Stopping Aggressive Incursions on Liberty by Ordering Russian Sanctions Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3841 To provide for the imposition of sanctions against 24 senior officials of the Border Service and Federal Security Service of Russia until the release of certain seized Ukrainian ships and crewmembers, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JULY 18, 2019 Ms. KAPTUR (for herself, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. QUIGLEY, and Mr. HARRIS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the com- mittee concerned A BILL To provide for the imposition of sanctions against 24 senior officials of the Border Service and Federal Security Serv- ice of Russia until the release of certain seized Ukrainian ships and crewmembers, 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 ‘‘Stopping Aggressive 4 Incursions on Liberty by Ordering Russian Sanctions 5 Act’’ or the ‘‘SAILORS Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:33 Jul 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3841.IH H3841 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 3841 IH SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 1 Congress finds the following: 2 (1) On November 25, 2018, the Border Service 3 of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Fed- 4 eration fired on and seized three Ukrainian naval 5 ships sailing through the Kerch Strait. 6 (2) The Russian Federal Security Service also 7 seized 24 Ukrainian crew members of those ships, 8 and continue to illegally detain them in Russia. 9 (3) The Russian Government continues to 10 refuse to release and return these 24 sailors and 3 11 ships. 12 (4) The International Tribunal for the Law of 13 the Sea has ordered the release of the sailors and 14 the ships seized by the Border Service. 15 (5) The seizure of these ships and crewmembers 16 is yet another escalation of Russia’s illegal and ag- 17 gressive assault on Ukrainian territorial and naval 18 sovereignty. 19 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 20 Congress— 21 (1) harshly condemns this attack on Ukraine, 22 its ships, and its citizens; 23 (2) demands the immediate release and return 24 of these three Ukrainian ships and crewmembers; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:33 Jul 31, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3841.IH H3841 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 3841 IH (3) welcomes the actions of the Secretary of the 1 Treasury to implement sanctions on senior border 2 officials of the Russian Federal Security Service in- 3 volved in the Kerch Strait attach on March 15, 4 2019; 5 (4) urges the President to continue to prioritize 6 the return of these ships and crewmembers, includ- 7 ing through the implementation of additional sanc- 8 tions on Russian financial institutions, responsible 9 parties in the Border Service and Federal Security 10 Service, and parties associated with the Nord 11 Stream 2 project, in order to increase the costs of 12 such aggression; and 13 (5) reaffirms its resolute support for the 14 Ukrainian people and their territorial and maritime 15 sovereignty. 16 SEC. 4. SANCTIONS IMPOSED. 17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the 18 date of the enactment of this Act, the President shall im- 19 pose the sanctions described in subsection (b) with respect 20 to 24 individuals who are senior officers of the Border 21 Service or the Federal Security Service of Russia, with 22 respect to the families of such senior officers, and with 23 respect to any person the President determines is a close 24 associate of any such senior officer. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:33 Jul 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3841.IH H3841 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 3841 IH (b) SANCTIONS DESCRIBED.—The sanctions de- 1 scribed in this subsection are the following: 2 (1) ASSET BLOCKING.—The exercise of all pow- 3 ers granted to the President by the International 4 Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 5 et seq.) to the extent necessary to block and prohibit 6 all transactions in all property and interests in prop- 7 erty of a person subject to sanctions imposed pursu- 8 ant to subsection (a) if such property and interests 9 in property are in the United States, come within 10 the United States, or are or come within the posses- 11 sion or control of a United States person. 12 (2) EXCLUSION FROM THE UNITED STATES.— 13 In the case of an individual subject to sanctions im- 14 posed pursuant to subsection (a), denial of a visa to, 15 and exclusion from the United States of, such indi- 16 vidual, and revocation, in accordance with section 17 221(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 18 U.S.C. 1201(i)), of any visa or other documentation 19 of the individual. 20 (c) TERMINATION; PENALTIES.— 21 (1) TERMINATION.—The authority to impose or 22 maintain sanctions pursuant to this section shall ter- 23 minate on the date on which the President certifies 24 to the appropriate congressional committees that the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:33 Jul 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3841.IH H3841 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 3841 IH Ukranian ships and crewmembers described in sec- 1 tion 2 of this Act have been released back to 2 Ukraine. 3 (2) PENALTIES.—Any person that violates, at- 4 tempts to violate, conspires to violate, or causes a 5 violation of any sanction imposed pursuant to this 6 section or any regulation, license, or order issued to 7 carry out this section shall be subject to the pen- 8 alties set forth in subsections (b) and (c) of section 9 206 of the International Emergency Economic Pow- 10 ers Act (50 U.S.C. 1705) to the same extent as a 11 person that commits an unlawful act described in 12 subsection (a) of that section. 13 (d) EXCEPTION RELATING TO THE IMPORTATION OF 14 GOODS.— 15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The authority to impose 16 sanctions under this section shall not include the au- 17 thority to impose sanctions on the importation of 18 goods. 19 (2) GOOD DEFINED.—In this subsection, the 20 term ‘‘good’’ means any article, natural or manmade 21 substance, material, supply or manufactured prod- 22 uct, including inspection and test equipment, and ex- 23 cluding technical data. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:33 Jul 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3841.IH H3841 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 3841 IH (e) EXCEPTION TO COMPLY WITH UNITED NATIONS 1 HEADQUARTERS AGREEMENT.—Sanctions under this sec- 2 tion shall not apply to an individual if admitting the indi- 3 vidual into the United States is necessary to permit the 4 United States to comply with the Agreement regarding the 5 Headquarters of the United Nations, signed at Lake Suc- 6 cess June 26, 1947, and entered into force November 21, 7 1947, between the United Nations and the United States, 8 or other applicable international obligations. 9 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:11 Jul 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3841.IH H3841 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS