H.R. 4303

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

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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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