Israel Anti-Boycott Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 5595 To impose additional prohibitions relating to foreign boycotts under Export Control Reform Act of 2018, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 13, 2020 Mr. ZELDIN (for himself, Mr. MCCAUL, Mr. BARR, Mr. COOK, Mr. GIBBS, Mr. SCHWEIKERT, Mr. MARSHALL, Mr. WEBER of Texas, Mr. WALKER, Mr. GROTHMAN, Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee, Mr. PERRY, Mr. ROUZER, Mr. KATKO, Mrs. HARTZLER, Mr. LATTA, Mr. ROGERS of Alabama, Mr. COMER, Mrs. RODGERS of Washington, Mr. SUOZZI, Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia, Mr. BIGGS, Mr. FLORES, Mr. BYRNE, Mr. BABIN, Mr. BANKS, Mr. MITCHELL, Mr. MAST, Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, Mr. JOHNSON of Ohio, Mrs. WALORSKI, Mr. KUSTOFF of Tennessee, Mr. GAETZ, Mrs. BROOKS of Indiana, Mr. FLEISCHMANN, Mr. ESTES, Ms. FOXX of North Carolina, Mr. ABRAHAM, Mr. GRAVES of Georgia, Mr. DESJARLAIS, Mr. DAVIDSON of Ohio, Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. COLLINS of Georgia, Mr. COLE, Mr. DUNN, Mr. BISHOP of Utah, Mr. NEWHOUSE, Ms. STEFANIK, Mr. BUCSHON, Mr. MULLIN, Mr. BUDD, Mr. DIAZ-BALART, Mr. LONG, Mr. CRENSHAW, Mr. FERGUSON, Mr. AUSTIN SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. CARTER of Texas, Mr. CURTIS, Mr. YOHO, and Mr. NORMAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs A BILL To impose additional prohibitions relating to foreign boycotts under Export Control Reform Act of 2018, 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 01:33 Jan 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5595.IH H5595 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 5595 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This title may be cited as the ‘‘Israel Anti-Boycott 2 Act’’. 3 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 4 It is the sense of Congress that— 5 (1) the Government of the United States should 6 use its voice, vote, and influence with and in inter- 7 national governmental organizations to actively op- 8 pose politically motivated actions to boycott, divest 9 from, or sanction Israel; 10 (2) the Government of the United States com- 11 bats anti-Israel boycotts and other discriminatory 12 activity under the Export Control Reform Act of 13 2018 (subtitle B of title XVII of Public Law 115– 14 232), under part VI of title X of the Tax Reform 15 Act of 1976 (Public Law 94–455; 90 Stat. 1649) 16 (commonly referred to as the ‘‘Ribicoff Amend- 17 ment’’), through trade promotion authorities, in free 18 trade agreements, and in accession negotiations to 19 the World Trade Organization; however, due to the 20 increased anti-Israel economic activity in inter- 21 national governmental organizations, it is necessary 22 to update Federal authorities to combat anti-Israel 23 boycotts and other discriminatory activity in such 24 fora, including the United Nations Human Rights 25 Council; 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:33 Jan 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5595.IH H5595 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 5595 IH (3) actions to boycott, divest from, or sanction 1 Israel represent a concerted effort to extract conces- 2 sions from Israel outside of direct negotiations be- 3 tween the Israelis and Palestinians; and 4 (4) the United States-Israel Strategic Partner- 5 ship Act of 2014 (Public Law 113–296; 128 Stat. 6 4075) should be fully implemented through en- 7 hanced, governmentwide, coordinated United States- 8 Israel scientific and technological cooperation in ci- 9 vilian areas, such as with respect to energy, water, 10 agriculture, alternative fuel technology, civilian space 11 technology, and security in order to counter the ef- 12 fects of actions to boycott, divest from, or sanction 13 Israel. 14 SEC. 3. ADDITIONAL PROHIBITIONS RELATING TO FOR- 15 EIGN BOYCOTTS UNDER EXPORT CONTROL 16 REFORM ACT OF 2018. 17 (a) DECLARATION OF POLICY.—Section 1772 of the 18 Export Control Reform Act of 2018 (50 U.S.C. 4841) is 19 amended— 20 (1) by amending paragraph (1) to read as fol- 21 lows: 22 ‘‘(1) to oppose restrictive trade practices or 23 boycotts fostered or imposed by foreign countries or 24 international governmental organizations, or efforts 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:33 Jan 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5595.IH H5595 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 5595 IH by foreign countries or international governmental 1 organizations to collect information that have the ef- 2 fect of furthering or supporting restrictive trade 3 practices or boycotts fostered or imposed by foreign 4 countries or international governmental organiza- 5 tions, against other countries friendly to the United 6 States or against any United States person;’’; and 7 (2) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘or inter- 8 national governmental organization’’ after ‘‘any for- 9 eign country’’. 10 (b) FOREIGN BOYCOTTS.—Section 1773 of the Ex- 11 port Control Reform Act of 2018 (50 U.S.C. 4842) is 12 amended— 13 (1) in subsection (a)— 14 (A) in paragraph (1)— 15 (i) in the matter preceding subpara- 16 graph (A)— 17 (I) by striking ‘‘United States 18 person’’ and inserting ‘‘covered per- 19 son’’; and 20 (II) by inserting after ‘‘foreign 21 country’’ the following: ‘‘or an inter- 22 national governmental organization, 23 or efforts by a foreign country or 24 international governmental organiza- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:33 Jan 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5595.IH H5595 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 5595 IH tion to collect information that have 1 the effect of furthering or supporting 2 restrictive trade practices or boycotts 3 fostered or imposed by a foreign coun- 4 try or international governmental or- 5 ganization,’’; 6 (ii) in subparagraph (A), by inserting 7 ‘‘or international governmental organiza- 8 tion (as the case may be)’’ after ‘‘of the 9 boycotting country’’; 10 (iii) in subparagraph (D)— 11 (I) by inserting ‘‘(i)’’ after 12 ‘‘(D)’’; 13 (II) by inserting ‘‘or with the 14 international governmental organiza- 15 tion (as the case may be)’’ after ‘‘in 16 the boycotting country’’; and 17 (III) by striking the last sentence 18 and inserting the following: 19 ‘‘(ii) Furnishing information to a foreign 20 country or international governmental organiza- 21 tion in response to efforts by a foreign country 22 or international governmental organization to 23 collect information that have the effect of fur- 24 thering or supporting a restrictive trade prac- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:33 Jan 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5595.IH H5595 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 5595 IH tice or boycott fostered or imposed by a foreign 1 country or international governmental organiza- 2 tion. Such information includes information 3 about whether any person has, has had, or pro- 4 poses to have any business relationship (includ- 5 ing a relationship by way of sale, purchase, 6 legal or commercial representation, shipping or 7 other transport, insurance, investment, or sup- 8 ply)— 9 ‘‘(I) with or in the country to which 10 the restrictive trade practice or boycott ap- 11 plies; 12 ‘‘(II) with any business concern orga- 13 nized under the laws of that country; 14 ‘‘(III) with any national or resident of 15 that country; or 16 ‘‘(IV) with any other person which is 17 known or believed to be restricted from 18 having any business relationship with or in 19 a foreign country, or with an international 20 governmental organization, that fosters or 21 imposes the restrictive trade practice or 22 boycott. 23 ‘‘(iii) Nothing in this paragraph shall pro- 24 hibit the furnishing of normal business informa- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:33 Jan 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5595.IH H5595 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 5595 IH tion in a commercial context as defined by the 1 Secretary.’’; and 2 (iv) in subparagraph (F), by striking 3 ‘‘United States person’’ and inserting 4 ‘‘covered person’’; and 5 (B) in paragraph (2)(F), by striking 6 ‘‘United States person’’ and inserting ‘‘covered 7 person’’; and 8 (C) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘United 9 States person’’ and inserting ‘‘covered person’’; 10 (2) in subsection (c), by inserting ‘‘or inter- 11 national governmental organizations against other 12 countries, or regarding efforts by foreign countries 13 or international governmental organizations to col- 14 lect information that have the effect of furthering or 15 supporting restrictive trade practices or boycotts fos- 16 tered or imposed by foreign countries or inter- 17 national governmental organizations’’ after ‘‘foreign 18 countries’’; and 19 (3) by adding at the end the following: 20 ‘‘(d) COVERED PERSON DEFINED.— 21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In this section, the term 22 ‘covered person’ means— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:33 Jan 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5595.IH H5595 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 5595 IH ‘‘(A) any domestic concern (including any 1 permanent domestic establishment of any for- 2 eign concern); 3 ‘‘(B) any foreign subsidiary or affiliate (in- 4 cluding any permanent foreign establishment) 5 of any domestic concern which is controlled in 6 fact by such domestic concern, as determined 7 under regulations of the President; 8 ‘‘(C) the government of the United States 9 or any State, territory, or possession of the 10 United States, or any subdivision, department, 11 agency, or commission of any such government; 12 or 13 ‘‘(D) an individual who is— 14 ‘‘(i) a United States resident or na- 15 tional (other than such an individual resid- 16 ing outside the United States and em- 17 ployed by other than a United States per- 18 son); 19 ‘‘(ii) an owner, officer, director, em- 20 ployee, or agent of a domestic concern de- 21 scribed in subparagraph (A) or a foreign 22 subsidiary or affiliate described in subpara- 23 graph (B) or an officer, director, employee, 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:33 Jan 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5595.IH H5595 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 5595 IH or agent of an entity described in subpara- 1 graph (C); and 2 ‘‘(iii) acting in the individual’s official 3 capacity as such an owner, officer, direc- 4 tor, employee, or agent. 5 ‘‘(2) DOMESTIC CONCERN.—For purposes of 6 paragraph (1), the term ‘domestic concern’ does not 7 include an individual.’’. 8 (c) VIOLATIONS OF SECTION 1773(a).—Section 1774 9 of the Export Control Reform Act of 2018 (50 U.S.C. 10 4843) is amended— 11 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘A person’’ 12 and inserting ‘‘Except as provided in subsection (e), 13 a person’’; and 14 (2) by adding at the end the following: 15 ‘‘(e) CERTAIN VIOLATIONS OF SECTION 1773(a).— 16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Whoever knowingly violates 17 or conspires to or attempts to violate a regulation 18 issued under section 1773(a) prohibiting an action 19 described in paragraph (2) shall be subject to only 20 a monetary penalty under subsection (a) or (b). 21 ‘‘(2) ACTIONS DESCRIBED.—An action de- 22 scribed in this paragraph is any action described in 23 subparagraphs (A) through (F) of section 24 1773(a)(1) taken by a covered person (as defined in 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:33 Jan 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5595.IH H5595 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 5595 IH section 1773(d)), or knowingly agreed to be taken by 1 such a person, with respect to the person’s activities 2 in the interstate or foreign commerce of the United 3 States, with the intent to comply with, further, or 4 support— 5 ‘‘(A) any boycott fostered or imposed by an 6 international governmental organization against 7 a country which is friendly to the United States 8 and which is not itself the object of any form 9 of boycott pursuant to United States law or 10 regulation; or 11 ‘‘(B) efforts by a foreign country or inter- 12 national governmental organization to collect 13 information that have the effect of furthering or 14 supporting restrictive trade practices or boy- 15 cotts fostered or imposed by a foreign country 16 or international governmental organization 17 against a country described in subparagraph 18 (A).’’. 19 (d) DEFINITIONS.—Part II of the Export Control Re- 20 form Act of 2018 is amended by adding at the end the 21 following: 22 ‘‘SEC. 1775. DEFINITIONS. 23 ‘‘In this part: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:33 Jan 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5595.IH H5595 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 5595 IH ‘‘(1) INTERNATIONAL GOVERNMENTAL ORGANI- 1 ZATION.—The term ‘international governmental or- 2 ganization’ includes— 3 ‘‘(A) the United Nations, including organi- 4 zations within the United Nations such as the 5 United Nations Human Rights Council; and 6 ‘‘(B) the European Union. 7 ‘‘(2) EFFORTS BY A FOREIGN COUNTRY OR 8 INTERNATIONAL GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION, 9 ETC.—The term ‘efforts by a foreign country or 10 international governmental organization to collect in- 11 formation that have the effect of furthering or sup- 12 porting a restrictive trade practice or boycott fos- 13 tered or imposed by a foreign country or inter- 14 national governmental organization’ includes efforts 15 by the United Nations Human Rights Council to col- 16 lect information for the establishment of a database 17 of entities that operate, or have business relations 18 with entities that operate, beyond Israel’s 1949 Ar- 19 mistice lines, including East Jerusalem.’’. 20 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 21 this section shall take effect on the date of the enactment 22 of this Act and apply with respect to actions described 23 in section 1773(a) of the Export Control Reform Act of 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:33 Jan 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5595.IH H5595 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 5595 IH 2018 (50 U.S.C. 4842(a)) taken or knowingly agreed to 1 be taken on or after such date of enactment. 2 SEC. 4. RULES OF CONSTRUCTION. 3 (a) NOTHING DIMINISHING FIRST AMENDMENT.— 4 Nothing in this Act or an amendment made by this Act 5 shall be construed to diminish or infringe upon any right 6 protected under the first amendment to the Constitution. 7 (b) NONCOMMERCIAL SPEECH OR OTHER EXPRES- 8 SIVE ACTIVITY.—Consistent with current enforcement 9 practices of the Department of Commerce, nothing in this 10 Act or an amendment made by this Act shall be construed 11 to permit a person’s noncommercial speech or other non- 12 commercial expressive activity to be used— 13 (1) as evidence to prove a violation of section 14 1773(a) of the Expo [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]