I recently read New Bill Would Give Marco Rubio “Thought Police” Power to Revoke U.S. Passports and I wanted to read the actual amendment to the Passport Act of 1926 for myself and I thought some others might also.
I have reformatted it for markdown with hyperlinks from law.cornell.edu to laws that the amendment referenced. So that it is easier to read and cross-reference. Let me know if I made any formatting mistakes.
I want to hear everyone's thought on this.
Right now, the bill is still in committe which means that it will either be cancelled (tabled), amended further, or approved (reported). If approved, the bill will be voted on by the House and then the Senate.
Could something like this reclassify dissidents as terrorists? Maybe allow for any and all naturalized citizens to be sent to a concentration camp? Could anyone who sent political aid to the Democrats be considered a terrorist? Like what could the reprecussions be and how far might they go?
H.R. 5300, page 43
SEC. 226. NO PASSPORTS FOR TERRORISTS AND TRAFFICKERS.
The Act entitled "An Act to regulate the issue and
validity of passports, and for other purposes’’, approved
July 3, 1926 (22 U.S.C. 211a et seq.), commonly known
as the "Passport Act of 1926’’, is amended by adding at
the end the following:
"SEC. 4. AUTHORITY TO DENY OR REVOKE PASSPORT TO
INDIVIDUALS PROVIDING MATERIAL SUPPORT FOR TERRORISM.
- "(a) INELIGIBILITY.—
- "(1) ISSUANCE.—Subject to subsection (b), the
Secretary of State shall refuse to issue a passport to
any individual who—
- "(A) has been charged with or convicted of
a violation of section 2339A or 2339B of title
18, United States Code; or
- "(B) the Secretary determines has knowingly aided, assisted, abetted, or otherwise provided material support to an organization the
Secretary has designated as a foreign terrorist
organization pursuant to section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1189).
- "(2) REVOCATION.—The Secretary of State
shall, except as provided in paragraph (3)(A), revoke
a passport previously issued to any individual described in paragraph (1).
- "(3) EXCEPTIONS.—
- "(A) RETURN TO THE UNITED STATES.—
In order to facilitate the return of an individual
described in paragraph (1) to the United
States, the Secretary of State may limit a previously issued passport or passport card only
for return travel to the United States, or may
issue a limited passport or passport card that
only permits return travel to the United States,
prior to revocation under paragraph (2).
- "(B) HUMANITARIAN AND EMERGENCY
WAIVER.—The Secretary of State may issue a
passport to an individual otherwise ineligible for
such passport or subject to revocation of such
passport under this subsection if the Secretary
determines that emergency circumstances or
humanitarian needs apply.
- "(b) RIGHT OF REVIEW.—Any individual who, in accordance with this section, is denied issuance of a passport
by the Secretary of State, or whose passport is revoked
by the Secretary, may request a hearing to appeal such
denial or revocation not later than 60 days after receiving
notice of such denial or revocation.
- "(c) RIGHT OF RESTORATION.—In the event that an
individual described in paragraph (1) demonstrates during
a hearing described in subsection (b) that the individual
has been acquitted of an act described in that paragraph,
or the Secretary otherwise changes a determination described in subparagraph (B) of such paragraph, the Secretary may reissue a passport to such individual.
- "(d) REPORT.—
- "(1) IN GENERAL.—If the Secretary of State
refuses to issue or revokes a passport pursuant to
subsection (a), or if, subsequent to a hearing pursuant to subsection (b), the Secretary issues or cancels
a revocation of a passport that was the subject of
such a hearing, the Secretary shall, not later than
30 days after such refusal or revocation, or such
issuance or cancellation, submit to the Committee on
Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and
the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate
a report on such refusal, revocation, issuance, or
cancellation, as the case may be.
- "(2) FORM.—The report submitted under paragraph (1) may be submitted in classified or unclassified form.
- "(e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section—
- "(1) the term ‘passport’ includes a passport
card; and
- "(2) the term ‘material support’ means the provision of any property, tangible or intangible, or
service—
- "(A) including currency or monetary instruments or financial securities, financial services, lodging, training, expert advice or assistance, safehouses, false documentation or identification, communications equipment, facilities,
weapons, lethal substances, explosives, personnel (one or more individuals who may be or
include oneself), and transportation; and
- "(B) excluding medicine or religious materials.
- "(f) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this section may be construed—
- "(1) or applied so as to abridge the exercise of
rights guaranteed under the first amendment to the
Constitution of the United States; or
- "(2) to limit the Secretary’s ability to revoke a
passport.
- "(g) SEVERABILITY.—If any provision of this section
or the application of such provision is held by a Federal
court to be unconstitutional, the remainder of this section
and the application of such provisions to any other person
or circumstance shall not be affected.’’.
Unplugs the cord, rotates it, plugs it back in.