Department of State Rewards Program Update and Technical Corrections Act of 2012

I thank the gentlelady.

And I do think it's important, as we move forward here, to expand the State Department's rewards program. We have found a technique that works; and if we can deploy this in order to bring Joseph Kony to the bar of justice for the mass killings that he's committed with the Lord's Resistance Army, or if we can use it to bring to the bar of justice some of the international crime figures that would be turned in under this bill, then it could be very, very beneficial.

The bill has already passed the House. It was included as a provision in the State Department authorization bill that the House Foreign Affairs Committee moved earlier this year. I think it's regrettable that the Senate chose not to act on the House's comprehensive State Department authorization bill; but with today's action, this bill can now go to the President's desk for signature where it promises to have an immediate impact.

The House companion bill that I introduced, H.R. 4077, has enjoyed very strong bipartisan support, and I want to thank Chairman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. I want to thank Ranking Member Howard Berman and others for the support they've given to this measure.

As has been explained, this rewards program, to date, has had some very, very successful cases here; but it's been targeted mostly on those involved in drug trafficking, occasionally on terrorists.

Earlier this year, our subcommittee held a hearing where the State Department testified that one captured target, one narcoterrorist told DEA agents that he could no longer trust anyone in his organization after a reward was offered on his head.

He said, I felt like a hunted man.

And so he was turned in. Well, that was the plan--to make him feel like a hunted man, to make him feel like he could not trust anyone in his organization.

This bill would expand this program to additionally target those transnational organized criminals, those wanted for the most serious human rights abuses. Today, unfortunately, those involved in that line of work are diversifying. They're looking to sell anything to anybody. It could be arms. It could be intellectual property. It's even people. The overlap between the networks employed by criminals and employed by terrorists is growing. So this legislation helps us keep pace. And, very importantly, the legislation also allows the rewards program to target those wanted for genocide, to target those wanted for war crimes, for crimes against humanity--again, the world's worst human rights abusers.

The target of the new war crimes authority would be killers like Joseph Kony and the top commanders of the Lord's Resistance Army. This group has terrorized across Central Africa for over two decades with unspeakable crimes committed against children such as amputations committed against children, taking child soldiers, taking sex slaves. In accordance with U.S. policy, a small team of U.S. troops are currently in the field helping local forces hunt this killer. Our U.S. troops believe that a rewards program aimed at Kony could help generate intelligence and bolster their efforts. They are asking for this. They think this can make a difference on the ground. Let's answer their call and send this bill to the President for his signature.

I thank my colleagues for their support.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (S. 2318) to authorize the Secretary of State to pay a reward to combat transnational organized crime and for information concerning foreign nationals wanted by international criminal tribunals, and for other purposes.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material in the Record on this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I rise in strong support of S. 2318, the Department of State Rewards Program Update and Technical Corrections Act of 2012. This bipartisan bill is Senator Kerry's Senate companion to H.R. 4077, the House bill introduced 2 months prior by my good friend from California (Mr. Royce).

Since the 1980s, the State Department has had authority to offer rewards leading to the arrests and convictions for international narcotics trafficking, acts of terrorism, and war crimes. These reward programs have proven to be effective tools for disrupting and dismantling terrorist cells and drug cartels around the world, enjoying both high-profile and quiet successes in locating many dangerous individuals, including Ramzi Yousef, one of the perpetrators of the 1993 World Trade Center attack, Saddam Hussein's sons, and narcotrafficking commanders of the FARC in Colombia.

This bill is a critical tool in our ongoing efforts to locate Joseph Kony, the murderous head of the predatory Lord's Resistance Army, LRA, in Central Africa. This bill is a responsible, bipartisan bill that will significantly enhance our ability to fight transnational organized crime and grave human rights abuses. I urge unanimous support.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from California (Mr. Royce), the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation and Trade, and the author of the original House-side version of this bill.

I also have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I rise in support of S. 2318. I want to join my chairman in commending the author of this legislation, Senator Kerry, and my friend and colleague, Ed Royce, the incoming chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, who authored the House version of this bill and fought long and hard for it.

The chairman has described the legislation and the existing law. The bill makes two key changes in existing law. They're small, but they're very important modifications to the rewards program.

It would authorize payments for the arrest or conviction of those engaged in transnational criminal activity, including intellectual property, piracy, money laundering, trafficking in persons and arms trafficking.

Transnational organized crime poses a growing threat to U.S. economic and national security interests. According to U.N. estimates, these criminal enterprises generate hundreds of billions of dollars in illicit revenues every year. Expanding the rewards program to cover this activity is manifestly in our interest.

Second, this legislation would expand the universe of individuals targeted for their involvement in gross violations of international humanitarian law, including genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. Specifically, this bill would cover all individuals indicted by international tribunals for violations of international humanitarian law, not just those indicted by the existing tribunals for Rwanda, Sierra Leone, and the former Yugoslavia. The change is strongly supported by the Departments of Defense and State.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this important legislation.

I reserve the balance of my time.

I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 537, S. 2318.

I further ask the committee-reported substitute amendment be agreed to, the bill as amended be read a third time, and the Senate immediately proceed to a voice vote on passage of the bill as amended.

I further ask the motion to reconsider be made and laid upon the table, without any intervening action or debate and any statement be printed in the Record.