Venezuelan Contracting Restriction Act

II Calendar No. 189 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1151 [Report No. 116–85] To prohibit contracting with persons that have business operations with the Maduro regime, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 11, 2019 Mr. SCOTT of Florida (for himself, Mr. RUBIO, and Mr. COTTON) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs SEPTEMBER 10, 2019 Reported by Mr. JOHNSON, with an amendment [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] A BILL To prohibit contracting with persons that have business operations with the Maduro regime, 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 ‘‘Venezuelan Con- 4 tracting Restriction Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:10 Sep 10, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1151.RS S1151 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1151 RS SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON CONTRACTING WITH PERSONS 1 THAT HAVE BUSINESS OPERATIONS WITH 2 THE MADURO REGIME. 3 (a) PROHIBITION.—The head of an executive agency 4 may not enter into a contract for the procurement of 5 goods or services with any person that has business oper- 6 ations with an authority of the government of Venezuela 7 that is not recognized as the legitimate government of 8 Venezuela by the United States Government. 9 (b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 10 (1) BUSINESS OPERATIONS.—The term ‘‘busi- 11 ness operations’’ means engaging in commerce in 12 any form, including acquiring, developing, maintain- 13 ing, owning, selling, possessing, leasing, or operating 14 equipment, facilities, personnel, products, services, 15 personal property, real property, or any other appa- 16 ratus of business or commerce. 17 (2) EXECUTIVE AGENCY.—The term ‘‘executive 18 agency’’ has the meaning given the term in section 19 133 of title 41, United States Code. 20 (3) PERSON.—The term ‘‘person’’ means— 21 (A) a natural person, corporation, com- 22 pany, business association, partnership, society, 23 trust, or any other nongovernmental entity, or- 24 ganization, or group; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:10 Sep 10, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1151.RS S1151 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1151 RS (B) any governmental entity or instrumen- 1 tality of a government, including a multilateral 2 development institution (as defined in section 3 1701(c)(3) of the International Financial Insti- 4 tutions Act (22 U.S.C. 262r(c)(3))); and 5 (C) any successor, subunit, parent entity, 6 or subsidiary of, or any entity under common 7 ownership or control with, any entity described 8 in subparagraph (A) or (B). 9 (c) APPLICABILITY.—This section shall apply with re- 10 spect to any contract entered into on or after the date 11 of the enactment of this section. 12 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 13 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Venezuelan Contracting 14 Restriction Act’’. 15 SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON CONTRACTING WITH PERSONS 16 THAT HAVE BUSINESS OPERATIONS WITH 17 THE MADURO REGIME. 18 (a) PROHIBITION.—Except as provided in subsections 19 (b), (c), and (d), the head of an executive agency may not 20 enter into a contract for the procurement of goods or services 21 with any person that the head of an executive agency deter- 22 mines, with the concurrence of the Secretary of State, know- 23 ingly engages in significant business operations with an au- 24 thority of the Government of Venezuela that is not recog- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:10 Sep 10, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S1151.RS S1151 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1151 RS nized as the legitimate Government of Venezuela by the 1 United States. 2 (b) EXCEPTIONS.— 3 (1) IN GENERAL.—The prohibition under sub- 4 section (a) does not apply to a contract that the Sec- 5 retary of State determines— 6 (A) is necessary— 7 (i) for purposes of providing humani- 8 tarian assistance to the people of Venezuela; 9 (ii) for purposes of providing disaster 10 relief and other urgent life-saving measures; 11 or 12 (iii) to carry out noncombatant evacu- 13 ations; or 14 (B) is in the national security interests of 15 the United States. 16 (2) SUPPORT FOR UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT 17 ACTIVITIES.—The prohibition in subsection (a) shall 18 not apply to contracts that support United States 19 Government activities in Venezuela, including those 20 necessary for the maintenance of United States Gov- 21 ernment facilities in Venezuela, or to contracts with 22 international organizations. 23 (3) NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENT.—The Sec- 24 retary of State shall notify the appropriate congres- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:10 Sep 10, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S1151.RS S1151 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1151 RS sional committees of any contract entered into on the 1 basis of an exception provided for under paragraph 2 (1). 3 (c) OFFICE OF FOREIGN ASSETS CONTROL LI- 4 CENSES.—The prohibition in subsection (a) does not apply 5 to a person that has a valid license to operate in Venezuela 6 issued by the Office of Foreign Assets Control. 7 (d) AMERICAN DIPLOMATIC MISSION IN VEN- 8 EZUELA.—The prohibition in subsection (a) does not apply 9 to contracts related to the operation and maintenance of 10 the United States Government’s consular offices and diplo- 11 matic posts in Venezuela. 12 (e) WAIVER.—The Secretary of State may waive the 13 requirements of subsection (a) if the Secretary of State de- 14 termines that to do so is in the national interest of the 15 United States. 16 (f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 17 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT- 18 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional commit- 19 tees’’ means the Committee on Homeland Security 20 and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Com- 21 mittee on Homeland Security of the House of Rep- 22 resentatives. 23 (2) BUSINESS OPERATIONS.—The term ‘‘business 24 operations’’ means engaging in commerce in any 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:10 Sep 10, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S1151.RS S1151 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1151 RS form, including acquiring, developing, maintaining, 1 owning, selling, possessing, leasing, or operating 2 equipment, facilities, personnel, products, services, 3 personal property, real property, or any other appa- 4 ratus of business or commerce. 5 (3) EXECUTIVE AGENCY.—The term ‘‘executive 6 agency’’ has the meaning given the term in section 7 133 of title 41, United States Code. 8 (4) GOVERNMENT OF VENEZUELA.—(A) The term 9 ‘‘Government of Venezuela’’ includes the government 10 of any political subdivision of Venezuela, and any 11 agency or instrumentality of the Government of Ven- 12 ezuela. 13 (B) For purposes of subparagraph (A), the term 14 ‘‘agency or instrumentality of the Government of Ven- 15 ezuela’’ means an agency or instrumentality of a for- 16 eign state as defined in section 1603(b) of title 28, 17 United States Code, with each reference in such sec- 18 tion to ‘‘a foreign state’’ deemed to be a reference to 19 ‘‘Venezuela’’. 20 (5) PERSON.—The term ‘‘person’’ means— 21 (A) a natural person, corporation, com- 22 pany, business association, partnership, society, 23 trust, or any other nongovernmental entity, or- 24 ganization, or group; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:10 Sep 10, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S1151.RS S1151 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1151 RS (B) any governmental entity or instrumen- 1 tality of a government; and 2 (C) any successor, subunit, parent entity, or 3 subsidiary of, or any entity under common own- 4 ership or control with, any entity described in 5 subparagraph (A) or (B). 6 (g) APPLICABILITY.—This section shall apply with re- 7 spect to any contract entered into on or after the date of 8 the enactment of this section. 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:10 Sep 10, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S1151.RS S1151 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS Calendar No. 189 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1151 [Report No. 116–85] A BILL To prohibit contracting with persons that have business operations with the Maduro regime, and for other purposes. SEPTEMBER 10, 2019 Reported with an amendment VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:10 Sep 10, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6651 Sfmt 6651 E:\BILLS\S1151.RS S1151 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS