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International Conflicts of Concern Act
To restrict United States nationals from traveling to countries in which foreign governments or anti-government forces allow foreign terrorist organizations to engage in armed conflict for purposes of participating in such armed conflict or from providing material support to entities that are engaged in such armed conflict, and for other purposes.
Summary
This bill authorizes the President to identify and designate countries as "Countries of Conflict Concern" where foreign terrorist organizations are engaging in armed conflict with the government or anti-government forces. For designated countries, the President can require U.S. nationals to obtain a license before traveling to the country or providing material support to entities engaged in armed conflict there. The bill requires the President to submit an initial report identifying such countries within 180 days of enactment and to update the report at least annually as new information becomes available. Syria is automatically designated as a Country of Conflict Concern upon enactment. Violations of the licensing requirements are subject to penalties under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, and designations can be terminated when the President certifies that the specified conditions no longer apply.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
10 cosponsors
- Rep. Aderholt, Robert B. [R-AL-4] (R-AL)
- Rep. Coffman, Mike [R-CO-6] (R-CO)
- Rep. Conaway, K. Michael [R-TX-11] (R-TX)
- Rep. King, Peter T. [R-NY-2] (R-NY)
- Rep. Pittenger, Robert [R-NC-9] (R-NC)
- Rep. Scott, David [D-GA-13] (D-GA)
- Rep. Sinema, Kyrsten [D-AZ-9] (D-AZ)
- Rep. Stockman, Steve [R-TX-36] (R-TX)
- Rep. Thompson, Glenn [R-PA-5] (R-PA)
- Rep. Wittman, Robert J. [R-VA-1] (R-VA)
Actions (3)
- Apr 2, 2014 Referred to the Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade. · house
- Mar 12, 2014 Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. · house
- Mar 12, 2014 Introduced in House
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Full text
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 12, 2014
Mr. Wolf introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs
A BILL
To restrict United States nationals from traveling to countries in which foreign governments or anti-government forces allow foreign terrorist organizations to engage in armed conflict for purposes of participating in such armed conflict or from providing material support to entities that are engaged in such armed conflict, 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 “International Conflicts of Concern Act”.
SEC. 2. IDENTIFICATION OF COUNTRIES OF CONFLICT CONCERN.
(a) Identification.—Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the President shall submit to Congress a report that identifies each country the government of which or anti-government forces in which the President believes, based on all information available to the President, is allowing one or more foreign terrorist organizations to engage in armed conflict that is occurring in such country.
(b) Updates.—The President shall update the report required under subsection (a)—
(1) as new information becomes available; and
(2) not less frequently than annually.
(c) Form.—The report required under subsection (a) and the updates required under subsection (b) shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may contain a classified annex if necessary.
SEC. 3. DESIGNATION OF COUNTRIES OF CONFLICT CONCERN.
(a) Designation.—
(1) In general.—The President shall designate a country as a “Country of Conflict Concern” if the President determines that—
(A) the government of such country or anti- government forces in the country is allowing one or more foreign terrorist organizations to engage in armed conflict that is occurring in such country as identified in the report required under section 2(a) or any update to the report required under section 2(b); and
(B) it is in the national security interest of the United States to restrict travel by any United States national to such country and to restrict material support provided by United States nationals to entities that are engaged in armed conflict in such country.
(2) Initial designation.—Syria shall be deemed to have been designated by the President under paragraph (1) as of the date of the enactment of this Act and the President is not required to notify Congress of such designation of Syria under subsection (b).
(b) Report on Designation.—Upon designating a country as a Country of Conflict Concern under subsection (a), the President shall submit to Congress a report notifying Congress of the designation of the country.
(c) Licensing Requirement.—With respect to any country designated as a Country of Conflict Concern under subsection (a), the President shall exercise the authorities of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1705 et seq.) without regard to section 202 of such Act to require a United States national to obtain a license—
(1) to travel to such country; or
(2) to provide material support to entities that are engaged in armed conflict in such country.
(d) Penalties.—The penalties provided for in subsections (b) and
(c) of section 206 of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1705) shall apply to a person who violates paragraph (1) or
(2) of subsection (c), or a regulation prescribed under this Act, to the same extent that such penalties apply to a person that commits an unlawful act described in section 206(a) of that Act (50 U.S.C. 1705(a)).
(e) Termination of Designation.—The designation of a country as a Country of Conflict Concern under subsection (a) shall terminate on the date on which the President determines and certifies to Congress that subparagraph (A) or (B) of subsection (a)(1) (as the case may be), or both, no longer applies with respect to the country.
SEC. 4. REGULATIONS.
The President is authorized to promulgate such regulations as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act, including the promulgation of such regulations under the authority of section 205 of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1704).
SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Foreign terrorist organization.—The term “foreign terrorist organization” means any organization so designated by the Secretary of State under section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1189).
(2) United states national.—The term “United States national” means—
(A) a national of the United States (as defined in section 101(a)(22) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(22)); or
(B) an alien who is lawfully present in the United States. <all>
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