I 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7025 

To prohibit the Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service 

from funding entities that commit, fund, or support gross violations 

of internationally recognized human rights, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 9, 2022 

Mr. GRIJALVA (for himself, Mr. WESTERMAN, Mr. HUFFMAN, and Mr. 

BENTZ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To prohibit the Director of the United States Fish and 

Wildlife Service from funding entities that commit, fund, 

or support gross violations of internationally recognized 

human rights, 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 ‘‘Advancing Human 

5 Rights-Centered International Conservation Act of 2022’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 


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1 (1) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CON2 GRESS.—The term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con3 gress’’ means— 

4 (A) the Committee on Natural Resources 

5 of the House of Representatives; 

6 (B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of 

7 the House of Representatives; 

8 (C) the Committee of Appropriations of 

9 the House of Representatives; 

10 (D) the Committee on Environment and 

11 Public Works of the Senate; 

12 (E) the Committee on Foreign Relations of 

13 the Senate; and 

14 (F) the Committee on Appropriations of 

15 the Senate. 

16 (2) COVERED RECIPIENT.—The term ‘‘covered 

17 recipient’’ means any entity that receives financial 

18 assistance from the Director for the purpose of 

19 international activities or a subgrantee of such entity 

20 with respect to a grant issued by the Director. 

21 (3) CREDIBLE INFORMATION.—The term ‘‘cred22 ible information’’ means information that, consid23 ering the source of such information and the sur24 rounding circumstances, supports a reasonable belief 

25 that an event has occurred or will occur. 


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1 (4) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 

2 the Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife 

3 Service. 

4 (5) GROSS VIOLATION OF INTERNATIONALLY

5 RECOGNIZED HUMAN RIGHTS.—The term ‘‘gross vio6 lation of internationally recognized human rights’’ 

7 has the meaning given that term in section 

8 502B(d)(1) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 

9 (22 U.S.C. 2304(d)(1)). 

10 (6) INSPECTOR GENERAL.—The term ‘‘Inspec11 tor General’’ means the Inspector General for the 

12 Department of the Interior. 

13 (7) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘the Secretary’’ 

14 means the Secretary of State. 

15 (8) SERVICE.—The term ‘‘Service’’ means the 

16 United States Fish and Wildlife Service. 

17 (9) UNIT OF A FOREIGN SECURITY FORCE.— 

18 The term ‘‘unit of a foreign security force’’ means 

19 a unit of— 

20 (A) a foreign military; 

21 (B) a foreign police force; 

22 (C) a foreign paramilitary group; 

23 (D) any person providing security services 

24 to a foreign government; and 


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1 (E) such other organizations as the Sec2 retary of State determines appropriate. 

3 SEC. 3. INTERNATIONAL CONSERVATION GRANT RESTRIC4 TIONS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall ensure that no 

6 international financial assistance provided by the Director 

7 shall be furnished to any covered recipient or subgrantee 

8 for funding or supporting any unit of a foreign security 

9 force if the Director or the Secretary of State has credible 

10 information that such unit has committed a gross violation 

11 of internationally recognized human rights. 

12 (b) EXCEPTION.—The prohibition in subsection (a) 

13 shall not apply if the Director, in consultation with the 

14 Secretary, determines and reports to the appropriate Con15 gressional committees that the applicable national govern16 ment, and covered recipient or subgrantee as appropriate, 

17 is taking effective steps to bring the responsible members 

18 of the unit of a foreign security force to justice and to 

19 prevent gross violations of internationally recognized 

20 human rights by the unit in the future. 

21 (c) RISK ANALYSIS.—In performing a risk assess22 ment analysis for a grant to a covered recipient, the Direc23 tor shall include the occurrence of human rights violations 

24 by individuals employed, funded, or supported by the cov25 ered recipient or subgrantee as a factor in such analysis. 


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1 (d) PROCEDURES TO IDENTIFY HUMAN RIGHTS VIO2 LATORS.—The Director, in consultation with the Sec3 retary, shall establish, and periodically update, procedures 

4 to— 

5 (1) avoid duplication of effort with respect to 

6 vetting a unit of a foreign security force under this 

7 Act and vetting carried out under section 620M of 

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

9 2378d); 

10 (2) carry out the requirements of section 4; 

11 (3) ensure that for each country the Director 

12 and the Secretary have a current list of all units of 

13 foreign security forces receiving training, equipment, 

14 or other types of assistance through covered recipi15 ents or subgrantees; 

16 (4) ensure that when an individual is des17 ignated to receive United States training, equipment, 

18 or other types of assistance the individual’s unit is 

19 vetted as well as the individual; 

20 (5) seek to identify the unit involved with re21 spect to any credible information of a gross violation 

22 of internationally recognized human rights in any 

23 nation in which a covered recipient or subgrantee 

24 provides funding, training, equipment, or other as25 sistance to a unit of a foreign security force; and 


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1 (6) make publicly available the identity of those 

2 units for which no assistance shall be furnished pur3 suant to subsection (a) unless such publication 

4 would create a risk to national security or the health 

5 and safety of a victim of a gross violation of inter6 nationally recognized human rights. 

7 SEC. 4. INTERNATIONAL CONSERVATION GRANT REQUIRE8 MENTS. 

9 (a) REQUIREMENTS TO RECEIVE A GRANT.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall incor11 porate into the terms of an agreement for financial 

12 assistance to a covered recipient and require a duly 

13 designated representative of the covered recipient to 

14 certify before receiving the award that— 

15 (A) the covered recipient will not commit, 

16 fund, or support gross violations of internation17 ally recognized human rights in carrying out 

18 the activities under the award; 

19 (B) the covered recipient has provided a 

20 list to the contracting officer of each subgrantee 

21 to which the covered recipient intends to pro22 vide funding using such financial assistance and 

23 has provided a certification from each sub24 grantee that such subgrantee will not commit, 

25 fund, or support gross violations of internationVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:36 Mar 13, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7025.IH H7025

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1 ally recognized human rights in carrying out 

2 the activities under the award; 

3 (C) the covered recipient has provided the 

4 Director with the covered recipient’s and each 

5 subgrantee’s written policy on maintaining 

6 standards for conduct consistent with recog7 nized international human rights standards, in8 cluding the Universal Declaration of Human 

9 Rights, the United Nations Declaration on the 

10 Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and the United 

11 Nations Guiding Principles on Business and 

12 Human Rights; 

13 (D) the covered recipient has implemented 

14 and is enforcing a social safeguards plan de15 scribed in subsection (b); 

16 (E) the covered recipient has implemented 

17 procedures to detect, investigate, discipline or 

18 terminate a subgrantee, employee, or agent of 

19 the covered recipient that fails to comply with 

20 applicable policies to protect human rights in 

21 connection with the award; and 

22 (F) the covered recipient will comply with 

23 the requirements established in this section. 

24 (2) SUBSEQUENT SUBGRANTEE.—If, after re25 ceiving an award of funds from the Director, a covVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:39 Mar 14, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7025.IH H7025

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1 ered recipient selects a new subgrantee, the covered 

2 recipient shall provide the Director with— 

3 (A) an updated version of the list described 

4 in paragraph (1)(B); 

5 (B) a certification from such subgrantee 

6 that such subgrantee will not commit, fund, or 

7 support gross violations of internationally rec8 ognized human rights in carrying out the activi9 ties under the award; 

10 (C) the subgrantee’s written policy de11 scribed in subparagraph (1)(C); and 

12 (D) justification for any changes in selec13 tion of subgrantees. 

14 (b) SOCIAL SAFEGUARDS PLAN.—A social safeguards 

15 plan described in this subsection is a plan consistent with 

16 the principles of the documents listed in subsection 

17 (a)(1)(C) to implement appropriate human rights stand18 ards and prevent gross violations of internationally recog19 nized human rights in connections with activities funded 

20 under the award that includes, as determined appropriate 

21 by the Director, taking into consideration the location, 

22 size, complexity, and scope of the award— 

23 (1) a process for meaningful consultation and 

24 engagement with Indigenous Peoples and local com25 munities to safeguard their rights, including obtainVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:39 Mar 14, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7025.IH H7025

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1 ing their free, prior, and informed consent for any 

2 new land-use restriction and, if applicable, proce3 dures for the fair resolution of existing land and re4 source claims, in the area in which the project will 

5 be conducted; 

6 (2) requirements for internal review of research 

7 involving human subjects; 

8 (3) measures to improve governance, increase 

9 the agency and protect the rights and needs of In10 digenous Peoples and local communities, and ad11 dress the potential adverse impacts of a project on 

12 the well-being and security of Indigenous Peoples 

13 and local communities; 

14 (4) a grievance redress mechanism to redress 

15 gross violations of internationally recognized human 

16 rights; 

17 (5) human rights training and effective moni18 toring by the recipient for law enforcement personnel 

19 and units of a foreign security force; and 

20 (6) publication of documents, such as park 

21 management plans and ranger codes of conduct, that 

22 are relevant to potential impacts of the project on 

23 Indigenous Peoples and local communities. 

24 (c) REQUIREMENT TO REMEDY VIOLATIONS.—The 

25 Director may require a covered recipient to take such 


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1 measures to address an alleged violation of the terms of 

2 an agreement required by subsection (a) as the Director 

3 determines appropriate. 

4 (d) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.— 

5 (1) INITIAL NOTIFICATION.—A covered recipi6 ent shall refer all credible information of a gross vio7 lation of internationally recognized human rights in 

8 connection with a Service award by such covered re9 cipient or a subgrantee of such covered recipient to 

10 the contracting officer and to the diplomatic or con11 sular post of the United States for the country at 

12 issue as soon as reasonably practicable, but not later 

13 than 30 days after the date on which the covered re14 cipient knew or should have known such informa15 tion. 

16 (2) REPORT.—Not later than 60 days after the 

17 first date on which a covered recipient provides noti18 fication under paragraph (1), the covered recipient 

19 shall submit to the contracting officer a report de20 scribing specific steps taken to address an alleged 

21 violation and enforce the requirements of the covered 

22 recipient’s plan pursuant to subsection (a)(1)(D) 

23 and all relevant information relating to the allega24 tion. 


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1 (3) EXTENSION.—The Director may grant a 

2 covered recipient an extension of not more than 30 

3 days on the time period to file a report under para4 graph (2) if the Director determines that such ex5 tension will improve the Director’s ability to carry 

6 out the purposes of this section. 

7 (4) RESPONSIBILITIES OF COVERED RECIPI8 ENT.—The covered recipient shall fully cooperate 

9 with any Federal agencies responsible for audits, in10 vestigations, or corrective actions relating to gross 

11 violations of human rights under this Act. 

12 (5) RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE CONTRACTING

13 OFFICER.—The contracting officer shall, with re14 spect to each allegation reported under paragraph 

15 (1), not later than 30 days after receipt of the re16 port required by paragraph (2), complete an inves17 tigation into such allegation and submit the results 

18 of such investigation, information received under 

19 paragraph (1), and each report received under para20 graph (2) relating to such allegation to the Director. 

21 (e) NOTIFICATION.—If the Director receives credible 

22 information of a gross violation of internationally recog23 nized human rights by a covered recipient or a subgrantee 

24 of a covered recipient in connection with an award pro25 vided by the Service, then the Director shall, in consultaVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:36 Mar 13, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7025.IH H7025

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1 tion with the diplomatic or consular post of the United 

2 States for the applicable country— 

3 (1) immediately notify the relevant covered re4 cipient and require that the covered recipient submit 

5 a report under subsection (d)(2) not later than 60 

6 days after such notification; 

7 (2) immediately notify the government of the 

8 applicable country; and 

9 (3) to the maximum extent practicable, assist 

10 such government in taking effective measures to 

11 bring the responsible members of the unit of a for12 eign security force to justice. 

13 (f) REVIEW OF ALLEGATIONS.— 

14 (1) REFERRAL.—Unless the covered recipient 

15 submits information showing, to the satisfaction of 

16 the Director, that the alleged violation has been re17 solved, abated, or did not occur, the Director shall, 

18 not later than 30 days after receiving information 

19 relating to an allegation under subsection (d)(5), 

20 refer such alleged violation to the Inspector General, 

21 including the report provided by the covered recipi22 ent under subsection (d)(2), and notify the covered 

23 recipient of such referral. 

24 (2) INVESTIGATION.— 


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1 (A) PRELIMINARY DETERMINATION.—The 

2 Inspector General shall, not later than 30 days 

3 after a referral of an alleged violation under 

4 paragraph (1), determine whether the referral 

5 requires an investigation. 

6 (B) DETERMINATION THAT NO INVESTIGA7 TION IS REQUIRED.—If the Inspector General 

8 determines under subparagraph (A) that the re9 ferral does not require further investigation, the 

10 Inspector General shall document the rationale 

11 for such determination and shall notify the rel12 evant Committees of Congress. 

13 (C) DETERMINATION THAT AN INVESTIGA14 TION IS REQUIRED.—If the Inspector General 

15 determines that an investigation is required 

16 under subparagraph (A), the Inspector General 

17 shall complete such investigation not later than 

18 180 days after a referral under paragraph (1) 

19 and prepare a report on such investigation, 

20 which shall include the Inspector General’s con21 clusions regarding whether or not any allega22 tions that the covered recipient or any sub23 grantee of the covered recipient has committed 

24 a gross violation of internationally recognized 

25 human rights in connection with the award, are 


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1 substantiated, and regarding the effectiveness 

2 of the actions of the recipient and any sub3 grantee in preventing and responding to such 

4 violations. The report shall include rec5 ommendations based on the findings of such in6 vestigation. 

7 (g) ADDITIONAL PROCEDURES.—The following re8 quirements apply to any administrative action to enforce 

9 the requirements of this section with respect to a covered 

10 recipient: 

11 (1) WRITTEN RESPONSE.—A covered recipient 

12 subject to administrative action under this sub13 section may submit, not later than 30 days after the 

14 date of such administrative action, a written re15 sponse to contest such action. 

16 (2) MEETING.—The Director, or a representa17 tive, shall meet with a covered recipient that has 

18 filed a response under subparagraph (1) and re19 quests such a meeting not later than 45 days after 

20 the date of such administrative action to allow such 

21 covered recipient an opportunity to present informa22 tion, including witness testimony, for inclusion in the 

23 administrative record. 

24 (3) TIMELINE FOR DETERMINATION.—The Di25 rector shall, not later than 45 days after conclusion 


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1 of any procedures required by paragraphs (1) and 

2 (2), make a determination in writing as to whether 

3 to continue, modify, or terminate an administrative 

4 action under this subsection. 

5 (4) RECONSIDERATION.—A covered recipient 

6 that was the subject of an administrative action 

7 under this subsection may request a reconsideration 

8 of such administration action based upon— 

9 (A) newly discovered evidence; 

10 (B) a change in ownership or management; 

11 or 

12 (C) such other factors as the Director de13 termines appropriate. 

14 (h) FINANCIAL AND PROGRAMMATIC AUDIT OF

15 GRANTS.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall perform 

17 and require compliance with periodic financial and 

18 programmatic audits of covered recipients receiving 

19 financial assistance from the Director. The Director 

20 shall prioritize audits of programs— 

21 (A) with new land-use restrictions; 

22 (B) in fragile or conflict-affected states; or 

23 (C) in regions that otherwise have an ele24 vated risk of gross violations of internationally 

25 recognized human rights. 


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1 (2) SPECIFIC AWARD CONDITION AUDITS.—The 

2 Director shall carry out regular audits of any cov3 ered recipient that is subject to specific award condi4 tions under subsection (i). 

5 (i) REMEDIES FOR NONCOMPLIANCE.—Each agree6 ment for financial assistance made by the Director with 

7 a covered recipient is subject to the provisions of subpart 

8 D of part 200 of chapter II of subtitle A of title 2 of 

9 the Code of Federal Regulations. The Director may con10 sider, in determining an appropriate remedy of a violation 

11 of a grant requirement under such provision, whether the 

12 covered recipient was in compliance with subsection 

13 (a)(1)(D) at the time of such violation. 

14 (j) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Director, in consultation 

15 with the Secretary of State, shall, not later than 1 year 

16 after the date of enactment of this Act and annually there17 after, submit to the appropriate committees of Congress 

18 a report summarizing, with respect to the previous cal19 endar year— 

20 (1) each report received under subsection 

21 (d)(2); 

22 (2) each investigation concluded by the Inspec23 tor General under subsection (f)(2), including the 

24 purpose and duration of such investigation; 


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1 (3) each administrative action taken with re2 spect to a covered recipient to enforce this Act; 

3 (4) information about the action taken by each 

4 covered recipient to abate a gross violation of inter5 nationally recognized human rights; 

6 (5) information about remedial actions taken by 

7 the Director pursuant to subsection (i); 

8 (6) explanations for each extension of time 

9 given under subsection (d)(3); and 

10 (7) a summary of allegations and information 

11 that the Director did not refer to the Inspector Gen12 eral and the explanation for why such information 

13 was not referred. 

14 (k) SAFEGUARD FOR SENSITIVE INFORMATION.—In 

15 carrying out this section, the Director may take such 

16 measures and withhold such information as the Director 

17 determines necessary to protect the safety of individuals— 

18 (1) who are victims, or at risk of being victims, 

19 of a gross violation of internationally recognized 

20 human rights; and 

21 (2) who provide information regarding a poten22 tial gross violation of internationally recognized 

23 human rights. 

Æ 


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