Ukraine Foreign Assistance Integrity and Accountability Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2537 To ensure that recent actions involving Ukraine are not withheld from Congress and the people of the United States, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES SEPTEMBER 24, 2019 Mr. MENENDEZ introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations A BILL To ensure that recent actions involving Ukraine are not withheld from Congress and the people of the United States, 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 ‘‘Ukraine Foreign As- 4 sistance Integrity and Accountability Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress makes the following findings: 7 (1) Since 2014, the United States Senate and 8 the United States House of Representatives, with 9 broad bipartisan support, have provided millions of 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Sep 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2537.IS S2537 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 2537 IS dollars in security and development assistance to 1 Ukraine as it defends against Kremlin aggression in 2 Crimea and eastern Ukraine. 3 (2) Security assistance for Ukraine has en- 4 hanced the army, national guard, and navy of 5 Ukraine and helped the country defend against Rus- 6 sian aggression. 7 (3) Since 2014, the United States has imposed 8 a series of sanctions on the Russian Federation in 9 response to its illegal occupation of Crimea and con- 10 tinued military operations in eastern Ukraine. 11 (4) Security and development assistance pro- 12 graming have been designed, implemented, and sup- 13 ported by personnel at the Department of State, the 14 Department of Defense, and the United States 15 Agency for International Development. 16 (5) Before submitting notifications to obligate 17 funds to Congress, the Department of State has tra- 18 ditionally shared obligation notifications with the Of- 19 fice of Management and Budget, to be reviewed for 20 approximately 5 days. 21 (6) On June 21, 2019, the Department of State 22 sent a notification to the Office of Management and 23 Budget to obligate security assistance funding for 24 Ukraine. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Sep 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2537.IS S2537 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 2537 IS (7) On September 22, 2019, President Donald 1 Trump acknowledged that he raised a 2020 United 2 States presidential candidate in a call with Ukrain- 3 ian President Volodymyr Zelensky. 4 (8) On September 11, 2019, the Department of 5 State sent a notification to the Committee on For- 6 eign Relations of the Senate to obligate security as- 7 sistance funding for Ukraine. 8 SEC. 3. INVESTIGATION INTO WITHHOLDING OF UKRAINE 9 FOREIGN ASSISTANCE. 10 (a) SENSE OF THE SENATE.—It is the sense of the 11 Senate that security assistance provided to the country of 12 Ukraine is in the vital national security interests of the 13 United States and is a critical component of United States 14 efforts to counter aggression and malign influence on the 15 part of the Government of the Russian Federation. 16 (b) INSPECTOR GENERAL INVESTIGATION.— 17 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Inspector General of 18 the Department of State shall immediately inves- 19 tigate and, not later than October 25, 2019, provide 20 to the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Sen- 21 ate and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the 22 House of Representatives a report on inappropriate 23 interference into foreign assistance designated for 24 Ukraine. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Sep 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2537.IS S2537 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 2537 IS (2) ELEMENTS.—The investigation and report 1 under this subsection shall include the following ele- 2 ments: 3 (A) An examination of when and how the 4 Department of State first learned $141,500,000 5 in foreign military assistance for Ukraine would 6 be delayed, and the extent of the involvement of 7 the Secretary of State and other political ap- 8 pointees of the President in deciding to suspend 9 that assistance and implement that decision. 10 (B) An assessment of the reasons the Of- 11 fice of Management and Budget provided for 12 blocking the obligation of the foreign assistance 13 funds in question to Ukraine. 14 (C) A detailed explanation of why funds 15 were ultimately delayed, and who made that de- 16 cision. 17 (D) An assessment of whether the Depart- 18 ment of State communicated, internally or ex- 19 ternally, including with United States or 20 Ukrainian officials, about efforts or requests to 21 investigate any presidential candidates for the 22 2020 United States presidential election. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Sep 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2537.IS S2537 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 2537 IS SEC. 4. PRODUCTION OF ALL RECORDS RELATED TO INAP- 1 PROPRIATE INTERFERENCE IN THE PROVI- 2 SION OF FOREIGN ASSISTANCE TO UKRAINE. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Department of State shall 4 immediately search for, collect, and produce to the Com- 5 mittee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Com- 6 mittee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives 7 the following records: 8 (1) All records in the Department of State’s 9 custody or control related to foreign military assist- 10 ance for Ukraine received, originating from, or cre- 11 ated since September 1, 2018. 12 (2) All records in the Department of State’s 13 custody or control related to efforts or requests to 14 investigate any presidential candidates for the 2020 15 United States presidential election. 16 (3) All records since September 1, 2018, re- 17 garding assistance to Ukraine, pertaining to the 18 President’s personal lawyer, or efforts or requests to 19 investigate any presidential candidates for the 2020 20 United States presidential election, between— 21 (A) the Department of State and the 22 White House; 23 (B) the Department of State and the Na- 24 tional Security Council; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Sep 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2537.IS S2537 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 2537 IS (C) the Department of State and the Of- 1 fice of Management and Budget. 2 (4) All records in the Department of State’s 3 custody or control related to the President’s personal 4 attorney, including— 5 (A) communications between the Depart- 6 ment and the President’s personal attorney; 7 (B) records relating to any efforts by the 8 Department of State to support or facilitate 9 any activities or meetings for the President’s 10 personal attorney, whether in the United 11 States, Ukraine, or elsewhere; and 12 (C) records relating to meetings between 13 the President’s personal attorney and officials 14 of the Government of Ukraine. 15 (5) A list of Department of State officials who 16 were briefed by the President’s personal attorney 17 about his communications with any officials of the 18 Government of Ukraine. 19 (6) All records in the Department of State’s 20 custody or control related to the President’s call on 21 July 25, 2019, with the President of Ukraine, 22 Volodymyr Zelensky. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Sep 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2537.IS S2537 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 2537 IS (b) RECORD DEFINED.—In this section, the term 1 ‘‘record’’ means any written, typed, recorded, graphic, 2 printed, or audio material of any kind, including— 3 (1) documents, memoranda, cables, letters, fac- 4 similes, calendar items, or spreadsheets; 5 (2) transcripts, notes, or minutes of any meet- 6 ings, telephone conversations, or discussions; and 7 (3) electronic communications and attachments 8 thereto, including emails, text messages, instant 9 messages, direct messages (such as messages over 10 iMessage, WhatsApp, Signal, Viper, Facebook, or 11 Twitter) regardless of whether maintained, sent, or 12 received on a government or non-government (i.e. 13 personal) account. 14 SEC. 5. IMMEDIATE OBLIGATION OF FUNDS APPRO- 15 PRIATED FOR UKRAINE SECURITY ASSIST- 16 ANCE. 17 (a) IN GENERAL.—The President shall immediately 18 obligate all funds appropriated— 19 (1) for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initia- 20 tive for fiscal year 2019 under section 9013 of the 21 Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2019 22 (division A of Public Law 115–245); and 23 (2) for Foreign Military Financing Overseas 24 Contingency Operations for fiscal year 2018 and for 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Sep 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2537.IS S2537 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 2537 IS the Foreign Military Financing Program for fiscal 1 year 2019 and subject to Department of State con- 2 gressional notification 19–286, submitted on Sep- 3 tember 11, 2019. 4 (b) PURPOSES AND AUTHORITIES.—Amounts made 5 available pursuant to subsection (a) shall be available for 6 the same purposes and under the same authorities for 7 which such amounts were originally provided. 8 SEC. 6. COUNTERING RUSSIAN INFLUENCE FUND. 9 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 10 authorized to be appropriated for the Countering Russian 11 Influence Fund described in section 7070(d) of the De- 12 partment of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Pro- 13 grams Appropriations Act, 2017 (division J of Public Law 14 115–31; 131 Stat. 706), $250,000,000 for fiscal years 15 2020 and 2021. 16 (b) USE OF FUNDS.—Amounts in the Countering 17 Russian Influence Fund shall be used in countries of Eu- 18 rope and Eurasia the Secretary of State has determined 19 are vulnerable to malign influence by the Russian Federa- 20 tion to effectively implement, subject to the availability of 21 funds, the following goals: 22 (1) To assist in protecting critical infrastruc- 23 ture and electoral mechanisms from cyberattacks. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Sep 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2537.IS S2537 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 2537 IS (2) To combat corruption, improve the rule of 1 law, and otherwise strengthen independent judi- 2 ciaries and prosecutors general offices. 3 (3) To respond to the humanitarian crises and 4 instability caused or aggravated by the invasions and 5 occupations of Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine by 6 the Russian Federation. 7 (4) To improve participatory legislative proc- 8 esses and legal education, political transparency and 9 competition, and compliance with international obli- 10 gations. 11 (5) To build the capacity of civil society, media, 12 and other nongovernmental organizations countering 13 the influence and propaganda of the Russian Fed- 14 eration to combat corruption, prioritize access to 15 truthful information, and operate freely in all re- 16 gions. 17 (6) To assist the Secretary of State in exe- 18 cuting the functions specified in section 1239(b) of 19 the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal 20 Year 2018 (Public Law 115–91; 10 U.S.C. 113 21 note) for the purposes of recognizing, understanding, 22 exposing, and countering propaganda and 23 disinformation efforts by foreign governments, in co- 24 ordination with the relevant regional Assistant Sec- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Sep 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2537.IS S2537 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 2537 IS retary or Assistant Secretaries of the Department of 1 State. 2 (c) REVISION OF ACTIVITIES FOR WHICH AMOUNTS 3 MAY BE USED.—The Secretary of State may modify a 4 goal described in subsection (b) if, not later than 15 days 5 before revising such goal, the Secretary notifies the appro- 6 priate congressional committees of the revision. 7 (d) IMPLEMENTATION.— 8 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State shall, 9 acting through the Coordinator of United States As- 10 sistance to Europe and Eurasia (authorized pursu- 11 ant to section 601 of the Support for East European 12 Democracy (SEED) Act of 1989 (22 U.S.C. 5461) 13 and section 102 of the Freedom for Russia and 14 Emerging Eurasian Democracies and Open Markets 15 Support Act of 1992 (22 U.S.C. 5812)), and in con- 16 sultation with the Administrator for the United 17 States Agency for International Development, the 18 Director of the Global Engagement Center of the 19 Department of State, the Secretary of Defense, 20 EUCOM, the Chief Executive Officer of the United 21 States Agency for Global Media, and the heads of 22 other relevant Federal agencies, coordinate and 23 carry out activities to achieve the goals described in 24 subsection (b). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Sep 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2537.IS S2537 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 2537 IS (2) METHOD.—Activities to achieve the goals 1 described in subsection (b) shall be carried out 2 through— 3 (A) initiatives of the United States Gov- 4 ernment; 5 (B) Federal grant programs such as the 6 Information Access Fund; 7 (C) nongovernmental or international orga- 8 nizations; or 9 (D) support exchanges with countries fac- 10 ing state-sponsored disinformation and pressure 11 campaigns, particularly in Europe and Eurasia, 12 provided that a portion of the funds are made 13 available through a process whereby the Bureau 14 of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the De- 15 partment of State solicits proposals from posts 16 located in affected countries to counter state- 17 sponsored disinformation and hybrid threats, 18 promote democracy, and support exchanges 19 with countries facing state-sponsored 20 disinformation and pressure campaigns. 21 (3) REPORT ON IMPLEMENTATION.— 22 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than April 1 23 of each year, the Secretary of State, acting 24 through the Coordinator of United States As- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Sep 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2537.IS S2537 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 2537 IS sistance to Europe and Eurasia, shall submit to 1 the appropriate congressional committees a re- 2 port on the programs and activities carried out 3 to achieve the goals described in subsection (b) 4 during the preceding fiscal year. 5 (B) ELEMENTS.—Each report required by 6 subparagraph (A) shall include, with respect to 7 each program or activity described in that sub- 8 paragraph— 9 (i) the amount of funding for the pro- 10 gram or activity; 11 (ii) the goal described in subsection 12 (b) to which the program or activity re- 13 lates; and 14 (iii) an assessment of whether or not [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]