What This Bill Does
**
This bill directs the President to impose economic and legal penalties against Kata'ib Sayyid al-Shuhada, an Iraqi militia group, and anyone who is a member, agent, or controlled by this group. The bill aims to punish this militia for its ties to Iran and its military activities.
**
Who It Affects
**
The organization called Kata'ib Sayyid al-Shuhada and any foreign person who is a member, agent, affiliate, or is owned or controlled by this organization.
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Key Provisions
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• The President must impose economic sanctions against Kata'ib Sayyid al-Shuhada and its members, agents, or anyone controlled by it (Sec. 3(a)).
• The sanctions imposed must match those used under the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act of 2019, which blocks property and stops transactions with certain foreign persons (Sec. 3(b)(1)).
• The sanctions imposed must match those used under Executive Order 13224, which blocks property and prohibits transactions with persons who commit, threaten, or support terrorism (Sec. 3(b)(2)).
**
What Changes
**
If this bill becomes law, the President must apply specific economic penalties to Kata'ib Sayyid al-Shuhada. These penalties will block their property in the United States and prohibit Americans and American businesses from doing business with them.
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Important Definitions
**
None defined in bill text.
**
Effective Date
**
Not specified in bill text.
I
118TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 691
To impose sanctions with respect to Kata’ib Sayyid al-Shuhada.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY 31, 2023
Mr. STEUBE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on the Judi-
ciary, 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 impose sanctions with respect to Kata’ib Sayyid al-
Shuhada.
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 ‘‘Sanctioning Iranian-
4
Backed Militia Terrorists Act’’.
5
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
6
Congress finds the following:
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(1) Kata’ib Sayyid al-Shuhada (KSS) is an Ira-
8
nian-backed Iraqi militia founded in 2003 by Abu
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•HR 691 IH
Mustafa al-Sheibani, who was sanctioned on Janu-
1
ary 9, 2008, by the Department of the Treasury
2
‘‘for threatening the peace and stability of Iraq and
3
the Government of Iraq’’. Sheibani led a network
4
which according to the Department of the Treasury
5
conducted
improvised
explosive
device
attacks
6
against United States soldiers in Baghdad.
7
(2) KSS openly recognizes the Iranian Supreme
8
Leader Ali Khamanei as its spiritual leader.
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(3) KSS is provided training, funding, and
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arms by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
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(IRGC) and IRGC-Quds Forces and works closely
12
with Kata’ib Hezbollah (KH), Lebanese Hezbollah,
13
and Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq (AAH), all of which have
14
been designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations
15
by the Department of State.
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(4) KSS has fought under the command of
17
former IRGC-Quds Forces commander Qassem
18
Soleimani. The militia has members who operate as
19
a unit of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF),
20
which is a formal part of the Iraqi federal govern-
21
ment under the authority of the Prime Minister of
22
Iraq and which receives funding from the Iraqi fed-
23
eral government, including salaries.
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•HR 691 IH
(5) Since its founding KSS has deployed forces
1
to Syria to engage in military operations supporting
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the Government of Syria, including offensives in
3
Daraa, Quneitera, the Damascus suburbs, and the
4
Aleppo countryside.
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(6) In 2015, KSS threatened to ‘‘strike and de-
6
stroy’’ Saudi Arabia, saying in a statement: ‘‘We in
7
the Sayyid al Shuhada Battalion consider Saudi in-
8
terests a legitimate and permissible target on all lev-
9
els, and we will strike and destroy them whenever it
10
pleases us.’’.
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(7) In August 2019, Abu Alaa al-Wala’i, a lead-
12
er of KSS, said that ‘‘All Americans will be held
13
hostage by the resistance factions in the event of a
14
war.’’.
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(8) On February 14, 2020, the Department of
16
State announced that sanctions were imposed on
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KSS pursuant to section 3 of the Iran, North Korea,
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and Syria Nonproliferation Act (50 U.S.C. 1701
19
note) for engaging in illicit arms transfers to or ac-
20
quisition from Iran.
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(9) On February 25, 2021, President Biden or-
22
dered airstrikes against infrastructure utilized by
23
Iranian-backed militias in eastern Syria in response
24
to attacks against United States personnel in Iraq.
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•HR 691 IH
According to the Department of Defense’s statement
1
on February 25, 2021, ‘‘the strikes destroyed mul-
2
tiple facilities located at a border control point used
3
by a number of Iranian-backed militant groups, in-
4
cluding Kait’ib Hezbollah (KH) and Kait’ib Sayyid
5
al-Shuhada (KSS).’’.
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SEC. 3. IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS.
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(a) IN GENERAL.—The President shall impose the
8
sanctions described in subsection (b) with respect to—
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(1) Kata’ib Sayyid al-Shuhada; and
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(2) any foreign person that is a member, agent,
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or affiliate of, or owned or controlled by, Kata’ib
12
Sayyid al-Shuhada.
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(b) SANCTIONS
DESCRIBED.—The sanctions de-
14
scribed in this subsection are—
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(1) sanctions applicable with respect to a for-
16
eign person pursuant to section 7412(b) of the Cae-
17
sar Syria Civilian Protection Act of 2019 (22 U.S.C.
18
8791 note); and
19
(2) sanctions applicable with respect to a for-
20
eign person pursuant to Executive Order 13224 (50
21
U.S.C. 1701 note; relating to blocking property and
22
prohibiting transactions with persons who commit,
23
threaten to commit, or support terrorism).
24
Æ
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