PROTECT Hong Kong Act

IIB 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4270 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES OCTOBER 16, 2019 Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs AN ACT To prohibit commercial exports of certain nonlethal crowd control items and defense articles and services to the Hong Kong Police, 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:17 Oct 17, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4270.RFS H4270 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 HR 4270 RFS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Placing Restrictions 2 on Teargas Exports and Crowd Control Technology to 3 Hong Kong Act’’ or the ‘‘PROTECT Hong Kong Act’’. 4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 5 Congress finds the following: 6 (1) The United Nations High Commissioner for 7 Human Rights, along with human rights organiza- 8 tions, has called for an investigation of the use of 9 crowd control tactics used in Hong Kong which fall 10 short of international standards, including the 11 United Nations Code of Conduct for Law Enforce- 12 ment Officials and the Basic Principles on the Use 13 of Force and Firearms for Law Enforcement Offi- 14 cials. 15 (2) United States companies have reportedly 16 provided the Hong Kong Police Force with muni- 17 tions and non-lethal crowd control equipment that 18 were reportedly used by the police. 19 (3) Hong Kong citizens and the international 20 community have called for changes to the Hong 21 Kong Police’s crowd control tactics and these re- 22 quests have gone unheeded by the Hong Kong Spe- 23 cial Administrative Region Government. 24 SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 25 It is the policy of the United States— 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:17 Oct 17, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4270.RFS H4270 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 HR 4270 RFS (1) to restrict the export of security assistance 1 and crime control and detection instruments and 2 equipment to any government that engages in a con- 3 sistent pattern of gross violations of internationally 4 recognized human rights, consistent with the re- 5 quirements of section 502B(a) of the Foreign Assist- 6 ance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2304(a)); and 7 (2) to use export controls on crime control and 8 detection instruments and equipment to deter the 9 development of a consistent pattern of human rights 10 abuses, distance the United States from such 11 abuses, and avoid contributing to civil disorder in a 12 country or region, in accordance with section 13 742.7(b) of part 774 of subtitle B of title 15, Code 14 of Federal Regulations. 15 SEC. 4. PROHIBITION ON COMMERCIAL EXPORT OF COV- 16 ERED DEFENSE ARTICLES AND SERVICES 17 AND COVERED MUNITIONS ITEMS TO THE 18 HONG KONG POLICE. 19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Beginning on the date that is 30 20 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, except 21 as provided in subsection (b), the President shall prohibit 22 the issuance of licenses to export covered defense articles 23 and services and covered munitions items to the Hong 24 Kong Police. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:17 Oct 17, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4270.RFS H4270 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 HR 4270 RFS (b) WAIVER.—The prohibition under subsection (a) 1 shall not apply to the issuance of a license with respect 2 to which the President submits to the appropriate congres- 3 sional committees, not fewer than 30 days before the date 4 of such issuance, a written certification that the exports 5 to be covered by such license are important to the national 6 interests and foreign policy goals of the United States, in- 7 cluding a description of the manner in which such exports 8 will promote such interests and goals. 9 (c) TERMINATION.—The prohibition under sub- 10 section (a) shall terminate on the date on which the Presi- 11 dent certifies to the appropriate congressional committees 12 that— 13 (1) the Hong Kong Police have not engaged in 14 gross violations of human rights during the 1-year 15 period ending on the date of such certification; and 16 (2) there has been an independent examination 17 of human rights concerns related to the crowd con- 18 trol tactics of the Hong Kong Police and the Gov- 19 ernment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative 20 Region has adequately addressed those concerns. 21 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:17 Oct 17, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4270.RFS H4270 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 HR 4270 RFS SEC. 5. REPORT ON COVERED DEFENSE ARTICLES AND 1 SERVICES AND COVERED MUNITIONS ITEMS 2 EXPORTED TO THE HONG KONG POLICE. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the 4 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State 5 and the Secretary of Commerce, in consultation with the 6 heads of other relevant Federal departments and agencies, 7 shall jointly submit to the appropriate congressional com- 8 mittees a report that lists and provides a description of 9 all covered defense articles and services and covered muni- 10 tions items exported to the Hong Kong Police during the 11 5-year period ending on such date of enactment. 12 (b) FORM.—The report required by subsection (a) 13 shall be submitted in unclassified form but may include 14 a classified annex. 15 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 16 In this Act: 17 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT- 18 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com- 19 mittees’’ means— 20 (A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of 21 the House of Representatives; 22 (B) the Committee on Foreign Relations of 23 the Senate; and 24 (C) the Committee on Banking, Housing, 25 and Urban Affairs of the Senate. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:17 Oct 17, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4270.RFS H4270 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 HR 4270 RFS (2) COVERED DEFENSE ARTICLES AND SERV- 1 ICES.—The term ‘‘covered defense articles and serv- 2 ices’’ means defense articles and defense services 3 designated by the President under section 38(a)(1) 4 of the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 5 2778(a)(1)). 6 (3) COVERED MUNITIONS ITEMS.—The term 7 ‘‘covered munitions items’’ means— 8 (A) items controlled under section 742.7 of 9 part 742 of subtitle B of title 15, Code of Fed- 10 eral Regulations (relating to crime control and 11 detection instruments and equipment and re- 12 lated technology and software); and 13 (B) items listed under the ‘‘600 series’’ of 14 the Commerce Control List contained in Sup- 15 plement No. 1 to part 774 of subtitle B of title 16 15, Code of Federal Regulations. 17 (4) HONG KONG.—The term ‘‘Hong Kong’’ has 18 the meaning given such term in section 3 of the 19 United States-Hong Kong Policy Act of 1992 (22 20 U.S.C. 5702). 21 (5) HONG KONG POLICE.—The term ‘‘Hong 22 Kong Police’’ means— 23 (A) the Hong Kong Police Force; and 24 (B) the Hong Kong Auxiliary Police Force. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:17 Oct 17, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4270.RFS H4270 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 HR 4270 RFS SEC. 7. DETERMINATION OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS. 1 The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of 2 complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, 3 shall be determined by reference to the latest statement 4 titled ‘‘Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation’’ for this 5 Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional Record 6 by the Chairman of the House Budget Committee, pro- 7 vided that such statement has been submitted prior to the 8 vote on passage. 9 Passed the House of Representatives October 15, 2019. Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, Clerk. VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:17 Oct 17, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4270.RFS H4270 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS