Law Enforcement Support and Transnational Repression Hotline Act

Subtitle H of title VIII of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 451 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following new section:

The Secretary, in coordination with the Director of Homeland Security Investigations, shall establish a hotline to receive anonymous information from any United States person that believes such person is the victim of transnational repression or a related terrorism threat.

The Secretary, in coordination with the Director of Homeland Security Investigations, shall direct the Office of Partnership and Engagement of the Department to conduct a public service announcement campaign educating the public on the issue of transnational repression and related terrorism threats and the resources available to victims of transnational repression and related terrorism threats.

Public service announcement campaigns under paragraph (1) should be carried out in the following languages:

(A) English.

(B) Mandarin.

(C) Russian.

(D) Farsi.

(E) Arabic.

(F) Spanish.

(G) Turkish.

(H) Hindi.

(I) Urdu.

(J) Any other language determined relevant by the Director of Homeland Security Investigations.

Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this section, the Secretary, in coordination with the Under Secretary for Science and Technology of the Department, and the Director of Homeland Security Investigations, shall, to the extent practicable, carry out research and development, including operational testing, of technologies and techniques for enhancing the Department’s security and situational awareness support to Federal, State, local, Tribal, and territorial officials relating to combating transnational repression and related terrorism threats, in accordance with applicable constitutional, privacy, civil rights, and civil liberties protections.

In this section:

The term agent of a foreign government means an individual or entity that operates subject to the direction or control of—

(A) a foreign government; or

(B) an official or entity of such foreign government.

The term foreign government means the government of a foreign country.

The term transnational repression means an action of a foreign government or an agent of a foreign government that satisfies each of the following:

(A) The action involves—

(i) any effort intended to coerce, harass, or digitally or physically threaten, including by force or reasonable fear of death or serious bodily injury or imprisonment of a person or an immediate family member of a person, a person to take an action in the interest of such a foreign government;

(ii) any effort intended to harass or coerce, including by force or fear, a person to forebear from exercising their First Amendment rights or any other right guaranteed to the person by the Constitution or laws of the United States, or to retaliate against a person for having exercised such a right;

(iii) an extrajudicial killing; or

(iv) any act intended to further the efforts specified in clause (i), (ii), or (iii).

(B) The action is engaged in for or in the interests of such a foreign government.

(C) The action—

(i) occurs, in whole or in part, in the United States; or

(ii) is committed against a United States person.

The term United States person has the meaning given such term in section 1637(d)(10) of the Carl Levin and Howard P. Buck McKeon National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal year 2015 (50 U.S.C. 1708(d)(10)).

The table of contents in section 1(b) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 890D the following new item: