[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4721 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 4721

 To prohibit the authorization of Federal funds to facilitate Russian 
    participation in G7 or reconstituted G8 meetings, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 17, 2019

   Ms. Hill of California (for herself and Mr. Sires) introduced the 
 following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To prohibit the authorization of Federal funds to facilitate Russian 
    participation in G7 or reconstituted G8 meetings, 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 ``No Russia in G7 Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The Group of Seven, or G7, is a group of the seven 
        largest advanced economies in the world and includes Canada, 
        France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the 
        United States, with the European Union as an observer.
            (2) The G7 countries are all democracies and focused on 
        strengthening democratic governance globally.
            (3) In 1997, the G7 invited the Russian Federation to join 
        the group, in recognition of the Russian political and economic 
        reforms underway at that time.
            (4) In 2014, Russia invaded Ukraine and illegally occupied 
        Crimea.
            (5) In the aftermath of this aggression, the G8 decided to 
        suspend Russia's membership, issuing a statement labeling 
        Russia's invasion a violation of international law that could 
        have ``grave implications for the legal order that protects 
        unity and sovereignty of all states''.
            (6) In the wake of Russia's suspension, the remaining 
        countries reconstituted themselves as the G7.
            (7) Since 2014, Russia has repeatedly interfered in 
        democratic elections in G7 countries, including the 2016 United 
        States presidential election, and continues to conduct 
        disinformation and covert influence campaigns against many of 
        the G7 countries.
            (8) In June 2018, the G7 created the G7 Rapid Response 
        Mechanism, with the mandate to ``identify and respond to 
        diverse and evolving threats to our democracies''.
            (9) Then-Director of National Intelligence, Dan Coats, 
        testified before Congress on January 29, 2019, that Russia is 
        ``stepping up its campaign to divide Western political and 
        security institutions'' and ``we expect Russia will continue to 
        wage its information war against democracies and to use social 
        media to attempt to divide our societies''.
            (10) Russia continues to flout the Minsk agreements by 
        directly leading and indirectly supporting separatist forces in 
        Ukraine.
            (11) Russia continues to make attempts to tighten its hold 
        on Crimea by further militarizing the territory and offering 
        Russian passports to its residents.
            (12) Russia continues to illegally occupy Crimea and has 
        stepped up its aggressive acts against Ukraine.
            (13) Despite this behavior, President Trump continues to 
        advocate for an end to Russia's suspension from the G7 with no 
        preconditions.

SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) the Russian Federation must end its occupation of 
        Ukraine and cease its malign activities against G7 nations as 
        preconditions for readmission into a reconstituted G8; and
            (2) no official representatives of the United States 
        Government, including the President of the United States, 
        should use the power of their office to advocate for Russia's 
        readmission into a reconstituted G8 unless Russia meets the 
        conditions described in section 4(b).

SEC. 4. PROHIBITION ON THE USE OF FEDERAL FUNDS TO FACILITATE RUSSIAN 
              PARTICIPATION.

    (a) Prohibition.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no 
Federal funds may be appropriated or otherwise made available for any 
action supporting or facilitating--
            (1) the participation of Russia in a Group of Seven 
        proceeding; or
            (2) the reconstitution of the Group of Eight to include 
        Russia.
    (b) Termination.--The prohibition under subsection (a) shall 
terminate on the date that is 30 days after the date on which the 
Secretary of State certifies to the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the 
House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the 
Senate that--
            (1) the Government of the Russian Federation, and all 
        persons acting as an agent of or otherwise on behalf of such 
        Government, has halted all interference in United States 
        elections;
            (2) such Government has ended its illegal occupation of the 
        Ukranian territory of Crimea and is fully implementing its 
        commitments under the Minsk agreements with respect to eastern 
        Ukraine; and
            (3) such Government is taking affirmative steps to cease 
        its campaign to divide Western economic, political, and 
        security institutions, particularly those institutions of which 
        G7 countries are members.
    (c) Group of Seven Defined.--In this Act, the term ``Group of 
Seven'' or ``G7'' means the organization of leading economies commonly 
known as the ``G7'' that includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy, 
Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States as members, with the 
European Union as an observer.
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