[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1060 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
116th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1060
To deter foreign interference in United States elections, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
April 8, 2019
Mr. Van Hollen (for himself and Mr. Rubio) introduced the following
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking,
Housing, and Urban Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To deter foreign interference in United States elections, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Defending
Elections from Threats by Establishing Redlines Act of 2019''.
(b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this Act is as
follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Definitions.
TITLE I--DETERMINATION OF FOREIGN INTERFERENCE IN UNITED STATES
ELECTIONS
Sec. 101. Determination of foreign interference in United States
elections.
Sec. 102. Updated report on oligarchs and parastatal entities of the
Russian Federation.
TITLE II--DETERRING INTERFERENCE IN UNITED STATES ELECTIONS BY THE
RUSSIAN FEDERATION
Sec. 201. Report on estimated net worth of President Vladimir Putin and
other senior foreign political figures of
the Russian Federation.
Sec. 202. Imposition of sanctions.
Sec. 203. Congressional review of waiver, suspension, and termination
of sanctions.
Sec. 204. Sense of Congress on strategy on coordination with European
Union.
TITLE III--DETERRING INTERFERENCE IN UNITED STATES ELECTIONS BY OTHER
FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS
Sec. 301. Briefing on interference in United States elections.
Sec. 302. Sense of Congress on deterrence strategies for interference
in United States elections by foreign
governments of concern.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Account; correspondent account; payable-through
account.--The terms ``account'', ``correspondent account'', and
``payable-through account'' have the meanings given those terms
in section 5318A of title 31, United States Code.
(2) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term
``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
(A) the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban
Affairs, the Committee on Foreign Relations, the
Committee on Finance, the Select Committee on
Intelligence, and the Committee on Rules and
Administration of the Senate; and
(B) the Committee on Financial Services, the
Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee on Ways and
Means, the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence,
and the Committee on House Administration of the House
of Representatives.
(3) Appropriate congressional committees and leadership.--
The term ``appropriate congressional committees and
leadership'' means--
(A) the appropriate congressional committees;
(B) the majority leader and minority leader of the
Senate; and
(C) the Speaker, the majority leader, and the
minority leader of the House of Representatives.
(4) Election and campaign infrastructure.--The term
``election and campaign infrastructure'' means information and
communications technology and systems used by or on behalf of--
(A) the Federal Government or a State or local
government in managing the election process, including
voter registration databases, voting machines, voting
tabulation equipment, equipment for the secure
transmission of election results, and other systems; or
(B) a principal campaign committee or national
committee (as those terms are defined in section 301 of
the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C.
30101)) with respect to strategy or tactics affecting
the conduct of a political campaign, including
electronic communications, and the information stored
on, processed by, or transiting such technology and
systems.
(5) Federal election cycle.--The term ``Federal election
cycle'' means the period beginning on the day after the date of
the most recent election for members of the House of
Representatives and ending on the date of the next election for
members of the House of Representatives.
(6) Foreign person.--The term ``foreign person'' means a
person that is not a United States person.
(7) Good.--The term ``good'' means any article, natural or
manmade substance, material, supply or manufactured product,
including inspection and test equipment, and excluding
technical data.
(8) Interference in united states elections.--
(A) In general.--Except as provided in subparagraph
(B), the term ``interference'', with respect to a
United States election, means any of the following
actions of the government of a foreign country, or any
person acting as an agent of or on behalf of such a
government, undertaken with the intent to influence the
election:
(i) Obtaining unauthorized access to
election and campaign infrastructure or related
systems or data and releasing such data or
modifying such infrastructure, systems, or
data.
(ii) Unlawfully blocking or degrading
otherwise legitimate and authorized access to
election and campaign infrastructure or related
systems or data.
(iii) Significant unlawful contributions or
expenditures for advertising, including on the
internet.
(iv) Using social, other internet-based, or
traditional media to spread information to
individuals in the United States without
disclosing that such information is being
disseminated by a foreign government or a
foreign person acting on behalf of a foreign
government.
(B) Exceptions.--
(i) Exception for publicly identified
statements.--The term ``interference'', with
respect to a United States election, does not
include--
(I) any public statement by a
foreign leader, official, or government
agency with respect to a candidate for
office, official of the United States
Government, or policy of the United
States, if it is clear that the
statement is made by that foreign
leader, government official, or
government agency and no effort has
been made to conceal the individual or
entity making the statement; or
(II) any other statement if a
foreign government is readily and
publicly identifiable as the source of
the statement.
(ii) Exception for foreign government
broadcasts.--The term ``interference'', with
respect to a United States election, does not
include the broadcast of views of a foreign
government through broadcast channels owned or
controlled by that government, if that
ownership or control is readily and publicly
identifiable.
(9) Knowingly.--The term ``knowingly'', with respect to
conduct, a circumstance, or a result, means that a person has
actual knowledge, or should have known, of the conduct, the
circumstance, or the result.
(10) Person.--The term ``person'' means individual or
entity.
(11) United states election.--The term ``United States
election'' means any United States Federal election.
(12) 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.
TITLE I--DETERMINATION OF FOREIGN INTERFERENCE IN UNITED STATES
ELECTIONS
SEC. 101. DETERMINATION OF FOREIGN INTERFERENCE IN UNITED STATES
ELECTIONS.
(a) In General.--Not later than 60 days after a United States
election, the Director of National Intelligence, in consultation with
the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Director of
the National Security Agency, the Director of the Central Intelligence
Agency, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Treasury, the
Attorney General, and the Secretary of Homeland Security, shall--
(1) determine with a high level of confidence whether or
not the government of a foreign country, or any foreign person
acting as an agent of or on behalf of that government,
knowingly engaged in interference in the election; and
(2) submit to the appropriate congressional committees and
leadership a report on that determination, including, if the
Director determines that interference did occur--
(A) an identification of the government or foreign
person that engaged in such interference; and
(B) if the Government of the Russian Federation, or
any foreign person acting as an agent of or on behalf
of that Government, engaged in such interference, a
list of any senior foreign political figures or
oligarchs in the Russian Federation identified under
section 241(a)(1)(A) of the Countering Russian
Influence in Europe and Eurasia Act of 2017 (title II
of Public Law 115-44; 131 Stat. 922) who directly or
indirectly contributed to such interference.
(b) Additional Reporting.--If the Director of National Intelligence
determines and reports under subsection (a) that neither the government
of a foreign country nor any foreign person acting as an agent of or on
behalf of that government knowingly engaged in interference in a United
States election, and the Director subsequently determines that that
government, or such a foreign person, did engage in such interference,
the Director shall, not later than 60 days after making that
determination, submit to the appropriate congressional committees and
leadership--
(1) a report on the subsequent determination; and
(2) if the Director determines that the Government of the
Russian Federation, or any foreign person acting as an agent of
or on behalf of that Government, engaged in such interference,
a list of any senior foreign political figures or oligarchs in
the Russian Federation identified under section 241(a)(1)(A) of
the Countering Russian Influence in Europe and Eurasia Act of
2017 (title II of Public Law 115-44; 131 Stat. 922) who
directly or indirectly contributed to such interference.
(c) Form of Report.--Each report required by subsection (a) or (b)
shall be submitted in unclassified form but may include a classified
annex.
SEC. 102. UPDATED REPORT ON OLIGARCHS AND PARASTATAL ENTITIES OF THE
RUSSIAN FEDERATION.
Section 241 of the Countering America's Adversaries Through
Sanctions Act (Public Law 115-44; 131 Stat. 922) is amended--
(1) by redesignating subsections (b) and (c) as subsections
(c) and (d), respectively;
(2) by inserting after subsection (a) the following:
``(b) Updated Report.--Not later than one year after the date of
the enactment of the Defending Elections from Threats by Establishing
Redlines Act of 2019, and annually thereafter, the Secretary of the
Treasury, in consultation with the Director of National Intelligence
and the Secretary of State, shall submit to the appropriate
congressional committees an updated report on oligarchs and parastatal
entities of the Russian Federation that builds on the report submitted
under subsection (a) on January 29, 2018, and that includes the matters
described in paragraphs (1) through (5) of subsection (a).''; and
(3) in subsection (c), as redesignated by paragraph (1), by
striking ``The report required under subsection (a)'' and
inserting ``The reports required by subsections (a) and (b)''.
TITLE II--DETERRING INTERFERENCE IN UNITED STATES ELECTIONS BY THE
RUSSIAN FEDERATION
SEC. 201. REPORT ON ESTIMATED NET WORTH OF PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN AND
OTHER SENIOR FOREIGN POLITICAL FIGURES OF THE RUSSIAN
FEDERATION.
(a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, and not less frequently than biannually
thereafter, the President shall submit to the appropriate congressional
committees a report that contains--
(1) the estimated total net worth of each individual
described in subsection (b); and
(2) a description of how the funds of each such individual
were acquired and how such funds have been used or employed.
(b) Individuals Described.--The individuals described in this
subsection are the following:
(1) President Vladimir Putin.
(2) Any other senior foreign political figure of the
Russian Federation identified in the report under subsection
(a)(1)(A) of section 241 of the Countering Russian Influence in
Europe and Eurasia Act of 2017 (title II of Public Law 115-44;
131 Stat. 922), or any update to that report under subsection
(b) of such section, as added by section 103.
(c) Form of Report; Public Availability.--
(1) Form.--The report required under subsection (a) shall
be submitted in unclassified form but may contain a classified
annex.
(2) Public availability.--The unclassified portion of the
report required under subsection (a) shall be made available to
the public in precompressed, easily downloadable versions that
are made available in all appropriate formats.
(d) Sources of Information.--In preparing the report required under
subsection (a), the President may use any credible publication,
database, or web-based resource, and any credible information compiled
by any government agency, nongovernmental organization, or other entity
provided to or made available to the President.
(e) Funds Defined.--In this section, the term ``funds'' means--
(1) cash;
(2) equity;
(3) any other intangible asset the value of which is
derived from a contractual claim, including bank deposits,
bonds, stocks, a security (as defined in section 2(a) of the
Securities Act of 1933 (15 U.S.C. 77b(a))), or a security or an
equity security (as those terms are defined in section 3(a) of
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78c(a))); and
(4) anything else of value that the Secretary of the
Treasury determines to be appropriate.
SEC. 202. IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS.
(a) In General.--If the Director of National Intelligence
determines under section 101 that the Government of the Russian
Federation, or any foreign person acting as an agent of or on behalf of
that Government, knowingly engaged in interference in a United States
election, the President shall, not later than 30 days after such
determination is made, impose the following sanctions:
(1) Blocking the assets of certain state-owned russian
financial institutions and restricting accounts.--
(A) In general.--The Secretary of the Treasury
shall impose one or more of the following sanctions on
2 or more entities specified in subparagraph (B):
(i) Pursuant to the International Emergency
Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.),
blocking and prohibiting all transactions in
all property and interests in property of the
entity 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.
(ii) Prohibiting, or imposing strict
conditions on, the opening or maintaining in
the United States of a correspondent account or
payable-through account by the entity.
(B) Entities specified.--The entities specified in
this subparagraph are the following:
(i) Sberbank.
(ii) VTB Bank.
(iii) Gazprombank.
(iv) Vnesheconombank.
(v) Rosselkhozbank.
(2) Prohibition on new investments in energy sector of
russia.--
(A) Prohibition.--The President shall prohibit any
new investment made in the United States or by a United
States person in the energy sector of the Russian
Federation or an energy company of the Russian
Federation.
(B) Sanctions.--The President shall, pursuant to
the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50
U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), block and prohibit all
transactions in all property and interests in property
of any foreign person that makes a new investment in
the energy sector of the Russian Federation or an
energy company of the Russian Federation 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.
(C) New investment defined.--Not later than 60 days
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the
President shall prescribe regulations to define, for
purposes of this paragraph, the term ``new investment''
in a manner that--
(i) includes significant upgrades or
expansions to projects and construction
underway as of the date of the enactment of
this Act; and
(ii) does not include routine maintenance
of such projects and construction.
(3) Blocking the assets of entities in russian defense and
intelligence sectors.--
(A) In general.--The Secretary of the Treasury
shall, pursuant to the International Emergency Economic
Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), block and prohibit
all transactions in all property and interests in
property of any entity described in subparagraph (B) 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) Entities described.--An entity described in
this subparagraph is--
(i) an entity that the President determines
pursuant to section 231 of the Countering
Russian Influence in Europe and Eurasia Act of
2017 (22 U.S.C. 9525) is part of, or operates
for or on behalf of, the defense or
intelligence sectors of the Government of the
Russian Federation; or
(ii) an entity in which an entity described
in clause (i) has an ownership interest of 50
percent or more.
(4) Prohibition on transactions involving certain russian
debt.--The Secretary of the Treasury shall, pursuant to such
regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, prohibit all
transactions within the United States or by a United States
person, in--
(A) sovereign debt of the Government of the Russian
Federation issued on or after the date of the enactment
of this Act, including governmental bonds; and
(B) debt of any entity owned or controlled by the
Russian Federation issued on or after such date of
enactment, including bonds.
(5) Blocking the assets of senior political figures and
oligarchs and exclusion from the united states.--
(A) In general.--The President shall impose with
respect to any senior foreign political figure or
oligarch in the Russian Federation identified under
subsection (a)(2)(B) or (b)(2) of section 101 the
following sanctions:
(i) Pursuant to the International Emergency
Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.),
the President shall block and prohibit all
transactions in all property and interests in
property of the individual 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.
(ii) The President shall deny a visa to,
and exclude from the United States, the
individual, and revoke in accordance with
section 221(i) of the Immigration and
Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1201(i)) any visa or
other documentation of the individual.
(B) Public availability of information.--
Information about the denial or revocation of a visa or
other documentation under subparagraph (A)(ii) shall be
made available to the public.
(b) Report to Congress.--
(1) In general.--Not later than one year after the date of
the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the
President shall submit to the committees specified in paragraph
(2) a report identifying the 5 largest financial institutions
owned or controlled by the Government of the Russian
Federation, determined by estimated net assets.
(2) Committees specified.--The committees specified in this
paragraph are--
(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.
(c) Exceptions.--
(1) Importation of goods.--The requirement to impose
sanctions under subsection (a) shall not include the authority
to impose sanctions with respect to the importation of goods.
(2) Compliance with united nations headquarters
agreement.--Subsection (a)(5)(A)(ii) shall not apply with
respect to the admission of an alien to the United States if
such admission is necessary to comply with United States
obligations under the Agreement between the United Nations and
the United States of America regarding the Headquarters of the
United Nations, signed at Lake Success June 26, 1947, and
entered into force November 21, 1947, under the Convention on
Consular Relations, done at Vienna April 24, 1963, and entered
into force March 19, 1967, or under other international
agreements.
(3) Activities of nasa.--The requirement to impose
sanctions under subsection (a) shall not apply with respect to
activities of the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration.
(d) Implementation; Penalties.--
(1) Implementation.--The President may exercise all
authorities provided under sections 203 and 205 of the
International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1702 and
1704) to carry out this section.
(2) Penalties.--A person that violates, attempts to
violate, conspires to violate, or causes a violation of this
section or any regulation, license, or order issued to carry
out this section 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.
(e) Extension of Period To Allow Cessation of Prohibited
Business.--The President may extend the 30-day period specified in
subsection (a), except with respect to sanctions under paragraph (5) of
that subsection, for an additional period not to exceed 180 days if the
President certifies to the appropriate congressional committees that
the extension--
(1) is in the national security interest of the United
States; and
(2) is necessary to enable non-Russian persons impacted by
sanctions under subsection (a) to wind down business prohibited
as a result of those sanctions.
(f) National Security Waiver.--The President may waive the
application of sanctions under subsection (a) with respect to a person,
except sanctions under paragraph (5) of that subsection, if the
President submits to the appropriate congressional committees a
determination in writing that--
(1) the waiver is in the vital national security interest
of the United States; and
(2) failing to use the waiver will cause significant
adverse harm to the vital national security interests of the
United States.
(g) Suspension.--
(1) In general.--The President may suspend sanctions
imposed under subsection (a) on or after the date on which the
Director of National Intelligence, in consultation with the
Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Director
of the National Security Agency, the Director of the Central
Intelligence Agency, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of
the Treasury, and the Attorney General, submits to the
appropriate congressional committees and leadership a
certification that the Government of the Russian Federation has
not engaged in interference in United States elections for at
least one Federal election cycle.
(2) Reimposition.--
(A) Reports required.--Not later than 90 days after
a suspension of sanctions under paragraph (1) takes
effect, and every 90 days thereafter, the President
shall submit to the appropriate congressional
committees and leadership a report on whether the
Government of the Russian Federation is taking measures
to--
(i) improve the oversight of and
prosecutions relating to interference in United
States elections; and
(ii) credibly demonstrate a significant
change in behavior and credibly commit to not
engaging in such interference in the future.
(B) Reimposition.--If the President determines
under subparagraph (A) that the Government of the
Russian Federation is not taking measures described in
that subparagraph, the President shall reimpose the
sanctions suspended under paragraph (1).
(h) Termination.--The President may terminate sanctions imposed
under subsection (a) on or after the date on which the Director of
National Intelligence, in consultation with the Director of the Federal
Bureau of Investigation, the Director of the National Security Agency,
the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, the Secretary of
State, the Secretary of the Treasury, and the Attorney General, submits
to the appropriate congressional committees and leadership a
certification that--
(1) the Government of the Russian Federation has not
engaged in interference in United States elections for at least
2 Federal election cycles; and
(2) the President has received credible commitments from
the Government of the Russian Federation that that Government
will not engage in such interference in the future.
SEC. 203. CONGRESSIONAL REVIEW OF WAIVER, SUSPENSION, AND TERMINATION
OF SANCTIONS.
Section 216(a)(2) of the Countering America's Adversaries Through
Sanctions Act (22 U.S.C. 9511(a)(2)) is amended--
(1) in subparagraph (A)(i), by inserting ``or suspend the
application of sanctions described in subparagraph (B)(i)(IV)''
after ``subparagraph (B)''; and
(2) in subparagraph (B)(i)--
(A) in subclause (II), by striking ``; or'' and
inserting a semicolon;
(B) in subclause (III), by striking ``; and'' and
inserting ``; or''; and
(C) by adding at the end the following:
``(IV) section 202 of the Defending
Elections from Threats by Establishing
Redlines Act of 2019; and''.
SEC. 204. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON STRATEGY ON COORDINATION WITH EUROPEAN
UNION.
It is the sense of Congress that, not later than 180 days after the
date of the enactment of this Act, the President should submit to the
appropriate congressional committees and leadership a strategy on how
the United States will--
(1) work in concert with the European Union and member
countries of the European Union to deter interference by the
Government of the Russian Federation in elections; and
(2) coordinate with the European Union and member countries
of the European Union to enact legislation similar to this Act.
TITLE III--DETERRING INTERFERENCE IN UNITED STATES ELECTIONS BY OTHER
FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS
SEC. 301. BRIEFING ON INTERFERENCE IN UNITED STATES ELECTIONS.
Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act,
and every 90 days thereafter, the President, or a designee of the
President, shall brief the appropriate congressional committees and
leadership on any government of a foreign country, or person acting as
an agent of or on behalf of that government, that is determined by the
President to have engaged in or to be likely to engage in interference
in a United States election.
SEC. 302. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON DETERRENCE STRATEGIES FOR INTERFERENCE
IN UNITED STATES ELECTIONS BY FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS OF
CONCERN.
It is the sense of Congress that, not later than 90 days after the
date of the enactment of this Act, the President should submit to the
appropriate congressional committees and leadership a report that
includes--
(1) a strategy of the President to deter interference in a
United States election by the Government of the People's
Republic of China, the Government of the Democratic People's
Republic of Korea, the Government of the Islamic Republic of
Iran, and any other foreign government determined by the
President to have engaged in or to be likely to engage in
interference in a United States election, including any person
acting as an agent of or on behalf of such a government;
(2) proposed sanctions if that government engages in such
interference and any authorities the President may require from
Congress to impose such sanctions;
(3) other actions undertaken by Federal agencies or in
cooperation with other countries to deter such interference;
and
(4) a plan for communicating such deterrence actions to
those governments.
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