Holding Russia Accountable for Malign Activities Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8507 To impose sanctions with respect to officials of the Government of the Russian Federation complicit in the poisoning of its citizens for political motives, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OCTOBER 2, 2020 Mr. COHEN (for himself, Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, Mr. MEEKS, and Mr. FITZPATRICK) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committees on the Judiciary, Financial Services, Ways and Means, Transportation and In- frastructure, and Oversight and Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provi- sions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To impose sanctions with respect to officials of the Govern- ment of the Russian Federation complicit in the poi- soning of its citizens for political motives, 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 ‘‘Holding Russia Ac- 4 countable for Malign Activities Act of 2020’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:24 Oct 30, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8507.IH H8507 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8507 IH SEC. 2. IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS WITH RESPECT TO RUS- 1 SIAN OFFICIALS INVOLVED IN POISONING 2 RUSSIAN CITIZENS FOR POLITICAL MOTIVES. 3 (a) IDENTIFICATION.—Not later than 90 days after 4 the date of the enactment of this Act, the President shall 5 submit to Congress a report identifying any current or 6 former official of the Government of the Russian Federa- 7 tion that the President determines was involved in the poi- 8 soning on August 20, 2020, of a Russian opposition leader 9 or the subsequent cover-up of the poisoning. 10 (b) IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS.—The President shall 11 impose the following sanctions with respect to each official 12 identified in the report required by subsection (a): 13 (1) ASSET BLOCKING.—The President shall ex- 14 ercise all of the powers granted to the President 15 under the International Emergency Economic Pow- 16 ers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) to the extent nec- 17 essary to block and prohibit all transactions in prop- 18 erty and interests in property of the official identi- 19 fied in the report required by subsection (a) if such 20 property and interests in property are in the United 21 States, come within the United States, or are or 22 come within the possession or control of a United 23 States person. 24 (2) INELIGIBILITY FOR VISAS, ADMISSION, OR 25 PAROLE.— 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:24 Oct 30, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8507.IH H8507 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8507 IH (A) VISAS, ADMISSION, OR PAROLE.—An 1 alien identified in the report required by sub- 2 section (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.—An alien identified 14 in the report required by subsection (a) is 15 subject to revocation of any visa or other 16 entry documentation regardless of when 17 the visa or other entry documentation is or 18 was issued. 19 (ii) IMMEDIATE EFFECT.—A revoca- 20 tion under clause (i) shall— 21 (I) take effect immediately; and 22 (II) cancel any other valid visa or 23 entry documentation that is in the 24 alien’s possession. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:24 Oct 30, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8507.IH H8507 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 8507 IH (c) WAIVER; EXCEPTIONS; IMPLEMENTATION OF 1 SANCTIONS.— 2 (1) IMPLEMENTATION; PENALTIES.— 3 (A) IMPLEMENTATION.—The President 4 may exercise all authorities provided under sec- 5 tions 203 and 205 of the International Emer- 6 gency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1702 7 and 1704) to the extent necessary to carry out 8 this section. 9 (B) PENALTIES.—A person that violates, 10 attempts to violate, conspires to violate, or 11 causes a violation of subsection (b)(1), or any 12 regulation, license, or order issued to carry out 13 that subsection, shall be subject to the penalties 14 set forth in subsections (b) and (c) of section 15 206 of the International Emergency Economic 16 Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1705) to the same ex- 17 tent as a person that commits an unlawful act 18 described in subsection (a) of that section. 19 (2) NATIONAL SECURITY WAIVER.—The Presi- 20 dent may waive the application of sanctions under 21 this section with respect to a person if the President 22 determines and certifies to Congress that such a 23 waiver is in the national security interests of the 24 United States. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:24 Oct 30, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8507.IH H8507 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 8507 IH (3) EXCEPTIONS.— 1 (A) EXCEPTION FOR INTELLIGENCE AC- 2 TIVITIES.—Sanctions under this section shall 3 not apply to any activity subject to the report- 4 ing requirements under title V of the National 5 Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3091 et seq.) 6 or any authorized intelligence activities of the 7 United States. 8 (B) EXCEPTION TO COMPLY WITH INTER- 9 NATIONAL OBLIGATIONS.—Sanctions under sub- 10 section (b)(2) shall not apply with respect to an 11 alien if admitting or paroling the alien into the 12 United States is necessary to permit the United 13 States to comply with the Agreement regarding 14 the Headquarters of the United Nations, signed 15 at Lake Success June 26, 1947, and entered 16 into force November 21, 1947, between the 17 United Nations and the United States, or other 18 applicable international obligations. 19 (C) EXCEPTION RELATING TO THE IMPOR- 20 TATION OF GOODS.— 21 (i) IN GENERAL.—The authorities and 22 requirements to impose sanctions author- 23 ized under this section shall not include 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:24 Oct 30, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8507.IH H8507 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 8507 IH the authority or a requirement to impose 1 sanctions on the importation of goods. 2 (ii) GOOD DEFINED.—In this subpara- 3 graph, the term ‘‘good’’ means any article, 4 natural or manmade substance, material, 5 supply, or manufactured product, including 6 inspection and test equipment, and exclud- 7 ing technical data. 8 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 9 (1) ADMISSION; ADMITTED; ALIEN.—The terms 10 ‘‘admission’’, ‘‘admitted’’, and ‘‘alien’’ have the 11 meanings given those terms in section 101 of the 12 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101). 13 (2) UNITED STATES PERSON.—The term 14 ‘‘United States person’’ means— 15 (A) an individual who is a United States 16 citizen or an alien lawfully admitted for perma- 17 nent residence to the United States; 18 (B) an entity organized under the laws of 19 the United States or any jurisdiction within the 20 United States, including a foreign branch of 21 such an entity; or 22 (C) any person in the United States. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:24 Oct 30, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8507.IH H8507 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 8507 IH SEC. 3. REPORT ON PERSONAL WEALTH OF VLADIMIR 1 PUTIN AND HIS FAMILY MEMBERS. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 3 date of the enactment of this Act, the President shall sub- 4 mit to Congress a report on the sources and extent of the 5 personal wealth of the President of the Russian Federa- 6 tion, Vladimir Putin, and his family members. 7 (b) PERSONAL WEALTH.—The report required by 8 subsection (a) shall include an assessment of the assets, 9 investments, bank accounts, other business interests, and 10 relevant beneficial ownership information of Vladimir 11 Putin and his family members. 12 (c) FORM.—The report required by subsection (a) 13 shall be submitted in unclassified form but may include 14 a classified annex. 15 SEC. 4. DIPLOMATIC ENGAGEMENT WITH GERMANY WITH 16 RESPECT TO SUPPORT FOR NORD STREAM 2 17 PIPELINE. 18 It is the sense of Congress that the Secretary of State 19 should urge the Government of Germany to withdraw its 20 support for the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from the Rus- 21 sian Federation, emphasizing the impropriety of involve- 22 ment in a project that will support a government that 23 murders its citizens for highlighting corruption and other 24 abuses, while at the same making Europe more reliant on 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:24 Oct 30, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8507.IH H8507 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 8507 IH the destabilizing and untrustworthy leadership of the Rus- 1 sian Federation. 2 SEC. 5. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON IMPOSITION OF ADDI- 3 TIONAL SANCTIONS RELATING TO RECENT 4 USE OF NOVICHOK IN THE RUSSIAN FEDERA- 5 TION. 6 It is the sense of Congress that the President 7 should— 8 (1) make a determination under section 306(a) 9 of the Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and 10 Warfare Elimination Act of 1991 (22 U.S.C. 11 5604(a)) with respect to whether the recent use of 12 Novichok on August 20, 2020, against a Russian op- 13 position leader by the Government of the Russian 14 Federation constituted the use of chemical or bio- 15 logical weapons in violation of international law or 16 the use of lethal chemical or biological weapons 17 against its own nationals as described in that sec- 18 tion; and 19 (2) if the President makes an affirmative deter- 20 mination under paragraph (1), impose the sanctions 21 required by section 307 of that Act (22 U.S.C. 22 5605). 23 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:24 Oct 30, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H8507.IH H8507 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS