[House Document 115-152]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]




115th Congress, 2d Session - - - - - - - - - House Document 115-152
 
   NATIONAL EMERGENCY WITH RESPECT TO FOREIGN INTERFERENCE IN UNITED 
                            STATES ELECTIONS

                               __________

                                MESSAGE

                                  from

                     THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

                              transmitting

  AN EXECUTIVE ORDER DECLARING A NATIONAL EMERGENCY TO DEAL WITH THE 
THREAT OF FOREIGN INTERFERENCE IN UNITED STATES ELECTIONS, PURSUANT TO 
   50 U.S.C. 1703(b); PUBLIC LAW 95-223 SEC. 204(b); (91 STAT. 1627)










[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]









 September 13, 2018.--Message and accompanying papers referred to the 
 Committees on Foreign Affairs, the Judiciary, Intelligence (Permanent 
      Select), and House Administration and ordered to be printed
                                   ______
		 
                     U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE 
		 
79-011                    WASHINGTON : 2018                 

















To the Congress of the United States:
    Pursuant to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act 
(50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), the National Emergencies Act (50 
U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), section 212(f) of the Immigration and 
Nationality Act of 1952 (8 U.S.C. 1182(f)), and section 301 of 
title 3, United States Code, I hereby report that I have issued 
an Executive Order declaring a national emergency to deal with 
the threat of foreign interference in United States elections 
and authorizing the United States Government to impose a range 
of appropriate and meaningful sanctions against foreign 
individuals and entities determined to have engaged in election 
interference.
    Foreign powers have historically sought to exploit 
America's free and open political system. In recent years, the 
proliferation of digital devices and internet-based 
communications has created significant vulnerabilities and 
magnified the scope and intensity of the threat of foreign 
interference. To deal with this threat, I have directed the 
Director of National Intelligence to conduct regular 
assessments of any information indicating that foreign election 
interference has taken place. I have also directed the Attorney 
General and Secretary of Homeland Security to conduct 
evaluations of the effects of any such interference that 
targeted election infrastructure or campaign-related 
infrastructure, and to provide updates and recommendations on 
appropriate measures to take in response.
    In the event foreign election interference is determined to 
have occurred, the Executive Order provides for the imposition 
of sanctions on foreign persons determined by the Secretary of 
the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State, to 
have engaged in, sponsored, concealed, or otherwise been 
complicit in the interference, as well as other related 
persons. The Executive Order further directs the Secretary of 
State and the Secretary of the Treasury to develop additional 
recommended sanctions measures, appropriately calibrated to 
account for the severity of the interference and any collateral 
effects on United States and allied financial stability and 
economic and security interests, targeting companies in 
significant economic sectors in a country whose government is 
determined to have engaged in or sponsored election 
interference.
    I am enclosing a copy of the Executive Order I have issued.

                                                   Donald J. Trump.
    The White House, September 12, 2018.



















                            Executive Order

                              ----------                              


 Imposing Certain Sanctions in the Event of Foreign Interference in a 
                         United States Election

    By the authority vested in me as President by the 
Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, 
including the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 
U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) (IEEPA), the National Emergencies Act (50 
U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) (NEA), section 212(f) of the Immigration 
and Nationality Act of 1952 (8 U.S.C. 1182(f)), and section 301 
of title 3, United States Code,
    I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of 
America, find that the ability of persons located, in whole or 
in substantial part, outside the United States to interfere in 
or undermine public confidence in United States elections, 
including through the unauthorized accessing of election and 
campaign infrastructure or the covert distribution of 
propaganda and disinformation, constitutes an unusual and 
extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign 
policy of the United States. Although there has been no 
evidence of a foreign power altering the outcome or vote 
tabulation in any United States election, foreign powers have 
historically sought to exploit America's free and open 
political system. In recent years, the proliferation of digital 
devices and internet-based communications has created 
significant vulnerabilities and magnified the scope and 
intensity of the threat of foreign interference, as illustrated 
in the 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment. I hereby declare 
a national emergency to deal with this threat.
    Accordingly, I hereby order:
    Section 1. (a) Not later than 45 days after the conclusion 
of a United States election, the Director of National 
Intelligence, in consultation with the heads of any other 
appropriate executive departments and agencies (agencies), 
shall conduct an assessment of any information indicating that 
a foreign government, or any person acting as an agent of or on 
behalf of a foreign government, has acted with the intent or 
purpose of interfering in that election. The assessment shall 
identify, to the maximum extent ascertainable, the nature of 
any foreign interference and any methods employed to execute 
it, the persons involved, and the foreign government or 
governments that authorized, directed, sponsored, or supported 
it. The Director of National Intelligence shall deliver this 
assessment and appropriate supporting information to the 
President, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of the 
Treasury, the Secretary of Defense, the Attorney General, and 
the Secretary of Homeland Security.
    (b) Within 45 days of receiving the assessment and 
information described in section 1(a) of this order, the 
Attorney General and the Secretary of Homeland Security, in 
consultation with the heads of any other appropriate agencies 
and, as appropriate, State and local officials, shall deliver 
to the President, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of the 
Treasury, and the Secretary of Defense a report evaluating, 
with respect to the United States election that is the subject 
of the assessment described in section 1(a):
          (i) the extent to which any foreign interference that 
        targeted election infrastructure materially affected 
        the security or integrity of that infrastructure, the 
        tabulation of votes, or the timely transmission of 
        election results; and
          (ii) if any foreign interference involved activities 
        targeting the infrastructure of, or pertaining to, a 
        political organization, campaign, or candidate, the 
        extent to which such activities materially affected the 
        security or integrity of that infrastructure, including 
        by unauthorized access to, disclosure or threatened 
        disclosure of, or alteration or falsification of, 
        information or data.

The report shall identify any material issues of fact with 
respect to these matters that the Attorney General and the 
Secretary of Homeland Security are unable to evaluate or reach 
agreement on at the time the report is submitted. The report 
shall also include updates and recommendations, when 
appropriate, regarding remedial actions to be taken by the 
United States Government, other than the sanctions described in 
sections 2 and 3 of this order.
    (c) Heads of all relevant agencies shall transmit to the 
Director of National Intelligence any information relevant to 
the execution of the Director's duties pursuant to this order, 
as appropriate and consistent with applicable law. If relevant 
information emerges after the submission of the report mandated 
by section 1(a) of this order, the Director, in consultation 
with the heads of any other appropriate agencies, shall amend 
the report, as appropriate, and the Attorney General and the 
Secretary of Homeland Security shall amend the report required 
by section 1(b), as appropriate.
    (d) Nothing in this order shall prevent the head of any 
agency or any other appropriate official from tendering to the 
President, at any time through an appropriate channel, any 
analysis, information, assessment, or evaluation of foreign 
interference in a United States election.
    (e) If information indicating that foreign interference in 
a State, tribal, or local election within the United States has 
occurred is identified, it may be included, as appropriate, in 
the assessment mandated by section 1(a) of this order or in the 
report mandated by section 1(b) of this order, or submitted to 
the President in an independent report.
    (f) Not later than 30 days following the date of this 
order, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Treasury, 
the Attorney General, the Secretary of Homeland Security, and 
the Director of National Intelligence shall develop a framework 
for the process that will be used to carry out their respective 
responsibilities pursuant to this order. The framework, which 
may be classified in whole or in part, shall focus on ensuring 
that agencies fulfill their responsibilities pursuant to this 
order in a manner that maintains methodological consistency; 
protects law enforcement or other sensitive information and 
intelligence sources and methods; maintains an appropriate 
separation between intelligence functions and policy and legal 
judgments; ensures that efforts to protect electoral processes 
and institutions are insulated from political bias; and 
respects the principles of free speech and open debate.
    Sec. 2. (a) All property and interests in property that are 
in the United States, that hereafter come within the United 
States, or that are or hereafter come within the possession or 
control of any United States person of the following persons 
are blocked and may not be transferred, paid, exported, 
withdrawn, or otherwise dealt in: any foreign person determined 
by the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the 
Secretary of State, the Attorney General, and the Secretary of 
Homeland Security:
          (i) to have directly or indirectly engaged in, 
        sponsored, concealed, or otherwise been complicit in 
        foreign interference in a United States election;
          (ii) to have materially assisted, sponsored, or 
        provided financial, material, or technological support 
        for, or goods or services to or in support of, any 
        activity described in subsection (a)(i) of this section 
        or any person whose property and interests in property 
        are blocked pursuant to this order; or
          (iii) to be owned or controlled by, or to have acted 
        or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or 
        indirectly, any person whose property or interests in 
        property are blocked pursuant to this order.
    (b) Executive Order 13694 of April 1, 2015, as amended by 
Executive Order 13757 of December 28, 2016, remains in effect. 
This order is not intended to, and does not, serve to limit the 
Secretary of the Treasury's discretion to exercise the 
authorities provided in Executive Order 13694. Where 
appropriate, the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation 
with the Attorney General and the Secretary of State, may 
exercise the authorities described in Executive Order 13694 or 
other authorities in conjunction with the Secretary of the 
Treasury's exercise of authorities provided in this order.
    (c) The prohibitions in subsection (a) of this section 
apply except to the extent provided by statutes, or in 
regulations, orders, directives, or licenses that may be issued 
pursuant to this order, and notwithstanding any contract 
entered into or any license or permit granted prior to the date 
of this order.
    Sec. 3. Following the transmission of the assessment 
mandated by section 1(a) and the report mandated by section 
1(b):
    (a) the Secretary of the Treasury shall review the 
assessment mandated by section 1(a) and the report mandated by 
section 1(b), and, in consultation with the Secretary of State, 
the Attorney General, and the Secretary of Homeland Security, 
impose all appropriate sanctions pursuant to section 2(a) of 
this order and any appropriate sanctions described in section 
2(b) of this order; and
    (b) the Secretary of State and the Secretary of the 
Treasury, in consultation with the heads of other appropriate 
agencies, shall jointly prepare a recommendation for the 
President as to whether additional sanctions against foreign 
persons may be appropriate in response to the identified 
foreign interference and in light of the evaluation in the 
report mandated by section 1(b) of this order, including, as 
appropriate and consistent with applicable law, proposed 
sanctions with respect to the largest business entities 
licensed or domiciled in a country whose government authorized, 
directed, sponsored, or supported election interference, 
including at least one entity from each of the following 
sectors: financial services, defense, energy, technology, and 
transportation (or, if inapplicable to that country's largest 
business entities, sectors of comparable strategic significance 
to that foreign government). The recommendation shall include 
an assessment of the effect of the recommended sanctions on the 
economic and national security interests of the United States 
and its allies. Any recommended sanctions shall be 
appropriately calibrated to the scope of the foreign 
interference identified, and may include one or more of the 
following with respect to each targeted foreign person:
          (i) blocking and prohibiting all transactions in a 
        person's property and interests in property subject to 
        United States jurisdiction;
          (ii) export license restrictions under any statute or 
        regulation that requires the prior review and approval 
        of the United States Government as a condition for the 
        export or re-export of goods or services;
          (iii) prohibitions on United States financial 
        institutions making loans or providing credit to a 
        person;
          (iv) restrictions on transactions in foreign exchange 
        in which a person has any interest;
          (v) prohibitions on transfers of credit or payments 
        between financial institutions, or by, through, or to 
        any financial institution, for the benefit of a person;
          (vi) prohibitions on United States persons investing 
        in or purchasing equity or debt of a person;
          (vii) exclusion of a person's alien corporate 
        officers from the United States;
          (viii) imposition on a person's alien principal 
        executive officers of any of the sanctions described in 
        this section; or
          (ix) any other measures authorized by law.
    Sec. 4. I hereby determine that the making of donations of 
the type of articles specified in section 203(b)(2) of IEEPA 
(50 U.S.C. 1702(b)(2)) by, to, or for the benefit of any person 
whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant 
to this order would seriously impair my ability to deal with 
the national emergency declared in this order, and I hereby 
prohibit such donations as provided by section 2 of this order.
    Sec. 5. The prohibitions in section 2 of this order include 
the following:
    (a) the making of any contribution or provision of funds, 
goods, or services by, to, or for the benefit of any person 
whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant 
to this order; and
    (b) the receipt of any contribution or provision of funds, 
goods, or services from any such person.
    Sec. 6. I hereby find that the unrestricted immigrant and 
nonimmigrant entry into the United States of aliens whose 
property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this 
order would be detrimental to the interests of the United 
States, and I hereby suspend entry into the United States, as 
immigrants or nonimmigrants, of such persons. Such persons 
shall be treated as persons covered by section 1 of 
Proclamation 8693 of July 24, 2011 (Suspension of Entry of 
Aliens Subject to United Nations Security Council Travel Bans 
and International Emergency Economic Powers Act Sanctions).
    Sec. 7. (a) Any transaction that evades or avoids, has the 
purpose of evading or avoiding, causes a violation of, or 
attempts to violate any of the prohibitions set forth in this 
order is prohibited.
    (b) Any conspiracy formed to violate any of the 
prohibitions set forth in this order is prohibited.
    Sec. 8. For the purposes of this order:
    (a) the term ``person'' means an individual or entity;
    (b) the term ``entity'' means a partnership, association, 
trust, joint venture, corporation, group, subgroup, or other 
organization;
    (c) the term ``United States person'' means any United 
States citizen, permanent resident alien, entity organized 
under the laws of the United States or any jurisdiction within 
the United States (including foreign branches), or any person 
(including a foreign person) in the United States;
    (d) the term ``election infrastructure'' means information 
and communications technology and systems used by or on behalf 
of the Federal Government or a State or local government in 
managing the election process, including voter registration 
databases, voting machines, voting tabulation equipment, and 
equipment for the secure transmission of election results;
    (e) the term ``United States election'' means any election 
for Federal office held on, or after, the date of this order;
    (f) the term ``foreign interference,'' with respect to an 
election, includes any covert, fraudulent, deceptive, or 
unlawful actions or attempted actions of a foreign government, 
or of any person acting as an agent of or on behalf of a 
foreign government, undertaken with the purpose or effect of 
influencing, undermining confidence in, or altering the result 
or reported result of, the election, or undermining public 
confidence in election processes or institutions;
    (g) the term ``foreign government'' means any national, 
state, provincial, or other governing authority, any political 
party, or any official of any governing authority or political 
party, in each case of a country other than the United States;
    (h) the term ``covert,'' with respect to an action or 
attempted action, means characterized by an intent or apparent 
intent that the role of a foreign government will not be 
apparent or acknowledged publicly; and
    (i) the term ``State'' means the several States or any of 
the territories, dependencies, or possessions of the United 
States.
    Sec. 9. For those persons whose property and interests in 
property are blocked pursuant to this order who might have a 
constitutional presence in the United States, I find that 
because of the ability to transfer funds or other assets 
instantaneously, prior notice to such persons of measures to be 
taken pursuant to this order would render those measures 
ineffectual. I therefore determine that for these measures to 
be effective in addressing the national emergency declared in 
this order, there need be no prior notice of a listing or 
determination made pursuant to section 2 of this order.
    Sec. 10. Nothing in this order shall prohibit transactions 
for the conduct of the official business of the United States 
Government by employees, grantees, or contractors thereof.
    Sec. 11. The Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation 
with the Attorney General and the Secretary of State, is hereby 
authorized to take such actions, including the promulgation of 
rules and regulations, and to employ all powers granted to the 
President by IEEPA as may be necessary to carry out the 
purposes of this order. The Secretary of the Treasury may re-
delegate any of these functions to other officers within the 
Department of the Treasury consistent with applicable law. All 
agencies of the United States Government are hereby directed to 
take all appropriate measures within their authority to carry 
out the provisions of this order.
    Sec. 12. The Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation 
with the Attorney General and the Secretary of State, is hereby 
authorized to submit the recurring and final reports to the 
Congress on the national emergency declared in this order, 
consistent with section 401(c) of the NEA (50 U.S.C. 1641(c)) 
and section 204(c) of IEEPA (50 U.S.C. 1703(c)).
    Sec. 13. This order shall be implemented consistent with 50 
U.S.C. 1702(b)(1) and (3).
    Sec. 14. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to 
impair or otherwise affect:
          (i) the authority granted by law to an executive 
        department or agency, or the head thereof; or
          (ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of 
        Management and Budget relating to budgetary, 
        administrative, or legislative proposals.
    (b) This order shall be implemented consistent with 
applicable law and subject to the availability of 
appropriations.
    (c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any 
right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law 
or in equity by any party against the United States, its 
departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or 
agents, or any other person.
                                                   Donald J. Trump.
    The White House, September 12, 2018.

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