I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3107 

To require the continuation in effect of sanctions imposed with respect to 

Belarus, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 16, 2015 

Mr. PEARCE (for himself, Ms. MICHELLE LUJAN GRISHAM of New Mexico, 

Mr. STEWART, Mr. COFFMAN, Mr. BEN RAY LUJA ́N of New Mexico, Mr. 

BYRNE, Mr. COLLINS of Georgia, and Mrs. ROBY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To require the continuation in effect of sanctions imposed 

with respect to Belarus, 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. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Belarus Democracy 

5 and Sanctions Enforcement Act of 2015’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 

8 (1) The authoritarian regime of Alexander 

9 Lukashenko continues to abuse the human rights 


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1 and impede the democratic aspirations of the people 

2 of Belarus, including by imprisoning leaders, re3 stricting free media, and denying the freedom of as4 sembly. 

5 (2) On June 16, 2006, the United States Gov6 ernment imposed sanctions with respect to entities 

7 in Belarus for the human rights abuses, public cor8 ruption, and measures to undermine democratic 

9 processes undertaken by President Lukashenko and 

10 his associates. 

11 (3) President Lukashenko was personally 

12 named on the list of specially designated nationals 

13 and blocked persons maintained by the Office of 

14 Foreign Assets Control of the Department of the 

15 Treasury. 

16 (4) On November 13, 2007, pursuant to Execu17 tive Order 13405 (71 Fed. Reg. 35485), the Office 

18 of Foreign Assets Control added the Belarusian 

19 State Concern for Oil and Chemistry (commonly re20 ferred to as ‘‘Belneftekhim’’) to the list of specially 

21 designated nationals and blocked persons. 

22 (5) On February 2014, the Lukashenko regime 

23 spun the Joint Stock Company Belaruskali and its 

24 trading arm, the Joint Stock Company Belarusian 

25 Potash Company, out from under the Belneftekhim 


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1 umbrella, with press reports at the time citing offi2 cials of the Government of Belarus as affirming that 

3 this legal maneuver was intended specifically to 

4 evade sanctions imposed by the United States. 

5 (6) The Country Reports on Human Rights 

6 Practices for 2013 of the Department of State stat7 ed that, in Belarus, ‘‘[a]uthorities at all levels oper8 ated with impunity and failed to take steps to pros9 ecute or punish officials in the government or secu10 rity forces who committed human rights abuses’’. 

11 (7) The Government of Belarus plans to hold 

12 presidential elections in October 2015, which observ13 ers fear may not be free and may result in pro14 longing President Lukashenko’s authoritarian rule. 

15 SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

16 It is the policy of the United States— 

17 (1) to maintain all sanctions imposed with re18 spect to Belarus in effect on the date of the enact19 ment of this Act until the authorities of Belarus re20 spect the human rights and democratic aspirations 

21 of the people of Belarus; and 

22 (2) to crack down on all attempts by Belarusian 

23 entities tied to the Government of Belarus to evade 

24 sanctions imposed by the United States. 


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1 SEC. 4. CONTINUATION IN EFFECT OF SANCTIONS. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—All sanctions imposed by the 

3 United States with respect to Belarus in effect on the date 

4 of enactment of this Act shall remain in effect until the 

5 President certifies to the appropriate congressional com6 mittees that the Government of Belarus has met the con7 ditions described in section 6(b) of the Belarus Democracy 

8 Act of 2004 (Public Law 108–347; 22 U.S.C. 5811 note). 

9 (b) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES

10 DEFINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate con11 gressional committees’’ means— 

12 (1) the Committee on Foreign Relations and 

13 the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Af14 fairs of the Senate; and 

15 (2) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the 

16 Committee on Financial Services of the House of 

17 Representatives. 

18 SEC. 5. INCLUSION OF JOINT STOCK COMPANY 

19 BELARUSKALI AND JOINT STOCK COMPANY 

20 BELARUSIAN POTASH COMPANY ON THE LIST 

21 OF SPECIALLY DESIGNATED NATIONALS AND 

22 BLOCKED PERSONS. 

23 Not later than 30 days after the date of the enact24 ment of this Act, the President shall include the Joint 

25 Stock Company Belaruskali and the Joint Stock Company 

26 Belarusian Potash Company on the list of specially desVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:12 Jul 21, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3107.IH H3107

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1 ignated nationals and blocked persons maintained by the 

2 Office of Foreign Assets Control. 

Æ 


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