I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5370 

To declare the Russian Federation an Aggressor State and provide for the 

transfer of blocked assets of such country to the United States to 

be used for the reconstruction of Ukraine, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 8, 2023 

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

on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To declare the Russian Federation an Aggressor State and 

provide for the transfer of blocked assets of such country 

to the United States to be used for the reconstruction 

of Ukraine, 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 ‘‘Ukraine Reconstruc5 tion Act of 2023’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) The Russian Federation, aided and abetted 

2 by Belarus, has engaged in egregious and illegal be3 havior by invading Ukraine in violation of estab4 lished norms of international law and the United 

5 Nations Charter. 

6 (2) As recognized by the General Assembly of 

7 the United Nations, the Group of Seven, the North 

8 Atlantic Parliamentary Assembly, and customary 

9 international law, the Russian Federation, joined by 

10 Belarus, has committed, and continues to commit, 

11 violations of international law and the United Na12 tions Charter through its acts of aggression against 

13 the civil society of Ukraine, its violation of the civil 

14 rights of the Ukrainian peoples, and its unlawful de15 struction of Ukraine’s infrastructure and agri16 culture. 

17 (3) These actions by the Russian Federation 

18 and Belarus constitute an unusual and extraordinary 

19 threat to the national security and foreign policy of 

20 the United States and to the civilized world. 

21 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS OF AGGRESSOR STATE AND AFFILI22 ATED AGGRESSOR STATE. 

23 (a) AGGRESSOR STATE.—The President shall des24 ignate the Russian Federation as an ‘‘Aggressor State’’ 

25 for purposes of this Act because of its violations of interVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:58 Sep 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5370.IH H5370

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1 national law and the United Nations Charter with respect 

2 to Ukraine. 

3 (b) AFFILIATED AGGRESSOR STATE.—The President 

4 shall designate Belarus as an ‘‘Affiliated Aggressor State’’ 

5 for purposes of this Act and each other state the Govern6 ment of which the President determines is providing mate7 rial assistance to an Aggressor State. 

8 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF FUND FOR RECONSTRUCTION 

9 ACTIVITIES. 

10 As a consequence of the unwarranted and illegal ac11 tions of the Aggressor State against Ukraine beginning 

12 in 2014, the President shall— 

13 (1) exercise all powers granted to the President 

14 by the International Emergency Economic Powers 

15 Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) to the extent necessary 

16 to block and prohibit all transactions in property 

17 and interests in sovereign property of the Aggressor 

18 State, including any property owned by state-owned 

19 enterprises of such Aggressor State, if such property 

20 and interests in property are in the United States, 

21 come within the United States, or are or come with22 in the possession or control of a United States per23 son (except that the authority provided by this para24 graph shall not include the authority to block any 


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1 property subject to Article 22 of the Vienna Conven2 tion on Diplomatic Relations); 

3 (2) acting through the Secretary of the Treas4 ury— 

5 (A) order the transfer of all assets blocked 

6 pursuant to paragraph (1) into such accounts 

7 as the Secretary of the Treasury determines ap8 propriate to carry out the purposes of this Act; 

9 (B) transfer title to blocked assets from 

10 the Aggressor State to the United States and 

11 subsequently transfer such assets to such ac12 counts as the Secretary of Treasury may deter13 mine appropriate for such purposes; 

14 (C) establish an international fund to hold 

15 assets donated by the United States and by 

16 other countries implementing similar sanctions 

17 with respect to the Aggressor State, to be used 

18 for the reconstruction of Ukraine; and 

19 (D) transfer assets described in subpara20 graph (A) and (B) to the international fund in 

21 such amounts and at such times as the Sec22 retary of the Treasury, in consultation with the 

23 Secretary of State, may direct; 

24 (3) acting through the Secretary of State— 


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1 (A) work in cooperation with other foreign 

2 countries to establish an international com3 pensation tribunal to adjudicate, in accordance 

4 with established judicial norms and inter5 national accounting principles, claims presented 

6 by Ukraine on behalf of its individuals, entities, 

7 and governmental entities, or directly by 

8 Ukrainian individuals and entities, against the 

9 Aggressor State and Affiliated Aggressor 

10 States; and 

11 (B) take such steps, in cooperation with 

12 other foreign countries, as may be necessary 

13 to— 

14 (i) ensure that such tribunal is 

15 staffed, operated, and administered in ac16 cordance with established legal and ac17 counting rules and governance procedures; 

18 (ii) make available amounts from the 

19 fund described in paragraph (2)(C) for the 

20 payment of reasonable expenses for the 

21 governance and operation of the tribunal 

22 and awards made by the tribunal; 

23 (iii) verify that the tribunal is oper24 ated transparently with respect to all 


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1 awards or other fund transfers, filings, and 

2 decisions; and 

3 (iv) ensure that such tribunal is au4 dited on a regular basis by an independent 

5 auditor, in accordance with standards set 

6 by the United States Financial Accounting 

7 Standards Board and International Ac8 counting Standards Board, with the results 

9 of such audits made publicly available; and 

10 (4) in the case that an appropriate tribunal de11 scribed in paragraph (3) is not timely established— 

12 (A) in consultation with the Secretary of 

13 the Treasury, establish a United States Fund 

14 for the Reconstruction of Ukraine; 

15 (B) transfer to such Fund assets of the 

16 Aggressor State blocked in accordance with 

17 paragraph (2)(B); and 

18 (C) in consultation with the Secretary of 

19 State, distribute these funds for the reconstruc20 tion of Ukraine in accordance with established 

21 practices and accounting procedures. 

22 SEC. 5. IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS WITH RESPECT TO AF23 FILIATED AGGRESSOR STATES. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi25 sion of law, the President is authorized to exercise all powVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:58 Sep 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5370.IH H5370

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1 ers granted to the President by the International Emer2 gency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) and 

3 this Act over the sovereign property of any Affiliated Ag4 gressor State, including any property owned by state5 owned enterprises of such Affiliated Aggressor State, if 

6 such property and interests in property are in the United 

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

8 within the possession or control of a United States person. 

9 (b) AUTHORIZATION TO TRANSFER INTO FUND.— 

10 The President is authorized to transfer and otherwise 

11 treat any asset of an Affiliated Aggressor State blocked 

12 pursuant to the authority provided by subsection (a) in 

13 the same manner as assets of the Aggressor State blocked 

14 pursuant to section 4(1) are treated as provided for in 

15 section 4(2) and section 4(4). 

16 (c) EXCEPTION.—The authority provided by this sec17 tion shall not include the authority to block any property 

18 subject to Article 22 of the Vienna Convention on Diplo19 matic Relations. 

20 SEC. 6. REPORTS. 

21 (a) AUDIT OF RECONSTRUCTION FUNDS.—The 

22 Comptroller General shall regularly review and submit to 

23 the appropriate committees of Congress reports, which 

24 shall also be made publicly available, on— 


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1 (1) the audits described in section 4(3)(B)(iv); 

2 or 

3 (2) if the tribunal referred to in such section is 

4 not timely established, the results of regular audits 

5 on all amounts distributed pursuant to section 

6 4(4)(C). 

7 (b) JOINT REPORT ON ACTIVITIES.—Not later than 

8 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, and 

9 every 180 days thereafter, the Secretary of State and the 

10 Secretary of the Treasury shall jointly submit to the ap11 propriate committees of Congress a report on all activities 

12 taken pursuant to this Act. 

13 (c) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CONGRESS.—In 

14 this section, the term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con15 gress’’ means— 

16 (1) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the 

17 Committee on Financial Services of the House of 

18 Representatives; and 

19 (2) the Committee on Foreign Relations and 

20 the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Af21 fairs of the Senate. 

22 SEC. 7. ASSETS FREE FROM ATTACHMENT. 

23 Any and all assets subject to this Act shall be free 

24 from attachment in any civil action. 


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1 SEC. 8. NO CAUSES OF ACTION AGAINST THE UNITED 

2 STATES. 

3 The President’s actions, and any actions by those to 

4 whom the President has delegated authority under this 

5 Act, do not create any right or benefit, substantive or pro6 cedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party, in7 cluding the Russian Federation, the Republic of Belarus, 

8 and any other country designated under this Act, against 

9 the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, 

10 its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person. 

11 SEC. 9. RELATION TO OTHER LAWS. 

12 The authorities granted by this Act do not abrogate, 

13 displace, or otherwise modify any and all applicable au14 thorities which other provisions of law, including the Inter15 national Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 

16 1701 et seq.) may grant the President with respect to the 

17 assets of Aggressor States or Affiliated Aggressor States 

18 designated in accordance with this Act. 

19 SEC. 10. SUNSET. 

20 This Act and the authorities provided by this Act 

21 shall expire at midnight on December 31, 2030, except 

22 that such authorities may remain available to the extent 

23 necessary to ensure that all operations carried out under 

24 this Act are wound down in an orderly manner. 


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1 SEC. 11. STATE-OWNED ENTERPRISE DEFINED. 

2 In this Act, the term ‘‘state-owned enterprise’’ with 

3 respect to a country means an entity— 

4 (1) organized under the laws of the country or 

5 any jurisdiction within the country; and 

6 (2) over which the government of the country 

7 exercises ownership, either by virtue of the govern8 ment being the ultimate beneficial owner of the ma9 jority of voting shares or otherwise exercising an 

10 equivalent degree of control over the activities of the 

11 entity. 

Æ 


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