[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6010 Introduced in House (IH)]
111th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 6010
To prohibit the extrajudicial killing of United States citizens, and
for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 30, 2010
Mr. Kucinich (for himself, Mr. Conyers, Mr. Filner, Mr. Grijalva, Mr.
Stark, Mr. Ellison, and Mr. Jackson of Illinois) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Select Committee on
Intelligence (Permanent Select), and in addition to the Committees on
the Judiciary and Armed Services, 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 prohibit the extrajudicial killing of United States citizens, and
for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) On January 27, 2010, The Washington Post revealed that
United States citizens have been included on lists maintained
by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the Joint Special
Operations Command (JSOC) to be assassinated.
(2) The January 27 Washington Post article reported that
the JSOC and CIA maintain lists of individuals deemed ``High
Value Targets'' and ``High Value Individuals'', whom they seek
to kill or capture, that the lists currently include United
States citizens, and that the President has authorized military
operations with the express understanding that a United States
citizen may be killed.
(3) Admiral Dennis C. Blair, then the Director of National
Intelligence, in testimony before the House Select Committee on
Intelligence on February 3, 2010, confirmed the policy of
including United States citizens on such lists, stating that
``a decision to use lethal force against a U.S. citizen must
get special permission'' before the targeting of a United
States citizen can be granted and that ``being a U.S. citizen
will not spare an American from getting assassinated by
military or intelligence operatives overseas if the individual
is working with terrorists and planning to attack fellow
Americans.''
(4) The Obama administration has publicly authorized the
extrajudicial killing of Anwar Al-Awlaki, a United States
citizen born in New Mexico who is accused of involvement in
terrorist organizations abroad, the first confirmed United
States citizen to be added to a CIA list of targets for capture
or killing.
(5) According to an article published in The Nation in
November 2009, the private security contractor Blackwater
Worldwide, now Xe Services, is intimately involved with the
targeted assassination programs run by the CIA and JSOC in
Pakistan.
(6) Department of Defense Instruction 1100.22, issued on
April 12, 2010, states that ``security is inherently
governmental'' and that the ``U.S. Government has exclusive
responsibility for discretionary decisions concerning the
appropriate, measured use of combat power, including the
offensive use of destructive or deadly force on behalf of the
United States'', particularly in operations that have virtually
no transparency, accountability, or oversight.
(7) United States Attorney General Eric J. Holder
recognized that the Department of Justice has successfully
prosecuted many terrorism defendants in Federal courts, stating
on Friday, November 13, 2009, that ``for over two hundred
years, our nation has relied on a faithful adherence to the
rule of law to bring criminals to justice . . . Once again we
will ask our legal system to rise to that challenge, and I am
confident it will answer the call with fairness and justice''.
(8) Executive Order 12333 (46 Fed. Reg. 59941; relating to
United States intelligence activities), issued by President
Ronald Reagan in 1981, stated, ``No person employed by or
acting on behalf of the United States Government shall engage
in, or conspire to engage in, assassination''.
(9) Executive Order 11905 (41 Fed. Reg. 7703; relating to
United States foreign intelligence activities), issued by
President Gerald Ford in 1976, stated, ``No employee of the
United States Government shall engage in, or conspire to engage
in, political assassination''.
SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) due process of law is a fundamental principle in the
United States Constitution, the United States has a commitment
to the principles included in the Bill of Rights, and no United
States citizen, regardless of location, can be ``deprived of
life, liberty, property, without due process of law'', as
stated in Article XIV of the Constitution;
(2) the participation in, or planning of activities, by the
United States Government that result in the extrajudicial
killing of a United States citizen undermines the rule of law
and the moral standing of the United States in the world;
(3) the United States and other responsible nations have a
vital interest in upholding the rule of law;
(4) the authority granted to the President in the
Authorization for Use of Military Force (50 U.S.C. 1541 note),
following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, is not
limitless;
(5) this authority has been used by the Executive Branch to
circumvent the role of Congress as a co-equal branch of
Government, to justify holding prisoners indefinitely at
Guantanamo Bay, for mass domestic spying on United States
citizens in violation of their most basic constitutional
rights, and to use lethal force against United States citizens
abroad who are believed to participate in terrorist activities
absent judicial review;
(6) the notion that the constitutional rights of one
citizen can be revoked to protect the constitutional rights of
other citizens should be rejected;
(7) the use of extrajudicial force against a citizen of the
United States that is outside of the internationally recognized
battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan constitutes a violation of
the law of armed conflict; and
(8) it is in the best interest of the United States to
respect the rule of law and set the example for upholding the
principles of international and domestic law.
SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON THE EXTRAJUDICIAL KILLING OF UNITED STATES
CITIZENS.
(a) Prohibition.--No one, including the President, may instruct a
person acting within the scope of employment with the United States
Government or an agent acting on behalf of the United States Government
to engage in, or conspire to engage in, the extrajudicial killing of a
United States citizen.
(b) Report on United States Citizens on Targeted Assassination
Lists.--Not later than 7 days after the date of the enactment of this
Act, the President shall submit to the congressional intelligence
committees a report on the identity of each United States citizen that
is on the list of the Joint Special Operations Command or the Central
Intelligence Agency as ``high value individuals'' or ``high value
targets''.
(c) Assurances to Congress.--Not later than 7 days after the date
of the enactment of this Act, the President shall submit to the
congressional intelligence committees a written assurance that no
United States citizens are being added to the list of the Joint Special
Operations Command or the Central Intelligence Agency as ``high value
individuals'' or ``high value targets''.
(d) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Congressional intelligence committees.--The term
``congressional intelligence committees'' means--
(A) the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
of the House of Representatives; and
(B) the Select Committee on Intelligence of the
Senate.
(2) Extrajudicial killing.--The term ``extrajudicial
killing''--
(A) means a premeditated and intentional use of
lethal force against a United States citizen; and
(B) does not include--
(i) the use of lethal force against a
United States citizen after a trial and finding
of guilt for such citizen by an appropriate
tribunal consistent with due process of law;
(ii) the use of lethal force against a
United States citizen who is directly
participating in hostilities in a zone of
active armed conflict and the United States is
a party to such conflict; and
(iii) the use of lethal force against a
United States citizen that is authorized for
law enforcement personnel under certain
circumstances, including self-defense, defense
of others, and enabling the release of
hostages.
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