SECURE Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8495 To prohibit United States persons from engaging in transactions relating to Russian sovereign debt. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OCTOBER 1, 2020 Mr. SHERMAN (for himself, Ms. WATERS, Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York, Mr. GREEN of Texas, and Mr. SAN NICOLAS) introduced the fol- lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committees on Foreign Affairs, Intelligence (Per- manent Select), and Rules, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To prohibit United States persons from engaging in transactions relating to Russian sovereign debt. 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 ‘‘Safeguarding Elections 4 by Countering Unchallenged Russian Efforts Act’’ or 5 ‘‘SECURE Act’’. 6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 7 Congress finds the following: 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:18 Oct 29, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8495.IH H8495 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8495 IH (1) The intelligence community’s assessment of 1 ‘‘Russia’s Influence Campaign Targeting the 2016 2 US Presidential Election’’, produced by the Central 3 Intelligence Agency, the Federal Bureau of Inves- 4 tigation, and the National Security Agency and pub- 5 lished by the Office of the Director of National In- 6 telligence on January 6, 2017, found that the fol- 7 lowing: 8 (A) Russian President Vladimir Putin or- 9 dered an influence campaign in 2016 aimed at 10 the United States presidential election. 11 (B) Russian operations to influence the 12 2016 United States presidential election dem- 13 onstrated a significant escalation in directness, 14 level of activity, and scope of effort compared to 15 previous operations aimed at undermining 16 United States democratic institutions and 17 order. 18 (C) Russia will apply lessons learned from 19 its Putin-ordered campaign aimed at the United 20 States presidential election to future influence 21 efforts worldwide, including against the United 22 States and its allies and their election proc- 23 esses. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:18 Oct 29, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8495.IH H8495 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8495 IH (2) In July 2018, Director of the Federal Bu- 1 reau of Investigation Christopher Wray publicly stat- 2 ed, ‘‘My view has not changed, which is that Russia 3 attempted to interfere with the last election and that 4 it continues to engage in malign influence operations 5 to this day.’’ Director Wray also stated that Russia’s 6 malign influence operations represent ‘‘a threat that 7 we need to take extremely seriously and respond to 8 with fierce determination and focus’’. 9 (3) In August 2018, Director of National Intel- 10 ligence Dan Coates publicly stated that ‘‘We con- 11 tinue to see a pervasive messaging campaign by Rus- 12 sia to try to weaken and divide the United States.’’. 13 In December 2018, Director Coates submitted the 14 report of the intelligence community on foreign in- 15 terference in the 2018 midterm elections, which 16 found that Russia continued to conduct influence ac- 17 tivities and messaging campaigns targeted at the 18 United States to promote its strategic interests. 19 (4) Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report, re- 20 leased in April 2019, concluded that, ‘‘The Russian 21 government interfered in the 2016 presidential elec- 22 tion in a sweeping and systemic fashion.’’ On July 23 24, 2019, during congressional testimony, Mueller 24 noted that Russia’s malign efforts to interfere in 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:18 Oct 29, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8495.IH H8495 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 8495 IH United States elections were continuing ‘‘as we sit 1 here’’. 2 (5) On August 7, 2020, in an ‘‘Election Threat 3 Update for the American Public’’, National Counter- 4 intelligence and Security Center Director William 5 Evanina included Russia among foreign states of 6 primary concern that continue to use covert and 7 overt influence measures in its ‘‘attempts to sway 8 U.S. voters’ preferences and perspectives, shift U.S. 9 policies, increase discord in the United States, and 10 undermine the American people’s confidence in our 11 democratic process’’. 12 (6) On September 10, 2020, the Department of 13 the Treasury issued sanctions targeting a Russian 14 agent and other Russia-linked individuals for inter- 15 ference in United States elections, including efforts 16 to influence the 2020 United States presidential 17 election. 18 (7) On September 17, 2020, during congres- 19 sional testimony, FBI Director Wray stated that the 20 intelligence community has observed ‘‘very active, 21 very active, efforts by the Russians to influence our 22 election in 2020’’, and that this has been done ‘‘to 23 primarily to denigrate Vice President Biden in what 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:18 Oct 29, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8495.IH H8495 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 8495 IH the Russians see as a kind of an anti-Russian estab- 1 lishment’’. 2 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON RUSSIAN INTERFERENCE 3 IN UNITED STATES ELECTIONS. 4 It is the sense of Congress that— 5 (1) the Government of Russia has continued to 6 interfere in the 2020 United States presidential elec- 7 tion; 8 (2) to date the United States has not subjected 9 the Government of Russia to meaningful con- 10 sequences for its interference in United States elec- 11 tions; and 12 (3) the imposition of significant economic sanc- 13 tions against the Government of Russia is appro- 14 priate to deter continued Russian interference in 15 United States elections. 16 SEC. 4. PROHIBITION ON UNITED STATES PERSONS FROM 17 ENGAGING IN TRANSACTIONS RELATING TO 18 RUSSIAN SOVEREIGN DEBT. 19 (a) PROHIBITION.— 20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days after 21 the date of the enactment of this Act, the President 22 shall issue regulations to prohibit United States per- 23 sons from engaging in transactions with, providing 24 financing for, or in any other way dealing in Russian 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:18 Oct 29, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8495.IH H8495 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 8495 IH sovereign debt that is issued on or after the date 1 that is 60 days after such date of enactment. 2 (2) RUSSIAN SOVEREIGN DEBT DEFINED.—In 3 this subsection, the term ‘‘Russian sovereign debt’’ 4 means— 5 (A) bonds issued by the Russian Central 6 Bank, the Russian National Wealth Fund, the 7 Russian Federal Treasury, or agents or affili- 8 ates of any such institution, regardless of the 9 currency in which they are denominated and 10 with a maturity of more than 14 days; 11 (B) foreign exchange swap agreements 12 with the Russian Central Bank, the Russian 13 National Wealth Fund, or the Russian Federal 14 Treasury, regardless of the currency in which 15 they are denominated and with a duration of 16 more than 14 days; and 17 (C) any other financial instrument, the 18 maturity or duration of which is more than 14 19 days, that the President determines represents 20 the sovereign debt of Russia. 21 (3) REQUIREMENT TO PUBLISH GUIDANCE.— 22 The President shall publish guidance on the imple- 23 mentation of the regulations issued pursuant to 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:18 Oct 29, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8495.IH H8495 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 8495 IH paragraph (1) concurrently with the publication of 1 such regulations. 2 (b) REPORT.— 3 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 4 the regularly scheduled general election for Federal 5 office in 2022, and each regularly scheduled general 6 election for Federal office thereafter, the Director of 7 National Intelligence, in consultation with the Direc- 8 tor of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Di- 9 rector of the National Security Agency, and the Di- 10 rector of the Central Intelligence Agency, shall sub- 11 mit to the President, the Secretary of State, the Sec- 12 retary of the Treasury, and the appropriate congres- 13 sional committees and leadership a report on wheth- 14 er there is or is not significant evidence available for 15 the Director to determine that the Government of 16 Russia, or any person acting as an agent of or on 17 behalf of that government, knowingly engaged in in- 18 terference in such general election or any other elec- 19 tion for Federal office held since the most recent 20 prior regularly scheduled general election for Federal 21 office, including an identification of any officials of 22 that government, or persons acting as agents of or 23 on behalf of that government, that knowingly en- 24 gaged in interference in any such election. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:18 Oct 29, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8495.IH H8495 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 8495 IH (2) ADDITIONAL REPORT.—If the Director of 1 Intelligence— 2 (A) determines in a report submitted 3 under paragraph (1) that there is not signifi- 4 cant evidence available for the Director to de- 5 termine that the Government of Russia, or any 6 person acting as an agent of or on behalf of 7 that government, knowingly engaged in inter- 8 ference in any election described in paragraph 9 (1); and 10 (B) subsequently determines that there is 11 significant evidence available for the Director to 12 make such a determination, 13 the Director shall submit to the President, the Sec- 14 retary of State, the Secretary of the Treasury, and 15 the appropriate congressional committees and lead- 16 ership a report on such subsequent determination 17 not later than 30 days after making that determina- 18 tion. 19 (3) FORM.—Each report required by this sub- 20 section shall be submitted in unclassified form, but 21 may include a classified annex. 22 (c) SUSPENSION AUTHORITY.— 23 (1) IN GENERAL.—The President may, for the 24 period of time described in paragraph (3), suspend 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:18 Oct 29, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8495.IH H8495 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 8495 IH the application of any prohibition on United States 1 persons from engaging in transactions described in 2 subsection (a) if, not later than 30 days after the 3 date on which a report described in subsection (b) 4 is submitted to the officials described in subsection 5 (b) and the appropriate congressional committees 6 and leadership with respect to a regularly scheduled 7 general election for Federal office, the President— 8 (A) determines that there is not significant 9 evidence available for the President to deter- 10 mine that the Government of Russia, or any 11 person acting as an agent of or on behalf of 12 that government, knowingly engaged in inter- 13 ference in such general election or any other 14 election for Federal office held since the most 15 recent prior regularly scheduled general election 16 for Federal office; and 17 (B) submits to the appropriate congres- 18 sional committees and leadership a report that 19 contains the determination of the President 20 under subparagraph (A) and a justification for 21 the determination. 22 (2) CLARIFICATION REGARDING SUSPENSION.— 23 If— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:18 Oct 29, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8495.IH H8495 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 8495 IH (A) the President suspends the application 1 of any prohibition on United States persons 2 from engaging in transactions described in sub- 3 section (a); 4 (B) such United States persons engage in 5 transactions described in subsection (a) involv- 6 ing Russian sovereign debt that is issued during 7 the period of time in which the suspension is in 8 effect; and 9 (C) such United States persons are subject 10 to the application of any prohibition on United 11 States persons from engaging in transactions 12 described in subsection (a) after such period of 13 time in which the suspension is in effect, 14 such United States persons may not be subject to 15 any prohibition on United States persons from en- 16 gaging in transactions described in subsection (a) 17 with respect to engaging in transactions involving 18 Russian sovereign debt described in subparagraph 19 (B). 20 (3) TIME PERIOD DESCRIBED.—The period of 21 time described in this paragraph is the period— 22 (A) beginning after the 60-day period de- 23 scribed in paragraph (1)(B); and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:18 Oct 29, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8495.IH H8495 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 8495 IH (B) ending on or before the date that is 60 1 days after the date of the next regularly sched- 2 uled general election for Federal office. 3 (d) WAIVER AUTHORITY.—The President may waive 4 the application of any prohibition on United States per- 5 sons from engaging in transactions described in subsection 6 (a) if— 7 (1) the President— 8 (A) determines that the waiver is in the 9 vital national security interests of the United 10 States; and 11 (B) submits to the appropriate congres- 12 sional committees and leadership a report that 13 contains the determination of the President 14 under subparagraph (A); and 15 (2) in the case of such waiver authority exer- 16 cised on or before February 1, 2021, a joint resolu- 17 tion of approval with respect to such determination 18 is enacted into law pursuant to subsection (e). 19 (e) EXPEDITED PROCEDURES FOR JOINT RESOLU- 20 TION OF APPROVAL.— 21 (1) DEFINITION.—The term ‘‘joint resolution of 22 approval’’ means only a joint resolution of either 23 House of Congress, the matter after the resolving 24 clause of which is as follows: ‘‘That Congress ap- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:18 Oct 29, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8495.IH H8495 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 8495 IH proves the determination of the President under sub- 1 paragraph (A) of section 4(d)(1)(A) of the Election 2 Protection and Russian Sanctions Act on ll.’’, 3 with the blank space being filled with the appro- 4 priate date. 5 (2) EXPEDITED PROCEDURES.—A joint resolu- 6 tion of approval introduced in either House of Con- 7 gress shall be considered in accordance with the pro- 8 cedures of section 601(b) of the International Secu- 9 rity Assistance and Arms Export Control Act of 10 1976. If such a joint resolution should be vetoed b [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]