Protection of Saudi Dissidents Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4507 To protect Saudi dissidents in the United States, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SEPTEMBER 26, 2019 Mr. CONNOLLY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Permanent Select Com- mittee on Intelligence, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To protect Saudi dissidents in the United States, 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 ‘‘Protection of Saudi 4 Dissidents Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds the following: 7 (1) Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist and 8 Washington Post columnist, was killed and dis- 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:31 Oct 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4507.IH H4507 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 4507 IH membered in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Tur- 1 key on October 2, 2018, by agents with close ties to 2 the Government of Saudi Arabia. 3 (2) Khashoggi was a longtime resident of the 4 United States, living in Virginia under an ‘‘O’’ visa 5 and was in the process of applying for a permanent 6 residency. Two of his four children are United 7 States citizens. 8 (3) For many years, Khashoggi wrote on Saudi 9 political and cultural issues and after criticisms of 10 Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, Khashoggi 11 chose to reside in the United States due to his grow- 12 ing fear of arrest in Saudi Arabia. From a self-im- 13 posed exile, he wrote monthly columns in the Wash- 14 ington Post, including columns that criticized var- 15 ious Saudi policies. 16 (4) On October 2, 2018, Khashoggi visited the 17 Saudi consulate in Istanbul with his fiance´e to con- 18 duct routine consular matters. She waited for him 19 for over ten hours outside the consulate, but he 20 never re-emerged. The Turkish authorities subse- 21 quently reported that Khashoggi was murdered in- 22 side the Saudi consulate. 23 (5) For over two weeks following the murder, 24 Saudi Arabia denied any knowledge of Khashoggi’s 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:31 Oct 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4507.IH H4507 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 4507 IH whereabouts and claimed the allegations were 1 ‘‘false’’ and ‘‘baseless’’. However, on October 20, 2 2018, state television in Saudi Arabia reported that 3 the journalist was murdered in a ‘‘rogue operation’’ 4 under the orders of intelligence officers. 5 (6) Though Saudi Arabia has detained 21 peo- 6 ple, dismissed two senior officials, and charged elev- 7 en people for Khashoggi’s murder, the Government 8 of Saudi Arabia has denied that Saudi leadership or- 9 dered the killing and has refused to extradite any 10 suspects to Turkey. 11 (7) To date the United States Government has 12 taken no actions to force an independent, inter- 13 national investigation of the killing of Jamal 14 Khashoggi nor shown any willingness to hold ac- 15 countable the highest levels of Saudi leadership. 16 SEC. 3. RESTRICTIONS ON TRANSFERS OF DEFENSE ARTI- 17 CLES AND SERVICES, ANY DESIGN AND CON- 18 STRUCTION SERVICES, AND ANY MAJOR DE- 19 FENSE EQUIPMENT TO SAUDI ARABIA. 20 (a) INITIAL PERIOD.—During the 120-day period be- 21 ginning on the date of the enactment of this Act, the 22 President may not transfer, sell, or authorize a license for 23 export of any defense articles or services, any design and 24 construction services, or any major defense equipment 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:31 Oct 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4507.IH H4507 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 4507 IH under the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2751 et 1 seq.), regardless of the amount of such articles, services, 2 or equipment, to an intelligence, internal security, or law 3 enforcement agency or instrumentality of the Government 4 of Saudi Arabia, or to any person acting as an agent of 5 or on behalf of such agency or instrumentality. 6 (b) SUBSEQUENT PERIODS.— 7 (1) IN GENERAL.—During the 120-day period 8 beginning on the day after the end of the 120-day 9 period described in subsection (a), and every 120 10 days thereafter, the President may not transfer, sell, 11 or authorize a license for export of any defense arti- 12 cles or services, any design and construction serv- 13 ices, or any major defense equipment under the 14 Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2751 et seq.), 15 regardless of the amount of such articles, services, 16 or equipment, to an intelligence, internal security, or 17 law enforcement agency or instrumentality of the 18 Government of Saudi Arabia, or to any person act- 19 ing as an agent of or on behalf of such agency or 20 instrumentality, unless the President submits to the 21 chairman and ranking member of the appropriate 22 congressional committees a certification described in 23 paragraph (2) with respect to such 120-day period. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:31 Oct 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4507.IH H4507 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 4507 IH (2) CERTIFICATION.—A certification described 1 in this paragraph is a certification that contains a 2 determination of the President that— 3 (A) the Government of Saudi Arabia is co- 4 operating with an independent, international in- 5 vestigation into the murder of Jamal 6 Khashoggi; 7 (B) the Government of Saudi Arabia has 8 released any individual who is a journalist, 9 blogger, human rights defender, advocate for 10 religious freedom, or civil society activist de- 11 tained by the Government of Saudi Arabia for 12 such individual’s work; 13 (C) the Government of Saudi Arabia is re- 14 fraining from arresting, detaining, and 15 harassing individuals for blasphemy and apos- 16 tasy, and is protecting the equal rights of all 17 citizens to freedom of religion or belief; 18 (D) the Government of Saudi Arabia has 19 taken verifiable steps to end the torture of de- 20 tainees; and 21 (E) the Government of Saudi Arabia has 22 disbanded any units of its intelligence or secu- 23 rity apparatus dedicated to the forced repatri- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:31 Oct 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4507.IH H4507 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 4507 IH ation, silencing, or killing of dissidents in other 1 countries. 2 (c) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES DE- 3 FINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate congres- 4 sional committees’’ means— 5 (1) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the 6 Committee on Armed Services of the House of Rep- 7 resentatives; and 8 (2) the Committee on Foreign Relations and 9 the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate. 10 SEC. 4. REPORT ON CONSISTENT PATTERN OF ACTS OF IN- 11 TIMIDATION OR HARASSMENT DIRECTED 12 AGAINST INDIVIDUALS IN THE UNITED 13 STATES. 14 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 15 (1) Section 6 of the Arms Export Control Act 16 (22 U.S.C. 2756) states that no export licenses may 17 be issued to any country determined by the Presi- 18 dent to be engaged in a consistent pattern of acts 19 of intimidation or harassment directed against indi- 20 viduals in the United States. 21 (2) Section 6 of the Arms Export Control Act 22 further requires the President to report any such de- 23 termination promptly to the Speaker of the House of 24 Representatives, the Committee on Foreign Affairs 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:31 Oct 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4507.IH H4507 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 4507 IH of the House of Representatives, and to the chair- 1 man of the Committee on Foreign Relations of the 2 Senate. 3 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 60 days after the date 4 of the enactment of this Act, the President shall submit 5 to the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Rep- 6 resentatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations of 7 the Senate a report on whether any official of the Govern- 8 ment of Saudi Arabia engaged in a consistent pattern of 9 acts of intimidation or harassment directed against Jamal 10 Khashoggi or any individual in the United States. 11 (c) FORM.—The report required by subsection (b) 12 shall be submitted in unclassified form but may contain 13 a classified annex. 14 SEC. 5. REPORT AND CERTIFICATION WITH RESPECT TO 15 SAUDI DIPLOMATS AND DIPLOMATIC FACILI- 16 TIES IN THE UNITED STATES. 17 (a) REPORT.—Not later than 120 days after the date 18 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State and 19 the Director of National Intelligence shall submit to the 20 appropriate congressional committees a report covering 21 the three year period before such date regarding whether 22 and to what extent covered persons used diplomatic cre- 23 dentials or covered facilities to monitor, track, surveil, har- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:31 Oct 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4507.IH H4507 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •HR 4507 IH ass, or harm other Saudi nationals living in the United 1 States. 2 (b) CERTIFICATION.— 3 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 120 days 4 after the date of the enactment of this Act and an- 5 nually thereafter for five years, the Secretary of 6 State shall, if the Secretary determines that such is 7 the case, submit to the appropriate congressional 8 committees a certification that covered persons are 9 not using diplomatic credentials or covered facilities 10 to monitor, track, surveil, harass, or harm Saudi na- 11 tionals living in the United States during the time 12 period covered by each such certification. 13 (2) FAILURE TO SUBMIT CERTIFICATION.—If 14 the Secretary of State does not submit a certifi- 15 cation under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall— 16 (A) close one or more covered facilities for 17 such period of time until the Secretary does 18 submit such a certification; and 19 (B) submit to the appropriate congres- 20 sional committee a report that contains— 21 (i) a detailed explanation of why the 22 Secretary is unable to make such a certifi- 23 cation; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:31 Oct 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4507.IH H4507 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •HR 4507 IH (ii) an identification of the locations 1 of the covered facilities referred to in sub- 2 paragraph (A). 3 (c) FORM.—Each report required by subsection (a) 4 and the certification and report required by subsection (b) 5 shall be submitted in unclassified form but may contain 6 a classified annex. 7 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 8 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT- 9 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com- 10 mittees’’ means— 11 (A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and 12 the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence 13 of the House of Representatives; and 14 (B) the Committee on Foreign Relations 15 and the Select Committee on Intelligence of the 16 Senate. 17 (2) COVERED FACILITY.—The term ‘‘covered 18 facility’’ means a diplomatic or consular facility of 19 Saudi Arabia in the United States. 20 (3) COVERED PERSON.—The term ‘‘covered 21 person’’ means a Saudi national credentialed to a 22 covered facility. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:31 Oct 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4507.IH H4507 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •HR 4507 IH SEC. 6. REPORT ON THE DUTY TO WARN OBLIGATION OF 1 THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES. 2 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that Intelligence 3 Community Directive 191 provides that— 4 (1) when an element of the intelligence commu- 5 nity of the United States collects or acquires credible 6 and specific information indicating an impending 7 threat of intentional killing, serious bodily injury, or 8 kidnapping directed at a person, the agency must 9 ‘‘warn the intended victim or those responsible for 10 protecting the intended victim, as appropriate’’; and 11 (2) when issues arise with respect to whether 12 the threat information rises to the threshold of 13 ‘‘duty to warn’’, the directive calls for resolution in 14 favor of warning the intended victim. 15 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 90 days after the date 16 of the enactment of this Act, the Director of National In- 17 telligence shall submit to the appropriate congressional 18 committees a report with respect to— 19 (1) whether and how the intelligence community 20 fulfilled its duty to warn Jamal Khashoggi of threats 21 to his life and liberty pursuant to Intelligence Com- 22 munity Directive 191; and 23 (2) in the case of the intelligence community 24 not fulfilling its duty to warn as described in para- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:31 Oct 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4507.IH H4507 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 •HR 4507 IH graph (1), why the intelligence community did not 1 fulfill this duty. 2 (c) FORM.—The report required by subsection (b) 3 shall be submitted in unclassified form but may contain 4 a classified annex. 5 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 6 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT- 7 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com- 8 mittees’’ means— 9 (A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and 10 the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence 11 of the House of Representatives; and 12 (B) the Committee on Foreign Relations 13 and the Select Committee on Intelligence of the 14 Senate. 15 (2) DUTY TO WARN.—The term ‘‘duty to warn’’ 16 has the meaning given that term in Intelligence 17 Community Directive 191, as in effect on July 21, 18 2015. 19 (3) INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY.—The term 20 ‘‘intelligence community’’ has the meaning given 21 such term in section 3(4) of the National Security 22 Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3003(4)). 23 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:31 Oct 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4507.IH H4507 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS