II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4848 

To provide for the designation of the Russian Federation as a state sponsor 

of terrorism. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 14, 2022 

Mr. GRAHAM (for himself and Mr. BLUMENTHAL) introduced the following 

bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To provide for the designation of the Russian Federation 

as a state sponsor of terrorism. 

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 ‘‘Russia is a State Spon5 sor of Terrorism Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) United States law authorizes the designa9 tion of countries that have repeatedly provided supVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:11 Sep 15, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4848.IS S4848

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1 port for acts of international terrorism as state 

2 sponsors of terrorism. 

3 (2) Cuba, the Democratic People’s Republic of 

4 Korea, Iran, and Syria have been designated as 

5 state sponsors of terrorism. 

6 (3) At the direction of President Vladimir 

7 Putin, the Government of the Russian Federation 

8 has promoted, and continues to promote, acts of 

9 international terrorism against political opponents 

10 and nation states. 

11 (4) Under the orders of President Putin, the 

12 Government of the Russian Federation engaged in a 

13 campaign of terror that utilized brutal force to tar14 get its civilians during the Second Chechen War. 

15 (5) Actions by the Government of the Russian 

16 Federation against civilian centers, such as Grozny 

17 (the capital of Chechnya), left countless innocent 

18 men, women, and children dead or wounded. 

19 (6) Since 2014, the Government of the Russian 

20 Federation— 

21 (A) has supported separatists engaging in 

22 acts of violence against Ukrainian civilians in 

23 the Donbas region; and 

24 (B) has detained United States citizens as 

25 hostages. 


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1 (7) The Government of the Russian Federation 

2 provides material support to Syria, a nation cur3 rently designated as a state sponsor of terrorism. 

4 (8) According to the Congressional Research 

5 Service, the Russian Federation spreads terror 

6 throughout the world through private military net7 works of mercenaries, such as the Wagner Group, in 

8 an effort to ‘‘project power cheaply and deniably’’. 

9 (9) The Wagner Group collaborates with the 

10 Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation to 

11 support the foreign policy objectives of the Russian 

12 Federation. 

13 (10) The Department of the Treasury— 

14 (A) has identified the Wagner Group as ‘‘a 

15 designated Russian Ministry of Defense proxy 

16 force’’; and 

17 (B) has stated that ‘‘Wagner’s activities in 

18 other countries, including Ukraine, Syria, 

19 Sudan, and Libya, have generated insecurity 

20 and incited violence against innocent civilians’’. 

21 (11) In February 2022, more than 400 Russian 

22 mercenaries from the Wagner Group were dis23 patched to Kyiv with orders from the Kremlin to as24 sassinate President Volodymyr Zelensky and mem25 bers of the Government of Ukraine. 


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1 (12) On March 1, 2022, Jason Blazakis, former 

2 Director of the Counterterrorism Finance and Des3 ignations Office, Bureau of Counterterrorism, De4 partment of State, wrote in reference to white su5 premacist groups that ‘‘Russia provides sanctuary to 

6 a U.S.-designated terrorist group, the Russian Impe7 rial Movement, which operates with impunity in 

8 Russian territory.’’. 

9 (13) On March 17, 2022, President Volodymyr 

10 Zelensky called for the world to acknowledge the 

11 Russian Federation as a terrorist state. 

12 (14) The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has ap13 pealed to Congress to encourage the Department of 

14 State to recognize the Russian Federation as a state 

15 sponsor of terrorism, noting that ‘‘the Russian Fed16 eration has for years supported and financed ter17 rorist regimes and terrorist organizations, including 

18 being the main supplier of weapons to the Assad re19 gime in Syria and supporting terrorists in the Mid20 dle East and Latin America, organizing acts of 

21 international terrorism, including the poisoning of 

22 the Skripal family in the United Kingdom of Great 

23 Britain and Northern Ireland, the downing of a civil24 ian Malaysian airliner and other acts of terrorism’’. 


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1 (15) On May 24, 2022, Ukrainian prosecutors 

2 accused 2 Wagner Group mercenaries of committing 

3 war crimes against civilians near Kyiv. 

4 (16) On July 18, 2022, the United Kingdom’s 

5 Ministry of Defence confirmed that the Wagner 

6 Group plays a central role in recent fighting in 

7 Ukraine, including Russia’s capture of Popasna and 

8 Lysyschansk. 

9 (17) The United States has a range of tools 

10 available to hold the Russian Federation account11 able, reduce its war machine, and isolate it economi12 cally and diplomatically, including by designating it 

13 as a state sponsor of terrorism and imposing cor14 responding sanctions. 

15 SEC. 3. DESIGNATION OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION AS A 

16 STATE SPONSOR OF TERRORISM. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Beginning on the date of the en18 actment of this Act, the Russian Federation shall be 

19 deemed to have repeatedly provided support for acts of 

20 international terrorism and shall be designated as a state 

21 sponsor of terrorism pursuant to— 

22 (1) section 1754(c)(1)(A)(i) of the Export Con23 trol Reform Act of 2018 (50 U.S.C. 

24 4813(c)(1)(A)(i)); 


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1 (2) section 620A(a) of the Foreign Assistance 

2 Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2371(a)); 

3 (3) section 40(d) of the Arms Export Control 

4 Act (22 U.S.C. 2780(d)); and 

5 (4) any other relevant provision of law. 

6 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

7 Section 1605A(h)(6) of title 28, United States Code, is 

8 amended— 

9 (1) by inserting ‘‘Congress or’’ before ‘‘the Sec10 retary of State’’; and 

11 (2) by striking ‘‘section 6(j) of the Export Ad12 ministration Act of 1979 (50 U.S.C. App. 

13 2405(j)),’’. 

14 SEC. 4. WAIVER. 

15 The President may remove the designation required 

16 under section 3(a) on the date that is 30 days after the 

17 date on which the President certifies to the Committee on 

18 Foreign Relations of the Senate, the Committee on For19 eign Affairs of the House of Representatives, the majority 

20 leader and minority leader of the Senate, and the Speaker, 

21 majority leader, and minority leader of the House of Rep22 resentatives that— 

23 (1) the Russian Federation is no longer sup24 porting acts of international terrorism; and 


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1 (2) removing such designation is in the national 

2 security interests of the United States. 

Æ 


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