Legislative Watch
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Legislative Watch reports on pending U.S. legislation relevant to human rights and humanitarian law. This list is not meant to be comprehensive. |
Local Law Enforcement Enhancement Act of 2001, S. 625
Major Sponsor: Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA)
Status: Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders on July 26, 2001
Substance: This bill increases the federal assistance available to local law enforcement in the criminal investigation and prosecution of violent crimes motivated by prejudice based on the race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, or disability of the victim. The bill authorizes the attorney general to provide assistance to state and local jurisdictions in the form of technical, forensic, prosecutorial, or financial support in the criminal investigation or prosecution of hate crimes with special emphasis on rural jurisdictions and multi-state offenders. The bill also amends the Hate Crimes Statistics Act to require the crime data published by the attorney general to include data on gender-based hate crimes.
Anti-Atrocity Alien Deportation Act, H.R. 1449
Major Sponsor: Rep. Mark Foley (R-FL)
Status: Referred to House Subcommittee on Immigration and Claims on April 19, 2001
Substance: This bill amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to make aliens who commit acts of torture or war crimes abroad inadmissible to, and removable from, the United States. The bill also establishes an Office of Special Investigations within the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, which will have authority to investigate and take legal action against any aliens found to have committed such acts.
Expressing the sense of Congress that the Government of Japan should formally issue a clear and unambiguous apology for the sexual enslavement of young women during colonial occupation, H.Con.Res. 195
Major Sponsor: Rep. Lane Evans (D-IL)
Status: Referred to House Subcommittee on East Asia and the Pacific on August 13, 2001
Substance: This resolution calls on the Government of Japan to issue an apology for the sexual enslavement of comfort women during Japan's colonial occupation of Asia, and during World War II; pay reparations to the victims; educate future generations about the crime; and publicly refute claims that the enslavement of comfort women never occurred.
Global Access to AIDS Treatment Act of 2001, S. 463
Major Sponsor: Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)
Status: Referred to Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions on March 6, 2001
Substance: This bill declares that as a matter of government policy the United States will not seek the revocation of intellectual property laws or policies that regulate pharmaceuticals or medical technologies used to treat HIV/AIDS in any country undergoing an HIV/AIDS related public health crisis. The bill conditions this policy on whether a country's laws and policies: (1) promote access to such pharmaceuticals or technologies for affected populations; and (2) provide intellectual property protection consistent with the Agreement of Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights of the Uruguay Round Agreement Act. Aimed at encouraging health professionals to provide HIV/AIDS treatment and care in developing foreign countries, the bill also establishes the Foreign HIV/AIDS Assistance Loan Repayment Program. The repayment program, administered through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, would pay or defer up to U.S.$ 5,000 in graduate education loans per year of obligated service under the program.
American Servicemembers' Protection Act of 2001, H.R. 1794/S. 857
Major Sponsors: Rep. Tom DeLay (R-TX)/Sen. Jesse Helms (R-NC)
Status: Referred to the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on May 9, 2001, and the House Committee on International Relations on May 10, 2001
Substance: This bill prohibits U.S. cooperation with the International Criminal Court (ICC). In addition, it blocks U.S. support to the ICC by restricting the transfer of classified national security information to the ICC, by prohibiting U.S. participation in peacekeeping or military operations to maintain or restore international peace and security, and by prohibiting U.S. military assistance to the ICC and its members, with the exception of NATO Members and a few non-NATO allies, such as Israel and Egypt. The bill also authorizes the president to use all means required to affect the release of U.S. and other allied persons detained by the ICC.
Sense of the Senate Regarding the Important Role of Women in the Future Reconstruction of Afghanistan, S.Amdt. 1940 to the Foreign Operations Appropriations Bill, H.R. 2506
Major Sponsor: Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA)
Status: Amendment passed on October 24, 2001
Substance: This amendment to the Foreign Operations Appropriations Bill encourages the inclusion of Afghan women organizations in the reconstruction of Afghanistan. The amendment calls on future governments of Afghanistan to ensure the following rights for women and girls: (1) participation in all aspects of civil, economic, and social life, (2) the right to work, (3) the right to receive an education free of discrimination, (4) the right to freedom of movement, and (5) equal access to healthcare. Following passage of the amendment Senator Boxer stated, "[t]he international community's effort to defeat the Taliban represents an opportunity to return women to their rightful place in Afghan society."
The proper citation for this article in the Human Rights Brief Volume 9, Issue 1, beginning at page 34 is: 9 No. 1 Hum. Rts. Brief 34 (2001).
