Holding Russia Accountable for Malign Activities Act of 2021

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 208 To impose sanctions with respect to individuals associated with the Govern- ment of the Russian Federation who are complicit in the poisoning and repression of citizens of the Russian Federation for political motives, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES FEBRUARY 3, 2021 Mr. COONS (for himself, Mr. RUBIO, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. ROMNEY, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, and Mr. DURBIN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations A BILL To impose sanctions with respect to individuals associated with the Government of the Russian Federation who are complicit in the poisoning and repression of citizens of the Russian Federation for political motives, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Holding Russia Ac- 4 countable for Malign Activities Act of 2021’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:18 Feb 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S208.IS S208 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 208 IS SEC. 2. IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS WITH RESPECT TO THE 1 POISONING OF OPPOSITION LEADER ALEXEI 2 NAVALNY. 3 (a) IDENTIFICATION.—Not later than 90 days after 4 the date of the enactment of this Act, the President shall 5 submit to Congress a report identifying any current or 6 former official of, or other individual acting for or on be- 7 half of, the Government of the Russian Federation that 8 the President determines was involved in the poisoning on 9 August 20, 2020, of Russian opposition leader Alexei 10 Navalny or the subsequent cover-up of the poisoning. 11 (b) IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS.—With respect to 12 each official or other individual identified in the report re- 13 quired by subsection (a), the President shall impose sanc- 14 tions under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Account- 15 ability Act (subtitle F of title XII of Public Law 114– 16 328; 22 U.S.C. 2656 note) or the following sanctions: 17 (1) ASSET BLOCKING.—The President shall ex- 18 ercise all of the powers granted to the President 19 under the International Emergency Economic Pow- 20 ers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) to the extent nec- 21 essary to block and prohibit all transactions in prop- 22 erty and interests in property of the official or other 23 individual identified in the report required by sub- 24 section (a) if such property and interests in property 25 are in the United States, come within the United 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:18 Feb 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S208.IS S208 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 208 IS States, or are or come within the possession or con- 1 trol of a United States person. 2 (2) INELIGIBILITY FOR VISAS, ADMISSION, OR 3 PAROLE.— 4 (A) VISAS, ADMISSION, OR PAROLE.—An 5 alien identified in the report required by sub- 6 section (a) is— 7 (i) inadmissible to the United States; 8 (ii) ineligible to receive a visa or other 9 documentation to enter the United States; 10 and 11 (iii) otherwise ineligible to be admitted 12 or paroled into the United States or to re- 13 ceive any other benefit under the Immigra- 14 tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et 15 seq.). 16 (B) CURRENT VISAS REVOKED.— 17 (i) IN GENERAL.—An alien identified 18 in the report required by subsection (a) is 19 subject to revocation of any visa or other 20 entry documentation regardless of when 21 the visa or other entry documentation is or 22 was issued. 23 (ii) IMMEDIATE EFFECT.—A revoca- 24 tion under clause (i) shall— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:18 Feb 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S208.IS S208 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 208 IS (I) take effect immediately; and 1 (II) cancel any other valid visa or 2 entry documentation that is in the 3 alien’s possession. 4 (c) WAIVER; EXCEPTIONS; IMPLEMENTATION OF 5 SANCTIONS.— 6 (1) IMPLEMENTATION; PENALTIES.— 7 (A) IMPLEMENTATION.—The President 8 may exercise all authorities provided under sec- 9 tions 203 and 205 of the International Emer- 10 gency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1702 11 and 1704) to the extent necessary to carry out 12 this section. 13 (B) PENALTIES.—A person that violates, 14 attempts to violate, conspires to violate, or 15 causes a violation of subsection (b)(1), or any 16 regulation, license, or order issued to carry out 17 that subsection, shall be subject to the penalties 18 set forth in subsections (b) and (c) of section 19 206 of the International Emergency Economic 20 Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1705) to the same ex- 21 tent as a person that commits an unlawful act 22 described in subsection (a) of that section. 23 (2) NATIONAL SECURITY WAIVER.—The Presi- 24 dent may waive the application of sanctions under 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:18 Feb 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S208.IS S208 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 208 IS this section with respect to a person if the President 1 determines and certifies to Congress that such a 2 waiver is in the national security interests of the 3 United States. 4 (3) EXCEPTIONS.— 5 (A) EXCEPTION FOR INTELLIGENCE AC- 6 TIVITIES.—Sanctions under this section shall 7 not apply to any activity subject to the report- 8 ing requirements under title V of the National 9 Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3091 et seq.) 10 or any authorized intelligence activities of the 11 United States. 12 (B) EXCEPTION TO COMPLY WITH INTER- 13 NATIONAL OBLIGATIONS.—Sanctions under sub- 14 section (b)(2) shall not apply with respect to an 15 alien if admitting or paroling the alien into the 16 United States is necessary to permit the United 17 States to comply with the Agreement regarding 18 the Headquarters of the United Nations, signed 19 at Lake Success June 26, 1947, and entered 20 into force November 21, 1947, between the 21 United Nations and the United States, or other 22 applicable international obligations. 23 (C) EXCEPTION RELATING TO THE IMPOR- 24 TATION OF GOODS.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:18 Feb 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S208.IS S208 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 208 IS (i) IN GENERAL.—The authorities and 1 requirements to impose sanctions author- 2 ized under this section shall not include 3 the authority or a requirement to impose 4 sanctions on the importation of goods. 5 (ii) GOOD DEFINED.—In this subpara- 6 graph, the term ‘‘good’’ means any article, 7 natural or manmade substance, material, 8 supply, or manufactured product, including 9 inspection and test equipment, and exclud- 10 ing technical data. 11 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 12 (1) ADMISSION; ADMITTED; ALIEN.—The terms 13 ‘‘admission’’, ‘‘admitted’’, and ‘‘alien’’ have the 14 meanings given those terms in section 101 of the 15 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101). 16 (2) UNITED STATES PERSON.—The term 17 ‘‘United States person’’ means— 18 (A) an individual who is a United States 19 citizen or an alien lawfully admitted for perma- 20 nent residence to the United States; 21 (B) an entity organized under the laws of 22 the United States or any jurisdiction within the 23 United States, including a foreign branch of 24 such an entity; or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:18 Feb 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S208.IS S208 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 208 IS (C) any person in the United States. 1 SEC. 3. REPORT ON THE ASSASSINATION OF BORIS 2 NEMTSOV. 3 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact- 4 ment of this Act, the Secretary of State, in coordination 5 with the Director of National Intelligence, shall submit to 6 Congress a report detailing the circumstances of the assas- 7 sination on February 27, 2015, of Russian opposition 8 leader Boris Nemtsov, including— 9 (1) a list of the individuals the Secretary deter- 10 mines to have been involved in the assassination as 11 perpetrators or as having organized or directed the 12 assassination; 13 (2) a description of what measures, if any, have 14 been taken by the Government of the Russian Fed- 15 eration to investigate the assassination and bring the 16 individuals described in paragraph (1) to justice; 17 and 18 (3) an assessment of the effectiveness of those 19 measures. 20 SEC. 4. REPORT ON PERSONAL WEALTH OF VLADIMIR 21 PUTIN AND HIS FAMILY MEMBERS. 22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 23 date of the enactment of this Act, the President shall sub- 24 mit to Congress a report on the sources and extent of the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:18 Feb 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S208.IS S208 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 208 IS personal wealth of the President of the Russian Federa- 1 tion, Vladimir Putin, and his family members. 2 (b) PERSONAL WEALTH.—The report required by 3 subsection (a) shall include an assessment of the assets, 4 investments, bank accounts, other business interests, and 5 relevant beneficial ownership information of Vladimir 6 Putin and his family members. 7 (c) FORM.—The report required by subsection (a) 8 shall be submitted in unclassified form but may include 9 a classified annex. 10 SEC. 5. DIPLOMATIC ENGAGEMENT WITH GERMANY WITH 11 RESPECT TO SUPPORT FOR NORD STREAM 2 12 PIPELINE. 13 It is the sense of Congress that the Secretary of State 14 should urge the Government of Germany to withdraw its 15 support for the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from the Rus- 16 sian Federation, emphasizing the impropriety of involve- 17 ment in a project that will support a government that 18 murders its citizens for highlighting corruption and other 19 abuses, while at the same making Europe more reliant on 20 the destabilizing and untrustworthy leadership of the Rus- 21 sian Federation. 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:18 Feb 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S208.IS S208 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 208 IS SEC. 6. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON IMPOSITION OF ADDI- 1 TIONAL SANCTIONS RELATING TO RECENT 2 USE OF NOVICHOK IN THE RUSSIAN FEDERA- 3 TION. 4 It is the sense of Congress that the President 5 should— 6 (1) make a determination under section 306(a) 7 of the Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and 8 Warfare Elimination Act of 1991 (22 U.S.C. 9 5604(a)) with respect to whether the recent use of 10 Novichok on August 20, 2020, against Russian op- 11 position leader Alexei Navalny by the Government of 12 the Russian Federation constituted the use of chem- 13 ical or biological weapons in violation of inter- 14 national law or the use of lethal chemical or biologi- 15 cal weapons against its own nationals as described 16 in that section; and 17 (2) if the President makes an affirmative deter- 18 mination under paragraph (1), impose the sanctions 19 required by section 307 of that Act (22 U.S.C. 20 5605). 21 SEC. 7. CALLING FOR RELEASE OF ALEXEI NAVALNY AND 22 OTHER POLITICAL PRISONERS FROM POLITI- 23 CALLY MOTIVATED DETENTION. 24 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con- 25 gress that authorities of the Government of the Russian 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:18 Feb 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S208.IS S208 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 208 IS Federation detained opposition leader Alexei Navalny on 1 false charges when he returned to Moscow on January 17, 2 2021, after receiving treatment for Novichok poisoning in 3 Germany. 4 (b) CALLING FOR RELEASE OF POLITICAL PRIS- 5 ONERS.—Congress calls on the Government of the Russian 6 Federation to immediately release Navalny and all other 7 political prisoners in the Russian Federation currently im- 8 prisoned for exercising their fundamental rights. 9 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:18 Feb 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S208.IS S208 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS