II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 587 

To impose sanctions with respect to foreign persons responsible for the 

negligent creation of space debris, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 1, 2023 

Mr. RUBIO introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To impose sanctions with respect to foreign persons responsible for the negligent creation of space debris, 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 ‘‘Deterring Errant Be5 havior Risking International Space Act of 2023’’ or the 

6 ‘‘DEBRIS Act of 2023’’. 

7 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

8 In this Act: 

9 (1) ADMISSION; ADMITTED; ALIEN.—The terms 

10 ‘‘admission’’, ‘‘admitted’’, and ‘‘alien’’ have the 


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1 meanings given those terms in section 101 of the 

2 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101). 

3 (2) FOREIGN PERSON.—The term ‘‘foreign per4 son’’ means a person that is not a United States 

5 person. 

6 (3) PERSON.—The term ‘‘person’’ means an in7 dividual or entity. 

8 (4) SPACE DEBRIS.—The term ‘‘space debris’’ 

9 means any human-made, Earth-orbiting object or 

10 fragment of an object that is nonfunctional and for 

11 which there is no reasonable expectation of assuming 

12 or resuming its intended function. 

13 (5) UNITED STATES PERSON.—The term 

14 ‘‘United States person’’ means— 

15 (A) a United States citizen or an alien law16 fully admitted for permanent residence to the 

17 United States; 

18 (B) an entity organized under the laws of 

19 the United States or of any jurisdiction within 

20 the United States, including a foreign branch of 

21 such an entity; or 

22 (C) any person in the United States. 

23 SEC. 3. DETERMINATION BY PRESIDENT. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—If persuasive information becomes 

25 available to the executive branch indicating the substantial 


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1 possibility that a foreign person has created space debris 

2 without prior notification or warning to the United States 

3 Government, the President shall, not later than 30 days 

4 after the executive branch receives such information, sub5 mit to the appropriate congressional committees a report 

6 that includes— 

7 (1) a determination with respect to whether 

8 that foreign person is responsible for creating space 

9 debris without prior notification to the United States 

10 Government, through— 

11 (A) deliberate action, including weapons or 

12 technical testing in orbit; or 

13 (B) negligence, including through— 

14 (i) an unintentional collision of a 

15 human-made object that the foreign person 

16 failed to track; 

17 (ii) a failure to properly dispose of 

18 human-made objects, such as through 

19 deorbiting; or 

20 (iii) other gross negligence; and 

21 (2) an identification of any other foreign person 

22 that the President determines— 

23 (A) acted as an agent of or on behalf of 

24 the foreign person described in paragraph (1) in 


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1 a matter relating to the creation of the space 

2 debris; or 

3 (B) has materially assisted, sponsored, or 

4 provided financial, material, or technological 

5 support for, or goods or services in support of, 

6 an activity resulting in the creation of the space 

7 debris. 

8 (b) CONSIDERATION OF CERTAIN INFORMATION IN

9 MAKING A DETERMINATION.—In determining whether a 

10 foreign person has engaged in an activity described in sub11 section (a), the President shall consider— 

12 (1) information provided by the chairperson and 

13 ranking member of each of the appropriate congres14 sional committees; 

15 (2) information provided by the Commander of 

16 the United States Space Command; and 

17 (3) credible information obtained by other coun18 tries and nongovernmental organizations that mon19 itor space debris. 

20 (c) REQUESTS BY CHAIRPERSON AND RANKING

21 MEMBER OF APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT22 TEES.—Not later than 120 days after receiving a written 

23 request from the chairperson and ranking member of one 

24 of the appropriate congressional committees with respect 


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1 to whether a foreign person has engaged in an activity 

2 described in subsection (a), the President shall— 

3 (1) determine if that person has engaged in 

4 such an activity; and 

5 (2) submit a report to the chairperson and 

6 ranking member of that committee with respect to 

7 that determination that includes— 

8 (A) a statement of whether or not the 

9 President imposed or intends to impose sanc10 tions under section 4 with respect to the per11 son; and 

12 (B) if the President imposed or intends to 

13 impose sanctions, a description of those sanc14 tions. 

15 (d) FORM OF REPORT.—The report required by sub16 section (a) shall be submitted in unclassified form, but 

17 may include a classified annex. 

18 (e) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES DE19 FINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate congres20 sional committees’’ means— 

21 (1) the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

22 Transportation and the Committee on Armed Serv23 ices of the Senate; and 


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1 (2) the Committee on Science, Space, and 

2 Technology and the Committee on Armed Services of 

3 the House of Representatives. 

4 SEC. 4. IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after sub6 mitting a report under section 3(a), the President shall 

7 impose the sanctions described in subsection (b) with re8 spect to any foreign person— 

9 (1) determined under paragraph (1) of section 

10 3(a) to be responsible for creating space debris; or 

11 (2) identified under paragraph (2) of that sec12 tion. 

13 (b) SANCTIONS DESCRIBED.—The sanctions de14 scribed in this subsection are the following: 

15 (1) BLOCKING OF PROPERTY.— 

16 (A) IN GENERAL.—The President shall ex17 ercise all of the powers granted to the President 

18 under the International Emergency Economic 

19 Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) to the ex20 tent necessary to block and prohibit all trans21 actions in property and interests in property of 

22 a foreign person described in paragraph (1) or 

23 (2) of subsection (a) if such property and inter24 ests in property are in the United States, come 

25 within the United States, or are or come within 


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1 the possession or control of a United States 

2 person. 

3 (B) INAPPLICABILITY OF NATIONAL EMER4 GENCY REQUIREMENT.—The requirements of 

5 section 202 of the International Emergency 

6 Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701) shall 

7 not apply for purposes of this section. 

8 (2) INELIGIBILITY FOR VISAS, ADMISSION, OR

9 PAROLE.— 

10 (A) VISAS, ADMISSION, OR PAROLE.—An 

11 alien described in paragraph (1) or (2) of sub12 section (a) is— 

13 (i) inadmissible to the United States; 

14 (ii) ineligible to receive a visa or other 

15 documentation to enter the United States; 

16 and 

17 (iii) otherwise ineligible to be admitted 

18 or paroled into the United States or to re19 ceive any other benefit under the Immigra20 tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et 

21 seq.). 

22 (B) CURRENT VISAS REVOKED.— 

23 (i) IN GENERAL.—An alien described 

24 in paragraph (1) or (2) of subsection (a) 

25 is subject to revocation of any visa or other 


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1 entry documentation, regardless of when 

2 the visa or other entry documentation is or 

3 was issued. 

4 (ii) IMMEDIATE EFFECT.—A revoca5 tion under clause (i) shall— 

6 (I) take effect immediately; and 

7 (II) automatically cancel any 

8 other valid visa or entry documenta9 tion that is in the alien’s possession. 

10 (c) IMPLEMENTATION; PENALTIES.— 

11 (1) IMPLEMENTATION.—The President may ex12 ercise all authorities provided under sections 203 

13 and 205 of the International Emergency Economic 

14 Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1702 and 1704) to carry out 

15 this section. 

16 (2) PENALTIES.—A person that violates, at17 tempts to violate, conspires to violate, or causes a 

18 violation of this section or any regulation, license, or 

19 order issued to carry out this section shall be subject 

20 to the penalties set forth in subsections (b) and (c) 

21 of section 206 of the International Emergency Eco22 nomic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1705) to the same ex23 tent as a person that commits an unlawful act de24 scribed in subsection (a) of that section. 

25 (d) EXCEPTIONS.— 


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1 (1) EXCEPTION RELATING TO CIVIL SPACE CO2 OPERATION.—Sanctions under subsection (b) shall 

3 not apply with respect to a person that is a party 

4 to an agreement relating to civil space cooperation 

5 with any agency of the United States. 

6 (2) EXCEPTION TO COMPLY WITH UNITED NA7 TIONS HEADQUARTERS AGREEMENT AND LAW EN8 FORCEMENT OBJECTIVES.—Sanctions under sub9 section (b)(2) shall not apply with respect to an 

10 alien if admitting the alien into the United States— 

11 (A) would further important law enforce12 ment objectives; or 

13 (B) is necessary to permit the United 

14 States to comply with the Agreement regarding 

15 the Headquarters of the United Nations, signed 

16 at Lake Success June 26, 1947, and entered 

17 into force November 21, 1947, between the 

18 United Nations and the United States, or other 

19 applicable international obligations of the 

20 United States. 

21 (3) EXCEPTION RELATING TO IMPORTATION OF

22 GOODS.— 

23 (A) IN GENERAL.—The requirement to 

24 block and prohibit all transactions in all prop25 erty and interests in property under subsection 


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1 (b)(1) shall not include the authority or a re2 quirement to impose sanctions on the importa3 tion of goods. 

4 (B) GOOD.—In this paragraph, the term 

5 ‘‘good’’ means any article, natural or manmade 

6 substance, material, supply or manufactured 

7 product, including inspection and test equip8 ment, and excluding technical data. 

9 (e) TERMINATION OF SANCTIONS.—The President 

10 may terminate the application of sanctions under this sec11 tion with respect to a person if the President determines 

12 and reports to the appropriate congressional committees 

13 not later than 15 days before the termination of the sanc14 tions that— 

15 (1) credible information exists that the person 

16 did not engage in the activity for which sanctions 

17 were imposed; 

18 (2) the person has been prosecuted appro19 priately for the activity for which sanctions were im20 posed; or 

21 (3) the termination of the sanctions is in the 

22 vital national security interests of the United States. 

23 (f) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES DE24 FINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate congres25 sional committees’’ means— 


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1 (1) the Committee on Appropriations, the Com2 mittee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, the 

3 Committee on Foreign Relations, the Committee on 

4 Commerce, Science, and Transportation, the Com5 mittee on Armed Services, and the Committee on the 

6 Judiciary of the Senate; and 

7 (2) the Committee on Appropriations, the Com8 mittee on Financial Services, the Committee on For9 eign Affairs, the Committee on Science, Space, and 

10 Technology, the Committee on Armed Services, and 

11 the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of 

12 Representatives. 

13 SEC. 5. REPORTS TO CONGRESS. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—The President shall submit to the 

15 appropriate congressional committees, in accordance with 

16 subsection (b), a report that includes— 

17 (1) a list of each foreign person with respect to 

18 which the President imposed sanctions pursuant to 

19 section 4 during the year preceding the submission 

20 of the report; 

21 (2) the number of foreign persons with respect 

22 to which the President— 

23 (A) imposed sanctions under section 4(a) 

24 during that year; and 


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1 (B) terminated sanctions under section 

2 4(e) during that year; 

3 (3) the dates on which such sanctions were im4 posed or terminated, as the case may be; 

5 (4) the reasons for imposing or terminating 

6 such sanctions; and 

7 (5) a description of the efforts of the President 

8 to encourage the governments of other countries to 

9 impose sanctions that are similar to the sanctions 

10 authorized by section 4. 

11 (b) DATES FOR SUBMISSION.— 

12 (1) INITIAL REPORT.—The President shall sub13 mit the initial report under subsection (a) not later 

14 than 120 days after the date of the enactment of 

15 this Act. 

16 (2) SUBSEQUENT REPORTS.— 

17 (A) IN GENERAL.—The President shall 

18 submit a subsequent report under subsection 

19 (a) on April 12, or the first day thereafter on 

20 which both Houses of Congress are in session, 

21 of— 

22 (i) the calendar year in which the ini23 tial report is submitted if the initial report 

24 is submitted before April 12 of that cal25 endar year; and 


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1 (ii) each calendar year thereafter. 

2 (B) FORM OF REPORT.— 

3 (i) IN GENERAL.—Each report re4 quired by subsection (a) shall be submitted 

5 in unclassified form, but may include a 

6 classified annex. 

7 (ii) EXCEPTION.—The name of a for8 eign person to be included in the list re9 quired by subsection (a)(1) may be sub10 mitted in the classified annex authorized 

11 by paragraph (1) only if the President— 

12 (I) determines that it is vital for 

13 the national security interests of the 

14 United States to do so; 

15 (II) uses the annex in a manner 

16 consistent with congressional intent 

17 and the purposes of this Act; and 

18 (III) not later than 15 days be19 fore submitting the name in a classi20 fied annex, provides to the appro21 priate congressional committees notice 

22 of, and a justification for, including 

23 the name in the classified annex de24 spite any publicly available credible in25 formation indicating that the person 


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1 engaged in an activity described in 

2 section 4(a). 

3 (c) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The unclassified portion of 

5 the report required by subsection (a) shall be made 

6 available to the public, including through publication 

7 in the Federal Register. 

8 (2) NONAPPLICABILITY OF CONFIDENTIALITY

9 REQUIREMENT WITH RESPECT TO VISA RECORDS.— 

10 The President shall publish the list required by sub11 section (a)(1) without regard to the requirements of 

12 section 222(f) of the Immigration and Nationality 

13 Act (8 U.S.C. 1202(f)) with respect to confiden14 tiality of records pertaining to the issuance or re15 fusal of visas or permits to enter the United States. 

16 (d) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES

17 DEFINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate con18 gressional committees’’ means— 

19 (1) the Committee on Appropriations, the Com20 mittee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, the 

21 Committee on Foreign Relations, the Committee on 

22 Commerce, Science, and Transportation, the Com23 mittee on Armed Services, and the Committee on the 

24 Judiciary of the Senate; and 


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1 (2) the Committee on Appropriations, the Com2 mittee on Financial Services, the Committee on For3 eign Affairs, the Committee on Science, Space, and 

4 Technology, the Committee on Armed Services, and 

5 the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of 

6 Representatives. 

Æ 


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