[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5428 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5428

 To impose sanctions on certain persons responsible for the March 12, 
   2018, attack on Sergei and Yulia Skripal, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 5, 2018

    Mr. Castro of Texas (for himself and Mr. Turner) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, 
   and in addition to the Committees on the Judiciary, and Financial 
Services, 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 on certain persons responsible for the March 12, 
   2018, attack on Sergei and Yulia Skripal, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Stand with UK against Russia 
Violations Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) On March 4, 2018, Sergei V. Skripal, and his daughter, 
        Yulia Skripal, were found unconscious on a park bench in 
        Salisbury, England.
            (2) British Prime Minister Theresa May announced on March 
        12, 2018, that the poison used in the attack was Novichok, a 
        military-grade nerve agent developed by Soviet scientists for 
        use on North Atlantic Treaty Organization troops, and that 
        Russia was responsible for the attack.
            (3) On March 15, 2018, the United Kingdom, France, and 
        Germany issued a joint statement holding the Government of 
        Russia responsible for the poisoning and characterizing the 
        attack as ``an assault on UK sovereignty''.

SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) The attempts of the Government of Russia to commit 
        murders on British soil are unconscionable and violate 
        international law.
            (2) The United States stands in strong solidarity with the 
        British government and its people as they respond to this 
        violation.
            (3) Russian aggression must be met with strength and 
        resolve, including through sanctions to deter future Russian 
        attacks on dissidents, expatriates, and democratic activists.

SEC. 4. IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS WITH RESPECT TO RUSSIAN PERSONS 
              RESPONSIBLE FOR MARCH 12 ATTACK.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 60 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the President shall impose the sanctions 
described in subsection (c) with respect to any person that the 
President determines--
            (1) knowingly engaged in, provided material support to, 
        worked on behalf of, or acted as an agent or instrumentality of 
        any person who perpetrated the attack against Sergei Skripal 
        and Yulia Skripal on March 12, 2018; or
            (2) is an officer, employee, or agent of the Government of 
        Russia and knowingly, on or after the date of the enactment of 
        this Act, materially assisted, worked on behalf of, or acted as 
        an agent or instrumentality of the Russian Government in the 
        murder, attempted murder, or assault committed outside of 
        Russia against any expatriate, dissident, or foreign national.
    (b) Concurrent Report.--The President shall submit to Congress a 
report, concurrent with the imposition of any sanction under subsection 
(a), that lists each person determined to have engaged in the conduct 
resulting in such sanction.
    (c) Sanctions Described.--The sanctions described in this paragraph 
are the sanctions described in section 224(b) of the Countering 
America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (22 U.S.C. 9524(b)).

SEC. 5. PROHIBITION ON TRANSACTIONS RELATING TO NEW RUSSIAN SOVEREIGN 
              DEBT.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 90 days after the date of the 
imposition of a sanction pursuant to section 4(a)(2), the President 
shall--
            (1) issue regulations prohibiting United States persons 
        from engaging in transactions with, providing financing for, or 
        in any other way dealing in Russian sovereign debt that is 
        issued on or after the date that is 180 days after such date of 
        imposition of sanctions; and
            (2) exercise all powers granted to the President by the 
        International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 13 
        et seq.) to the extent necessary to block and prohibit all 
        transactions in all property and interests in property of one 
        or more of the financial institutions listed in subsection (c) 
        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) Russian Sovereign Debt Defined.--For purposes of this section, 
the term ``Russian sovereign debt'' means--
            (1) bonds issued by the Russian Central Bank, the Russian 
        National Wealth Fund, the Russian Federal Treasury, or agents 
        or affiliates of any such institution, with a maturity of more 
        than 14 days;
            (2) new foreign exchange swap agreements with the Russian 
        Central Bank, the Russian National Wealth Fund, or the Russian 
        Federal Treasury, the duration of which agreement is longer 
        than 14 days; and
            (3) any other financial instrument, the duration or 
        maturity of which is more than 14 days, that--
                    (A) the President determines represents the 
                sovereign debt of Russia; or
                    (B) is issued by a bank listed in subsection (c).
    (c) Russian Financial Institutions.--The financial institutions 
listed in this subsection are the following:
            (1) Sberbank.
            (2) VTB Bank.
            (3) Gazprombank.
            (4) Bank of Moscow.
            (5) Rosselkhozbank.
            (6) Promsvyazbank.
            (7) Vnesheconombank.
    (d) Requirement To Promptly Publish Guidance.--The President shall 
concurrently publish guidance on the implementation of the regulations 
issued pursuant to subsection (a).

SEC. 6. IMPLEMENTATION; PENALTIES; TERMINATION.

    (a) Implementation.--The President may exercise all authorities 
provided to the President under sections 203 and 205 of the 
International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1702 and 1704) 
to carry out this Act.
    (b) Penalties.--A person that violates, attempts to violate, 
conspires to violate, or causes a violation of section 4 or 5, or any 
regulation, license, or order issued to carry out such sections, 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.
    (c) Termination.--
            (1) In general.--The President may terminate the 
        application of a sanction under section 4 or section 5(a)(2) if 
        the President submits to Congress a determination that 
        officers, employees, and agents of the Government of Russia no 
        longer engage in the conduct described in section 4(a)(2).
            (2) Waiver.--The President may, on or after the date on 
        which the President submits the determination described in 
        paragraph (1), waive the prohibition imposed pursuant to 
        section 5(a)(1) with respect to Russian sovereign debt (as 
        defined in such section) issued on or after such date if the 
        President concurrently submits to Congress a notification that 
        includes a justification of the basis for waiving such 
        prohibition.

SEC. 7. UNITED STATES PERSON DEFINED.

    In this Act, the term ``United States person'' means--
            (1) a United States citizen or an alien lawfully admitted 
        for permanent residence to the United States; and
            (2) 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.
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