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[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2937 Introduced in House (IH)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2937

   To strengthen support for the Cuban people and prohibit financial 
     transactions with the Cuban military, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 25, 2015

  Mr. Nunes (for himself, Mr. Thornberry, Mr. Frelinghuysen, Mr. Diaz-
   Balart, Ms. Ros-Lehtinen, Mr. Curbelo of Florida, Mr. Allen, Mr. 
Boustany, Mr. Cole, Mr. Crenshaw, Mr. DeSantis, Mr. Hardy, Mr. Holding, 
  Mr. Young of Iowa, Ms. Jenkins of Kansas, Mr. King of New York, Mr. 
 Lamborn, Mr. Marino, Mrs. Miller of Michigan, Mr. Miller of Florida, 
 Mr. Mooney of West Virginia, Mr. Murphy of Pennsylvania, Mr. Pompeo, 
   Mr. Tom Price of Georgia, Mr. Rigell, Mr. Salmon, Mr. Sires, Mr. 
   Stewart, Mr. Tiberi, Mr. Upton, Mr. Valadao, Mrs. Mimi Walters of 
California, and Mr. Wilson of South Carolina) introduced the following 
 bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in 
  addition to the Committee on Financial Services, 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 strengthen support for the Cuban people and prohibit financial 
     transactions with the Cuban military, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

    (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Cuban Military 
Transparency Act''.
    (b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this Act is as 
follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Findings.
Sec. 3. Statement of policy.
Sec. 4. Prohibitions on financial transactions with the Ministry of the 
                            Revolutionary Armed Forces or the Ministry 
                            of the Interior of Cuba.
Sec. 5. Inclusion in Department of State rewards program of rewards for 
                            information leading to the arrest or 
                            conviction of individuals responsible for 
                            the February 24, 1996, attack on United 
                            States aircraft.
Sec. 6. Coordination with INTERPOL.
Sec. 7. Report on the role of the Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed 
                            Forces and the Ministry of the Interior of 
                            Cuba in the economy and foreign 
                            relationships of Cuba.
Sec. 8. Report on use and ownership of confiscated property.
Sec. 9. Termination.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) In his December 17, 2014, announcement to pursue the 
        normalization of relations with Cuba, President Barack Obama 
        stated, ``I believe that more resources should be able to reach 
        the Cuban people. So we're significantly increasing the amount 
        of money that can be sent to Cuba, and removing limits on 
        remittances that support humanitarian projects, the Cuban 
        people, and the emerging Cuban private sector.''.
            (2) In his January 14, 2011, comments on the easing of 
        travel sanctions, President Barack Obama also stated, ``These 
        measures will increase people-to-people contact; support civil 
        society in Cuba; enhance the free flow of information to, from, 
        and among the Cuban people; and help promote their independence 
        from Cuban authorities.''.
            (3) Article 18 of the 1976 Constitution of Cuba reads, 
        ``The State directs and controls foreign commerce.''.
            (4) The largest company in Cuba is the Grupo Gaesa (Grupo 
        de Administracion Empresarial S.A.), founded by General Raul 
        Castro Ruz in the 1990s, controlled and operated by the Cuban 
        military, which oversees all investments, and run by General 
        Raul Castro's son-in-law, General Luis Alberto Rodriguez Lopez-
        Callejas.
            (5) On June 3, 2015, the United States House of 
        Representatives voted overwhelmingly in support of a provision 
        prohibiting exports to the Cuban military and security services 
        in the Fiscal Year 2016 Commerce, Justice, and Science 
        Appropriations bill (H.R. 2578), with a recorded vote of 153 to 
        273 in opposition to House Amendment 308 to strike that 
        provision.
            (6) The Cuban military, through its tourism conglomerates, 
        is currently operating resort facilities in properties 
        confiscated from United States citizens.
            (7) In 2003, a United States grand jury indicted General 
        Ruben Martinez Puente, head of the Cuban Air Force, and two 
        Cuban Air Force pilots, Col. Lorenzo Alberto Perez-Perez and 
        Francisco Perez-Perez, on four counts of murder, two counts of 
        destruction of aircraft, and one count of conspiracy to kill 
        United States nationals for their roles in the February 24, 
        1996, attack by Cuban military jets over international waters 
        on two United States civilian Cessna planes operated by the 
        Brothers To The Rescue humanitarian organization.
            (8) The 2003 United States indictment against Cuban 
        military officials is the only outstanding indictment against 
        senior military officials from a country designated by the 
        United States as a ``state sponsor of terrorism'' for the 
        murder of United States nationals.
            (9) In a December 17, 2014, article in Politico, United 
        States Representative James McGovern (D-MA) stated that General 
        Raul Castro admitted to giving the order to shoot down the 
        United States civilian planes that resulted in the murder of 
        those United States nationals in 1996. ``I gave the order. I'm 
        the one responsible.'', Castro told McGovern.
            (10) One of the Cuban spies exchanged in the December 17, 
        2014, deal by President Obama with the Cuban regime was Gerardo 
        Hernandez, who was serving a life sentence for murder 
        conspiracy in the deaths of three United States citizens, 
        Armando Alejandre, Jr., Carlos Costa, Mario de la Pena, and 
        permanent resident of the United States, Pablo Morales.
            (11) According to a July 16, 2013, article in The New York 
        Times, the Cuban military played a central role in the 2013 
        trafficking incident that involved more than 240 metric tons of 
        heavy weapons, including fully fueled MiG fighter jets, 
        missiles, and air defense systems, to North Korea.
            (12) A United Nations panel of experts found that the 
        trafficking incident described in paragraph (11) violated 
        United Nations Security Council sanctions and was the largest 
        weapons cache ever intercepted being transported to or from 
        North Korea. The Cuban military refused to cooperate with 
        United Nations investigators.
            (13) According to a March 5, 2015, article in The 
        Washington Times, in February 2015, the Colombian authorities 
        intercepted a Chinese-flagged vessel carrying a clandestine 
        shipment of war materiel destined for the Cuban military, via 
        one of its shadow companies, TecnoImport S.A. The shipment, 
        disguised as grain products, included 99 rockets, 3,000 cannon 
        shells, 100 tons of military-grade dynamite and 2,600,000 
        detonators.
            (14) According to a March 25, 2014, article in The New York 
        Times and an April 15, 2014, Financial Times article, the Cuban 
        military has provided military intelligence, weapons training, 
        strategic planning, and security logistics to the military and 
        security forces of Venezuela, which has contributed to the 
        subversion of democratic institutions and violent suppression 
        of peaceful protests in Venezuela.
            (15) The Cuba 2013 Human Rights Report prepared by the 
        Department of State states that ``the military maintained 
        effective control over the security forces, which committed 
        human rights abuses against civil rights activists and other 
        citizens alike.''.

SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY.

    It is the policy of the United States--
            (1) to support the efforts of the people of Cuba to promote 
        the establishment of basic freedoms in Cuba, including a 
        democratic political system in which the military and other 
        security forces are under the control of democratically elected 
        civilian leaders;
            (2) to ensure that legal travel and trade with Cuba by 
        citizens and residents of the United States does not serve to 
        enrich or empower the military or other security forces of Cuba 
        run by the Castro family;
            (3) to support the emergence of a government in Cuba that 
        does not oppress the people of Cuba and does not use its 
        military or other security forces to persecute, intimidate, 
        arrest, imprison, or assassinate dissidents;
            (4) to bring to justice in the United States the officials 
        of Cuba involved in the February 24, 1996, attack of two United 
        States civilian Cessna aircraft by Cuban military jets over 
        international waters; and
            (5) to counter the efforts of Cuba, through military and 
        other assistance, to promote repression elsewhere in the 
        Western Hemisphere, especially in Venezuela.

SEC. 4. PROHIBITIONS ON FINANCIAL TRANSACTIONS WITH THE MINISTRY OF THE 
              REVOLUTIONARY ARMED FORCES OR THE MINISTRY OF THE 
              INTERIOR OF CUBA.

    (a) In General.--Except as provided in subsection (b), beginning on 
the date that is 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 
and notwithstanding any other provision of law, a United States person 
shall not engage in any financial transaction with, or transfer of 
funds to, any of the following:
            (1) The Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Cuba, 
        the Ministry of the Interior of Cuba, or any subdivision of 
        either such Ministry.
            (2) Any agency, instrumentality, or other entity that is 
        operated or controlled by an entity specified in paragraph (1).
            (3) Any agency, instrumentality, or other entity owned by 
        an entity specified in paragraph (1) in a percentage share 
        exceeding 25 percent.
            (4) An individual who is a senior member of the Ministry of 
        the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Cuba or the Ministry of the 
        Interior of Cuba.
            (5) Any agency, instrumentality, or other entity that is 
        operated or controlled by an individual specified in paragraph 
        (4).
            (6) Any individual or entity--
                    (A) for the purpose of avoiding a financial 
                transaction with, or transfer of funds to, an 
                individual or entity specified in any of paragraphs (1) 
                through (5); or
                    (B) for the benefit of an individual or entity 
                specified in any of paragraphs (1) through (5).
    (b) Exceptions.--The prohibitions on financial transactions and 
transfers of funds under subsection (a) shall not apply with respect 
to--
            (1) the sale of agricultural commodities, medicines, and 
        medical devices sold to Cuba consistent with the Trade 
        Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 
        7201 et seq.);
            (2) a remittance to an immediate family member;
            (3) payments in furtherance of the lease agreement, or 
        other financial transactions necessary for maintenance and 
        improvements of the military base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, 
        including any adjacent areas under the control or possession of 
        the United States;
            (4) assistance or support in furtherance of democracy-
        building efforts for Cuba described in section 109 of the Cuban 
        Liberty and Democratic Solidarity (LIBERTAD) Act of 1996 (22 
        U.S.C. 6039); or
            (5) customary and routine financial transactions necessary 
        for the maintenance, improvements, or regular duties of the 
        United States Interests Section in Havana, including outreach 
        to the pro-democracy opposition.
    (c) Implementation; Penalties.--
            (1) Implementation.--The President shall exercise all 
        authorities under sections 203 and 205 of the International 
        Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1702 and 1704) to 
        carry out this section, except that the President--
                    (A) shall not issue any general license 
                authorizing, or otherwise authorize, any activity 
                prohibited under subsection (a); and
                    (B) shall require any United States person seeking 
                to engage in a financial transaction or transfer of 
                funds prohibited under subsection (a) to submit a 
                written request to the Office of Foreign Assets Control 
                of the Department of the Treasury.
            (2) Penalties.--A person that violates, attempts to 
        violate, conspires to violate, or causes a violation of 
        subsection (a) or any regulation, license, or order issued to 
        carry out subsection (a) shall be subject to the penalties set 
        forth in subsections (b) and (c) of section 206 of the 
        International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1705) to 
        the same extent as a person that commits an unlawful act 
        described in subsection (a) of that section.
    (d) United States Person Defined.--In this section, the term 
``United States person'' means--
            (1) a United States citizen or alien admitted for permanent 
        residence to the United States; and
            (2) an entity organized under the laws of the United States 
        or any jurisdiction within the United States.

SEC. 5. INCLUSION IN DEPARTMENT OF STATE REWARDS PROGRAM OF REWARDS FOR 
              INFORMATION LEADING TO THE ARREST OR CONVICTION OF 
              INDIVIDUALS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE FEBRUARY 24, 1996, ATTACK 
              ON UNITED STATES AIRCRAFT.

    Section 36(b) of the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 
(22 U.S.C. 2708(b)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (9), by striking ``; or'' and inserting a 
        semicolon;
            (2) in paragraph (10), by striking the period at the end 
        and inserting ``; or''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(11) the arrest or conviction in any country of any 
        individual responsible for committing, conspiring or attempting 
        to commit, or aiding or abetting in the commission of the 
        attack on the aircraft of United States persons in 
        international waters by the military of Cuba on February 24, 
        1996.''.

SEC. 6. COORDINATION WITH INTERPOL.

    The Attorney General, in coordination with the Secretary of State, 
shall seek to coordinate with the International Criminal Police 
Organization (INTERPOL) to pursue the location and arrest of United 
States fugitives in Cuba, including current and former members of the 
military of Cuba, such as those individuals who committed, conspired or 
attempted to commit, or aided or abetted in the commission of the 
attack on the aircraft of United States persons in international waters 
by the military of Cuba on February 24, 1996, with a view to 
extradition or similar lawful action, including through the circulation 
of international wanted notices (commonly referred to as ``Red 
Notices'').

SEC. 7. REPORT ON THE ROLE OF THE MINISTRY OF THE REVOLUTIONARY ARMED 
              FORCES AND THE MINISTRY OF THE INTERIOR OF CUBA IN THE 
              ECONOMY AND FOREIGN RELATIONSHIPS OF CUBA.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter for three years, the 
President shall submit to Congress a report on the role of the Ministry 
of the Revolutionary Armed Forces and the Ministry of the Interior of 
Cuba with respect to the economy of Cuba.
    (b) Elements.--The report required by subsection (a) shall include 
the following:
            (1) An identification of entities the United States 
        considers to be owned, operated, or controlled, in whole or in 
        part, by the Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces or the 
        Ministry of the Interior of Cuba or any senior member of the 
        Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces or the Ministry of 
        the Interior of Cuba.
            (2) An assessment of the business dealings with countries 
        and entities outside of Cuba conducted by entities identified 
        under paragraph (1) and officers of the Ministry of the 
        Revolutionary Armed Forces or the Ministry of the Interior of 
        Cuba.
            (3) An assessment of the relationship of the Ministry of 
        the Revolutionary Armed Forces and the Ministry of the Interior 
        of Cuba with the militaries of foreign countries, including 
        whether either such Ministry has conducted joint training, 
        exercises, financial dealings, or weapons purchases or sales 
        with such militaries or provided advisors to such militaries.
    (c) Form of Report.--Each report submitted under subsection (a) 
shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may include a classified 
annex.

SEC. 8. REPORT ON USE AND OWNERSHIP OF CONFISCATED PROPERTY.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 90 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter for three years, the 
President shall submit to Congress a report on the confiscation of 
property and the use of confiscated property by the Ministry of the 
Revolutionary Armed Forces and the Ministry of the Interior of Cuba.
    (b) Definitions.--In this section, the terms ``confiscated'' and 
``confiscation'' have the meanings given those terms in section 401 of 
the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity (LIBERTAD) Act of 1996 (22 
U.S.C. 6091).

SEC. 9. TERMINATION.

    The provisions of this Act shall terminate on the date on which the 
President submits to Congress a determination under section 203(c)(3) 
of the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity (LIBERTAD) Act of 1996 
(22 U.S.C. 6063(c)(3)) that a democratically elected government in Cuba 
is in power.
                                 <all>
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