Title: A bill to reimburse United States citizens for costs incurred for commercial flights arranged by the Department of State to evacuate them from foreign countries due to the COVID-19 pandemic and to waive promissory notes and the obligation to repay emergency repatriation loans related to such travel.
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
This bill makes the Department of State responsible, directly or through reimbursement, for evacuation and repatriation expenses incurred by a U.S. citizen during the COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic.
Under current law, U.S. citizens must reimburse the State Department for evacuation and repatriation expenses incurred on their behalf. The bill requires the State Department to waive the repayment expectation for travel expenses incurred by the State Department to evacuate and repatriate a U.S. citizen in response to COVID-19. Further, it makes null and void any obligation to repay an emergency repatriation loan for such expenses.
The State Department must develop an online reimbursement claim process, and the Department of the Treasury must reimburse a U.S. citizen for any travel expenses directly associated with evacuation and repatriation on flights chartered or arranged by the State Department in response to COVID-19.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3786 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3786

 To reimburse United States citizens for costs incurred for commercial 
   flights arranged by the Department of State to evacuate them from 
foreign countries due to the COVID-19 pandemic and to waive promissory 
notes and the obligation to repay emergency repatriation loans related 
                            to such travel.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 20, 2020

Mr. Merkley (for himself and Mr. Wyden) introduced the following bill; 
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To reimburse United States citizens for costs incurred for commercial 
   flights arranged by the Department of State to evacuate them from 
foreign countries due to the COVID-19 pandemic and to waive promissory 
notes and the obligation to repay emergency repatriation loans related 
                            to such travel.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. DEPARTMENT OF STATE ARRANGED TRANSPORTATION FOR UNITED 
              STATES CITIZENS EVACUATED FROM FOREIGN COUNTRIES DUE TO 
              COVID-19 PANDEMIC.

    (a) Waiver of Travel Expenses.--
            (1) In general.--Notwithstanding subsections (b)(2)(A)(ii) 
        and (d) of section 4 of the State Department Basic Authorities 
        Act of 1956 (22 U.S.C. 2671), the Secretary of State shall 
        waive the expectation of repayment of any travel expenses 
        incurred by the Department of State on or after January 1, 
        2020, on behalf of any United States citizen evacuated from a 
        foreign country and repatriated to the United States in 
        response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
            (2) Cancellation of promissory notes and emergency 
        repatriation loans.--Any promissory note or obligation to repay 
        an emergency repatriation loan signed by a United States 
        citizen to reimburse the Department of State for travel 
        expenses described in paragraph (1) shall be null and void.
    (b) Reimbursement of Travel Expenses.--
            (1) Authorization.--The Secretary of the Treasury, in 
        consultation with the Secretary of State shall reimburse any 
        United States citizen who was evacuated from a foreign country 
        on or after January 1, 2020, and repatriated to the United 
        States on one or more flights chartered or arranged by the 
        Department of State in response to the COVID-19 pandemic for 
        any travel expenses directly associated with such flights.
            (2) Process.--The Secretary of State shall develop an 
        online process through which United States citizens may submit 
        claims for reimbursement for travel expenses described in 
        paragraph (1).
    (c) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out this section.
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