IIB 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 920 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 26, 2019 

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

AN ACT 

To restrict the transfer of defense articles, defense services, 

and crime control articles to any element of the security 

forces of Venezuela that is under the authority of a 

government of Venezuela that is not recognized as the 

legitimate government of Venezuela by the Government 

of the United States, and for other purposes. 


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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 ‘‘Venezuela Arms Re5 striction Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. RESTRICTION ON EXPORT OF COVERED ARTICLES 

7 AND SERVICES TO CERTAIN SECURITY 

8 FORCES OF VENEZUELA. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi10 sion of law, covered articles or services may not be ex11 ported from the United States to any element of the secu12 rity forces of Venezuela that is under the authority of a 

13 government of Venezuela that is not recognized as the le14 gitimate government of Venezuela by the Government of 

15 the United States. 

16 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date 

17 of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, in con18 sultation with the Secretary of Commerce and the heads 

19 of other departments and agencies as appropriate, shall— 

20 (1) determine, using such information that is 

21 available to the Secretary of State, whether any cov22 ered article or service has been transferred since 

23 July 2017 to the security forces of Venezuela with24 out a license or other authorization as required by 

25 law; and 


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1 (2) submit such determination in writing to the 

2 appropriate congressional committees. 

3 SEC. 3. REPORT. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

5 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, 

6 in consultation with the Secretary of Commerce as appro7 priate, shall submit to the appropriate congressional com8 mittees a report on the transfer by foreign persons of cov9 ered articles or services to elements of the security forces 

10 of Venezuela that are under the authority of a government 

11 of Venezuela that is not recognized as the legitimate gov12 ernment of Venezuela by the Government of the United 

13 States. 

14 (b) MATTERS TO BE INCLUDED.—The report re15 quired by subsection (a) shall include the following: 

16 (1) A list of all significant transfers by foreign 

17 persons of covered articles or services to such ele18 ments of the security forces of Venezuela since July 

19 2017. 

20 (2) A list of all foreign persons who maintain 

21 an existing defense relationship with such elements 

22 of the security forces of Venezuela. 

23 (3) Any known use of covered articles or serv24 ices by such elements of the security forces of Ven25 ezuela or associated forces, including paramilitary 


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1 groups, that have coordinated with such security 

2 forces to assault, intimidate, or murder political ac3 tivists, protesters, dissidents, and other civil society 

4 leaders, including Juan Guaido. 

5 SEC. 4. TERMINATION. 

6 This Act shall expire on the earlier of— 

7 (1) the date that is 3 years after the date of the 

8 enactment of this Act; or 

9 (2) the date on which the President certifies to 

10 the appropriate congressional committees that the 

11 Government of Venezuela has returned to a demo12 cratic form of government with respect for the es13 sential elements of representative democracy as set 

14 forth in Article 3 of the Inter-American Democratic 

15 Charter. 

16 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 

17 In this Act: 

18 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT19 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com20 mittees’’ means— 

21 (A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and 

22 the Committee on Financial Services of the 

23 House of Representatives; and 


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1 (B) the Committee on Foreign Relations 

2 and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and 

3 Urban Affairs of the Senate. 

4 (2) COVERED ARTICLE OR SERVICE.—The term 

5 ‘‘covered article or service’’— 

6 (A) for purposes of section 2, means— 

7 (i) a defense article or defense service, 

8 as such terms are defined in section 47 of 

9 the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 

10 2794); and 

11 (ii) any article included on the Com12 merce Control List set forth in Supplement 

13 No. 1 to part 774 of the Export Adminis14 tration Regulations under subchapter C of 

15 chapter VII of title 15, Code of Federal 

16 Regulations, and controlled for crime con17 trol purposes, if it is determined that the 

18 end-user is likely to use the article to vio19 late the human rights of the citizens of 

20 Venezuela; and 

21 (B) for purposes of section 3, means— 

22 (i) any defense article or defense serv23 ice of the type described in section 47 of 

24 the Arms Export Control Act; and 


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1 (ii) any article of the type included on 

2 the Commerce Control List set forth in 

3 Supplement No. 1 to part 774 of the Ex4 port Administration Regulations and con5 trolled for crime control purposes. 

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

8 person. 

9 (4) PERSON.—The term ‘‘person’’ means an in10 dividual or entity. 

11 (5) SECURITY FORCES OF VENEZUELA.—The 

12 term ‘‘security forces of Venezuela’’ includes— 

13 (A) the Bolivarian National Armed Forces, 

14 including the Bolivarian National Guard; 

15 (B) the Bolivarian National Intelligence 

16 Service; 

17 (C) the Bolivarian National Police; and 

18 (D) the Bureau for Scientific, Criminal 

19 and Forensic Investigations of the Ministry of 

20 Interior, Justice, and Peace. 

21 (6) UNITED STATES PERSON.—The term 

22 ‘‘United States person’’ means— 

23 (A) a United States citizen or an alien law24 fully admitted for permanent residence to the 

25 United States; or 


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1 (B) an entity organized under the laws of 

2 the United States or of any jurisdiction within 

3 the United States, including a foreign branch of 

4 such an entity. 

Passed the House of Representatives March 25, 

2019. 

Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, 

Clerk. 


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