I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4721 

To prohibit the authorization of Federal funds to facilitate Russian 

participation in G7 or reconstituted G8 meetings, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 17, 2019 

Ms. HILL of California (for herself and Mr. SIRES) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To prohibit the authorization of Federal funds to facilitate 

Russian participation in G7 or reconstituted G8 meetings, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘No Russia in G7 Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

6 Congress finds the following: 

7 (1) The Group of Seven, or G7, is a group of 

8 the seven largest advanced economies in the world 

9 and includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy, 


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1 Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States, 

2 with the European Union as an observer. 

3 (2) The G7 countries are all democracies and 

4 focused on strengthening democratic governance 

5 globally. 

6 (3) In 1997, the G7 invited the Russian Fed7 eration to join the group, in recognition of the Rus8 sian political and economic reforms underway at 

9 that time. 

10 (4) In 2014, Russia invaded Ukraine and ille11 gally occupied Crimea. 

12 (5) In the aftermath of this aggression, the G8 

13 decided to suspend Russia’s membership, issuing a 

14 statement labeling Russia’s invasion a violation of 

15 international law that could have ‘‘grave implications 

16 for the legal order that protects unity and sov17 ereignty of all states’’. 

18 (6) In the wake of Russia’s suspension, the re19 maining countries reconstituted themselves as the 

20 G7. 

21 (7) Since 2014, Russia has repeatedly inter22 fered in democratic elections in G7 countries, includ23 ing the 2016 United States presidential election, and 

24 continues to conduct disinformation and covert influ25 ence campaigns against many of the G7 countries. 


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1 (8) In June 2018, the G7 created the G7 Rapid 

2 Response Mechanism, with the mandate to ‘‘identify 

3 and respond to diverse and evolving threats to our 

4 democracies’’. 

5 (9) Then-Director of National Intelligence, Dan 

6 Coats, testified before Congress on January 29, 

7 2019, that Russia is ‘‘stepping up its campaign to 

8 divide Western political and security institutions’’ 

9 and ‘‘we expect Russia will continue to wage its in10 formation war against democracies and to use social 

11 media to attempt to divide our societies’’. 

12 (10) Russia continues to flout the Minsk agree13 ments by directly leading and indirectly supporting 

14 separatist forces in Ukraine. 

15 (11) Russia continues to make attempts to 

16 tighten its hold on Crimea by further militarizing 

17 the territory and offering Russian passports to its 

18 residents. 

19 (12) Russia continues to illegally occupy Crimea 

20 and has stepped up its aggressive acts against 

21 Ukraine. 

22 (13) Despite this behavior, President Trump 

23 continues to advocate for an end to Russia’s suspen24 sion from the G7 with no preconditions. 


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1 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

2 It is the sense of Congress that— 

3 (1) the Russian Federation must end its occu4 pation of Ukraine and cease its malign activities 

5 against G7 nations as preconditions for readmission 

6 into a reconstituted G8; and 

7 (2) no official representatives of the United 

8 States Government, including the President of the 

9 United States, should use the power of their office 

10 to advocate for Russia’s readmission into a reconsti11 tuted G8 unless Russia meets the conditions de12 scribed in section 4(b). 

13 SEC. 4. PROHIBITION ON THE USE OF FEDERAL FUNDS TO 

14 FACILITATE RUSSIAN PARTICIPATION. 

15 (a) PROHIBITION.—Notwithstanding any other provi16 sion of law, no Federal funds may be appropriated or oth17 erwise made available for any action supporting or facili18 tating— 

19 (1) the participation of Russia in a Group of 

20 Seven proceeding; or 

21 (2) the reconstitution of the Group of Eight to 

22 include Russia. 

23 (b) TERMINATION.—The prohibition under sub24 section (a) shall terminate on the date that is 30 days 

25 after the date on which the Secretary of State certifies 

26 to the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of RepVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:41 Oct 23, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4721.IH H4721

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1 resentatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations of 

2 the Senate that— 

3 (1) the Government of the Russian Federation, 

4 and all persons acting as an agent of or otherwise 

5 on behalf of such Government, has halted all inter6 ference in United States elections; 

7 (2) such Government has ended its illegal occu8 pation of the Ukranian territory of Crimea and is 

9 fully implementing its commitments under the Minsk 

10 agreements with respect to eastern Ukraine; and 

11 (3) such Government is taking affirmative steps 

12 to cease its campaign to divide Western economic, 

13 political, and security institutions, particularly those 

14 institutions of which G7 countries are members. 

15 (c) GROUP OF SEVEN DEFINED.—In this Act, the 

16 term ‘‘Group of Seven’’ or ‘‘G7’’ means the organization 

17 of leading economies commonly known as the ‘‘G7’’ that 

18 includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the 

19 United Kingdom, and the United States as members, with 

20 the European Union as an observer. 

Æ 


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