I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4591 

To impose sanctions with respect to Iranian persons that threaten the peace 

or stability of Iraq or the Government of Iraq. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 7, 2017 

Mr. KINZINGER (for himself, Mr. SUOZZI, Mrs. WAGNER, Mr. DIAZ-BALART, 

Mr. NUNES, Mr. WEBER of Texas, Mr. ZELDIN, Mr. OLSON, Mr. HUNTER, Mr. KING of New York, Mr. GALLAGHER, Mr. RUSSELL, Mr. 

THOMPSON of Pennsylvania, Ms. STEFANIK, and Mr. GOTTHEIMER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, 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 Iranian persons that 

threaten the peace or stability of Iraq or the Government 

of Iraq. 

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 ‘‘Preventing Iranian De5 stabilization of Iraq Act of 2017’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

2 It shall be the policy of the United States to impose 

3 sanctions with respect to terrorist organizations and for4 eign countries, including the Government of Iran, that 

5 threaten the peace or stability and impede the democratic 

6 processes of Iraq or the Government of Iraq. 

7 SEC. 3. IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS WITH RESPECT TO IRA8 NIAN PERSONS THREATENING PEACE OR 

9 STABILITY IN IRAQ. 

10 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con11 gress that the Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary 

12 of State should continue to implement Executive Order 

13 13438 (50 U.S.C. 1701 note; relating to blocking property 

14 of certain persons who threaten stabilization efforts in 

15 Iraq). 

16 (b) IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS.—The President shall 

17 impose the sanctions described in subsection (c)(1)(A) and 

18 the Secretary of State or the Secretary of Homeland Secu19 rity (or a designee of one of such Secretaries) shall impose 

20 the sanctions described in subsection (c)(1)(B) with re21 spect to any Iranian person that the President, acting 

22 through the Secretary of State or the Secretary of Home23 land Security (or a designee of one of such Secretaries), 

24 as the case may be, determines— 


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1 (1) to have knowingly committed, or to pose a 

2 significant risk of committing, an act or acts of vio3 lence that have the purpose or effect of— 

4 (A) threatening the peace or stability of 

5 Iraq or the Government of Iraq; 

6 (B) undermining or attempting to under7 mine, co-opt, or confound the democratic proc8 ess in Iraq; or 

9 (C) undermining efforts to promote eco10 nomic reconstruction and political reform in 

11 Iraq or to provide humanitarian assistance to 

12 the Iraqi people; 

13 (2) has knowingly materially assisted, spon14 sored, or provided financial, material, or techno15 logical support for, or goods or services to or in sup16 port of, any activity described in subparagraph (A), 

17 (B), or (C) of paragraph (1); or 

18 (3) is owned or controlled by, or has acted or 

19 purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indi20 rectly, a foreign person that has carried out any ac21 tivity described in subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) of 

22 paragraph (1) or paragraph (2). 

23 (c) SANCTIONS DESCRIBED.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—The sanctions described in 

25 this subsection are the following: 


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1 (A) ASSET BLOCKING.—The exercise of all 

2 powers granted to the President by the Inter3 national Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 

4 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) to the extent necessary to 

5 block and prohibit all transactions in all prop6 erty and interests in property of an entity de7 termined by the President to be subject to sub8 section (b) if such property and interests in 

9 property are in the United States, come within 

10 the United States, or are or come within the 

11 possession or control of a United States person. 

12 (B) ALIENS INELIGIBLE FOR VISAS, AD13 MISSION, OR PAROLE.— 

14 (i) VISAS, ADMISSION, OR PAROLE.— 

15 An alien who the Secretary of State or the 

16 Secretary of Homeland Security (or a des17 ignee of one of such Secretaries) knows or 

18 has reasonable grounds to believe meets 

19 any of the criteria described in subsection 

20 (b) is— 

21 (I) inadmissible to the United 

22 States; 

23 (II) ineligible to receive a visa or 

24 other documentation to enter the 

25 United States; and 


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1 (III) otherwise ineligible to be 

2 admitted or paroled into the United 

3 States or to receive any other benefit 

4 under the Immigration and Nation5 ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.). 

6 (ii) CURRENT VISAS REVOKED.— 

7 (I) IN GENERAL.—Any visa or 

8 other documentation issued to an 

9 alien who is an Iranian person on the 

10 list required under subsection (b), re11 gardless of when such visa or other 

12 documentation was issued, shall be re13 voked and such alien shall be denied 

14 admission to the United States. 

15 (II) EFFECT OF REVOCATION.— 

16 A revocation under subclause (I) shall 

17 take effect immediately and shall 

18 automatically cancel any other valid 

19 visa or entry documentation that is in 

20 the alien’s possession. 

21 (2) INAPPLICABILITY OF NATIONAL EMER22 GENCY REQUIREMENT.—The requirements of section 

23 202 of the International Emergency Economic Pow24 ers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701) shall not apply for purVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:32 Dec 13, 2017 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4591.IH H4591

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1 poses of the imposition of sanctions under this sec2 tion. 

3 (3) PENALTIES.—A person that is subject to 

4 sanctions described in paragraph (1)(A) shall be 

5 subject to the penalties set forth in subsections (b) 

6 and (c) of section 206 of the International Emer7 gency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1705) to the 

8 same extent as a person that commits an unlawful 

9 act described in subsection (a) of that section. 

10 (4) EXCEPTION TO COMPLY WITH UNITED NA11 TIONS HEADQUARTERS AGREEMENT.—Sanctions 

12 under paragraph (1)(B) shall not apply to an alien 

13 if admitting the alien into the United States is nec14 essary to permit the United States to comply with 

15 the Agreement regarding the Headquarters of the 

16 United Nations, signed at Lake Success June 26, 

17 1947, and entered into force November 21, 1947, 

18 between the United Nations and the United States, 

19 or other applicable international obligations. 

20 (d) WAIVER.—The President may, on a case-by-case 

21 basis and for periods not to exceed 90 days, waive the 

22 application of sanctions in this section with respect to an 

23 Iranian person if the President certifies to the appropriate 

24 congressional committees at least 15 days before such 


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1 waiver is to take effect that such waiver is vital to the 

2 national security interests of the United States. 

3 (e) IMPLEMENTATION AUTHORITY.—The President 

4 may exercise all authorities provided to the President 

5 under sections 203 and 205 of the International Emer6 gency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1702 and 1704) 

7 for purposes of carrying out this section. 

8 (f) REGULATORY AUTHORITY.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The President shall, not 

10 later than 90 days after the date of the enactment 

11 of this Act, promulgate regulations as necessary for 

12 the implementation of this section. 

13 (2) NOTIFICATION TO CONGRESS.—Not less 

14 than 10 days before the promulgation of regulations 

15 under paragraph (1), the President shall notify and 

16 provide to the appropriate congressional committees 

17 the proposed regulations and the provisions of this 

18 section that the regulations are implementing. 

19 (g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

20 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT21 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com22 mittees’’ means— 

23 (A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the 

24 Committee on the Judiciary, the Committee on 

25 Ways and Means, and the Committee on FinanVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:32 Dec 13, 2017 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4591.IH H4591

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1 cial Services of the House of Representatives; 

2 and 

3 (B) the Committee on Foreign Relations 

4 and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and 

5 Urban Affairs of the Senate. 

6 (2) IRANIAN PERSON.—The term ‘‘Iranian per7 son’’ means— 

8 (A) an individual who is a citizen or na9 tional of Iran; and 

10 (B) an entity organized under the laws of 

11 Iran or otherwise subject to the jurisdiction of 

12 the Government of Iran. 

13 (3) UNITED STATES PERSON.—The term 

14 ‘‘United States person’’ has the meaning given that 

15 term in section 576.317 of title 31, Code of Federal 

16 Regulations, as in effect on June 22, 2016. 

17 (4) ADMITTED; ALIEN.—The terms ‘‘admitted’’ 

18 and ‘‘alien’’ have the meanings given those terms in 

19 section 101(3) of the Immigration and Nationality 

20 Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(3)). 

21 (5) KNOWINGLY.—The term ‘‘knowingly’’, with 

22 respect to conduct, a circumstance, or a result, 

23 means that a person has actual knowledge, or should 

24 have known, of the conduct, the circumstance, or the 

25 result. 


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1 (6) GOVERNMENT OF IRAQ.—The term ‘‘Gov2 ernment of Iraq’’ has the meaning given that term 

3 in section 576.310 of title 31, Code of Federal Reg4 ulations, as in effect on June 22, 2016. 

5 (7) PERSON.—The term ‘‘person’’ has the 

6 meaning given that term in section 576.311 of title 

7 31, Code of Federal Regulations, as in effect on 

8 June 22, 2016. 

9 (8) PROPERTY; PROPERTY INTEREST.—The 

10 terms ‘‘property’’ and ‘‘property interest’’ have the 

11 meanings given those terms in section 576.312 of 

12 title 31, Code of Federal Regulations, as in effect on 

13 June 22, 2016. 

14 (h) SUNSET.—This section shall cease to be effective 

15 beginning on January 1, 2022. 

16 SEC. 4. REPORT ON ACTIVITIES OF THE GOVERNMENT OF 

17 IRAN IN IRAQ. 

18 (a) REPORT.—Not later than 90 days after the date 

19 of the enactment of this Act, and every 180 days there20 after for a period not to exceed 5 years, the President shall 

21 submit to the appropriate congressional committees a re22 port on activities of the Government of Iran in Iraq. 

23 (b) MATTERS TO BE INCLUDED.—The report re24 quired by subsection (a) shall include a description of the 

25 following: 


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1 (1) The Government of Iran’s support for Iraqi 

2 militias or political parties, including weapons, fi3 nancing, and other forms of material support. 

4 (2) A list of referrals to the relevant United 

5 Nations Security Council sanctions committees by 

6 the United States Permanent Representative to the 

7 United Nations. 

8 (3) Iranian persons that are in Iraq despite the 

9 asset freeze and visa ban sanctions imposed against 

10 such entities pursuant to United Nations Security 

11 Council Resolution 2231. 

12 (4) Iraqi persons that have aided, abetted, or 

13 facilitated the Government of Iran’s transport of 

14 personnel, money, and munitions into Syria to aid 

15 the regime of Bashar al-Assad. 

16 (5) Iraqi financial institutions that are pro17 viding credit, loans, or other assistance to Govern18 ment of Iran-backed irregular or militia forces re19 sponsible for engaging in activities described in sec20 tion 3(b). 

21 (6) Actions taken by the Government of Iran to 

22 influence Shia institutions in Najaf, Iraq. 

23 (c) FORM.—The report required by subsection (a) 

24 shall be submitted in classified form if it is determined 


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1 that it is necessary for the national security interests of 

2 the United States to do so. 

3 (d) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘appro4 priate congressional committees’’ means— 

5 (1) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the 

6 Committee on Armed Services, the Committee on 

7 Ways and Means, and the Committee on Financial 

8 Services of the House of Representatives; and 

9 (2) the Committee on Foreign Relations, the 

10 Committee on Armed Services, the Committee on Fi11 nance, and the Committee on Banking, Housing, 

12 and Urban Affairs of the Senate. 

Æ 


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