I

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4036

To strengthen the protection of internationally recognized human rights.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

SEPTEMBER 5, 1996

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey (for himself and Mr. GILMAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on International Relations, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, 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 strengthen the protection of internationally recognized

human rights.

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 ‘‘Human Rights Res5 toration Act of 1996’’.

6 SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS.

7 The table of contents of this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title.

Sec. 2. Table of contents.

TITLE I—FOREIGN RELATIONS PROVISIONS
2

•HR 4036 IH

Sec. 101. Fees for machine readable visas.

Sec. 102. Report to Congress concerning Cuban emigration policies.

Sec. 103. Extension of certain adjudication provisions.

Sec. 104. Persecution for resistance to coercive population control methods.

Sec. 105. Conduct of certain educational and cultural exchange programs.

Sec. 106. Educational and cultural exchanges and scholarships for Tibetans

and Burmese.

Sec. 107. International Boundary and Water Commission.

TITLE II—FOREIGN ASSISTANCE PROVISIONS

Sec. 201. Human rights reports.

Sec. 202. Assistance for Mauritania.

1 TITLE I—FOREIGN RELATIONS

2 PROVISIONS

3 SEC. 101. FEES FOR MACHINE READABLE VISAS.

4 Section 140(a) of the Foreign Relations Authoriza5 tion Act, Fiscal Years 1994 and 1995 (Public Law 103–

6 236) is amended—

7 (1) by striking paragraphs (2) and (3) and in8 serting the following:

9 ‘‘(2) For fiscal years 1996 and 1997, not more

10 than $150,000,000 in fees collected under the au11 thority of paragraph (1) for each fiscal year shall be

12 deposited as an offsetting collection to any Depart13 ment of State appropriation to recover the costs of

14 the Department of State’s border security program,

15 including the costs of—

16 ‘‘(A) installation and operation of the ma17 chine readable visa and automated name-check

18 process;
3

•HR 4036 IH

1 ‘‘(B) improving the quality and security of

2 the United States passport;

3 ‘‘(C) passport and visa fraud investiga4 tions; and

5 ‘‘(D) the technological infrastructure to

6 support and operate the programs referred to in

7 subparagraphs (A) through (C).

8 Such fees shall remain available for obligation until

9 expended.

10 ‘‘(3) For any fiscal year, fees collected under

11 the authority of paragraph (1) in excess of the

12 amount specified for such fiscal year under para13 graph (2) shall be deposited in the general fund of

14 the Treasury as miscellaneous receipts.’’; and

15 (2) by striking paragraph (5).

16 SEC. 102. REPORT TO CONGRESS CONCERNING CUBAN EMI17 GRATION POLICIES.

18 Beginning 3 months after the date of the enactment

19 of this Act and every subsequent 6 months, the President

20 shall submit a report to the appropriate congressional

21 committees concerning the methods employed by the Gov22 ernment of Cuba to enforce the United States-Cuba agree23 ment of September 1994 to restrict the emigration of the

24 Cuban people from Cuba to the United States, and the

25 treatment by the Government of Cuba of persons who have
4

•HR 4036 IH

1 been returned to Cuba pursuant to the United States2 Cuba agreement of May 1995. Each report transmitted

3 pursuant to this section shall include a detailed account

4 of United States efforts to monitor such enforcement and

5 treatment.

6 SEC. 103. EXTENSION OF CERTAIN ADJUDICATION PROVI7 SIONS.

8 The Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Re9 lated Programs Appropriations Act, 1990 (Public Law

10 101–167) is amended—

11 (1) in section 599D (8 U.S.C. 1157 note)—

12 (A) in subsection (b)(3), by striking ‘‘and

13 1996’’ and inserting ‘‘1996, and 1997’’; and

14 (B) in subsection (e), by striking out ‘‘Oc15 tober 1, 1996’’ each place it appears and insert16 ing ‘‘October 1, 1997’’; and

17 (2) in section 599E (8 U.S.C. 1255 note) in

18 subsection (b)(2), by striking out ‘‘September 30,

19 1996’’ and inserting ‘‘September 30, 1997’’.

20 SEC. 104. PERSECUTION FOR RESISTANCE TO COERCIVE

21 POPULATION CONTROL METHODS.

22 Section 101(a)(42) of the Immigration and National23 ity Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(42)) is amended by adding at

24 the end the following: ‘‘For purposes of determinations

25 under this Act, a person who has been forced to abort
5

•HR 4036 IH

1 a pregnancy or to undergo involuntary sterilization, or

2 who has been persecuted for failure or refusal to undergo

3 such a procedure or for other resistance to a coercive pop4 ulation control program, shall be deemed to have been per5 secuted on account of political opinion, and a person who

6 has a well founded fear that he or she will be forced to

7 undergo such a procedure or subjected to persecution for

8 such failure, refusal, or resistance shall be deemed to have

9 a well founded fear of persecution on account of political

10 opinion.’’.

11 SEC. 105. CONDUCT OF CERTAIN EDUCATIONAL AND CUL12 TURAL EXCHANGE PROGRAMS.

13 In carrying out programs of educational and cultural

14 exchange in countries whose people do not fully enjoy free15 dom and democracy (including but not limited to China,

16 Vietnam, Cambodia, Tibet, and Burma), the Director of

17 the United States Information Agency shall take appro18 priate steps to provide opportunities for participation in

19 such programs to human rights and democracy leaders of

20 such countries.

21 SEC. 106. EDUCATIONAL AND CULTURAL EXCHANGES AND

22 SCHOLARSHIPS FOR TIBETANS AND BUR23 MESE.

24 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF EDUCATIONAL AND CUL25 TURAL EXCHANGE FOR TIBETANS.—The Director of the
6

•HR 4036 IH

1 United States Information Agency shall establish pro2 grams of educational and cultural exchange between the

3 United States and the people of Tibet. Such programs

4 shall include opportunities for training and, as the Direc5 tor considers appropriate, may include the assignment of

6 personnel and resources abroad.

7 (b) SCHOLARSHIPS FOR TIBETANS AND BURMESE.—

8 (1) For fiscal year 1997, at least 30 scholar9 ships shall be made available to Tibetan students

10 and professionals who are outside Tibet, and at least

11 15 scholarships shall be made available to Burmese

12 students and professionals who are outside Burma.

13 (2) WAIVER.—Paragraph (1) shall not apply to

14 the extent that the Director of the United States In15 formation Agency determines that there are not

16 enough qualified students to fulfill such allocation

17 requirement.

18 (3) SCHOLARSHIP DEFINED.—For the purposes

19 of this section, the term ‘‘scholarship’’ means an

20 amount to be used for full or partial support of tui21 tion and fees to attend an educational institution,

22 and may include fees, books, and supplies, equip23 ment required for courses at an educational institu24 tion, living expenses at a United States educational
7

•HR 4036 IH

1 institution, and travel expenses to and from, and

2 within, the United States.

3 SEC. 107. INTERNATIONAL BOUNDARY AND WATER COM4 MISSION.

5 The Act of May 13, 1924 (49 Stat. 660, 22 U.S.C.

6 277–277f), is amended in section 3 (22 U.S.C. 277b) by

7 adding at the end the following new subsection:

8 ‘‘(d) Pursuant to the authority of subsection (a) and

9 in order to facilitate further compliance with the terms

10 of the Convention for Equitable Distribution of the Waters

11 of the Rio Grande, May 21, 1906, United States-Mexico,

12 the Secretary of State, acting through the United States

13 Commissioner of the International Boundary and Water

14 Commission, may make improvements to the Rio Grande

15 Canalization Project, originally authorized by the Act of

16 August 29, 1935 (49 Stat. 961). Such improvements may

17 include all such works as may be needed to stabilize the

18 Rio Grande in the reach between the Percha Diversion

19 Dam in New Mexico and the American Diversion Dam in

20 El Paso.’’.
8

•HR 4036 IH

1 TITLE II—FOREIGN ASSISTANCE

2 PROVISIONS

3 SEC. 201. HUMAN RIGHTS REPORTS.

4 (a) SECTION 116 REPORT.—Section 116(d) of the

5 Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151n(d)) is

6 amended—

7 (1) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the

8 end;

9 (2) by redesignating paragraph (3) as para10 graph (5); and

11 (3) by inserting after paragraph (2) the follow12 ing new paragraphs:

13 ‘‘(3) the votes of each member of the United

14 Nations Commission on Human Rights on all coun15 try-specific and thematic resolutions voted on at the

16 Commission’s annual session during the period cov17 ered during the preceding year;

18 ‘‘(4) the extent to which each country has ex19 tended protection to refugees, including the provision

20 of first asylum and resettlement; and’’.

21 (b) SECTION 502B REPORT.—Section 502B(b) of

22 such Act (22 U.S.C. 2304(b)) is amended by adding after

23 the second sentence the following new sentence: ‘‘Each re24 port under this section shall list the votes of each member

25 of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights on
9

•HR 4036 IH

1 all country-specific and thematic resolutions voted on at

2 the Commission’s annual session during the period covered

3 during the preceding year.’’.

4 SEC. 202. ASSISTANCE FOR MAURITANIA.

5 (a) PROHIBITION.—The President may not provide

6 economic assistance, military assistance or arms transfers

7 to the Government of Mauritania unless the President cer8 tifies to the Congress that such Government has taken ap9 propriate action to eliminate chattel slavery in Mauritania,

10 including—

11 (1) the enactment of anti-slavery laws that pro12 vide appropriate punishment for violators of such

13 laws; and

14 (2) the rigorous enforcement of such laws.

15 (b) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section, the

16 following definitions apply:

17 (1) ECONOMIC ASSISTANCE.—The term ‘‘eco18 nomic assistance’’ means any assistance under part

19 I of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C.

20 2151 et seq.), except that such term does not in21 clude humanitarian assistance.

22 (2) MILITARY ASSISTANCE OR ARMS TRANS23 FERS.—The term ‘‘military assistance or arms

24 transfers’’ means—
10

•HR 4036 IH

1 (A) assistance under chapter 2 of part II

2 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22

3 U.S.C. 2311 et seq.; relating to military assist4 ance), including the transfer of excess defense

5 articles under sections 516 through 519 of that

6 Act (22 U.S.C. 2321j through 2321m);

7 (B) assistance under chapter 5 of part II

8 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22

9 U.S.C. 2347 et seq.; relating to international

10 military education and training);

11 (C) assistance under the ‘‘Foreign Military

12 Financing Program’’ under section 23 of the

13 Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2763); or

14 (D) the transfer of defense articles, de15 fense services, or design and construction serv16 ices under the Arms Export Control Act (22

17 U.S.C. 2751 et seq.), including defense articles

18 and defense services licensed or approved for

19 export under section 38 of that Act (22 U.S.C.

20 2778).

Æ