119-hr4303

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4303 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 4303

 To establish a Special Envoy for Humanitarian Aid Workers, and for 
 other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 July 7, 2025

Ms. Pingree (for herself, Mr. McGovern, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, Ms. Dean of 
Pennsylvania, Ms. Tlaib, and Mr. Pocan) introduced the following bill; 
 which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To establish a Special Envoy for Humanitarian Aid Workers, 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. SPECIAL ENVOY FOR HUMANITARIAN AID WORKERS.

    (a) In General.--

Section 1 of the State Department Basic 
Authorities Act of 1956 (22 U.S.C. 2651a) is amended by adding at the 
end the following:
 ``

    (p) Special Envoy for Humanitarian Aid Workers.--
 ``

    (1) Establishment.--There shall be a Special Envoy for 
 Humanitarian Aid Workers, who shall be appointed by the 
 President and shall report to the Secretary of State.
 ``

    (2) Rank and status of ambassador.--The Special Envoy 
 shall have the rank and status of ambassador.
 ``

    (3) Duties.--The Special Envoy shall be responsible for--
 ``
        (A) inquiring into the death, fatal injury, or 
 detention of any aid worker in the course of providing 
 assistance as part of a humanitarian mission supported 
 by the United States;
 ``
        (B) advocating for the robust coordination and 
 deconfliction between humanitarian missions supported 
 by the United States, international bodies, and 
 relevant foreign security forces;
 ``
            (C) advocating for foreign countries to adopt 
 best practices, including security for aid workers, to 
 enable nongovernmental organizations to freely deliver 
 humanitarian aid and assistance;
 ``
            (D) developing and advocating, in consultation 
 with the Secretary of State, best practices for foreign 
 countries to work with humanitarian nongovernmental 
 organizations and civil society organizations; and
 ``
        (E) advocating for any other matter that supports 
 the efforts of nongovernmental organizations to provide 
 humanitarian assistance without the interference of the 
 security of a foreign country.
 ``

    (4) Report to congress.--Not later than 1 year after the 
 date of the enactment of this section, and annually thereafter, 
 the Special Envoy shall submit to the appropriate congressional 
 committees a report regarding the working environment of the 
 conflict areas in which humanitarian aid workers operate to 
 provide humanitarian assistance as part of a humanitarian 
 mission supported by the United States, including--
 ``
        (A) any security challenges that nongovernmental 
 organizations face in providing United States 
 humanitarian assistance;
 ``
        (B) the effectiveness of the United Nations 
 Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in 
 deconflicting between nongovernmental organizations 
 providing humanitarian assistance and parties to 
 conflict;
 ``
            (C) how much humanitarian assistance the United 
 States has distributed in the preceding 1-year period; 
 and
 ``
            (D) any policy recommendations.
 ``

    (5) === Definitions. ===
-In this section:
 ``
        (A) Aid worker.--The term `aid worker' means an 
 individual who provides humanitarian assistance to 
 those in need outside the United States.
 ``
        (B) Appropriate congressional committees.--The 
 term `appropriate congressional committees' means--
 ``
            (i) the Committees on Appropriations of 
 the House of Representatives and Senate;
 ``
            (ii) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of 
 the House of Representatives; and
 ``
            (iii) the Committee on Foreign Relations 
 of the Senate.''.

    (b) Report on OCHA.--

    (1) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
 the enactment of this section, the Special Envoy for 
 Humanitarian Aid Workers shall, in consultation with the 
 Secretary of State, submit to the appropriate congressional 
 committees a report regarding the effectiveness of the efforts 
 of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of 
 Humanitarian Affairs with respect to coordination and 
 deconfliction between humanitarian nongovernmental 
 organizations and foreign countries as part of a humanitarian 
 response supported by the United States.

    (2) Appropriate congressional committees defined.--In this 
 subsection, the term ``appropriate congressional committees'' 
 means--
        (A) the Committees on Appropriations of the Senate 
 and House of Representatives;
        (B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House 
 of Representatives; and
            (C) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the 
 Senate.

SEC. 2. INVESTIGATIONS INTO ANY KILLING OR FATAL INJURY OF HUMANITARIAN 
 AID WORKERS.

 Chapter 1 of part III of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 
U.S.C. 2351 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

``

SEC. 620N. PROHIBITION ON ASSISTANCE TO COUNTRIES THAT UNLAWFULLY 
 KILL OR FATALLY INJURE HUMANITARIAN AID WORKERS.

 ``

    (a) Prohibition on Assistance to Countries That Unlawfully Kill 
or Fatally Injure Humanitarian Aid Workers.--
 ``

    (1) In general.--No security assistance (as such term is 
 defined in 

section 502B) and no defense article or defense 
 service subject to the requirements of 

section 36 of the Arms 
 Export Control Act may be furnished to any foreign country if 
 the Secretary of State certifies to the appropriate 
 congressional committees that such foreign country has 
 unlawfully killed or fatally injured humanitarian aid workers 
 or refused reasonable requests to furnish relevant information 
 to the Secretary of the United States, unless the Secretary of 
 State also certifies to the appropriate congressional 
 committees that, in the determination of the Secretary, such 
 foreign country--
 ``
        (A) has taken sufficient action to investigate 
 previous violations, adopt corrective actions, take 
 effective steps to bring the responsible members of the 
 security force unit to justice, and coordinate active 
 humanitarian aid missions; and
 ``
        (B) will enable humanitarian aid workers to 
 participate in such missions without being unlawfully 
 killed or fatally injured.
 ``

    (2) Applicability.--A certification under paragraph

    (1) shall be submitted not later than 15 days before the entry into 
 effect of such certification.
 ``

    (b) Aid Worker Independent Inquiry Group.--
 ``

    (1) Establishment.--Not later than 60 days after 
 appointment of the Special Envoy for Humanitarian Aid Workers, 
 the President shall establish an interagency group, to be known 
 as the Aid Worker Independent Inquiry Group (in this section 
 referred to as the `Group'), to assess and analyze the death or 
 detention of any individual participating in an active 
 humanitarian aid mission after the date of the enactment of 
 this Act.
 ``

    (2) Membership.--The Group shall be led by the Special 
 Envoy and consist of such number of representatives as the 
 Special Envoy may determine appropriate from--
 ``
        (A) the Department of Justice;
 ``
        (B) the Department of State, including--
 ``
            (i) relevant embassies;
 ``
            (ii) the Office of Foreign Assistance; 
 and
 ``
            (iii) relevant offices under the 
 Undersecretary for Political Affairs;
 ``
            (C) the Federal Bureau of Investigation;
 ``
            (D) the Office of the Director of National 
 Intelligence; and
 ``
        (E) any other Federal department or agency that 
 the Special Envoy may determine appropriate.
 ``

    (3) Report to congress.--Not later than 90 days after the 
 incidence of a death or detention described in paragraph

    (1) , 
 the Special Envoy, in coordination with the Group, shall submit 
 to Congress a report that includes--
 ``
        (A) the cause of such death or detention;
 ``
        (B) with respect to a death--
 ``
            (i) a description of the events leading 
 up to such death;
 ``
            (ii) if the military of a foreign country 
 is responsible for causing the death of any 
 such aid worker;
 ``
            (iii) an assessment of the circumstances 
 surrounding such death, including the 
 information available to and intentions of the 
 unit of such military involved;
 ``
            (iv) information on the source of such 
 death, including the type of munitions used in 
 connection with such death, if any;
 ``
            (v) whether it is more likely than not 
 that any defense article used was transferred 
 from the United States or purchased by the 
 perpetrator from United States assistance; and
 ``
            (vi) any other detail that the Special 
 Envoy determines relevant to the circumstances 
 of the death;
 ``
            (C) with respect to a detention, information on 
 the grounds for such detention, including any criminal 
 charges and evidence against the detainee;
 ``
            (D) an assessment of the degree of cooperation 
 with the investigation of the death or detention by the 
 relevant foreign country, including whether such 
 country has furnished all requested information; and
 ``
        (E) a final assessment as to whether such death 
 or detention was consistent with the laws of the 
 international community, of the host country, and the 
 Department of Defense's Law of War Manual.
 ``
            (c) === Definitions. ===
-In this section:
 ``

    (1) Active humanitarian aid mission.--The term `active 
 humanitarian aid mission' means an ongoing, organized effort 
 outside the United States where United States humanitarian 
 assistance is being delivered or administered by the 
 international community, individual countries, or international 
 organizations to prevent and control non-political and non-
 military crises and to mitigate their effects.
 ``

    (2) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
 `appropriate congressional committees' means--
 ``
        (A) the Committees on Appropriations of the House 
 of Representatives and Senate;
 ``
        (B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House 
 of Representatives; and
 ``
            (C) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the 
 Senate.
 ``

    (3) Humanitarian aid worker.--The term `humanitarian aid 
 worker' means an individual participating in an active 
 humanitarian aid mission to provide assistance and resources to 
 those in need.
 ``

    (4) Unlawful killing.--The term `unlawful killing' means 
 the use of lethal force by a government or its agents that--
 ``
        (A) if in a state of armed conflict, is 
 inconsistent with the requirements of international 
 humanitarian law that are enshrined as principles in 
 the United States Department of Defense Law of War 
 Manual; or
 ``
        (B) if outside of a state of armed conflict, 
 would constitute homicide as defined in 

section 1111 or 
 1112 of title 18, United States Code.''.
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