Transnational Repression Policy Act of 2023 (S.831/H.R.3654)

In the Senate, the Transnational Repression Policy Act of 2023 (S.831) was introduced on a bipartisan basis by Senators ​​Jeff Merkley (D-OR), and cosponsored by Marco Rubio (R-FL), Ben Cardin (D-MD), and Bill Hagerty (R-TN) on March 16, 2023. 

In the House, the TRP Act of 2023 (H.R.3654) was introduced on a bipartisan basis by Representatives Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Jim McGovern (D-MA) on May 24, 2023.

The bill would make it the policy of the United States:

  • To protect all persons in the United States, and all US residents abroad, from undue foreign harassment, intimidation, coercion, and surveillance;
  • To pursue criminal prosecutions, and international cooperation with like-minded partners, to hold foreign governments and individuals accountable when they unlawfully intimidate, harass, coerce, or assault U.S. persons, or collect information while acting as a foreign agent in the U.S. without notifying U.S. authorities; and
  • To prohibit the arrest or seizure of assets of any individual based solely on an INTERPOL Red Notice or Diffusion.

The bill would:

  • Require the US Department of State to include transnational repression in its Annual Human Rights Report
  • Require federal departments to develop an inter-agency government strategy to address transnational repression
  • Require training for U.S. government staff on identifying and understanding transnational repression, and authorize funding to develop related curriculum;
  • Instruct the intelligence community to identify perpetrators of transnational repression and their tools, and share information with partners
  • Establish a tip line to report instances of transnational repression, ensure that tip line staff have adequate expertise and linguistic abilities to communicate effectively with diaspora and exile communities, and require national law-enforcement agencies to engage with communities at risk
  • Require the President to identify foreign individuals engaging in transnational repression and to impose Global Magnitsky human rights sanctions on perpetrators.