S. 4009 — Falun Gong and Victims of Forced Organ Harvesting Protection Act

This section defines key terms for purposes of the Act, including (1) "appropriate congressional committees" as the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Senate Committees on Foreign Relations and Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs; (2) "forced organ harvesting" as the removal of one or more organs from an individual by means of coercion, abduction, deception, fraud, or abuse of power or a position of vulnerability; and (3) "organ" as having the meaning given "human organ" in section 301(c)(1) of the National Organ Transplant Act (i.e., the human kidney, liver, heart, lung, pancreas, bone marrow, cornea, eye, bone, skin, or any subpart thereof, including fetal organs or subparts specified by regulation).

This section requires the President to impose sanctions on foreign persons determined to have knowingly engaged in or facilitated forced organ harvesting in the People's Republic of China, as identified on a list to be submitted to specified congressional committees not later than 180 days after enactment (with updates as new information becomes available, annually after one year from enactment, and in unclassified form possibly with a classified annex). Sanctions include (1) blocking all property and interests in property within U.S. jurisdiction under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA; 50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.; except without prior notice under IEEPA §202), and (2) rendering listed aliens inadmissible to the U.S., ineligible for visas or parole, and subject to immediate visa revocation. This section applies IEEPA civil penalties of up to $250,000 or twice the transaction value (whichever is greater) and criminal penalties of up to $1,000,000 in fines or 20 years' imprisonment (or both, if a natural person) to violations of implementing regulations; provides exceptions for U.S. intelligence/law enforcement activities and humanitarian assistance; authorizes case-by-case national security waivers with reports to Congress every 120 days; and sunsets five years after enactment.

This section directs the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Director of the National Institutes of Health, to submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report on organ transplant policies and practices of the People's Republic of China not later than one year after enactment of this Act. The report must include (1) a summary of de jure and de facto organ transplantation policies, including with respect to prisoners of conscience (including Falun Gong practitioners), other prisoners, and victims of forced organ harvesting; (2) the annual number of known or estimated organ transplants, known or estimated voluntary donors, an assessment of organ sources, and an assessment of organ procurement times (in days) relative to the number of donors; (3) a list of all U.S. grants during the 10 years prior to enactment that supported organ transplantation research in China or U.S.-China collaborations; and (4) a determination of whether forced organ harvesting in China constitutes an "atrocity" as defined in the Elie Wiesel Genocide and Atrocities Prevention Act of 2018. The report must be submitted in unclassified form but may include a classified annex.

This section prohibits the imposition of sanctions authorized under this Act on the importation of goods. It defines a good as any article, natural or man-made substance, material, supply, or manufactured product, including inspection and test equipment but excluding technical data.