I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5428 

To impose sanctions on certain persons responsible for the March 12, 2018, 

attack on Sergei and Yulia Skripal, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 5, 2018 

Mr. CASTRO of Texas (for himself and Mr. TURNER) 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 impose sanctions on certain persons responsible for the 

March 12, 2018, attack on Sergei and Yulia Skripal, 

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 ‘‘Stand with UK against 

5 Russia Violations Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) On March 4, 2018, Sergei V. Skripal, and 

2 his daughter, Yulia Skripal, were found unconscious 

3 on a park bench in Salisbury, England. 

4 (2) British Prime Minister Theresa May an5 nounced on March 12, 2018, that the poison used in 

6 the attack was Novichok, a military-grade nerve 

7 agent developed by Soviet scientists for use on North 

8 Atlantic Treaty Organization troops, and that Rus9 sia was responsible for the attack. 

10 (3) On March 15, 2018, the United Kingdom, 

11 France, and Germany issued a joint statement hold12 ing the Government of Russia responsible for the 

13 poisoning and characterizing the attack as ‘‘an as14 sault on UK sovereignty’’. 

15 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

16 It is the sense of Congress that— 

17 (1) The attempts of the Government of Russia 

18 to commit murders on British soil are unconscion19 able and violate international law. 

20 (2) The United States stands in strong soli21 darity with the British government and its people as 

22 they respond to this violation. 

23 (3) Russian aggression must be met with 

24 strength and resolve, including through sanctions to 


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1 deter future Russian attacks on dissidents, expatri2 ates, and democratic activists. 

3 SEC. 4. IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS WITH RESPECT TO RUS4 SIAN PERSONS RESPONSIBLE FOR MARCH 12 

5 ATTACK. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days after the 

7 date of the enactment of this Act, the President shall im8 pose the sanctions described in subsection (c) with respect 

9 to any person that the President determines— 

10 (1) knowingly engaged in, provided material 

11 support to, worked on behalf of, or acted as an 

12 agent or instrumentality of any person who per13 petrated the attack against Sergei Skripal and Yulia 

14 Skripal on March 12, 2018; or 

15 (2) is an officer, employee, or agent of the Gov16 ernment of Russia and knowingly, on or after the 

17 date of the enactment of this Act, materially as18 sisted, worked on behalf of, or acted as an agent or 

19 instrumentality of the Russian Government in the 

20 murder, attempted murder, or assault committed 

21 outside of Russia against any expatriate, dissident, 

22 or foreign national. 

23 (b) CONCURRENT REPORT.—The President shall 

24 submit to Congress a report, concurrent with the imposi25 tion of any sanction under subsection (a), that lists each 


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1 person determined to have engaged in the conduct result2 ing in such sanction. 

3 (c) SANCTIONS DESCRIBED.—The sanctions de4 scribed in this paragraph are the sanctions described in 

5 section 224(b) of the Countering America’s Adversaries 

6 Through Sanctions Act (22 U.S.C. 9524(b)). 

7 SEC. 5. PROHIBITION ON TRANSACTIONS RELATING TO 

8 NEW RUSSIAN SOVEREIGN DEBT. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the 

10 date of the imposition of a sanction pursuant to section 

11 4(a)(2), the President shall— 

12 (1) issue regulations prohibiting United States 

13 persons from engaging in transactions with, pro14 viding financing for, or in any other way dealing in 

15 Russian sovereign debt that is issued on or after the 

16 date that is 180 days after such date of imposition 

17 of sanctions; and 

18 (2) exercise all powers granted to the President 

19 by the International Emergency Economic Powers 

20 Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 13 et seq.) to the extent nec21 essary to block and prohibit all transactions in all 

22 property and interests in property of one or more of 

23 the financial institutions listed in subsection (c) if 

24 such property and interests in property are in the 

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


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1 or come within the possession or control of a United 

2 States person. 

3 (b) RUSSIAN SOVEREIGN DEBT DEFINED.—For pur4 poses of this section, the term ‘‘Russian sovereign debt’’ 

5 means— 

6 (1) bonds issued by the Russian Central Bank, 

7 the Russian National Wealth Fund, the Russian 

8 Federal Treasury, or agents or affiliates of any such 

9 institution, with a maturity of more than 14 days; 

10 (2) new foreign exchange swap agreements with 

11 the Russian Central Bank, the Russian National 

12 Wealth Fund, or the Russian Federal Treasury, the 

13 duration of which agreement is longer than 14 days; 

14 and 

15 (3) any other financial instrument, the duration 

16 or maturity of which is more than 14 days, that— 

17 (A) the President determines represents 

18 the sovereign debt of Russia; or 

19 (B) is issued by a bank listed in subsection 

20 (c). 

21 (c) RUSSIAN FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS.—The finan22 cial institutions listed in this subsection are the following: 

23 (1) Sberbank. 

24 (2) VTB Bank. 

25 (3) Gazprombank. 


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1 (4) Bank of Moscow. 

2 (5) Rosselkhozbank. 

3 (6) Promsvyazbank. 

4 (7) Vnesheconombank. 

5 (d) REQUIREMENT TO PROMPTLY PUBLISH GUID6 ANCE.—The President shall concurrently publish guidance 

7 on the implementation of the regulations issued pursuant 

8 to subsection (a). 

9 SEC. 6. IMPLEMENTATION; PENALTIES; TERMINATION. 

10 (a) IMPLEMENTATION.—The President may exercise 

11 all authorities provided to the President under sections 

12 203 and 205 of the International Emergency Economic 

13 Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1702 and 1704) to carry out this 

14 Act. 

15 (b) PENALTIES.—A person that violates, attempts to 

16 violate, conspires to violate, or causes a violation of section 

17 4 or 5, or any regulation, license, or order issued to carry 

18 out such sections, shall be subject to the penalties set forth 

19 in subsections (b) and (c) of section 206 of the Inter20 national Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 

21 1705) to the same extent as a person that commits an 

22 unlawful act described in subsection (a) of that section. 

23 (c) TERMINATION.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—The President may termi25 nate the application of a sanction under section 4 or 


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1 section 5(a)(2) if the President submits to Congress 

2 a determination that officers, employees, and agents 

3 of the Government of Russia no longer engage in the 

4 conduct described in section 4(a)(2). 

5 (2) WAIVER.—The President may, on or after 

6 the date on which the President submits the deter7 mination described in paragraph (1), waive the pro8 hibition imposed pursuant to section 5(a)(1) with re9 spect to Russian sovereign debt (as defined in such 

10 section) issued on or after such date if the President 

11 concurrently submits to Congress a notification that 

12 includes a justification of the basis for waiving such 

13 prohibition. 

14 SEC. 7. UNITED STATES PERSON DEFINED. 

15 In this Act, the term ‘‘United States person’’ 

16 means— 

17 (1) a United States citizen or an alien lawfully 

18 admitted for permanent residence to the United 

19 States; and 

20 (2) an entity organized under the laws of the 

21 United States or of any jurisdiction within the 

22 United States, including a foreign branch of such an 

23 entity. 

Æ 


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