Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress House Bill HB1848 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	I
2	2	119THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION H. R. 1848
5	5	To authorize the imposition of sanctions with respect to the Houthis, and
6	6	for other purposes.
7	7	IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
8	8	MARCH5, 2025
9	9	Mr. I
10	10	SSA(for himself, Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. LAWLER, Mr. SCHNEIDER, Mr.
11	11	M
12	12	OSKOWITZ, and Mr. KEATING) introduced the following bill; which was
13	13	referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the
14	14	Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined
15	15	by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall
16	16	within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
17	17	A BILL
18	18	To authorize the imposition of sanctions with respect to
19	19	the Houthis, and for other purposes.
20	20	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
21	21	tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
22	22	SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
23	23	This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Houthi Human Rights 4
24	24	Accountability Act’’. 5
25	25	SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 6
26	26	It is the sense of Congress that— 7
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29	29	•HR 1848 IH
30	30	(1) Houthi efforts to indoctrinate Yemenis into 1
31	31	a violent, anti-Semitic, and extremist worldview are 2
32	32	a threat to a Yemeni-led peace process and to re-3
33	33	gional stability; and 4
34	34	(2) it is counter to United States policy to pro-5
35	35	vide support to the Houthis in Yemen, including by 6
36	36	supporting any efforts by the Houthis to indoctri-7
37	37	nate, coerce, or force Yemenis to conform to their 8
38	38	violent, anti-Semitic, and extremist worldview. 9
39	39	SEC. 3. REPORT ON HOUTHI INDOCTRINATION. 10
40	40	Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact-11
41	41	ment of this Act, the Secretary of State, in consultation 12
42	42	with the Administrator of the United States Agency for 13
43	43	International Development, shall submit to the appro-14
44	44	priate congressional committees a report on— 15
45	45	(1) Houthi efforts to indoctrinate Yemenis into 16
46	46	a violent, anti-Semitic, or extremist worldview; and 17
47	47	(2) the long-term threat this indoctrination 18
48	48	campaign poses to regional stability. 19
49	49	SEC. 4. REPORT ON OBSTACLES TO PROVISION OF HUMANI-20
50	50	TARIAN AID IN AREAS OF YEMEN UNDER DE- 21
51	51	FACTO HOUTHI CONTROL. 22
52	52	(a) I
53	53	NGENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 23
54	54	date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, 24
55	55	in consultation with the Administrator of the United 25
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58	58	•HR 1848 IH
59	59	States Agency for International Development, shall submit 1
60	60	to the appropriate congressional committees a report on 2
61	61	obstacles to the provision of humanitarian aid by inter-3
62	62	national organizations and nongovernmental organizations 4
63	63	in areas of Yemen under de-facto Houthi control. 5
64	64	(b) M
65	65	ATTERSTOBEINCLUDED.—The report re-6
66	66	quired by subsection (a) shall include the following: 7
67	67	(1) An identification of challenges to distribu-8
68	68	tion of humanitarian aid created by Houthi-enforced 9
69	69	rules, regulations, and bureaucracy with respect to 10
70	70	access, and freedom of movement, and the overall 11
71	71	impact on such rules, regulations, and bureaucracy 12
72	72	have on the international community’s ability to dis-13
73	73	tribute such aid in a manner consistent with basic 14
74	74	humanitarian principles. 15
75	75	(2) An assessment of attempted Houthi inter-16
76	76	ference in the delivery of humanitarian aid, includ-17
77	77	ing the manipulation or undue influence of bene-18
78	78	ficiary lists or related data for political or military 19
79	79	purposes, and the implications of any interference on 20
80	80	civilian needs and aid distribution. 21
81	81	(3) An evaluation of the Houthis’ use of vio-22
82	82	lence and intimidation against humanitarian workers 23
83	83	and diplomats, including current and former United 24
84	84	States Embassy locally employed staff. 25
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87	87	•HR 1848 IH
88	88	(4) An overview of the steps the United States 1
89	89	and its partners are taking to ensure humanitarian 2
90	90	assistance is delivered unhindered and consistent 3
91	91	with basic humanitarian principles, including how 4
92	92	United States-supported organizations respond to 5
93	93	attempted Houthi diversion or interference. 6
94	94	(5) S
95	95	COPE.—The report required by subsection 7
96	96	(a) shall address the period beginning on January 1, 8
97	97	2020, and ending on the date that is 90 days after 9
98	98	the date of the enactment of this Act. 10
99	99	SEC. 5. REPORT ON HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES COMMITTED 11
100	100	BY THE HOUTHIS. 12
101	101	(a) I
102	102	NGENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 13
103	103	date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State 14
104	104	shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees 15
105	105	a report on human rights abuses committed by the 16
106	106	Houthis, including gender-based discrimination and vio-17
107	107	lence, including— 18
108	108	(1) mahram regulations; 19
109	109	(2) recruitment and use of child soldiers; 20
110	110	(3) enforced disappearance; 21
111	111	(4) prolonged and arbitrary detention; 22
112	112	(5) conduct that amounts to torture; and 23
113	113	(6) unlawful killing. 24
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116	116	•HR 1848 IH
117	117	(b) SCOPE.—The report required by subsection (a) 1
118	118	shall address the period beginning on March 1, 2015, and 2
119	119	ending on the date that is 90 days after the date of the 3
120	120	enactment of this Act. 4
121	121	SEC. 6. SANCTIONS AUTHORIZED UNDER THE GLOBAL 5
122	122	MAGNITSKY HUMAN RIGHTS AND ACCOUNT-6
123	123	ABILITY ACT. 7
124	124	(a) I
125	125	NGENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 8
126	126	date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, 9
127	127	the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Secretary 10
128	128	of the Treasury, shall submit to the appropriate congres-11
129	129	sional committees a determination on whether foreign per-12
130	130	sons described in subsection (b) meet the criteria for sanc-13
131	131	tions authorized under the Global Magnitsky Human 14
132	132	Rights and Accountability Act (22 U.S.C. 2656 note), in-15
133	133	cluding with respect to acts that constitute gross violations 16
134	134	of internationally recognized human rights as defined in 17
135	135	section 502B(d)(1) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 18
136	136	(22 U.S.C. 2304(d)(1)). 19
137	137	(b) P
138	138	ERSONSDESCRIBED.—A foreign person de-20
139	139	scribed in this subsection is a foreign person that— 21
140	140	(1) is a member of the Houthis; and 22
141	141	(2) knowingly— 23
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144	144	•HR 1848 IH
145	145	(A) imposes arbitrary or unlawful restric-1
146	146	tion on the delivery of humanitarian assistance 2
147	147	in Yemen; or 3
148	148	(B) engages in the human rights abuses 4
149	149	described in section 5(a). 5
150	150	SEC. 7. SANCTIONS AUTHORIZED UNDER THE ROBERT 6
151	151	LEVINSON HOSTAGE TAKING AND ACCOUNT-7
152	152	ABILITY ACT. 8
153	153	(a) I
154	154	NGENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 9
155	155	date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, 10
156	156	the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Secretary 11
157	157	of the Treasury, shall submit to the appropriate congres-12
158	158	sional committees a determination on whether foreign per-13
159	159	sons described in subsection (b) meet the criteria for sanc-14
160	160	tions authorized under the Robert Levinson Hostage Re-15
161	161	covery and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act (22 U.S.C. 16
162	162	1741 et seq.), and Executive Order 14078. 17
163	163	(b) P
164	164	ERSONSDESCRIBED.—A foreign person de-18
165	165	scribed in this subsection is a foreign person that— 19
166	166	(1) is a member of the Houthis; and 20
167	167	(2)(A) is responsible for or is complicit in, or 21
168	168	responsible for ordering, controlling, or otherwise di-22
169	169	recting, the hostage-taking of a United States na-23
170	170	tional abroad or the unlawful or wrongful detention 24
171	171	of a United States national abroad; or 25
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174	174	•HR 1848 IH
175	175	(B) knowingly provides financial, material, or 1
176	176	technological support for, or goods or services in 2
177	177	support of, an activity described in subparagraph 3
178	178	(A). 4
179	179	SEC. 8. SUNSET. 5
180	180	This Act shall terminate on the date that is 5 years 6
181	181	after the date of the enactment of this Act. 7
182	182	SEC. 9. DEFINITIONS. 8
183	183	In this Act— 9
184	184	(1) the term ‘‘appropriate congressional com-10
185	185	mittees’’ means— 11
186	186	(A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and 12
187	187	the Committee on Appropriations of the House 13
188	188	of Representatives; and 14
189	189	(B) the Committee on Foreign Relations 15
190	190	and the Committee on Appropriations of the 16
191	191	Senate; 17
192	192	(2) the term ‘‘foreign person’’ means a person 18
193	193	that is not a United States person; 19
194	194	(3) the term ‘‘Houthis’’ refers to persons offi-20
195	195	cially known as ‘‘Ansarallah’’; 21
196	196	(4) the term ‘‘person’’ means and individual or 22
197	197	entity; and 23
198	198	(5) the term ‘‘United States person’’ means— 24
199	199	(A) a national of the United States; 25
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202	202	•HR 1848 IH
203	203	(B) an alien who is lawfully present in the 1
204	204	United States; or 2
205	205	(C) an entity organized under the laws of 3
206	206	the United States or of any jurisdiction within 4
207	207	the United States, including a foreign branch of 5
208	208	such an entity. 6
209	209	Æ
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