I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 760 

To impose sanctions with respect to Communist Chinese military and 

surveillance companies. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 2, 2023 

Mr. BARR introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each 

case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of 

the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To impose sanctions with respect to Communist Chinese 

military and surveillance companies. 

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 ‘‘Chinese Military and 

5 Surveillance Company Sanctions Act of 2023’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) Under Executive Order 13959 (85 Fed. 

9 Reg. 73185; relating to addressing the threat from 


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1 securities investments that finance Communist Chi2 nese military companies) of November 17, 2020, the 

3 President found that the People’s Republic of China 

4 ‘‘increases the size of the country’s military-indus5 trial complex by compelling civilian Chinese compa6 nies to support its military and intelligence activi7 ties. Those companies, though remaining ostensibly 

8 private and civilian, directly support the PRC’s mili9 tary, intelligence, and security apparatuses and aid 

10 in their development and modernization.’’. The 

11 President further determined that ‘‘the PRC exploits 

12 United States investors to finance the development 

13 and modernization of its military.’’. As a result, Ex14 ecutive Order 13959 restricted transactions in pub15 licly traded securities of Communist Chinese military 

16 companies listed pursuant to section 1237 of the 

17 Strom Thurmond National Defense Authorization 

18 Act for Fiscal Year 1999 (50 U.S.C. 1701 note). 

19 (2) Although Executive Order 13959 targets 

20 transactions in public securities, it does not address 

21 financing options for Communist Chinese military 

22 companies through other forms of equity financing 

23 or debt financing, nor does it limit transactions with 

24 United States persons that may generate earnings in 

25 a manner that facilitates company growth. 


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1 (3) The Office of Foreign Assets Control 

2 (OFAC) of the Department of the Treasury, by im3 posing asset blocking through the Specially Des4 ignated Nationals (SDN) List, is able to forbid vir5 tually any transaction between United States per6 sons and a designated entity, including debt and eq7 uity financing, the exchange of goods and services, 

8 and the provision of material or technological sup9 port. Conversely, restrictions limited to publicly trad10 ed securities are less comprehensive, and in the case 

11 of certain Chinese companies of concern, may be ir12 relevant if the companies do not issue such securi13 ties. 

14 (4) While restrictions on public securities are 

15 restricted to the dealings of United States persons, 

16 OFAC’s inclusion of a foreign entity on the SDN list 

17 deters third-country persons from dealing with a 

18 designated entity, amplifying the effects of United 

19 States sanctions globally. 

20 (5) OFAC has long devoted significant re21 sources to compiling evidence on SDNs that rou22 tinely withstand challenges in court, which enhances 

23 the effectiveness of United States sanctions, encour24 ages allies to consider comparable measures, and 

25 strengthens national security. 


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1 (6) On June 3, 2021, the President issued Ex2 ecutive Order 14032, which transferred responsi3 bility for naming Chinese military companies subject 

4 to investment restrictions to the Secretary of the 

5 Treasury, and expanded restrictions to entities oper6 ating in the surveillance technology sector of the 

7 Chinese economy. 

8 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of the 

9 Congress that the national emergency declared under Ex10 ecutive Order 13959 calls for the President to— 

11 (1) more fully cut off financing avenues for 

12 Communist Chinese military and surveillance compa13 nies; 

14 (2) prevent adaptation by a company to partial 

15 restrictions that limit themselves to publicly traded 

16 securities; 

17 (3) ensure that the United States assembles an 

18 appropriate evidentiary basis to support the effec19 tiveness of sanctions; 

20 (4) enhance the impact of economic sanctions 

21 by deterring third-country persons from dealing with 

22 the companies; and 

23 (5) link the imposition of sanctions to clear ob24 jectives that serve to resolve the national emergency. 


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1 SEC. 3. SANCTIONS WITH RESPECT TO COMMUNIST CHI2 NESE MILITARY AND SURVEILLANCE COMPA3 NIES. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

5 date on which the first updated list is submitted under 

6 section 1260H of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry Na7 tional Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (10 

8 U.S.C. 113 note) on or after the date of the enactment 

9 of this Act, the President shall impose the sanctions de10 scribed in subsection (b) with respect to— 

11 (1) each person that is on such updated list, 

12 and 

13 (2) each foreign person listed in the Annex to 

14 Executive Order 14032 (86 Fed. Reg. 30145; relat15 ing to addressing the threat from securities invest16 ments that finance certain companies of the People’s 

17 Republic of China) of June 3, 2021, or determined 

18 by the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation 

19 with the Secretary of State, and, as the Secretary of 

20 the Treasury determines appropriate, the Secretary 

21 of Defense, to engage in the activities described 

22 under section 1(a)(i) or 1(a)(ii) of such Executive 

23 Order 14032, 

24 if the President determines that the imposition of such 

25 sanctions meets appropriate evidentiary standards and ad26 vances the objective of resolving the national emergency 


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1 described in Executive Order 14032 (86 Fed. Reg. 30145; 

2 relating to addressing the threat from securities invest3 ments that finance certain companies of the People’s Re4 public of China) of June 3, 2021. 

5 (b) SANCTIONS DESCRIBED.—The President shall ex6 ercise all of the powers granted to the President under 

7 the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 

8 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) to the extent necessary to block and 

9 prohibit all transactions in property and interests in prop10 erty of a person if such property and interests in prop11 erty— 

12 (1) are in the United States; 

13 (2) come within the United States; or 

14 (3) come within the possession or control of a 

15 United States person. 

16 (c) PENALTIES.—The penalties set forth in section 

17 206 of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act 

18 (50 U.S.C. 1705) apply to violations of any license, order, 

19 or regulation issued under this section. 

20 (d) WAIVER.—The President may waive the applica21 tion of sanctions under this section if the President cer22 tifies in writing to the appropriate congressional commit23 tees that the waiver is in the national interest of the 

24 United States, with an explanation of the reasons therefor. 


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1 (e) EXCEPTION FOR INTELLIGENCE ACTIVITIES.— 

2 Sanctions under this section shall not apply to any activity 

3 subject to the reporting requirements under title V of the 

4 National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3091 et seq.) 

5 or any authorized intelligence activities of the United 

6 States. 

7 (f) EXCEPTION RELATING TO IMPORTATION OF

8 GOODS.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The authorities and require10 ments to impose sanctions authorized under this sec11 tion shall not include the authority or requirement 

12 to impose sanctions on the importation of goods. 

13 (2) GOOD DEFINED.—In this subsection, the 

14 term ‘‘good’’ means any article, natural or manmade 

15 substance, material, supply, or manufactured prod16 uct, including inspection and test equipment, and ex17 cluding technical data. 

18 (g) CONFORMING REQUIREMENT.—Not later than 

19 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

20 President shall revoke the prohibitions described in section 

21 1(a) of Executive Order 14032 that are duplicative of, less 

22 restrictive than, or are otherwise made redundant by, the 

23 sanctions described in this section. 


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1 (h) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES

2 DEFINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate con3 gressional committees’’ means— 

4 (1) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the 

5 Committee on Financial Services of the House of 

6 Representatives; and 

7 (2) the Committee on Foreign Relations and 

8 the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Af9 fairs of the Senate. 

10 (i) SUNSET.—The authority to impose sanctions 

11 under this section, and any sanctions imposed under this 

12 section, shall terminate on the earlier of— 

13 (1) the date that is 30 days after the date on 

14 which the President repeals the national emergency 

15 declared under Executive Order 13959 (85 Fed. 

16 Reg. 73185); or 

17 (2) the date that is 7 years after the date of the 

18 enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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