With respect to the requirement of clause 3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and section 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Committee has received the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 1071 from the Director of the Congressional Budget Office:
H.R. 1071 would make an alien (a non-U.S. national) inadmissible to or deportable from the United States if that person, while serving as an official of a foreign government, engaged in activities that violated the First Amendment rights of a U.S. citizen who is in the United States. The government would have to prove that if an official of the U.S. government carried out the same activities as the foreign official, that the conduct would violate a citizen's First Amendment rights. Under current law, aliens whose entry or presence the Secretary of State determines would have serious adverse foreign policy consequences are both inadmissible to and deportable from the United States. Additionally, based on data from the Department of Homeland Security and Department of State on nonimmigrant admissions and visas issued to diplomats, other officials of foreign governments, and their dependents, CBO estimates that the number of people affected by the bill would be small. Enacting H.R. 1071 would reduce direct spending because aliens who are lawfully present under current law are eligible for certain federal benefits, such as emergency Medicaid. Because a small number of people would be affected by the bill, CBO estimates that those effects would not be significant in any year and over the 2025-2035 period. CBO estimates that the cost to implement the bill would not be significant; any related spending would be subject to the availability of appropriated funds. The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Jeremy Crimm. The estimate was reviewed by H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy Director of Budget Analysis.
Phillip L. Swagel, Director, Congressional Budget Office.