I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3206 

To impose sanctions with respect to the provision of certain vessels for 

the construction of Russian energy export pipelines, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 11, 2019 

Mr. KINZINGER (for himself, Mr. PENCE, and Mr. HECK) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and 

in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, 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 impose sanctions with respect to the provision of certain 

vessels for the construction of Russian energy export 

pipelines, 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 ‘‘Protecting Europe’s 

5 Energy Security Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON RUSSIAN ENERGY 

7 PROJECTS. 

8 It is the sense of Congress that— 


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1 (1) the Government of the Russian Federation, 

2 working through Russian state-owned enterprises, 

3 uses energy as a tool of coercion and political lever4 age; 

5 (2) the Government of Russia pursues a strat6 egy to make European countries dependent on Rus7 sia for energy supplies, so as to increase this polit8 ical leverage; 

9 (3) a central aspect to this Russian strategy is 

10 the development of export energy pipelines that are 

11 driven not by commercial viability but by the foreign 

12 policy goals of Russia; 

13 (4) the Nord Stream 2 pipeline and the Turk 

14 Stream pipeline are two examples of such Russian 

15 energy export pipelines; 

16 (5) the President should take action to halt 

17 such Russian energy export pipelines unless the 

18 President determines that doing so is not in the na19 tional interest of the United States; and 

20 (6) in making such a determination, the Presi21 dent should consider whether— 

22 (A) the non-Russian parties involved in the 

23 project have put in place safeguards to mini24 mize the ability of Russia to use the pipeline as 

25 a tool of coercion and political leverage, includVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:26 Jun 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3206.IH H3206

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1 ing by requiring unbundling of energy produc2 tion and transmission, transparency in the en3 ergy market, and effective regulatory oversight; 

4 and 

5 (B) the non-Russian parties involved in the 

6 project have taken concrete steps to ensure that 

7 it will not result in a significant decrease in the 

8 transit of Russian energy exports through exist9 ing pipelines in other countries, particularly 

10 Ukraine. 

11 SEC. 3. SANCTIONS WITH RESPECT TO THE PROVISION OF 

12 PIPE-LAYING VESSELS FOR THE CONSTRUC13 TION OF RUSSIAN ENERGY EXPORT PIPE14 LINES. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—The President shall impose the 

16 sanctions described in subsection (b) on each foreign per17 son that the President determines knowingly, on or after 

18 the date of the enactment of this Act, sells, leases, or pro19 vides pipe-laying vessels for the construction of any Rus20 sian-origin energy export pipeline that makes landfall in 

21 Germany or Turkey. 

22 (b) SANCTIONS DESCRIBED.— 

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

24 this subsection are the following: 


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1 (A) ASSET BLOCKING.—The blocking, in 

2 accordance with the International Emergency 

3 Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), 

4 of all transactions in all property and interests 

5 in property of a foreign person if such property 

6 and interests in property are in the United 

7 States, come within the United States, or are or 

8 come within the possession or control of a 

9 United States person. 

10 (B) INADMISSIBILITY TO THE UNITED

11 STATES.—In the case of a foreign person who 

12 is an individual— 

13 (i) ineligibility to receive a visa to 

14 enter the United States or to be admitted 

15 to the United States; or 

16 (ii) if the individual has been issued a 

17 visa or other documentation, revocation, in 

18 accordance with section 221(i) of the Im19 migration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

20 1201(i)), of the visa or other documenta21 tion. 

22 (2) PENALTIES.—A person that violates, at23 tempts to violate, conspires to violate, or causes a 

24 violation of a measure imposed pursuant to sub25 section (a) or any regulation, license, or order issued 


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1 to carry out this section shall be subject to the pen2 alties specified in subsections (b) and (c) of section 

3 206 of the International Emergency Economic Pow4 ers Act (50 U.S.C. 1705) to the same extent as a 

5 person that commits an unlawful act described in 

6 subsection (a) of such section. 

7 (3) EXCEPTION RELATING TO IMPORTATION OF

8 GOODS.— 

9 (A) IN GENERAL.—The requirement to 

10 block and prohibit all transactions in all prop11 erty and interests in property under subsection 

12 (b)(1)(A) does not include the authority to im13 pose sanctions on the importation of goods. 

14 (B) GOOD DEFINED.—The term ‘‘good’’ 

15 means any article, natural or man-made sub16 stance, material, supply or manufactured prod17 uct, including inspection and test equipment, 

18 and excluding technical data. 

19 (4) EXCEPTION TO COMPLY WITH UNITED NA20 TIONS HEADQUARTERS AGREEMENT.—Sanctions 

21 under paragraph (1)(B) shall not apply with respect 

22 to the admission of an alien to the United States if 

23 the admission of the alien is necessary to permit the 

24 United States to comply with the Agreement regard25 ing the Headquarters of the United Nations, signed 


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1 at Lake Success June 26, 1947, and entered into 

2 force November 21, 1947, between the United Na3 tions and the United States, or other applicable 

4 international obligations. 

5 (c) IMPLEMENTATION; REGULATORY AUTHORITY.— 

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) REGULATORY AUTHORITY.—The President 

12 shall issue such regulations, licenses, and orders as 

13 are necessary to carry out this section. 

14 (d) NATIONAL INTEREST WAIVER.—The President 

15 may waive the application of the sanctions under sub16 section (b) with respect to a foreign person if the Presi17 dent— 

18 (1) determines that such a waiver is in the na19 tional interest of the United States; and 

20 (2) submits to the appropriate congressional 

21 committees a notice of and justification for the waiv22 er. 

23 (e) TERMINATION AND SUNSET.—The authority to 

24 impose sanctions with regards to a person involved in the 

25 construction of a particular Russian energy export pipeline 


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1 under subsection (b), and any sanctions imposed pursuant 

2 to such authority, shall terminate on the earlier of— 

3 (1) the date on which the President certifies to 

4 the appropriate congressional committees that ap5 propriate safeguards have been put in place to— 

6 (A) minimize the ability of Russia to use 

7 the pipeline as a tool of coercion and political 

8 leverage, including by achieving unbundling of 

9 energy production and transmission so that 

10 Russian state-owned entities do not control the 

11 transmission network for the pipelines, trans12 parency in the energy market, and effective reg13 ulatory oversight; and 

14 (B) ensure, barring unforeseen cir15 cumstances, that the project would not result in 

16 a decrease of more than 25 percent in the tran17 sit of Russian energy exports through existing 

18 pipelines in other countries, particularly 

19 Ukraine, relative to the average monthly transit 

20 of Russian energy exports through such pipe21 lines in 2018; or 

22 (2) the date that is 10 years after the date of 

23 the enactment of this Act. 

24 (f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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1 (1) ADMISSION; ADMITTED; ALIEN.—The terms 

2 ‘‘admission’’, ‘‘admitted’’, and ‘‘alien’’ have the 

3 meanings given those terms in section 101 of the 

4 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101). 

5 (2) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT6 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com7 mittees’’ means— 

8 (A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the 

9 Committee on the Judiciary, and the Com10 mittee on Financial Services of the House of 

11 Representatives; and 

12 (B) the Committee on Foreign Relations, 

13 the Committee on the Judiciary, and the Com14 mittee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

15 of the Senate. 

16 (3) FOREIGN PERSON.—The term ‘‘foreign per17 son’’ means an individual or entity that is not a 

18 United States person. 

19 (4) KNOWINGLY.—The term ‘‘knowingly’’ with 

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

21 means that a person has actual knowledge, or should 

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

23 result. 

24 (5) PIPE-LAYING VESSEL.—The term ‘‘pipe-lay25 ing vessel’’ means an offshore vessel that can be 


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1 used in the construction of subsea infrastructure 

2 and is engaged in pipe-laying at depths of 100 feet 

3 or more below sea level. 

4 (6) UNITED STATES PERSON.—The term 

5 ‘‘United States person’’ means— 

6 (A) a United States citizen or an alien law7 fully admitted for permanent residence to the 

8 United States; or 

9 (B) an entity organized under the laws of 

10 the United States or any jurisdiction within the 

11 United States, including a foreign branch of 

12 such an entity. 

Æ 


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