Preserving American Justice Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 230 To require a report on foreign nationals who flee from the United States while awaiting trial or sentencing for a criminal offense committed in the United States, to establish a list of countries who have assisted or facilitated with such departures, to penalize parties connected to such departures, and to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to prohibit the exclusion from gross income from certain investments made by foreign governments who are identified on such list. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JANUARY 25 (legislative day, JANUARY 24), 2019 Mr. WYDEN (for himself and Mr. MERKLEY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance A BILL To require a report on foreign nationals who flee from the United States while awaiting trial or sentencing for a criminal offense committed in the United States, to es- tablish a list of countries who have assisted or facilitated with such departures, to penalize parties connected to such departures, and to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to prohibit the exclusion from gross income from certain investments made by foreign governments who are identified on such list. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:00 Feb 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S230.IS S230 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 230 IS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Preserving American 2 Justice Act’’. 3 SEC. 2. INVESTIGATION OF CERTAIN FOREIGN NATIONALS. 4 (a) INVESTIGATION.—Not later than 90 days after 5 the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General 6 shall complete an investigation of whether the Government 7 of Saudi Arabia materially assisted or facilitated any cit- 8 izen or national of Saudi Arabia, including Abdulrahman 9 Noorah, Abdulaziz Al Duways, Waleed Ali Alharthi, 10 Suliman Ali Algwaiz, and Ali Hussain Alhamoud, in de- 11 parting from the United States while the citizen or na- 12 tional was awaiting trial or sentencing for a criminal of- 13 fense committed in the United States. 14 (b) REPORT.—If the Attorney General determines 15 that the Government of Saudi Arabia did materially assist 16 or facilitate a citizen or national of Saudi Arabia as de- 17 scribed in subsection (a), the Attorney General shall sub- 18 mit a written report to Congress and the Secretary of 19 State detailing the findings of the investigation. 20 (c) PROHIBITION ON ISSUANCE AND REVOCATION OF 21 CERTAIN VISAS.— 22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided under 23 paragraph (2), if the Secretary of State receives a 24 report under subsection (b), the Secretary of State 25 may not issue a visa, and shall revoke any visa 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:00 Feb 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S230.IS S230 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 230 IS issued, to a Member of the Council of Ministers of 1 Saudi Arabia, an immediate family member of a 2 Member of the Council of Ministers of Saudi Arabia, 3 a descendant of the King of Saudi Arabia, or an im- 4 mediate family member of such a descendant until 5 the date on which the citizen or national of Saudi 6 Arabia described in the report is extradited to the 7 United States for completion of the trial or sen- 8 tencing. 9 (2) EXCEPTION.—The Secretary of State may 10 issue a visa otherwise prohibited under paragraph 11 (1), or not revoke a visa otherwise required to be re- 12 voked under such paragraph, if the Secretary deter- 13 mines that it is necessary— 14 (A) to enable the President to receive an 15 Ambassador or other public Minister under Ar- 16 ticle II, section 3, of the Constitution in a man- 17 ner consistent with the Vienna Conventions on 18 Diplomatic and Consular Relations; or 19 (B) to permit the United States to comply 20 with the Agreement regarding the Head- 21 quarters of the United Nations, signed at Lake 22 Success June 26, 1947, and entered into force 23 November 21, 1947, between the United Na- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:00 Feb 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S230.IS S230 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 230 IS tions and the United States, or with any other 1 applicable international obligations. 2 (3) VIENNA CONVENTIONS ON DIPLOMATIC AND 3 CONSULAR RELATIONS DEFINED.—In this sub- 4 section, the term ‘‘Vienna Conventions on Diplo- 5 matic and Consular Relations’’ means— 6 (A) the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic 7 Relations, done at Vienna April 18, 1961; and 8 (B) the Vienna Convention on Consular 9 Relations, done at Vienna April 24, 1963. 10 SEC. 3. TREATMENT OF FOREIGN NATIONALS FLEEING THE 11 UNITED STATES DURING CRIMINAL PRO- 12 CEEDINGS. 13 (a) FOREIGN NATIONAL DEFINED.—In this section, 14 the term ‘‘foreign national’’ means an individual in the 15 United States who is not a citizen of the United States. 16 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 6 months after the date 17 of enactment of this Act, and once every year thereafter, 18 the Attorney General, acting through the Director of the 19 Bureau of Justice Statistics, in coordination with the Sec- 20 retary of Homeland Security, shall— 21 (1) collect information from State courts and 22 law enforcement agencies on any foreign nationals 23 who have, during the reporting period, departed 24 from the United States while awaiting trial or sen- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:00 Feb 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S230.IS S230 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 230 IS tencing for a criminal offense committed in the 1 United States; and 2 (2) publish a report based on the information 3 collected under paragraph (1). 4 (c) LIST OF COUNTRIES.— 5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General, in co- 6 ordination with the Director of National Intelligence, 7 shall establish and maintain a list of countries the 8 governments of which have, in the determination of 9 the Attorney General, materially assisted or facili- 10 tated the departure of any foreign national included 11 in the report required under subsection (b). 12 (2) DETERMINATION.—In establishing and 13 maintaining the list required under paragraph (1), 14 the Attorney General— 15 (A) shall take into account the information 16 in the annual reports published under sub- 17 section (b)(2); and 18 (B) may include or remove any country as 19 the Attorney General determines appropriate. 20 (3) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 1 21 year after the date of enactment of this Act, and 22 once every year thereafter, the Attorney General 23 shall submit to Congress a report on the procedures 24 used by the Attorney General in determining which 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:00 Feb 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S230.IS S230 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 230 IS countries are on the list maintained under para- 1 graph (1). 2 (d) LOSS OF TAX EXCLUSION FOR FOREIGN GOV- 3 ERNMENTS INCLUDED ON LIST.—Section 892 of the In- 4 ternal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by redesignating 5 subsection (c) as subsection (d) and by inserting after sub- 6 section (b) the following new subsection: 7 ‘‘(c) EXCEPTION.—Subsection (a)(1) shall not apply 8 to any foreign government which is identified on the list 9 maintained by the Attorney General pursuant to section 10 3(c) of the Preserving American Justice Act for any period 11 beginning with the date that is 30 days after the date such 12 foreign government is added to such list and ending with 13 the date such foreign government is removed from such 14 list.’’. 15 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:00 Feb 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S230.IS S230 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS