| 1 | 1 | | II |
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| 2 | 2 | | 119THCONGRESS |
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| 3 | 3 | | 1 |
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| 4 | 4 | | STSESSION S. 842 |
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| 5 | 5 | | To counter efforts by Hezbollah to conduct terrorist activities in Latin |
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| 6 | 6 | | America, and for other purposes. |
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| 7 | 7 | | IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES |
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| 8 | 8 | | MARCH4, 2025 |
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| 9 | 9 | | Mr. C |
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| 10 | 10 | | URTIS(for himself and Ms. ROSEN) introduced the following bill; which |
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| 11 | 11 | | was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations |
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| 12 | 12 | | A BILL |
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| 13 | 13 | | To counter efforts by Hezbollah to conduct terrorist activities |
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| 14 | 14 | | in Latin America, and for other purposes. |
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| 15 | 15 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 |
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| 16 | 16 | | tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 |
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| 17 | 17 | | SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 |
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| 18 | 18 | | This Act may be cited as the ‘‘No Hezbollah In Our 4 |
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| 19 | 19 | | Hemisphere Act’’. 5 |
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| 20 | 20 | | SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 |
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| 21 | 21 | | Congress finds the following: 7 |
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| 22 | 22 | | (1) Iran and Hezbollah, an Iranian proxy, have 8 |
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| 23 | 23 | | been allowed to build their Latin American regional 9 |
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| 24 | 24 | | networks with impunity. 10 |
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| 28 | 28 | | (2) Hezbollah is not considered a terrorist orga-1 |
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| 29 | 29 | | nization in most countries south of the Rio Grande 2 |
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| 30 | 30 | | River. 3 |
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| 31 | 31 | | (3) In Latin America, the only countries that 4 |
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| 32 | 32 | | have designated Hezbollah as a terrorist organiza-5 |
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| 33 | 33 | | tion are Argentina, Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras, 6 |
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| 34 | 34 | | and Paraguay. 7 |
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| 35 | 35 | | (4) The ability of local authorities to monitor or 8 |
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| 36 | 36 | | prosecute Hezbollah and its local operatives is lim-9 |
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| 37 | 37 | | ited without such a designation. 10 |
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| 38 | 38 | | (5) Hezbollah has support from local authori-11 |
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| 39 | 39 | | tarian regimes aligned with the Islamic Republic of 12 |
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| 40 | 40 | | Iran, such as the Nicola´s Maduro regime in Ven-13 |
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| 41 | 41 | | ezuela, which has essentially become Iran’s forward 14 |
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| 42 | 42 | | operating base in Latin America. 15 |
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| 43 | 43 | | (6) Hezbollah’s infrastructure in Peru, Colom-16 |
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| 44 | 44 | | bia, Chile, and the Tri-Border Area of Argentina, 17 |
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| 45 | 45 | | Brazil, and Paraguay continues to grow. 18 |
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| 46 | 46 | | (7) In recent years, Hezbollah’s focus in Latin 19 |
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| 47 | 47 | | America has been on infiltrating criminal networks, 20 |
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| 48 | 48 | | money laundering, and sophisticated smuggling op-21 |
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| 49 | 49 | | erations. 22 |
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| 53 | 53 | | SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 1 |
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| 54 | 54 | | It is the sense of Congress that the Secretary of State 2 |
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| 55 | 55 | | should pursue aggressive efforts against Iranian proxy 3 |
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| 56 | 56 | | networks in the Western Hemisphere, including by— 4 |
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| 57 | 57 | | (1) demanding that governments put an end to 5 |
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| 58 | 58 | | the impunity enjoyed by designated individuals and 6 |
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| 59 | 59 | | entities or face the consequences described in this 7 |
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| 60 | 60 | | Act for their inaction; 8 |
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| 61 | 61 | | (2) working with allies, potentially through 9 |
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| 62 | 62 | | international forums, such as the Financial Action 10 |
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| 63 | 63 | | Task Force, to greylist government entities that co-11 |
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| 64 | 64 | | operate with Hezbollah; 12 |
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| 65 | 65 | | (3) engaging governments in Latin America to 13 |
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| 66 | 66 | | ensure they have adequate legislative tools to inves-14 |
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| 67 | 67 | | tigate terrorist activities and combat the financing of 15 |
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| 68 | 68 | | terrorism; and 16 |
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| 69 | 69 | | (4) persuading allies in the Latin America to 17 |
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| 70 | 70 | | designate Hezbollah as a terrorist organization, 18 |
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| 71 | 71 | | using Argentina’s model for designation as a blue-19 |
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| 72 | 72 | | print. 20 |
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| 73 | 73 | | SEC. 4. DEFINED TERM. 21 |
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| 74 | 74 | | In this Act, the term ‘‘appropriate congressional com-22 |
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| 75 | 75 | | mittees’’ means— 23 |
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| 76 | 76 | | (1) the Committee on the Judiciary of the Sen-24 |
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| 77 | 77 | | ate; 25 |
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| 81 | 81 | | (2) the Committee on Banking, Housing, and 1 |
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| 82 | 82 | | Urban Affairs of the Senate; 2 |
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| 83 | 83 | | (3) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the 3 |
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| 84 | 84 | | Senate; 4 |
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| 85 | 85 | | (4) the Committee on the Judiciary of the 5 |
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| 86 | 86 | | House of Representatives; 6 |
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| 87 | 87 | | (5) the Committee on Financial Services of the 7 |
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| 88 | 88 | | House of Representatives; and 8 |
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| 89 | 89 | | (6) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the 9 |
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| 90 | 90 | | House of Representatives. 10 |
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| 91 | 91 | | SEC. 5. DETERMINATION WITH RESPECT TO TERRORIST 11 |
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| 92 | 92 | | SANCTUARIES. 12 |
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| 93 | 93 | | (a) I |
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| 94 | 94 | | NGENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 13 |
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| 95 | 95 | | date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, 14 |
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| 96 | 96 | | in coordination with the Director of National Intelligence, 15 |
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| 97 | 97 | | the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Homeland 16 |
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| 98 | 98 | | Security, the Attorney General, and the heads of other rel-17 |
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| 99 | 99 | | evant Federal agencies, shall— 18 |
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| 100 | 100 | | (1) conduct an assessment to determine wheth-19 |
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| 101 | 101 | | er any country, region, or jurisdiction in Latin 20 |
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| 102 | 102 | | America meets the definition of ‘‘terrorist sanc-21 |
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| 103 | 103 | | tuary’’ under section 140(d)(4) of the Foreign Rela-22 |
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| 104 | 104 | | tions Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1988 and 23 |
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| 105 | 105 | | 1989 (22 U.S.C. 2656f(d)(4)); and 24 |
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| 109 | 109 | | (2) submit the results of such assessment to the 1 |
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| 110 | 110 | | appropriate congressional committees. 2 |
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| 111 | 111 | | (b) C |
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| 112 | 112 | | ONSIDERATIONS.—In making a determination 3 |
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| 113 | 113 | | pursuant to subsection (a), the Secretary of State shall 4 |
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| 114 | 114 | | consider— 5 |
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| 115 | 115 | | (1) the extent to which Hezbollah or any other 6 |
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| 116 | 116 | | foreign terrorist organization (as designated pursu-7 |
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| 117 | 117 | | ant to section 219(a) of the Immigration and Na-8 |
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| 118 | 118 | | tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1189(a))) operates freely, 9 |
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| 119 | 119 | | raises or transfers funds, recruits, or obtains safe 10 |
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| 120 | 120 | | haven within a given country, region, or jurisdiction; 11 |
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| 121 | 121 | | (2) whether the host government has knowingly 12 |
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| 122 | 122 | | tolerated, or has failed to take action to address, ter-13 |
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| 123 | 123 | | rorist activities after learning of their existence; and 14 |
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| 124 | 124 | | (3) any other factors relevant to the definition 15 |
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| 125 | 125 | | of ‘‘terrorist sanctuary’’ under section 140(d)(4) of 16 |
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| 126 | 126 | | the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal 17 |
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| 127 | 127 | | Years 1988 and 1989 (22 U.S.C. 2656f(d)(4)). 18 |
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| 128 | 128 | | SEC. 6. REVOCATION OF VISAS. 19 |
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| 129 | 129 | | (a) I |
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| 130 | 130 | | NGENERAL.—The President may impose the 20 |
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| 131 | 131 | | sanctions described in subsection (b) with respect to any 21 |
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| 132 | 132 | | foreign individual the President determines is a govern-22 |
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| 133 | 133 | | ment official of any foreign state, subdivision, or munici-23 |
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| 134 | 134 | | pality designated as a terrorist sanctuary under section 24 |
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| 135 | 135 | | 5 unless such official has taken significant, verifiable steps 25 |
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| 138 | 138 | | •S 842 IS |
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| 139 | 139 | | to stop such activity or the relevant jurisdiction no longer 1 |
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| 140 | 140 | | meets the definition of terrorist sanctuary under section 2 |
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| 141 | 141 | | 140(d)(4) of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fis-3 |
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| 142 | 142 | | cal Years 1988 and 1989 (22 U.S.C. 2656f(d)(4)). 4 |
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| 143 | 143 | | (b) S |
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| 144 | 144 | | ANCTIONSDESCRIBED.— 5 |
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| 145 | 145 | | (1) I |
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| 146 | 146 | | NELIGIBILITY FOR VISAS AND ADMISSIONS 6 |
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| 147 | 147 | | TO THE UNITED STATES .—A foreign individual de-7 |
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| 148 | 148 | | scribed in subsection (a) shall be— 8 |
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| 149 | 149 | | (A) inadmissible to the United States; 9 |
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| 150 | 150 | | (B) ineligible to receive a visa or other doc-10 |
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| 151 | 151 | | umentation to enter the United States; and 11 |
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| 152 | 152 | | (C) otherwise ineligible to be admitted or 12 |
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| 153 | 153 | | paroled into the United States or to receive any 13 |
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| 154 | 154 | | other benefit under the Immigration and Na-14 |
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| 155 | 155 | | tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.). 15 |
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| 156 | 156 | | (2) C |
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| 157 | 157 | | URRENT VISAS REVOKED .— 16 |
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| 158 | 158 | | (A) I |
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| 159 | 159 | | N GENERAL.—The issuing consular 17 |
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| 160 | 160 | | officer or the Secretary of State (or a designee 18 |
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| 161 | 161 | | of the Secretary), in accordance with section 19 |
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| 162 | 162 | | 221(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act 20 |
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| 163 | 163 | | (8 U.S.C. 1201(i)), shall revoke any visa or 21 |
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| 164 | 164 | | other entry documentation issued to a foreign 22 |
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| 165 | 165 | | individual described in subsection (a) regardless 23 |
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| 166 | 166 | | of when the visa or other entry documentation 24 |
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| 167 | 167 | | was issued. 25 |
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| 170 | 170 | | •S 842 IS |
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| 171 | 171 | | (B) EFFECT OF REVOCATION .—A revoca-1 |
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| 172 | 172 | | tion under subparagraph (A) shall— 2 |
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| 173 | 173 | | (i) take effect immediately; and 3 |
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| 174 | 174 | | (ii) automatically cancel any other 4 |
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| 175 | 175 | | valid visa or entry documentation that is in 5 |
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| 176 | 176 | | the foreign individual’s possession. 6 |
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| 177 | 177 | | (C) R |
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| 178 | 178 | | ULEMAKING.—Not later than 180 7 |
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| 179 | 179 | | days after the date of the enactment of this 8 |
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| 180 | 180 | | Act, the Secretary of State shall prescribe such 9 |
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| 181 | 181 | | regulations as may be necessary to carry out 10 |
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| 182 | 182 | | this subsection. 11 |
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| 183 | 183 | | (c) E |
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| 184 | 184 | | XCEPTIONTOCOMPLYWITHLAWENFORCE-12 |
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| 185 | 185 | | MENTOBJECTIVES AND AGREEMENTREGARDING THE 13 |
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| 186 | 186 | | H |
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| 187 | 187 | | EADQUARTERS OF THE UNITEDNATIONS.—Sanctions 14 |
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| 188 | 188 | | under subsection (b) shall not apply to a foreign person 15 |
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| 189 | 189 | | if admitting the person into the United States— 16 |
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| 190 | 190 | | (1) would further important law enforcement 17 |
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| 191 | 191 | | objectives; or 18 |
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| 192 | 192 | | (2) is necessary to permit the United States to 19 |
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| 193 | 193 | | comply with the Agreement regarding the Head-20 |
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| 194 | 194 | | quarters of the United Nations, signed at Lake Suc-21 |
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| 195 | 195 | | cess June 26, 1947, and entered into force Novem-22 |
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| 196 | 196 | | ber 21, 1947, between the United Nations and the 23 |
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| 197 | 197 | | United States, or other applicable international obli-24 |
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| 198 | 198 | | gations of the United States. 25 |
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| 201 | 201 | | •S 842 IS |
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| 202 | 202 | | (d) WAIVER.— 1 |
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| 203 | 203 | | (1) I |
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| 204 | 204 | | N GENERAL.—The President may waive 2 |
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| 205 | 205 | | the application of sanctions under subsection (b) 3 |
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| 206 | 206 | | with respect to— 4 |
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| 207 | 207 | | (A) an individual, on a case-by-case basis 5 |
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| 208 | 208 | | for periods not to exceed 180 days, if the Presi-6 |
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| 209 | 209 | | dent determines that such individual’s entry or 7 |
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| 210 | 210 | | continued presence in the United States is vital 8 |
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| 211 | 211 | | to the national security interests of the United 9 |
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| 212 | 212 | | States; and 10 |
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| 213 | 213 | | (B) a jurisdiction, including a foreign 11 |
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| 214 | 214 | | country, or any subdivision of such country, 12 |
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| 215 | 215 | | that is designated as a terrorist sanctuary pur-13 |
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| 216 | 216 | | suant to section 5, for periods not to exceed 1 14 |
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| 217 | 217 | | year, if the President determines that waiving 15 |
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| 218 | 218 | | the application of sanctions with respect to offi-16 |
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| 219 | 219 | | cials or other residents of such jurisdiction is in 17 |
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| 220 | 220 | | the national interest of the United States. 18 |
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| 221 | 221 | | (2) R |
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| 222 | 222 | | EPORT.—Not later than 15 days before 19 |
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| 223 | 223 | | granting or renewing a waiver under paragraph (1), 20 |
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| 224 | 224 | | the President shall submit a report to the appro-21 |
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| 225 | 225 | | priate congressional committees that includes— 22 |
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| 226 | 226 | | (A) the name of the individual or the spe-23 |
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| 227 | 227 | | cific jurisdiction subject to the waiver; 24 |
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| 231 | 231 | | (B) a detailed justification explaining how 1 |
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| 232 | 232 | | the waiver serves— 2 |
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| 233 | 233 | | (i) the national security interests of 3 |
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| 234 | 234 | | the United States (for individuals); or 4 |
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| 235 | 235 | | (ii) the national interest of the United 5 |
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| 236 | 236 | | States (for jurisdictions); and 6 |
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| 237 | 237 | | (C) with respect to renewals— 7 |
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| 238 | 238 | | (i) an assessment of the individual’s 8 |
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| 239 | 239 | | or jurisdiction’s activities during the most 9 |
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| 240 | 240 | | recent waiver period; and 10 |
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| 241 | 241 | | (ii) any conditions imposed to ensure 11 |
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| 242 | 242 | | compliance with United States interests. 12 |
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| 243 | 243 | | (e) T |
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| 244 | 244 | | ERMINATION OF SANCTIONS.—The President 13 |
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| 245 | 245 | | may terminate the application of sanctions under this sec-14 |
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| 246 | 246 | | tion with respect to a foreign individual if the President 15 |
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| 247 | 247 | | determines and reports to the appropriate congressional 16 |
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| 248 | 248 | | committees not later than 15 days before the termination 17 |
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| 249 | 249 | | of such sanctions that— 18 |
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| 250 | 250 | | (1) the foreign individual is no longer engaged 19 |
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| 251 | 251 | | in the activity that was the basis for such sanctions 20 |
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| 252 | 252 | | or has taken significant verifiable steps toward stop-21 |
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| 253 | 253 | | ping such activity; 22 |
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| 254 | 254 | | (2) the President has received reliable assur-23 |
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| 255 | 255 | | ances that such individual will not knowingly engage 24 |
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| 258 | 258 | | •S 842 IS |
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| 259 | 259 | | in any activity subject to sanctions under this sec-1 |
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| 260 | 260 | | tion in the future; or 2 |
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| 261 | 261 | | (3) the termination of such sanctions is in the 3 |
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| 262 | 262 | | national security interests of the United States. 4 |
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| 263 | 263 | | (f) R |
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| 264 | 264 | | ULEMAKING.—The President shall issue such 5 |
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| 265 | 265 | | regulations, licenses, and orders as may be necessary to 6 |
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| 266 | 266 | | carry out this section. 7 |
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| 267 | 267 | | SEC. 7. SUNSET. 8 |
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| 268 | 268 | | Any sanctions imposed pursuant to this Act shall ter-9 |
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| 269 | 269 | | minate 5 years after the date of the enactment of this 10 |
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| 270 | 270 | | Act. 11 |
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| 271 | 271 | | Æ |
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