PROTECT Hong Kong Act
Latest action · Oct 16, 2019 Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedSep 10, 2019
- Passed HouseOct 15, 2019
- Passed SenateNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Placing Restrictions on Teargas Exports and Crowd Control Technology to Hong Kong Act or the PROTECT Hong Kong Act
This bill directs the President to prohibit the issuance of licenses to export certain defense items and services to the Hong Kong Police Force or the Hong Kong Auxiliary Police Force.
Items subject to the prohibition include defense articles and services on the U.S. Munitions List and certain crime-control and detection technology and software.
The prohibition shall not apply to a particular license if the President certifies to Congress that the covered exports are important to U.S. national interests and foreign policy goals. The prohibitions shall terminate when the President certifies to Congress that (1) the covered Hong Kong forces have not engaged in gross human rights violations for the one-year period leading up to the certification, (2) there has been an independent examination of human rights concerns related to the covered forces' crowd-control tactics, and (3) and the Hong Kong government has adequately addressed such concerns.
The Department of State and the Department of Commerce shall report to Congress as to items subject to the prohibition that have been exported to the Hong Kong forces covered in the bill in the last five years.
Cosponsors 32
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Sep 10, 2019 to Oct 15, 2019; 2 are original cosponsors, there from the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| R-NJ | Christopher H. Smith | Original | Sep 10, 2019 |
| D-CA | Ro Khanna | Original | Sep 10, 2019 |
| D-NJ | Albio Sires | Sep 11, 2019 | |
| D-RI | David N. Cicilline | Sep 11, 2019 | |
| D-CA | Juan Vargas | Sep 11, 2019 | |
| D-NY | Nita M. Lowey | Sep 11, 2019 | |
| D-NJ | Tom Malinowski | Sep 11, 2019 | |
| D-MA | William R. Keating | Sep 11, 2019 | |
| D-CA | Brad Sherman | Sep 16, 2019 | |
| D-MN | Ilhan Omar | Sep 16, 2019 | |
| D-TX | Vicente Gonzalez | Sep 16, 2019 | |
| D-MI | Andy Levin | Sep 17, 2019 | |
| D-DC | Eleanor Holmes Norton | Sep 17, 2019 | |
| R-TN | Mark E. Green | Sep 17, 2019 | |
| R-NC | Mark Meadows | Sep 17, 2019 | |
| D-NY | Thomas R. Suozzi | Sep 17, 2019 | |
| D-NY | Adriano Espaillat | Sep 24, 2019 | |
| D-CA | Anna G. Eshoo | Sep 24, 2019 | |
| D-NY | Gregory W. Meeks | Sep 24, 2019 | |
| R-WI | Mike Gallagher | Sep 24, 2019 | |
| R-NY | Peter T. King | Sep 24, 2019 | |
| D-TX | Sheila Jackson Lee | Sep 24, 2019 | |
| R-FL | Ted S. Yoho | Sep 24, 2019 | |
| D-CA | Zoe Lofgren | Sep 24, 2019 | |
| D-NY | Eliot L. Engel | Sep 25, 2019 | |
| D-MN | Dean Phillips | Oct 4, 2019 | |
| D-CA | Jim Costa | Oct 4, 2019 | |
| D-VA | Abigail Davis Spanberger | Oct 15, 2019 | |
| D-CA | Barbara Lee | Oct 15, 2019 | |
| D-GA | Henry C. "Hank" Johnson, Jr. | Oct 15, 2019 | |
| D-MA | Lori Trahan | Oct 15, 2019 | |
| R-TX | Van Taylor | Oct 15, 2019 |
Committees 2
Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.
| Chamber | Committee | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| House | Foreign Affairs Committee | Referred Sep 10, 2019Markup Sep 25, 2019 |
| Senate | Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee | Referred Oct 16, 2019 |
Actions 11
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Oct 16, 2019Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
- Oct 15, 2019Mr. Sherman moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended.
- Oct 15, 2019Considered under suspension of the rules. (consideration: CR H8124-8127)
- Oct 15, 2019DEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on H.R. 4270.
- Oct 15, 2019Passed/agreed to in House: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote. (text: CR H8124-8125)
In the Congressional Record 1
Days the Record’s own index lists this bill, newest first, with the pages and the members it names. Pages starting H are the House, S the Senate, E Extensions of Remarks.
| Where | In the Record | Members | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| House | Debate and remarks H8117–H8119, H8124–H8127, H8140Text printed H8124Notices H8141Estimated budget effects of H.R. 4270, Placing Restrictions on Teargas Exports and Crowd Control Technology to (PROTECT) Hong Kong Act | Brad Sherman D-CA, Christopher H. Smith R-NJ, Doug LaMalfa R-CA, Eliot L. Engel D-NY, J. French Hill R-AR, James P. McGovern D-MA, John A. Yarmuth D-KY, Nancy Pelosi D-CA, Sheila Jackson Lee D-TX, Ted S. Yoho R-FL | Oct 15, 2019 |
Research
What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.
Congressional Budget Office cost estimate
- Oct 9, 2019H.R. 4270, Placing Restrictions on Teargas Exports and Crowd Control Technology to Hong Kong ActAs ordered reported by the House Committee on Foreign Affairs on September 25, 2019
Constitutional authority
The sponsor’s statement, as printed in the Congressional Record, vol. 165, no. 144, September 10, 2019, page H7597.
Printed hearings 3
Hearings whose printed record names this bill, newest first: hearings on it, and wider hearings where it came up.
| Number | Hearing | Committee | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| S. Hrg. 116-320 | CRISIS IN HONG KONG: A REVIEW OF U.S. POLICY TOOLS99 pages | Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee | Jun 4, 2020 |
| Serial No. 116-67 | MARKUP OF H. RES. 543, H.R. 3289, H.R. 4270, H. RES. 517, H. RES. 387,H. RES. 552, AND H. RES. 521117 pages | Foreign Affairs Committee | Sep 25, 2019 |
| — | HONG KONG'S SUMMER OF DISCONTENT AND U.S. POLICY RESPONSES82 pages | Congressional-Executive Commission on China | Sep 17, 2019 |
CRS reports 3
Congressional Research Service work that CRS links to this bill or the law it became, newest first.
Cite it 3
Products on other subjects that cite it, usually among other measures.
| Product | Title | Kind | Published |
|---|---|---|---|
| R46473 | China’s National Security Law for Hong Kong: Issues for Congress Archived | Report | Aug 3, 2020 |
| IF10956 | Hong Kong: Recent Developments and U.S. Relations Archived | Resource | Jan 6, 2020 |
| IF11248 | Hong Kong’s Proposed Extradition Law Amendments Archived | Resource | Oct 23, 2019 |
Titles 8
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- To prohibit commercial exports of certain nonlethal crowd control items and defense articles and services to the Hong Kong Disciplined Services, and for other purposes.
- Official Titles as Amended by House
- To prohibit commercial exports of certain nonlethal crowd control items and defense articles and services to the Hong Kong Police, and for other purposes.
- Short Title(s) as Introduced
- Placing Restrictions on Teargas Exports and Crowd Control Technology to Hong Kong Act
- PROTECT Hong Kong Act
- Short Title(s) as Passed House
- PROTECT Hong Kong Act
- Placing Restrictions on Teargas Exports and Crowd Control Technology to Hong Kong Act
- Short Titles from RFS (Referred to Senate) bill text
- PROTECT Hong Kong Act
- Placing Restrictions on Teargas Exports and Crowd Control Technology to Hong Kong Act
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: International Affairs.
- Asia
- China
- Congressional oversight
- Crime prevention
- Foreign aid and international relief
- Hong Kong
- Human rights
- International Affairs
- Law enforcement administration and funding
- Licensing and registrations
- Military assistance, sales, and agreements
- Presidents and presidential powers, Vice Presidents
- Protest and dissent
- Trade restrictions
Text 3
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Oct 16, 2019Referred in Senate
- Oct 15, 2019Engrossed in House
- Sep 10, 2019Introduced in House
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.
