1.This Act may be cited as the
Iran Sanctions Enabling
Act
.
2.Congress finds as follows:
(1)The Convention on the Prevention and
Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, done at Paris December 9, 1948 (commonly
referred to as the “Genocide Convention”) defines genocide as, among other
things, the act of killing members of a national, ethnic, racial, or religious
group with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, the targeted group. In
addition, the Genocide Convention also prohibits conspiracy to commit genocide,
as well as [d]irect and public incitement to commit
genocide
.
(2)133 member states
of the United Nations have ratified the Genocide Convention and thereby pledged
to prosecute individuals who violate the Genocide Convention’s prohibition on
incitement to commit genocide, as well as those individuals who commit genocide
directly.
(3)On October 27,
2005, at the World Without Zionism Conference in Tehran, Iran, the President of
Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, called for Israel to be “wiped off the map,”
described Israel as “a disgraceful blot [on] the face of the Islamic world,”
and declared that “[a]nybody who recognizes Israel will burn in the fire of the
Islamic nation’s fury.” President Ahmadinejad has subsequently made similar
types of comments.
(4)On December 23, 2006, the United Nations
Security Council unanimously approved Resolution 1737, which bans the supply of
nuclear technology and equipment to Iran and freezes the assets of certain
organizations and individuals involved in Iran’s nuclear program, until Iran
suspends its enrichment of uranium, as verified by the International Atomic
Energy Agency.
(5)Following Iran’s
failure to comply with Resolution 1737, on March 24, 2007, the United Nations
Security Council unanimously approved Resolution 1747, to tighten sanctions on
Iran, imposing a ban on arms sales and expanding the freeze on assets, in
response to the country’s uranium-enrichment activities.
(6)There are now signs of domestic discontent
within Iran, and targeted financial and economic measures could produce a
change in Iranian policy. According to the Economist Intelligence Unit, the
nuclear crisis “is imposing a heavy opportunity cost on Iran’s economic
development, slowing down investment in the oil, gas, and petrochemical
sectors, as well as in critical infrastructure projects, including
electricity”.
(7)Targeted financial
measures represent one of the strongest non-military tools available to
convince the Government of Iran that it can no longer afford to engage in
dangerous, destabilizing activities such as its nuclear weapons program and its
support for terrorism.
(8)Foreign persons that have invested in
Iran's energy sector, despite Iran's support of international terrorism and its
nuclear program, have provided additional financial means for Iran’s activities
in these areas, and many United States persons have unknowingly invested in
those same foreign persons.
(9)There is an
increasing interest by States, local governments, educational institutions, and
private institutions to seek to disassociate themselves from companies that
directly or indirectly support the Government of Iran’s efforts to achieve a
nuclear weapons capability.
(10)Policy makers and fund managers may find
moral, prudential, or reputational reasons to divest assets from persons that
accept the business risk of operating in countries that are subject to
international economic sanctions or that have business relationships with
countries, governments, or entities with which any United States person would
be prohibited from dealing because of economic sanctions imposed by the United
States.
3.Transparency in
United States capital markets
(a)List of persons
investing in Iran energy sector
(1)Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of
this Act, and every 180 days thereafter, the Secretary of the Treasury, in
consultation with the Secretary of Energy, the Secretary of State, the
Securities and Exchange Commission, and the heads of other appropriate Federal
departments and agencies, shall publish in the Federal Register a list of
persons, whether within or outside of the United States, that, as of the date
of the publication, have made an investment of more than $20,000,000 in the
energy sector of Iran. The list shall include a description of the investment
made by each such person, including the dollar value, intended purpose, and
status of the investment, as of the date of the publication of the list.
(2)Not later than 30
days before the list is published under paragraph (1), the Secretary of the
Treasury shall notify each person that the Secretary intends to include on the
list.
(3)Delay in
including persons on the listAfter notifying a person under paragraph
(2) that the Secretary intends to include such person on the list, the
Secretary may delay including such person on the list for not more than 60 days
if the Secretary determines and certifies to Congress that such person has
taken specific and effective actions to divest or terminate the investment in
the energy sector of Iran that resulted in the notification under paragraph
(2).
(4)Removal of
persons from the listThe
Secretary of the Treasury may remove a person from the list under paragraph (1)
before the next publication of the list if the Secretary, in consultation with,
as appropriate, the Secretary of Energy, the Secretary of State, the Securities
and Exchange Commission, and the heads of other Federal departments and
agencies, determines that the person has divested or terminated the investment
in the energy sector of Iran that resulted in the Secretary including such
person on the list.
(b)The Secretary of the
Treasury shall maintain on the website of the Department of the Treasury the
names of the persons on the list published under subsection (a)(1), updating
the list as necessary to take into account any person removed from the list
under subsection (a)(4).
(c)In this section, the term
investment has the meaning given that term in section 14(9) of the
Iran Sanctions Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 note).
4.Authority of
State and local governments to divest assets from certain companies invested in
Iran’s energy sector
(a)
(1)Notwithstanding any
other provision of law, a State or local government may adopt and enforce
measures to divest the assets of the State or local government from, or
prohibit investment of the assets of the State or local government in, persons
that are included on the most recent list published under section 3(a)(1), as
modified under section 3(a)(4).
(2)This subsection applies to measures adopted
by a State or local government before, on, or after the date of the enactment
of this Act.
(3)In
this subsection:
(A)Investment of the
assets of the State or local governmentThe term investment of the assets of
the State or local government includes—
(i)a commitment or
contribution of assets; and
(ii)a loan or other
extension of credit of assets.
(B)The
term assets refers to public monies and includes any pension,
retirement, annuity, or endowment fund, or similar instrument, that is
controlled by a State or local government.
(b)A
measure of a State or local government that is authorized by subsection (a) is
not preempted by any Federal law or regulation except to the extent that a
person is unable to comply with both the measure and the Federal law or
regulation.
5.Safe harbor for
changes of investment policies by mutual fundsSection 13 of the Investment Company Act of
1940 (15 U.S.C. 80a–13) is amended by adding at the end the following new
subsection:
(c)Safe harbor for
changes in investment policiesNotwithstanding any other provision of
Federal or State law, no person may bring any civil, criminal, or
administrative action against any registered investment company or person
providing services to such registered investment company (including its
investment adviser), or any employee, officer, or director thereof, based upon
the investment company divesting from, or avoiding investing in, securities
issued by companies that are included on the most recent list published under
section 3(a)(1) of the Iran Sanctions
Enabling Act, as modified under section 3(a)(4) of that Act. For
purposes of this subsection the term person
shall include the
Federal government and any State or political subdivision of a
State.
.
6.Safe harbor for
changes of investment policies by employee benefit plansSection 502 of the Employee Retirement
Income Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1132) is amended by adding at the end
the following new subsection:
(n)Divestment of
assets in fiduciaries investing in IranNo person shall be treated as breaching any
of the responsibilities, obligations, or duties imposed upon fiduciaries by
this title, and no action may be brought under this section against any person,
for divesting plan assets from, or avoiding investing plan assets in, persons
that are included on the most recent list published under section 3(a)(1) of
the Iran Sanctions Enabling
Act, as modified under section 3(a)(4) of such
Act.
.
7.Sense of Congress
regarding thrift savings planIt is the sense of the Congress that—
(1)the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment
Board should initiate efforts to provide a terror-free international investment
option among the funds of the Thrift Savings Fund that would invest in stocks
in which the International Stock Index Investment Fund may invest under section
8438(b)(4) of title 5, United States Code, other than the stock of companies
that do business in any country the government of which the Secretary of State
has determined is a government that has repeatedly provided support for acts of
international terrorism, for purposes of section 40 of the Arms Export Control
Act (22 U.S.C. 2780), section 620A of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22
U.S.C. 2371), section 6(j) of the Export Administration Act of 1979 (50 U.S.C.
App. 2405(j)), as continued in effect pursuant to the International Emergency
Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), or any other provision of law
relating to governments that provide support for acts of international
terrorism; and
(2)the Federal
Retirement Thrift Investment Board should initiate efforts similar to those
described in paragraph (1) to provide a genocide-free international investment
option.
8.In this Act:
(1)The
term Iran includes any agency or instrumentality of the Government
of Iran.
(2)The term energy sector refers to activities
to develop petroleum or natural gas resources.
(3)The
term person means a natural person as well as a corporation,
business association, partnership, society, trust, any other nongovernmental
entity, organization, or group, and any governmental entity or instrumentality
of a government.
(4)The
term State includes the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of
Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of
the Northern Mariana Islands.
(5)State or local
governmentThe term State or local government
includes—
(A)any State and any
agency or instrumentality thereof;
(B)any local
government within a State, and any agency or instrumentality thereof;
and
(C)any public
institution of higher education, as defined in section 102 of the Higher
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002).
9.The provisions of this Act shall terminate
30 days after the date on which the President has certified to Congress
that—
(1)the Government of
Iran has ceased providing support for acts of international terrorism and no
longer satisfies the requirements for designation as a state sponsor of
terrorism for purposes of section 40 of the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C.
2780), section 620A of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2371),
section 6(j) of the Export Administration Act of 1979 (50 U.S.C. App. 2405(j)),
as continued in effect pursuant to the International Emergency Economic Powers
Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), or any other provision of law relating to
governments that provide support for acts of international terrorism;
(2)the Government of
Iran has ceased the pursuit, acquisition, and development of nuclear,
biological, and chemical weapons and ballistic missiles and ballistic missile
launch technology; and
(3)the Government of
Iran has retracted the statements of the President of Iran, Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad, calling for the destruction of Israel.