118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 825 

AN ACT 

To prohibit contracting with persons that have business 

operations with the Maduro regime, 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, 
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Banning Operations 

3 and Leases with the Illegitimate Venezuelan Authoritarian 

4 Regime Act’’ or the ‘‘BOLIVAR Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON CONTRACTING WITH PERSONS 

6 THAT HAVE BUSINESS OPERATIONS WITH 

7 THE MADURO REGIME. 

8 (a) PROHIBITION.—Except as provided in subsections 

9 (b), (c), and (d), the head of an executive agency may not 

10 enter into a contract for the procurement of goods or serv11 ices with any person that the head of an executive agency 

12 determines, with the concurrence of the Secretary of 

13 State, in consultation with the Director of the Office of 

14 Management and Budget, knowingly engages in signifi15 cant business operations, as defined by the Secretary in 

16 consultation with the Director, with an authority of the 

17 Government of Venezuela that is not recognized as the le18 gitimate Government of Venezuela by the United States. 

19 (b) EXCEPTIONS.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The prohibition under sub21 section (a) does not apply to a contract that the Sec22 retary of State, in consultation with the Director of 

23 the Office of Management and Budget, determines— 

24 (A) is necessary— 
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1 (i) for purposes of providing humani2 tarian assistance to the people of Ven3 ezuela; 

4 (ii) for purposes of providing disaster 

5 relief and other urgent humanitarian aid 

6 or life-saving measures; or 

7 (iii) to carry out noncombatant evacu8 ations; or 

9 (B) is in the national security interests of 

10 the United States. 

11 (2) SUPPORT FOR UNITED STATES GOVERN12 MENT ACTIVITIES.—The prohibition in subsection 

13 (a) shall not apply to contracts and agreements that 

14 support United States Government activities in Ven15 ezuela, including those necessary for the mainte16 nance of United States Government facilities in Ven17 ezuela, or to contracts with international organiza18 tions. 

19 (3) NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENT.—The Sec20 retary of State shall notify the appropriate congres21 sional committees of any contract entered into on 

22 the basis of an exception provided for under para23 graph (1), which may be submitted in a classified 

24 form, as appropriate. 
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1 (c) OFFICE OF FOREIGN ASSETS CONTROL LI2 CENSES.—The prohibition in subsection (a) does not apply 

3 to a person that has a valid license to operate in Venezuela 

4 issued by the Office of Foreign Assets Control. 

5 (d) AMERICAN DIPLOMATIC MISSION IN VEN6 EZUELA.—The prohibition in subsection (a) does not 

7 apply to contracts related to the operation and mainte8 nance of the United States Government’s consular offices 

9 and diplomatic posts in Venezuela. 

10 (e) EXCEPTION FOR INTELLIGENCE ACTIVITIES.— 

11 The prohibition in subsection (a) does not apply to any 

12 activity subject to the reporting requirements under title 

13 V of the National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3091 

14 et seq.), any authorized intelligence activity of the United 

15 States, or any activity or procurement that supports an 

16 authorized intelligence activity. 

17 (f) WAIVER.—The Secretary of State may waive the 

18 requirements of subsection (a) if the Secretary of State 

19 determines that to do so is in the national interest of the 

20 United States. 

21 (g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

22 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT23 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com24 mittees’’ means the Committee on Homeland Secu25 rity and Governmental Affairs and the Committee 
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1 on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Com2 mittee on Homeland Security and the Committee on 

3 Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives. 

4 (2) BUSINESS OPERATIONS.—The term ‘‘busi5 ness operations’’ means engaging in commerce in 

6 any form, including acquiring, developing, maintain7 ing, owning, selling, possessing, leasing, or operating 

8 equipment, facilities, personnel, products, services, 

9 personal property, real property, or any other appa10 ratus of business or commerce. 

11 (3) EXECUTIVE AGENCY.—The term ‘‘executive 

12 agency’’ has the meaning given the term in section 

13 133 of title 41, United States Code. 

14 (4) GOVERNMENT OF VENEZUELA.—(A) The 

15 term ‘‘Government of Venezuela’’ includes the gov16 ernment of any political subdivision of Venezuela, 

17 and any agency or instrumentality of the Govern18 ment of Venezuela. 

19 (B) For purposes of subparagraph (A), the 

20 term ‘‘agency or instrumentality of the Govern21 ment of Venezuela’’ means an agency or instru22 mentality of a foreign state as defined in sec23 tion 1603(b) of title 28, United States Code, 

24 with each reference in such section to ‘‘a for-
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1 eign state’’ deemed to be a reference to ‘‘Ven2 ezuela’’. 

3 (5) PERSON.—The term ‘‘person’’ means— 

4 (A) a natural person, corporation, com5 pany, business association, partnership, society, 

6 trust, or any other nongovernmental entity, or7 ganization, or group; 

8 (B) any governmental entity or instrumen9 tality of a government; and 

10 (C) any successor, subunit, parent entity, 

11 or subsidiary of, or any entity under common 

12 ownership or control with, any entity described 

13 in subparagraph (A) or (B). 

14 (h) TERM OF APPLICABILITY.—This section shall 

15 apply with respect to any contract entered into during the 

16 three-year period beginning on the date that is 180 days 

17 after the enactment of this Act. 

Passed the House of Representatives November 18, 

2024. 

Attest: 

Clerk. 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 825 

AN ACT 

To prohibit contracting with persons that have 

for other purposes. business operations with the Maduro regime, and