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[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 526 Engrossed in House (EH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 526

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT

 
   To promote free and fair elections, political freedoms, and human 
              rights in Cambodia, and for other purposes.

    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 ``Cambodia Democracy Act of 2019''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Prime Minister Hun Sen has been in power in Cambodia 
        since 1985 and is the longest-serving leader in Southeast Asia. 
        Despite decades of international attention and assistance to 
        promote a pluralistic, multi-party democratic system in 
        Cambodia, the Government of Cambodia continues to be 
        undemocratically dominated by the ruling Cambodia People's 
        Party (CPP), which controls every agency and security apparatus 
        of the state.
            (2) In 2015, the CPP-controlled parliament passed the ``Law 
        on Associations and Non-Governmental Organizations'', which 
        gave the government sweeping powers to revoke the registration 
        of NGOs that the government believed to be operating with a 
        political bias in a blatant attempt to restrict the legitimate 
        work of civil society. On August 23, 2017, Cambodia's Ministry 
        of Foreign Affairs ordered the closure of the National 
        Democratic Institute and the expulsion of its foreign staff. On 
        September 15, 2017, Prime Minister Hun Sen called for the 
        withdrawal of all volunteers from the United States Peace 
        Corps, which has operated in Cambodia since 2006 with 500 
        United States volunteers providing English language and 
        healthcare training.
            (3) The Government of Cambodia has taken several measures 
        to restrict its media environment, especially through 
        politicized tax investigations against independent media 
        outlets that resulted in the closure of The Cambodian Daily and 
        Radio Free Asia in early September 2017. Additionally, the 
        Government of Cambodia has ordered several radio stations to 
        stop the broadcasting of Radio Free Asia and Voice of America 
        programming.
            (4) On September 3, 2017, Kem Sokha, the President of the 
        Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), was arrested on 
        politically motivated charges, including treason and conspiring 
        to overthrow the Government of Cambodia, and faces up to 30 
        years in prison. The CNRP's previous leader, Sam Rainsy, 
        remains in exile. On November 16, 2017, Cambodia's Supreme 
        Court dissolved the CNRP, eliminating the primary opposition 
        party.
            (5) Each of the six elections that have taken place in 
        Cambodia since 1991 were conducted in circumstances that were 
        not free and fair, and were marked by fraud, intimidation, 
        violence, and the government's misuse of legal mechanisms to 
        weaken opposition candidates and parties.
            (6) In the most recent general election in July 2018, 
        following the dissolution of the CNRP, the CPP secured every 
        parliamentary seat, an electoral victory that a statement from 
        the White House Press Secretary stated was ``neither free nor 
        fair and failed to represent the will of the Cambodian 
        people''.
            (7) The United States is committed to promoting democracy, 
        human rights, and the rule of law in Cambodia. The United 
        States continues to urge the Government of Cambodia to 
        immediately release Mr. Kem Sokha, reinstate the political 
        status of the CNRP and restore its elected seats in the 
        National Assembly, and support electoral reform efforts in 
        Cambodia with free and fair elections monitored by 
        international observers.

SEC. 3. SANCTIONS RELATING TO UNDERMINING DEMOCRACY IN CAMBODIA.

    (a) Designation of Persons Responsible for Undermining Democracy in 
Cambodia.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
        the enactment of this Act, the President shall designate and 
        transmit to the appropriate congressional committees a list 
        of--
                    (A) each senior official of the government, 
                military, or security forces of Cambodia who the 
                President determines has directly and substantially 
                undermined democracy in Cambodia;
                    (B) each senior official of the government, 
                military, or security forces of Cambodia who the 
                President determines has committed or directed serious 
                human rights violations associated with undermining 
                democracy in Cambodia; and
                    (C) entities owned or controlled by senior 
                officials of the government, military, or security 
                forces of Cambodia described in subparagraphs (A) and 
                (B).
            (2) Imposition of sanctions.--The President shall impose 
        the sanctions described in subsection (b) on each foreign 
        person designated pursuant to paragraph (1).
            (3) Updates.--The President shall transmit to the 
        appropriate congressional committees updated lists under 
        paragraph (1) as new information becomes available.
    (b) Sanctions Described.--The sanctions described in this 
subsection are the following:
            (1) Asset blocking.--The President shall exercise all of 
        the powers granted to the President under the International 
        Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) to the 
        extent necessary to block and prohibit all transactions in 
        property and interests in property of a foreign person 
        designated under subsection (a) 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) Inadmissibility of certain individuals.--
                    (A) Ineligibility for visas and admission to the 
                united states.--A foreign person designated under 
                subsection (a) is--
                            (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.--A foreign person 
                designated under subsection (a) is subject to the 
                following:
                            (i) Revocation of any visa or other entry 
                        documentation regardless of when the visa or 
                        other entry documentation is or was issued.
                            (ii) A revocation under clause (i) shall--
                                    (I) take effect immediately; and
                                    (II) automatically cancel any other 
                                valid visa or entry documentation that 
                                is in the foreign person's possession.
                    (C) Exception to comply with international 
                obligations.--Sanctions under this paragraph shall not 
                apply with respect to a foreign person if admitting or 
                paroling the person into 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, or other 
                applicable international obligations.
            (3) 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 foreign 
        person that violates, attempts to violate, conspires to 
        violate, or causes a violation of paragraph (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.
    (c) 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.
    (d) Waiver.--The President may waive the application of sanctions 
described in subsection (b) with respect to a person designated under 
subsection (a) if the President determines and certifies to the 
appropriate congressional committees that such waiver is in the 
national interest of the United States.
    (e) Exception Relating to Importation of Goods.--
            (1) In general.--The authorities and requirements to impose 
        sanctions authorized under this Act shall not include the 
        authority or requirement to impose sanctions on the importation 
        of goods.
            (2) Good defined.--In this subsection, the term ``good'' 
        means any article, natural or man-made substance, material, 
        supply or manufactured product, including inspection and test 
        equipment, and excluding technical data.

SEC. 4. SUSPENSION OF SANCTIONS.

    (a) Suspension.--The sanctions described in section 3 may be 
suspended for up to 1-year upon certification by the President to the 
appropriate congressional committees that Cambodia is making meaningful 
progress toward the following:
            (1) Ending government efforts to undermine democracy.
            (2) Ending human rights violations associated with 
        undermining democracy.
            (3) Conducting free and fair elections which allow for the 
        active participation of credible opposition candidates.
    (b) Renewal of Suspension.--The suspension described in subsection 
(a) may be renewed for additional, consecutive-day periods if the 
President certifies to the appropriate congressional committees that 
Cambodia is continuing to make meaningful progress towards satisfying 
the conditions described in such subsection during the previous year.

SEC. 5. 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.

SEC. 6. SUNSET.

    This Act shall terminate on the date that is 5 years after the date 
of the enactment of this Act.

SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
        ``appropriate congressional committees'' means the Committee on 
        Foreign Affairs and the Committee on Financial Services of the 
        House of Representatives, and the Committee on Foreign 
        Relations and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban 
        Affairs of the Senate.
            (2) Person.--
                    (A) In general.--The term ``person'' means--
                            (i) a natural person; or
                            (ii) a corporation, business association, 
                        partnership, society, trust, financial 
                        institution, insurer, underwriter, guarantor, 
                        and any other business organization, any other 
                        nongovernmental entity, organization, or group, 
                        and any governmental entity operating as a 
                        business enterprise or any successor to any 
                        entity described in this clause.
                    (B) Application to governmental entities.--The term 
                ``person'' does not include a government or 
                governmental entity that is not operating as a business 
                enterprise.
            (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 of the United 
                States, including a foreign branch of such an entity.

            Passed the House of Representatives July 15, 2019.

            Attest:

                                                                 Clerk.
116th CONGRESS

  1st Session

                               H. R. 526

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT

   To promote free and fair elections, political freedoms, and human 
              rights in Cambodia, and for other purposes.
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