Safe Return Act

This section says the Act may be referred to as the Safe Return Act.

This section would amend section 4 of the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 (22 U.S.C. 2671), the law that covers the State Department's program of helping destitute Americans get back to the United States from abroad. It would rewrite one part of that section so that private United States citizens, lawful permanent residents of the United States, or third-country nationals could receive that kind of assistance on a grant basis, to the maximum extent practicable. It would also turn a related part of the same section from a loan program into a grant program, would make destitute lawful permanent residents of the United States eligible for that assistance alongside destitute United States citizens, and would add lawful permanent residents to another group of people covered by that same part. Separately, it would replace the word loan with grant in the introductory text of another part of that section, would replace the term borrower with grantee, and would provide that a person need only sign a written grant agreement, removing the additional loan terms that previously followed that requirement. It would also eliminate the paragraphs that had set out further terms and conditions for the loans, so those additional requirements would no longer apply now that the assistance is a grant rather than a loan. Finally, this section would require the Secretary of State to update the Repatriation Loans section of the Foreign Affairs Manual to reflect these changes.