II
118THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION S. 356
To amend the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020
to modify the establishment of a coordinator for detained ISIS members
and relevant displaced populations in Syria, and for other purposes.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
FEBRUARY9, 2023
Mrs. S
HAHEEN(for herself, Mr. GRAHAM, Mr. MENENDEZ, and Mr. RISCH)
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the
Committee on Foreign Relations
A BILL
To amend the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal
Year 2020 to modify the establishment of a coordinator
for detained ISIS members and relevant displaced popu-
lations in Syria, 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 ‘‘Syria Detainee and 4
Displaced Persons Act’’. 5
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SEC. 2. MODIFICATION OF ESTABLISHMENT OF COORDI-1
NATOR FOR DETAINED ISIS MEMBERS AND 2
RELEVANT POPULATIONS IN SYRIA. 3
(a) D
EFINITIONS.—In this section: 4
(1) A
PPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CON -5
GRESS.—The term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con-6
gress’’ means— 7
(A) the Committee on Armed Services, the 8
Committee on Foreign Relations, the Com-9
mittee on the Judiciary, the Committee on 10
Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, the Se-11
lect Committee on Intelligence, the Committee 12
on Appropriations, and the Committee on 13
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 14
of the Senate; and 15
(B) the Committee on Armed Services, the 16
Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee 17
on the Judiciary, the Committee on Financial 18
Services, the Permanent Select Committee on 19
Intelligence, the Committee on Appropriations, 20
and the Committee on Homeland Security of 21
the House of Representatives. 22
(2) ISIS
MEMBER.—The term ‘‘ISIS member’’ 23
means a person who was part of, or substantially 24
supported, the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. 25
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(3) SENIOR COORDINATOR .—The term ‘‘Senior 1
Coordinator’’ means the coordinator for detained 2
ISIS members and relevant displaced populations in 3
Syria designated under subsection (a) of section 4
1224 of the National Defense Authorization Act for 5
Fiscal Year 2020 (Public Law 116–92; 133 Stat. 6
1642), as amended by subsection (d). 7
(b) S
ENSE OFCONGRESS.— 8
It is the sense of Congress that— 9
(A) ISIS detainees held by the Syrian 10
Democratic Forces and ISIS-affiliated individ-11
uals located within displaced persons camps in 12
Syria pose a significant and growing humani-13
tarian challenge and security threat to the re-14
gion; 15
(B) the vast majority of individuals held in 16
displaced persons camps in Syria are women 17
and children, approximately 50 percent of 18
whom are under the age of 12 at the al-Hol 19
camp, and they face significant threats of vio-20
lence and radicalization, as well as lacking ac-21
cess to adequate sanitation and health care fa-22
cilities; 23
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(C) there is an urgent need to seek a sus-1
tainable solution to such camps through repa-2
triation and reintegration of the inhabitants; 3
(D) the United States should work closely 4
with international allies and partners to facili-5
tate the repatriation and reintegration efforts 6
required to provide a long-term solution for 7
such camps and prevent the resurgence of ISIS; 8
and 9
(E) if left unaddressed, such camps will 10
continue to be drivers of instability that jeop-11
ardize the long-term prospects for peace and 12
stability in the region. 13
(c) S
TATEMENT OF POLICY.—It is the policy of the 14
United States that— 15
(1) ISIS-affiliated individuals located within 16
displacement camps in Syria, and other inhabitants 17
of displacement camps in Syria, be repatriated and, 18
where appropriate, prosecuted, or where possible, re-19
integrated into their country of origin, consistent 20
with all relevant domestic laws and applicable inter-21
national laws prohibiting refoulement; and 22
(2) the camps will be closed as soon as is prac-23
ticable. 24
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(d) MODIFICATION OFESTABLISHMENT OF COORDI-1
NATOR FORDETAINEDISIS MEMBERS AND RELEVANT 2
D
ISPLACEDPOPULATIONS INSYRIA.—Section 1224 of the 3
National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 4
(Public Law 116–92; 133 Stat. 1642) is amended— 5
(1) by striking subsection (a); 6
(2) by amending subsection (b) to read as fol-7
lows: 8
‘‘(a) D
ESIGNATION.— 9
‘‘(1) I
N GENERAL.—The President, in consulta-10
tion with the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of 11
State, the Director of National Intelligence, the Sec-12
retary of the Treasury, the Administrator of the 13
United States Agency for International Develop-14
ment, and the Attorney General, shall designate an 15
existing official to serve within the executive branch 16
as senior-level coordinator to coordinate, in conjunc-17
tion with other relevant agencies, matters related to 18
ISIS members who are in the custody of the Syrian 19
Democratic Forces and other relevant displaced pop-20
ulations in Syria, including— 21
‘‘(A) by engaging foreign partners to sup-22
port the repatriation and disposition of such in-23
dividuals, including by encouraging foreign 24
partners to repatriate, transfer, investigate, and 25
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prosecute such ISIS members, and share infor-1
mation; 2
‘‘(B) coordination of all multilateral and 3
international engagements led by the Depart-4
ment of State and other agencies that are re-5
lated to the current and future handling, deten-6
tion, and prosecution of such ISIS members; 7
‘‘(C) the funding and coordination of the 8
provision of technical and other assistance to 9
foreign countries to aid in the successful inves-10
tigation and prosecution of such ISIS members, 11
as appropriate, in accordance with relevant do-12
mestic laws, international humanitarian law, 13
and other internationally recognized human 14
rights and rule of law standards; 15
‘‘(D) coordination of all multilateral and 16
international engagements related to humani-17
tarian access and provision of basic services to, 18
and freedom of movement and security and safe 19
return of, displaced persons at camps or facili-20
ties in Syria that hold family members of such 21
ISIS members; 22
‘‘(E) coordination with relevant agencies 23
on matters described in this section; and 24
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‘‘(F) any other matter the President con-1
siders relevant. 2
‘‘(2) R
ULE OF CONSTRUCTION .—If, on the date 3
of the enactment of the Syria Detainee and Dis-4
placed Persons Act, an individual has already been 5
designated, consistent with the requirements and re-6
sponsibilities described in paragraph (1), the re-7
quirements under that paragraph shall be considered 8
to be satisfied with respect to such individual until 9
the date on which such individual no longer serves 10
as the Senior Coordinator.’’; 11
(3) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘subsection 12
(b)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (a)’’; 13
(4) in subsection (d), by striking ‘‘subsection 14
(b)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (a)’’; 15
(5) in subsection (e), by striking ‘‘January 31, 16
2021’’ and inserting ‘‘January 31, 2025’’; 17
(6) in subsection (f)— 18
(A) by redesignating paragraph (2) as 19
paragraph (3); 20
(B) by inserting after paragraph (1) the 21
following new paragraph (2): 22
‘‘(2) S
ENIOR COORDINATOR .—The term ‘Senior 23
Coordinator’ means the individual designated under 24
subsection (a).’’; and 25
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(C) by adding at the end the following new 1
paragraph: 2
‘‘(4) R
ELEVANT AGENCIES.—The term ‘relevant 3
agencies’ means— 4
‘‘(A) the Department of State; 5
‘‘(B) the Department of Defense; 6
‘‘(C) the Department of the Treasury; 7
‘‘(D) the Department of Justice; 8
‘‘(E) the United States Agency for Inter-9
national Development; 10
‘‘(F) the Office of the Director of National 11
Intelligence; and 12
‘‘(G) any other agency the President con-13
siders relevant.’’; and 14
(7) by redesignating subsections (c) through (f) 15
as subsections (b) through (e), respectively. 16
(e) S
TRATEGY ON ISIS-RELATEDDETAINEE AND 17
D
ISPLACEMENTCAMPS INSYRIA.— 18
(1) I
N GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 19
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec-20
retary of State, in coordination with the Secretary of 21
Defense, the Director of National Intelligence, the 22
Secretary of the Treasury, the Administrator of the 23
United States Agency for International Develop-24
ment, and the Attorney General, shall submit to the 25
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appropriate committees of Congress an interagency 1
strategy with respect to ISIS-affiliated individuals 2
and ISIS-related detainee and other displaced per-3
sons camps in Syria. 4
(2) E
LEMENTS.—The strategy required by 5
paragraph (1) shall include— 6
(A) methods to address— 7
(i) disengagement from and preven-8
tion of recruitment into violence, violent 9
extremism, and other illicit activity in such 10
camps; 11
(ii) efforts to encourage and facilitate 12
repatriation and, as appropriate, investiga-13
tion and prosecution of foreign nationals 14
from such camps, consistent with all rel-15
evant domestic and applicable international 16
laws; 17
(iii) the return and reintegration of 18
displaced Syrian and Iraqi women and 19
children into their communities of origin; 20
(iv) international engagement to de-21
velop processes for repatriation and re-22
integration of foreign nationals from such 23
camps; 24
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(v) contingency plans for the reloca-1
tion of detained and displaced persons who 2
are not able to be repatriated from such 3
camps; 4
(vi) efforts to improve the humani-5
tarian conditions in such camps, including 6
through the delivery of medicine, psycho-7
social support, clothing, education, and im-8
proved housing; and 9
(vii) assessed humanitarian and secu-10
rity needs of all camps and detainment fa-11
cilities based on prioritization of such 12
camps and facilities most at risk of hu-13
manitarian crises, external attacks, or in-14
ternal violence; 15
(B) an assessment of— 16
(i) rehabilitation centers in northeast 17
Syria, including humanitarian conditions 18
and processes for admittance and efforts to 19
improve both humanitarian conditions and 20
admittance processes for such centers and 21
camps, as well as on the prevention of 22
youth radicalization; and 23
(ii) processes for being sent to, and 24
resources directed towards, rehabilitation 25
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centers and programs in countries that re-1
ceive returned ISIS affiliated individuals, 2
with a focus on the prevention of 3
radicalization of minor children; 4
(C) a plan to improve, in such camps— 5
(i) security conditions, including by 6
training of personnel and through con-7
struction; and 8
(ii) humanitarian conditions; 9
(D) a framework for measuring progress of 10
humanitarian, security, and repatriation efforts 11
with the goal of closing such camps; and 12
(E) any other matter the Secretary of 13
State considers appropriate. 14
(3) F
ORM.—The strategy required by para-15
graph (1) shall be submitted in unclassified form but 16
may include a classified annex that is transmitted 17
separately. 18
(f) A
NNUALINTERAGENCYREPORT.— 19
(1) I
N GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 20
after the date of the enactment of this Act, and not 21
less frequently than annually thereafter through 22
January 31, 2025, the Senior Coordinator, in co-23
ordination with the relevant agencies, shall submit to 24
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the appropriate committees of Congress a detailed 1
report that includes the following: 2
(A) A detailed description of the facilities 3
and camps where detained ISIS members, and 4
families with perceived ISIS affiliation, are 5
being held and housed, including— 6
(i) a description of the security and 7
management of such facilities and camps; 8
(ii) an assessment of resources re-9
quired for the security of such facilities 10
and camps; 11
(iii) an assessment of the adherence 12
by the operators of such facilities and 13
camps to international humanitarian law 14
standards; and 15
(iv) an assessment of children held 16
within such facilities and camps that may 17
be used as part of smuggling operations to 18
evade security at the facilities and camps. 19
(B) A description of all efforts undertaken 20
by, and the resources needed for, the United 21
States Government to address deficits in the 22
humanitarian environment and security of such 23
facilities and camps. 24
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(C) A description of all multilateral and 1
international engagements related to humani-2
tarian access and provision of basic services to, 3
and freedom of movement and security and safe 4
return of, displaced persons at camps or facili-5
ties in Iraq, Syria, and any other area affected 6
by ISIS activity, including a description of— 7
(i) support for efforts by the Syrian 8
Democratic Forces to facilitate the return 9
and reintegration of displaced people from 10
Iraq and Syria; 11
(ii) repatriation efforts with respect to 12
displaced women and children and male 13
children aging into adults while held in 14
these facilities and camps; 15
(iii) any current or future potential 16
threat to United States national security 17
interests posed by detained ISIS members 18
or displaced families, including an analysis 19
of the al-Hol camp and annexes; and 20
(iv) United States Government plans 21
and strategies to respond to any threat 22
identified under clause (iii). 23
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(D) The number of individuals repatriated 1
from the custody of the Syrian Democratic 2
Forces. 3
(E) An analysis of factors on the ground 4
in Syria and Iraq that may result in the unin-5
tended release of detained or displaced ISIS 6
members, and an assessment of any measures 7
available to mitigate such releases. 8
(F) A detailed description of efforts to en-9
courage the final disposition and security of de-10
tained or displaced ISIS members with other 11
countries and international organizations. 12
(G) A description of foreign repatriation 13
and rehabilitation programs deemed successful 14
systems to model, and an analysis of the long- 15
term results of such programs. 16
(H) A description of the manner in which 17
the United States Government communicates 18
regarding repatriation and disposition efforts 19
with the families of United States citizens be-20
lieved to have been victims of a criminal act by 21
a detained or displaced ISIS member, in ac-22
cordance with section 503(c) of the Victims’ 23
Rights and Restitution Act of 1990 (34 U.S.C. 24
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20141(c)) and section 3771 of title 18, United 1
States Code. 2
(I) An analysis of all efforts between the 3
United States and partner countries within the 4
Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS or other coun-5
tries to share related information that may aid 6
in resolving the final disposition of ISIS mem-7
bers, and any obstacles that may hinder such 8
efforts. 9
(J) Any other matter the Coordinator con-10
siders appropriate. 11
(2) F
ORM.—The report required by paragraph 12
(1) shall be submitted in unclassified form but may 13
include a classified annex that is transmitted sepa-14
rately. 15
(g) R
ULE OFCONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec-16
tion, or an amendment made by this section, may be con-17
strued— 18
(1) to limit the authority of any Federal agency 19
to independently carry out the authorized functions 20
of such agency; or 21
(2) to impair or otherwise affect the activities 22
performed by that agency as granted by law. 23
Æ
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