“A bill to authorize the imposition of sanctions with respect to the Houthis, and for other purposes.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section expresses the sense of Congress that (1) Houthi efforts to indoctrinate Yemenis into a violent, anti-Semitic, and extremist worldview threaten a Yemeni-led peace process and regional stability; and (2) providing support to the Houthis in Yemen—including for such indoctrination, coercion, or forced conformance—is counter to U.S. policy.
This section directs the Secretary of State to submit to the appropriate congressional committees, not later than 180 days after enactment of this Act, a report on (1) Houthi efforts to indoctrinate Yemenis into a violent, anti-Semitic, or extremist worldview; and (2) the long-term threat this indoctrination campaign poses to regional stability.
This section directs the Secretary of State to submit to the appropriate congressional committees, not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, a report on obstacles to the provision of humanitarian aid by international organizations and nongovernmental organizations in areas of Yemen under de facto Houthi control. The report must include (1) an identification of challenges to aid distribution created by Houthi-enforced rules, regulations, and bureaucracy regarding access and freedom of movement, and their overall impact on the international community's ability to distribute aid consistent with basic humanitarian principles; (2) an assessment of Houthi interference in aid delivery, including manipulation of beneficiary lists or data for political or military purposes and its implications for civilian needs; (3) an evaluation of the Houthis' use of violence and intimidation against humanitarian workers and diplomats, including current and former U.S. embassy locally employed staff; and (4) an overview of steps by the United States and its partners to ensure unhindered aid delivery consistent with humanitarian principles, including responses by U.S.-supported organizations to Houthi diversion or interference. The report covers the period beginning January 1, 2020, and ending 90 days after the date of enactment.
This section directs the Secretary of State to submit to the appropriate congressional committees, not later than 180 days after enactment of this Act, a report on human rights abuses committed by the Houthis—including gender-based discrimination and violence—specifically covering (1) Mahram regulations, (2) recruitment and use of child soldiers, (3) enforced disappearance, (4) prolonged and arbitrary detention, (5) conduct amounting to torture, and (6) unlawful killing. The report addresses the period beginning March 1, 2015, and ending 90 days after enactment.
This section directs the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury, to submit to the appropriate congressional committees, not later than 180 days after enactment and annually thereafter, a determination on whether specified foreign persons meet the criteria for sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act (i.e., asset blocking and visa restrictions on foreign persons responsible for gross human rights violations or significant corruption) or are responsible for gross violations of internationally recognized human rights (as defined in 22 U.S.C. 2304(d)(1)). Specified foreign persons are Houthi members who knowingly (1) impose unlawful restrictions on the delivery of humanitarian assistance in Yemen or (2) engage in the human rights abuses described in section 5(a).
This section directs the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury, to submit to the appropriate congressional committees, not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act and annually thereafter, a determination on whether foreign persons who are members of the Houthis and are responsible for, complicit in, or provide financial, material, or technological support for the hostage-taking or wrongful detention of U.S. nationals abroad meet the criteria for sanctions under the Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act (i.e., sanctions against foreign persons responsible for or complicit in such acts) and Executive Order 14078.
This section defines key terms for purposes of the Act, including (1) appropriate congressional committees as the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Senate Committee on Appropriations, House Committee on Foreign Affairs, and House Committee on Appropriations; (2) foreign person as a person that is not a United States person; (3) Houthis as persons officially known as “Ansarallah”; (4) person as an individual or entity; and (5) United States person as a U.S. national, an alien lawfully present in the United States, or an entity organized under U.S. or state laws (including a foreign branch of such an entity).