S962-118

Introduced

To protect individuals who face reprisals for defending human rights and democracy by enhancing the capacity of the United States Government to prevent, mitigate, and respond in such cases.

118th Congress Introduced Mar 23, 2023

Summary

What This Bill Does

The bill provides definitions In this Act— The term appropriate congressional committees means the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives, requires statement of policy It shall be the policy of the United States— to reaffirm the commitment of the United States to the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders and to human rights defenders, who, and provides development of a government-wide strategy for human rights defenders. It relies on compliance mandates, reporting requirements, appropriations, and definition changes. The main policy areas are Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, Criminal Justice, and Environment.

Who Benefits and How

Public beneficiaries or protected communities affected by the clause could face reduced risk, Regulated entities and members of the public affected by the bill could gain revenue opportunities, and Foreign affairs agencies and foreign-policy stakeholders affected by the bill could gain revenue opportunities.

Who Bears the Burden and How

Federal, state, or local agencies responsible for implementing the clause would take on compliance duties, Law enforcement, justice-system actors, and affected communities would take on compliance duties, and Foreign businesses and cross-border trade participants affected by the bill would take on compliance duties.

Key Provisions

  • Provides definitions In this Act— The term appropriate congressional committees means the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives.
  • Requires statement of policy It shall be the policy of the United States— to reaffirm the commitment of the United States to the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders and to human rights defenders, who...
  • Provides development of a government-wide strategy for human rights defenders.
  • Requires protecting human rights defenders at the United Nations and other multilateral bodies.
  • Requires annual country reports on human rights practices Section 116(f)(1) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C.

Evidence Chain:

This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.

At a Glance

What This Bill Does

The bill provides definitions In this Act— The term appropriate congressional committees means the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives, requires statement of policy It shall be the policy of the United States— to reaffirm the commitment of the United States to the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders and to human rights defenders, who, and provides development of a government-wide strategy for human rights defenders.

Key Policy Areas

Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, Criminal Justice, Environment

Primary Purpose

The bill provides definitions In this Act— The term appropriate congressional committees means the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives, requires statement of policy It shall be the policy of the United States— to reaffirm the commitment of the United States to the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders and to human rights defenders, who, and provides development of a government-wide strategy for human rights defenders.

Policy Domains

Foreign Affairs Foreign Policy Criminal Justice Environment

Whole bill

Identified Gains
  • Public beneficiaries or protected communities affected by the clause
  • Regulated entities and members of the public affected by the bill
  • Foreign affairs agencies and foreign-policy stakeholders affected by the bill
Model: codex-gpt-5:bulk-repair | Version: bill_summary_v2 | Source: is
Regulated entities and members of the public affected by the bill:
Public beneficiaries or protected communities affected by the clause: , , ,
Foreign affairs agencies and foreign-policy stakeholders affected by the bill:
Identified Costs
  • Federal, state, or local agencies responsible for implementing the clause
  • Law enforcement, justice-system actors, and affected communities
  • Foreign businesses and cross-border trade participants affected by the bill
  • Foreign affairs agencies and foreign-policy stakeholders affected by the bill
  • National security and critical infrastructure stakeholders affected by the bill
Model: codex-gpt-5:bulk-repair | Version: bill_summary_v2 | Source: is
Law enforcement, justice-system actors, and affected communities: ,
Federal, state, or local agencies responsible for implementing the clause: , , , ,
Foreign businesses and cross-border trade participants affected by the bill: ,
Foreign affairs agencies and foreign-policy stakeholders affected by the bill: ,
National security and critical infrastructure stakeholders affected by the bill:

Legislative Progress

Introduced
Introduced Committee Passed
Mar 23, 2023

Mr. Menendez (for himself, Mr. Cardin, Mrs. Shaheen, Mr. Coons, …

Stakeholder Effects

cui bono?

How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.

Law Enforcement
2 mentions across 2 clauses
-2 negative

Law enforcement, justice-system actors, and affected communities

6/9
sections analyzed
Full impact breakdown

Bill Structure & Actor Mappings

Who is "The Secretary" in each section?

Domains
Foreign Affairs Foreign Policy Criminal Justice Environment

We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.

Learn more about our methodology