Repatriation Reimbursement Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 3598 To require commercial airlines to provide cash reimbursements, and to author- ize the Secretary of State to waive or reimburse travel expenses, for any United States citizen who is evacuated from a foreign country and repatriated to the United States due to travel restrictions imple- mented in response to COVID–19 or any future pandemic or inter- national crisis. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 4, 2020 Mr. BLUMENTHAL (for himself, Mr. MARKEY, Ms. WARREN, Ms. HARRIS, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. HEINRICH, Mr. SANDERS, and Ms. CORTEZ MASTO) intro- duced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Com- mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To require commercial airlines to provide cash reimburse- ments, and to authorize the Secretary of State to waive or reimburse travel expenses, for any United States cit- izen who is evacuated from a foreign country and repatri- ated to the United States due to travel restrictions imple- mented in response to COVID–19 or any future pan- demic or international crisis. 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 17:32 May 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3598.IS S3598 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 3598 IS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Repatriation Reim- 2 bursement Act’’. 3 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS. 4 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find- 5 ings: 6 (1) The spread of the novel coronavirus (2019– 7 nCoV) and subsequent travel restrictions issued by 8 nations around the world have left many United 9 States citizens stranded overseas as they sought to 10 return to the United States. 11 (2) On March 19, 2020, the Department of 12 State issued a Level 4 Health Advisory that— 13 (A) advised all United States citizens to 14 avoid all international travel due to the global 15 impact of COVID–19; 16 (B) urged United States citizens overseas 17 to seek commercial departure options to return 18 to the United States unless they were prepared 19 to remain abroad for an indefinite period; and 20 (C) lead many United States citizens to 21 seek repatriation to the United States. 22 (3) As a result of rapidly changing travel re- 23 strictions by the United States and the closing of 24 borders and airports in numerous countries around 25 the world— 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:32 May 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3598.IS S3598 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 3598 IS (A) many commercial airlines cancelled 1 flights and failed to reimburse United States 2 citizens for the costs they had paid for such 3 flights; and 4 (B) many United States citizens were left 5 without any return flight options. 6 (4) In their efforts to comply with the Depart- 7 ment of State travel guidance, some United States 8 citizens have been forced— 9 (A) to pay often exorbitant and unantici- 10 pated fees directly to commercial airlines for 11 emergency flights to return to the United 12 States; or 13 (B) to sign a promissory note to the De- 14 partment of State to commit to reimbursement 15 for a flight chartered by the repatriation task 16 force through United States embassies around 17 the world. 18 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—Given the precarious po- 19 sition of United States citizens who were stranded globally 20 and the difficult economic conditions they may face upon 21 returning to the United States, it is the sense of Congress 22 that the commercial airline industry and the Department 23 of State should fully reimburse or waive all travel costs 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:32 May 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3598.IS S3598 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 3598 IS for United States citizens who require repatriation to the 1 United States as a result of the COVID–19 pandemic. 2 SEC. 3. REIMBURSEMENT OF CERTAIN TRAVEL EXPENSES 3 BY COMMERCIAL AIRLINES. 4 (a) IN GENERAL.—All travel expenses incurred, on 5 or after December 31, 2019, and on or before September 6 30, 2020, by any United States citizen as a direct result 7 of any flight on a commercial airline that is cancelled or 8 does not depart within 24 hours of its originally scheduled 9 departure time shall be reimbursed, in cash, by the airline 10 with which such flight was initially booked if the citizen 11 was evacuated from a foreign country and repatriated to 12 the United States due to travel restrictions implemented 13 in response to COVID–19. 14 (b) REQUIREMENT TO HONOR ORIGINAL TICKET 15 PRICE.—Notwithstanding any otherwise applicable con- 16 tractual provision, any commercial airline that sold a tick- 17 et to a United States citizen described in subsection (a) 18 for a flight from a foreign country to the United States 19 during the period set forth in such subsection that, due 20 to travel restrictions referred to in such subsection, was 21 cancelled (by the passenger or by the airline) or was re- 22 scheduled to depart more than 24 hours after its originally 23 scheduled departure time— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:32 May 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3598.IS S3598 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 3598 IS (1) shall provide the passenger with a cash re- 1 imburse of the total costs incurred by the passenger 2 for any cancelled flight; 3 (2) shall waive any change fees associated with 4 replacing such ticket for another flight; 5 (3) may not charge the passenger any more for 6 the replacement ticket than was charged for the 7 original ticket; and 8 (4) shall provide the passenger with a cash re- 9 imbursement for any amount paid by the passenger 10 during the period set forth in subsection (a) that is 11 prohibited under paragraph (2) or (3). 12 (c) FUNDING.— 13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para- 14 graph (2), a commercial airline may use amounts 15 appropriated or otherwise made available to the 16 commercial airline industry in any appropriations 17 Act enacted on or after March 1, 2020, in response 18 to COVID–19 to pay for the travel expenses de- 19 scribed in subsection (a). 20 (2) LIMITATION.—A commercial airline may 21 not use amounts appropriated under section 4112 of 22 the Coronavirus Economic Stabilization Act of 2020 23 (title IV of division A of Public Law 116–136) to 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:32 May 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3598.IS S3598 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 3598 IS pay for the travel expenses described in subsection 1 (a). 2 SEC. 4. EMERGENCY TRANSPORTATION FOR UNITED 3 STATES CITIZENS EVACUATED FROM FOR- 4 EIGN COUNTRIES DUE TO COVID–19 TRAVEL 5 RESTRICTIONS. 6 (a) WAIVER OR REIMBURSEMENT OF TRAVEL EX- 7 PENSES.— 8 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State shall 9 waive any travel expenses paid by the Department of 10 State on or after December 31, 2019, for any 11 United States citizen who is evacuated from a for- 12 eign country and repatriated to the United States 13 due to travel restrictions implemented in response to 14 COVID–19 or any future pandemic or international 15 crisis, as determined by the Secretary. 16 (2) PROMISSORY NOTES.—Any promissory note 17 signed by a United States citizen to reimburse the 18 Department of State for travel expenses described in 19 paragraph (1) shall be null and void. 20 (3) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 4 of 21 the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 22 (22 U.S.C. 2671) is amended by adding at the end 23 the following: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:32 May 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3598.IS S3598 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 3598 IS ‘‘(e) In the case of a communicable disease for which 1 the Federal Government has issued a travel alert or travel 2 warning, the reimbursement requirements under sub- 3 sections (b)(2)(A)(ii) and (d) shall not apply.’’. 4 (4) REIMBURSEMENT.— 5 (A) AUTHORIZATION.—The Secretary of 6 State shall reimburse United States citizens 7 who were evacuated from a foreign country on 8 or after December 31, 2019, and repatriated to 9 the United States due to travel restrictions de- 10 scribed in paragraph (1) for travel expenses as- 11 sociated with such evacuation and repatriation, 12 including the costs of commercial or charter 13 flights and any ground transportation expenses 14 associated with travel to the foreign airport and 15 from the domestic airport to their homes in the 16 United States. 17 (B) PROCESS.—The Secretary of State 18 shall develop an online process through which 19 United States citizens may submit claims for 20 reimbursement for travel expenses described in 21 subparagraph (A). 22 (b) FUNDING.—The Secretary of State may use 23 amounts appropriated or otherwise made available to the 24 Department of State in any appropriations Act enacted 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:32 May 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3598.IS S3598 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 3598 IS on or after March 1, 2020, in response to COVID–19 or 1 any future pandemic or international crisis to pay for the 2 travel expenses described in subsection (a). 3 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:32 May 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S3598.IS S3598 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS