PACT Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4695 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES OCTOBER 30, 2019 Received AN ACT To impose sanctions with respect to Turkey, 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:19 Aug 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4695.RDS H4695 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 HR 4695 RDS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protect Against Con- 2 flict by Turkey Act’’ or the ‘‘PACT Act’’. 3 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 4 It is the sense of Congress that— 5 (1) the United States and Turkey have been 6 treaty allies since 1952, when Turkey became a 7 member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization 8 (NATO); 9 (2) being a NATO member means that Turkey 10 is treaty bound to safeguard the principles of democ- 11 racy, individual liberty, and the rule of law and, im- 12 portantly, should be united with other NATO allies 13 in efforts for collective defense and the preservation 14 of peace and security; 15 (3) Turkey’s military invasion of northern Syria 16 on October 9, 2019, is an unacceptable and unneces- 17 sary escalation of tensions with the potential to 18 cause a severe humanitarian crisis and undo the col- 19 lective gains made in the fight against the Islamic 20 State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) by the United States 21 and the 81 countries and organizations of the Global 22 Coalition to Defeat ISIS, including NATO and the 23 European Union (EU); 24 (4) Turkey should immediately cease attacks 25 against the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), Kurd- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:19 Aug 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4695.RDS H4695 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 HR 4695 RDS ish and Arab civilians, and other religious and ethnic 1 minority communities in northern Syria and recall 2 its forces back to Turkey; 3 (5) targeted sanctions against Turkey are an 4 appropriate response in order for Turkey to be held 5 accountable for its military invasion of northern 6 Syria; 7 (6) Turkey’s military invasion of northern Syria 8 is the latest example of the weakening and problem- 9 atic United States-Turkey bilateral relationship and 10 undermines the security of the United States and its 11 NATO allies, including that of Turkey; 12 (7) the SDF have been critical partners to 13 United States and allied counter-ISIS and broader 14 counterterrorism efforts in Syria, and the United 15 States should continue this partnership with the 16 SDF; 17 (8) the United States Government should utilize 18 diplomatic and military tools to ensure the enduring 19 defeat of ISIS; 20 (9) the United States should stand by critical 21 allies and partners; 22 (10) Russian and Iranian political and military 23 influence in Syria present a threat to United States 24 national security interests; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:19 Aug 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4695.RDS H4695 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 HR 4695 RDS (11) the United States Government, in concert 1 with the international community, should hold ac- 2 countable members of the Syrian regime and the 3 Governments of the Russian Federation and Iran for 4 atrocities against the Syrian people. 5 SEC. 3. SANCTIONS AGAINST SENIOR TURKISH OFFICIALS. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 15 days after the 7 date of the enactment of this Act, the President shall im- 8 pose the sanctions described in section 14 with respect to 9 the following foreign persons in connection with Turkey’s 10 military invasion of northern Syria on October 9, 2019: 11 (1) The Minister of National Defense of Tur- 12 key. 13 (2) The Chief of the General Staff of the Turk- 14 ish Armed Forces. 15 (3) The Commander of the 2nd Army of the 16 Turkish Armed Forces. 17 (4) The Minister of Treasury and Finance of 18 Turkey. 19 (b) ADDITIONAL SANCTIONS.— 20 (1) LIST.—Not later than 30 days after the 21 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 22 State, in consultation with the Secretary of Defense 23 and the Director of National Intelligence, shall sub- 24 mit to the President and appropriate congressional 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:19 Aug 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4695.RDS H4695 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 HR 4695 RDS committees a list of the following foreign persons in 1 connection with Turkey’s military invasion of north- 2 ern Syria on October 9, 2019: 3 (A) Senior Turkish defense officials in- 4 volved in the decision to invade northern Syria. 5 (B) Senior Turkish military officials lead- 6 ing attacks against the Syrian Democratic 7 Forces (SDF), Kurdish and Arab civilians, or 8 other religious or ethnic minority communities 9 in northern Syria. 10 (C) Turkish officials significantly facili- 11 tating Turkey’s military invasion of northern 12 Syria. 13 (D) Any Turkish official or member of the 14 Turkish Armed Forces who is responsible for, 15 complicit in, or has directly or indirectly en- 16 gaged, or has attempted to engage, in any of 17 the following relating to Turkey’s military inva- 18 sion of northern Syria: 19 (i) A violation of the law of armed 20 conflict. 21 (ii) A gross violation of internationally 22 recognized human rights. 23 (2) UPDATES.—The list required under para- 24 graph (1) shall be updated every 60 days, until the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:19 Aug 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4695.RDS H4695 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 HR 4695 RDS sanctions under this section are terminated in ac- 1 cordance with section 7. 2 (3) IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS.—Not later than 3 15 days after submission of the list required under 4 paragraph (1) and each update relating thereto in 5 accordance with paragraph (2), the President shall 6 impose the sanctions described in section 14 with re- 7 spect to foreign persons identified in such list and 8 related updates. 9 (c) WAIVER.— 10 (1) IN GENERAL.—The President may waive, 11 on a case-by-case basis and for a period of not more 12 than 90 days, the imposition of sanctions under this 13 section with respect to a foreign person if the Presi- 14 dent— 15 (A) determines that— 16 (i) it is vital to the national security 17 interests of the United States to do so; and 18 (ii) Turkey— 19 (I) has halted attacks against the 20 SDF, Kurdish and Arab civilians, and 21 other religious and ethnic minority 22 communities in northern Syria; and 23 (II) is not hindering counter-ter- 24 rorism operations against ISIS; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:19 Aug 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4695.RDS H4695 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 HR 4695 RDS (B) not later than 15 days before issuing 1 such a waiver, submits to the appropriate con- 2 gressional committees a justification relating to 3 such determination. 4 (2) RENEWAL OF WAIVERS.—The President 5 may, on a case-by-case basis, renew a waiver under 6 paragraph (1) for an additional period of not more 7 than 90 days if, not later than 15 days before such 8 a waiver expires, the President determines it is vital 9 to the national security interests of the United 10 States to do so and submits to the appropriate con- 11 gressional committees a justification relating to such 12 determination. 13 SEC. 4. PROHIBITION ON ARMS TRANSFERS TO TURKISH 14 MILITARY UNITS IN SYRIA. 15 (a) PROHIBITION.—No United States defense arti- 16 cles, defense services, or technology under the Arms Ex- 17 port Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2751 et seq.) may be trans- 18 ferred to the Government of Turkey if such articles, serv- 19 ices, or technology could be used in operations by the 20 Turkish Armed Forces in northern Syria. 21 (b) EXCEPTION.—The prohibition under subsection 22 (a) shall not apply to transfers for ultimate end use by 23 the United States military or for use in military operations 24 approved by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:19 Aug 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4695.RDS H4695 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 HR 4695 RDS (c) NO USE OF EMERGENCY AUTHORITY.—The au- 1 thority of the President to waive statutory congressional 2 review periods under the Arms Export Control Act in 3 cases in which an emergency exists shall not apply to the 4 transfer of defense articles, defense services, or technology 5 to the Government of Turkey. 6 SEC. 5. SANCTIONS AGAINST FOREIGN PERSONS PRO- 7 VIDING ARMS TO TURKISH ARMED FORCES 8 IN SYRIA. 9 (a) REPORT.— 10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days after 11 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 12 of State, in consultation with the Secretary of De- 13 fense and the Director of National Intelligence, shall 14 submit to the President and appropriate congres- 15 sional committees a list of any foreign persons deter- 16 mined to knowingly have provided, on or after such 17 date of enactment, defense articles, defense services, 18 or technology (as such terms are defined and de- 19 scribed in the Arms Export Control Act) to the Gov- 20 ernment of Turkey if such articles, services, or tech- 21 nology could be used in operations by the Turkish 22 Armed Forces in northern Syria. 23 (2) UPDATES.—The list required under para- 24 graph (1) shall be updated every 60 days or as new 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:19 Aug 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4695.RDS H4695 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 HR 4695 RDS information becomes available, until the sanctions 1 under this section are terminated in accordance with 2 section 7. 3 (b) IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS.—The President shall 4 impose the sanctions described in section 14 with respect 5 to any foreign persons identified on the list and related 6 updates required under subsection (a). 7 (c) EXCEPTION.—The sanctions imposed pursuant to 8 this section shall not apply to transfers for ultimate end 9 use by the United States military or for use in military 10 operations approved by the North Atlantic Treaty Organi- 11 zation. 12 (d) WAIVER.— 13 (1) IN GENERAL.—The President may waive, 14 on a case-by-case basis and for a period of not more 15 than 90 days, the imposition of sanctions under this 16 section with respect to a foreign person if the Presi- 17 dent determines it is important to the national secu- 18 rity interests of the United States to do so and, not 19 later than 15 days before issuing such a waiver, sub- 20 mits to the appropriate congressional committees a 21 justification relating to such determination. 22 (2) RENEWAL OF WAIVERS.—The President 23 may, on a case-by-case basis, renew a waiver under 24 paragraph (1) for an additional period of not more 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:19 Aug 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4695.RDS H4695 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 HR 4695 RDS than 90 days if, not later than 15 days before such 1 a waiver expires, the President determines it is im- 2 portant to the national security interests of the 3 United States to do so and submits to the appro- 4 priate congressional committees a justification relat- 5 ing to such determination. 6 SEC. 6. TARGETED FOREIGN FINANCIAL SANCTIONS. 7 (a) HALK BANKASI OR HALKBANK.—Not later than 8 15 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Presi- 9 dent shall impose the sanctions described in section 14(1) 10 with respect to Halk Bankas( or Halkbank or any suc- 11 cessor entity thereof. 12 (b) FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS.— 13 (1) IN GENERAL.—If the Secretary of State, in 14 consultation with the Secretary of Defense, Sec- 15 retary of Treasury, and Director of National Intel- 16 ligence, determines that any foreign financial institu- 17 tion, in addition to the foreign financial institutions 18 specified in subsection (a), has knowingly facilitated 19 significant transactions for the Turkish Armed 20 Forces or defense industry relating to Turkey’s mili- 21 tary invasion of northern Syria on October 9, 2019, 22 the President shall, not later than 60 days after any 23 such determination, impose the sanctions described 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:19 Aug 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4695.RDS H4695 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 HR 4695 RDS in section 14(1) with respect to any such foreign fi- 1 nancial institution. 2 (2) WAIVER.— 3 (A) IN GENERAL.—The President may 4 waive, on a case-by-case basis and for a period 5 of not more than 90 days, the imposition of 6 sanctions under this subsection if the Presi- 7 dent— 8 (i) determines that— 9 (I) it is vital to the national secu- 10 rity interests of the United States to 11 do so; and 12 (II) Turkey— 13 (aa) has halted attacks 14 against the Syrian Democratic 15 Forces, Kurdish and Arab civil- 16 ians, and other religious and eth- 17 nic minority communities in 18 northern Syria; and 19 (bb) is not hindering 20 counter-terrorism operations 21 against ISIS; and 22 (ii) not later than 15 days before 23 issuing such a waiver, submits to the ap- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:19 Aug 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4695.RDS H4695 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 HR 4695 RDS propriate congressional committees a jus- 1 tification relating to such determination. 2 (B) RENEWAL OF WAIVERS.—The Presi- 3 dent may, on a case-by-case basis, renew a 4 waiver under subparagraph (A) for an addi- 5 tional period of not more than 90 days if, not 6 later than 15 days before such a waiver expires, 7 the President determines it is vital to the na- 8 tional security interests of the United States to 9 do so and submits to the appropriate congres- 10 sional committees a justification relating to 11 such determination. 12 SEC. 7. TERMINATION AUTHORITY. 13 (a) SECTIONS 3, 4, AND 5.—The authority to impose 14 sanctions under sections 3 and 5 (and the sanctions im- 15 posed pursuant to such sections) and the prohibitions 16 under section 4 shall terminate if the President determines 17 and submits to the appropriate congressional committees 18 a finding that— 19 (1) Turkey has halted attacks against the Syr- 20 ian Democratic Forces, Kurdish and Arab civilians, 21 and other religious and ethnic minority communities 22 in northern Syria; 23 (2) Turkish forces not involved in coordinated 24 operations with NATO allies or the Global Coalition 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:19 Aug 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4695.RDS H4695 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 13 HR 4695 RDS to Defeat ISIS have withdrawn from northern Syria; 1 and 2 (3) Turkey [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]