II 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2313 

To deter foreign interference in United States elections, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 16, 2018 

Mr. VAN HOLLEN (for himself and Mr. RUBIO) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

A BILL 

To deter foreign interference in United States elections, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Defending Elections from Threats by Establishing Red6 lines Act of 2018’’. 

7 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

8 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Definitions. 


rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 2313 IS

TITLE I—DETERMINATION OF FOREIGN INTERFERENCE IN 

UNITED STATES ELECTIONS 

Sec. 101. Determination of foreign interference in United States elections. 

TITLE II—DETERRING INTERFERENCE IN UNITED STATES 

ELECTIONS BY THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION 

Sec. 201. Imposition of sanctions. 

Sec. 202. Sense of Congress on coordination with European Union. 

TITLE III—DETERRING INTERFERENCE IN UNITED STATES 

ELECTIONS BY OTHER FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS 

Sec. 301. Briefing on interference in United States elections. 

Sec. 302. Sense of Congress on deterrence strategies for interference in United 

States elections by China, Iran, North Korea, and other foreign 

governments of concern. 

1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) ACCOUNT; CORRESPONDENT ACCOUNT; PAY4 ABLE-THROUGH ACCOUNT.—The terms ‘‘account’’, 

5 ‘‘correspondent account’’, and ‘‘payable-through ac6 count’’ have the meanings given those terms in sec7 tion 5318A of title 31, United States Code. 

8 (2) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT9 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com10 mittees’’ means— 

11 (A) the Committee on Banking, Housing, 

12 and Urban Affairs, the Committee on Foreign 

13 Relations, the Committee on Finance, the Se14 lect Committee on Intelligence, and the Com15 mittee on Rules and Administration of the Sen16 ate; and 


rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 2313 IS

1 (B) the Committee on Financial Services, 

2 the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Com3 mittee on Ways and Means, the Permanent Se4 lect Committee on Intelligence, and the Com5 mittee on House Administration of the House 

6 of Representatives. 

7 (3) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT8 TEES AND LEADERSHIP.—The term ‘‘appropriate 

9 congressional committees and leadership’’ means— 

10 (A) the appropriate congressional commit11 tees; 

12 (B) the majority leader and minority lead13 er of the Senate; and 

14 (C) the Speaker, the majority leader, and 

15 the minority leader of the House of Representa16 tives. 

17 (4) ELECTION AND CAMPAIGN INFRASTRUC18 TURE.—The term ‘‘election and campaign infra19 structure’’ means information and communications 

20 technology and systems used by or on behalf of— 

21 (A) the Federal Government or a State or 

22 local government in managing the election proc23 ess, including voter registration databases, vot24 ing machines, voting tabulation equipment, 


rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 2313 IS

1 equipment for the secure transmission of elec2 tion results, and other systems; or 

3 (B) a principal campaign committee or na4 tional committee (as those terms are defined in 

5 section 301 of the Federal Election Campaign 

6 Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30101)) with respect to 

7 strategy or tactics affecting the conduct of a 

8 political campaign, including electronic commu9 nications, and the information stored on, proc10 essed by, or transiting such technology and sys11 tems. 

12 (5) INTERFERENCE IN UNITED STATES ELEC13 TIONS.—The term ‘‘interference’’, with respect to a 

14 United States election, means any of the following 

15 actions of the government of a foreign country, or 

16 any person acting as an agent of or on behalf of 

17 such a government, undertaken with the intent to 

18 influence the election: 

19 (A) Obtaining unauthorized access to elec20 tion and campaign infrastructure or related sys21 tems or data and releasing such data or modi22 fying such infrastructure, systems, or data. 

23 (B) Blocking or degrading otherwise legiti24 mate and authorized access to election and 


rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 2313 IS

1 campaign infrastructure or related systems or 

2 data. 

3 (C) Contributions or expenditures for ad4 vertising, including on the internet. 

5 (D) Using social or traditional media to 

6 spread significant amounts of false information 

7 to individuals in the United States. 

8 (6) KNOWINGLY.—The term ‘‘knowingly’’, with 

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

10 means that a person has actual knowledge, or should 

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

12 result. 

13 (7) PERSON.—The term ‘‘person’’ means indi14 vidual or entity. 

15 (8) PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION CYCLE.—The 

16 term ‘‘presidential election cycle’’ means the period 

17 beginning on the day after the date of the most re18 cent election for the office of President of the United 

19 States and ending on the date of the next election 

20 for that office. 

21 (9) UNITED STATES ELECTION.—The term 

22 ‘‘United States election’’ means any United States 

23 Federal election. 

24 (10) UNITED STATES PERSON.—The term 

25 ‘‘United States person’’ means— 


rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS
6 

•S 2313 IS

1 (A) a United States citizen or an alien law2 fully admitted for permanent residence to the 

3 United States; or 

4 (B) an entity organized under the laws of 

5 the United States or of any jurisdiction within 

6 the United States, including a foreign branch of 

7 such an entity. 

8 TITLE I—DETERMINATION OF 

9 FOREIGN INTERFERENCE IN 

10 UNITED STATES ELECTIONS 

11 SEC. 101. DETERMINATION OF FOREIGN INTERFERENCE IN 

12 UNITED STATES ELECTIONS. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days after a 

14 United States election, the Director of National Intel15 ligence, in consultation with the Director of the Federal 

16 Bureau of Investigation, the Director of the National Se17 curity Agency, and the Director of the Central Intelligence 

18 Agency, shall— 

19 (1) determine whether or not the government of 

20 a foreign country, or any person acting as an agent 

21 of or on behalf of that government, knowingly en22 gaged in interference in the election; and 

23 (2) submit to the appropriate congressional 

24 committees and leadership a report on that deter25 mination, including an identification of the governVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:46 Jan 18, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2313.IS S2313

rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS
7 

•S 2313 IS

1 ment or person that interfered in the election if the 

2 Director determines that interference did occur. 

3 (b) ADDITIONAL REPORTING.—If the Director of Na4 tional Intelligence determines and reports under sub5 section (a) that neither the government of a foreign coun6 try nor any person acting as an agent of or on behalf of 

7 that government knowingly engaged in interference in a 

8 United States election, and the Director subsequently de9 termines that that government, or such a person, did en10 gage in such interference, the Director shall submit to the 

11 appropriate congressional committees and leadership a re12 port on the subsequent determination not later than 30 

13 days after making that determination. 

14 (c) FORM OF REPORT.—Each report required by sub15 section (a) or (b) shall be submitted in unclassified form 

16 but may include a classified annex. 

17 TITLE II—DETERRING INTER18 FERENCE IN UNITED STATES 

19 ELECTIONS BY THE RUSSIAN 

20 FEDERATION 

21 SEC. 201. IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—If the Director of National Intel23 ligence determines under section 101 that the Government 

24 of the Russian Federation, or any person acting as an 

25 agent of or on behalf of that government, knowingly enVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:46 Jan 18, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2313.IS S2313

rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS
8 

•S 2313 IS

1 gaged in interference in a United States election, the 

2 President shall, not later than 10 days after such deter3 mination is made, impose the following sanctions: 

4 (1) BLOCKING THE ASSETS OF CERTAIN STATE5 OWNED RUSSIAN FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS AND RE6 STRICTING ACCOUNTS.— 

7 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the 

8 Treasury shall impose one or more of the fol9 lowing sanctions on three or more entities speci10 fied in subparagraph (B): 

11 (i) Pursuant to the International 

12 Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 

13 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), blocking and prohib14 iting all transactions in all property and 

15 interests in property of the entity if such 

16 property and interests in property are in 

17 the United States, come within the United 

18 States, or are or come within the posses19 sion or control of a United States person. 

20 (ii) Prohibiting, or imposing strict 

21 conditions on, the opening or maintaining 

22 in the United States of a correspondent ac23 count or payable-through account by the 

24 entity. 


rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS
9 

•S 2313 IS

1 (B) ENTITIES SPECIFIED.—The entities 

2 specified in this subparagraph are the following: 

3 (i) Sberbank. 

4 (ii) VTB Bank. 

5 (iii) Gazprombank. 

6 (iv) Vnesheconombank. 

7 (v) Bank of Moscow. 

8 (vi) Rosselkhozbank. 

9 (2) BLOCKING THE ASSETS OF CERTAIN RUS10 SIAN ENERGY COMPANIES.— 

11 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the 

12 Treasury shall, pursuant to the International 

13 Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 

14 1701 et seq.), block and prohibit all trans15 actions in all property and interests in property 

16 of two or more of the entities specified in sub17 paragraph (B) if such property and interests in 

18 property are in the United States, come within 

19 the United States, or are or come within the 

20 possession or control of a United States person. 

21 (B) ENTITIES SPECIFIED.—The entities 

22 specified in this subparagraph are the following: 

23 (i) Gazprom. 

24 (ii) Rosneft. 

25 (iii) Lukoil. 


rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS
10 

•S 2313 IS

1 (3) BLOCKING THE ASSETS OF ENTITIES IN

2 RUSSIAN DEFENSE AND INTELLIGENCE SECTORS.— 

3 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the 

4 Treasury shall, pursuant to the International 

5 Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 

6 1701 et seq.), block and prohibit all trans7 actions in all property and interests in property 

8 of any entity described in subparagraph (B) if 

9 such property and interests in property are in 

10 the United States, come within the United 

11 States, or are or come within the possession or 

12 control of a United States person. 

13 (B) ENTITIES DESCRIBED.—An entity de14 scribed in this subparagraph is— 

15 (i) an entity that the President has 

16 determined under section 231 of the Coun17 tering Russian Influence in Europe and 

18 Eurasia Act of 2017 (22 U.S.C. 9525) en19 gages in a significant transaction with a 

20 person that is part of, or operates for or 

21 on behalf of, the defense or intelligence 

22 sectors of the Government of the Russian 

23 Federation; or 


rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS
11 

•S 2313 IS

1 (ii) an entity in which an entity de2 scribed in clause (i) has an ownership in3 terest of 50 percent or more. 

4 (4) BLOCKING THE ASSETS OF CERTAIN RUS5 SIAN STATE-OWNED ENTITIES.— 

6 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the 

7 Treasury shall, pursuant to the International 

8 Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 

9 1701 et seq.), block and prohibit all trans10 actions in all property and interests in property 

11 of any entity described in subparagraph (B) in 

12 which the Government of the Russian Federa13 tion has an ownership interest of 25 percent or 

14 more if such property and interests in property 

15 are in the United States, come within the 

16 United States, or are or come within the pos17 session or control of a United States person. 

18 (B) ENTITIES DESCRIBED.—The entities 

19 described in this subparagraph are the fol20 lowing: 

21 (i) Any entity in the railway or metals 

22 and mining sector of the economy of the 

23 Russian Federation. 


rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS
12 

•S 2313 IS

1 (ii) Any aerospace company or air car2 rier, including any subsidiary of such a 

3 company or carrier. 

4 (5) BLOCKING THE ASSETS OF ENTITIES AC5 QUIRED BY RUSSIAN STATE-OWNED ENTITIES.—The 

6 Secretary of the Treasury shall, pursuant to the 

7 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 

8 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), block and prohibit all trans9 actions in all property and interests in property of 

10 any entity in which an entity owned 50 percent or 

11 more in the aggregate by the Government of the 

12 Russian Federation acquires, on or after the date of 

13 the enactment of this Act, an ownership interest of 

14 20 percent or more if such property and interests in 

15 property are in the United States, come within the 

16 United States, or are or come within the possession 

17 or control of a United States person. 

18 (6) PROHIBITION ON TRANSACTIONS INVOLVING

19 CERTAIN RUSSIAN DEBT.—The Secretary of the 

20 Treasury shall, pursuant to such regulations as the 

21 Secretary may prescribe, prohibit all transactions 

22 within the United States or by a United States per23 son, in— 

24 (A) sovereign debt of the Government of 

25 the Russian Federation issued on or after the 


rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS
13 

•S 2313 IS

1 date of the enactment of this Act, including 

2 governmental bonds; and 

3 (B) debt of any entity owned or controlled 

4 by the Russian Federation issued on or after 

5 such date of enactment, including bonds. 

6 (7) BLOCKING THE ASSETS OF SENIOR POLIT7 ICAL FIGURES AND OLIGARCHS AND EXCLUSION

8 FROM THE UNITED STATES.—The President shall 

9 impose with respect to any senior foreign political 

10 figure or oligarch in the Russian Federation de11 scribed in subsection (a)(1) of section 241 of the 

12 Countering Russian Influence in Europe and Eur13 asia Act of 2017 (title II of Public Law 115–44; 131 

14 Stat. 922) and identified in the report required by 

15 that section the following sanctions: 

16 (A) Pursuant to the International Emer17 gency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et 

18 seq.), the President shall block and prohibit all 

19 transactions in all property and interests in 

20 property of the individual if such property and 

21 interests in property are in the United States, 

22 come within the United States, or are or come 

23 within the possession or control of a United 

24 States person. 


rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS
14 

•S 2313 IS

1 (B) The President shall deny a visa to, and 

2 exclude from the United States, the individual, 

3 and revoke in accordance with section 221(i) of 

4 the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

5 1201(i)) any visa or other documentation of the 

6 individual. 

7 (b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year 

9 after the date of the enactment of this Act, and an10 nually thereafter, the President shall submit to the 

11 committees specified in paragraph (2) a report— 

12 (A) identifying the 6 largest financial insti13 tutions owned or controlled by the Government 

14 of the Russian Federation, determined by esti15 mated net assets; 

16 (B) identifying the 3 largest energy compa17 nies in the Russian Federation, in terms of esti18 mated net assets; and 

19 (C) recommending entities that should be 

20 subject to sanctions pursuant to paragraphs (1) 

21 and (2) of subsection (a), as appropriate. 

22 (2) COMMITTEES SPECIFIED.—The committees 

23 specified in this paragraph are— 


rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS
15 

•S 2313 IS

1 (A) the Committee on Banking, Housing, 

2 and Urban Affairs and the Committee on For3 eign Relations of the Senate; and 

4 (B) the Committee on Financial Services 

5 and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the 

6 House of Representatives. 

7 (c) EXCEPTIONS.— 

8 (1) EXCEPTION FOR IMPORTATION OF

9 GOODS.—The requirement to impose sanctions under 

10 subsection (a) shall not include the authority to im11 pose sanctions with respect to the importation of 

12 goods (as defined in section 16 of the Export Ad13 ministration Act of 1979 (50 U.S.C. 4618) (as con14 tinued in effect pursuant to the International Emer15 gency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et 

16 seq.))). 

17 (2) COMPLIANCE WITH UNITED NATIONS HEAD18 QUARTERS AGREEMENT.—Subsection (a)(7)(B) shall 

19 not apply with respect to the admission of an alien 

20 to the United States if such admission is necessary 

21 to comply with United States obligations under the 

22 Agreement between the United Nations and the 

23 United States of America regarding the Head24 quarters of the United Nations, signed at Lake Suc25 cess June 26, 1947, and entered into force NovemVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:46 Jan 18, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00015 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2313.IS S2313

rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS
16 

•S 2313 IS

1 ber 21, 1947, under the Convention on Consular Re2 lations, done at Vienna April 24, 1963, and entered 

3 into force March 19, 1967, or under other inter4 national agreements. 

5 (d) IMPLEMENTATION; PENALTIES.— 

6 (1) IMPLEMENTATION.—The President may ex7 ercise all authorities provided under sections 203 

8 and 205 of the International Emergency Economic 

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

10 this section. 

11 (2) PENALTIES.—A person that violates, at12 tempts to violate, conspires to violate, or causes a 

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

14 order issued to carry out this section shall be subject 

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

16 of section 206 of the International Emergency Eco17 nomic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1705) to the same ex18 tent as a person that commits an unlawful act de19 scribed in subsection (a) of that section. 

20 (e) SUSPENSION.—The President may suspend sanc21 tions imposed under subsection (a) on or after the date 

22 on which the Director of National Intelligence, in con23 sultation with the Director of the Federal Bureau of In24 vestigation, the Director of the National Security Agency, 

25 and the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, subVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:46 Jan 18, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00016 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2313.IS S2313

rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS
17 

•S 2313 IS

1 mits to the appropriate congressional committees and 

2 leadership a certification that the Government of the Rus3 sian Federation has not engaged in interference in United 

4 States elections for at least 2 presidential election cycles. 

5 (f) TERMINATION.—The President may terminate 

6 sanctions imposed under subsection (a) on or after the 

7 date on which the Director of National Intelligence, in 

8 consultation with the Director of the Federal Bureau of 

9 Investigation, the Director of the National Security Agen10 cy, and the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, 

11 submits to the appropriate congressional committees and 

12 leadership a certification that— 

13 (1) the Government of the Russian Federation 

14 has not engaged in interference in United States 

15 elections for at least 2 presidential election cycles; 

16 and 

17 (2) the President has received reliable assur18 ances that the Government of the Russian Federa19 tion will not engage in such interference in the fu20 ture. 

21 SEC. 202. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON COORDINATION WITH 

22 EUROPEAN UNION. 

23 It is the sense of Congress that the United States 

24 should— 


rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS
18 

•S 2313 IS

1 (1) work in concert with the European Union 

2 and member countries of the European Union to 

3 deter interference by the Government of the Russian 

4 Federation in elections; and 

5 (2) coordinate with the European Union and 

6 member countries of the European Union to enact 

7 legislation similar to this Act. 

8 TITLE III—DETERRING INTER9 FERENCE IN UNITED STATES 

10 ELECTIONS BY OTHER FOR11 EIGN GOVERNMENTS 

12 SEC. 301. BRIEFING ON INTERFERENCE IN UNITED STATES 

13 ELECTIONS. 

14 Not later than 90 days after the date of the enact15 ment of this Act, and every 90 days thereafter, the Presi16 dent, or a designee of the President, shall brief the appro17 priate congressional committees and leadership on any 

18 government of a foreign country, or person acting as an 

19 agent of or on behalf of that government, that is deter20 mined by the President as having engaged in or being like21 ly to engage in interference in a United States election. 


rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS
19 

•S 2313 IS

1 SEC. 302. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON DETERRENCE STRATE2 GIES FOR INTERFERENCE IN UNITED STATES 

3 ELECTIONS BY CHINA, IRAN, NORTH KOREA, 

4 AND OTHER FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS OF 

5 CONCERN. 

6 It is the sense of Congress that— 

7 (1) not later than 90 days after the date of the 

8 enactment of this Act, the President should submit 

9 to the appropriate congressional committees and 

10 leadership a report that includes a strategy of the 

11 President to deter interference in a United States 

12 election by the Government of the People’s Republic 

13 of China, the Government of Iran, the Government 

14 of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, and 

15 any other foreign government determined by the 

16 President as having engaged in or being likely to en17 gage in interference in a United States election, in18 cluding any person acting as an agent of or on be19 half of such a government; and 

20 (2) the report described in paragraph (1) 

21 should include— 

22 (A) proposed sanctions if that government 

23 engages in such interference and any authori24 ties the President may require from Congress to 

25 impose such sanctions; 


rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS
20 

•S 2313 IS

1 (B) other actions undertaken by Federal 

2 agencies or in cooperation with other countries 

3 to deter such interference; and 

4 (C) a plan for communicating such deter5 rence actions to those governments. 

Æ 


rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS