Transnational Repression Policy Act

Bill: 119-s-2525
Sponsor: full_name: Sen. Merkley, Jeff [D-OR]
Introduced: 2025-07-29
Policy area: International Affairs
Latest action: action_date: 2025-07-29
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.

Summaries:

tv_txt: II 119th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 2525 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES July 29, 2025 Mr. Merkley (for himself and Mr. Sullivan ) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations A BILL To address transnational repression by foreign governments against private individuals, and for other purposes.

1. Short title; table of contents (a) Short title This Act may be cited as the Transnational Repression Policy Act . (b) Table of contents The table of contents for this Act is as follows: Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. Sec. 2. Statement of policy. Sec. 3. Defined term. Sec. 4. Interagency strategy. Sec. 5. Training. Sec. 6. Department of Homeland Security and Department of Justice efforts to combat transnational repression in the United States. 2. Statement of policy It is the policy of the United States— (1) to protect persons within the United States, and United States nationals who are outside of the United States, from actions by foreign governments, or individuals acting on behalf of foreign governments, that violate internationally recognized human rights; (2) to encourage cooperation with like-minded foreign partners to mitigate transnational repression; and (3) to pursue criminal prosecutions, as appropriate, and undertake other steps, such as facilitating mutual legal assistance, in accordance with United States law, to hold foreign governments and individuals acting on behalf of foreign governments, including unregistered foreign agents, accountable for engaging in transnational repression. 3. Defined term In this Act, the term transnational repression refers to a range of tactics deployed by a foreign government, or agents or proxies of a foreign government, to reach beyond their borders to intimidate, silence, harass, coerce, or harm individuals, such as political dissidents, activists, journalists, political opponents, religious and ethnic minority groups, international students, and members of diaspora and exile communities. 4. Interagency strategy (a) In general Not later than 270 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, in coordination with the heads of other appropriate Federal departments and agencies, shall submit a report to the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate , the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate , the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives , and the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives that contains a United States strategy— (1) to increase international awareness of transnational repression; (2) to raise the costs borne by governments engaging in transnational repression by holding such governments accountable and protecting targeted individuals and groups; and (3) to increase collaboration and coordination concerning transnational repression with like-minded allies and partners and in multilateral venues and international organizations. (b) Matters To be included (1) Diplomacy The strategy required under subsection (a) shall include— (A) a strategy for advancing joint initiatives in multilateral and international organizations to expand awareness, accountability, and best practices to mitigate and build capacity to counter transnational repression; (B) a plan for establishing or strengthening regional and international coalitions to monitor and respond to cases of transnational repression, including reprisals faced by human rights defenders and other activists for engaging at multilateral organizations, such as the United Nations; (C) an analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of the designation of a special rapporteur for transnational repression appointed by the Secretary-General of the United Nations; (D) a plan for engaging with foreign diplomatic or consular missions in the United States whose personnel abuse intimidate, threaten, attack, or undermine the human rights and fundamental freedoms of exiles and members of diasporas in the United States; and (E) a description of the public affairs and public diplomacy efforts, including at multilateral institutions and international exchanges, to be used to draw critical attention to, and oppose acts of, transnational repression. (2) Assistance programming The strategy shall include sufficient funding for civil society and nongovernmental organizations that support victims of transnational repression and conduct research and analysis of global trends and incidents of transnational repression. (3) Law enforcement in the United States The strategy shall— (A) consider updates to United States law to address tactics of transnational repression, including— (i) the criminalization of gathering information about private individuals in diaspora and exile communities on behalf of, or enabling the ability of, a foreign government to harass, intimidate, or harm an individual due to membership in such a community; and (ii) the expansion of the definition of foreign agents under the Foreign Registrations Act of 1938 ( 22 U.S.C. 611 et seq. ) and section 951 of title 18, United States Code; (B) coordinate between the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of State, the Department of Homeland Security, United States intelligence agencies, and domestic law enforcement agencies in partner countries, including options for countering the use of surveillance technology and export licensing policy in transnational repression; (C) consider unintended negative impacts of expanded legal authorities on the civil liberties of communities targeted by transnational repression, taking into account the views of affected communities; (D) develop outreach strategies to connect law enforcement and local municipal officials with targeted diaspora communities to ensure individuals who are vulnerable to transnational repression are aware of the Federal and local resources available without putting them at further risk, including policy and programmatic responses based on input from such communities; and (E) examine and review the legality of foreign governments establishing overseas police service stations, or equivalent facilities, to monitor members of the diaspora. (c) Additional matters To be included In addition to the matters set forth in subsection (b), the report required under subsection (a) should include— (1) to the extent practicable, information regarding— (A) the governments that perpetrate transnational repression; (B) countries in which incidents of transnational repression are prevalent; (C) governments that are complicit in aiding transnational repression; (D) individuals, whether United States citizens or foreign nationals, who are complicit in transnational repression as agents or proxies of a foreign government and are operating in the United States, unless identifying those individuals could interfere with law enforcement efforts; and (E) groups of people that are most vulnerable to transnational repression in the United States and, to the extent possible, in foreign countries; and (2) a description of any actions taken by the United States Government to address transnational repression under existing law, including— (A) section 212(a)(3)(C) of the Immigration and Nationality Act ( 8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(3)(C) ); (B) section 1263 of the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act ( 22 U.S.C. 10102 ); (C) section 7031(c) of the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2020 (division G of Public Law 116–94 ; 8 U.S.C. 1182 note); (D) prosecutions and the statutory authority authorizing such prosecutions; and (E) which agencies are conducting outreach to victims of transnational repression and the form of such outreach. (d) Form The strategy required under subsection (a) shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may include a classified annex, if necessary. (e) Updates The Secretary of State shall provide the congressional committee referred to in subsection (a) with annual updates regarding the implementation of such strategy. 5. Training (a) Department of State personnel (1) In general The Secretary of State should make training available to Department of State personnel, including overseas mission leadership, as appropriate, and if it pertains to their countries of assignment, with respect to— (A) tactics and practices used by perpetrators; (B) governments known to employ transnational repression; (C) governments that cooperate with other governments engaged in transnational repression; (D) tools of digital surveillance and other cyber tools used in transnational repression activities; and (E) United States policy priorities. (2) Authorization of appropriations There is authorized to be appropriated such amounts as may be necessary for fiscal year 2026 to develop and implement the curriculum described in paragraph (1). (b) United States officials responsible for domestic threats of transnational repression (1) In general To better recognize and prevent transnational repression, the Attorney General, in consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Director of National Intelligence, civil society, and the business community, shall provide training with respect to— (A) tactics and practices used by perpetrators; (B) governments known to employ transnational repression; (C) which communities and locations in the United States are most vulnerable to transnational repression; (D) tools of digital surveillance and other cyber tools used in transnational repression activities; and (E) United States policy priorities. (2) Training recipients Those receiving the training described in paragraph (1) should be— (A) employees or task force members of— (i) the Department of Homeland Security, including U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and any other employees the Secretary of Homeland Security determines should receive such training; (ii) the Department of Justice, including the— (I) Federal Bureau of Investigation; and (II) INTERPOL Washington; and (iii) the Office of Refugee Resettlement of the Department of Health and Human Services; (B) other Federal, State, and local law enforcement and municipal officials receiving instruction at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center; and (C) appropriate private sector and community partners of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. (3) Authorization of appropriations There is authorized to be appropriated such amounts as may be necessary for fiscal year 2026 to develop and provide the curriculum and training described in paragraph (1). 6. Department of Homeland Security and Department of Justice efforts to combat transnational repression in the United States (a) In general The Attorney General, in consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, shall— (1) not later than 270 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, publish a toolkit or guide that describes existing Federal resources to assist and protect individuals and communities targeted by transnational repression in the United States; (2) in cooperation with the heads of other Federal agencies, conduct proactive outreach so that individuals in targeted communities are informed about the types of criminal incidents that should be reported to the Federal Bureau of Investigation; (3) organize annual trainings with caseworker staff in congressional offices regarding the tactics of transnational repression and the resources available to constituents; and (4) produce an assessment of how data that is purchased by governments perpetrating transnational repression is misused by— (A) entities that are exporting dual-use spyware technology to any governments engaged in transnational repression; (B) entities that are buying and selling personally identifiable information that can be used to track and surveil potential victims; and (C) entities that are exporting items on the Commerce Control List (as set forth in Supplement No. 1 to part 774 of the Export Administration Regulations under subchapter C of chapter VII of title 15, Code of Federal Regulations) to any governments engaged in transnational repression that can be misused for human rights abuses. (b) Authorization of appropriations There is authorized to be appropriated such amounts as may be necessary for fiscal year 2026 for the research, development, outreach, and training activities described in subsection (a).