[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 79 (Wednesday, May 18, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2991-S2992]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 4031. Mr. CARDIN (for himself and Mr. McCain) submitted an
amendment intended to be proposed by him to the bill S. 2943, to
authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2017 for military activities
of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and for
defense activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military
personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes; which
was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:
At the end of title XII, add the following:
Subtitle __--Human Rights Sanctions
SEC. __01. SHORT TITLE.
This subtitle may be cited as the ``Global Magnitsky Human
Rights Accountability Act''.
SEC. __02. DEFINITIONS.
In this subtitle:
(1) Foreign person.--The term ``foreign person'' means a
person that is not a United States person.
(2) Person.--The term ``person'' means an individual or
entity.
(3) 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.
SEC. __03. AUTHORIZATION OF IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS.
(a) In General.--The President may impose the sanctions
described in subsection (b) with respect to any foreign
person the President determines, based on credible evidence--
(1) is responsible for extrajudicial killings, torture, or
other gross violations of internationally recognized human
rights committed against individuals in any foreign country
who seek--
(A) to expose illegal activity carried out by government
officials; or
(B) to obtain, exercise, defend, or promote internationally
recognized human rights and freedoms, such as the freedoms of
religion, expression, association, and assembly, and the
rights to a fair trial and democratic elections;
(2) acted as an agent of or on behalf of a foreign person
in a matter relating to an activity described in paragraph
(1);
(3) is a government official, or a senior associate of such
an official, that is responsible for, or complicit in,
ordering, controlling, or otherwise directing, acts of
significant corruption, including the expropriation of
private or public assets for personal gain, corruption
related to government contracts or the extraction of natural
resources, bribery, or the facilitation or transfer of the
proceeds of corruption to foreign jurisdictions; or
(4) has materially assisted, sponsored, or provided
financial, material, or technological support for, or goods
or services in support of, an activity described in paragraph
(3).
(b) Sanctions Described.--The sanctions described in this
subsection are the following:
(1) Inadmissibility to united states.--In the case of a
foreign person who is an individual--
(A) ineligibility to receive a visa to enter the United
States or to be admitted to the United States; or
(B) if the individual has been issued a visa or other
documentation, revocation, in accordance with section 221(i)
of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1201(i)), of
the visa or other documentation.
(2) Blocking of property.--
(A) In general.--The blocking, in accordance with the
International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701
et seq.), of all transactions in all property and interests
in property of a foreign person 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) Inapplicability of national emergency requirement.--The
requirements of section 202 of the International Emergency
Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701) shall not apply for
purposes of this section.
(C) Exception relating to importation of goods.--
(i) In general.--The authority to block and prohibit all
transactions in all property and interests in property under
subparagraph (A) shall not include the authority to impose
sanctions on the importation of goods.
(ii) Good.--In this subparagraph, the term ``good'' has the
meaning given that term in section 16 of the Export
Administration Act of 1979 (50 U.S.C. 4618) (as continued in
effect pursuant to the International Emergency Economic
Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.)).
(c) Consideration of Certain Information in Imposing
Sanctions.--In determining whether to impose sanctions under
subsection (a), the President shall consider--
(1) information provided by the chairperson and ranking
member of each of the appropriate congressional committees;
and
(2) credible information obtained by other countries and
nongovernmental organizations that monitor violations of
human rights.
(d) Requests by Chairperson and Ranking Member of
Appropriate Congressional Committees.--Not later than 120
days after receiving a written request from the chairperson
and ranking member of one of the appropriate congressional
committees with respect to whether a foreign person has
engaged in an activity described in subsection (a), the
President shall--
(1) determine if that person has engaged in such an
activity; and
(2) submit a report to the chairperson and ranking member
of that committee with respect to that determination that
includes--
(A) a statement of whether or not the President imposed or
intends to impose sanctions with respect to the person; and
(B) if the President imposed or intends to impose
sanctions, a description of those sanctions.
(e) Exception To Comply With United Nations Headquarters
Agreement and Law Enforcement Objectives.--Sanctions under
subsection (b)(1) shall not apply to an individual if
admitting the individual into the United States would further
important law enforcement objectives or is necessary to
permit the United States to comply with the Agreement
regarding the Headquarters of the United Nations, signed at
Lake Success June 26, 1947, and entered into force November
21, 1947, between the United Nations and the United States,
or other applicable international obligations of the United
States.
(f) Enforcement of Blocking of Property.--A person that
violates, attempts to violate, conspires to violate, or
causes a violation of subsection (b)(2) or any regulation,
license, or order issued to carry out subsection (b)(2) 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.
(g) Termination of Sanctions.--The President may terminate
the application of sanctions under this section with respect
to a person if the President determines and reports to the
appropriate congressional committees not later than 15 days
before the termination of the sanctions that--
(1) credible information exists that the person did not
engage in the activity for which sanctions were imposed;
(2) the person has been prosecuted appropriately for the
activity for which sanctions were imposed;
(3) the person has credibly demonstrated a significant
change in behavior, has paid an appropriate consequence for
the activity for which sanctions were imposed, and has
credibly committed to not engage in an activity described in
subsection (a) in the future; or
(4) the termination of the sanctions is in the vital
national security interests of the United States.
(h) Regulatory Authority.--The President shall issue such
regulations, licenses, and orders as are necessary to carry
out this section.
(i) Identification of Sanctionable Foreign Persons.--The
Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and
Labor, in consultation with the Assistant Secretary of State
for Consular Affairs and other bureaus of the Department of
State, as appropriate, is authorized to submit to the
Secretary of State, for review and consideration, the names
of foreign persons who may meet the criteria described in
subsection (a).
(j) Appropriate Congressional Committees Defined.--In this
section, the term ``appropriate congressional committees''
means--
(1) the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate; and
(2) the Committee on Financial Services and the Committee
on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives.
SEC. __04. REPORTS TO CONGRESS.
(a) In General.--The President shall submit to the
appropriate congressional committees, in accordance with
subsection (b), a report that includes--
[[Page S2992]]
(1) a list of each foreign person with respect to which the
President imposed sanctions pursuant to section __03 during
the year preceding the submission of the report;
(2) a description of the type of sanctions imposed with
respect to each such person;
(3) the number of foreign persons with respect to which the
President--
(A) imposed sanctions under section __03(a) during that
year; and
(B) terminated sanctions under section __03(g) during that
year;
(4) the dates on which such sanctions were imposed or
terminated, as the case may be;
(5) the reasons for imposing or terminating such sanctions;
and
(6) a description of the efforts of the President to
encourage the governments of other countries to impose
sanctions that are similar to the sanctions authorized by
section __03.
(b) Dates for Submission.--
(1) Initial report.--The President shall submit the initial
report under subsection (a) not later than 120 days after the
date of the enactment of this Act.
(2) Subsequent reports.--
(A) In general.--The President shall submit a subsequent
report under subsection (a) on December 10, or the first day
thereafter on which both Houses of Congress are in session,
of--
(i) the calendar year in which the initial report is
submitted if the initial report is submitted before December
10 of that calendar year; and
(ii) each calendar year thereafter.
(B) Congressional statement.--Congress notes that December
10 of each calendar year has been recognized in the United
States and internationally since 1950 as ``Human Rights
Day''.
(c) Form of Report.--
(1) In general.--Each report required by subsection (a)
shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may include a
classified annex.
(2) Exception.--The name of a foreign person to be included
in the list required by subsection (a)(1) may be submitted in
the classified annex authorized by paragraph (1) only if the
President--
(A) determines that it is vital for the national security
interests of the United States to do so;
(B) uses the annex in a manner consistent with
congressional intent and the purposes of this subtitle; and
(C) not later than 15 days before submitting the name in a
classified annex, provides to the appropriate congressional
committees notice of, and a justification for, including the
name in the classified annex despite any publicly available
credible information indicating that the person engaged in an
activity described in section __03(a).
(d) Public Availability.--
(1) In general.--The unclassified portion of the report
required by subsection (a) shall be made available to the
public, including through publication in the Federal
Register.
(2) Nonapplicability of confidentiality requirement with
respect to visa records.--The President shall publish the
list required by subsection (a)(1) without regard to the
requirements of section 222(f) of the Immigration and
Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1202(f)) with respect to
confidentiality of records pertaining to the issuance or
refusal of visas or permits to enter the United States.
(e) Appropriate Congressional Committees Defined.--In this
section, the term ``appropriate congressional committees''
means--
(1) the Committee on Appropriations, the Committee on
Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, the Committee on Foreign
Relations, and the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate;
and
(2) the Committee on Appropriations, the Committee on
Financial Services, the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and the
Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives.
______