I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1471 

To provide for the imposition of sanctions with respect to foreign countries 

that are in violation of international human rights law or international 

humanitarian law, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 8, 2023 

Ms. OMAR (for herself, Ms. PRESSLEY, and Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committees on the Judiciary, Intelligence 

(Permanent Select), and Homeland Security, 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 provide for the imposition of sanctions with respect to 

foreign countries that are in violation of international 

human rights law or international humanitarian law, 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 Arming Human 

5 Rights Abusers Act’’. 


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1 TITLE I—SANCTIONS WITH RE2 SPECT TO FOREIGN COUN3 TRIES THAT ARE IN VIOLA4 TION OF INTERNATIONAL 

5 HUMAN RIGHTS LAW OR 

6 INTERNATIONAL HUMANI7 TARIAN LAW 

8 SEC. 101. DETERMINATION OF VIOLATIONS OF INTER9 NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS LAW OR INTER10 NATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—The President shall impose the 

12 sanctions described in section 102 with respect to the gov13 ernment of a foreign country if the President determines 

14 that such government has committed any of the acts de15 scribed in subsection (b), (c), or (d). 

16 (b) GENOCIDE.—Any acts committed with intent to 

17 destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial, 

18 or religious group, including the following: 

19 (1) Killing members of the group. 

20 (2) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to 

21 members of the group. 

22 (3) Deliberately inflicting on the group condi23 tions of life calculated to bring about its physical de24 struction in whole or in part. 


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1 (4) Imposing measures intended to prevent 

2 births within the group. 

3 (5) Forcibly transferring children of the group 

4 to another group. 

5 (c) CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Any of the following acts 

7 when committed as part of a widespread or system8 atic attack directed against any civilian population: 

9 (A) Murder. 

10 (B) Extermination. 

11 (C) Enslavement, including sexual slavery. 

12 (D) Deportation or forcible transfer of 

13 population. 

14 (E) Imprisonment or other severe depriva15 tion of physical liberty in violation of funda16 mental rules of international law. 

17 (F) Torture. 

18 (G) Rape, enforced prostitution, forced 

19 pregnancy, enforced sterilization, or any other 

20 form of sexual violence of comparable gravity. 

21 (H) Persecution against any identifiable 

22 group or collectivity on political, racial, na23 tional, ethnic, cultural, religious, gender, lan24 guage, social origin, age, disability, health, sex25 ual orientation, gender identity, sex characterisVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:26 Mar 22, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1471.IH H1471

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1 tics, indigenous, refugee, statelessness, or mi2 gration status, or other grounds that are recog3 nized as impermissible under international law. 

4 (I) Enforced disappearance of persons. 

5 (J) The crime of apartheid. 

6 (K) Other inhumane acts of a similar char7 acter intentionally causing great suffering, or 

8 serious injury to body or to mental or physical 

9 health, including the excessive use of less-lethal 

10 crowd control weapons including tear gas, rub11 ber bullets, sound cannons, and other less-lethal 

12 materials to disperse nonviolent protests. 

13 (2) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection— 

14 (A) the term ‘‘attack directed against any 

15 civilian population’’ means a course of conduct 

16 involving the multiple commission of acts re17 ferred to in this subsection against any civilian 

18 population, pursuant to or in furtherance of a 

19 State or organizational policy to commit such 

20 attack; 

21 (B) the term ‘‘extermination’’ includes the 

22 intentional infliction of conditions of life, inter 

23 alia the deprivation of access to food and medi24 cine, calculated to bring about the destruction 

25 of part of a population; 


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1 (C) the term ‘‘enslavement’’ includes— 

2 (i) slavery, which means the exercise 

3 of any or all of the powers attaching to the 

4 right of ownership over a person including 

5 but not limited to the exercise of powers of 

6 ownership over sexual autonomy or integ7 rity; 

8 (ii) the slave trade, which means all 

9 acts involved in the capture, acquisition or 

10 disposal of a person with intent to reduce 

11 the person to slavery; 

12 (iii) all acts involved in the acquisition 

13 of a enslaved person with a view to selling 

14 or exchanging the person; 

15 (iv) all acts of disposal by sale or ex16 change of a enslaved person acquired with 

17 a view to being sold or exchanged; and 

18 (v) in general, every act of trade or 

19 transport in enslaved persons; 

20 (D) the term ‘‘deportation or forcible 

21 transfer of population’’ means forced displace22 ment of the persons concerned by expulsion or 

23 other coercive acts from the area in which they 

24 are lawfully present, without grounds permitted 

25 under international law; 


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1 (E) the term ‘‘torture’’— 

2 (i) means the intentional infliction of 

3 severe pain or suffering, whether physical 

4 or mental, for such purposes as obtaining 

5 information or a confession, punishment, 

6 intimidation or coercion or for any reason 

7 based on discrimination of any kind; but 

8 (ii) does not mean pain or suffering 

9 arising only from, inherent in or incidental 

10 to, lawful sanctions; 

11 (F) the term ‘‘forced pregnancy’’ means 

12 the unlawful confinement of a person forcibly 

13 made pregnant, with the intent of affecting the 

14 ethnic composition of any population or car15 rying out other grave violations of international 

16 law; 

17 (G) the term ‘‘persecution’’ means the in18 tentional and severe deprivation of fundamental 

19 rights contrary to international law by reason of 

20 the identity of the group or collectivity; 

21 (H) the term ‘‘crime of apartheid’’ means 

22 an institutionalized regime of systematic op23 pression and domination by one racial, ethnic, 

24 or religious group over any other racial, ethnic, 

25 or religious group or groups and committed 


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1 with the intention of maintaining that regime; 

2 and 

3 (I) the term ‘‘enforced disappearance of 

4 persons’’ means the arrest, detention, or abduc5 tion of persons by, or with the authorization, 

6 support, or acquiescence of, a State or a polit7 ical organization, followed by a refusal to ac8 knowledge that deprivation of freedom or to 

9 give information on the fate or whereabouts of 

10 those persons, with the intention of removing 

11 them from the protection of the law for a pro12 longed period of time. 

13 (d) WAR CRIMES.—Any of the following acts against 

14 persons or property in an armed conflict, whether the con15 flict is of an international or internal character: 

16 (1) Willful killing. 

17 (2) Torture or inhumane treatment, including 

18 biological experiments. 

19 (3) Willfully causing great suffering, or serious 

20 injury to body or health. 

21 (4) Extensive destruction and appropriation of 

22 property, not justified by military necessity and car23 ried out unlawfully and wantonly. 

24 (5) Compelling a prisoner of war or other de25 tainee to serve in the forces of a hostile power. 


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1 (6) Willfully depriving a prisoner of war or 

2 other detainee of the rights of fair and regular trial. 

3 (7) Unlawful deportation or transfer or unlaw4 ful confinement. 

5 (8) Taking of hostages. 

6 (9) Intentionally directing attacks against the 

7 civilian population as such or against individual civil8 ians not taking direct part in hostilities. 

9 (10) Intentionally directing attacks against ci10 vilian objectives, that is, objectives which are not 

11 military objectives. 

12 (11) Intentionally directing attacks against per13 sonnel, installations, material, units, or vehicles in14 volved in a humanitarian assistance or peacekeeping 

15 mission in accordance with the Charter of the 

16 United Nations. 

17 (12) Intentionally launching an attack in the 

18 knowledge that such attack will cause incidental loss 

19 of life or injury to civilians or damage to civilian ob20 jects, or widespread, long-term, and severe damage 

21 to the natural environment which would be clearly 

22 excessive in relation to the concrete and direct over23 all military advantage anticipated. 

24 (13) Attacking or bombarding, by whatever 

25 means, towns, villages, dwellings, or buildings which 


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1 are undefended and which are not military objec2 tives. 

3 (14) Killing or wounding a combatant who, hav4 ing laid down his arms or having no longer means 

5 of defense, has surrendered at discretion. 

6 (15) Making improper use of a flag of truce, of 

7 the flag or of the military insignia and uniform of 

8 the enemy or of the United Nations, as well as of 

9 the distinctive emblems of the Geneva Conventions, 

10 resulting in death or serious personal injury. 

11 (16) The transfer, directly or indirectly, by an 

12 occupying power of parts of its own civilian popu13 lation into the territory it occupies, or the deporta14 tion or transfer of all or parts of the population of 

15 the occupied territory within or outside this terri16 tory. 

17 (17) Intentionally directing attacks against 

18 buildings dedicated to religion, education, art, 

19 science or charitable purposes, historic monuments, 

20 hospitals, and places where the sick and wounded 

21 are collected. 

22 (18) Subjecting persons who are in the power 

23 of an adverse party to physical mutilation or to med24 ical or scientific experiments of any kind which are 

25 neither justified by the medical, dental, or hospital 


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1 treatment of the person concerned nor carried out in 

2 his or her interest, and which cause death to or seri3 ously endanger the health of such person or persons. 

4 (19) Killing or wounding treacherously individ5 uals belonging to the hostile nation or army. 

6 (20) Declaring that no quarter will be given. 

7 (21) Destroying or seizing the enemy’s property 

8 unless such destruction or seizure be imperatively 

9 demanded by the necessities of war. 

10 (22) Declaring abolished, suspended, or inad11 missible in a court of law the rights and actions of 

12 the nationals of the hostile party. 

13 (23) Compelling the nationals of the hostile 

14 party to take part in the operations of war directed 

15 against their own country, even if they were in the 

16 belligerent’s service before the commencement of the 

17 war. 

18 (24) Pillaging a town or place. 

19 (25) Employing poison or poisoned weapons. 

20 (26) Employing asphyxiating, poisonous, or 

21 other gases, and all analogous liquids, materials, or 

22 devices. 

23 (27) Employing bullets which expand or flatten 

24 easily in the human body, such as bullets with a 


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1 hard envelope which does not entirely cover the core 

2 or is pierced with incisions. 

3 (28) Employing weapons, projectiles, and mate4 rial and methods of warfare which are of a nature 

5 to cause superfluous injury or unnecessary suffering 

6 or which are inherently indiscriminate in violation of 

7 the international law of armed conflict. 

8 (29) Committing outrages upon personal dig9 nity, in particular humiliating and degrading treat10 ment. 

11 (30) Committing rape, enforced prostitution, 

12 forced pregnancy, as defined in subsection (c), en13 forced sterilization, or any other form of sexual vio14 lence also constituting a grave breach of the Geneva 

15 Conventions. 

16 (31) Committing slavery or the slave trade in 

17 all their forms. 

18 (32) Utilizing the presence of a civilian or other 

19 protected person to render certain points, areas, or 

20 military forces immune from military operations. 

21 (33) Intentionally directing attacks against 

22 buildings, material, medical units and transport, and 

23 personnel using the distinctive emblems of the Gene24 va Conventions in conformity with international law. 


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1 (34) Intentionally using starvation of civilians 

2 as a method of warfare by depriving them of objects 

3 indispensable to their survival. 

4 (35) Willfully impeding relief supplies as pro5 vided for under the Geneva Conventions. 

6 (36) Conscripting or enlisting children under 

7 the age of 18 into the national Armed Forces or 

8 using them to participate actively in hostilities. 

9 SEC. 102. DESCRIPTION OF SANCTIONS. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—The sanctions to be imposed with 

11 respect to the government of a foreign country under sec12 tion 101 are the sanctions described in subsections (b), 

13 (c), (d), and (e). 

14 (b) PROHIBITION ON SECURITY ASSISTANCE.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The President may not— 

16 (A) provide any United States security as17 sistance, intelligence, training, equipment, or 

18 services relating to maintenance, testing, or 

19 technical data, to the government of the foreign 

20 country or any agent or instrumentality of such 

21 government; or 

22 (B) engage in any defense cooperation with 

23 the government of the foreign country or any 

24 agent or instrumentality of such government. 


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1 (2) EXCEPTION.—The prohibition under this 

2 subsection shall not apply with respect to activities 

3 of the Department of Defense relating to the protec4 tion of United States diplomatic and consular posts 

5 or personnel or to the evacuation of United States 

6 citizens. 

7 (c) PROHIBITION ON ARMS SALES.—The President 

8 may not sell, transfer, deliver, license for export, authorize 

9 the performance of any service relating to, or otherwise 

10 make available any defense article, defense service, or de11 sign and construction service, as such terms are defined 

12 for purposes of the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 

13 2751 et seq.), to the government of the foreign country 

14 or any agent or instrumentality of such government. 

15 (d) PROHIBITION ON COMMERCIAL EXPORT OF ARMS

16 SALES.—The President shall prohibit the issuance of li17 censes to export defense articles, defense services, and mu18 nitions items, as such terms are defined for purposes of 

19 the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2751 et seq.), 

20 to the government of the foreign country or any agent or 

21 instrumentality of such government. 

22 (e) PROHIBITION ON LAW ENFORCEMENT EX23 CHANGES.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—No Federal law enforcement 

25 agency, including any component of the intelligence 


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1 community or the Department of Homeland Security 

2 (including the Transportation Security Administra3 tion, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, 

4 or the Border Patrol), and no State or local law en5 forcement agency may engage in any exchange with 

6 any police, military, or security forces of the foreign 

7 country. 

8 (2) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection— 

9 (A) the term ‘‘exchange’’ means any train10 ing, or sharing of practices or technologies, 

11 whether sponsored by a government or private 

12 entity; and 

13 (B) the term ‘‘intelligence community’’ has 

14 the meaning given the term in section 3 of the 

15 National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 

16 3003). 

17 (3) RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 

18 this subsection shall be construed— 

19 (A) to restrict the freedom of movement or 

20 freedom of expression of any individual; or 

21 (B) to restrict the transfer or removal of 

22 any prisoner as part of a United States law en23 forcement activity. 


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1 (f) DUTY TO INFORM.—If sanctions described in sub2 sections (b), (c), (d), and (e) are imposed with respect to 

3 a foreign country under section 101, the President— 

4 (1) shall promptly inform the government of the 

5 foreign country of the basis for such action; and 

6 (2) shall, to the maximum extent practicable, 

7 assist the foreign government in taking effective 

8 measures to bring the foreign country into compli9 ance as described in section 103. 

10 SEC. 103. TERMINATION. 

11 The President shall terminate the sanctions imposed 

12 under this title with respect to a foreign country if the 

13 President certifies to Congress the following: 

14 (1) The foreign country is no longer committing 

15 any of the acts described in subsection (b), (c), or 

16 (d) of section 101. 

17 (2) The foreign country has established tangible 

18 measures to ensure such acts are not committed in 

19 the future, including providing for the following 

20 measures and using, where appropriate, a trauma21 informed, survivor-centered approach: 

22 (A) Criminal prosecutions of perpetrators 

23 and intellectual authors with internationally 

24 recognized due process standards. 


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1 (B) Reparations to victims, which may in2 clude monetary reparations, symbolic repara3 tions, or other recompense provided with the in4 tent of compensating the victims, their families, 

5 and their communities. 

6 (C) Structural, legal, and institutional re7 forms. 

8 (D) Truth-telling mechanisms, which may 

9 include Truth Commissions, community-based 

10 hearings, declassification of appropriate mate11 rials, or other public release of verifiable infor12 mation related to the violation. 

13 SEC. 104. REPORTS REQUIRED. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

15 date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, 

16 the President shall submit to Congress a report on the 

17 implementation of this title. 

18 (b) MATTERS TO BE INCLUDED.—The report re19 quired by subsection (a) shall include the following: 

20 (1) A list of all foreign countries with respect 

21 to which the President imposed sanctions under this 

22 title, including explanations of the decision-making 

23 process to impose such sanctions. 

24 (2) A list of all foreign countries with respect 

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1 mission, and with respect to which sanctions im2 posed under this title have terminated in accordance 

3 with section 103, including explanations of the deci4 sion-making process to terminate such sanctions. 

5 (3) A list of all foreign countries with respect 

6 to which the President considered terminating, but 

7 did not terminate, sanctions under this title in ac8 cordance with section 103, including explanations of 

9 the decision-making process not to terminate such 

10 sanctions. 

11 SEC. 105. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

12 Nothing in this title may be construed as congres13 sional authorization for the use of military force against 

14 any foreign country or entity. 

15 TITLE II—UNITED STATES COM16 MISSION ON ATROCITY AC17 COUNTABILITY AND HUMAN 

18 RIGHTS 

19 SEC. 201. ESTABLISHMENT AND COMPOSITION. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is established a commission 

21 to be known as the United States Commission on Atrocity 

22 Accountability and Human Rights (in this title referred 

23 to as the ‘‘Commission’’). 

24 (b) MEMBERSHIP.— 


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1 (1) APPOINTMENT.—The Commission shall be 

2 composed of the following: 

3 (A) The Ambassador at Large for War 

4 Crimes, who shall serve ex officio as a non5 voting member of the Commission. 

6 (B) Nine other voting members, who shall 

7 be United States citizens who are not being 

8 paid as officers or employees of the Government 

9 of the United States, and who shall be ap10 pointed as follows: 

11 (i) Two members of the Commission 

12 shall be appointed by the Speaker of the 

13 House of the House of Representatives. 

14 (ii) Two members of the Commission 

15 shall be appointed by the minority leader 

16 of the House of Representatives. 

17 (iii) Two members of the Commission 

18 shall be appointed by the majority leader 

19 of the Senate. 

20 (iv) Two members of the Commission 

21 shall be appointed by the minority leader 

22 of the Senate. 

23 (v) One member of the Commission 

24 shall be appointed by the President. 

25 (2) SELECTION.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—Members of the Com2 mission shall be selected from among distin3 guished individuals noted for their knowledge 

4 and experience in fields relevant to the issue of 

5 human rights, atrocity prevention, global crimi6 nal justice, and international humanitarian law. 

7 (B) SECURITY CLEARANCES.—Each mem8 ber of the Commission shall be required to ob9 tain a security clearance. 

10 (3) TIME OF APPOINTMENT.—The appoint11 ments required by paragraph (1) shall be made not 

12 later than 120 days after the date of the enactment 

13 of this Act. 

14 (4) SECURITY CLEARANCES.—The appropriate 

15 Federal agencies shall cooperate with the Commis16 sion in expeditiously providing to members of the 

17 Commission and staff appropriate security clear18 ances to the extent necessary and pursuant to exist19 ing procedures and requirements. 

20 (c) TERMS.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—The term of office of each 

22 member of the Commission shall be two years. An 

23 individual may not serve more than two terms as a 

24 member of the Commission. For any individual serv25 ing as a member of the Commission for two such 


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1 terms, such member’s term shall expire 90 days 

2 after the last day of the second term as a member 

3 of the Commission. A member of the Commission 

4 may not serve after the expiration of that member’s 

5 term. 

6 (2) INELIGIBILITY FOR REAPPOINTMENT.—If a 

7 member of the Commission attends, by being phys8 ically present or by conference call, less than 75 per9 cent of the meetings of the Commission during one 

10 of that member’s terms on the Commission, the 

11 member shall not be eligible for reappointment to 

12 the Commission. 

13 (d) ELECTION OF CHAIR.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—At the first meeting of the 

15 Commission after January 1 of each calendar year, 

16 a majority of the members of the Commission 

17 present and voting shall elect the Chair of the Com18 mission from among the members of the Commission 

19 to serve a term for the remainder of that calendar 

20 year. 

21 (2) LIMITATION.—A member of the Commis22 sion elected as Chair of the Commission may serve 

23 more than one term as Chair but any such terms 

24 may not be consecutive terms. 


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1 (e) QUORUM.—Six voting members of the Commis2 sion shall constitute a quorum for purposes of transacting 

3 business of the Commission. 

4 (f) MEETINGS.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 15 days after 

6 the date on which after the annual Country Reports 

7 on Human Rights Practices is submitted to Con8 gress, or as soon as practicable thereafter, the Com9 mission shall convene for purposes of transacting 

10 business of the Commission. 

11 (2) OTHER MEETINGS.—The Commission shall 

12 otherwise meet at the call of the Chair or, if no 

13 Chair has been elected for that calendar year, at the 

14 call of six voting members of the Commission. 

15 (g) VACANCIES.—Any vacancy of the Commission 

16 shall not affect its powers, but shall be filled in the manner 

17 in which the original appointment was made. A member 

18 may serve after the expiration of that member’s term until 

19 a successor has taken office. Any member appointed to 

20 fill a vacancy occurring before the expiration of the term 

21 for which the member’s predecessor was appointed shall 

22 be appointed only for the remainder of that term. 

23 (h) ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT.—The Administrator 

24 of General Services shall provide to the Commission on 

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1 trator, on a nonreimbursable basis) such administrative 

2 support services as the Commission may request to carry 

3 out the provisions of this title. 

4 (i) FUNDING.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Members of the Commission 

6 shall be allowed travel expenses, including per diem 

7 in lieu of subsistence at rates authorized for employ8 ees of agencies under subchapter I of chapter 57 of 

9 title 5, United States Code, while away from their 

10 homes or regular places of business in the perform11 ance of services for the Commission. 

12 (2) TRAVEL REQUIREMENTS.—Members of the 

13 Commission are subject to the requirements set 

14 forth in chapters 300 through 304 of title 41, Code 

15 of Federal Regulations (commonly known as the 

16 Federal Travel Regulation), and the Department of 

17 State Standardized Regulations governing author18 ized travel at government expense, including regula19 tions concerning the mode of travel, lodging and per 

20 diem expenditures, reimbursement payments, and 

21 expense reporting and documentation requirements. 

22 SEC. 202. DUTIES. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall have as its 

24 primary responsibility— 


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1 (1) review of facts and circumstances of viola2 tions of international human rights law and inter3 national humanitarian law contained in the annual 

4 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, in5 cluding other relevant sources; and 

6 (2) making of policy recommendations to the 

7 President, the Secretary of State, and Congress with 

8 respect to the imposition and termination of sanc9 tions under title I. 

10 (b) MONITORING.—The Commission shall, on an on11 going basis— 

12 (1) monitor facts and circumstances of viola13 tions of international human rights law and inter14 national humanitarian law, in consultation with 

15 independent human rights groups, humanitarian 

16 groups, and nongovernmental organizations, includ17 ing those groups and organizations providing direct 

18 services; 

19 (2) gather human rights documentation and 

20 evidence supplied by community-based human rights 

21 monitors; and 

22 (3) make such recommendations as may be nec23 essary to the appropriate officials and offices in the 

24 United States Government. 


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1 SEC. 203. POWERS. 

2 (a) HEARINGS AND SESSIONS.— 

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission may, for 

4 the purpose of carrying out its duties under this 

5 title, hold hearings, sit and act at times and places 

6 in the United States, take testimony, and receive 

7 evidence as the Commission considers advisable to 

8 carry out the purposes of this title. 

9 (2) CLASSIFIED HEARINGS.—The Commission 

10 may hold hearings in classified settings. If the Com11 mission holds a hearing in a classified setting, the 

12 Commission shall publish a summary of the hearing 

13 and the summary available to the public. 

14 (b) INFORMATION FROM FEDERAL AGENCIES.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission may secure 

16 directly from any Federal department or agency 

17 such information as the Commission considers nec18 essary to carry out this title. Upon request of the 

19 Chair of the Commission, the head of such depart20 ment or agency shall furnish such information expe21 ditiously to the Commission, subject to applicable 

22 law. Such information may be provided in classified 

23 form, or with a classified annex. 

24 (2) NOTIFICATION.—If a Federal agency does 

25 not furnish information described in paragraph (1) 

26 expeditiously to the Commission, the Chair of the 


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1 Commission shall notify the committees of Congress 

2 of jurisdiction and appropriate investigative authori3 ties. 

4 (c) POSTAL SERVICES.—The Commission may use 

5 the United States mails in the same manner and under 

6 the same conditions as other Federal departments and 

7 agencies. 

8 (d) ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES.—The Commis9 sion may adopt such rules and regulations, relating to ad10 ministrative procedure, as may be reasonably necessary to 

11 enable it to carry out the provisions of this title. 

12 (e) VIEWS OF THE COMMISSION.—The members of 

13 the Commission may speak in their capacity as private 

14 citizens. Statements on behalf of the Commission shall be 

15 issued in writing over the names of the members. The 

16 Commission shall in its written statements clearly describe 

17 its statutory authority, distinguishing that authority from 

18 that of appointed or elected officials of the United States 

19 Government. Oral statements, where practicable, shall in20 clude a similar description. 

21 (f) TRAVEL.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Members of the Commission 

23 may, with the approval of the Commission, conduct 

24 such travel as is necessary to carry out the purpose 

25 of this title. 


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1 (2) APPROVAL.—Each trip of a member of the 

2 Commission, other than the member described in 

3 section 201(b)(1)(A), shall be approved by a major4 ity of the members of the Commission. 

5 SEC. 204. MATTERS RELATING TO PERSONNEL. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Commission may, without re7 gard to the civil service laws and regulations, appoint and 

8 terminate an Executive Director and such other additional 

9 personnel as may be necessary to enable the Commission 

10 to perform its duties. The decision to employ or terminate 

11 an Executive Director shall be made by an affirmative vote 

12 of at least six of the nine voting members of the Commis13 sion. 

14 (b) COMPENSATION.—The Commission may fix the 

15 compensation of the Executive Director and other per16 sonnel without regard to the provisions of chapter 51 and 

17 subchapter III of chapter 53 of title 5, United States 

18 Code, relating to classification of positions and General 

19 Schedule pay rates, except that the rate of pay for the 

20 Executive Director and other personnel may not exceed 

21 the rate payable for level V of the Executive Schedule 

22 under section 5316 of such title. 

23 (c) PROFESSIONAL STAFF.—The Commission and 

24 the Executive Director shall hire Commission staff on the 

25 basis of professional and nonpartisan qualifications. MemVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:26 Mar 22, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00026 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1471.IH H1471

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1 bers of the Commission may not individually hire staff of 

2 the Commission. Staff shall serve the Commission as a 

3 whole and may not be assigned to the particular service 

4 of a single member of the Commission or a specified group 

5 of such members. This subsection does not prohibit staff 

6 personnel from assisting individual members of the Com7 mission with particular needs related to their duties. 

8 (d) STAFF AND SERVICES OF OTHER FEDERAL

9 AGENCIES.— 

10 (1) DEPARTMENT OF STATE.—The Secretary of 

11 State shall assist the Commission by providing on a 

12 reimbursable or nonreimbursable basis to the Com13 mission such staff and administrative services as 

14 may be necessary and appropriate to perform its 

15 functions. 

16 (2) OTHER FEDERAL AGENCIES.—Upon the re17 quest of the Commission, the head of any Federal 

18 department or agency may detail, on a reimbursable 

19 or nonreimbursable basis, any of the personnel of 

20 that department or agency to the Commission to as21 sist it in carrying out its functions under this title. 

22 The detail of any such personnel shall be without 

23 interruption or loss of civil service or Foreign Serv24 ice status or privilege. 


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1 (e) SECURITY CLEARANCES.—The Executive Direc2 tor shall be required to obtain a security clearance. The 

3 Executive Director may request, on a needs-only basis and 

4 in order to perform the duties of the Commission, that 

5 other personnel of the Commission be required to obtain 

6 a security clearance. The level of clearance shall be the 

7 lowest necessary to appropriately perform the duties of the 

8 Commission. 

9 (f) COST.—The Commission shall reimburse all ap10 propriate Federal agencies for the cost of obtaining clear11 ances for members of the Commission, for the Executive 

12 Director, and for any other personnel. 

13 (g) APPLICATION OF ANTIDISCRIMINATION LAWS.— 

14 For purposes of providing remedies and procedures to ad15 dress alleged violations of rights and protections that per16 tain to employment discrimination, family and medical 

17 leave, fair labor standards, employee polygraph protection, 

18 worker adjustment and retraining, veterans’ employment 

19 and reemployment, intimidation or reprisal, protections 

20 under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 

21 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.), occupational safety and health, 

22 labor-management relations, and rights and protections 

23 that apply to employees whose pay is disbursed by the Sec24 retary of the Senate or the Chief Administrative Officer 

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1 mission shall be treated as employees whose pay is dis2 bursed by the Secretary of the Senate or the Chief Admin3 istrative Officer of the House of Representatives, as the 

4 case may be, and the Commission shall be treated as an 

5 employing office of the Senate or the House of Represent6 atives. 

7 SEC. 205. REPORT. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than December 31 of 

9 each calendar year, the Commission shall submit to the 

10 President, the Secretary of State, and Congress a report 

11 that contains, with respect to such calendar year— 

12 (1) its policy recommendations described in 

13 paragraph (2) of section 202(a) based on its review 

14 under paragraph (1) of such section, including— 

15 (A) a public summary of recommendations 

16 and list of the countries with respect to which 

17 the Commission recommends imposing or termi18 nating sanctions under title I; and 

19 (B) a rationale for imposing or terminating 

20 such sanctions; and 

21 (2) its monitoring activities under section 

22 202(b), including a list of its sources, a list of orga23 nizations and individuals consulted, and a summary 

24 of its findings. 


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1 (b) FORM.—The report required by subsection (a) 

2 shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may contain 

3 a classified annex. 

4 (c) INDIVIDUAL OR DISSENTING VIEWS.—Each 

5 member of the Commission may include the individual or 

6 dissenting views of the member. 

7 (d) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec8 tion may be construed to preclude the Commission from 

9 issuing additional reports and recommendations to ad10 dress urgent situations. 

11 SEC. 206. APPLICABILITY OF OTHER LAWS. 

12 The Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) 

13 shall not apply to the Commission. 

14 SEC. 207. STANDARDS OF CONDUCT AND DISCLOSURE. 

15 (a) COOPERATION WITH NONGOVERNMENTAL ORGA16 NIZATIONS, THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE, AND CON17 GRESS.—The Commission shall, in the performance of its 

18 duties under this title, seek to effectively and freely co19 operate with all governmental and nongovernmental enti20 ties engaged in the promotion of human rights and reli21 gious freedom abroad. 

22 (b) CONFLICT OF INTEREST AND ANTINEPOTISM.— 

23 (1) MEMBER AFFILIATIONS.—Except as pro24 vided in paragraph (3), in order to ensure the inde25 pendence and integrity of the Commission, the ComVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:26 Mar 22, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00030 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1471.IH H1471

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1 mission may not compensate any nongovernmental 

2 agency, project, or person related to or affiliated 

3 with any member of the Commission, whether in 

4 that member’s direct employ or not. Staff employed 

5 by the Commission may not serve in the employ of 

6 any nongovernmental agency, project, or person re7 lated to or affiliated with any member of the Com8 mission while employed by the Commission. 

9 (2) STAFF COMPENSATION.—Staff of the Com10 mission may not receive compensation from any 

11 other source for work performed in carrying out the 

12 duties of the Commission while employed by the 

13 Commission. 

14 (3) EXCEPTION.— 

15 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara16 graph (B), paragraph (1) shall not apply to 

17 payments made for items such as conference 

18 fees or the purchase of periodicals or other 

19 similar expenses, if such payments would not 

20 cause the aggregate value paid to any agency, 

21 project, or person for a fiscal year to exceed 

22 $250. 

23 (B) LIMITATION.—Notwithstanding sub24 paragraph (A), the Commission shall not give 

25 special preference to any agency, project, or 


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1 person related to or affiliated with any member 

2 of the Commission. 

3 (4) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection, the term 

4 ‘‘affiliated’’ means the relationship between a mem5 ber of the Commission and— 

6 (A) an individual who holds the position of 

7 officer, trustee, partner, director, or employee 

8 of an agency, project, or person of which that 

9 member, or relative of that member, of the 

10 Commission is an officer, trustee, partner, di11 rector, or employee; or 

12 (B) a nongovernmental agency or project 

13 of which that member, or a relative of that 

14 member, of the Commission is an officer, trust15 ee, partner, director, or employee. 

16 (c) CONTRACT AUTHORITY.—Subject to the avail17 ability of appropriations, the Commission may contract 

18 with and compensate Federal agencies or persons for the 

19 conduct of activities necessary to the discharge of its du20 ties under this title. Any such person shall be hired with21 out interruption or loss of civil service or Foreign Service 

22 status or privilege. 

23 (d) GIFTS.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—In order to preserve its inde25 pendence, the Commission may not accept, use, or 


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1 dispose of gifts or donations of services or property. 

2 An individual Commissioner or employee of the 

3 Commission may not, in his or her capacity as a 

4 Commissioner or employee, knowingly accept, use, or 

5 dispose of gifts or donations of services or property, 

6 unless he or she in good faith believes such gifts or 

7 donations to have a value of less than $50 and a cu8 mulative value during a calendar year of less than 

9 $100. 

10 (2) EXCEPTIONS.—This subsection shall not 

11 apply to the following: 

12 (A) Gifts provided on the basis of a per13 sonal friendship with a Commissioner or em14 ployee, unless the Commissioner or employee 

15 has reason to believe that the gift was provided 

16 because of the Commissioner’s position and not 

17 because of the personal friendship. 

18 (B) Gifts provided on the basis of a family 

19 relationship. 

20 (C) The acceptance of training, invitations 

21 to attend or participate in conferences, or such 

22 other events as are related to the conduct of the 

23 duties of the Commission, or food or refresh24 ment associated with such activities. 


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1 (D) Items of nominal value or gifts of esti2 mated value of $10 or less. 

3 (E) Gifts provided by a foreign leader or 

4 state which would create offense or embarrass5 ment to the United States Government if re6 fused, shall be accepted and turned over to the 

7 United States Government in accordance with 

8 the Foreign Gifts and Decorations Act of 1966. 

9 (F) Informational materials such as docu10 ments, books, videotapes, periodicals, or other 

11 forms of communications. 

12 (G) Goods or services provided by any 

13 agency or component of the Government of the 

14 United States, including any commission estab15 lished under the authority of such Government. 

16 (e) ANNUAL FINANCIAL REPORT.—In addition to 

17 providing the reports required under section 205, the 

18 Commission shall, not later than January 1 of each year, 

19 submit to the Committees on Foreign Affairs and the 

20 Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representa21 tives and to the Committees on Foreign Relations and the 

22 Committee on Appropriations of the Senate a financial re23 port detailing and identifying the expenditures of the 

24 Commission for the preceding fiscal year. 

Æ 


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