I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4209 

To enhance the national interest and security of the United States and 

its European allies and partners by countering malign Russian influence, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

AUGUST 27, 2019 

Mr. ENGEL introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To enhance the national interest and security of the United 

States and its European allies and partners by countering malign Russian influence, 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 ‘‘Countering Russian 

5 Influence Through Interagency Coordination And Leader6 ship Act’’ or the ‘‘CRITICAL Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

8 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) Foreign adversaries of the United States 

2 are currently using malign influence to disrupt, 

3 alter, and undermine United States foreign and do4 mestic policy and democratic processes at low cost 

5 and low risk to themselves. 

6 (2) In exporting malign influence, foreign ad7 versaries use ambiguity to their advantage, employ8 ing proxies, hackers, private sector companies, 

9 ‘‘independent’’ research agencies, and other actors 

10 with varying degrees of separation from their gov11 ernments in an effort to obscure foreign government 

12 involvement and maintain deniability. 

13 (3) Since the Cold War, the Soviet Union and 

14 now the Russian Federation (in this Act referred to 

15 as ‘‘Russia’’) has attempted to use these types of 

16 tools of statecraft to influence the foreign and do17 mestic policies and actions of the United States gov18 ernment, as well as the beliefs and political decisions 

19 of America and its citizens. 

20 (4) The United States intelligence community 

21 has credibly concluded that Russia interfered in the 

22 2016 election for President of the United States, 

23 and European allies and partners have credibly con24 cluded that Russia attempted to influence several 

25 key European votes in 2016 and 2017, including the 


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1 Brexit referendum in the United Kingdom and elec2 tions in the Netherlands, France, and Germany. 

3 (5) Russia has attempted to deter or derail as4 piring NATO members from achieving accession, as 

5 evidenced by their aggression against Ukraine and 

6 Georgia and the attempted violent coup in Monte7 negro in 2016 with the assistance of local Serbian 

8 nationalists. 

9 (6) Russia has leveraged its gas monopoly over 

10 Europe to influence politics and political decisions of 

11 our NATO allies and European Union partners, as 

12 it has done repeatedly in Ukraine and across East13 ern Europe. 

14 (7) Russia has attempted to finance fringe po15 litical movements in countries throughout Europe, 

16 using a network of oligarchs and organized criminal 

17 enterprises in an effort to obscure Kremlin involve18 ment. 

19 (8) Russia operates Russia Today (RT), Sput20 nik, and other state-sponsored media outlets in doz21 ens of languages across Europe and the United 

22 States to spread disinformation and undermine gov23 ernment and electoral systems. It also assaults 

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1 lies using cyber proxies, troll farms, and other tools 

2 in the information space. 

3 (9) The United States national security appa4 ratus has credibly concluded that Russia continues 

5 to utilize malign influence to undermine our democ6 racies and will continue to do so for the foreseeable 

7 future. 

8 (10) Parts of the United States Government 

9 interagency response, such as the Global Engage10 ment Center (GEC), were empowered to address 

11 specific elements of Russian malign influence, par12 ticularly disinformation. 

13 (11) The mission of the GEC is ‘‘to direct, lead, 

14 synchronize, integrate, and coordinate efforts of the 

15 Federal Government to recognize, understand, ex16 pose, and counter foreign state and foreign non-state 

17 propaganda and disinformation efforts aimed at un18 dermining or influencing the policies, security, or 

19 stability of the United States and its allies and part20 ner nations’’. 

21 (12) The GEC plays an important role in coun22 tering the disinformation tactics used by foreign ad23 versaries and coordinating these responses across 

24 the United States Government. 


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1 (13) Russia’s use of a broad range of tools of 

2 malign influence, including disinformation, neces3 sitates a robust, dynamic, and coordinated United 

4 States Government interagency response. 

5 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

6 It is the sense of Congress that United States Gov7 ernment efforts to counter Russian malign influence 

8 should be led by the Department of State in close coordi9 nation with the Department of Defense, the intelligence 

10 community, and other relevant Federal departments and 

11 agencies and relevant private sector and civil society enti12 ties. 

13 SEC. 4. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

14 It shall be the policy of the United States to— 

15 (1) continually seek to strengthen the United 

16 States defenses, and the defenses of its European al17 lies and partners, against malign Russian influence 

18 by closing off vulnerabilities that Russia can exploit, 

19 including by strengthening civil society, media lit20 eracy, and cyber defenses; 

21 (2) clearly state the costs that should be im22 posed on Russia for its attempts to utilize tools of 

23 malign influence against the United States and its 

24 European allies and partners; 


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1 (3) proactively mitigate Russian attempts to in2 fluence or interfere with the United States and its 

3 European allies and partners through deterrence, de4 nial, and resilience measures such that the damage 

5 inflicted upon the United States and its allies and 

6 partners when attacks do occur is reduced; and 

7 (4) promote stronger ties with democratic coun8 tries around the world, understanding that the best 

9 defense against malign Russian influence is a strong 

10 democracy and respect for individual liberty and the 

11 rule of law. 

12 SEC. 5. RUSSIA INFLUENCE GROUP. 

13 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a Russia 

14 Influence Group (in this Act referred to as the ‘‘RIG’’). 

15 (b) FUNCTIONS.—The RIG shall— 

16 (1) hold not fewer than two senior-level meet17 ings annually, at which all members are present, to 

18 coordinate and provide guidance on the interagency 

19 efforts to counter malign Russian influence in Eu20 rope and the United States; 

21 (2) hold not fewer than four working-level meet22 ings annually, at which the RIG shall— 

23 (A) conduct interim assessments and for24 mulate proposed improvements to the RIG’s ef25 forts to counter malign Russian influence in 


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1 Europe and the United States, which shall be 

2 presented at the senior-level meetings; 

3 (B) review monitoring and evaluation as4 sessments by the individual agencies, depart5 ments, and third-party evaluators for programs 

6 and efforts designed to counter malign Russian 

7 influence, with particular emphasis on programs 

8 designed to counter such influence in Europe 

9 and the United States; and 

10 (C) develop methods and plans for apply11 ing the results of such assessments to modify 

12 activities on an iterative basis across relevant 

13 Federal departments and agencies; 

14 (3) hold additional subgroup meetings on a reg15 ular basis with relevant Federal departments or 

16 agencies to address different tools of malign Russian 

17 influence individually, including election interference, 

18 disinformation, illicit finance, political influence and 

19 corruption, energy influence, and economic influence; 

20 (4) collaborate with United States embassies in 

21 each relevant country, and work with domestic and 

22 international actors, as appropriate, such as partner 

23 governments, intergovernmental organizations, non24 governmental organizations, academic institutions, 

25 private sector entities, and research institutions, to 


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1 counter malign Russian influence in a more effective 

2 and collective manner; and 

3 (5) provide recommendations and best practices 

4 that could be applied to countering malign Russian 

5 influence in other regions. 

6 (c) CHAIR AND MEMBERSHIP.—The RIG— 

7 (1) shall be chaired by the Assistant Secretary 

8 of State for European and Eurasian Affairs; 

9 (2) shall include representatives of— 

10 (A) the Department of State, including the 

11 Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, the 

12 Global Engagement Center (GEC), and the Bu13 reau of Energy Resources; 

14 (B) the Department of Defense, including 

15 United States European Command; 

16 (C) the Department of Homeland Security; 

17 (D) the Department of Energy; 

18 (E) the Department of Justice; 

19 (F) the Department of the Treasury; 

20 (G) the United States Agency for Inter21 national Development; 

22 (H) the staff of the National Security 

23 Council; and 

24 (I) the Office of the Director of National 

25 Intelligence; and 


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1 (3) may include representatives from such other 

2 entities as the Chair determines appropriate. 

3 (d) RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE CHAIR.—The Chair 

4 of the RIG shall— 

5 (1) coordinate and promote interagency and 

6 multilateral efforts to protect the United States, its 

7 citizens, and its European allies and partners from 

8 malign Russian influence; 

9 (2) establish mechanisms and seek to resolve 

10 interagency differences in responding to malign Rus11 sian influence; 

12 (3) convene not fewer than two annual senior13 level meetings as described in subsection (b)(1); 

14 (4) engage chiefs of mission at relevant United 

15 States embassies and senior officials of partner gov16 ernments, intergovernmental organizations, and non17 governmental organizations to ensure high-level sup18 port for efforts to counter malign Russian influence; 

19 (5) lead the development and biennial updates 

20 of the interagency strategy required by section 6; 

21 and 

22 (6) submit to the appropriate congressional 

23 committees the annual report required by section 7. 


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1 SEC. 6. STRATEGY TO COUNTER MALIGN RUSSIAN INFLU2 ENCE. 

3 Not later than nine months after the date of the en4 actment of this Act and every two years thereafter, the 

5 Chair of the RIG, in consultation with all members of the 

6 RIG, shall submit to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

7 of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 

8 Foreign Relations of the Senate an interagency strategy 

9 for countering malign Russian influence, including the fol10 lowing: 

11 (1) Objectives for the RIG over one year, five 

12 year, and ten year time periods. 

13 (2) Roles and responsibilities for each Federal 

14 department, agency, or entity with membership on 

15 the RIG. 

16 (3) Methods of malign influence used by Rus17 sia, including the following: 

18 (A) The use of a variety of tools to inter19 fere in democratic processes in the United 

20 States and Europe, including using illicit fi21 nancing, dark money, and corruption of polit22 ical candidates and parties. 

23 (B) The use of disinformation and misin24 formation to create instability. 

25 (C) The use of energy as a tool of coercion 

26 and political leverage. 


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1 (D) The use of cyber tools to hack, leak, 

2 disable, threaten, or otherwise coerce in order 

3 to achieve its political or security objectives. 

4 (E) The manipulation of cultural, religious, 

5 and other identities to leverage European coun6 tries toward its sphere of influence. 

7 (F) The use of proxy forces or misidenti8 fied Russian forces for the sake of deniability in 

9 kinetic aggression against its neighbors. 

10 (4) A prioritized list of gaps or areas in which 

11 the coordination and activities of such Federal de12 partments, agencies, and entities should be en13 hanced. 

14 (5) An updated and prioritized list of European 

15 ‘‘Watch Countries’’ with respect to which malign 

16 Russian influence is likely to pose a significant 

17 threat to the interests or security of the United 

18 States or Europe and on which to focus RIG efforts. 

19 (6) A description of the costs and risks of the 

20 current United States approach to countering ma21 lign Russian influence. 

22 (7) The resources necessary to achieve the goals 

23 established in the strategy. 


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1 SEC. 7. REPORT ON ACTIVITIES TO COUNTER MALIGN RUS2 SIAN INFLUENCE. 

3 The Chair of the RIG, acting through the RIG and 

4 in consultation with the heads of the Federal agencies and 

5 departments with membership on the RIG, shall annually 

6 submit to the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House 

7 of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Rela8 tions of the Senate a report that includes the following: 

9 (1) Descriptions of what activities the RIG and 

10 each entity participating in the RIG undertook to 

11 counter malign Russian influence in Europe and the 

12 United States. 

13 (2) An identification of the activities, programs, 

14 or actions that are planned for the upcoming year. 

15 (3) Assessments of whether the activities con16 ducted over the previous year achieved the intended 

17 outcomes. 

18 (4) Descriptions of the methodology and results 

19 of monitoring and evaluation, including lessons 

20 learned and best practices. 

21 (5) Descriptions of how such results and lessons 

22 learned will be used on an iterative basis to modify 

23 activities. 

24 (6) An updated assessment of progress made 

25 towards the objectives for the RIG established in the 


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1 strategy required under section 6 for five-year and 

2 ten-year time periods, including the following: 

3 (A) The methodology used for such assess4 ments. 

5 (B) The lessons learned and best practices 

6 from such assessments. 

7 (C) Any changes to be made to future ac8 tivities, programs, or actions in response to 

9 such lessons learned. 

10 SEC. 8. COMMISSION ON COUNTERING GLOBAL MALIGN IN11 FLUENCE. 

12 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established an inde13 pendent commission to be known as the ‘‘Commission on 

14 Countering Global Malign Influence’’ (in this section re15 ferred to as the ‘‘Commission’’). The Commission shall ex16 amine global malign influence from authoritarian state 

17 competitors and non-state actors, including Russia, China, 

18 Iran, and North Korea, seeking to undermine the United 

19 States, its national interests, and its allies, and make rec20 ommendations with respect to United States and allied ef21 forts to counter such influence and such state and non22 state competitors and actors. 

23 (b) COMPOSITION.— 

24 (1) MEMBERSHIP.—The Commission shall be 

25 composed of 12 members appointed as follows: 


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1 (A) Three members appointed by the chair 

2 of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the 

3 House of Representatives. 

4 (B) Three members appointed by the rank5 ing member of the Committee on Foreign Af6 fairs of the House of Representatives. 

7 (C) Three members appointed by the chair 

8 of the Committee on Foreign Relations of the 

9 Senate. 

10 (D) Three members appointed by the rank11 ing member of the Committee on Foreign Rela12 tions of the Senate. 

13 (2) CO-CHAIRS.— 

14 (A) The chair and ranking member of the 

15 Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of 

16 Representatives shall designate one member of 

17 the Commission to serve as a co-chair of the 

18 Commission. 

19 (B) The chair and ranking member of the 

20 Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate 

21 shall designate one member of the Commission 

22 to serve as a co-chair of the Commission. 

23 (3) PERIOD OF APPOINTMENT; VACANCIES.— 

24 Members shall be appointed for the life of the Com25 mission. Any vacancy in the Commission shall be 


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1 filled in the same manner as the original appoint2 ment. 

3 (c) PROHIBITION.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission may not in5 clude— 

6 (A) Members of Congress or any other per7 son serving in an elected office of the Federal 

8 government; or 

9 (B) any person serving in an elected office 

10 of a State or local government. 

11 (2) MEMBER OF CONGRESS.—In this sub12 section, the term ‘‘Member of Congress’’ includes a 

13 Delegate or Resident Commissioner to the Congress. 

14 (d) DUTIES.— 

15 (1) THREAT ASSESSMENT.—The Commission 

16 shall conduct a comprehensive assessment of the ef17 forts of authoritarian state competitors and non18 state actors to undermine the United States, its na19 tional interests, and its allies through tools of malign 

20 influence, including election interference, disinforma21 tion, illicit finance, political influence and corruption, 

22 energy influence, economic influence, and the use of 

23 proxy and state-backed forces in coercive ways, 

24 below the threshold of conventional warfare. 


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1 (2) REVIEW.—The Commission shall review the 

2 current tools of the United States Government that 

3 are used or could be used to counter malign influ4 ence from authoritarian state competitors and non5 state actors, including Russia, China, Iran, and 

6 North Korea. 

7 (3) ANALYSIS AND RECOMMENDATIONS.—The 

8 Commission shall— 

9 (A) conduct an analysis of the current pre10 paredness of the United States to counter ma11 lign influence described in this subsection, tak12 ing into account both the assessment of threat 

13 and the ability of the United States Govern14 ment to respond to such influence; and 

15 (B) provide to the individuals and entities 

16 specified in subsection (f)(1) recommendations 

17 on how to improve such preparedness and abil18 ity. 

19 (4) COMPLIANCE.—The provisions of the Fed20 eral Advisory Committee Act and the provisions of 

21 any rule, order, or regulation promulgated under 

22 such Act shall apply with respect to the Commission. 

23 (e) COOPERATION FROM GOVERNMENT.— 

24 (1) COOPERATION.—In carrying out its duties, 

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1 operation of the Secretaries of State, Defense, 

2 Treasury, Energy, and Homeland Security, the Ad3 ministrator of the United States Agency for Inter4 national Development, the Attorney General, the Na5 tional Security Advisor, the Director of National In6 telligence, and other relevant officials of the United 

7 States Government in providing the Commission 

8 with respect to analyses, briefings, or other informa9 tion necessary for the fulfillment of its responsibil10 ities. 

11 (2) LIAISON.—The officials specified in para12 graph (1) shall designate at least one officer or em13 ployee of their respective agencies to serve as a liai14 son officer between such agencies and the Commis15 sion. 

16 (3) FACILITATION.—The Secretary of State 

17 shall take appropriate actions to facilitate the Com18 mission in the discharge of the duties of the Com19 mission under this section. 

20 (f) REPORT.— 

21 (1) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than one year 

22 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

23 Commission shall submit to the President, the Sec24 retaries of State, Defense, Treasury, Energy, and 

25 Homeland Security, the Administrator of the United 


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1 States Agency for International Development, the 

2 Attorney General, the National Security Advisor, the 

3 Director of National Intelligence, the Committee on 

4 Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives, 

5 and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Sen6 ate a report on the Commission’s findings, conclu7 sions, and recommendations. The report shall ad8 dress the following: 

9 (A) Tools of malign influence, including 

10 election interference, disinformation, illicit fi11 nance, political influence and corruption, energy 

12 influence, economic influence, and proxy and 

13 state-backed forces being used against the 

14 United States, its national interests, and its al15 lies. 

16 (B) How malign influence actors may be 

17 using these tools in combination with other 

18 tools. 

19 (C) How malign influence actors may be 

20 learning from each other’s adaptations. 

21 (D) The types of malign influence against 

22 which the United States Government should 

23 prioritize defenses and proactive measures. 


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1 (E) Prioritized recommendations for ac2 tions the United States should take to counter 

3 malign influence. 

4 (F) The current roles and responsibilities 

5 designated to each relevant Federal department 

6 and agency to counter malign influence, and 

7 any recommended changes to such roles and re8 sponsibilities. 

9 (G) The estimated resources necessary for 

10 each relevant Federal department and agency 

11 to fulfill such roles and responsibilities. 

12 (H) The current mechanisms for coordi13 nating among relevant Federal departments 

14 and agencies to counter malign influence, and 

15 any recommendations for improving such co16 ordination. 

17 (I) The current short- and long-term meth18 odology and metrics used to monitor and evalu19 ate the effectiveness of efforts to counter ma20 lign influence, the lessons learned from such 

21 monitoring and evaluation, and any rec22 ommendations for improving such monitoring 

23 and evaluation. 

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1 ence, including the relationships and tradeoffs 

2 among priorities, roles, and resources. 

3 (K) Any other matters the Commission de4 termines relevant. 

5 (2) INTERIM BRIEFING.—Not later than 120 

6 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

7 Commission shall provide to the Committee on For8 eign Affairs of the House of Representatives and the 

9 Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate a 

10 briefing on the status of its assessment and review 

11 under this section, including a discussion of any in12 terim recommendations. 

13 (3) FORM.—The report required under para14 graph (1) shall be submitted in unclassified form, 

15 but may include a classified annex. 

16 (g) FUNDING.—There is authorized to be appro17 priated to the Commission $6,000,000 for fiscal year 2020 

18 to carry out this section. Amounts made available to carry 

19 out this section shall be managed by the Department of 

20 State and utilized for— 

21 (1) compensation for the appointed members of 

22 the Commission; 

23 (2) expenses for the basic operations of the 

24 Commission; and 


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1 (3) additional expenses that may arise over the 

2 life of the Commission. 

3 (h) TERMINATION.—The Commission shall terminate 

4 on the date that is six months after the date of the submis5 sion of the report required under subsection (f)(1). 

Æ 


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