What This Bill Does
This bill allows the President to punish foreign individuals and organizations that carelessly create space debris (non-working objects orbiting Earth). The President can impose sanctions against those who create space debris without warning the U.S. government, whether through deliberate weapons testing or careless actions like failing to track objects properly.
##
Who It Affects
- Foreign persons (individuals and organizations outside the United States) accused of creating space debris
- Agents or supporters of those foreign persons
- Individuals from sanctioned countries seeking U.S. visas or entry
- U.S. businesses and individuals dealing with sanctioned foreign persons
- Congressional committees overseeing foreign relations, armed services, science and technology, and related areas
##
Key Provisions
- The President must report to Congress within 30 days if evidence shows a foreign person created space debris without prior notice, determining whether it happened through deliberate action or negligence like untracked collisions or improper disposal (Sec. 3(a))
- The President must impose sanctions within 90 days of submitting that report, blocking all property and assets the sanctioned person owns in the U.S. (Sec. 4(a), (b)(1))
- Sanctioned foreigners become ineligible for U.S. visas and entry, and any existing visas are immediately revoked (Sec. 4(b)(2))
- The President may terminate sanctions if credible evidence shows the person didn't create the debris, the person faced appropriate prosecution, or termination serves vital national security interests (Sec. 4(e))
- The President must submit yearly reports to Congress listing all sanctioned persons and explaining the reasons for sanctions (Sec. 5(a))
##
What Changes
If this becomes law, foreign persons determined responsible for carelessly creating space debris will face U.S. property freezes and visa denials. Congress will receive regular reports on who is sanctioned and why. The law exempts people involved in civil space cooperation agreements with U.S. agencies and allows exceptions for important law enforcement or United Nations obligations.
##
Important Definitions
- **Space debris**: Any man-made Earth-orbiting object or piece of an object that no longer works and cannot resume its intended function (Sec. 2(4))
- **Foreign person**: Any person not considered a United States person (Sec. 2(2))
- **United States person**: U.S. citizens, permanent residents, organizations formed under U.S. law, or anyone physically in the United States (Sec. 2(5))
- **Negligence examples**: Unintentional collisions of objects a person failed to track, failure to properly dispose of objects through deorbiting, or other gross negligence (Sec. 3(a)(1)(B))
##
Effective Date
Not specified in bill text
II
118TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
S. 587
To impose sanctions with respect to foreign persons responsible for the
negligent creation of space debris, and for other purposes.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
MARCH 1, 2023
Mr. RUBIO introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred
to the Committee on Foreign Relations
A BILL
To impose sanctions with respect to foreign persons respon-
sible for the negligent creation of space debris, 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 ‘‘Deterring Errant Be-
4
havior Risking International Space Act of 2023’’ or the
5
‘‘DEBRIS Act of 2023’’.
6
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
7
In this Act:
8
(1) ADMISSION; ADMITTED; ALIEN.—The terms
9
‘‘admission’’, ‘‘admitted’’, and ‘‘alien’’ have the
10
VerDate Sep 11 2014
01:46 Mar 10, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\S587.IS
S587
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
2
•S 587 IS
meanings given those terms in section 101 of the
1
Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101).
2
(2) FOREIGN PERSON.—The term ‘‘foreign per-
3
son’’ means a person that is not a United States
4
person.
5
(3) PERSON.—The term ‘‘person’’ means an in-
6
dividual or entity.
7
(4) SPACE DEBRIS.—The term ‘‘space debris’’
8
means any human-made, Earth-orbiting object or
9
fragment of an object that is nonfunctional and for
10
which there is no reasonable expectation of assuming
11
or resuming its intended function.
12
(5)
UNITED
STATES
PERSON.—The
term
13
‘‘United States person’’ means—
14
(A) a United States citizen or an alien law-
15
fully admitted for permanent residence to the
16
United States;
17
(B) an entity organized under the laws of
18
the United States or of any jurisdiction within
19
the United States, including a foreign branch of
20
such an entity; or
21
(C) any person in the United States.
22
SEC. 3. DETERMINATION BY PRESIDENT.
23
(a) IN GENERAL.—If persuasive information becomes
24
available to the executive branch indicating the substantial
25
VerDate Sep 11 2014
01:46 Mar 10, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\S587.IS
S587
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
3
•S 587 IS
possibility that a foreign person has created space debris
1
without prior notification or warning to the United States
2
Government, the President shall, not later than 30 days
3
after the executive branch receives such information, sub-
4
mit to the appropriate congressional committees a report
5
that includes—
6
(1) a determination with respect to whether
7
that foreign person is responsible for creating space
8
debris without prior notification to the United States
9
Government, through—
10
(A) deliberate action, including weapons or
11
technical testing in orbit; or
12
(B) negligence, including through—
13
(i) an unintentional collision of a
14
human-made object that the foreign person
15
failed to track;
16
(ii) a failure to properly dispose of
17
human-made objects, such as through
18
deorbiting; or
19
(iii) other gross negligence; and
20
(2) an identification of any other foreign person
21
that the President determines—
22
(A) acted as an agent of or on behalf of
23
the foreign person described in paragraph (1) in
24
VerDate Sep 11 2014
01:46 Mar 10, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\S587.IS
S587
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
4
•S 587 IS
a matter relating to the creation of the space
1
debris; or
2
(B) has materially assisted, sponsored, or
3
provided financial, material, or technological
4
support for, or goods or services in support of,
5
an activity resulting in the creation of the space
6
debris.
7
(b) CONSIDERATION OF CERTAIN INFORMATION IN
8
MAKING A DETERMINATION.—In determining whether a
9
foreign person has engaged in an activity described in sub-
10
section (a), the President shall consider—
11
(1) information provided by the chairperson and
12
ranking member of each of the appropriate congres-
13
sional committees;
14
(2) information provided by the Commander of
15
the United States Space Command; and
16
(3) credible information obtained by other coun-
17
tries and nongovernmental organizations that mon-
18
itor space debris.
19
(c) REQUESTS
BY CHAIRPERSON
AND RANKING
20
MEMBER
OF APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT-
21
TEES.—Not later than 120 days after receiving a written
22
request from the chairperson and ranking member of one
23
of the appropriate congressional committees with respect
24
VerDate Sep 11 2014
01:46 Mar 10, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\S587.IS
S587
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
5
•S 587 IS
to whether a foreign person has engaged in an activity
1
described in subsection (a), the President shall—
2
(1) determine if that person has engaged in
3
such an activity; and
4
(2) submit a report to the chairperson and
5
ranking member of that committee with respect to
6
that determination that includes—
7
(A) a statement of whether or not the
8
President imposed or intends to impose sanc-
9
tions under section 4 with respect to the per-
10
son; and
11
(B) if the President imposed or intends to
12
impose sanctions, a description of those sanc-
13
tions.
14
(d) FORM OF REPORT.—The report required by sub-
15
section (a) shall be submitted in unclassified form, but
16
may include a classified annex.
17
(e) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES DE-
18
FINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate congres-
19
sional committees’’ means—
20
(1) the Committee on Commerce, Science, and
21
Transportation and the Committee on Armed Serv-
22
ices of the Senate; and
23
VerDate Sep 11 2014
01:46 Mar 10, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\S587.IS
S587
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
6
•S 587 IS
(2) the Committee on Science, Space, and
1
Technology and the Committee on Armed Services of
2
the House of Representatives.
3
SEC. 4. IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS.
4
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after sub-
5
mitting a report under section 3(a), the President shall
6
impose the sanctions described in subsection (b) with re-
7
spect to any foreign person—
8
(1) determined under paragraph (1) of section
9
3(a) to be responsible for creating space debris; or
10
(2) identified under paragraph (2) of that sec-
11
tion.
12
(b) SANCTIONS
DESCRIBED.—The sanctions de-
13
scribed in this subsection are the following:
14
(1) BLOCKING OF PROPERTY.—
15
(A) IN GENERAL.—The President shall ex-
16
ercise all of the powers granted to the President
17
under the International Emergency Economic
18
Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) to the ex-
19
tent necessary to block and prohibit all trans-
20
actions in property and interests in property of
21
a foreign person described in paragraph (1) or
22
(2) of subsection (a) if such property and inter-
23
ests in property are in the United States, come
24
within the United States, or are or come within
25
VerDate Sep 11 2014
01:46 Mar 10, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00006
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\S587.IS
S587
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
7
•S 587 IS
the possession or control of a United States
1
person.
2
(B) INAPPLICABILITY OF NATIONAL EMER-
3
GENCY
REQUIREMENT.—The requirements of
4
section 202 of the International Emergency
5
Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701) shall
6
not apply for purposes of this section.
7
(2) INELIGIBILITY FOR VISAS, ADMISSION, OR
8
PAROLE.—
9
(A) VISAS, ADMISSION, OR PAROLE.—An
10
alien described in paragraph (1) or (2) of sub-
11
section (a) is—
12
(i) inadmissible to the United States;
13
(ii) ineligible to receive a visa or other
14
documentation to enter the United States;
15
and
16
(iii) otherwise ineligible to be admitted
17
or paroled into the United States or to re-
18
ceive any other benefit under the Immigra-
19
tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et
20
seq.).
21
(B) CURRENT VISAS REVOKED.—
22
(i) IN GENERAL.—An alien described
23
in paragraph (1) or (2) of subsection (a)
24
is subject to revocation of any visa or other
25
VerDate Sep 11 2014
01:46 Mar 10, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00007
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\S587.IS
S587
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
8
•S 587 IS
entry documentation, regardless of when
1
the visa or other entry documentation is or
2
was issued.
3
(ii) IMMEDIATE
EFFECT.—A revoca-
4
tion under clause (i) shall—
5
(I) take effect immediately; and
6
(II) automatically cancel any
7
other valid visa or entry documenta-
8
tion that is in the alien’s possession.
9
(c) IMPLEMENTATION; PENALTIES.—
10
(1) IMPLEMENTATION.—The President may ex-
11
ercise all authorities provided under sections 203
12
and 205 of the International Emergency Economic
13
Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1702 and 1704) to carry out
14
this section.
15
(2) PENALTIES.—A person that violates, at-
16
tempts to violate, conspires to violate, or causes a
17
violation of this section or any regulation, license, or
18
order issued to carry out this section shall be subject
19
to the penalties set forth in subsections (b) and (c)
20
of section 206 of the International Emergency Eco-
21
nomic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1705) to the same ex-
22
tent as a person that commits an unlawful act de-
23
scribed in subsection (a) of that section.
24
(d) EXCEPTIONS.—
25
VerDate Sep 11 2014
01:46 Mar 10, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00008
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\S587.IS
S587
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
9
•S 587 IS
(1) EXCEPTION RELATING TO CIVIL SPACE CO-
1
OPERATION.—Sanctions under subsection (b) shall
2
not apply with respect to a person that is a party
3
to an agreement relating to civil space cooperation
4
with any agency of the United States.
5
(2) EXCEPTION TO COMPLY WITH UNITED NA-
6
TIONS HEADQUARTERS AGREEMENT AND LAW EN-
7
FORCEMENT
OBJECTIVES.—Sanctions under sub-
8
section (b)(2) shall not apply with respect to an
9
alien if admitting the alien into the United States—
10
(A) would further important law enforce-
11
ment objectives; or
12
(B) is necessary to permit the United
13
States to comply with the Agreement regarding
14
the Headquarters of the United Nations, signed
15
at Lake Success June 26, 1947, and entered
16
into force November 21, 1947, between the
17
United Nations and the United States, or other
18
applicable international obligations of the
19
United States.
20
(3) EXCEPTION RELATING TO IMPORTATION OF
21
GOODS.—
22
(A) IN
GENERAL.—The requirement to
23
block and prohibit all transactions in all prop-
24
erty and interests in property under subsection
25
VerDate Sep 11 2014
01:46 Mar 10, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00009
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\S587.IS
S587
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
10
•S 587 IS
(b)(1) shall not include the authority or a re-
1
quirement to impose sanctions on the importa-
2
tion of goods.
3
(B) GOOD.—In this paragraph, the term
4
‘‘good’’ means any article, natural or manmade
5
substance, material, supply or manufactured
6
product, including inspection and test equip-
7
ment, and excluding technical data.
8
(e) TERMINATION OF SANCTIONS.—The President
9
may terminate the application of sanctions under this sec-
10
tion with respect to a person if the President determines
11
and reports to the appropriate congressional committees
12
not later than 15 days before the termination of the sanc-
13
tions that—
14
(1) credible information exists that the person
15
did not engage in the activity for which sanctions
16
were imposed;
17
(2) the person has been prosecuted appro-
18
priately for the activity for which sanctions were im-
19
posed; or
20
(3) the termination of the sanctions is in the
21
vital national security interests of the United States.
22
(f) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES DE-
23
FINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate congres-
24
sional committees’’ means—
25
VerDate Sep 11 2014
01:46 Mar 10, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00010
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\S587.IS
S587
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
11
•S 587 IS
(1) the Committee on Appropriations, the Com-
1
mittee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, the
2
Committee on Foreign Relations, the Committee on
3
Commerce, Science, and Transportation, the Com-
4
mittee on Armed Services, and the Committee on the
5
Judiciary of the Senate; and
6
(2) the Committee on Appropriations, the Com-
7
mittee on Financial Services, the Committee on For-
8
eign Affairs, the Committee on Science, Space, and
9
Technology, the Committee on Armed Services, and
10
the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of
11
Representatives.
12
SEC. 5. REPORTS TO CONGRESS.
13
(a) IN GENERAL.—The President shall submit to the
14
appropriate congressional committees, in accordance with
15
subsection (b), a report that includes—
16
(1) a list of each foreign person with respect to
17
which the President imposed sanctions pursuant to
18
section 4 during the year preceding the submission
19
of the report;
20
(2) the number of foreign persons with respect
21
to which the President—
22
(A) imposed sanctions under section 4(a)
23
during that year; and
24
VerDate Sep 11 2014
01:46 Mar 10, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00011
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\S587.IS
S587
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
12
•S 587 IS
(B) terminated sanctions under section
1
4(e) during that year;
2
(3) the dates on which such sanctions were im-
3
posed or terminated, as the case may be;
4
(4) the reasons for imposing or terminating
5
such sanctions; and
6
(5) a description of the efforts of the President
7
to encourage the governments of other countries to
8
impose sanctions that are similar to the sanctions
9
authorized by section 4.
10
(b) DATES FOR SUBMISSION.—
11
(1) INITIAL REPORT.—The President shall sub-
12
mit the initial report under subsection (a) not later
13
than 120 days after the date of the enactment of
14
this Act.
15
(2) SUBSEQUENT REPORTS.—
16
(A) IN
GENERAL.—The President shall
17
submit a subsequent report under subsection
18
(a) on April 12, or the first day thereafter on
19
which both Houses of Congress are in session,
20
of—
21
(i) the calendar year in which the ini-
22
tial report is submitted if the initial report
23
is submitted before April 12 of that cal-
24
endar year; and
25
VerDate Sep 11 2014
01:46 Mar 10, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00012
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\S587.IS
S587
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
13
•S 587 IS
(ii) each calendar year thereafter.
1
(B) FORM OF REPORT.—
2
(i) IN
GENERAL.—Each report re-
3
quired by subsection (a) shall be submitted
4
in unclassified form, but may include a
5
classified annex.
6
(ii) EXCEPTION.—The name of a for-
7
eign person to be included in the list re-
8
quired by subsection (
[Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]