I

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1338

To provide for the designation of an Assistant Secretary of State for Victims

of International Terrorism.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 3, 2001

Mr. BENTSEN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on International Relations

A BILL

To provide for the designation of an Assistant Secretary

of State for Victims of International Terrorism.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE FOR VICTIMS

4 OF INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM.

5 (a) DESIGNATION OF POSITION.—The Secretary of

6 State shall designate one of the Assistant Secretaries of

7 State authorized by section 1(c)(1) of the State Depart8 ment Basic Authorities Act of 1956 (22 U.S.C.

9 2651a(c)(1)) as the Assistant Secretary of State for Vic10 tims of International Terrorism.
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1 (b) DIRECTIVE GOVERNING THE ASSISTANT SEC2 RETARY OF STATE.—

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days after

4 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of

5 State shall issue a directive governing the position of

6 the Assistant Secretary.

7 (2) ELEMENTS OF THE DIRECTIVE.—The direc8 tive issued under paragraph (1) shall set forth, con9 sistent with this section—

10 (A) the duties of the Assistant Secretary;

11 (B) the relationships between the Assistant

12 Secretary and other officials of the Department

13 of State;

14 (C) any delegation of authority from the

15 Secretary of State to the Assistant Secretary;

16 and

17 (D) such matters as the Secretary con18 siders appropriate.

19 (c) DUTIES.—

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Assistant Secretary

21 shall have as his or her principal responsibility the

22 overall supervision (including oversight of policy and

23 resources) within the Department of State of all

24 matters relating to American victims of international
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1 terrorism and efforts to bring international terrorists

2 to justice.

3 (2) PARTICIPATION OF THE ASSISTANT SEC4 RETARY.—

5 (A) PRIMARY ROLE.—Except as provided

6 in subparagraphs (B) and (C), the Assistant

7 Secretary, or a designee, shall participate in all

8 interagency groups or organizations within the

9 executive branch of Government, particulary the

10 Department of Justice, that assess, analyze, or

11 review United States planned or ongoing poli12 cies, programs, or actions that have a direct

13 bearing on efforts to bring international terror14 ists to justice for actions affecting Americans

15 abroad, including interagency committees con16 cerned with international terrorism and

17 counter-terrorism.

18 (B) REQUIREMENT FOR DESIGNATION.—

19 Subparagraph (A) shall not apply to groups or

20 organizations on which the Secretary of State

21 or the Undersecretary of State for Arms Con22 trol and International Security sits, unless such

23 official designates the Assistant Secretary to at24 tend in his stead.

25 (C) NATIONAL SECURITY LIMITATION.—
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1 (i) WAIVER BY PRESIDENT.—The

2 President may waive the provisions of sub3 paragraph (A) if inclusion of the Assistant

4 Secretary would not be in the national se5 curity interests of the United States.

6 (ii) WAIVER BY OTHERS.—With re7 spect to an interagency group or organiza8 tion, or meeting thereof, working with ex9 ceptionally sensitive information contained

10 in compartments under the control of the

11 Director of Central Intelligence or the Sec12 retary of Defense, such Director or Sec13 retary, as the case may be, may waive the

14 provision of subparagraph (A) if inclusion

15 of the Assistant Secretary would not be in

16 the national security interests of the

17 United States.

18 (iii) TRANSMISSION OF WAIVER TO

19 CONGRESS.—Any waiver of participation

20 under clause (i) or (ii) shall be transmitted

21 in writing to the appropriate committees of

22 Congress.

23 (3) RELATIONSHIP TO THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE

24 COMMUNITY.—The Assistant Secretary shall be the

25 principal policy community representative to the
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1 criminal justice community on international ter2 rorism affecting Americans abroad.

3 (4) REPORTING RESPONSIBILITIES.—The As4 sistant Secretary shall have responsibility within the

5 Department of State for—

6 (A) the report required pursuant to section

7 2; and

8 (B) other reports being prepared by the

9 Department of State as of the date of enact10 ment of this Act relating to international ter11 rorism affecting Americans abroad.

12 SEC. 2. ANNUAL REPORT ON INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM

13 AFFECTING AMERICANS ABROAD.

14 The Secretary of State shall transmit to the Congress

15 annually a report on international terrorism affecting

16 Americans abroad and United States efforts to bring to

17 justice international terrorists for actions affecting Ameri18 cans abroad. The report may be submitted in classified

19 and unclassified form and shall include the following infor20 mation:

21 (1) The number of Americans kidnapped, killed,

22 and otherwise directly affected by the actions of

23 international terrorists.
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1 (2) The actions of the Departments of State

2 and Justice to obtain justice for American victims of

3 international terrorism.

4 (3) A list of known international terrorists.

5 (4) Recommendations for legislative and other

6 actions to bring individual terrorists to justice in the

7 United States.

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