I 
114TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4314 
To require a plan to combat international travel by terrorists and foreign 
fighters, accelerate the transfer of certain border security systems to 
foreign partner governments, establish minimum international border se-
curity standards, authorize the suspension of foreign assistance to coun-
tries not making significant efforts to comply with such minimum stand-
ards, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 5, 2016 
Mr. ZELDIN (for himself, Mr. KATKO, Ms. MCSALLY, Mr. LOUDERMILK, Mr. 
HURD of Texas, and Mr. RATCLIFFE) introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the 
Committees on Homeland Security and 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 con-
cerned 
A BILL 
To require a plan to combat international travel by terrorists 
and foreign fighters, accelerate the transfer of certain 
border security systems to foreign partner governments, 
establish minimum international border security stand-
ards, authorize the suspension of foreign assistance to 
countries not making significant efforts to comply with 
such minimum standards, 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 ‘‘Counterterrorism 
Screening and Assistance Act of 2016’’. 
SEC. 2. FOREIGN PARTNER ENGAGEMENT PLAN. 
(a) FINDINGS.—Consistent with the final report of 
the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of 
Representatives bipartisan ‘‘Task Force on Combating 
Terrorist and Foreign Fighter Travel’’, Congress makes 
the following findings: 
(1) It is important for the national security of 
the United States to assist foreign partners in clos-
ing security gaps which may allow terrorists and for-
eign fighters to travel internationally, avoiding de-
tection. 
(2) Building foreign partner capacity to combat 
terrorist travel helps extend the United States secu-
rity beyond its border to mitigate threats before they 
reach the United States. 
(3) United States Government departments and 
agencies have spent billions of dollars to help foreign 
partners improve their security against terrorist 
travel since the attacks of September 11, 2001, in-
cluding through the provision of technical assistance, 
equipment, training, and other tools. 
(4) The lack of a United States Government-
wide, risk-based approach increases the odds that 
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systematic security gaps abroad may persist and 
that United States response efforts will not be maxi-
mized in order to close these gaps. 
(5) Failure to effectively coordinate capacity- 
building activities also results in greater risk of over-
lap, waste, and unnecessary duplication between the 
United States and international programs. 
(b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con-
gress that the United States Government must ensure ca-
pacity-building assistance is coordinated both among 
United States Government departments and agencies as 
well as with foreign implementing partners, and assistance 
should be prioritized for the highest-risk countries for 
travel by terrorists and foreign fighters. 
(c) PLAN.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 
after the date of the enactment of this Act and every 
two years thereafter at the time of the President’s 
budget submission to Congress under section 1105 
of title 31, United States Code, until 2022, the Sec-
retary of State shall, in accordance with the protec-
tion of intelligence sources and methods, submit to 
the appropriate congressional committees unclassi-
fied and classified versions of a foreign partner en-
gagement plan which catalogues existing capacity- 
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building initiatives abroad to combat travel by ter-
rorists and foreign fighters and identifies areas for 
adjustment to align ongoing efforts with risk-based 
priorities. 
(2) COORDINATION.—The plan required under 
paragraph (1) shall be developed in coordination 
with all relevant United States Government depart-
ments and agencies and in consultation with the 
Secretary of Homeland Security, the Secretary of 
State, the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary 
of Defense, the Attorney General, the Director of 
National Intelligence, and the Director of the Fed-
eral Bureau of Investigation. 
(3) CONTENTS.—The plan required under para-
graph (1) shall— 
(A) include an assessment of all countries 
and whether each country is high-risk, medium- 
risk, or low-risk for travel by terrorists and for-
eign fighters based on the minimum standards 
described in section 4(b), as well as— 
(i) the proximity of each country to 
the United States; 
(ii) an identification of last points of 
departure in each country to the United 
States; 
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(iii) visa waiver program status or 
visa application and rejection rates for 
each country; 
(iv) recent threats, terrorist and for-
eign fighter travel trends, and the overall 
terror threat environment in each country; 
and 
(v) other criteria as determined by the 
Secretary of State and the Secretary of 
Homeland Security; 
(B) detail existing United States Govern-
ment programs, projects, and activities which 
are intended to or have the substantial effect of 
building the capacity of such countries to com-
bat travel by terrorists and foreign fighters, in-
cluding estimated spending levels by country 
where practicable; and 
(C) outline a plan for prioritizing United 
States Government resources toward high-risk 
and medium-risk countries, including— 
(i) identifying efforts which should be 
reformed, consolidated, or eliminated; and 
(ii) detailing new programs, projects, 
or activities that are requested, being 
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