Russian-Venezuelan Threat Mitigation Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1102 To assess and mitigate threats posed by Russian-Venezuelan cooperation, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 7, 2019 Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (for herself, Mr. DIAZ-BALART, Ms. SHALALA, and Ms. MUCARSEL-POWELL) introduced the following bill; which was re- ferred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs A BILL To assess and mitigate threats posed by Russian-Venezuelan cooperation, 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 ‘‘Russian-Venezuelan 4 Threat Mitigation Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds the following: 7 (1) The Russian Federation’s increased pres- 8 ence in the western hemisphere is of concern to the 9 United States and our allies in the region. 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:24 Feb 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1102.IH H1102 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1102 IH (2) In December 2018, the Russian Federation 1 sent two Tu–160 nuclear-capable bombers to Ven- 2 ezuela for joint exercises with the Venezuelan mili- 3 tary. The Tu–160 can carry conventional or nuclear- 4 tipped cruise missiles with an estimated maximum 5 range of around 3,000 miles. 6 (3) Russian and Venezuelan forces took part in 7 a joint 10-hour exercise across the Caribbean in De- 8 cember 2018 with the Tu–160 nuclear-capable 9 bombers. 10 (4) The Maduro regime has turned to the Rus- 11 sian Federation, one of its strongest political allies, 12 for financial support during its current economic cri- 13 sis. 14 (5) Nicolas Maduro secured loans from the 15 Russian Federation to be repaid through future oil 16 exports, but fell behind on those payments in 2017. 17 News reports in December 2018 suggest that Rus- 18 sian State oil company Rosneft has lent Venezuelan 19 state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela (PdVSA) 20 $6.5 billion partly as prepayment for crude oil, $3.1 21 billion of which remained outstanding as of the end 22 of September 2018. 23 (6) In 2016, PdVSA secured a $1.5 billion loan 24 from Rosneft, and PdVSA used 49.9 percent of its 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:24 Feb 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1102.IH H1102 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1102 IH shares in United States-based and Venezuelan- 1 owned company CITGO as collateral. A Venezuelan 2 default could lead to potential Russian ownership of 3 United States energy infrastructure. 4 (7) At the conclusion of a 3-day visit to Moscow 5 in December 2018, Maduro announced $6 billion 6 worth of Russian investment pledges focused on the 7 oil and mining sectors as well as the export of 8 600,000 tons of Russian wheat to Venezuela to 9 cover its 2019 needs. 10 SEC. 3. THREAT ASSESSMENT AND STRATEGY TO COUNTER 11 RUSSIAN INFLUENCE IN VENEZUELA. 12 (a) THREAT ASSESSMENT.—Not later than 120 days 13 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 14 of State shall submit to the appropriate congressional 15 committees an assessment on Russian-Venezuelan security 16 cooperation and the potential threat such cooperation 17 poses to the United States and countries in the Western 18 Hemisphere. 19 (b) STRATEGY.—Not later than 30 days after the 20 submission of the threat assessment required under sub- 21 section (a), the Secretary of State shall submit to the ap- 22 propriate congressional committees a strategy to address 23 Russian-Venezuelan cooperation. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:24 Feb 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1102.IH H1102 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1102 IH (c) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘appro- 1 priate congressional committees’’ means the Committee on 2 Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and the 3 Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate. 4 SEC. 4. ASSESSMENT OF FOREIGN ACQUISITION OF CITGO 5 ASSETS IN THE UNITED STATES. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the 7 date of the enactment of this Act, the President shall 8 transmit to the appropriate congressional committees an 9 assessment of the security risks posed by potential Rus- 10 sian acquisition of CITGO’s United States energy infra- 11 structure holdings. 12 (b) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘appro- 13 priate congressional committees’’ means the Committee on 14 Foreign Affairs and the Committee on Appropriations of 15 the House of Representatives and the Committee on For- 16 eign Relations and the Committee on Appropriations of 17 the Senate. 18 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:24 Feb 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1102.IH H1102 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS