Protecting Taxpayer Dollars from Taliban Theft Act

[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9503 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 9503

 To direct the Secretary of State and the Administrator of the United 
 States Agency for International Development to promulgate regulations 
to require all implementing partners receiving foreign assistance funds 
 with activities in Afghanistan to submit a report on any payments or 
withholdings, including for taxes, fees, duties, and utilities, made to 
  the Taliban, state-owned enterprises, or governing institutions in 
                  Afghanistan, and for other purposes.


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                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 9, 2024

  Mr. Huizenga (for himself, Mr. McCaul, Mr. Lawler, Ms. Salazar, Mr. 
 Self, Mr. Baird, Mr. Davidson, Mr. Guest, Mr. Cline, Mr. Norman, and 
 Mr. Weber of Texas) introduced the following bill; which was referred 
                  to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To direct the Secretary of State and the Administrator of the United 
 States Agency for International Development to promulgate regulations 
to require all implementing partners receiving foreign assistance funds 
 with activities in Afghanistan to submit a report on any payments or 
withholdings, including for taxes, fees, duties, and utilities, made to 
  the Taliban, state-owned enterprises, or governing institutions in 
                  Afghanistan, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Protecting Taxpayer Dollars from 
Taliban Theft Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) A May 2024 report by the Special Inspector General for 
        Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) found that the Department of 
        State and the United States Agency for International 
        Development (USAID) do not know the full scope of the taxes, 
        fees, duties, and utilities paid to the Taliban using United 
        States-funded assistance in Afghanistan.
            (2) Despite requirements in the Department of State's 
        Foreign Assistance Directive and USAID's Acquisitions 
        Regulations and Automatic Directives System, the Department of 
        State and USAID do not include tax reporting clauses in all 
        eligible awards globally, and even then, only require reporting 
        on certain value-added tax and customs duties, rather than all 
        forms of taxation.

SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY.

    It is the policy of the United States that United States taxpayer 
dollars should not be paid to the Taliban, nor should United States 
funding directly benefit the Taliban.

SEC. 4. REGULATIONS TO REQUIRE CERTAIN REPORTS FROM IMPLEMENTING 
              PARTNERS.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act--
            (1) the Secretary of State shall promulgate regulations to 
        require all implementing partners receiving foreign assistance 
        funds from the Department of State with activities in 
        Afghanistan to submit to the Department a report on any 
        payments or withholdings, including for taxes, fees, duties, 
        and utilities, made to the Taliban, state-owned enterprises, or 
        governing institutions in Afghanistan; and
            (2) the Administrator of USAID shall promulgate regulations 
        to require all implementing partners receiving foreign 
        assistance funds from USAID with activities in Afghanistan to 
        submit to USAID a report on any payments or withholdings, 
        including for taxes, fees, duties, and utilities, made to the 
        Taliban, state-owned enterprises, or governing institutions in 
        Afghanistan.
    (b) Existing Contracts, Grants, and Other Funding Awards.--Not 
later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 
Secretary of State and the Administrator of USAID shall amend existing 
contracts, grants, and other funding awards relating to Afghanistan to 
include provisions to prohibit implementing partners from making any 
payments or withholdings, including for taxes, fees, duties, and 
utilities, to the Taliban, state-owned enterprises, or governing 
institutions in Afghanistan.

SEC. 5. REPORT.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 1 year after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, and every 180 days thereafter, the Secretary of 
State and the Administrator of USAID shall submit to the appropriate 
congressional committees a report that includes a description of any 
payments or withholdings, including for taxes, fees, duties, and 
utilities, made by implementing partners to the Taliban, state-owned 
enterprises, or governing institutions in Afghanistan, including--
            (1) an identification of--
                    (A) the implementing partner making the payment;
                    (B) the state-owned enterprise or governing 
                institution to which the payment was made;
            (2) the type of payment made; and
            (3) the amount of the payment.
    (b) Appropriate Congressional Committees Defined.--In this section, 
the term ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
            (1) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of 
        Representatives; and
            (2) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate.
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