I 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 5855 
To enshrine the legacy of Jamal Khashoggi by protecting activists and jour-
nalists, codifying the Khashoggi Ban, and introducing the Khashoggi 
Amendment to the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, and for other 
purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 29, 2023 
Mr. SCHIFF (for himself, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. CONNOLLY, and Mr. MCGOV-
ERN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To enshrine the legacy of Jamal Khashoggi by protecting 
activists and journalists, codifying the Khashoggi Ban, 
and introducing the Khashoggi Amendment to the For-
eign Sovereign Immunities Act, 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. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Jamal Khashoggi Pro-
tection of Activists and Press Freedom Act of 2023’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
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(1) A free and independent press is necessary 
for citizens to make informed choices on issues of 
public concern, to have the information necessary to 
recognize truth from falsehood, and to hold the pow-
erful and Government officials to account. 
(2) As reflected in the First Amendment to the 
United States Constitution, a free press is essential 
to safeguard democracy. 
(3) The suppression of the press is historically 
associated with authoritarian rule. 
(4) As provided in article 19 of the United Na-
tions Universal Declaration of Human Rights and 
the International Covenant on Civil and Political 
Rights, all people enjoy the right to freedom of opin-
ion and expression, which includes the right to seek, 
receive, and impart information. 
(5) An informed public is fundamental to a free 
society. 
(6) In accordance with a long United States 
history of championing freedom of the press around 
the globe, the Daniel Pearl Freedom of the Press 
Act of 2009 was enacted into law (Public Law 111– 
166). 
(7) Since the passage of the Daniel Pearl Free-
dom of the Press Act of 2009, the global environ-
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ment for a free and independent press has become 
more repressive. 
(8) According to data from the Committee to 
Protect Journalists, at least 363 journalists were im-
prisoned globally in relation to their work as of De-
cember 1, 2022, a new global high that overtakes 
the prior year’s record by 20 percent and marks an-
other grim milestone in a deteriorating media land-
scapes. The Committee to Protect Journalists also 
reported there was complete impunity in nearly 80 
percent of the 263 cases of journalists murdered 
globally between September 1, 2012, to August 31, 
2022. 
(9) According to Freedom House’s publication 
‘‘Freedom in the World 2023’’, global freedom has 
declined for 17 consecutive years, and over the past 
year, media freedom came under pressure in at least 
157 countries and territories assessed in the report. 
Freedom House data also show that freedom of ex-
pression, for the media and individuals, has declined 
more than any other civil liberty over the last 17 
years, and infringement on free expression is one of 
the biggest drivers of democratic backsliding glob-
ally. 
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(10) According to data from Reporters Without 
Borders, 55 journalists were killed in 2022, an al-
most 15 percent increase over the prior year, and 
since 2020, more journalists have been deliberately 
targeted and killed in countries considered ‘‘at 
peace’’ than in conflict zones. 
(11) In 2018, the brutal murder of Jamal 
Khashoggi at the hands of Saudi intelligence officers 
acting on explicit orders of the Saudi Government 
underscored the extent to which those in power will 
go to stifle the freedom of expression, silence their 
critics, and eliminate the threat they believe inde-
pendent journalists pose to their rule. The Office of 
the Director of National Intelligence released a par-
tial, declassified intelligence report on February 26, 
2021, which concluded that Khashoggi’s murder was 
approved by Saudi Crown Prince Mohamed bin 
Salman. However, impunity continues for the Saudi 
officials involved in this crime. 
(12) In March 2022, a Turkish judge, likely at 
the behest of President Recep Tayyip Erdog˘an, 
issued a ruling that closed the criminal trial of the 
perpetrators in Tu¨rkiye (Turkey) and transferred it 
to Saudi Arabia, where the case against the per-
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petrators was promptly dismissed, foreclosing the 
prospect that they will ever be held accountable. 
(13) In an effort to combat attacks against 
journalists and others exercising their right to free-
dom of expression, Secretary of State Antony J. 
Blinken in February 2021 announced the Khashoggi 
Ban, a new policy allowing the Department of State 
to impose visa restrictions on individuals who, acting 
on behalf of a foreign government, are believed to 
have 
been 
directly 
engaged 
in 
serious, 
extraterritorial counter-dissident activities, including 
activities that suppress, harass, surveil, threaten, or 
harm journal1ists, activists, or other persons per-
ceived to be dissidents for their work. 
SEC. 3. KHASHOGGI BAN GROUND OF INADMISSIBILITY. 
Section 212(a)(3) of the Immigration and Nationality 
Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(3)) is amended by adding at the 
end the following: 
‘‘(H) KHASHOGGI BAN.— 
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—An alien who is 
determined by the Secretary of State, or 
the Secretary of Homeland Security in 
consultation with the Secretary of State, to 
be engaged in counter-dissident activities is 
inadmissible. 
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‘‘(ii) DISCRETIONARY BAN.—Any alien 
who is an immediate family member of an 
alien who is inadmissible under clause (i) 
may be inadmissible, as determined by the 
Secretary of State or the Secretary of 
Homeland Security, in consultation with 
the Secretary of State. 
‘‘(iii) NOTIFICATION OF DETERMINA-
TIONS.—If an alien is determined to be in-
admissible under clause (i) or (ii), the Sec-
retary of State, or the Secretary of Home-
land Security in consultation with the Sec-
retary of State, shall notify Congress, and 
may also make a public statement, identi-
fying the alien and the reasons for the de-
termination. 
‘‘(iv) CLARIFICATION.—For the pur-
poses of clause (iii), the records of the De-
partment of State and of diplomatic and 
consular offices of the United States per-
taining to the issuance or refusal of visas 
or permits to enter the United States shall 
not be considered confidential. 
‘‘(v) NATIONAL INTEREST WAIVER.— 
The Secretary of State or the Secretary of 
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Homeland Security, in consultation with 
the Secretary of State, may waive the re-
quirements of this subparagraph, or any 
part thereof, if such Secretary determines 
that such a waiver— 
‘‘(I) is necessary to permit the 
United States to comply with the 
Agreement 
Regarding 
the 
Head-
quarters of the United Nations, 
signed at Lake Success June 26, 
1947, and entered into force Novem-
ber 21, 1947 (TIAS 1676), or any 
other applicable international obliga-
tion of the United States; or 
‘‘(II) is in the national interest of 
the United States. 
Such waiver shall be made in writing to 
Congress and shall include a brief descrip-
tion of the how such waiver relates to a 
reason described in subclause (I) or (II). 
‘‘(vi) DEFINITION.—In this subpara-
graph, the term ‘counter-dissident activi-
ties’ means actions taken by a foreign gov-
ernment or an individual who operates sub-
ject to the direction or control of a foreign 
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government or official, to silence, suppress, 
harass, surveil, threaten, or harm journal-
ists, activists, or other persons perceived to 
be dissidents by the foreign government, 
which may include extrajudicial executions, 
physical attacks, digital stalking, abduc-
tions, illegal deportations, or other forms 
of aggression, threats, or intimidation to-
ward the targeted individual or close asso-
ciates or family members of that indi-
vidual.’’. 
SEC. 4. KHASHOGGI AMENDMENT TO THE FOREIGN SOV-
EREIGN IMMUNITIES ACT. 
(a) GENERAL EXCEPTIONS TO THE JURISDICTIONAL 
IMMUNITY OF A FOREIGN STATE.—Section 1605(a) of 
title 28, United States Code, is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (5)(B), by striking ‘‘or’’ at the 
end; 
(2) in paragraph (6), by striking the period and 
inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(7) in which money damages are sought 
against a foreign state for the personal injury or 
death of a United States person (as such term is de-
fined in section 1637(d)(10) of the Carl Levin and 
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