I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 621 

To prohibit contracting with persons that have business operations with the 

Maduro regime, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 28, 2021 

Mr. WALTZ (for himself, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mr. DIAZ-BALART, Mrs. 

MURPHY of Florida, Ms. SALAZAR, Miss GONZA ́LEZ-COLO ́N, Mr. 

GIMENEZ, Mr. GAETZ, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. POSEY, 

and Mr. GONZALEZ of Ohio) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Reform 

A BILL 

To prohibit contracting with persons that have business 

operations with the Maduro regime, 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 ‘‘Banning Operations 

5 and Leases with the Illegitimate Venezuelan Authoritarian 

6 Regime Act’’ or the ‘‘BOLIVAR Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON CONTRACTING WITH PERSONS 

2 THAT HAVE BUSINESS OPERATIONS WITH 

3 THE MADURO REGIME. 

4 (a) PROHIBITION.—Except as provided under sub5 sections (c), (d), and (e), the head of an executive agency 

6 may not enter into a contract for the procurement of 

7 goods or services with any person that has business oper8 ations with an authority of the government of Venezuela 

9 that is not recognized as the legitimate government of 

10 Venezuela by the United States Government. 

11 (b) EXCEPTIONS.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—The prohibition under sub13 section (a) does not apply to a contract that the 

14 head of an executive agency and the Secretary of 

15 State jointly determine— 

16 (A) is necessary— 

17 (i) for purposes of providing humani18 tarian assistance to the people of Ven19 ezuela; 

20 (ii) for purposes of providing disaster 

21 relief and other urgent life-saving meas22 ures; or 

23 (iii) to carry out noncombatant evacu24 ations; or 

25 (B) is vital to the national security inter26 ests of the United States. 


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1 (2) NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENT.—The head 

2 of an executive agency shall notify each appropriate 

3 congressional committee, the Committee on Foreign 

4 Affairs of the House of Representatives, and the 

5 Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate of 

6 any contract entered into on the basis of an excep7 tion provided for under paragraph (1). 

8 (c) OFFICE OF FOREIGN ASSETS CONTROL LI9 CENSES.—The prohibition in subsection (a) shall not 

10 apply to a person that has a valid license to operate in 

11 Venezuela issued by the Office of Foreign Assets Control 

12 of the Department of the Treasury. 

13 (d) AMERICAN DIPLOMATIC MISSION IN VEN14 EZUELA.—The prohibition in subsection (a) shall not 

15 apply to contracts related to the operation and mainte16 nance of the United States Government’s consular offices 

17 and diplomatic posts in Venezuela. 

18 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

19 (1) BUSINESS OPERATIONS.—The term ‘‘busi20 ness operations’’ means engaging in commerce in 

21 any form, including acquiring, developing, maintain22 ing, owning, selling, possessing, leasing, or operating 

23 equipment, facilities, personnel, products, services, 

24 personal property, real property, or any other appa25 ratus of business or commerce. 


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1 (2) EXECUTIVE AGENCY.—The term ‘‘executive 

2 agency’’ has the meaning given the term in section 

3 133 of title 41, United States Code. 

4 (3) GOVERNMENT OF VENEZUELA.—The term 

5 ‘‘government of Venezuela’’ includes the government 

6 of any political subdivision of Venezuela, and any 

7 agency or instrumentality of the Government of Ven8 ezuela. For purposes of this paragraph, the term 

9 ‘‘agency or instrumentality of the Government of 

10 Venezuela’’ means an agency or instrumentality of a 

11 foreign state as defined in section 1603(b) of title 

12 28, United States Code, with each reference in such 

13 section to ‘‘a foreign state’’ deemed to be a reference 

14 to ‘‘Venezuela’’. 

15 (4) PERSON.—The term ‘‘person’’ means— 

16 (A) a natural person, corporation, com17 pany, business association, partnership, society, 

18 trust, or any other nongovernmental entity, or19 ganization, or group; 

20 (B) any governmental entity or instrumen21 tality of a government, including a multilateral 

22 development institution (as defined in section 

23 1701(c)(3) of the International Financial Insti24 tutions Act (22 U.S.C. 262r(c)(3))); and 


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1 (C) any successor, subunit, parent entity, 

2 or subsidiary of, or any entity under common 

3 ownership or control with, any entity described 

4 in subparagraph (A) or (B). 

5 (f) APPLICABILITY.—This section shall apply with re6 spect to any contract entered into on or after the date 

7 of the enactment of this section. 

Æ 


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