International Megan's Law to Prevent Child Exploitation and Other Sexual Crimes Through Advanced Notification of Traveling Sex Offenders


Summary: (This measure has not been amended since it was passed by the Senate on December 17, 2015. The summary of that version is repeated here.) International Megan's Law to Prevent Child Exploitation and Other Sexual Crimes Through Advanced Notification of Traveling Sex Offenders (Sec. 4) This bill directs the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to establish the Angel Watch Center within the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The center must identify outbound sex offender travelers who failed to provide advanced notice of international travel and provide a list of such individuals to the Marshals Service (USMS) to investigate. The center may receive notifications of inbound sex offender travel. It must share information with the Department of Justice (DOJ) and other government agencies. The center may also transmit advance notice of sex offender travel to a destination country. It must comply with certain procedures, collect specified data, and establish a process to receive, review, and respond to individual complaints of erroneous notifications. (Sec. 5) The USMS may receive and transmit notification of international travel by sex offenders. It may also share information about sex offender travel with other government agencies. This bill requires the USMS to ensure consistent advance notification to destination countries of international travel by registered sex offenders. The USMS must share certain information with the center, including a list of individuals who provided advanced notice of international travel, a determination of compliance with sex offender registration requirements, and sex offender travel information. It must also establish a process to receive, review, and respond to individual complaints of erroneous notifications. DOJ must collect specified data related to transmitted notifications. (Sec. 6) The bill amends the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA) to require a registered sex offender to also report information on intended international travel for inclusion in the sex offender registry. It amends the federal criminal code to make it a crime for a sex offender to knowingly fail to provide such information. A violation is subject to a fine, up to 10 years in prison, or both. (Sec. 7) It expresses the sense of Congress that the Department of State should negotiate reciprocal international agreements to further the purposes of this Act and SORNA. (Sec. 8) This bill amends the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 to prohibit the State Department from issuing a passport to a sex offender, unless the passport contains a unique identifier. A "unique identifier" is any visual sex offender designation that is conspicuously affixed to a passport. (Sec. 9) DHS, DOJ, and the State Department must develop and report jointly to Congress on a process to implement the unique identifier requirement on sex offender passports. (Sec. 10) The State Department may provide technical assistance to foreign authorities to facilitate effective participation in the notification program established by this Act. (Sec. 11) The bill authorizes appropriations for FY2017-FY2018. (Sec. 12) It prohibits construing this Act to limit international information sharing or law enforcement cooperation pursuant to any authority of DOJ, DHS, or any other department or agency.