I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3501 

To expose and deter unlawful and subversive foreign interference in elections 

for Federal office, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 26, 2019 

Mr. ENGEL (for himself, Mr. CONNOLLY, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Ms. 

KELLY of Illinois, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. TED LIEU of California, Ms. 

SPEIER, Mr. COHEN, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Ms. PINGREE, 

Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mr. RUSH, Ms. DEGETTE, Mr. 

BRENDAN F. BOYLE of Pennsylvania, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. WELCH, Mr. 

LEVIN of Michigan, Mr. HIMES, Mr. LANGEVIN, Ms. BONAMICI, Ms. 

CLARK of Massachusetts, Ms. TITUS, Mr. GARAMENDI, Mr. ESPAILLAT, 

Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. MEEKS, and Mr. SCHNEIDER) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committees on the Judiciary, and 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 expose and deter unlawful and subversive foreign interference in elections for Federal office, 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Safeguard our Elec3 tions and Combat Unlawful Interference in Our Democ4 racy Act’’ or the ‘‘SECURE Our Democracy Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

6 In this Act: 

7 (1) ADMITTED; ALIEN.—The terms ‘‘admitted’’ 

8 and ‘‘alien’’ have the meanings given such terms in 

9 section 101 of the Immigration and Nationality Act 

10 (8 U.S.C. 1101). 

11 (2) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT12 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com13 mittees’’ means— 

14 (A) in the House of Representatives— 

15 (i) the Committee on Foreign Affairs; 

16 (ii) the Committee on Homeland Se17 curity; 

18 (iii) the Committee on Financial Serv19 ices; 

20 (iv) the Committee on the Judiciary; 

21 and 

22 (v) the Permanent Select Committee 

23 on Intelligence; and 

24 (B) in the Senate— 

25 (i) the Committee on Foreign Rela26 tions; 


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1 (ii) the Committee on Homeland Se2 curity and Governmental Affairs; 

3 (iii) the Committee on Banking, 

4 Housing, and Urban Affairs; 

5 (iv) the Committee on the Judiciary; 

6 and 

7 (v) the Select Committee on Intel8 ligence. 

9 (3) FINANCIAL INSTITUTION.—The term ‘‘fi10 nancial institution’’ has the meaning given such 

11 term in section 5312 of title 31, United States Code. 

12 (4) FOREIGN INTERFERENCE.—The term ‘‘for13 eign interference’’, with respect to a United States 

14 election, includes any covert, fraudulent, deceptive, 

15 or unlawful actions or attempted actions of a foreign 

16 government, or of any person acting as an agent of 

17 or on behalf of a foreign government, undertaken 

18 with the purpose or effect of influencing, under19 mining confidence in, or altering the result or re20 ported result of, such election, or undermining public 

21 confidence in election processes or institutions. 

22 (5) FOREIGN PERSON.—The term ‘‘foreign per23 son’’ means— 

24 (A) a natural person who is not a United 

25 States person under paragraph (5)(A); or 


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1 (B) a foreign entity or foreign government. 

2 (6) UNITED STATES ELECTION.—The term 

3 ‘‘United States election’’ means any election for 

4 Federal office. 

5 (7) UNITED STATES PERSON.—The term 

6 ‘‘United States person’’ means— 

7 (A) a United States citizen or an alien law8 fully admitted for permanent residence to the 

9 United States; or 

10 (B) an entity organized under the laws of 

11 the United States or of any jurisdiction within 

12 the United States, including a foreign branch of 

13 such an entity. 

14 SEC. 3. IDENTIFICATION OF FOREIGN PERSONS RESPON15 SIBLE FOR FOREIGN INTERFERENCE IN 

16 UNITED STATES ELECTIONS. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 120 days after the 

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

19 shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees 

20 a list of each foreign person that the Secretary, in con21 sultation with the heads of other relevant Federal agen22 cies, determines— 

23 (1) was, at any time since January 1, 2015, di24 rectly or indirectly engaged in, sponsored, concealed, 


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1 or otherwise been complicit in foreign interference in 

2 a United States election; 

3 (2) materially assisted, sponsored, or provided 

4 financial, material, or technological support for, or 

5 goods or services to or in support of, any activity de6 scribed in paragraph (1) or any person whose prop7 erty or interests in property are blocked pursuant to 

8 this section; or 

9 (3) is owned or controlled by, or to have acted 

10 or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or 

11 indirectly, any person whose property or interests in 

12 property are blocked pursuant to this section. 

13 (b) UPDATES.—The Secretary of State shall submit 

14 to the appropriate congressional committees an update of 

15 the list required under subsection (a) as new information 

16 becomes available. 

17 (c) SANCTIONS.—A foreign person on the list re18 quired under subsection (a) is subject to the sanctions de19 scribed in sections 4 and 5. 

20 (d) FORM.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para22 graph (2), the list required under subsection (a) 

23 shall be submitted in unclassified form. 

24 (2) EXCEPTION.—The name of a foreign person 

25 to be included in the list required under subsection 


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1 (a) may be submitted in a classified annex only if 

2 the Secretary of State— 

3 (A) determines that it is in the national se4 curity interests of the United States to do so; 

5 and 

6 (B) 15 days prior to submitting any such 

7 name in such a classified annex, provides to the 

8 appropriate congressional committees notice of, 

9 and a justification for, including or continuing 

10 to include any such foreign person in any such 

11 classified annex despite any publicly available 

12 information indicating that such foreign person 

13 is described in paragraph (1) or (2) of such 

14 subsection. 

15 (3) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY; NONAPPLICABILITY

16 OF CONFIDENTIALITY REQUIREMENT WITH RESPECT

17 TO VISA RECORDS.—The unclassified portion of the 

18 list required under subsection (a) shall be made 

19 available to the public and published in the Federal 

20 Register, without regard to the requirements of sec21 tion 222(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act 

22 (8 U.S.C. 1202(f)) with respect to confidentiality of 

23 records pertaining to the issuance or refusal of visas 

24 or permits to enter the United States. 


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1 SEC. 4. INADMISSIBILITY OF CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS. 

2 (a) INELIGIBILITY FOR VISAS AND ADMISSION TO

3 THE UNITED STATES.—A foreign person on the list re4 quired under section 3(a) is— 

5 (1) inadmissible to the United States; 

6 (2) ineligible to receive a visa or other docu7 mentation to enter the United States; and 

8 (3) otherwise ineligible to be admitted or pa9 roled into the United States or to receive any other 

10 benefit under the Immigration and Nationality Act 

11 (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.). 

12 (b) CURRENT VISAS REVOKED.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—The issuing consular officer 

14 or the Secretary of State, (or a designee of the Sec15 retary of State) shall, in accordance with section 

16 221(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 

17 U.S.C. 1201(i)), revoke any visa or other entry doc18 umentation issued to a foreign person on the list re19 quired under section 3(a) regardless of when the 

20 visa or other entry documentation is issued. 

21 (2) EFFECT OF REVOCATION.—A revocation 

22 under subparagraph (A) shall— 

23 (A) take effect immediately; and 

24 (B) automatically cancel any other valid 

25 visa or entry documentation that is in the for26 eign person’s possession. 


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1 (3) REGULATIONS REQUIRED.—Not later than 

2 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

3 the Secretary of State shall prescribe such regula4 tions as are necessary to carry out this subsection. 

5 (c) APPLICABILITY TO FOREIGN ENTITIES AND FOR6 EIGN GOVERNMENTS.—Subsections (a) and (b) of this 

7 section shall apply to aliens who are officials of, agents 

8 or instrumentalities of, working or acting on behalf of, or 

9 otherwise associated with a foreign entity or foreign gov10 ernment that is a foreign person included on the list re11 quired under section 3(a) if such aliens are determined 

12 by the Secretary of State to have knowingly authorized, 

13 conspired to commit, been responsible for, engaged in, or 

14 otherwise assisted or facilitated the actions described in 

15 such section. 

16 (d) EXCEPTION TO COMPLY WITH INTERNATIONAL

17 OBLIGATIONS.—Sanctions under this section shall not 

18 apply with respect to a foreign person if admitting or pa19 roling such person into the United States is necessary to 

20 permit the United States to comply with the Agreement 

21 regarding the Headquarters of the United Nations, signed 

22 at Lake Success June 26, 1947, and entered into force 

23 November 21, 1947, between the United Nations and the 

24 United States, or other applicable international obliga25 tions. 


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1 (e) WAIVER FOR NATIONAL SECURITY INTERESTS.— 

2 The Secretary of State may waive the application of sub3 section (a) or (b) in the case of an alien if— 

4 (1) the Secretary determines that such a waiver 

5 is in the national security interests of the United 

6 States; and— 

7 (2) not later than 15 days prior to granting 

8 such a waiver, the Secretary provides to the appro9 priate congressional committees notice of, and a jus10 tification for, such waiver. 

11 (f) REGULATORY AUTHORITY.—The Secretary of 

12 State shall prescribe such regulations as are necessary to 

13 carry out this section. 

14 SEC. 5. FINANCIAL MEASURES. 

15 (a) FREEZING OF ASSETS.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The President, acting 

17 through the Secretary of the Treasury, shall exercise 

18 all powers granted by the International Emergency 

19 Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) (ex20 cept that the requirements of section 202 of such 

21 Act (50 U.S.C. 1701) shall not apply) to the extent 

22 necessary to freeze and prohibit all transactions in 

23 all property and interests in property of a foreign 

24 person that is on the list required under section 3(a) 

25 of this Act if such property or interests in property 


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1 are in the United States, are or come within the 

2 United States, or are or come within the possession 

3 or control of a United States person. 

4 (2) APPLICABILITY TO FOREIGN ENTITIES AND

5 FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS.—Paragraph (1) shall 

6 apply to aliens who are officials of, agents or instru7 mentalities of, working or acting on behalf of, or 

8 otherwise associated with a foreign entity or foreign 

9 government that is a foreign person included on the 

10 list required under section 3(a) if such aliens are de11 termined by the President, acting through the Sec12 retary of the Treasury, to have knowingly author13 ized, conspired to commit, been responsible for, en14 gaged in, or otherwise assisted or facilitated the ac15 tions described in such section 3(a). 

16 (b) WAIVER FOR NATIONAL SECURITY INTERESTS.— 

17 The Secretary of the Treasury may waive the application 

18 of subsection (a) if the Secretary determines that such a 

19 waiver is in the national security interests of the United 

20 States. Not less than 15 days prior to granting such a 

21 waiver, the Secretary shall provide to the appropriate con22 gressional committees notice of, and a justification for, 

23 such waiver. 

24 (c) ENFORCEMENT.— 


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1 (1) PENALTIES.—A foreign person that vio2 lates, attempts to violate, conspires to violate, or 

3 causes a violation of this section or any regulation, 

4 license, or order issued to carry out this section shall 

5 be subject to the penalties specified in subsections 

6 (b) and (c) of section 206 of the International 

7 Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1705) 

8 to the same extent as a person that commits an un9 lawful act described in subsection (a) of such sec10 tion. 

11 (2) APPLICABILITY TO FOREIGN ENTITIES AND

12 FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS.—Paragraph (1) shall 

13 apply to aliens who are officials of, agents or instru14 mentalities of, working or acting on behalf of, or 

15 otherwise associated with a foreign entity or foreign 

16 government that is a foreign person included on the 

17 list required under section 3(a) if such aliens are de18 termined by the President, acting through the Sec19 retary of the Treasury, to have knowingly author20 ized, conspired to commit, been responsible for, en21 gaged in, or otherwise assisted or facilitated the ac22 tions described in such section 3(a). 

23 (3) REQUIREMENTS FOR FINANCIAL INSTITU24 TIONS.—Not later than 120 days after the date of 

25 the enactment of this Act, the President, acting 


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1 through the Secretary of the Treasury, shall pre2 scribe or amend regulations as needed to require 

3 each financial institution that is a United States 

4 person and has within its possession or control as5 sets that are property or interests in property of a 

6 foreign person that is on the list required under sec7 tion 3(a) if such property or interests in property 

8 are in the United States, are or come within the 

9 United States, or are or come within the possession 

10 or control of a United States person to certify to the 

11 Secretary that, to the best of the knowledge of such 

12 financial institution, such financial institution has 

13 frozen all assets within the possession or control of 

14 such financial institution that are required to be fro15 zen pursuant to subsection (a). 

16 (d) REGULATORY AUTHORITY.—The President, act17 ing through the Secretary of the Treasury, shall issue such 

18 regulations, licenses, and orders as are necessary to carry 

19 out this section. 

20 (e) EXCEPTION RELATING TO IMPORTATION OF

21 GOODS.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—The authorities and require23 ments to impose sanctions authorized under this Act 

24 shall not include the authority or requirement to im25 pose sanctions on the importation of goods. 


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1 (2) GOOD DEFINED.—In this subsection, the 

2 term ‘‘good’’ means any article, natural or man3 made substance, material, supply or manufactured 

4 product, including inspection and test equipment, 

5 and excluding technical data. 

6 SEC. 6. REPORTS TO CONGRESS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State, in con8 sultation with the heads of other relevant Federal agen9 cies, shall submit to the appropriate congressional commit10 tees a report on the actions taken to carry out this Act, 

11 including— 

12 (1) a description of each foreign person on the 

13 list required under section 3(a); 

14 (2) the dates on which such foreign persons 

15 were added to such list; and 

16 (3) a description of the actions described in 

17 such section that were undertaken by each such for18 eign person. 

19 (b) TIMING.—The Secretary of State shall submit the 

20 first report required under this section not later than one 

21 year after the date of the enactment of this Act. The Sec22 retary shall submit subsequent reports under this section 

23 not later than 60 days after the date of each regularly 

24 scheduled general election for Federal office, beginning 

25 with the election held in 2020. 


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1 (c) FORM.—Each report required under subsection 

2 (a) shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may in3 clude a classified annex if such is in the national security 

4 interests of the United States. If a classified annex is in5 cluded in any such report, the Secretary of State shall in6 clude in such report a specific national security justifica7 tion for such classified annex. 

Æ 


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