[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 115 (Thursday, July 11, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4802-S4804]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 2481. Mr. RUBIO submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by 
him to the bill S. 4638, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 
2025 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 G--South China Sea and East China Sea Sanctions Act of 2024

     SEC. 1291. SHORT TITLE.

       This subtitle may be cited as the ``South China Sea and 
     East China Sea Sanctions Act of 2024''.

     SEC. 1292. SANCTIONS WITH RESPECT TO CHINESE PERSONS 
                   RESPONSIBLE FOR CHINA'S ACTIVITIES IN THE SOUTH 
                   CHINA SEA AND THE EAST CHINA SEA.

       (a) Initial Imposition of Sanctions.--On and after the date 
     that is 120 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 
     the President may impose the sanctions described in 
     subsection (b) with respect to any Chinese person, including 
     any senior official of the Government of the People's 
     Republic of China, that the President determines--
       (1) is responsible for or significantly contributes to 
     large-scale reclamation, construction, militarization, or 
     ongoing supply of outposts in disputed areas of the South 
     China Sea;
       (2) is responsible for or significantly contributes to, or 
     has engaged in, directly or indirectly, actions, including 
     the use of coercion, to inhibit another country from 
     protecting its sovereign rights to access offshore resources 
     in the South China Sea, including in such country's exclusive 
     economic

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     zone, consistent with such country's rights and obligations 
     under international law;
       (3) is responsible for or complicit in, or has engaged in, 
     directly or indirectly, actions that significantly threaten 
     the peace, security, or stability of disputed areas of the 
     South China Sea or areas of the East China Sea administered 
     by Japan or the Republic of Korea, including through the use 
     of vessels and aircraft by the People's Republic of China to 
     occupy or conduct extensive research or drilling activity in 
     those areas;
       (4) has materially assisted, sponsored, or provided 
     financial, material, or technological support for, or goods 
     or services to, or in support of, any person subject to 
     sanctions pursuant to paragraph (1), (2), or (3); or
       (5) is owned or controlled by, or has acted for or on 
     behalf of, directly or indirectly, any person subject to 
     sanctions pursuant to paragraph (1), (2), or (3).
       (b) Sanctions Described.--The sanctions that may be imposed 
     with respect to a person described in subsection (a) are the 
     following:
       (1) Blocking of property.--The President may, in accordance 
     with 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 the 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.
       (2) Ineligibility for visas, admission, or parole.--
       (A) Visas, admission, or parole.--In the case of an alien, 
     the alien may be--
       (i) inadmissible to the United States;
       (ii) ineligible to receive a visa or other documentation to 
     enter the United States; and
       (iii) otherwise ineligible to be admitted or paroled into 
     the United States or to receive any other benefit under the 
     Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.).
       (B) Current visas revoked.--
       (i) In general.--An alien described in subparagraph (A) may 
     be subject to revocation of any visa or other entry 
     documentation regardless of when the visa or other entry 
     documentation is or was issued.
       (ii) Immediate effect.--A revocation under clause (i) may--

       (I) take effect immediately; and
       (II) cancel any other valid visa or entry documentation 
     that is in the alien's possession.

       (3) Exclusion of corporate officers.--The President may 
     direct the Secretary of State to deny a visa to, and the 
     Secretary of Homeland Security to exclude from the United 
     States, any alien that the President determines is a 
     corporate officer or principal of, or a shareholder with a 
     controlling interest in, the person.
       (4) Export sanction.--The President may order the United 
     States Government not to issue any specific license and not 
     to grant any other specific permission or authority to export 
     any goods or technology to the person under--
       (A) the Export Control Reform Act of 2018 (50 U.S.C. 4801 
     et seq.); or
       (B) any other statute that requires the prior review and 
     approval of the United States Government as a condition for 
     the export or reexport of goods or services.
       (5) Inclusion on entity list.--The President may include 
     the entity on the entity list maintained by the Bureau of 
     Industry and Security of the Department of Commerce and set 
     forth in Supplement No. 4 to part 744 of the Export 
     Administration Regulations, for activities contrary to the 
     national security or foreign policy interests of the United 
     States.
       (6) Ban on investment in equity or debt of sanctioned 
     person.--The President may, pursuant to such regulations or 
     guidelines as the President may prescribe, prohibit any 
     United States person from investing in or purchasing equity 
     or debt instruments of the person.
       (7) Banking transactions.--The President may, pursuant to 
     such regulations as the President may prescribe, prohibit any 
     transfers of credit or payments between financial 
     institutions or by, through, or to any financial institution, 
     to the extent that such transfers or payments are subject to 
     the jurisdiction of the United States and involve any 
     interest of the person.
       (8) Correspondent and payable-through accounts.--In the 
     case of a foreign financial institution, the President may 
     prohibit the opening, and prohibit or impose strict 
     conditions on the maintaining, in the United States of a 
     correspondent account or a payable-through account by the 
     foreign financial institution.
       (c) Exceptions.--
       (1) 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 subsection (b)(1).
       (2) Exception for intelligence, law enforcement, and 
     national security activities.--Sanctions under this section 
     shall not apply to any authorized intelligence, law 
     enforcement, or national security activities of the United 
     States.
       (3) Compliance with united nations headquarters 
     agreement.--Paragraphs (2) and (3) of subsection (b) shall 
     not apply if admission of an alien to the United States 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.
       (4) Exception relating to importation of goods.--
       (A) In general.--The authority or a requirement to impose 
     sanctions under this section shall not include the authority 
     or a requirement to impose sanctions on the importation of 
     goods.
       (B) Good defined.--In this paragraph, the term ``good'' 
     means any article, natural or manmade substance, material, 
     supply, or manufactured product, including inspection and 
     test equipment, and excluding technical data.
       (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.--The penalties provided for in subsections 
     (b) and (c) of section 206 of the International Emergency 
     Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1705) shall apply to a person 
     that violates, attempts to violate, conspires to violate, or 
     causes a violation of regulations prescribed under subsection 
     (b)(1) to the same extent that such penalties apply to a 
     person that commits an unlawful act described in subsection 
     (a) of such section 206.
       (e) Definitions.--In this section:
       (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) Alien.--The term ``alien'' has the meaning given that 
     term in section 101(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act 
     (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)).
       (3) Chinese person.--The term ``Chinese person'' means--
       (A) an individual who is a citizen or national of the 
     People's Republic of China; or
       (B) an entity organized under the laws of the People's 
     Republic of China or otherwise subject to the jurisdiction of 
     the Government of the People's Republic of China.
       (4) Financial institution.--The term ``financial 
     institution'' means a financial institution specified in 
     subparagraph (A), (B), (C), (D), (E), (F), (G), (H), (I), 
     (J), (K), (M), (N), (P), (R), (T), (Y), or (Z) of section 
     5312(a)(2) of title 31, United States Code.
       (5) Foreign financial institution.--The term ``foreign 
     financial institution'' has the meaning given that term in 
     section 1010.605 of title 31, Code of Federal Regulations (or 
     any corresponding similar regulation or ruling).
       (6) Person.--The term ``person'' means any individual or 
     entity.
       (7) 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;
       (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; or
       (C) any person in the United States.

     SEC. 1293. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING PORTRAYALS OF THE 
                   SOUTH CHINA SEA OR THE EAST CHINA SEA AS PART 
                   OF CHINA.

       It is the sense of Congress that the Government Publishing 
     Office should not publish any map, document, record, 
     electronic resource, or other paper of the United States 
     (other than materials relating to hearings held by committees 
     of Congress or internal work product of a Federal agency) 
     portraying or otherwise indicating that it is the position of 
     the United States that the territory or airspace in the South 
     China Sea that is disputed among two or more parties or the 
     territory or airspace of areas administered by Japan or the 
     Republic of Korea, including in the East China Sea, is part 
     of the territory or airspace of the People's Republic of 
     China.

     SEC. 1294. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON 2016 PERMANENT COURT OF 
                   ARBITRATION'S TRIBUNAL RULING ON ARBITRATION 
                   CASE BETWEEN PHILIPPINES AND PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC 
                   OF CHINA.

       (a) Finding.--Congress finds that on July 12, 2016, a 
     tribunal of the Permanent Court of Arbitration found in the 
     arbitration case between the Philippines and the People's 
     Republic of China under the United Nations Convention on the 
     Law of the Sea that the People's Republic of China's claims, 
     including those to offshore resources and ``historic 
     rights'', were unlawful, and that the tribunal's ruling is 
     final and legally binding on both parties.
       (b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that--
       (1) the United States and the international community 
     should reject the unlawful claims of the People's Republic of 
     China within the exclusive economic zone or on the 
     continental shelf of the Philippines, as well as the maritime 
     claims of the People's Republic of China beyond a 12-
     nautical-mile territorial sea from the islands it claims in 
     the South China Sea;
       (2) the provocative behavior of the People's Republic of 
     China, including coercing other countries with claims in the 
     South China Sea and preventing those countries from accessing 
     offshore resources, undermines peace and stability in the 
     South China Sea;
       (3) the international community should--
       (A) support and adhere to the ruling described in 
     subsection (a) in compliance with international law; and

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       (B) take all necessary steps to support the rules-based 
     international order in the South China Sea; and
       (4) all claimants in the South China Sea should--
       (A) refrain from engaging in destabilizing activities, 
     including illegal occupation or efforts to unlawfully assert 
     control over disputed claims;
       (B) ensure that disputes are managed without intimidation, 
     coercion, or force;
       (C) clarify or adjust claims in accordance with 
     international law; and
       (D) uphold the principle that territorial and maritime 
     claims, including over territorial waters or territorial 
     seas, must be derived from land features and otherwise 
     comport with international law.

     SEC. 1295. REPORT ON COUNTRIES THAT RECOGNIZE CHINESE 
                   SOVEREIGNTY OVER THE SOUTH CHINA SEA OR THE 
                   EAST CHINA SEA.

       (a) In General.--Not later than 60 days after the date of 
     the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter until the 
     date that is 3 years after such date of enactment, the 
     Secretary of State shall submit to the Committee on Foreign 
     Relations of the Senate and the Committee on Foreign Affairs 
     of the House of Representatives a report identifying each 
     country that the Secretary determines has taken an official 
     and stated position to recognize, after such date of 
     enactment, the sovereignty of the People's Republic of China 
     over territory or airspace disputed by one or more countries 
     in the South China Sea or the territory or airspace of areas 
     of the East China Sea administered by Japan or the Republic 
     of Korea.
       (b) Form.--The report required by subsection (a) shall be 
     submitted in unclassified form, but may include a classified 
     annex if the Secretary of State determines it is necessary 
     for the national security interests of the United States to 
     do so.
       (c) Public Availability.--The Secretary of State shall 
     publish the unclassified part of the report required by 
     subsection (a) on a publicly available website of the 
     Department of State.
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