[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1404 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1404

  To strengthen the United States response to Russian interference by 
providing transparency on the corruption of Russian President Vladimir 
                                 Putin.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 27, 2019

 Mrs. Demings (for herself and Ms. Stefanik) introduced the following 
     bill; which was referred to the Permanent Select Committee on 
Intelligence, and in addition to the Committees on Foreign Affairs, 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 strengthen the United States response to Russian interference by 
providing transparency on the corruption of Russian President Vladimir 
                                 Putin.

    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 ``Vladimir Putin Transparency Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) According to an Intelligence Community Assessment dated 
        January 6, 2017, ``Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an 
        influence campaign in 2016 aimed at the US presidential 
        election. Russia's goals were to undermine public faith in the 
        US democratic process . . . Moscow's influence campaign 
        followed a Russian messaging strategy that blends covert 
        intelligence operations--such as cyber activity--with overt 
        efforts by Russian Government agencies, state-funded media, 
        third-party intermediaries, and paid social media users or 
        `trolls'.''.
            (2) According to the indictment issued by the Attorney 
        General on February 16, 2018, Russian actors conspired ``to 
        defraud the United States by impairing, obstructing, and 
        defeating the lawful functions of the government through fraud 
        and deceit for the purpose of interfering with the U.S. 
        political and electoral processes, including the presidential 
        election of 2016''.
            (3) Notwithstanding the enactment of the Countering 
        Adversaries of America through Sanctions Act of 2017 (Public 
        Law 115-44), Russia continues to support efforts to sow and 
        exacerbate divisions among Americans, and to undermine 
        democratic societies around the world.
            (4) The government of Russian President Vladimir Putin 
        employs a system of corruption and illicit financial ties as a 
        tool for consolidating its domestic political control and 
        projecting power abroad to weaken other democratic countries.
            (5) Russia has also significantly stepped up its efforts to 
        confront the United States and its allies politically and 
        militarily, and to counter American influence worldwide, 
        including by the following:
                    (A) Invading and illegally occupying Crimea.
                    (B) Intervening in and occupying parts of eastern 
                Ukraine.
                    (C) Deploying substantial military forces and 
                undertaking a ruthless bombing campaign in Syria to 
                prop up the regime of Bashar al-Assad and defeat the 
                American-supported opposition.
                    (D) Significantly expanding its armed forces and 
                deploying missiles in violation of treaty commitments.
                    (E) Undertaking large military exercises designed 
                to intimidate other countries.
                    (F) Interfering in the political systems of 
                democracies around the world.
                    (G) Using the threat of cutting off gas supplies as 
                leverage over the most energy-dependent European 
                countries.

SEC. 3. REPORT ON KREMLIN-LINKED CORRUPTION.

    (a) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) the intelligence community should dedicate resources to 
        further expose key networks that the corrupt political class in 
        Russia uses to hide the money it steals;
            (2) the President should pursue efforts to stifle Russian 
        use of hidden financial channels, including anonymous shell 
        companies and real estate investments, in a manner similar to 
        the efforts undertaken to tighten banking regulations after the 
        terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001; and
            (3) the United States should do more to expose the 
        corruption of Vladimir Putin, whose ill-gotten wealth is the 
        most powerful symbol of the corrupt nature of his government.
    (b) Report.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Director of National Intelligence, in 
coordination with the Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of 
State, shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a 
report on the personal net worth of and assets owned by Russian 
President Vladimir Putin, including--
            (1) the estimated net worth and known sources of income of 
        Vladimir Putin and his family members, including assets, 
        investments, bank accounts, other business interests, and 
        relevant beneficial ownership information;
            (2) with respect to bank accounts, real estate holdings, 
        and other financial assets, including those outside of Russia, 
        that are owned by or accessible to Putin--
                    (A) the location of such accounts, holdings, or 
                assets; and
                    (B) the contents of such accounts or the amount 
                held through such holdings or assets;
            (3) any ``front'' or shell companies, or other 
        intermediaries, used by Vladimir Putin to hide assets from 
        public disclosure; and
            (4) an identification of the most significant senior 
        Russian political figures and oligarchs who facilitate the 
        corrupt practices of Vladimir Putin.
    (c) Form.--The report required by subsection (b) shall be submitted 
in unclassified form but may include a classified annex.
    (d) Appropriate Congressional Committees Defined.--In this section, 
the term ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
            (1) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee on 
        Financial Services, and the Committee on Ways and Means of the 
        House of Representatives; and
            (2) the Committee on Foreign Relations, the Committee on 
        Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, and the Committee on 
        Finance of the Senate.
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