Hamas International Financing Prevention Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3685 To impose sanctions with respect to foreign support for terrorist organizations, including Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 4, 2021 Mr. GOTTHEIMER (for himself and Mr. MAST) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provi- sions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To impose sanctions with respect to foreign support for ter- rorist organizations, including Hamas and the Pales- tinian Islamic Jihad. 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 ‘‘Hamas International 4 Financing Prevention Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 6 It shall be the policy of the United States— 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:16 Jun 29, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3685.IH H3685 lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3685 IH (1) to prevent Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic 1 Jihad, or any affiliate or successor thereof from ac- 2 cessing its international support networks; and 3 (2) to oppose Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic 4 Jihad, or any affiliate or successor thereof from at- 5 tempting to use goods, including medicine and dual 6 use items, to smuggle weapons and other materials 7 to further acts of terrorism. 8 SEC. 3. IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS WITH RESPECT TO FOR- 9 EIGN PERSONS AND AGENCIES AND INSTRU- 10 MENTALITIES OF FOREIGN STATES SUP- 11 PORTING HAMAS, THE PALESTINIAN ISLAMIC 12 JIHAD, OR ANY AFFILIATE OR SUCCESSOR 13 THEREOF. 14 (a) IDENTIFICATION.— 15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 16 after the date of the enactment of this Act, and an- 17 nually thereafter for a period not to exceed 3 years, 18 the President shall submit to the appropriate con- 19 gressional committees a report that identifies each 20 foreign person or agency or instrumentality of a for- 21 eign state that the President determines— 22 (A) knowingly assists in, sponsors, or pro- 23 vides significant financial or material support 24 for, or financial or other services to or in sup- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:16 Jun 29, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3685.IH H3685 lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3685 IH port of, the terrorist activities of any person de- 1 scribed in paragraph (2); or 2 (B) directly or indirectly, knowingly and 3 materially engaged in a significant transaction 4 with any person described in paragraph (2). 5 (2) PERSON DESCRIBED.—A person described 6 in this paragraph is a foreign person that the Presi- 7 dent determines— 8 (A) is a senior member of Hamas, the Pal- 9 estinian Islamic Jihad, or any affiliate or suc- 10 cessor thereof; 11 (B) is a senior member of a foreign ter- 12 rorist organization designated pursuant to sec- 13 tion 219 of the Immigration and Nationality 14 Act (8 U.S.C. 1189) whose members directly or 15 indirectly support the terrorist activities of 16 Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, or any 17 affiliate or successor thereof by knowingly en- 18 gaging in a significant transaction with, or pro- 19 viding financial or material support for Hamas, 20 the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, or any affiliate 21 or successor thereof, or any person described in 22 subparagraph (A); or 23 (C) directly or indirectly, supports the ter- 24 rorist activities of Hamas, the Palestinian Is- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:16 Jun 29, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3685.IH H3685 lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3685 IH lamic Jihad, or any affiliate or successor there- 1 of by knowingly and materially assisting, spon- 2 soring, or providing financial or material sup- 3 port for, or goods or services to or in support 4 of, Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, or 5 any affiliate or successor thereof, or any person 6 described in subparagraph (A) or (B). 7 (3) FORM OF REPORT.—Each report required 8 under paragraph (1) shall be submitted in unclassi- 9 fied form, but may contain a classified annex. 10 (4) EXCEPTION.— 11 (A) IN GENERAL.—The President shall not 12 be required to identify a foreign person or an 13 agency or instrumentality of a foreign state in 14 a report pursuant to paragraph (1)(B) if— 15 (i) the foreign person or agency or in- 16 strumentality of a foreign state notifies the 17 United States Government in advance that 18 it proposes to engage in a significant 19 transaction as described in paragraph 20 (1)(B); and 21 (ii) the President determines and noti- 22 fies the appropriate congressional commit- 23 tees in a classified form not less than 15 24 days prior to the foreign person or agency 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:16 Jun 29, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3685.IH H3685 lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3685 IH or instrumentality of a foreign state engag- 1 ing in the significant transaction that the 2 significant transaction is in the national 3 interests of the United States. 4 (B) NON-APPLICABILITY.—Subparagraph 5 (A) shall not apply with respect to— 6 (i) an agency or instrumentality of a 7 foreign state which the Secretary of State 8 determines has repeatedly provided support 9 for acts of international terrorism pursu- 10 ant to section 1754(c) of the Export Re- 11 form Control Act of 2018, section 40 of 12 the Arms Export Control Act, section 13 620A of the Foreign Assistance Act of 14 1961, or any other provision of law; or 15 (ii) any significant transaction de- 16 scribed in paragraph (1)(B) that involves, 17 directly or indirectly, a foreign state de- 18 scribed in clause (i). 19 (b) IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS.— 20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The President shall impose 21 two or more of the sanctions described in paragraph 22 (2) with respect to a foreign person or an agency or 23 instrumentality of a foreign state identified pursuant 24 to subsection (a). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:16 Jun 29, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3685.IH H3685 lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3685 IH (2) SANCTIONS DESCRIBED.—The sanctions re- 1 ferred to in paragraph (1) are the following: 2 (A) The President may direct the Export- 3 Import Bank of the United States not to give 4 approval to the issuance of any guarantee, in- 5 surance, extension of credit, or participation in 6 the extension of credit in connection with the 7 export of any goods or services to the foreign 8 person or agency or instrumentality of the for- 9 eign state, and the Export-Import Bank of the 10 United States shall comply with any such direc- 11 tion. 12 (B) No sales of any defense articles, de- 13 fense services, or design and construction serv- 14 ices under the Arms Export Control Act (22 15 U.S.C. 2751 et seq.) may be made to the for- 16 eign person or agency or instrumentality of the 17 foreign state. 18 (C) No licenses for export of any item on 19 the United States Munitions List that include 20 the foreign person or agency or instrumentality 21 of the foreign state as a party to the license 22 may be granted. 23 (D) No exports may be permitted to the 24 foreign person or agency or instrumentality of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:16 Jun 29, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3685.IH H3685 lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3685 IH the foreign state of any goods or technologies 1 controlled for national security reasons under 2 the Export Administration Regulations, except 3 that such prohibition shall not apply to any 4 transaction subject to the reporting require- 5 ments of title V of the National Security Act of 6 1947 (50 U.S.C. 413 et seq.; relating to con- 7 gressional oversight of intelligence activities). 8 (E) The President shall prohibit any 9 United States financial institution from making 10 loans or providing any credit or financing total- 11 ing more than $10,000,000 to the foreign per- 12 son or agency or instrumentality of the foreign 13 state, except that this subparagraph shall not 14 apply— 15 (i) to any transaction subject to the 16 reporting requirements of title V of the 17 National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 18 413 et seq.; relating to congressional over- 19 sight of intelligence activities); 20 (ii) to the provision of medicines, 21 medical equipment, and humanitarian as- 22 sistance; or 23 (iii) to any credit, credit guarantee, or 24 financial assistance provided by the De- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:16 Jun 29, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3685.IH H3685 lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 3685 IH partment of Agriculture to support the 1 purchase of food or other agricultural com- 2 modities. 3 (F)(i) The President may exercise all pow- 4 ers granted to the President by the Inter- 5 national Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 6 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) (except that the require- 7 ments of section 202 of such Act (50 U.S.C. 8 1701) shall not apply) to the extent necessary 9 to block and prohibit all transactions in all 10 property and interests in property of a foreign 11 person or agency or instrumentality of the for- 12 eign state if such property and interests in 13 property are in the United States, come within 14 the United States, or are or come within the 15 possession or control of a United States person. 16 (ii) The penalties provided for in sub- 17 sections (b) and (c) of section 206 of the Inter- 18 national Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 19 U.S.C. 1705) shall apply to a person that 20 knowingly violates, attempts to violate, con- 21 spires to violate, or causes a violation of regula- 22 tions promulgated under section 6(b) to carry 23 out clause (i) to the same extent that such pen- 24 alties apply to a person that knowingly commits 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:16 Jun 29, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3685.IH H3685 lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 3685 IH an unlawful act described in section 206(a) of 1 that Act. 2 (iii) The President may exercise all au- 3 thorities provided to the President under sec- 4 tions 203 and 205 of the International Emer- 5 gency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1702 6 and 1704) for purposes of carrying out clause 7 (i). 8 (3) EXCEPTION.—The President shall not be 9 required to apply sanctions with respect to a foreign 10 person or an agency or instrumentality of a foreign 11 state identified pursuant to subsection (a) if the 12 President certifies in writing to the appropriate con- 13 gressional committees that— 14 (A) the foreign person or agency or instru- 15 mentality of the foreign state— 16 (i) is no longer carrying out activities 17 or transactions for which the sanctions 18 were imposed pursuant to this subsection; 19 or 20 (ii) has taken and is continuing to 21 take significant verifiable steps toward ter- 22 minating the activities or transactions for 23 which the sanctions were imposed pursuant 24 to this subsection; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:16 Jun 29, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3685.IH H3685 lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 3685 IH (B) the President has received reliable as- 1 surances from the foreign person or agency or 2 instrumentality of the foreign state that it will 3 not carry out any activities or transactions for 4 which sanctions may be imposed pursuant to 5 this subsection in the future. 6 (c) WAIVER.— 7 (1) IN GENERAL.—The President may waive, 8 on a case-by-case basis and for a period of not more 9 than 180 days, a requirement under subsection (b) 10 to impose or maintain sanctions with respect to a 11 foreign person or agency or instrumentality of a for- 12 eign state if the President— 13 (A) determines that the waiver is in the 14 national security interest of the United States; 15 and 16 (B) not less than 30 days before the waiv- 17 er takes effect, submits to the appropriate con- 18 gressional committees a report on the waiver 19 and the justification for the waiver. 20 (2) RENEWAL OF WAIVER.—The President 21 may, on a case-by-case basis, renew a waiver under 22 paragraph (1) for additional periods of not more 23 than 180 days if the President— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:16 Jun 29, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3685.IH H3685 lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 3685 IH (A) determines that the renewal of the 1 waiver is in the national security interest of the 2 United States; and 3 (B) not less than 15 days before the waiv- 4 er expires, submits to the appropriate congres- 5 sional committees a report on the renewal of 6 the waiver and the justification for the renewal 7 of the waiver. 8 (d) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—The authority to im- 9 pose sanctions under subsection (b) with respect to a for- 10 eign person or an agency or instrumentality of a foreign 11 state identified pursuant to subsection (a) is in addition 12 to the authority to impose sanctions under any other pro- 13 vision of law with respect to foreign persons or agencies 14 or instrumentalities of foreign states that directly or indi- 15 rectly support international terrorism. 16 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 17 (1) FOREIGN STATE.—The term ‘‘foreign state’’ 18 has the meaning given such term in section 1603(a) 19 of title 28, United States Code. 20 (2) AGENCY OR INSTRUMENTALITY.—The term 21 ‘‘agency or instrumentality’’ has the meaning given 22 such term in section 1603(b) of title 28, United 23 States Code. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:16 Jun 29, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3685.IH H3685 lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 3685 IH (f) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall take effect 1 on the date of the enactment of this Act and apply with 2 respect to activities and transactions described in sub- 3 section (a) that are carried out on or after such date of 4 enactment. 5 SEC. 4. IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS WITH RESPECT TO FOR- 6 EIGN GOVERNMENTS THAT PROVIDE MATE- 7 RIAL SUPPORT FOR THE TERRORIST ACTIVI- 8 TIES OF HAMAS, THE PALESTINIAN ISLAMIC 9 JIHAD, OR ANY AFFILIATE OR SUCCESSOR 10 THEREOF. 11 (a) IDENTIFICATION.— 12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 13 after the date of the enactment of this Act, and 14 every 180 days thereafter, the President shall sub- 15 mit to the appropriate congressional committees a 16 report that identifies the following: 17 (A) Each government of a foreign coun- 18 try— 19 (i) with respect to which the Secretary 20 of State determines has repeatedly pro- 21 vided support for acts of interna [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]