Zero Tolerance for Unlawful Detentions of United States Citizens in Lebanon Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 3327 To require the imposition of sanctions with respect to officials of the Govern- ment of Lebanon responsible for the wrongful or unlawful detention of citizens and nationals of the United States held in Lebanon. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES FEBRUARY 24, 2020 Mrs. SHAHEEN (for herself and Mr. CRUZ) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations A BILL To require the imposition of sanctions with respect to offi- cials of the Government of Lebanon responsible for the wrongful or unlawful detention of citizens and nationals of the United States held in Lebanon. 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 ‘‘Zero Tolerance for Un- 4 lawful Detentions of United States Citizens in Lebanon 5 Act’’. 6 SEC. 2. IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS. 7 (a) IDENTIFICATION OF OFFICIALS.— 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:16 Feb 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3327.IS S3327 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 3327 IS (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State shall 1 develop a list of each individual— 2 (A) who is a current or former official of 3 the Government of Lebanon (including the judi- 4 ciary and the Military Court); and 5 (B) with respect to whom the Secretary 6 has credible information indicating that the in- 7 dividual was involved in or facilitated the 8 wrongful, unlawful, or inhumane arrest, deten- 9 tion, or abuse of a citizen or national of the 10 United States being held in Lebanon as of the 11 date of the list. 12 (2) SUBMISSION TO CONGRESS.—The Secretary 13 shall submit to the appropriate congressional com- 14 mittees— 15 (A) the list required by paragraph (1) not 16 later than 15 days after the date of the enact- 17 ment of this Act; and 18 (B) an update to the list not less fre- 19 quently than every 30 days thereafter and as 20 new information becomes available. 21 (3) FORM.—The list required by paragraph (1) 22 shall be submitted in unclassified form and pub- 23 lished in the Federal Register. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:16 Feb 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3327.IS S3327 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 3327 IS (4) REMOVAL FROM LIST.—An individual may 1 be removed from the list required by paragraph (1) 2 if the President determines and reports to the ap- 3 propriate congressional committees not less than 15 4 days before the removal of the individual from the 5 list that all citizens and nationals of the United 6 States who were wrongfully, unlawfully, or 7 inhumanely held in Lebanon have been released. 8 (b) INADMISSIBILITY TO THE UNITED STATES OF 9 IDENTIFIED INDIVIDUALS, FAMILY MEMBERS, AND ASSO- 10 CIATES.— 11 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State shall 12 deny a visa to an alien described in paragraph (2) 13 and revoke, in accordance with section 221(i) of the 14 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1201(i)), 15 any visa of such an alien, and the Secretary of 16 Homeland Security shall exclude any such alien from 17 the United States. 18 (2) ALIENS DESCRIBED.—An alien described in 19 this paragraph is an alien who is— 20 (A) an individual on the list required by 21 subsection (a); 22 (B) an immediate family member of such 23 an individual; or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:16 Feb 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3327.IS S3327 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 3327 IS (C) an associate of an individual described 1 in subparagraph (A) or (B). 2 (3) EXCEPTION TO COMPLY WITH INTER- 3 NATIONAL AGREEMENTS.—Paragraph (1) shall not 4 apply with respect to an alien if admitting the alien 5 into the United States is necessary to permit the 6 United States to comply with the Agreement regard- 7 ing the Headquarters of the United Nations, signed 8 at Lake Success June 26, 1947, and entered into 9 force November 21, 1947, between the United Na- 10 tions and the United States, or other applicable 11 international obligations of the United States. 12 (c) BLOCKING OF PROPERTY OF IDENTIFIED INDI- 13 VIDUALS.— 14 (1) IN GENERAL.—The President shall block 15 and prohibit, in accordance with the International 16 Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 17 et seq.), all transactions in all property and interests 18 in property of any individual on the list required by 19 subsection (a) if such property and interests are in 20 the United States, come within the United States, or 21 are or come within the possession or control of a 22 United States person. 23 (2) INAPPLICABILITY OF NATIONAL EMER- 24 GENCY REQUIREMENT.—The requirements of section 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:16 Feb 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3327.IS S3327 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 3327 IS 202 of the International Emergency Economic Pow- 1 ers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701) shall not apply for pur- 2 poses of this section. 3 (3) EXCEPTION RELATING TO IMPORTATION OF 4 GOODS.— 5 (A) IN GENERAL.—The authorities and re- 6 quirements to impose sanctions authorized 7 under this subsection shall not include the au- 8 thority or a requirement to impose sanctions on 9 the importation of goods. 10 (B) GOOD DEFINED.—In this paragraph, 11 the term ‘‘good’’ means any article, natural or 12 manmade substance, material, supply, or manu- 13 factured product, including inspection and test 14 equipment, and excluding technical data. 15 (d) IMPLEMENTATION; PENALTIES.— 16 (1) IMPLEMENTATION.—The President may ex- 17 ercise all authorities provided under sections 203 18 and 205 of the International Emergency Economic 19 Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1702 and 1704) to carry out 20 this section. 21 (2) PENALTIES.—A person that violates, at- 22 tempts to violate, conspires to violate, or causes a 23 violation of subsection (c)(1) or any regulation, li- 24 cense, or order issued to carry out that subsection 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:16 Feb 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3327.IS S3327 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 3327 IS shall be subject to the penalties set forth in sub- 1 sections (b) and (c) of section 206 of the Inter- 2 national Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 3 U.S.C. 1705) to the same extent as a person that 4 commits an unlawful act described in subsection (a) 5 of that section. 6 (e) NONAPPLICABILITY OF CONFIDENTIALITY RE- 7 QUIREMENT WITH RESPECT TO VISA RECORDS.—The 8 President shall publish the list required by subsection (a) 9 without regard to the requirements of section 222(f) of 10 the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1202(f)) 11 with respect to confidentiality of records pertaining to the 12 issuance or refusal of visas or permits to enter the United 13 States. 14 (f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 15 (1) ALIEN.—The terms ‘‘admitted’’ and ‘‘alien’’ 16 have the meanings given those terms in section 101 17 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 18 1101). 19 (2) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT- 20 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com- 21 mittees’’ means— 22 (A) the Committee on Armed Services, the 23 Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban 24 Affairs, the Committee on Foreign Relations, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:16 Feb 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3327.IS S3327 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 3327 IS and the Committee on Appropriations of the 1 Senate; and 2 (B) the Committee on Armed Services, the 3 Committee on Financial Services, the Com- 4 mittee on Foreign Affairs, and the Committee 5 on Appropriations of the House of Representa- 6 tives. 7 (3) UNITED STATES PERSON.—The term 8 ‘‘United States person’’ means— 9 (A) a United States citizen or an alien law- 10 fully admitted for permanent residence to the 11 United States; or 12 (B) an entity organized under the laws of 13 the United States or of any jurisdiction within 14 the United States, including a foreign branch of 15 such an entity. 16 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:16 Feb 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S3327.IS S3327 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS