[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 69 (Wednesday, April 27, 2022)]
[House]
[Pages H4530-H4532]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              ASSET SEIZURE FOR UKRAINE RECONSTRUCTION ACT

  Mr. PHILLIPS. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 6930) to authorize the confiscation of assets subject to 
United States jurisdiction of certain foreign persons, and for other 
purposes, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 6930

       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 ``Asset Seizure for Ukraine 
     Reconstruction Act''.

[[Page H4531]]

  


     SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

       It is the sense of Congress as follows:
       (1) The President should take all constitutional steps to 
     seize and confiscate assets under the jurisdiction of the 
     United States of foreign persons whose wealth is derived in 
     part through corruption linked to or political support for 
     the regime of Russian President Vladimir Putin and with 
     respect to which the President has imposed sanctions.
       (2) The President, by means of instructions, licenses, or 
     other regulations as may be promulgated and in a manner 
     consistent with due process of law, should confiscate any 
     property or accounts subject to the jurisdiction of the 
     United States, valued over $2,000,000, and belonging to 
     Russian energy companies or to foreign persons whose wealth 
     is derived in part through corruption linked to or political 
     support for the regime of Russian President Vladimir Putin 
     and with respect to which the President has imposed 
     sanctions.
       (3) All rights, title, and interest in any property so 
     confiscated should vest, upon the terms directed by the 
     President, in such agency or person as the President may 
     designate from time to time, and upon such terms and 
     conditions as the President may prescribe.
       (4) Such interest or property should be held, used, 
     administered, liquidated, or sold, by such agency or person 
     and such designated agency or person should perform any and 
     all acts incident to the accomplishment or furtherance of 
     these purposes.
       (5) The President should use all liquidated funds for the 
     benefit of the people of Ukraine, including for the 
     following:
       (A) Post-conflict reconstruction in Ukraine.
       (B) Humanitarian assistance.
       (C) United States government assistance provided to the 
     security forces of the government of Ukraine.
       (D) Provisions to support refugees and refugee resettlement 
     in neighboring countries and in the United States.
       (E) Technology items and services to ensure the free flow 
     of information to the Ukrainian people in Ukraine, including 
     items to counter internet censorship by Russian authorities, 
     to circumvent efforts to shut down internet or communication 
     services by Russian authorities and bolster the cybersecurity 
     capabilities of Ukrainian Government or non-governmental 
     organizations.
       (F) Humanitarian and development assistance for the Russian 
     people, including democracy and human rights programming and 
     monitoring.

     SEC. 3. INTERAGENCY WORKING GROUP.

       The President shall establish an interagency working group, 
     which shall be headed by the Secretary of State, to determine 
     the constitutional mechanisms through which the President can 
     take steps to seize and confiscate assets under the 
     jurisdiction of the United States of foreign persons whose 
     wealth is derived in part through corruption linked to or 
     political support for the regime of Russian President 
     Vladimir Putin and with respect to which the President has 
     imposed sanctions.

     SEC. 4. REPORT ON STEPS AND AUTHORITIES.

       Not later than 60 days after the date of the enactment of 
     this Act, the Secretary of State, on behalf of the 
     interagency working group, shall submit to the Committee on 
     Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and the 
     Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate a report about 
     the steps taken by the interagency working group to 
     accomplish the steps laid out in section 2, a report that 
     includes any recommendations to impose additional energy-
     related sanctions on the Government of Russia, and a report 
     on any additional authorities the President needs to take 
     such steps.

     SEC. 5. EXPANSION OF SANCTIONS WITH RESPECT TO MEMBERS OF THE 
                   RUSSIAN PARLIAMENT.

       Not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of 
     this Act, the President shall submit to the Committee on 
     Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and the 
     Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate a report, which 
     may be submitted in classified form if necessary, that 
     contains a justification for any determination of whether or 
     not, in addition to the sanctions imposed pursuant to 
     Executive Order 14024 (86 Fed. Reg. 73; relating to blocking 
     property with respect to specified 11 harmful foreign 
     activities of the Government of the Russian Federation), 
     imposing sanctions on 328 members of the Russian State Duma, 
     a determination as to whether remaining members of the Duma 
     and the Russian Federation Council, which includes officials 
     who may be involved in corrupt and other sanctionable 
     activities, who voted on February 22, 2022, to recognize the 
     Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) and the Luhansk People's 
     Republic (LPR), as well as the Russian Federation Council in 
     its entirety, should be subject to sanctions under the such 
     Executive Order.

     SEC. 6. DETERMINATION OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS.

       The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of 
     complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, shall 
     be determined by reference to the latest statement titled 
     ``Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation'' for this Act, 
     submitted for printing in the Congressional Record by the 
     Chairman of the House Budget Committee, provided that such 
     statement has been submitted prior to the vote on passage.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Minnesota (Mr. Phillips) and the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. 
Wilson) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Minnesota.

                              {time}  1330


                             General Leave

  Mr. PHILLIPS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and 
include extraneous material on H.R. 6930, as amended.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Minnesota?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. PHILLIPS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 6930, the 
Asset Seizure for Ukraine Reconstruction Act, as amended.
  Mr. Speaker, we have long known the Russian oligarch class is an 
important pillar of President Putin's brutal and corrupt regime. These 
Russian oligarchs have been able to enrich themselves and use their 
wealth to consolidate power within their country and increase their 
influence abroad.
  As President Putin continues in his unjustified and premeditated 
full-scale invasion into Ukraine, the United States must do all that it 
can to identify and sanction his cronies bankrolling this brutality.
  The Asset Seizure for Ukraine Reconstruction Act, as amended, takes 
an important step in this direction. The bill expresses the sense of 
Congress that the President should confiscate property subject to U.S. 
jurisdiction worth over $2 million belonging to Russian energy 
companies or Russian oligarchs whose wealth is derived from corruption 
or by support of President Putin. It expresses the sense that such 
property should be held, used, administered, liquidated, or sold, and 
that any funds gained from such sale should be used to benefit the 
Ukrainian people.
  Furthermore, this legislation would also create an interagency 
working group to determine the proper constitutional mechanisms through 
which this could be achieved.
  The luxury villas and fancy yachts and private airplanes of Putin and 
his cronies are tainted with the blood of the Ukrainian people. Their 
corrupt assets should be seized and should be used to rebuild Ukraine.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time 
as I may consume.
  Sadly, on February 24, war criminal Putin launched an unprovoked, 
unjustified murderous war of aggression against the people of Ukraine.
  The humanitarian toll has been devastating. More than 5 million 
refugees have fled Ukraine. More than 7 million are believed to be 
internally displaced, and we have seen on our screens the heart-
wrenching images of Putin's horrific war crimes in Bucha, Mariupol, and 
elsewhere.
  The economic toll for Ukraine is no less devastating. The World Bank 
has forecasted that Ukraine's economy could contract by 45 percent this 
year with a worst-case scenario seeing its GDP shrink by 75 percent.
  The Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said last week during a 
visit to Washington, that Ukraine would need around $5 billion a month 
in budgetary support as long as the war continued and then roughly $600 
billion for a broader rebuilding effort.
  To rebuild this country, the Ukrainian Prime Minister requested not 
only additional financial support from the United States and its allies 
and partners, but also the transfer of Russian assets that have been 
frozen by the global sanctions regime to Ukraine.
  The U.S. must answer this call.
  The resolution we are considering urges the President to establish an 
interagency working group to determine the constitutional mechanisms 
through which the United States could not only freeze but seize the 
assets of Russian oligarchs within the United States if this property 
was derived through corruption linked to the Putin regime.
  The liquidated funds are to be repurposed for the benefit of the 
people of Ukraine, including post-conflict reconstruction when the 
Ukrainians win, humanitarian assistance, and assistance for the 
security forces of the Government of Ukraine.

[[Page H4532]]

  I was grateful to colead this legislation with our colleague,   Tom 
Malinowski of New Jersey. Thanks to an amendment from our colleague, 
Peter Meijer, the bill also urges the administration to expand 
sanctions on members of the Russian Parliament, the duma, who voted in 
support of recognizing the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republic, which 
are illegal fabrications. This vote served as part of Putin's pretext 
to Russia's unprovoked and unjustified war of aggression against the 
people of Ukraine. Anyone who supported that vote must fall under U.S. 
sanctions--full stop. The administration needs to seriously consider 
how we can use the frozen Russian assets to help Ukraine fight and 
continue winning, then rebuild its country. Therefore, I urge all 
colleagues to join me in supporting this important bill.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. PHILLIPS. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the 
gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Meijer).
  Mr. MEIJER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of the Asset 
Seizure for Ukraine Reconstruction Act, which I was proud to help 
introduce with my colleague, Congressman Malinowski.
  This bill sends a strong and clear message of support to the 
Ukrainian people and a clear message to Putin and his cronies that 
their ill-gotten assets are no longer welcome in the United States.
  The Asset Seizure for Ukraine Reconstruction Act encourages the 
administration to take necessary steps allowed by the Constitution and 
existing laws to seize Russian assets valued over $2 million and 
repurpose them towards post-conflict reconstruction and humanitarian 
assistance in Ukraine.
  It also includes my amendment that aims to expand sanctions on 
members of Russia's Parliament who took the reckless and illegal vote 
to recognize two breakaway states in the Donbas and authorize Putin to 
use military force in Ukraine.
  Although the Biden administration sanctioned 328 duma members who 
voted on February 15 for a resolution calling on Putin to recognize the 
Ukrainian breakaway states, the so-called Luhansk People's Republic and 
Donetsk People's Republic, it has still not imposed similar sanctions 
on the remaining duma members and the 154 members of the Federation 
Council who voted just one week later to authorize Putin's senseless 
war in Ukraine.
  These Russian politicians, as well as the oligarchs who so 
comfortably store their assets on U.S. territory, play a role in 
Putin's illegal war, and they all deserve to be punished. Our bill 
ensures that they do not escape accountability for their complicity in 
the atrocities against Ukraine, which has left thousands of civilians 
dead, and many millions displaced.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge support for this critical and urgent bill.
  Mr. PHILLIPS. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time 
as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, rather than financing war crimes in Ukraine and 
multimillion-dollar yachts and real estate for Putin's cronies, this 
money could be much better spent on urgently needed humanitarian aid 
and weapons for Ukraine.
  This makes sense for the people of Ukraine as well as for the 
American taxpayer. I, therefore, urge my colleagues to join me in 
supporting this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. PHILLIPS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume 
for the purpose of closing.
  Mr. Speaker, the Asset Seizure for Ukraine Reconstruction Act, as 
amended, sends a statement to Vladimir Putin and his cronies that the 
U.S. Congress will make sure the United States is not a safe haven for 
their corrupt assets.
  The legislation makes it clear that the President should take 
measures to seize and confiscate their assets subject to U.S. 
jurisdiction and use the proceeds from such sales to help the Ukrainian 
people, all while protecting and preserving the rights enshrined in our 
Constitution.
  I thank Representative Malinowski for authoring the bill, and I urge 
my colleagues to support the legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Phillips) that the House suspend the 
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 6930, as amended.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Mr. ROY. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to section 3(s) of House Resolution 
8, the yeas and nays are ordered.
  Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further proceedings on this motion 
are postponed.

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