I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 5493 
To prohibit the Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service 
from awarding grants to entities that fund or support gross violations 
of internationally recognized human rights, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 19, 2019 
Mr. BISHOP of Utah introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Natural Resources 
A BILL 
To prohibit the Director of the United States Fish and 
Wildlife Service from awarding grants to entities that 
fund or support gross violations of internationally recog-
nized human rights, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. INTERNATIONAL CONSERVATION GRANT RE-
STRICTIONS. 
(a) CERTIFICATION.—The Director may not award a 
covered grant to a covered recipient unless such recipient 
certifies that it will meet the requirements described in 
subsection (b). 
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(b) REQUIREMENTS.—The requirements described in 
this subsection are as follows: 
(1) CERTIFICATION.—A covered recipient may 
only award funds to a subgrantee if such subgrantee 
certifies that it will meet the requirements described 
in this subsection. 
(2) PROHIBITION.—A covered recipient may not 
use funds from a covered grant to fund or support 
a prohibited entity. 
(3) REPORTING.—A covered recipient shall re-
port to the Director any credible allegation of a 
gross violation of internationally recognized human 
rights by any entity such recipient has funded or 
supported within 30 days of the date on which such 
recipient knew or should have known of such allega-
tion. 
(4) CEASE FUNDING.—A covered recipient that 
reports a credible allegation under paragraph (3) to 
the Director shall, not more than 30 days after the 
date of such reporting, cease funding or supporting 
the prohibited entity alleged to have committed such 
violation. 
(c) PENALTIES.—The Director shall apply the fol-
lowing penalties to a covered recipient or successor to such 
recipient that fails to meet the requirements of this Act: 
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(1) The Director may not award a single source 
award of a covered grant to a covered recipient or 
successor to such recipient that has violated a provi-
sion of subsection (b). 
(2) The Director may not award a covered 
grant to a covered recipient or successor to such re-
cipient that violated subsection (b)(3) for a 3-year 
period beginning on the later of— 
(A) the date of the violation; or 
(B) the date on which the Director became 
aware of such violation. 
(3) The Director may not award a covered 
grant to a covered recipient or successor to such re-
cipient that violated subsection (b)(4) for a 5-year 
period beginning on the later of— 
(A) the date of the violation; or 
(B) the date on which the Director became 
aware of such violation. 
(4) In addition to any penalties under para-
graphs (1) through (3), the Director may not award 
a covered grant to a covered recipient or successor 
to such recipient that has violated any provision of 
this Act unless such recipient paid back any funds 
from the grant under which such recipient received 
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funds which were used in a manner that violated 
subsection (b). 
(5) The Director shall report a covered recipi-
ent that violated a provision of subsection (b) to the 
Department of Justice. 
(d) HIGH-RISK AREAS.— 
(1) WAIVER REQUIRED.—The Director may not 
award a covered grant with respect to a high-risk 
country unless the recipient of such grant has re-
ceived a waiver under paragraph (2). 
(2) WAIVER
REQUIREMENTS.—The Director 
may issue a waiver to operate in a high-risk country 
to an applicant that the Director determines has 
taken sufficient measures to prevent the violation of 
this Act. In making such a determination, the Direc-
tor shall require the applicant to— 
(A) describe the safeguards such applicant 
employs to protect human rights; 
(B) describe the accountability such appli-
cant employs to ensure proper use of funds; 
(C) provide any training materials used by 
the organization with respect to protecting 
human rights; and 
(D) provide such other information as the 
Director determines appropriate. 
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