REPO for Ukrainians Act

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4175 To authorize the Secretary of State to provide additional assistance to Ukraine using assets confiscated from the Central Bank of the Russian Federation and other sovereign assets of the Russian Federation, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 15, 2023 Mr. MCCAUL (for himself, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, Mr. COHEN, Mr. KEAN of New Jersey, Mr. QUIGLEY, and Mr. FITZPATRICK) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committees on Rules, and Finan- cial Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the juris- diction of the committee concerned A BILL To authorize the Secretary of State to provide additional assistance to Ukraine using assets confiscated from the Central Bank of the Russian Federation and other sov- ereign assets of the Russian Federation, 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 02:33 Jul 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4175.IH H4175 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4175 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 1 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 2 ‘‘Rebuilding Economic Prosperity and Opportunity for 3 Ukrainians Act’’ or the ‘‘REPO for Ukrainians Act’’. 4 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 5 this Act is as follows: 6 Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. TITLE I—CONFISCATION AND REPURPOSING OF RUSSIAN SOVEREIGN ASSETS Sec. 101. Findings; sense of Congress. Sec. 102. Sense of Congress regarding importance of the Russian Federation providing compensation to Ukraine. Sec. 103. Prohibition on release of blocked Russian sovereign assets. Sec. 104. Authority to ensure compensation to Ukraine using confiscated Rus- sian sovereign assets. Sec. 105. International agreement to use Russian sovereign assets to provide for the reconstruction of Ukraine. Sec. 106. Report on use of confiscated Russian sovereign assets for reconstruc- tion. Sec. 107. Assessment by Secretary of State and Administrator of United States Agency for International Development on reconstruction and rebuilding needs of Ukraine. Sec. 108. Exception relating to importation of goods. Sec. 109. Definitions. TITLE II—MULTILATERAL SANCTIONS COORDINATION Sec. 201. Statement of policy regarding coordination of multilateral sanctions with respect to the Russian Federation. Sec. 202. Assessment of impact of Ukraine-related sanctions on the economy of the Russian Federation. Sec. 203. Information on voting practices in the United Nations with respect to the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation. TITLE I—CONFISCATION AND 7 REPURPOSING OF RUSSIAN 8 SOVEREIGN ASSETS 9 SEC. 101. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS. 10 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find- 11 ings: 12 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:33 Jul 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4175.IH H4175 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4175 IH (1) On February 24, 2022, the Government of 1 the Russian Federation violated the sovereignty and 2 territorial integrity of Ukraine by engaging in a pre- 3 meditated, second illegal invasion of Ukraine. 4 (2) The international community has con- 5 demned the illegal invasions of Ukraine by the Rus- 6 sian Federation, as well as the commission of war 7 crimes by the Russian Federation, including through 8 the deliberate targeting of civilians and civilian in- 9 frastructure and the commission of sexual violence. 10 (3) The leaders of the G7 have called the Rus- 11 sian Federation’s ‘‘unprovoked and completely un- 12 justified attack on the democratic state of Ukraine’’ 13 a ‘‘serious violation of international law and a grave 14 breach of the United Nations Charter and all com- 15 mitments Russia entered in the Helsinki Final Act 16 and the Charter of Paris and its commitments in the 17 Budapest Memorandum’’. 18 (4) On March 2, 2022, the United Nations 19 General Assembly adopted Resolution ES–11/1, enti- 20 tled ‘‘Aggression against Ukraine’’, by a vote of 141 21 to 5. That resolution ‘‘deplore[d] in the strongest 22 terms the aggression by the Russian Federation 23 against Ukraine in violation of Article 2(4) of the 24 [United Nations] Charter’’ and demanded that the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:33 Jul 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4175.IH H4175 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 4175 IH Russian Federation ‘‘immediately cease its use of 1 force against Ukraine’’ and ‘‘immediately, completely 2 and unconditionally withdraw all of its military 3 forces from the territory of Ukraine within its inter- 4 nationally recognized borders’’. 5 (5) On March 16, 2022, the International 6 Court of Justice issued provisional measures order- 7 ing the Russian Federation to ‘‘immediately suspend 8 the military operations that it commenced on 24 9 February 2022 in the territory of Ukraine’’. 10 (6) On November 14, 2022, the United Nations 11 General Assembly adopted a resolution— 12 (A) recognizing that the Russian Federa- 13 tion must bear the legal consequences of all of 14 its internationally wrongful acts, including mak- 15 ing reparation for the injury, including any 16 damage, caused by such acts; 17 (B) recognizing the need for the establish- 18 ment of an international mechanism for repara- 19 tion for damage, loss, or injury caused by the 20 Russian Federation in Ukraine; and 21 (C) recommending creation of an inter- 22 national register of such damage, loss, or in- 23 jury. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:33 Jul 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4175.IH H4175 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 4175 IH (7) Under international law, a country that is 1 responsible for an internationally wrongful act is 2 under an obligation to compensate for the damage it 3 has caused if such damage cannot be made good by 4 restitution. The Russian Federation bears such re- 5 sponsibility to compensate Ukraine, and because of 6 this grave breach of international law, all states are 7 legally entitled to take countermeasures that are 8 proportionate and aimed at inducing the Russian 9 Federation to comply with its international obliga- 10 tions, including countermeasures that suspend ordi- 11 nary international obligations to the Russian Fed- 12 eration, to help enforce the obligation of the Russian 13 Federation to compensate Ukraine. 14 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con- 15 gress that, having committed an act of aggression, as rec- 16 ognized by the United Nations General Assembly on 17 March 2, 2022, the Russian Federation is to be considered 18 as an aggressor state. The extreme illegal actions taken 19 by the Russian Federation, including an act of aggression, 20 present a unique situation, requiring and justifying the es- 21 tablishment of a legal authority to compensate victims of 22 aggression by the Russian Federation in Ukraine. In this 23 case, that authority is the authority of the United States 24 Government and other countries to confiscate Russian sov- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:33 Jul 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4175.IH H4175 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 4175 IH ereign assets in their respective jurisdictions to help en- 1 force the obligation of the Russian Federation to com- 2 pensate Ukraine. 3 SEC. 102. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING IMPORTANCE 4 OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION PROVIDING 5 COMPENSATION TO UKRAINE. 6 It is the sense of Congress that— 7 (1) the Russian Federation bears responsibility 8 for the financial burden of the reconstruction of 9 Ukraine and for countless other costs associated 10 with the illegal invasion of Ukraine by the Russian 11 Federation that began on February 24, 2022; 12 (2) the full cost of the Russian Federation’s un- 13 lawful war against Ukraine and the amount of 14 money the Russian Federation must pay Ukraine 15 should be assessed by an international body or 16 mechanism charged with determining compensation 17 and providing assistance to Ukraine; 18 (3) the Russian Federation is now on notice of 19 its opportunity to comply with its international obli- 20 gations, including compensation, or, by agreement 21 with the government of independent Ukraine, au- 22 thorize an international body or mechanism to ad- 23 dress those outstanding obligations with authority to 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:33 Jul 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4175.IH H4175 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 4175 IH make binding decisions on parties that comply in 1 good faith; 2 (4) the Russian Federation can, by negotiated 3 agreement, participate in any international process 4 to assess the full cost of the Russian Federation’s 5 unlawful war against Ukraine and make funds avail- 6 able to compensate for damage, loss, and injury aris- 7 ing from its internationally wrongful acts in 8 Ukraine, and if it fails to do so, the United States 9 and other countries should explore other avenues for 10 ensuring compensation to Ukraine, including confis- 11 cation and repurposing of assets of the Russian Fed- 12 eration; 13 (5) the President should lead robust engage- 14 ment on all bilateral and multilateral aspects of the 15 response by the United States to efforts by the Rus- 16 sian Federation to undermine the sovereignty and 17 territorial integrity of Ukraine, including on any pol- 18 icy coordination and alignment regarding the dis- 19 position of Russian sovereign assets in the context of 20 compensation; 21 (6) the confiscation and repurposing of Russian 22 sovereign assets by the United States is in the vital 23 national security interests of the United States and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:33 Jul 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4175.IH H4175 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 4175 IH consistent with United States and international law; 1 and 2 (7) the United States should work with inter- 3 national allies and partners on the confiscation and 4 repurposing of Russian sovereign assets as part of a 5 coordinated, multilateral effort, including with G7 6 countries and other countries in which Russian sov- 7 ereign assets are located. 8 SEC. 103. PROHIBITION ON RELEASE OF BLOCKED RUSSIAN 9 SOVEREIGN ASSETS. 10 (a) IN GENERAL.—No Russian sovereign asset that 11 is blocked or immobilized by the Department of the Treas- 12 ury before the date specified in section 104(g) may be re- 13 leased or mobilized until the President certifies to the ap- 14 propriate congressional committees that— 15 (1) hostilities between the Russian Federation 16 and Ukraine have ceased; and 17 (2)(A) full compensation has been made to 18 Ukraine for harms resulting from the invasion of 19 Ukraine by the Russian Federation; or 20 (B) the Russian Federation is participating in 21 a bona fide international mechanism that, by agree- 22 ment, will discharge the obligations of the Russian 23 Federation to compensate Ukraine for all amounts 24 determined to be owed to Ukraine. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:33 Jul 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4175.IH H4175 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 4175 IH (b) NOTIFICATION.—Not later than 30 days before 1 the release or mobilization of a Russian sovereign asset 2 that previously had been blocked or immobilized by the 3 Department of the Treasury, the President shall submit 4 to the appropriate congressional committees— 5 (1) a notification of the decision to release or 6 mobilize the asset; and 7 (2) a justification in writing for such release or 8 mobilization. 9 (c) JOINT RESOLUTION OF DISAPPROVAL.— 10 (1) IN GENERAL.—No Russian sovereign asset 11 that previously had been blocked or immobilized by 12 the Department of the Treasury may be released or 13 mobilized if, within 30 days of receipt of the notifi- 14 cation and justification required under subsection 15 (b), a joint resolution is enacted prohibiting the pro- 16 posed release or mobilization. 17 (2) EXPEDITED PROCEDURES.—Any joint reso- 18 lution described in paragraph (1) introduced in ei- 19 ther House of Congress shall be considered in ac- 20 cordance with the provisions of section 601(b) of the 21 International Security Assistance and Arms Export 22 Control Act of 1976 (Public Law 94–329; 90 Stat. 23 765), except that any such resolution shall be 24 amendable. If such a joint resolution should be ve- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:33 Jul 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4175.IH H4175 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 4175 IH toed by the President, the time for debate in consid- 1 eration of the veto message on such measure shall 2 be limited to 20 hours in the Senate and in the 3 House of Representatives shall be determined in ac- 4 cordance with the Rules of the House. 5 (d) COOPERATION ON PROHIBITION OF RELEASE OF 6 CERTAIN RUSSIAN SOVEREIGN ASSETS.—The President 7 may take such action as may be necessary to seek to ob- 8 tain an agreement or arrangement between the United 9 States, Ukraine, and other countries that have blocked or 10 immobilized Russian sovereign assets to prohibit such as- 11 sets from being released or mobilized until an agreement 12 has been reached that discharges the Russian Federation 13 from further obligations to compensate Ukraine. 14 SEC. 104. AUTHORITY TO ENSURE COMPENSATION TO 15 UKRAINE USING CONFISCATED RUSSIAN SOV- 16 EREIGN ASSETS. 17 (a) REPORTING ON RUSSIAN ASSETS.— 18 (1) NOTICE REQUIRED.—Not later than 30 19 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 20 President shall, by means of such instructions or 21 regulations as the President may prescribe, require 22 any United States financial institution at which Rus- 23 sian sovereign assets are located, and that knows or 24 should know of such assets, to provide notice of such 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:33 Jul 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4175.IH H4175 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 4175 IH assets, including relevant information required under 1 section 501.603(b)(ii) of title 31, Code of Federal 2 Regulations (or successor regulations), to the Sec- 3 retary of the Treasury not later than 10 days after 4 detection of such assets. 5 (2) REPORT REQUIRED.— 6 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 7 days after the date of the enactment of this 8 Act, and annually thereafter for 3 years, the 9 President shall submit to the appropriate con- 10 gressional co [Text truncated for display. 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