I 
113TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3526 
To permit persons subject to the jurisdiction of the United States to enter 
into transactions with certain sanctioned foreign persons that are cus-
tomary, necessary, and incidental to the donation or provision of goods 
or services to prevent or alleviate the suffering of civilian populations, 
and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
NOVEMBER 18, 2013 
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey introduced the following bill; which was referred 
to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee 
on the Judiciary, 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 permit persons subject to the jurisdiction of the United 
States to enter into transactions with certain sanctioned 
foreign persons that are customary, necessary, and inci-
dental to the donation or provision of goods or services 
to prevent or alleviate the suffering of civilian popu-
lations, and for other purposes. 
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. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Humanitarian Assist-
ance Facilitation Act of 2013’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) The 2011–2012 drought in East Africa, 
part of a persistent weather trend in the region, was 
exacerbated by stagnating agricultural development 
and unsustainable forms of livelihood. Moreover, in 
Somalia, the hardest hit country in the region, the 
terrorist group al-Shabaab obstructed the delivery of 
humanitarian assistance and directly threatened aid 
agencies. Thus, the famine was a foreseeable and, 
with unimpeded delivery of aid, a preventable event. 
(2) It is estimated that 4 million Somalis were 
affected by the drought and famine in the region 
and several million remain vulnerable to this day. 
According to the May 2013 report issued by the 
United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization 
and the Famine Early Warning System Network, 
the Somalia famine resulted in 258,000 deaths be-
tween October 2010 and April 2012. More than half 
of those deaths were children under the age of five. 
(3) Because of laws prohibiting activities that 
may directly or indirectly support terrorist organiza-
tions, a general or specific license issued by the De-
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partment of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets 
Control (OFAC) is needed to enable United States 
humanitarian organizations to legally provide assist-
ance in al-Shabaab-controlled areas of Somalia par-
ticularly with respect to activities that require inter-
actions or dealings with al-Shabaab. 
(4) The United States Agency for International 
Development (USAID) has an OFAC-specific license 
to operate in these conditions in Somalia that covers 
the organizations that USAID funds, but not orga-
nizations that operate with their own funding or 
funding solely from non-United States Government 
sources, and also not the non-United States Govern-
ment funding of organizations that operate with 
both United States Government and non-United 
States Government funding, unless USAID author-
izes both types of funding to be covered under such 
OFAC-specific license. Organizations that operate in 
al-Shabaab-controlled areas without such a license 
can be subject to prosecution for violating United 
States law, at least with respect to activities or 
transactions that involve al-Shabaab, even inciden-
tally. 
(5) Prior to OFAC issuing USAID its license, 
no licenses for humanitarian assistance to the people 
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of Somalia were issued before the United Nations 
declared a famine in al-Shabaab-controlled areas of 
Somalia. 
(6) In pursuit of eliminating aid in any form to 
terrorist organizations, Executive orders have had 
the effect of undoing protections for humanitarian 
operations in areas controlled by such organizations 
previously contained in the International Emergency 
Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C.1701 et seq.) and 
sections 2339A and 2339B of title 18, United States 
Code (commonly known as the ‘‘Material Support 
Statutes’’). Furthermore, the prohibitions contained 
in such Executive orders and the Material Support 
Statutes discouraged and, in some instances, prohib-
ited donors from contributing to aid efforts for all 
of Somalia. In some cases, the unintended con-
sequences included preventing humanitarian organi-
zations from establishing access to civilians and pro-
viding them with life-saving aid, while empowering 
terrorist organizations that became the sole conduit 
of aid. 
SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 
It is the sense of Congress that humanitarian organi-
zations, acting in good faith and with the appropriate re-
strictions and controls in place, should not be prevented, 
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directly or indirectly by Executive orders or counterter-
rorism laws, from accessing and providing aid to civilian 
populations before or early on in humanitarian crises, such 
as in the famine in al-Shabaab-controlled areas of Soma-
lia. 
SEC. 4. AMENDMENTS TO SECTION 203 OF THE INTER-
NATIONAL EMERGENCY ECONOMIC POWERS 
ACT. 
(a) ADDITIONAL EXCEPTION.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 203 of the Inter-
national Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 
U.S.C. 1702) is amended— 
(A) in subsection (b)(2)— 
(i) by inserting after ‘‘to relieve 
human suffering’’ the following: ‘‘including 
donations to foreign persons subject to 
sanctions under this Act in order to 
achieve such purposes,’’; and 
(ii) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end; 
(B) by redesignating subsection (c) as sub-
section (d); and 
(C) by inserting after subsection (b) the 
following: 
‘‘(c) ADDITIONAL EXCEPTION.— 
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‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The authority granted to 
the President by this section does not include the 
authority to further restrict, by regulation or other-
wise, directly or indirectly— 
‘‘(A) transactions, by a person subject to 
the jurisdiction of the United States, with a for-
eign person that is subject to sanctions under 
this Act that are customary, necessary, and in-
cidental to the donation or provision of goods or 
services by the person subject to the jurisdiction 
of the United States or its foreign representa-
tives to civilian populations to prevent or allevi-
ate the suffering of such civilian populations, 
if— 
‘‘(i) the person subject to the jurisdic-
tion of the United States has acted in good 
faith without intent to further the aims or 
objectives of the foreign person and has 
used its best efforts to minimize any such 
transactions; 
‘‘(ii) the goods or services provided to 
the civilian population— 
‘‘(I) are limited to articles such 
as food, clothing, and medicine; and 
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‘‘(II) are not capable of being 
used to carry out any terrorist activity 
(as 
defined 
in 
section 
212(a)(3)(B)(iii) of the Immigration 
and 
Nationality 
Act 
(8 
U.S.C. 
1182(a)(3)(B)(iii))); 
‘‘(iii) the person subject to the juris-
diction of the United States— 
‘‘(I) prior to, or not later than 10 
business days after, the first instance 
of entering into any transaction de-
scribed in this subparagraph, provides 
to the Secretary of State initial notice 
summarizing the nature and extent of 
its operations in connection with pro-
viding such goods or services; and 
‘‘(II) at least once each year dur-
ing which the person enters into any 
transaction described in this subpara-
graph, provides to the Secretary of 
State subsequent notice summarizing 
the nature and extent of its operations 
in connection with donating or pro-
viding such goods or services; and 
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‘‘(iv) the person, including any direc-
tor, officer, or employee of the person, is 
not the subject of or directly named in any 
publicly-available debarment, suspension, 
or Executive order that prohibits receipt of 
funding from the United States Govern-
ment; and 
‘‘(B) engaging in any speech or commu-
nication with a foreign person that is subject to 
sanctions under this Act to prevent or alleviate 
the suffering of a civilian population, including 
speech or communication to reduce or eliminate 
the frequency and severity of violent conflict 
and reducing its impact on the civilian popu-
lation. 
‘‘(2) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing con-
tained in paragraph (1) shall be construed to au-
thorize the President to prohibit the export of stand-
ard, commercially-available goods or services, includ-
ing communications equipment, software and com-
puters, that are necessary to carry out operations re-
lated to the provision of goods or services to prevent 
or alleviate the suffering of civilian populations that 
are under the control of a foreign person subject to 
sanctions under this Act.’’. 
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(2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 
by paragraph (1) take effect on the date of enact-
ment of this Act and apply with respect to trans-
actions described in section 203(c)(1) of the Inter-
national Emergency Economic Powers Act, as added 
by paragraph (1), entered into on or after such date 
of enactment. 
(b) ADVISORY COUNCIL TO PREVENT AND ALLEVI-
ATE HUMAN SUFFERING IN AREAS UNDER THE CONTROL 
OF CERTAIN SANCTIONED FOREIGN PERSONS.—Section 
203 of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act 
(50 U.S.C.1702), as amended by subsection (a) of this 
section, is further amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(e) ADVISORY COUNCIL TO PREVENT
AND RE-
SPOND TO HUMAN SUFFERING IN AREAS AFFECTED BY 
CERTAIN SANCTIONED FOREIGN PERSONS.— 
‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—No later than 90 days 
after the date of enactment of the Humanitarian As-
sistance Facilitation Act of 2013, the Secretary of 
State shall, in consultation with the Attorney Gen-
eral, Secretary of Defense, Secretary of the Treasury 
and the Secretary of Commerce, establish an Advi-
sory Council on United States Policy Related to 
Non-Governmental Activities to Prevent and Re-
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spond to Human Suffering in Areas Affected By 
Certain Sanctioned Foreign Persons (hereafter in 
this subsection referred to as the ‘Advisory Coun-
cil’). 
‘‘(2) MEMBERSHIP.—The Advisory Council 
shall be composed of not less than 15 members ap-
pointed by the Secretary of State from among indi-
viduals who are experts in the fields of peace-build-
ing, humanitarian aid in areas of armed conflict, 
representatives from organizations directly involved 
in the delivery of aid in areas of armed conflict, and 
other experts with relevant expertise as determined 
by the Secretary of State. 
‘‘(3) DUTIES.—The Advisory Council shall— 
‘‘(A) review existing laws, regulations, Ex-
ecutive orders, and administrative actions regu-
lating or prohibiting, directly or indirectly, 
peacebuilding activities and the provision of hu-
manitarian aid and development assistance in 
areas under the control of foreign persons that 
are subject to sanctions under United States 
law; 
‘‘(B) conduct additional research and 
study as necessary on the subjects of counter- 
terrorism and security measures in relation to 
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the delivery of humanitarian aid and develop-
ment assistance; 
‘‘(C) report to the Secretary of State on its 
findings; and 
‘‘(D) make recommendations to the Sec-
retary of State and other officials described in 
paragraph (1) (as appropriate) on the most effi-
cient and effective means of limiting diversion 
of humanitarian aid and development assistance 
while also preserving the impartiality of human-
itarian aid and development assistance and the 
ability of humanitarian organizations to prevent 
and relieve human suffering of civilian popu-
lations. 
‘‘(4) TERMINATION.—Section 14(a)(2) of the 
Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) 
(relating to termination of advisory committees) 
shall not apply to the Advisory Council.’’. 
SEC. 5. AMENDMENTS TO SECTION 2339B OF TITLE 18, 
UNITED STATES CODE. 
(a) DEFINITION
OF MATERIAL SUPPORT
OR RE-
SOURCES.—Section 2339B(g)(4) of title 18, United States 
Code, is amended by adding at the end before the semi-
colon the following: ‘‘, except that such term does not in-
clude engaging in speech or communication with a ter-
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rorist organization to prevent or alleviate the suffering of 
a civilian population, including speech or communication 
to reduce or eliminate the frequency and severity of violent 
conflict and reducing its impact on the civilian popu-
lation’’. 
(b) ADDITIONAL EXCEPTION.—Section 2339B(j) of 
title 18, United States Code, is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘No person’’ and inserting the 
following: 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—No person’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(2) ADDITIONAL EXCEPTION.—No person may 
be prosecuted under this section in connection with 
knowingly providing ‘material support or resources’ 
to a foreign terrorist organization, or attempting or 
conspiring to do so, if— 
‘‘(A) the material support or resources 
consists only of transactions that are cus-
tomary, necessary, and incidental to the dona-
tion or provision of goods or services by persons 
who are not controlled by the foreign terrorist 
organization to civilian populations, if— 
‘‘(i) the goods or services are limited 
articles such as food, clothing, and medi-
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cine intended to be used to relieve human 
suffering; and 
‘‘(ii) the goods or services are not ca-
pable of being used to carry out any ter-
rorist activity (as defined in section 
212(a)(3)(B)(iii) of the Immigration and 
Nationality 
Act 
(8 
U.S.C. 
1182(a)(3)(B)(iii))); 
‘‘(B) the person, in donating or providing 
such goods or services to the civilian population, 
acts in good faith without intent to further the 
aims or objectives of the foreign terrorist orga-
nization and uses its best efforts to minimize 
any transaction with a foreign terrorist organi-
zation; 
‘‘(C) the person— 
‘‘(i) prior to, or not later than 10 
business days after, the first instance of 
entering into any transaction described in 
subparagraph (A), provides to the Sec-
retary of State notice summarizing the na-
ture and extent of its operations in connec-
tion with providing such goods or services; 
and 
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‘‘(ii) at least once each year during 
which the person enters into any trans-
action described in subparagraph (A), pro-
vides to the Secretary of State notice sum-
marizing the nature and extent of its oper-
ations in connection with providing such 
goods or services; and 
‘‘(D) the person donating or providing 
such goods or services, including any director, 
officer, or employee of the person is not the 
subject of or directly named in any publicly- 
available debarment, suspension, or Executive 
order that prohibits receipt of funding from the 
Federal Government.’’. 
(3) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 
by paragraphs (1) and (2) take effect on the date 
of enactment of this Act and apply with respect to 
transactions described in section 2339B(j)(2) of title 
18, United States Code, as added by paragraph (2), 
entered into on or after such date of enactment. 
Æ 
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