[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2318 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
112th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 2318
To authorize the Secretary of State to pay a reward to combat
transnational organized crime and for information concerning foreign
nationals wanted by international criminal tribunals, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
April 19, 2012
Mr. Kerry (for himself, Mr. Boozman, Mr. Coons, Mr. Isakson, Ms.
Landrieu, Mr. Graham, and Mr. Durbin) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To authorize the Secretary of State to pay a reward to combat
transnational organized crime and for information concerning foreign
nationals wanted by international criminal tribunals, 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. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Department of State Rewards Program
Update and Technical Corrections Act of 2012''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS.
(a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
(1) The Department of State's existing rewards programs
permit the payment of reward for information leading to the
arrest or conviction of--
(A) individuals who have committed, or attempted or
conspired to commit, certain acts of international
terrorism;
(B) individuals who have committed, or attempted or
conspired to commit, certain narcotics-related
offenses; and
(C) individuals who have been indicted by certain
international criminal tribunals.
(2) The Department of State considers the rewards program
to be ``one of the most valuable assets the U.S. Government has
in the fight against international terrorism''. Since the
program's inception in 1984, the United States Government has
rewarded over 60 people who provided actionable information
that, according to the Department of State, prevented
international terrorist attacks or helped convict individuals
involved in terrorist attacks.
(3) The program has been credited with providing
information in several high-profile cases, including the arrest
of Ramzi Yousef, who was convicted in the 1993 bombing of the
World Trade Center, the deaths of Uday and Qusay Hussein, who
United States military forces located and killed in Iraq after
receiving information about their locations, and the arrests or
deaths of several members of the Abu Sayyaf group, believed to
be responsible for the kidnappings and deaths of United States
citizens and Filipinos in the Philippines.
(b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that the
rewards program of the Department of State should be expanded in order
to--
(1) address the growing threat to important United States
interests from transnational criminal activity, such as
intellectual property rights piracy, money laundering,
trafficking in persons, arms trafficking, and cybercrime; and
(2) target other individuals indicted by international,
hybrid, or mixed tribunals for genocide, war crimes, or crimes
against humanity.
SEC. 3. ENHANCED REWARDS AUTHORITY.
Section 36 of the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956
(22 U.S.C. 2708) is amended--
(1) in subsection (a)(2), by inserting ``serious violations
of international humanitarian law, transnational organized
crime,'' after ``international narcotics trafficking,'';
(2) in subsection (b)--
(A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by
striking ``Attorney General'' and inserting ``heads of
other relevant departments or agencies'';
(B) in paragraphs (4) and (5), by striking
``paragraph (1), (2), or (3)'' both places it appears
and inserting ``paragraph (1), (2), (3), (8), or (9)'';
(C) in paragraph (6)--
(i) by inserting ``or transnational
organized crime group'' after ``terrorist
organization''; and
(ii) by striking ``or'' at the end;
(D) in paragraph (7)--
(i) in the matter preceding subparagraph
(A), by striking ``, including the use by the
organization of illicit narcotics production or
international narcotics trafficking'' and
inserting ``or transnational organized crime
group, including the use by such organization
or group of illicit narcotics production or
international narcotics trafficking'';
(ii) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ``or
transnational organized crime'' after
``international terrorism''; and
(iii) in subparagraph (B)--
(I) by inserting ``or transnational
organized crime group'' after
``terrorist organization''; and
(II) by striking the period at the
end and inserting a semicolon; and
(E) by adding at the end the following new
paragraphs:
``(8) the arrest or conviction in any country of any
individual for participating in, primarily outside the United
States, transnational organized crime;
``(9) the arrest or conviction in any country of any
individual conspiring to participate in or attempting to
participate in transnational organized crime; or
``(10) the arrest or conviction in any country, or the
transfer to or conviction by an international criminal tribunal
(including a hybrid or mixed tribunal), of any foreign national
accused of war crimes, crimes against humanity, or genocide, as
defined under the statute of such tribunal.'';
(3) in subsection (g), by adding at the end the following
new paragraph:
``(3) Advance notification for international criminal
tribunal rewards.--Not less than 15 days before publicly
announcing that a reward may be offered for a particular
foreign national accused of war crimes, crimes against
humanity, or genocide, the Secretary of State shall submit to
the appropriate congressional committees a report, which may be
submitted in classified form if necessary, setting forth the
reasons why the arrest or conviction of such foreign national
is in the national interests of the United States.''; and
(4) in subsection (k)--
(A) by redesignating paragraphs (5) and (6) as
paragraphs (7) and (8), respectively; and
(B) by inserting after paragraph (4) the following
new paragraphs:
``(5) Transnational organized crime.--The term
`transnational organized crime' means--
``(A) racketeering activity (as such term is
defined in section 1961 of title 18, United States
Code) that involves at least one jurisdiction outside
the United States; or
``(B) any other criminal offense punishable by a
term of imprisonment of at least four years under
Federal, State, or local law that involves at least one
jurisdiction outside the United States and that is
intended to obtain, directly or indirectly, a financial
or other material benefit.
``(6) Transnational organized crime group.--The term
`transnational organized crime group' means a group of persons
that includes one or more citizens of a foreign country, exists
for a period of time, and acts in concert with the aim of
engaging in transnational organized crime.''.
SEC. 4. TECHNICAL CORRECTION.
Section 36(e)(1) of the State Department Basic Authorities Act of
1956 (22 U.S.C. 2708) is amended by striking ``The Secretary shall
authorize a reward of $50,000,000 for the capture or death or
information leading to the capture or death of Osama bin Laden.''.
SEC. 5. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.
Nothing in this Act or the amendments made by this Act shall be
construed as authorizing the use of activity precluded under the
American Servicemembers' Protection Act of 2002 (title II of Public Law
107-206; 22 U.S.C. 7421 et seq.).
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