Kleptocrat Exposure Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3441 To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to allow the Secretary of State to make available to the public records pertaining to the refusal of a visa or permit based on an alien’s involvement in a violation of human rights or acts of significant corruption, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 24, 2019 Mr. COHEN (for himself, Mr. CHABOT, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mr. FITZPATRICK, and Mr. CURTIS) intro- duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Ju- diciary A BILL To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to allow the Secretary of State to make available to the public records pertaining to the refusal of a visa or permit based on an alien’s involvement in a violation of human rights or acts of significant corruption, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Kleptocrat Exposure 4 Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:08 Jun 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3441.IH H3441 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 3441 IH SEC. 2. LIMITING CONFIDENTIALITY OF RECORDS. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 222(f) of the Immigration 2 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1202(f)) is amended— 3 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking the period at 4 the end and inserting a semicolon; 5 (2) in paragraph (2)(B), by striking the period 6 at the end and inserting the following: ‘‘; and’’; and 7 (3) by adding at the end the following: 8 ‘‘(3) records pertaining to the refusal of a visa 9 or permit of an individual alien, or any member of 10 the individual alien’s immediate family who has at- 11 tained 18 years of age, may be made available to the 12 public at the discretion of the Secretary of State in 13 the case that such refusal is based on credible evi- 14 dence that— 15 ‘‘(A) the individual alien is responsible for 16 extrajudicial killings, torture, or other gross vio- 17 lations of internationally recognized human 18 rights (as such term is defined in section 19 502B(d) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961) 20 committed against individuals in any foreign 21 country who seek— 22 ‘‘(i) to expose illegal activity carried 23 out by government officials; or 24 ‘‘(ii) to obtain, exercise, defend, or 25 promote internationally recognized human 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:08 Jun 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3441.IH H3441 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 3441 IH rights and freedoms, such as the freedoms 1 of religion, expression, association, and as- 2 sembly, and the rights to a fair trial and 3 democratic elections; 4 ‘‘(B) the individual alien acted as an agent 5 of or on behalf of a foreign person in a matter 6 relating to an activity described in subpara- 7 graph (A); 8 ‘‘(C) the individual alien is a government 9 official, or a senior associate of such an official, 10 that is responsible for, or complicit in, ordering, 11 controlling, or otherwise directing, acts of sig- 12 nificant corruption, including the expropriation 13 of private or public assets for personal gain, 14 corruption related to government contracts or 15 the extraction of natural resources, bribery, or 16 the facilitation or transfer of the proceeds of 17 corruption to foreign jurisdictions; 18 ‘‘(D) the individual alien has materially as- 19 sisted, sponsored, or provided financial, mate- 20 rial, or technological support for, or goods or 21 services in support of, an activity described in 22 subparagraph (C); or 23 ‘‘(E) the individual alien’s entry or pro- 24 posed activities in the United States would have 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:08 Jun 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3441.IH H3441 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 3441 IH potentially serious adverse foreign policy con- 1 sequences for the United States as determined 2 by the Secretary pursuant to subparagraph (C) 3 of section 212(a)(3).’’. 4 (b) APPLICATION.—This Act and the amendments 5 made by this Act shall apply with respect to any applica- 6 tion for a visa or permit filed before, on, or after the date 7 of enactment of this Act. 8 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:08 Jun 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3441.IH H3441 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS