Iranian Proxies Terrorist Sanctions Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 361 To impose terrorism-related sanctions with respect to As-Saib Ahl Al-Haq and Harakat Hizballah Al-Nujaba, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 9, 2019 Mr. WILSON of South Carolina (for himself, Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. CHABOT, and Mr. SUOZZI) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on Foreign Affairs A BILL To impose terrorism-related sanctions with respect to As- Saib Ahl Al-Haq and Harakat Hizballah Al-Nujaba, 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 ‘‘Iranian Proxies Ter- 4 rorist Sanctions Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds the following: 7 (1) As-Saib Ahl al-Haq (AAH) is an Iraqi para- 8 military group founded in 2006. Harakat Hizballah 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:30 Jan 24, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H361.IH H361 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 361 IH al-Nujaba (Nujaba) is an affiliated faction of AAH 1 and the United States-designated foreign terrorist 2 organization Kata’ib Hizballah that was formed in 3 2013. 4 (2) AAH and Nujaba are provided training, 5 funding, and arms by the Iranian Islamic Revolu- 6 tionary Guard Corps (IRGC), IRGC-Quds Force, 7 and mentored by Lebanese Hizballah. AAH leader, 8 Qais Khazali, has pledged allegiance to Iran’s Su- 9 preme Leader Ali Khamenei. 10 (3) AAH conducted numerous attacks against 11 the United States and coalition forces in Iraq be- 12 tween its inception in 2006 and the United States 13 withdrawal in December 2011. This includes the 14 January 20, 2007, attack on the Karbala Provincial 15 Headquarters that resulted in the killing of CPT 16 Brian S. Freeman, 1LT Jacob N. Fritz, SPC Jona- 17 than B. Chism, PFC Shawn P. Falter, and PFC 18 Jonathon M. Millican—four of whom were abducted 19 and later executed. 20 (4) AAH and Nujaba deploy forces to Syria to 21 fight on behalf of the Bashar al-Assad regime, in- 22 cluding participating in the 2016 siege of Aleppo 23 where the United Nations High Commissioner for 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:30 Jan 24, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H361.IH H361 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 361 IH Human Rights alleges pro-government Iraqi militia 1 groups executed dozens of civilians. 2 (5) In 2015, Human Rights Watch alleged 3 AAH participated in forced evictions, kidnappings, 4 and extrajudicial killings of Sunni and Kurdish civil- 5 ians in areas liberated from the Islamic State. 6 (6) Nujaba is led by Akram al-Kabi, who was 7 designated by the Department of the Treasury under 8 Executive Order 13438 for threatening the peace 9 and stability of Iraq. According to the United States 10 Government, Kabi participated in multiple mortar 11 and rocket attacks on the International Zone, or 12 Green Zone, in Baghdad in early 2008. Kabi and 13 other Nujaba commanders have claimed they follow 14 orders from Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei 15 and declared in March 2016 support for Lebanese 16 Hizballah. 17 (7) In 2017, a Nujaba spokesman declared that 18 it had formed a unit tasked to ‘‘liberate’’ the Golan 19 Heights from Israeli control and reports indicate the 20 group is playing a key role in securing a land route 21 between Iran and Lebanon to provide military aid to 22 Lebanese Hezbollah. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:30 Jan 24, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H361.IH H361 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 361 IH SEC. 3. IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—Beginning on the date that is 90 2 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Presi- 3 dent shall impose the sanctions described in subsection (c) 4 with respect to As-Saib Ahl al-Haq (AAH), Harakat 5 Hizballah al-Nujaba (Nujaba), and foreign persons that 6 are officials, agents, or affiliates of AAH or Nujaba. 7 (b) DETERMINATION WITH RESPECT TO CERTAIN 8 INDIVIDUALS.— 9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The President shall submit 10 to the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House 11 of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign 12 Relations of the Senate a determination, including a 13 detailed justification, on whether any of the individ- 14 uals described in paragraph (2) meets the criteria 15 for the application of sanctions described in sub- 16 section (a). 17 (2) INDIVIDUALS DESCRIBED.—The individuals 18 described in this paragraph are the following: 19 (A) Qais al-Khazali. 20 (B) Laith al-Khazali. 21 (C) Akram Abbas al-Kaabi. 22 (D) Shibl al-Zaydi. 23 (E) Kazim al-Ta’i. 24 (F) Hamid al-Jazairi. 25 (G) Ali al-Yasiri. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:30 Jan 24, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H361.IH H361 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 361 IH (c) SANCTIONS DESCRIBED.—The sanctions de- 1 scribed in this subsection are sanctions applicable with re- 2 spect to a foreign person pursuant to Executive Order 3 13224 (50 U.S.C. 1701 note; relating to blocking property 4 and prohibiting transactions with persons who commit, 5 threaten to commit, or support terrorism). 6 SEC. 4. WATCHLISTS. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State shall an- 8 nually establish, maintain, and publish a global list of 9 armed groups, militias, or proxy forces receiving logistical, 10 military, or financial assistance from the IRGC or over 11 which the IRGC exerts any form of control or influence. 12 (b) PUBLICATION.—The lists required under sub- 13 section (a) shall be published as part of the Department 14 of State’s Annual Country Reports on Terrorism, begin- 15 ning with the first such Country Reports published after 16 the date of the enactment of this Act. 17 (c) FORM.—If the Secretary of State determines that 18 such is appropriate, the Secretary may, not later than 30 19 days after publication of the annual Country Reports on 20 Terrorism referred to in subsection (b), submit to the 21 Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representa- 22 tives and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Sen- 23 ate a classified annex. 24 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:30 Jan 24, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H361.IH H361 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS