IIB 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4591 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 28, 2018 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

AN ACT 

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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Preventing Destabiliza3 tion of Iraq Act of 2018’’. 

4 SEC. 2. IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS WITH RESPECT TO FOR5 EIGN PERSONS THREATENING PEACE OR 

6 STABILITY IN IRAQ. 

7 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con8 gress that the Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary 

9 of State should continue to implement Executive Order 

10 13438 (50 U.S.C. 1701 note; relating to blocking property 

11 of certain persons who threaten stabilization efforts in 

12 Iraq). 

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

14 impose the sanctions described in subsection (c) with re15 spect to any foreign person that the President determines 

16 knowingly commits a significant act of violence that has 

17 the direct purpose or effect of— 

18 (1) threatening the peace or stability of Iraq or 

19 the Government of Iraq; 

20 (2) undermining the democratic process in Iraq; 

21 or 

22 (3) undermining significantly efforts to promote 

23 economic reconstruction and political reform in Iraq 

24 or to provide humanitarian assistance to the Iraqi 

25 people. 

26 (c) SANCTIONS DESCRIBED.— 


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

2 this subsection are the following: 

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

4 powers granted to the President by the Inter5 national Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 

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

7 block and prohibit all transactions in all prop8 erty and interests in property of a foreign per9 son determined by the President to be subject 

10 to subsection (b) if such property and interests 

11 in property are in the United States, come 

12 within the United States, or are or come within 

13 the possession or control of a United States 

14 person. 

15 (B) ALIENS INELIGIBLE FOR VISAS, AD16 MISSION, OR PAROLE.— 

17 (i) VISAS, ADMISSION, OR PAROLE.— 

18 An alien who the Secretary of State or the 

19 Secretary of Homeland Security (or a des20 ignee of one of such Secretaries) deter21 mines is subject to subsection (b) is— 

22 (I) inadmissible to the United 

23 States; 


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1 (II) ineligible to receive a visa or 

2 other documentation to enter the 

3 United States; and 

4 (III) otherwise ineligible to be 

5 admitted or paroled into the United 

6 States or to receive any other benefit 

7 under the Immigration and Nation8 ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.). 

9 (ii) CURRENT VISAS REVOKED.— 

10 (I) IN GENERAL.—Any visa or 

11 other documentation issued to an 

12 alien who is a foreign person that is 

13 described in subsection (b) regardless 

14 of when such visa or other docu15 mentation was issued, shall be re16 voked and such alien shall be denied 

17 admission to the United States. 

18 (II) EFFECT OF REVOCATION.— 

19 A revocation under subclause (I) shall 

20 take effect immediately and shall 

21 automatically cancel any other valid 

22 visa or entry documentation that is in 

23 the alien’s possession. 

24 (2) PENALTIES.—A person that is subject to 

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


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

2 and (c) of section 206 of the International Emer3 gency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1705) to the 

4 same extent as a person that commits an unlawful 

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

6 (3) EXCEPTION TO COMPLY WITH UNITED NA7 TIONS HEADQUARTERS AGREEMENT.—Sanctions 

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

9 if admitting the alien into the United States is nec10 essary to permit the United States to comply with 

11 the Agreement regarding the Headquarters of the 

12 United Nations, signed at Lake Success June 26, 

13 1947, and entered into force November 21, 1947, 

14 between the United Nations and the United States, 

15 or other applicable international obligations. 

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

17 basis and for periods not to exceed 180 days, waive the 

18 application of sanctions in this section with respect to a 

19 foreign person if the President certifies to the appropriate 

20 congressional committees at least 15 days before such 

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

22 national security interests of the United States. 

23 (e) IMPLEMENTATION AUTHORITY.—The President 

24 may exercise all authorities provided to the President 

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1 gency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1702 and 1704) 

2 for purposes of carrying out this section. 

3 (f) REGULATORY AUTHORITY.— 

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

5 later than 90 days after the date of the enactment 

6 of this Act, promulgate regulations as necessary for 

7 the implementation of this section. 

8 (2) NOTIFICATION TO CONGRESS.—Not less 

9 than 10 days before the promulgation of regulations 

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

11 provide to the appropriate congressional committees 

12 the proposed regulations and the provisions of this 

13 section that the regulations are implementing. 

14 (g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

15 (1) ADMITTED; ALIEN.—The terms ‘‘admitted’’ 

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

17 section 101(3) of the Immigration and Nationality 

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

19 (2) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT20 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com21 mittees’’ means— 

22 (A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the 

23 Committee on the Judiciary, the Committee on 

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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 (3) FOREIGN PERSON.—The term ‘‘foreign per7 son’’ means a person that is not a United States 

8 person. 

9 (4) GOVERNMENT OF IRAQ.—The term ‘‘Gov10 ernment of Iraq’’ has the meaning given that term 

11 in section 576.310 of title 31, Code of Federal Reg12 ulations, as in effect on June 22, 2016. 

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

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

15 means that a person has actual knowledge, or should 

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

17 result. 

18 (6) PERSON.—The term ‘‘person’’ has the 

19 meaning given that term in section 576.311 of title 

20 31, Code of Federal Regulations, as in effect on 

21 June 22, 2016. 

22 (7) PROPERTY; PROPERTY INTEREST.—The 

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

24 meanings given those terms in section 576.312 of 


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

2 June 22, 2016. 

3 (8) UNITED STATES PERSON.—The term 

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

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

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

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

8 beginning on January 1, 2022. 

9 SEC. 3. DETERMINATION WITH RESPECT TO THE IMPOSI10 TION OF SANCTIONS. 

11 (a) DETERMINATION.—Not later than 90 days after 

12 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 

13 State shall submit to the appropriate congressional com14 mittees a determination, including a detailed justification, 

15 on whether Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq, Harakat Hizballah al16 Nujaba, Liwa Fatemiyoun, Liwa Zainebiyoun, and any 

17 foreign person that is an official, agent, affiliate of, or 

18 owned or controlled by Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq, Harakat 

19 Hizballah al-Nujaba, Liwa Fatemiyoun, or Liwa 

20 Zainebiyoun meets the criteria for— 

21 (1) designation as a foreign terrorist organiza22 tion pursuant to section 219 of the Immigration and 

23 Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1189); 

24 (2) the application of sanctions pursuant to Ex25 ecutive Order 13224 (50 U.S.C. 1701 note; relating 


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1 to blocking property and prohibiting transactions 

2 with persons who commit, threaten to commit, or 

3 support terrorism); or 

4 (3) the application of sanctions pursuant to sec5 tion 2 of this Act. 

6 (b) ADDITIONAL DETERMINATION.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State shall 

8 include in the determination submitted under sub9 section (a) an additional determination, including a 

10 detailed justification, on whether any of the individ11 uals described in paragraph (2) meets the criteria 

12 for the application of sanctions described in para13 graph (2) or (3) of subsection (a). 

14 (2) INDIVIDUALS DESCRIBED.—The individuals 

15 described in this paragraph are the following: 

16 (A) Qais al-Khazali. 

17 (B) Laith al-Khazali. 

18 (C) Akram Abbas al-Kaabi. 

19 (D) Shibl al-Zaydi. 

20 (E) Kazim al-Ta’i. 

21 (F) Hamid al-Jazairi. 

22 (G) Ali al-Yasiri. 

23 (c) FORM.—The determination in subsection (a) and 

24 the additional determination in subsection (b) shall be 


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1 submitted in unclassified form but may contain a classi2 fied annex. 

3 (d) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES

4 DEFINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate con5 gressional committees’’ means— 

6 (1) the Committee on Armed Services, the 

7 Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Permanent Select 

8 Committee on Intelligence, the Committee on Finan9 cial Services, and the Committee on the Judiciary of 

10 the House of Representatives; and 

11 (2) the Committee on Armed Services, the 

12 Committee on Foreign Relations, the Select Com13 mittee on Intelligence, the Committee on Banking, 

14 Housing, and Urban Affairs, and the Committee on 

15 the Judiciary of the Senate. 

16 SEC. 4. WATCHLISTS. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State shall an18 nually establish, maintain, and publish a list of armed 

19 groups, militias, or proxy forces in Iraq receiving 

20 logistical, military, or financial assistance from Iran’s Rev21 olutionary Guard Corps or over which Iran’s Revolu22 tionary Guard Corps exerts any form of control or influ23 ence. 

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1 partment of State’s Annual Country Reports on Ter2 rorism, beginning with the first such Country Reports 

3 published after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

4 (c) FORM.—If the Secretary of State determines that 

5 it is appropriate to do so, the Secretary may, not later 

6 than 30 days after publication of the Annual Country Re7 ports on Terrorism referred to in subsection (b), submit 

8 to the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Rep9 resentatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations of 

10 the Senate a classified annex. 

Passed the House of Representatives November 27, 

2018. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 


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