,i #aacth ,,congress #ast ,session ,h4 ,r4 #cebf ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of ,,representatives ,november #ah1 #bjac,mr4 ,smith of ,new ,jersey introduced the following bill2 which was referred to the ,committee on ,foreign ,affairs1 and in addition to the ,committee on the ,judiciary1 for a period to be subsequently determined by the ,speaker1 in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned ,a ,,bill ,to permit persons subject to the jurisdiction of the ,united ,states to enter into transactions with certain sanctioned foreign persons that are customary1 necessary1 and incidental to the donation or provision of goods or services to prevent or alleviate the suffering of civilian populations1 and for other purposes4 #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited as the ,humanitarian ,assistance ,facilitation ,act of #bjac4 #b4 ,findings ,congress finds the following3 7#a7 ,the #bjaa-bjab drought in ,east ,africa1 part of a persistent weather trend in the region1 was exacerbated by stagnating agricultural development and unsustainable forms of livelihood4 ,moreover1 in ,somalia1 the hardest hit country in the region1 the terrorist group al-,shabaab obstructed the delivery of humanitarian assistance and directly threatened aid agencies4 ,thus1 the famine was a foreseeable and1 with unimpeded delivery of aid1 a preventable event4 7#b7 ,it is estimated that #d million ,somalis were affected by the drought and famine in the region and several million remain vulnerable to this day4 ,according to the ,may #bjac report issued by the ,united ,nations ,food and ,agriculture ,organization and the ,famine ,early ,warning ,system ,network1 the ,somalia famine resulted in #beh1jjj deaths between ,october #bjaj and ,april #bjab4 ,more than half of those deaths were children under the age of five4 7#c7 ,because of laws prohibiting activities that may directly or indirectly support terrorist organizations1 a general or specific license issued by the ,department of the ,treasury's ,office of ,foreign ,assets ,control 7,,ofac7 is needed to enable ,united ,states humanitarian organizations to legally provide assistance in al-,shabaab-controlled areas of ,somalia particularly with respect to activities that require interactions or dealings with al-,shabaab4 7#d7 ,the ,united ,states ,agency for ,international ,development 7,,usaid7 has an ,,ofac-specific license to operate in these conditions in ,somalia that covers the organizations that ,,usaid funds1 but not organizations that operate with their own funding or funding solely from non-,united ,states ,government sources1 and also not the non-,united ,states ,government funding of organizations that operate with both ,united ,states ,government and non-,united ,states ,government funding1 unless ,,usaid authorizes both types of funding to be covered under such ,,ofac-specific license4 ,organizations that operate in al-,shabaab-controlled areas without such a license can be subject to prosecution for violating ,united ,states law1 at least with respect to activities or transactions that involve al-,shabaab1 even incidentally4 7#e7 ,prior to ,,ofac issuing ,,usaid its license1 no licenses for humanitarian assistance to the people of ,somalia were issued before the ,united ,nations declared a famine in al-,shabaab-controlled areas of ,somalia4 7#f7 ,in pursuit of eliminating aid in any form to terrorist organizations1 ,executive orders have had the effect of undoing protections for humanitarian operations in areas controlled by such organizations previously contained in the ,international ,emergency ,economic ,powers ,act 7#ej ,u4,s4,c4#agja et seq47 and sections #bcci;,a and #bcci;,b of title #ah1 ,united ,states ,code 7commonly known as the #8#8,material ,support ,statutes''74 ,furthermore1 the prohibitions contained in such ,executive orders and the ,material ,support ,statutes discouraged and1 in some instances1 prohibited donors from contributing to aid efforts for all of ,somalia4 ,in some cases1 the unintended consequences included preventing humanitarian organizations from establishing access to civilians and providing them with life-saving aid1 while empowering terrorist organizations that became the sole conduit of aid4 #c4 ,sense of ,congress ,it is the sense of ,congress that humanitarian organizations1 acting in good faith and with the appropriate restrictions and controls in place1 should not be prevented1 directly or indirectly by ,executive orders or counterterrorism laws1 from accessing and providing aid to civilian populations before or early on in humanitarian crises1 such as in the famine in al-,shabaab-controlled areas of ,somalia4 #d4 ,amendments to section #bjc of the ,international ,emergency ,economic ,powers ,act 7a7 ,additional exception 7#a7 ,in general ,section #bjc of the ,international ,emergency ,economic ,powers ,act 7#ej ,u4,s4,c4 #agjb7 is amended-- 7,a7 in subsection 7b77#b7-- 7i7 by inserting after to relieve human suffering the following3 including donations to foreign persons subject to sanctions under this ,act in order to achieve such purposes12 and 7ii7 by striking or at the end2 7,b7 by redesignating subsection 7c7 as subsection 7d72 and 7,c7 by inserting after subsection 7b7 the following3 7c7 ,additional exception 7#a7 ,in general ,the authority granted to the ,president by this section does not include the authority to further restrict1 by regulation or otherwise1 directly or indirectly-- 7,a7 transactions1 by a person subject to the jurisdiction of the ,united ,states1 with a foreign person that is subject to sanctions under this ,act that are customary1 necessary1 and incidental to the donation or provision of goods or services by the person subject to the jurisdiction of the ,united ,states or its foreign representatives to civilian populations to prevent or alleviate the suffering of such civilian populations1 if-- 7i7 the person subject to the jurisdiction of the ,united ,states has acted in good faith without intent to further the aims or objectives of the foreign person and has used its best efforts to minimize any such transactions2 7ii7 the goods or services provided to the civilian population-- 7,i7 are limited to articles such as food1 clothing1 and medicine2 and 7,,ii7 are not capable of being used to carry out any terrorist activity 7as defined in section #bab7;a77#c77;,b77iii7 of the ,immigration and ,nationality ,act 7#h ,u4,s4,c4 #aahb7;a77#c77;,b77iii7772 7iii7 the person subject to the jurisdiction of the ,united ,states-- 7,i7 prior to1 or not later than #aj business days after1 the first instance of entering into any transaction described in this subparagraph1 provides to the ,secretary of ,state initial notice summarizing the nature and extent of its operations in connection with providing such goods or services2 and 7,,ii7 at least once each year during which the person enters into any transaction described in this subparagraph1 provides to the ,secretary of ,state subsequent notice summarizing the nature and extent of its operations in connection with donating or providing such goods or services2 and 7iv7 the person1 including any director1 officer1 or employee of the person1 is not the subject of or directly named in any publicly-available debarment1 suspension1 or ,executive order that prohibits receipt of funding from the ,united ,states ,government2 and 7,b7 engaging in any speech or communication with a foreign person that is subject to sanctions under this ,act to prevent or alleviate the suffering of a civilian population1 including speech or communication to reduce or eliminate the frequency and severity of violent conflict and reducing its impact on the civilian population4 7#b7 ,rule of construction ,nothing contained in paragraph 7#a7 shall be construed to authorize the ,president to prohibit the export of standard1 commercially-available goods or services1 including communications equipment1 software and computers1 that are necessary to carry out operations related to the provision of goods or services to prevent or alleviate the suffering of civilian populations that are under the control of a foreign person subject to sanctions under this ,act4 4 7#b7 ,effective date ,the amendments made by paragraph 7#a7 take effect on the date of enactment of this ,act and apply with respect to transactions described in section #bjc7;c77#a7 of the ,international ,emergency ,economic ,powers ,act1 as added by paragraph 7#a71 entered into on or after such date of enactment4 7b7 ,advisory ,council ,to ,prevent and ,alleviate ,human ,suffering in ,areas ,under the ,control of ,certain ,sanctioned ,foreign ,persons ,section #bjc of the ,international ,emergency ,economic ,powers ,act 7#ej ,u4,s4,c4#agjb71 as amended by subsection 7a7 of this section1 is further amended by adding at the end the following3 7e7 ,advisory ,council ,to ,prevent and ,respond to ,human ,suffering in ,areas ,affected by ,certain ,sanctioned ,foreign ,persons 7#a7 ,establishment ,no later than #ij days after the date of enactment of the ,humanitarian ,assistance ,facilitation ,act of #bjac1 the ,secretary of ,state shall1 in consultation with the ,attorney ,general1 ,secretary of ,defense1 ,secretary of the ,treasury and the ,secretary of ,commerce1 establish an ,advisory ,council on ,united ,states ,policy ,related to ,non-,governmental ,activities to ,prevent and ,respond to ,human ,suffering in ,areas ,affected ,by ,certain ,sanctioned ,foreign ,persons 7hereafter in this subsection referred to as the ,advisory ,council74 7#b7 ,membership ,the ,advisory ,council shall be composed of not less than #ae members appointed by the ,secretary of ,state from among individuals who are experts in the fields of peace-building1 humanitarian aid in areas of armed conflict1 representatives from organizations directly involved in the delivery of aid in areas of armed conflict1 and other experts with relevant expertise as determined by the ,secretary of ,state4 7#c7 ,duties ,the ,advisory ,council shall-- 7,a7 review existing laws1 regulations1 ,executive orders1 and administrative actions regulating or prohibiting1 directly or indirectly1 peacebuilding activities and the provision of humanitarian aid and development assistance in areas under the control of foreign persons that are subject to sanctions under ,united ,states law2 7,b7 conduct additional research and study as necessary on the subjects of counter-terrorism and security measures in relation to the delivery of humanitarian aid and development assistance2 7,c7 report to the ,secretary of ,state on its findings2 and 7,d7 make recommendations to the ,secretary of ,state and other officials described in paragraph 7#a7 7as appropriate7 on the most efficient and effective means of limiting diversion of humanitarian aid and development assistance while also preserving the impartiality of humanitarian aid and development assistance and the ability of humanitarian organizations to prevent and relieve human suffering of civilian populations4 7#d7 ,termination ,section #ad7;a77#b7 of the ,federal ,advisory ,committee ,act 7#e ,u4,s4,c4 ,app47 7relating to termination of advisory committees7 shall not apply to the ,advisory ,council4 4 #e4 ,amendments to section #bcci;,b of title #ah1 ,united ,states ,code 7a7 ,definition of material support or resources ,section #bcci;,b7g77#d7 of title #ah1 ,united ,states ,code1 is amended by adding at the end before the semicolon the following3 1 except that such term does not include engaging in speech or communication with a terrorist organization to prevent or alleviate the suffering of a civilian population1 including speech or communication to reduce or eliminate the frequency and severity of violent conflict and reducing its impact on the civilian population4 7b7 ,additional exception ,section #bcci;,b7j7 of title #ah1 ,united ,states ,code1 is amended-- 7#a7 by striking ,no person and inserting the following3 7#a7 ,in general ,no person 2 and 7#b7 by adding at the end the following3 7#b7 ,additional exception ,no person may be prosecuted under this section in connection with knowingly providing material support or resources to a foreign terrorist organization1 or attempting or conspiring to do so1 if-- 7,a7 the material support or resources consists only of transactions that are customary1 necessary1 and incidental to the donation or provision of goods or services by persons who are not controlled by the foreign terrorist organization to civilian populations1 if-- 7i7 the goods or services are limited articles such as food1 clothing1 and medicine intended to be used to relieve human suffering2 and 7ii7 the goods or services are not capable of being used to carry out any terrorist activity 7as defined in section #bab7;a77#c77;,b77iii7 of the ,immigration and ,nationality ,act 7#h ,u4,s4,c4 #aahb7;a77#c77;,b77iii7772 7,b7 the person1 in donating or providing such goods or services to the civilian population1 acts in good faith without intent to further the aims or objectives of the foreign terrorist organization and uses its best efforts to minimize any transaction with a foreign terrorist organization2 7,c7 the person-- 7i7 prior to1 or not later than #aj business days after1 the first instance of entering into any transaction described in subparagraph 7,a71 provides to the ,secretary of ,state notice summarizing the nature and extent of its operations in connection with providing such goods or services2 and 7ii7 at least once each year during which the person enters into any transaction described in subparagraph 7,a71 provides to the ,secretary of ,state notice summarizing the nature and extent of its operations in connection with providing such goods or services2 and 7,d7 the person donating or providing such goods or services1 including any director1 officer1 or employee of the person is not the subject of or directly named in any publicly-available debarment1 suspension1 or ,executive order that prohibits receipt of funding from the ,federal ,government4 4 7#c7 ,effective date ,the amendments made by paragraphs 7#a7 and 7#b7 take effect on the date of enactment of this ,act and apply with respect to transactions described in section #bcci;,b7j77#b7 of title #ah1 ,united ,states ,code1 as added by paragraph 7#b71 entered into on or after such date of enactment4