SUSPEND Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4604 To require the imposition of sanctions with respect to certain persons in the defense sectors of nuclear weapons states that are not fulfilling their obligations under article VI of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Trea- ty, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES SEPTEMBER 16, 2020 Mr. CRUZ introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs A BILL To require the imposition of sanctions with respect to certain persons in the defense sectors of nuclear weapons states that are not fulfilling their obligations under article VI of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, 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 ‘‘Strongly and Unam- 4 biguously Sanctioning Proliferators Exploiting Nuclear 5 Diplomacy Act of 2020’’ or the ‘‘SUSPEND Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:21 Sep 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4604.IS S4604 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 4604 IS SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 1 Congress makes the following findings: 2 (1) The governments of nuclear weapons states 3 have committed, in accordance with article VI of the 4 Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weap- 5 ons, done at Washington, London, and Moscow July 6 1, 1968 (21 UST 483) (commonly referred to as the 7 ‘‘Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty’’), to ‘‘pursue ne- 8 gotiations in good faith on effective measures relat- 9 ing to cessation of the nuclear arms race at an early 10 date and to nuclear disarmament’’. 11 (2) In 2018 the Nuclear Posture Review con- 12 firmed that— 13 (A) ‘‘[t]he United States remains com- 14 mitted to its efforts in support of the ultimate 15 global elimination of nuclear, biological, and 16 chemical weapons’’; 17 (B) ‘‘[w]hile the United States has contin- 18 ued to reduce the number and salience of nu- 19 clear weapons, others, including Russia and 20 China, have moved in the opposite direction’’; 21 and 22 (C) the United States has ‘‘long sought a 23 dialogue with China to enhance our under- 24 standing of our respective nuclear policies, doc- 25 trine, and capabilities; to improve transparency; 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:21 Sep 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4604.IS S4604 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 4604 IS and to help manage the risks of miscalculation 1 and misperception’’. 2 (3) On May 29, 2019, the Director of the De- 3 fense Intelligence Agency, Lt. Gen. Robert P. Ash- 4 ley, Jr., stated— 5 (A) ‘‘Russia is upgrading the capacity of 6 its nuclear forces. We assess its overall nuclear 7 stockpile is likely to grow significantly over the 8 next decade.’’; and 9 (B) ‘‘Over the next decade, China is likely 10 to at least double the size of its nuclear stock- 11 pile in the course of implementing the most 12 rapid expansion and diversification of its nu- 13 clear arsenal in China’s history.’’. 14 (4) In 2019, the United States-China Economic 15 and Security Review Commission reported to Con- 16 gress that— 17 (A) the People’s Republic of China’s ‘‘en- 18 hanced program of military-civil fusion seeks to 19 mobilize civilian technological advances in sup- 20 port of China’s military modernization’’; and 21 (B) ‘‘As part of military-civil fusion, Chi- 22 nese firms obtain dual-use technologies through 23 overseas acquisitions supported by government 24 funding. For instance, since its creation in 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:21 Sep 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4604.IS S4604 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 4604 IS 2008, state-owned defense conglomerate Avia- 1 tion Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) has 2 spent at least $3.3 billion acquiring at least 20 3 aerospace, automotive, and engineering firms, 4 mainly in the United States and Europe.’’. 5 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 6 In this Act: 7 (1) KNOWINGLY.—The term ‘‘knowingly’’, with 8 respect to conduct, a circumstance, or a result, 9 means that a person has actual knowledge, or should 10 have known, of the conduct, the circumstance, or the 11 result. 12 (2) NUCLEAR NON-PROLIFERATION TREATY.— 13 The term ‘‘Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty’’ 14 means the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nu- 15 clear Weapons, done at Washington, London, and 16 Moscow July 1, 1968 (21 UST 483). 17 (3) NUCLEAR WEAPONS STATE.—The term 18 ‘‘nuclear weapons state’’ means a country that is a 19 nuclear-weapons state party to the Nuclear Non- 20 Proliferation Treaty. 21 (4) SDN LIST.—The term ‘‘SDN list’’ means 22 the list of specially designated nationals and blocked 23 persons maintained by the Office of Foreign Assets 24 Control of the Department of the Treasury. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:21 Sep 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4604.IS S4604 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 4604 IS SEC. 4. REPORT ON OBSERVANCE OF ARTICLE VI OF NU- 1 CLEAR NON-PROLIFERATION TREATY BY NU- 2 CLEAR WEAPONS STATES. 3 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact- 4 ment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Secretary 5 of State shall submit to Congress a report describing the 6 implementation and observance of article VI of the Nu- 7 clear Non-Proliferation Treaty by nuclear weapons states 8 that includes the determination of the Secretary, with re- 9 spect to each such state, of whether that state has, during 10 the year preceding submission of the report, ‘‘pursue[d] 11 negotiations in good faith on effective measures relating 12 to cessation of the nuclear arms race at an early date and 13 to nuclear disarmament’’ in accordance with such article 14 VI. 15 SEC. 5. IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS WITH RESPECT TO CER- 16 TAIN PERSONS IN DEFENSE SECTOR OF NU- 17 CLEAR WEAPONS STATES NOT FULFILLING 18 OBLIGATIONS UNDER ARTICLE VI OF THE 19 NUCLEAR NON-PROLIFERATION TREATY. 20 (a) IN GENERAL.—The President shall include on the 21 SDN list any person that, on or after the date of the en- 22 actment of this Act— 23 (1) is an entity in the defense industry of a 24 country described in subsection (b); 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:21 Sep 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4604.IS S4604 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 4604 IS (2) is an individual who is corporate officer or 1 principal shareholder of an entity described in para- 2 graph (1); 3 (3) knowingly provides significant financial, ma- 4 terial, technological, or other support to a person de- 5 scribed in paragraph (1) or (2); or 6 (4) knowingly provides goods or services in sup- 7 port of any activity or transaction on behalf of or for 8 the benefit of such a person. 9 (b) COUNTRY DESCRIBED.—A country described in 10 this subsection is a nuclear weapons state that is not a 11 member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. 12 (c) EXCEPTION.—The President may not include an 13 entity in the defense industry of a country described in 14 subsection (b), an individual who is corporate officer or 15 principal shareholder of such an entity, or a person that 16 provides support or goods or services to such an entity 17 or individual as described in paragraph (3) or (4) of sub- 18 section (a), on the SDN list pursuant to subsection (a) 19 if, in the most recent report required by section 4, the 20 President determines that the country has ‘‘pursue[d] ne- 21 gotiations in good faith on effective measures relating to 22 cessation of the nuclear arms race at an early date and 23 to nuclear disarmament’’ pursuant to the obligations of 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:21 Sep 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4604.IS S4604 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 4604 IS the country under article VI of the Nuclear Non-Prolifera- 1 tion Treaty during the period covered by the report. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:21 Sep 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S4604.IS S4604 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS