Assad Regime Anti-Normalization Act of 2023

IIB 118TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 3202 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES FEBRUARY 26, 2024 Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations AN ACT To prohibit any official action to recognize or normalize relations with any Government of Syria that is led by Bashar al-Assad, 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 23:30 Feb 26, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3202.RFS H3202 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 2 HR 3202 RFS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Assad Regime Anti- 2 Normalization Act of 2023’’. 3 SEC. 2. MODIFICATIONS TO THE CAESAR SYRIA CIVILIAN 4 PROTECTION ACT. 5 (a) CAESAR SYRIA CIVILIAN PROTECTION ACT.— 6 Section 7412 of the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act 7 of 2019 (title LXXIV of the National Defense Authoriza- 8 tion Act for Fiscal Year 2020; 22 U.S.C. 8791 note) is 9 amended— 10 (1) in subsection (a)— 11 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘the 12 President shall impose’’ and all that follows 13 through the end of the paragraph and inserting 14 ‘‘the President—’’ 15 ‘‘(A) shall impose the sanctions described 16 in subsection (b) with respect to a foreign per- 17 son that the President determines— 18 ‘‘(i) knowingly engages, on or after 19 such date of enactment, in an activity de- 20 scribed in paragraph (2); 21 ‘‘(ii) is an adult family member of a 22 foreign person described in clause (i), un- 23 less the President determines there is clear 24 and convincing evidence that such adult 25 family member has disassociated them- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:30 Feb 26, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3202.RFS H3202 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 3 HR 3202 RFS selves from the foreign person described in 1 such clause and has no history of helping 2 such foreign person conceal assets; or 3 ‘‘(iii) is owned or controlled by a for- 4 eign person described in clause (i) or (ii); 5 and 6 ‘‘(B) may impose the sanctions described 7 in subsection (b) with respect to a foreign per- 8 son that the President determines knowingly 9 provides, on or after such date of enactment, 10 significant financial, material, or technological 11 support to a foreign person engaging in an ac- 12 tivity described in any of subparagraphs (B) 13 through (H) of paragraph (2);’’. 14 (B) in paragraph (2)— 15 (i) in subparagraph (A)— 16 (I) by amending clause (i) to 17 read as follows: 18 ‘‘(i) the Government of Syria (includ- 19 ing any entity owned or controlled by the 20 Government of Syria), a senior political 21 figure of the Government of Syria, a mem- 22 ber of the People’s Assembly of Syria, or 23 a senior foreign political figure (as such 24 term is defined in section 101.605 of title 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:30 Feb 26, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3202.RFS H3202 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 4 HR 3202 RFS 31, Code of Federal Regulations) of the 1 Arab Socialist Ba’ath Party of Syria, in- 2 cluding any such senior foreign political 3 figure who is— 4 ‘‘(I) a member of the Central 5 Command, Central Committee, or Au- 6 diting and Inspection Committee of 7 such Party; or 8 ‘‘(II) a leader of a local branch of 9 such Party;’’; 10 (II) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘; 11 or’’ and inserting a semicolon; 12 (III) in clause (iii), by striking 13 the semicolon and inserting ‘‘; or’’; 14 and 15 (IV) by adding at the end the fol- 16 lowing new clause: 17 ‘‘(iv) Syria Arab Airlines, Cham 18 Wings, or any foreign person owned or 19 controlled by Syria Arab Airlines or Cham 20 Wings;’’; 21 (ii) by amending subparagraph (C) to 22 read as follows: 23 ‘‘(C) knowingly sells or provides aircraft or 24 spare aircraft parts— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:30 Feb 26, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3202.RFS H3202 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 5 HR 3202 RFS ‘‘(i) to the Government of Syria; or 1 ‘‘(ii) for or on behalf of the Govern- 2 ment of Syria to any foreign person oper- 3 ating in an area directly or indirectly con- 4 trolled by the Government of Syria or for- 5 eign forces associated with the Government 6 of Syria;’’; 7 (iii) in subparagraph (D), by striking 8 ‘‘; or’’ and inserting a semicolon; 9 (iv) in subparagraph (E)— 10 (I) by striking ‘‘construction or 11 engineering services’’ and inserting 12 ‘‘construction, engineering, or com- 13 mercial financial services’’; and 14 (II) by striking the closing period 15 and inserting a semicolon; and 16 (v) by adding at the end the following 17 new subparagraphs: 18 ‘‘(F) purposefully engages in or directs— 19 ‘‘(i) the diversion of goods (including 20 agricultural commodities, food, medicine, 21 and medical devices), or any international 22 humanitarian assistance, intended for the 23 people of Syria; or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:30 Feb 26, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3202.RFS H3202 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 6 HR 3202 RFS ‘‘(ii) the dealing in proceeds from the 1 sale or resale of such diverted goods or 2 international humanitarian assistance, as 3 the case may be; 4 ‘‘(G) knowingly, directly or indirectly, en- 5 gages in or attempts to engage in, the seizure, 6 confiscation, theft, or expropriation for personal 7 gain or political purposes of property, including 8 real property, in Syria or owned by a citizen of 9 Syria; 10 ‘‘(H) knowingly, directly or indirectly, en- 11 gages in or attempts to engage in a transaction 12 or transactions for or with such seized, con- 13 fiscated, stolen, or expropriated property de- 14 scribed in subparagraph (G); or 15 ‘‘(I) knowingly provides significant finan- 16 cial, material, or technological support to a for- 17 eign person engaging in an activity described in 18 subparagraph (A).’’; and 19 (C) by adding at the end the following new 20 paragraphs: 21 ‘‘(4) TRANSACTION DEFINED.—For purposes of 22 the determination required by subparagraph 23 (a)(2)(A), the term ‘transaction’ includes in-kind 24 transactions. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:30 Feb 26, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3202.RFS H3202 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 7 HR 3202 RFS ‘‘(5) ADDITIONAL DEFINITIONS.—In this sec- 1 tion: 2 ‘‘(A) COMMERCIAL FINANCIAL SERV- 3 ICES.—The term ‘commercial financial services’ 4 means any transaction between the Government 5 of Syria and a foreign bank or foreign financial 6 institution operating in an area under the con- 7 trol of the Government of Syria that has a valu- 8 ation of more than $5,000,000. 9 ‘‘(B) FINANCIAL INSTITUTION.—The term 10 ‘financial institution’ means a financial institu- 11 tion specified in any of subparagraphs (A) 12 through (K), (M), (N), (P), (R), (T), (Y), or 13 (Z) of section 5312(a)(2) of title 31, United 14 States Code. 15 ‘‘(6) SIGNIFICANT TRANSACTION CLARIFIED.— 16 In this section, the term ‘significant transaction’ in- 17 cludes any natural gas, electricity, or other energy- 18 related transaction.’’; and 19 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub- 20 section: 21 ‘‘(c) CONGRESSIONAL REQUESTS.—Not later than 22 120 days after receiving a request from the chairman and 23 ranking member of one of the appropriate congressional 24 committees with respect to whether a foreign person know- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:30 Feb 26, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3202.RFS H3202 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 8 HR 3202 RFS ingly engages in an activity described in subsection (a)(2) 1 the President shall— 2 ‘‘(1) make the determination specified in sub- 3 section (a)(1) with respect to that foreign person; 4 and 5 ‘‘(2) submit to such chairman and ranking 6 member that submitted the request a report with re- 7 spect to such determination that includes a state- 8 ment of whether the President has imposed or in- 9 tends to impose the sanctions described in sub- 10 section (b) with respect to that foreign person.’’. 11 (b) EXTENSION OF SUNSET.—Section 7438 of the 12 Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act of 2019 is amended 13 by striking ‘‘the date that is 5 years after the date of the 14 enactment of this Act’’ and inserting ‘‘December 31, 15 2032’’. 16 (c) DETERMINATIONS WITH RESPECT TO SYRIA 17 TRUST FOR DEVELOPMENT.— 18 (1) DETERMINATIONS.—Not later than 120 19 days after the enactment of this Act, the President 20 shall— 21 (A) determine whether the nonprofit orga- 22 nization chaired by Asma Al-Assad, the First 23 Lady of Syria, known as the ‘‘Syria Trust for 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:30 Feb 26, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3202.RFS H3202 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 9 HR 3202 RFS Development’’ meets the criteria for the imposi- 1 tion of sanctions— 2 (i) under section 7412(a) of the Cae- 3 sar Syria Civilian Protection Act of 2019, 4 as amended by subsection (a); 5 (ii) under Executive Order No. 13894 6 (84 Fed. Reg. 55851; relating to blocking 7 property and suspending entry of certain 8 persons contributing to the situation in 9 Syria); or 10 (iii) by nature of being owned or con- 11 trolled by a person designated under any 12 executive order or regulation administered 13 by the Office of Foreign Assets Control; 14 and 15 (B) submit to the appropriate congres- 16 sional committees each such determination, in- 17 cluding a justification for the determination. 18 (2) FORM.—The determination under para- 19 graph (1)(B) shall be submitted in unclassified form, 20 but the justification specified in such paragraph may 21 be included in a classified annex. The unclassified 22 determination shall be made available on a publicly 23 available website of the Federal government. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:30 Feb 26, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3202.RFS H3202 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 10 HR 3202 RFS (3) SANCTIONS RELATING TO IMPORTATION OF 1 GOODS UNCHANGED.—Paragraph (1) may not be 2 construed to create any new authorities or require- 3 ments to impose sanctions on the importation of 4 goods. 5 (4) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT- 6 TEES DEFINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appro- 7 priate congressional committees’’ means— 8 (A) the Committee on Armed Services, the 9 Committee on Foreign Affairs, and the Com- 10 mittee on Financial Services of the House of 11 Representatives; and 12 (B) the Committee on Armed Services, the 13 Committee on Foreign Relations and the Com- 14 mittee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 15 of the Senate. 16 (d) FINDINGS ON APPLICABILITY WITH RESPECT TO 17 SYRIAN ARAB AIRLINES, CHAM WINGS AIRLINES, AND 18 RELATED ENTITIES.—Congress finds the following: 19 (1) In 2013, the President identified Syrian 20 Arab Airlines as a blocked instrumentality or con- 21 trolled entity of the Government of Syria and con- 22 currently sanctioned Syrian Arab Airlines pursuant 23 to Executive Order No. 13224 for acting for or on 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:30 Feb 26, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3202.RFS H3202 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 11 HR 3202 RFS behalf of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps- 1 Qods Force of Iran. 2 (2) In 2016, the President sanctioned Syria- 3 based Cham Wings Airlines pursuant to Executive 4 Order No. 13582 for having materially assisted, 5 sponsored, or provided financial, material, or techno- 6 logical support for, or goods or services in support 7 of, the Government of Syria and Syrian Arab Air- 8 lines. 9 (3) Section 7412(a)(2)(A)(iii) of the Caesar 10 Syria Civilian Protection Act of 2019 (22 U.S.C. 11 8791 note) mandates the application of sanctions 12 against any foreign person that ‘‘knowingly provides 13 significant financial, material, or technological sup- 14 port to, or knowingly engages in a significant trans- 15 action with * * * a foreign person subject to sanc- 16 tions pursuant to the International Emergency Eco- 17 nomic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) with re- 18 spect to Syria or any other provision of law that im- 19 poses sanctions with respect to Syria,’’, which ap- 20 plies to airport service providers outside of Syria. 21 (e) SEVERABILITY.—If any provision of this Act, or 22 the application of such provision to any person or cir- 23 cumstance, is found to be unconstitutional, the remainder 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:30 Feb 26, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3202.RFS H3202 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 12 HR 3202 RFS of this Act, or the application of that provision to other 1 persons or circumstances, shall not be affected. 2 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION OF RECOGNITION OF ASSAD REGIME. 3 (a) STATEMENT OF POLICY.—It is the policy of the 4 United States— 5 (1) not to recognize or normalize relations with 6 any Government of Syria that is led by Bashar al- 7 Assad due to the Assad regime’s ongoing crimes 8 against the Syrian people, including failure to meet 9 the criteria outlined in section 7431(a) of the Caesar 10 Syria Civilian Protection Act of 2019; 11 (2) to actively oppose recognition or normaliza- 12 tion of relations by other governments with any Gov- 13 ernment of Syria that is led by Bashar Al-Assad, in- 14 cluding by fully implementing the mandatory pri- 15 mary and secondary sanctions in the Caesar Syria 16 Civilian Protection Act of 2019 and Executive Order 17 No. 13894; and 18 (3) to use the full range of authorities, includ- 19 ing those provided under the Caesar Syria Civilian 20 Protection Act of 2019 and Executive Order No. 21 13894, to deter reconstruction activities in areas 22 under the control of Bashar al-Assad. 23 (b) PROHIBITION.—In accordance with subsection 24 (a), no Federal official or employee may take any action, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:30 Feb 26, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3202.RFS H3202 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 13 HR 3202 RFS and no Federal funds may be made available, to recognize 1 or otherwise imply, in any manner, United States recogni- 2 tion of Bashar al-Assad or any Government in Syria that 3 is led by Bashar al-Assad. 4 SEC. 4. INTERAGENCY STRATEGY TO COUNTER NORMAL- 5 IZATION WITH ASSAD REGIME. 6 (a) REPORT AND STRATEGY REQUIRED.— 7 (1) SUBMISSION.—Not later than 180 days 8 after the date of the enactment of this Act, and an- 9 nually thereafter for 5 years, the Secretary of State 10 (in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury, 11 the Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Admin- 12 istration, and the heads of other appropriate Federal 13 departments and agencies) shall submit to the ap- 14 propriate congressi [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]