I 
112TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1836 
To establish appropriate procedures and sanctions to ensure that unpaid 
parking fines and penalties owed to New York City by foreign countries 
are paid. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 11, 2011 
Mr. GRIMM (for himself, Mr. TOWNS, and Mr. KING of New York) introduced 
the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 
A BILL 
To establish appropriate procedures and sanctions to ensure 
that unpaid parking fines and penalties owed to New 
York City by foreign countries are paid. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 
(1) The City of New York is host to the diplo-
matic representatives of 289 missions and consulates 
of foreign countries located in the city. 
(2) Foreign diplomats in New York City in-
curred more than $17.2 million dollars in fines and 
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penalties on parking tickets issued by the munici-
pality. 
(3) Many of the parking fines were issued due 
to safety violations, including the blocking of fire hy-
drants, which put lives of residents of the city in 
danger. 
(4) The legal doctrine of diplomatic immunity 
prohibits the imposition of traditional sanctions to 
ensure payment of such parking fines. 
(5) Section 545 of the Foreign Operations, Ex-
port Financing, and Related Programs Appropria-
tions Act, 2002 (Public Law 107–115) provided that 
‘‘an amount equivalent to 110 percent of the total 
unpaid fully adjudicated parking fines and penalties 
owed to the District of Columbia and New York 
City, New York by such country as of the date of 
the enactment of this Act that were incurred after 
the first day of the fiscal year preceding the current 
fiscal year shall be withheld from obligation for such 
country until the Secretary of State certifies and re-
ports in writing to the appropriate congressional 
committees that such fines and penalties are fully 
paid to the governments of the District of Columbia 
and New York City, New York’’. 
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(b) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this Act to estab-
lish appropriate procedures and sanctions to ensure that 
parking fines and penalties incurred in New York, New 
York, by foreign countries are paid. 
SEC. 2. SANCTIONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Whenever a foreign country owes 
to New York, New York, unpaid fully adjudicated parking 
fines and penalties as of September 15 of each year, and 
until the Secretary of State receives certification that such 
fines and penalties have been paid— 
(1) the Secretary of State shall deny the 
issuance or renewal of any diplomatic license plates 
for vehicles for that country; 
(2) notwithstanding any other provision of law, 
the Secretary of State shall withhold from obligation 
funds available for that country under part I of the 
Foreign Assistance Act of 1961; and 
(3) notwithstanding any other provision of law, 
unobligated funds available for that country under 
part I of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 are au-
thorized to be reappropriated to pay any fully adju-
dicated parking fines and penalties owed by that 
country to New York, New York. 
(b) STANDARD FOR DETERMINATION.—For the pur-
poses of this Act, the term ‘‘fully adjudicated’’ includes 
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circumstances in which the registrant has not responded 
to the parking violation summons or has not followed the 
appropriate adjudication procedure to challenge the sum-
mons and the period of time for payment or challenge of 
the summons has lapsed. 
Æ 
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