U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to sign into law a genocide prevention act named after Holocaust survivor and Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel, i24NEWS reports.

The Elie Wiesel Genocide and Atrocities Prevention Act, a bipartisan initiative which aims to improve US response to emerging or potential genocides and deems the prevention of such atrocities a matter of national security interest, passed final votes in the Senate and the House of Representatives last week.

The bill was first introduced in Congress in June 2017 by New York Democrat Joe Crowley and Missouri Republican Ann Wagner, and was promoted in the Senate by Maryland Democrat Ben Cardin and Indiana Republican Todd Young, both of whom serve as members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

The legislation will establish an inter-agency Mass Atrocities Task Force and facilitate training for US Foreign Service agents on detecting early signs of atrocities.

“America’s strength around the world is rooted in our values. It is in our national interest to ensure that the United States utilizes the full arsenal of diplomatic, economic, and legal tools to take meaningful action before atrocities occur,” a statement issued by Cardin’s office said.

The legislation bears the name of Elie Wiesel, a Romanian-born Holocaust survivor who went on to become a world-famous political activist who authored more than 50 books including a memoir, "Night", detailing his experiences in the Auschwitz concentration camp.

Wiesel received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986 for his campaigning for remembrance of the Holocaust and other acts of genocide in Rwanda, the former Yugoslavia, Sudan and the Armenian Genocide.

He died in 2016, aged 87.