Defend COVID Research from Hackers Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4793 To authorize the imposition of sanctions with respect to certain activities that threaten the national security, foreign policy, public health, economic health, or financial stability of the United States, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES OCTOBER 1, 2020 Mr. TILLIS (for himself and Mrs. BLACKBURN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations A BILL To authorize the imposition of sanctions with respect to certain activities that threaten the national security, for- eign policy, public health, economic health, or financial stability 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 ‘‘Defend COVID Re- 4 search from Hackers Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:49 Oct 18, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4793.IS S4793 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 4793 IS SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION OF IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS 1 WITH RESPECT TO CERTAIN ACTIVITIES 2 THAT THREATEN THE NATIONAL SECURITY, 3 FOREIGN POLICY, PUBLIC HEALTH, ECO- 4 NOMIC HEALTH, OR FINANCIAL STABILITY OF 5 THE UNITED STATES. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—The President may impose sanc- 7 tions described in subsection (b) with respect to any for- 8 eign person determined by the President— 9 (1) to have engaged in, directly or indirectly, or 10 to be responsible for or complicit in, activities, in- 11 cluding cyber-enabled activities, that— 12 (A)(i) are reasonably likely to result in a 13 significant threat to the national security, for- 14 eign policy, public health, economic health, or 15 financial stability of the United States; or 16 (ii) originate from or are directed by for- 17 eign persons that have materially contributed to 18 such a threat; and 19 (B) that have the purpose or effect of— 20 (i) harming, or otherwise significantly 21 compromising, the provision of services by 22 a computer or network of computers that 23 support one or more entities in a critical 24 infrastructure sector; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:49 Oct 18, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4793.IS S4793 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 4793 IS (ii) significantly compromising the 1 provision of services by one or more enti- 2 ties in a critical infrastructure sector; 3 (iii) causing a significant disruption to 4 the availability of a computer or network 5 of computers; or 6 (iv) causing a significant misappro- 7 priation of funds or other economic re- 8 sources, trade secrets, personal identifiers, 9 intellectual property, or financial informa- 10 tion for commercial or competitive advan- 11 tage or private financial gain; 12 (2) to have engaged in, to be responsible for or 13 complicit in, or to have knowingly and materially 14 benefitted from, the receipt or use for commercial or 15 competitive advantage or private financial gain of 16 funds or other economic resources, trade secrets, 17 personal identifiers, intellectual property, or finan- 18 cial information misappropriated through cyber-en- 19 abled activities, if such misappropriation is reason- 20 ably likely to result in, or to have materially contrib- 21 uted to, a significant threat described in paragraph 22 (1)(A)(i); 23 (3) to have materially assisted, sponsored, or 24 provided financial, material, or technological support 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:49 Oct 18, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4793.IS S4793 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 4793 IS for, or goods or services in support of any activity 1 or person described in paragraph (1) or (2); 2 (4) to be owned or controlled by, to be an offi- 3 cer or director of, or to have otherwise acted or pur- 4 ported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indi- 5 rectly, any person described in paragraph (1) or (2); 6 or 7 (5) to have attempted to engage in any activity 8 described in paragraph (1), (2), or (3). 9 (b) SANCTIONS DESCRIBED.—The sanctions de- 10 scribed in this subsection are the following: 11 (1) BLOCKING OF PROPERTY.—The President 12 shall exercise all of the powers granted to the Presi- 13 dent by the International Emergency Economic 14 Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) (except that 15 the requirements of section 202 of such Act (50 16 U.S.C. 1701) shall not apply) to the extent nec- 17 essary to block and prohibit all transactions in prop- 18 erty and interests in property of a foreign person de- 19 scribed in subsection (a) if such property and inter- 20 ests in property are in the United States, come with- 21 in the United States, or are or come within the pos- 22 session or control of a United States person. 23 (2) INADMISSIBILITY OF CERTAIN INDIVID- 24 UALS.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:49 Oct 18, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4793.IS S4793 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 4793 IS (A) INELIGIBILITY FOR VISAS, ADMISSION, 1 OR PAROLE.—An alien described in subsection 2 (a) is— 3 (i) inadmissible to the United States; 4 (ii) ineligible to receive a visa or other 5 documentation to enter the United States; 6 and 7 (iii) otherwise ineligible to be admitted 8 or paroled into the United States or to re- 9 ceive any other benefit under the Immigra- 10 tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et 11 seq.). 12 (B) CURRENT VISAS REVOKED.— 13 (i) IN GENERAL.—The visa or other 14 entry documentation of an alien described 15 in subsection (a) shall be revoked, regard- 16 less of when such visa or other entry docu- 17 mentation is or was issued. 18 (ii) IMMEDIATE EFFECT.—A revoca- 19 tion under clause (i) shall— 20 (I) take effect immediately; and 21 (II) automatically cancel any 22 other valid visa or entry documenta- 23 tion that is in the alien’s possession. 24 (c) IMPLEMENTATION; PENALTIES.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:49 Oct 18, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4793.IS S4793 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 4793 IS (1) IMPLEMENTATION.—The President may ex- 1 ercise all authorities provided under sections 203 2 and 205 of the International Emergency Economic 3 Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1702 and 1704) to the ex- 4 tent necessary to carry out this section. 5 (2) PENALTIES.—A person that violates, at- 6 tempts to violate, conspires to violate, or causes a 7 violation of subsection (b)(1), or any regulation, li- 8 cense, or order issued to carry out that subsection, 9 shall be subject to the penalties set forth in sub- 10 sections (b) and (c) of section 206 of the Inter- 11 national Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 12 U.S.C. 1705) to the same extent as a person that 13 commits an unlawful act described in subsection (a) 14 of that section. 15 (d) EXCEPTIONS.— 16 (1) INTELLIGENCE AND LAW ENFORCEMENT 17 ACTIVITIES.—The following activities shall be ex- 18 empt from sanctions under this section: 19 (A) Activities subject to the reporting re- 20 quirements under title V of the National Secu- 21 rity Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3091 et seq.). 22 (B) Activities subject to any authorized in- 23 telligence or law enforcement activities of the 24 United States. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:49 Oct 18, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4793.IS S4793 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 4793 IS (2) EXCEPTION RELATING TO IMPORTATION OF 1 GOODS.— 2 (A) IN GENERAL.—The authorities and re- 3 quirements to impose sanctions under sub- 4 section (b)(1) shall not include the authority or 5 a requirement to impose sanctions on the im- 6 portation of goods. 7 (B) GOOD DEFINED.—In this paragraph, 8 the term ‘‘good’’ means any article, natural or 9 manmade substance, material, supply or manu- 10 factured product, including inspection and test 11 equipment, and excluding technical data. 12 (3) EXCEPTION TO COMPLY WITH INTER- 13 NATIONAL OBLIGATIONS.—Sanctions under sub- 14 section (b)(2) shall not apply with respect to an 15 alien if admitting or paroling the alien into the 16 United States is necessary to permit the United 17 States to comply with the Agreement regarding the 18 Headquarters of the United Nations, signed at Lake 19 Success June 26, 1947, and entered into force No- 20 vember 21, 1947, between the United Nations and 21 the United States, or other applicable international 22 obligations of the United States. 23 (e) REPORT ON CYBER-ENABLED ACTIVITIES.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:49 Oct 18, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4793.IS S4793 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 4793 IS (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 1 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec- 2 retary of State, in consultation with the Director of 3 National Intelligence, shall submit to the appro- 4 priate congressional committees a report— 5 (A) detailing the extent of known cyber-en- 6 abled activities or attempted cyber-enabled ac- 7 tivities described in subsection (a) by foreign 8 persons related to the coronavirus disease 2019 9 (commonly referred to as ‘‘COVID–19’’) pan- 10 demic; and 11 (B) assessing whether such activities qual- 12 ify for the imposition of sanctions under this 13 section. 14 (2) FORM.—The report required by paragraph 15 (1) shall be submitted in unclassified form but may 16 include a classified annex. 17 (f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 18 (1) ADMITTED; ALIEN.—The terms ‘‘admitted’’ 19 and ‘‘alien’’ have the meanings given such terms in 20 section 101 of the Immigration and Nationality Act 21 (8 U.S.C. 1101). 22 (2) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT- 23 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com- 24 mittees’’ means— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:49 Oct 18, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4793.IS S4793 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 4793 IS (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations 1 and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and 2 Urban Affairs of the Senate; and 3 (B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and 4 the Committee on Financial Services of the 5 House of Representatives. 6 (3) CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE SECTOR.—The 7 term ‘‘critical infrastructure sector’’ means any of 8 the designated critical infrastructure sectors identi- 9 fied in Presidential Policy Directive 21. 10 (4) ENTITY.—The term ‘‘entity’’ means a part- 11 nership, association, trust, joint venture, corpora- 12 tion, group, subgroup, or other organization. 13 (5) FOREIGN PERSON.—The term ‘‘foreign per- 14 son’’ means an individual or entity that is not a 15 United States person. 16 (6) KNOWINGLY.—The term ‘‘knowingly’’, with 17 respect to conduct, a circumstance, or a result, 18 means that a person has actual knowledge, or should 19 have known, of the conduct, the circumstance, or the 20 result. 21 (7) MISAPPROPRIATION.—The term ‘‘misappro- 22 priation’’ means any taking or obtaining by im- 23 proper means, without permission or consent, or 24 under false pretenses. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:49 Oct 18, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4793.IS S4793 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 4793 IS (8) PERSON.—The term ‘‘person’’ means an in- 1 dividual or entity. 2 (9) UNITED STATES PERSON.—The term 3 ‘‘United States person’’ means— 4 (A) an individual who is a United States 5 citizen or an alien lawfully admitted for perma- 6 nent residence to the United States; 7 (B) an entity organized under the laws of 8 the United States or any jurisdiction within the 9 United States, including a foreign branch of 10 such an entity; or 11 (C) any person in the United States. 12 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:49 Oct 18, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S4793.IS S4793 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS