I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3979 To provide for the designation of the Russian Federation as a state sponsor of terrorism. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 9, 2023 Mr. LIEU (for himself, Mr. COHEN, Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, Mr. GOLDEN of Maine, Mr. BUCK, and Mrs. CHERFILUS-MCCORMICK) intro- duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs A BILL To provide for the designation of the Russian Federation as a state sponsor of terrorism. 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 ‘‘Russia is a State Spon- 4 sor of Terrorism Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds the following: 7 (1) Pursuant to existing law, it is United States 8 policy to designate countries that have repeatedly 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:44 Jul 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3979.IH H3979 ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3979 IH provided support for acts of international terrorism 1 as state sponsors of terrorism. 2 (2) Cuba, the Democratic People’s Republic of 3 North Korea, Iran, and Syria are designated as 4 state sponsors of terrorism. 5 (3) At the direction of President Vladimir 6 Putin, the Government of the Russian Federation 7 has and continues to promote acts of international 8 terrorism against political opponents and nation 9 states. 10 (4) Under the orders of President Putin, the 11 Government of the Russian Federation engaged in a 12 campaign of terror, utilizing brutal force targeting 13 civilians during the Second Chechen War. 14 (5) Actions by the Government of the Russian 15 Federation against civilian centers, such as Grozny, 16 the capital of Chechnya, left countless innocent men, 17 women, and children dead or wounded. 18 (6) Since 2014, the Government of the Russian 19 Federation has supported separatists engaging in 20 acts of violence against Ukrainian civilians in the 21 Donbas region. 22 (7) The Government of the Russian Federation 23 provides material support to Syria, a nation cur- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:44 Jul 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3979.IH H3979 ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3979 IH rently designated as a state sponsor of terrorism, 1 that has been used to target the Syrian people. 2 (8) According to the Congressional Research 3 Service, the Russian Federation uses private military 4 networks of mercenaries, such as the Wagner Group, 5 which collaborates with the Ministry of Defense of 6 the Russian Federation, to support the foreign pol- 7 icy objectives of the Russian Federation. These pri- 8 vate mercenary networks supported by the Russian 9 Federation have spread terror in various parts of the 10 world. 11 (9) The Department of the Treasury identifies 12 the Wagner Group as ‘‘a designated Russian Min- 13 istry of Defense proxy force’’ and states that ‘‘Wag- 14 ner’s activities in other countries, including Ukraine, 15 Syria, Sudan, and Libya, have generated insecurity 16 and incited violence against innocent civilians’’. 17 (10) It was reported in February 2022 that 18 more than 400 Russian mercenaries from the Wag- 19 ner Group were dispatched to Kyiv with orders from 20 the Kremlin to assassinate President Volodymyr 21 Zelensky and members of the Government of 22 Ukraine. 23 (11) On March 1, 2022, Jason Blazakis, the di- 24 rector of the Department of State’s Counterter- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:44 Jul 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3979.IH H3979 ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3979 IH rorism Finance and Designations Office in the Bu- 1 reau of Counterterrorism from 2008 to 2018, wrote 2 in reference to white supremacist groups that ‘‘Rus- 3 sia provides sanctuary to a U.S.-designated terrorist 4 group, the Russian Imperial Movement, which oper- 5 ates with impunity in Russian territory.’’. 6 (12) On March 17, 2022, President Volodymyr 7 Zelensky called for the world to acknowledge the 8 Russian Federation as a terrorist state. 9 (13) The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has ap- 10 pealed to Congress to encourage the Department of 11 State to recognize the Russian Federation as a state 12 sponsor of terrorism noting that ‘‘the Russian Fed- 13 eration has for years supported and financed ter- 14 rorist regimes and terrorist organizations, including 15 being the main supplier of weapons to the Assad re- 16 gime in Syria and supporting terrorists in the Mid- 17 dle East and Latin America, organizing acts of 18 international terrorism, including the poisoning of 19 the Skripal family in the United Kingdom of Great 20 Britain and Northern Ireland, the downing of a civil- 21 ian Malaysian airliner and other acts of terrorism’’. 22 (14) On November 23, 2022, the European 23 Parliament recognized Russia as a state sponsor of 24 terrorism. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:44 Jul 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3979.IH H3979 ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3979 IH (15) On November 23, 2022, the European 1 Parliament recognized the Russian Federation as a 2 state sponsor of terrorism. 3 (16) On January 26, 2023, the Department of 4 the Treasury designated the Wagner Group as a 5 Transnational Criminal Organization, citing that 6 ‘‘Wagner personnel have engaged in an ongoing pat- 7 tern of serious criminal activity, including mass exe- 8 cutions, rape, child abductions, and physical abuse 9 in the Central African Republic (CAR) and Mali’’. 10 (17) As of January 26, 2023, the Wagner 11 Group has also been sanctioned by Australia, Can- 12 ada, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the European 13 Union. 14 (18) On February 25, 2023, the European 15 Union implemented Council Regulation 2023/430, 16 which sanctioned eight people and seven entities for 17 serious human rights abuses linked to the Wagner 18 Group in the Central African Republic and Sudan. 19 (19) On February 27, 2023, United Nations 20 Secretary-General Anto´nio Guterres called Russia’s 21 actions in Ukraine ‘‘the most massive violations of 22 human rights’’ in the world today in a speech to the 23 Human Rights Council in Geneva. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:44 Jul 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3979.IH H3979 ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3979 IH (20) The United States has a range of tools 1 available to hold the Russian Federation account- 2 able, reduce its war machine, and isolate it economi- 3 cally and diplomatically, including by designating it 4 as a state sponsor of terrorism and imposing cor- 5 responding sanctions. 6 SEC. 3. DESIGNATION OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION AS A 7 STATE SPONSOR OF TERRORISM. 8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Effective beginning on the date 9 of the enactment of this Act, the Russian Federation shall 10 be deemed to have been determined to be a country the 11 government of which has repeatedly provided support for 12 acts of international terrorism for purposes of— 13 (1) section 1754(c)(1)(A) of the Export Control 14 Reform Act of 2018 (50 U.S.C. 4813(c)(1)(A)); 15 (2) section 620A of the Foreign Assistance Act 16 of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2371); 17 (3) section 40 of the Arms Export Control Act 18 (22 U.S.C. 2780); or 19 (4) any other provision of law. 20 (b) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this Act 21 may be construed as to provide for the imposition of sanc- 22 tions against any person that engages in transactions to 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:44 Jul 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3979.IH H3979 ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3979 IH export agricultural products from Ukraine or to provide 1 humanitarian assistance in Ukraine. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:44 Jul 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3979.IH H3979 ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with BILLS