[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 284 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 284

  To impose sanctions with respect to foreign persons responsible for 
 gross violations of internationally recognized human rights, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            January 28, 2015

   Mr. Cardin (for himself, Mr. McCain, Mrs. Shaheen, Mr. Rubio, Mr. 
     Durbin, Mr. Wicker, Mr. Markey, Mr. Kirk, and Mr. Blumenthal) 
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 
                     Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To impose sanctions with respect to foreign persons responsible for 
 gross violations of internationally recognized human rights, and for 
                            other purposes.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Global Magnitsky Human Rights 
Accountability Act''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
        ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
                    (A) the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban 
                Affairs and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the 
                Senate; and
                    (B) the Committee on Financial Services and the 
                Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of 
                Representatives.
            (2) Foreign person.--The term ``foreign person'' means a 
        person that is not a United States person.
            (3) Person.--The term ``person'' means an individual or 
        entity.
            (4) United states person.--The term ``United States 
        person'' means--
                    (A) a United States citizen or an alien lawfully 
                admitted for permanent residence to the United States; 
                or
                    (B) an entity organized under the laws of the 
                United States or of any jurisdiction within the United 
                States, including a foreign branch of such an entity.

SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS.

    (a) In General.--The President may impose the sanctions described 
in subsection (b) with respect to any foreign person the President 
determines, based on credible evidence--
            (1) is responsible for extrajudicial killings, torture, or 
        other gross violations of internationally recognized human 
        rights committed against individuals in any foreign country who 
        seek--
                    (A) to expose illegal activity carried out by 
                government officials; or
                    (B) to obtain, exercise, defend, or promote 
                internationally recognized human rights and freedoms, 
                such as the freedoms of religion, expression, 
                association, and assembly, and the rights to a fair 
                trial and democratic elections;
            (2) acted as an agent of or on behalf of a foreign person 
        in a matter relating to an activity described in paragraph (1);
            (3) is a government official, or a senior associate of such 
        an official, that is responsible for, or complicit in, 
        ordering, controlling, or otherwise directing, acts of 
        significant corruption, including the expropriation of private 
        or public assets for personal gain, corruption related to 
        government contracts or the extraction of natural resources, 
        bribery, or the facilitation or transfer of the proceeds of 
        corruption to foreign jurisdictions; or
            (4) has materially assisted, sponsored, or provided 
        financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or 
        services in support of, an activity described in paragraph (3).
    (b) Sanctions Described.--The sanctions described in this 
subsection are the following:
            (1) Inadmissibility to united states.--In the case of a 
        foreign person who is an individual--
                    (A) ineligibility to receive a visa to enter the 
                United States or to be admitted to the United States; 
                or
                    (B) if the individual has been issued a visa or 
                other documentation, revocation, in accordance with 
                section 221(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act 
                (8 U.S.C. 1201(i)), of the visa or other documentation.
            (2) Blocking of property.--
                    (A) In general.--The blocking, in accordance with 
                the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 
                U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), of all transactions in all 
                property and interests in property of a foreign person 
                if such property and interests in property are in the 
                United States, come within the United States, or are or 
                come within the possession or control of a United 
                States person.
                    (B) Inapplicability of national emergency 
                requirement.--The requirements of section 202 of the 
                International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 
                1701) shall not apply for purposes of this section.
    (c) Consideration of Certain Information in Imposing Sanctions.--In 
determining whether to impose sanctions under subsection (a), the 
President shall consider--
            (1) information provided by the chairperson and ranking 
        member of each of the appropriate congressional committees; and
            (2) credible information obtained by other countries and 
        nongovernmental organizations that monitor violations of human 
        rights.
    (d) Requests by Chairperson and Ranking Member of Appropriate 
Congressional Committees.--Not later than 120 days after receiving a 
written request from the chairperson and ranking member of one of the 
appropriate congressional committees with respect to whether a foreign 
person has engaged in an activity described in subsection (a), the 
President shall--
            (1) determine if that person has engaged in such an 
        activity; and
            (2) submit a report to the chairperson and ranking member 
        of that committee with respect to that determination that 
        includes--
                    (A) a statement of whether or not the President 
                imposed or intends to impose sanctions with respect to 
                the person; and
                    (B) if the President imposed or intends to impose 
                sanctions, a description of those sanctions.
    (e) Waiver for National Security Interests.--The President may 
waive the application of sanctions under this section with respect to a 
person if the President--
            (1) determines that such a waiver is in the national 
        security interests of the United States; and
            (2) before granting the waiver, submits to the appropriate 
        congressional committees notice of, and a justification for, 
        the waiver.
    (f) Exception To Comply With United Nations Headquarters 
Agreement.--Sanctions under subsection (b)(1) shall not apply to an 
individual if admitting the individual into the United States is 
necessary to permit the United States to comply with the Agreement 
regarding the Headquarters of the United Nations, signed at Lake 
Success June 26, 1947, and entered into force November 21, 1947, 
between the United Nations and the United States, or other applicable 
international obligations of the United States.
    (g) Enforcement of Blocking of Property.--A person that violates, 
attempts to violate, conspires to violate, or causes a violation of 
subsection (b)(2) or any regulation, license, or order issued to carry 
out subsection (b)(2) shall be subject to the penalties set forth in 
subsections (b) and (c) of section 206 of the International Emergency 
Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1705) to the same extent as a person 
that commits an unlawful act described in subsection (a) of that 
section.
    (h) Termination of Sanctions.--The President may terminate the 
application of sanctions under this section with respect to a person if 
the President determines and reports to the appropriate congressional 
committees not later than 15 days before the termination of the 
sanctions that--
            (1) credible information exists that the person did not 
        engage in the activity for which sanctions were imposed;
            (2) the person has been prosecuted appropriately for the 
        activity for which sanctions were imposed; or
            (3) the person has credibly demonstrated a significant 
        change in behavior, has paid an appropriate consequence for the 
        activity for which sanctions were imposed, and has credibly 
        committed to not engage in an activity described in subsection 
        (a) in the future.
    (i) Regulatory Authority.--The President shall issue such 
regulations, licenses, and orders as are necessary to carry out this 
section.

SEC. 4. REPORTS TO CONGRESS.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 120 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the President shall 
submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report that 
includes--
            (1) a list of each foreign person with respect to which the 
        President imposed sanctions pursuant to section 3 during the 
        year preceding the submission of the report;
            (2) a description of the type of sanctions imposed with 
        respect to each such person;
            (3) the number of foreign persons with respect to which the 
        President--
                    (A) imposed sanctions under section 3(a) during 
                that year; and
                    (B) terminated sanctions under section 3(h) during 
                that year;
            (4) the dates on which such sanctions were imposed or 
        terminated, as the case may be;
            (5) the reasons for imposing or terminating such sanctions; 
        and
            (6) a description of the efforts of the President to 
        encourage the governments of other countries to impose 
        sanctions that are similar to the sanctions authorized by 
        section 3.
    (b) Form of Report.--
            (1) In general.--The report required by subsection (a) 
        shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may include a 
        classified annex.
            (2) Exception.--The name of a foreign person to be included 
        in the list required by subsection (a)(1) may be submitted in 
        the classified annex authorized by paragraph (1) only if the 
        President--
                    (A) determines that it is vital for the national 
                security interests of the United States to do so;
                    (B) uses the annex in a manner consistent with 
                congressional intent and the purposes of this Act; and
                    (C) not later than 15 days before submitting the 
                name in a classified annex, provides to the appropriate 
                congressional committees notice of, and a justification 
                for, including the name in the classified annex despite 
                any publicly available credible information indicating 
                that the person engaged in an activity described in 
                section 3(a).
    (c) Public Availability.--
            (1) In general.--The unclassified portion of the report 
        required by subsection (a) shall be made available to the 
        public, including through publication in the Federal Register.
            (2) Nonapplicability of confidentiality requirement with 
        respect to visa records.--The President shall publish the list 
        required by subsection (a)(1) without regard to the 
        requirements of section 222(f) of the Immigration and 
        Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1202(f)) with respect to 
        confidentiality of records pertaining to the issuance or 
        refusal of visas or permits to enter the United States.
                                 <all>