No Russia in G7 Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4721 To prohibit the authorization of Federal funds to facilitate Russian participation in G7 or reconstituted G8 meetings, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OCTOBER 17, 2019 Ms. HILL of California (for herself and Mr. SIRES) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs A BILL To prohibit the authorization of Federal funds to facilitate Russian participation in G7 or reconstituted G8 meet- ings, 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 ‘‘No Russia in G7 Act’’. 4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 5 Congress finds the following: 6 (1) The Group of Seven, or G7, is a group of 7 the seven largest advanced economies in the world 8 and includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy, 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:41 Oct 23, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4721.IH H4721 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 4721 IH Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States, 1 with the European Union as an observer. 2 (2) The G7 countries are all democracies and 3 focused on strengthening democratic governance 4 globally. 5 (3) In 1997, the G7 invited the Russian Fed- 6 eration to join the group, in recognition of the Rus- 7 sian political and economic reforms underway at 8 that time. 9 (4) In 2014, Russia invaded Ukraine and ille- 10 gally occupied Crimea. 11 (5) In the aftermath of this aggression, the G8 12 decided to suspend Russia’s membership, issuing a 13 statement labeling Russia’s invasion a violation of 14 international law that could have ‘‘grave implications 15 for the legal order that protects unity and sov- 16 ereignty of all states’’. 17 (6) In the wake of Russia’s suspension, the re- 18 maining countries reconstituted themselves as the 19 G7. 20 (7) Since 2014, Russia has repeatedly inter- 21 fered in democratic elections in G7 countries, includ- 22 ing the 2016 United States presidential election, and 23 continues to conduct disinformation and covert influ- 24 ence campaigns against many of the G7 countries. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:41 Oct 23, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4721.IH H4721 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 4721 IH (8) In June 2018, the G7 created the G7 Rapid 1 Response Mechanism, with the mandate to ‘‘identify 2 and respond to diverse and evolving threats to our 3 democracies’’. 4 (9) Then-Director of National Intelligence, Dan 5 Coats, testified before Congress on January 29, 6 2019, that Russia is ‘‘stepping up its campaign to 7 divide Western political and security institutions’’ 8 and ‘‘we expect Russia will continue to wage its in- 9 formation war against democracies and to use social 10 media to attempt to divide our societies’’. 11 (10) Russia continues to flout the Minsk agree- 12 ments by directly leading and indirectly supporting 13 separatist forces in Ukraine. 14 (11) Russia continues to make attempts to 15 tighten its hold on Crimea by further militarizing 16 the territory and offering Russian passports to its 17 residents. 18 (12) Russia continues to illegally occupy Crimea 19 and has stepped up its aggressive acts against 20 Ukraine. 21 (13) Despite this behavior, President Trump 22 continues to advocate for an end to Russia’s suspen- 23 sion from the G7 with no preconditions. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:41 Oct 23, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4721.IH H4721 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 4721 IH SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 1 It is the sense of Congress that— 2 (1) the Russian Federation must end its occu- 3 pation of Ukraine and cease its malign activities 4 against G7 nations as preconditions for readmission 5 into a reconstituted G8; and 6 (2) no official representatives of the United 7 States Government, including the President of the 8 United States, should use the power of their office 9 to advocate for Russia’s readmission into a reconsti- 10 tuted G8 unless Russia meets the conditions de- 11 scribed in section 4(b). 12 SEC. 4. PROHIBITION ON THE USE OF FEDERAL FUNDS TO 13 FACILITATE RUSSIAN PARTICIPATION. 14 (a) PROHIBITION.—Notwithstanding any other provi- 15 sion of law, no Federal funds may be appropriated or oth- 16 erwise made available for any action supporting or facili- 17 tating— 18 (1) the participation of Russia in a Group of 19 Seven proceeding; or 20 (2) the reconstitution of the Group of Eight to 21 include Russia. 22 (b) TERMINATION.—The prohibition under sub- 23 section (a) shall terminate on the date that is 30 days 24 after the date on which the Secretary of State certifies 25 to the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Rep- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:41 Oct 23, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4721.IH H4721 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 4721 IH resentatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations of 1 the Senate that— 2 (1) the Government of the Russian Federation, 3 and all persons acting as an agent of or otherwise 4 on behalf of such Government, has halted all inter- 5 ference in United States elections; 6 (2) such Government has ended its illegal occu- 7 pation of the Ukranian territory of Crimea and is 8 fully implementing its commitments under the Minsk 9 agreements with respect to eastern Ukraine; and 10 (3) such Government is taking affirmative steps 11 to cease its campaign to divide Western economic, 12 political, and security institutions, particularly those 13 institutions of which G7 countries are members. 14 (c) GROUP OF SEVEN DEFINED.—In this Act, the 15 term ‘‘Group of Seven’’ or ‘‘G7’’ means the organization 16 of leading economies commonly known as the ‘‘G7’’ that 17 includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the 18 United Kingdom, and the United States as members, with 19 the European Union as an observer. 20 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:41 Oct 23, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4721.IH H4721 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS