IIB 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1404 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 13, 2019 Received; read twice and referred to the Select Committee on Intelligence AN ACT To strengthen the United States response to Russian inter- ference by providing transparency on the corruption of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:55 Mar 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1404.RFS H1404 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 HR 1404 RFS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Vladimir Putin Trans- 2 parency Act’’. 3 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 4 Congress finds the following: 5 (1) According an Intelligence Community As- 6 sessment dated January 6, 2017, ‘‘Russian Presi- 7 dent Vladimir Putin ordered an influence campaign 8 in 2016 aimed at the U.S. presidential election. Rus- 9 sia’s goals were to undermine public faith in the US 10 democratic process * * * Moscow’s influence cam- 11 paign followed a Russian messaging strategy that 12 blends covert intelligence operations—such as cyber 13 activity—with overt efforts by Russian Government 14 agencies, state-funded media, third-party inter- 15 mediaries, and paid social media users or ‘trolls.’ ’’. 16 (2) According to the Washington Post, official, 17 public reports from the Russian government put 18 Putin’s average annual income between 2011 and 19 2016 at approximately $112,000. But outside ex- 20 perts nevertheless have alleged that Putin’s true net 21 worth is in the billions—suggesting his extensive 22 corruption and connection to money laundering and 23 other activities undertaken order to enrich Putin un- 24 justly and to hide his true financial condition from 25 the public. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:55 Mar 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1404.RFS H1404 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 HR 1404 RFS SEC. 3. ASSESSMENT EXPOSING THE CORRUPTION OF 1 VLADIMIR PUTIN. 2 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con- 3 gress that the United States should do more to expose the 4 corruption of Vladimir Putin, whose ill-gotten wealth is 5 perhaps the most powerful global symbol of his dishonesty 6 and his persistent efforts to undermine the rule of law and 7 democracy in the Russian Federation. 8 (b) ASSESSMENT.—Not later than 180 days after the 9 date of the enactment of this Act, the Director of National 10 Intelligence, in coordination with the Secretary of Treas- 11 ury and the Secretary of State, shall submit to the appro- 12 priate congressional committees an assessment, based on 13 all sources of intelligence, on the net worth and financial 14 and other assets of Russian President Vladimir Putin and 15 his family members, legitimate as well as illegitimate, in- 16 cluding— 17 (1) the estimated net worth of Vladimir Putin 18 and his family members; 19 (2) a description of their legitimately and ille- 20 gitimately obtained assets, including all real, per- 21 sonal and intellectual property, bank or investment 22 or similar accounts, and any other financial or busi- 23 ness interests or holdings, including those outside of 24 Russia; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:55 Mar 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1404.RFS H1404 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 HR 1404 RFS (3) the details of the legitimately and illegit- 1 imately obtained assets, including real, personal and 2 intellectual property, bank or investment or similar 3 accounts, and any other financial or business inter- 4 ests or holdings, including those outside of Russia, 5 that are owned or controlled by, accessible to, or 6 otherwise maintained for the benefit of Vladimir 7 Putin, including their nature, location, manner of 8 acquisition, value, and publicly named owner (if 9 other than Vladimir Putin); 10 (4) the methods used by Vladimir Putin or oth- 11 ers acting at his direction, with his knowledge, or for 12 his benefit, to conceal Putin’s interest in his ac- 13 counts, holdings, or other assets, including the es- 14 tablishment of ‘‘front’’ or shell companies and the 15 use of intermediaries; and 16 (5) an identification of the most significant sen- 17 ior Russian political figures, oligarchs, and any other 18 persons who have engaged in activity intended to 19 conceal the true financial condition of Vladimir 20 Putin. 21 (c) FORM.—The assessment required under sub- 22 section (b) shall be submitted either— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:55 Mar 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1404.RFS H1404 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 HR 1404 RFS (1) in unclassified form to the extent consistent 1 with the protection of intelligence sources and meth- 2 ods, and may include a classified annex; or 3 (2) simultaneously as both an unclassified 4 version and a classified version. 5 (d) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES 6 DEFINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate con- 7 gressional committees’’ means— 8 (1) the Select Committee on Intelligence, the 9 Committee on Foreign Relations, the Committee on 10 Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, and the Com- 11 mittee on Finance of the Senate; and 12 (2) the Permanent Select Committee on Intel- 13 ligence, Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Com- 14 mittee on Financial Services, and the Committee on 15 Ways and Means of the House of Representatives. 16 Passed the House of Representatives March 12, 2019. Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, Clerk. VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:55 Mar 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1404.RFS H1404 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS