I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2113 To impose sanctions with respect to Kata’ib Sayyid al-Shuhada. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 19, 2021 Mr. STEUBE (for himself, Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, and Mr. BANKS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the com- mittee concerned A BILL To impose sanctions with respect to Kata’ib Sayyid al- Shuhada. 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 ‘‘Sanctioning Iranian- 4 Backed Militia Terrorists Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds the following: 7 (1) Kata’ib Sayyid al-Shuhada (KSS) is an Ira- 8 nian-backed Iraqi militia founded in 2003 by Abu 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:44 May 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2113.IH H2113 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2113 IH Mustafa al-Sheibani, who was sanctioned on Janu- 1 ary 9, 2008, by the Department of the Treasury 2 ‘‘for threatening the peace and stability of Iraq and 3 the Government of Iraq’’. Sheibani led a network 4 which according to the Department of the Treasury 5 conducted improvised explosive device attacks 6 against United States soldiers in Baghdad. 7 (2) KSS openly recognizes the Iranian Supreme 8 Leader Ali Khamanei as its spiritual leader. 9 (3) KSS is provided training, funding, and 10 arms by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps 11 (IRGC) and IRGC-Quds Forces and works closely 12 with Kata’ib Hezbollah (KH), Lebanese Hezbollah, 13 and Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq (AAH), all of which have 14 been designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations 15 by the Department of State. 16 (4) KSS has fought under the command of 17 former IRGC-Quds Forces commander Qassem 18 Soleimani. The militia has members who operate as 19 a unit of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), 20 which is a formal part of the Iraqi federal govern- 21 ment under the authority of the Prime Minister of 22 Iraq and which receives funding from the Iraqi fed- 23 eral government, including salaries. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:44 May 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2113.IH H2113 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2113 IH (5) Since its founding KSS has deployed forces 1 to Syria to engaged in military operations sup- 2 porting the Government of Syria, including 3 offensives in Daraa, Quneitera, the Damascus sub- 4 urbs, and the Aleppo countryside. 5 (6) In 2015, KSS threatened to ‘‘strike and de- 6 stroy’’ Saudi Arabia, saying in a statement: ‘‘We in 7 the Sayyid al Shuhada Battalion consider Saudi in- 8 terests a legitimate and permissible target on all lev- 9 els, and we will strike and destroy them whenever it 10 pleases us.’’. 11 (7) In August 2019, Abu Alaa al-Wala’i, a lead- 12 er of KSS, said that ‘‘All Americans will be held 13 hostage by the resistance factions in the event of a 14 war.’’. 15 (8) On February 14, 2020, the Department of 16 State announced that sanctions were imposed on 17 KSS pursuant to section 3 of the Iran, North Korea, 18 and Syria Nonproliferation Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 19 note) for engaging in illicit arms transfers to or ac- 20 quisition from Iran. 21 (9) On February 25, 2021, President Biden or- 22 dered airstrikes against infrastructure utilized by 23 Iranian-backed militias in eastern Syria in response 24 to attacks against United States personnel in Iraq. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:44 May 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2113.IH H2113 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2113 IH According to the Department of Defense’s statement 1 on February 25, 2021, ‘‘the strikes destroyed mul- 2 tiple facilities located at a border control point used 3 by a number of Iranian-backed militant groups, in- 4 cluding Kait’ib Hezbollah (KH) and Kait’ib Sayyid 5 al-Shuhada (KSS).’’. 6 SEC. 3. IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The President shall impose the 8 sanctions described in subsection (b) with respect to— 9 (1) Kata’ib Sayyid al-Shuhada; and 10 (2) any foreign person that is a member, agent, 11 or affiliate of, or owned or controlled by, Kata’ib 12 Sayyid al-Shuhada. 13 (b) SANCTIONS DESCRIBED.—The sanctions de- 14 scribed in this subsection are— 15 (1) sanctions applicable with respect to a for- 16 eign person pursuant to section 7412(b) of the Cae- 17 sar Syria Civilian Protection Act of 2019 (22 U.S.C. 18 8791 note); and 19 (2) sanctions applicable with respect to a for- 20 eign person pursuant to Executive Order 13224 (50 21 U.S.C. 1701 note; relating to blocking property and 22 prohibiting transactions with persons who commit, 23 threaten to commit, or support terrorism). 24 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:44 May 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2113.IH H2113 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS