I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3030 
To help prevent acts of genocide and other atrocity crimes, which threaten 
national and international security, by enhancing United States Govern-
ment capacities to prevent, mitigate, and respond to such crises. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 22, 2017 
Mrs. WAGNER (for herself, Mr. WEBER of Texas, Mr. COHEN, Mr. MESSER, 
Ms. WILSON of Florida, Ms. TENNEY, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. ENGEL, Ms. 
MCCOLLUM, Mr. KEATING, Mr. SENSENBRENNER, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. 
PAULSEN, Mr. EVANS, Mr. CROWLEY, Mr. CRIST, Mr. ELLISON, Mr. 
CARTWRIGHT, Ms. SHEA-PORTER, Mr. COFFMAN, Mrs. WATSON COLE-
MAN, Mr. SHERMAN, Ms. ROSEN, Mrs. COMSTOCK, Mr. FITZPATRICK, 
Mr. RASKIN, Mr. THOMAS J. ROONEY of Florida, and Mr. RODNEY 
DAVIS of Illinois) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Permanent Select 
Committee on Intelligence, for a period to be subsequently determined by 
the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall with-
in the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To help prevent acts of genocide and other atrocity crimes, 
which threaten national and international security, by 
enhancing United States Government capacities to pre-
vent, mitigate, and respond to such crises. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Elie Wiesel Genocide and Atrocities Prevention Act of 
2017’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 
this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
Sec. 2. Findings. 
Sec. 3. Definitions. 
Sec. 4. Statement of policy regarding genocide and other atrocity crimes pre-
vention. 
Sec. 5. Mass Atrocities Task Force. 
Sec. 6. Training of Foreign Service officers in conflict and atrocity crimes pre-
vention. 
Sec. 7. Report of the Director of National Intelligence. 
Sec. 8. Complex Crises Fund. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress makes the following findings: 
(1) The nature of genocide and other atrocity 
crimes, including war crimes, crimes against human-
ity, and ethnic cleansing, includes shocking acts of 
violence perpetrated by governments and non-state 
actors, which have killed millions of civilians and 
other innocent individuals. 
(2) The commitment to prevent acts of genocide 
and other atrocity crimes has been a centerpiece of 
policy by consecutive administrations of the United 
States Government. 
(3) The United States was the first country in 
the world to sign the Convention on the Prevention 
and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, signed at 
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Paris December 9, 1948, and President Ronald 
Reagan signed implementing legislation allowing the 
United States to become a party to the Convention 
on November 25, 1988. 
(4) In the 2006 National Security Strategy, 
President George W. Bush highlighted the ‘‘moral 
imperative that states take action to prevent and 
punish genocide’’. 
(5) In 2008, the bipartisan Genocide Prevention 
Task Force, which was co-chaired by former Sec-
retary of Defense William Cohen and former Sec-
retary of State Madeleine Albright— 
(A) stated ‘‘genocide and mass atrocities 
also threaten core U.S. national interests’’; and 
(B) recommended the creation of ‘‘a new 
standing interagency mechanism for analysis of 
threats [of genocide and other mass atrocities] 
and coordination of appropriate preventive ac-
tion’’. 
(6) In December 2010, the Senate unanimously 
passed Senate Concurrent Resolution 71, which rec-
ognized the United States ‘‘national interest in help-
ing to prevent and mitigate acts of genocide and 
other mass atrocities against civilians, and sup-
porting and encouraging efforts to develop a whole 
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of government approach to prevent and mitigate 
such acts’’. 
(7) In 2012, President Obama, in Presidential 
Study Directive 10, which ordered the creation of 
the Atrocities Prevention Board, stated that he 
would ensure that the United States Government 
has the required structures, tools, and mechanisms 
to better prevent and respond to atrocity crimes. 
(8) In February 2014, James Clapper, the 
former Director of National Intelligence, stated in 
his annual national security threat assessment to 
Congress— 
(A) ‘‘The overall risk of mass atrocities 
worldwide will probably increase in 2014 and 
beyond.’’; 
(B) ‘‘Many countries at risk of mass atroc-
ities will likely be open to influence to prevent 
or mitigate them.’’; and 
(C) ‘‘Much of the world will almost cer-
tainly turn to the United States for leadership 
to prevent and respond to mass atrocities.’’. 
(9) In February 2016, former Director of Na-
tional Intelligence Clapper stated, in his annual na-
tional security threat assessment to Congress, 
‘‘Risks of atrocities, large-scale violence, and regime- 
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threatening instability will remain elevated in 
2016.’’. 
(10) The United States can strengthen its 
atrocity crimes prevention and peacebuilding efforts 
by— 
(A) supporting civil society which serves a 
central role in promoting nonviolent conflict 
resolution and supporting early warning; 
(B) enhancing cooperation and under-
standing among ethnic and religious groups, 
communities, and factions; 
(C) working with the international commu-
nity to ensure shared responsibility by enhanc-
ing multilateral and regional mechanisms that 
seek to prevent genocide and other atrocity 
crimes; 
(D) 
promoting 
effective 
accountability 
mechanisms to deter individuals and entities 
that may incite or commit genocide or other 
atrocity crimes; and 
(E) implementing policies that hold ac-
countable individuals and entities that incite or 
commit genocide or other atrocity crimes. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
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(2) the Committee on Appropriations of the 
Senate; 
(3) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the 
House of Representatives; and 
(4) the Committee on Appropriations of the 
House of Representatives. 
(e) WAIVER.—The notification requirement under 
subsection (d) may be waived if— 
(1) failure to do so would pose a substantial 
risk to human health or welfare; and 
(2) the congressional committees set forth in 
subsection (d)— 
(A) are notified not later than three days 
after an obligation of funds; and 
(B) are provided with an explanation of 
the emergency circumstances that necessitated 
the waiver. 
Æ 
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