

9 transnational repression that took place globally be10 tween 2014 and 2022. 

11 (8) Freedom House recorded a total of 79 new 

12 incidents of transnational repression globally com13 mitted by 20 governments in 2022. Two govern14 ments, Bangladesh and Djibouti, were added to the 

15 list of perpetrators, bringing the total number of 

16 states engaged in transnational repression around 

17 the world to 38. The number of countries where acts 

18 of transnational repression took place rose from 84 

19 to 91 in 2022, including the United States, accord20 ing to Freedom House. 

21 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

22 It is the sense of Congress that hostile nations and 

23 authoritarian regimes have increasingly and aggressively 

24 targeted individuals in the United States and persons out25 side the United States. Agents of these governments have 


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1 acted outside diplomatic channels to threaten, intimidate, 

2 harass, surveil, stalk, silence, and even plot to physically 

3 harm or kidnap persons within U.S. borders. Although 

4 transnational repression often involves actions that are al5 ready prohibited by U.S. law, their foreign government 

6 backing render these activities more dangerous than the 

7 underlying acts of intimidation or harassment alone. 

8 Therefore, it is necessary to formally define and crim9 inalize transnational repression in Federal law, and to 

10 more actively track and report on instances of 

11 transnational repression in the United States and affect12 ing United States persons. It is also necessary to continue 

13 to work with foreign partners to address this issue in a 

14 coordinated manner, including in multilateral settings. 

15 SEC. 4. CRIMINALIZING TRANSNATIONAL REPRESSION. 

16 (a) OFFENSE.—Chapter 45 of title 18, United States 

17 Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘§ 971. Transnational repression 

19 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Whoever knowingly commits an 

20 act of transnational repression shall be fined under this 

21 title and imprisoned not more than 10 years, or both, and 

22 if death or serious bodily injury results from the act, or 

23 if such act include the use, attempted use, or threatened 

24 use of a dangerous weapon, kidnapping or an attempt to 

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1 mit aggravated sexual abuse, shall be fined under this 

2 title, or imprisoned for any term of years or for life, or 

3 both. 

4 ‘‘(b) ATTEMPT OR CONSPIRACY.—Whoever attempts 

5 or conspires to commit an offense under this section shall 

6 be subject to the same penalties as those prescribed for 

7 the offense, the commission of which was the object of the 

8 attempt or conspiracy. 

9 ‘‘(c) SENTENCING ENHANCEMENT.—Whoever know10 ingly commits, attempts, or conspires to commit an of11 fense under any other section of this title at the direction 

12 of or under the control of a foreign government or official 

13 or on behalf of their proxy while engaged in and in fur14 therance of transnational repression shall, in addition to 

15 the punishment authorized for such offense, be subject to 

16 a sentencing enhancement of up to ten years in prison. 

17 ‘‘(d) EXTRATERRITORIAL JURISDICTION.—There is 

18 extraterritorial Federal jurisdiction over an offense under 

19 this section. 

20 ‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

21 ‘‘(1) AGENT OF A FOREIGN GOVERNMENT.— 

22 The term ‘agent of a foreign government’ means an 

23 individual who operates subject to the direction or 

24 control of a foreign government or official. 


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1 ‘‘(2) EXTRAJUDICIAL KILLING.—The term 

2 ‘extrajudicial killing’ means an act with the intention 

3 to or in the knowledge that such act will end the life 

4 of another person, when that act is not incident to 

5 lawful sanction, public necessity, self-defense or the 

6 defense of others, or the law of armed conflict. 

7 ‘‘(3) PROXY.—The term ‘proxy’ means an indi8 vidual acting on behalf of an agent of a foreign gov9 ernment. 

10 ‘‘(4) TRANSNATIONAL REPRESSION.—The term 

11 ‘transnational repression’ means any activity by a 

12 foreign government, or an agent of a foreign govern13 ment or a proxy thereof, that satisfies each of the 

14 following: 

15 ‘‘(A) The activity involves— 

16 ‘‘(i) any effort intended to coerce, har17 ass, or digitally or physically threaten, in18 cluding by force or reasonable fear of 

19 death or serious bodily injury or imprison20 ment of a person or an immediate family 

21 member of a person, a person to take an 

22 action in the interest of a foreign govern23 ment; 

24 ‘‘(ii) any effort intended to harass or 

25 coerce, including by force or fear, a person 


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1 to forebear from exercising their First 

2 Amendment rights or any other right guar3 anteed to the person by the Constitution or 

4 laws of the United States, or to retaliate 

5 against a person for having exercised such 

6 a right; 

7 ‘‘(iii) an extrajudicial killing; or 

8 ‘‘(iv) any act intended to further the 

9 efforts specified in clause (i), (ii), or (iii). 

10 ‘‘(B) The activity is engaged in for or in 

11 the interests of a foreign government. 

12 ‘‘(C) The activity— 

13 ‘‘(i) occurs, in whole or in part, in the 

14 United States; or 

15 ‘‘(ii) is committed against— 

16 ‘‘(I) a United States person; or 

17 ‘‘(II) a person in the United 

18 States. 

19 ‘‘(5) UNITED STATES PERSON.—The term 

20 ‘United States person’ has the meaning given such 

21 term in section 1637(d)(10) of the Carl Levin and 

22 Howard P. ‘Buck’ McKeon National Defense Au23 thorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015 (50 U.S.C. 

24 1708(d)(10)). 


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1 ‘‘(6) DANGEROUS WEAPON.—The term ‘dan2 gerous weapon’ has the meaning given the term in 

3 section 930(g)(2).’’. 

4 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

5 for chapter 45 of title 18, United States Code, is amended 

6 by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘971. Transnational repression.’’. 

7 (c) PREDICATE OFFENSES.—Part I of title 18, 

8 United States Code, is amended— 

9 (1) in section 1956(c)(7)(D), by inserting ‘‘sec10 tion 971 (relating to transnational repression),’’ be11 fore ‘‘section 1005 (relating to fraudulent bank en12 tries),’’; 

13 (2) in section 1961(1), by inserting ‘‘section 

14 971 (relating to transnational repression),’’ before 

15 ‘‘section 1028 (relating to fraud and related activity 

16 in connection with identification documents),’’; and 

17 (3) in section 2516(1)— 

18 (A) in paragraph (t), by striking ‘‘or’’; 

19 (B) in paragraph (u), by striking the pe20 riod and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

21 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

22 ‘‘(v) any violation of section 951 of title 18 

23 (relating to agents of foreign governments); any 

24 violation of section 971 of title 18 

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1 tion of section 8 of the Foreign Agents Reg2 istration Act (22 U.S.C. 618) (relating to reg3 istration of agents of foreign principals).’’. 

4 SEC. 5. CENTRALIZATION OF OVERSIGHT OF 

5 TRANSNATIONAL REPRESSION PROSECU6 TIONS AND INVESTIGATIONS. 

7 (a) NATIONAL SECURITY DIVISION.—The Attorney 

8 General shall centralize oversight of transnational repres9 sion prosecutions in the National Security Division of the 

10 Department of Justice, or any successor organization. 

11 (b) INVESTIGATIONS.—The Attorney General, acting 

12 through the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investiga13 tion, shall centralize oversight of transnational repression 

14 investigations in the Federal Bureau of Investigation, or 

15 any successor organization. 

16 SEC. 6. REPORTING ON TRANSNATIONAL REPRESSION. 

17 (a) REPORTS.—Not later than 180 days after the 

18 date of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, 

19 the Assistant Attorney General for the National Security 

20 Division of the Department of Justice and the Director 

21 of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, in consultation 

22 with the Director of National Intelligence and the head 

23 of any other department or agency the Assistant Attorney 

24 General and Director of the Federal Bureau of Investiga25 tion determines appropriate, shall submit to the approVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:39 Nov 02, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5907.IH H5907

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1 priate congressional committees a joint report on incidents 

2 of transnational repression against or otherwise impacting 

3 a United States person. Each report shall contain the fol4 lowing: 

5 (1) An overview of transnational repression in 

6 the United States or against United States persons 

7 outside of the United States, including the govern8 ments that perpetrate transnational repression and 

9 the tactics that they use. 

10 (2) A description of any activities that the As11 sistant Attorney General of the National Security 

12 Division of the Department of Justice or the Direc13 tor of the Federal Bureau of Investigation deter14 mines to be substantially similar to transnational re15 pression that do not fall within the definition of 

16 transnational repression. 

17 (3) Subject to appropriate protections for sen18 sitive information regarding law enforcement inves19 tigations and operations, a description of efforts 

20 during the previous calendar year to disrupt 

21 transnational repression through investigation and 

22 criminal prosecution. 

23 (4) A description of efforts during the previous 

24 calendar year by any agency of the United States 

25 Government to disrupt transnational repression 


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1 through means other than investigation and criminal 

2 prosecution, including through diplomatic means. 

3 (b) FORM.—Each report submitted under subsection 

4 (a) shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may in5 clude a classified annex. 

6 SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT9 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com10 mittees’’ means— 

11 (A) the Committee on the Judiciary, the 

12 Committee on Foreign Affairs, and the Perma13 nent Select Committee on Intelligence of the 

14 House of Representatives; and 

15 (B) the Committee on the Judiciary, the 

16 Committee on Foreign Relations, and the Select 

17 Committee on Intelligence of the Senate. 

18 (2) TRANSNATIONAL REPRESSION.—The term 

19 ‘‘transnational repression’’ has the meaning given 

20 the term in section 971 of title 18, United States 

21 Code, as added by section 4. 

22 SEC. 8. THE U.S. SENTENCING COMMISSION. 

23 Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 

24 of this Act, the U.S. Sentencing Commission shall promul25 gate or amend such sentencing guideline as may be necVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:39 Nov 02, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5907.IH H5907

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1 essary to provide appropriate guideline penalties for the 

2 offense conduct and penalty provisions established in this 

3 Act, and amended by this Act, including enhanced pen4 alties for aggravated forms of any offense established in 

5 this Act. 

Æ 


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