I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1779 

To direct the President to impose sanctions against foreign persons determined to have knowingly engaged in significant corruption in Mexico, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 24, 2023 

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

on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, 

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 direct the President to impose sanctions against foreign 

persons determined to have knowingly engaged in significant corruption in Mexico, 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. IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS. 

4 (a) IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS.—The President shall 

5 impose the sanctions described in subsection (b) with re6 spect to any foreign person that the President determines 

7 has, on or after the date of the enactment of this Act, 


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1 knowingly engaged in significant corruption in Mexico, in2 cluding through the following acts: 

3 (1) Corruption related to government contracts. 

4 (2) Bribery or extortion. 

5 (3) The transfer, or the facilitation of the 

6 transfer, of the proceeds of corruption, including 

7 through money laundering. 

8 (4) Acts of violence, harassment, or intimida9 tion directed at governmental or nongovernmental 

10 corruption investigators. 

11 (5) The facilitation of, or involvement in, the 

12 production, sale, or distribution of illicit fentanyl or 

13 fentanyl analogs. 

14 (b) SANCTIONS DESCRIBED.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The sanctions described in 

16 this subsection are the following: 

17 (A) ASSET BLOCKING.—The President 

18 shall exercise all of the powers granted to the 

19 President by the International Emergency Eco20 nomic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) to 

21 the extent necessary to block and prohibit all 

22 transactions in property and interests in prop23 erty of a foreign person if such property or in24 terests in property are in the United States, 

25 come within the United States, or are or come 


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1 within the possession or control of a United 

2 States person. 

3 (B) INELIGIBILITY FOR VISAS AND ADMIS4 SION TO THE UNITED STATES.—In the case of 

5 a foreign person who is an individual, such for6 eign person is— 

7 (i) inadmissible to the United States; 

8 (ii) ineligible to receive a visa or other 

9 documentation to enter the United States; 

10 and 

11 (iii) otherwise ineligible to be admitted 

12 or paroled into the United States or to re13 ceive any other benefit under the Immigra14 tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et 

15 seq.). 

16 (C) CURRENT VISAS REVOKED.— 

17 (i) IN GENERAL.—The issuing con18 sular officer or the Secretary of State, (or 

19 a designee of the Secretary of State) shall, 

20 in accordance with section 221(i) of the 

21 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

22 1201(i)), revoke any visa or other entry 

23 documentation issued to a foreign person 

24 regardless of when the visa or other entry 

25 documentation is issued. 


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1 (ii) EFFECT OF REVOCATION.—A rev2 ocation under clause (i) shall— 

3 (I) take effect immediately; and 

4 (II) automatically cancel any 

5 other valid visa or entry documenta6 tion that is in the possession of the 

7 foreign person. 

8 (2) PENALTIES.—A person that violates, at9 tempts to violate, conspires to violate, or causes a 

10 violation of a measure imposed pursuant to para11 graph (1)(A) or any regulation, license, or order 

12 issued to carry out such paragraph shall be subject 

13 to the penalties specified in subsections (b) and (c) 

14 of section 206 of the International Emergency Eco15 nomic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1705) to the same ex16 tent as a person that commits an unlawful act de17 scribed in subsection (a) of such section. 

18 (3) EXCEPTION TO COMPLY WITH INTER19 NATIONAL OBLIGATIONS.—Sanctions under subpara20 graph (B) and (C) of paragraph (1) shall not apply 

21 with respect to a foreign person if admitting or pa22 roling such person into the United States is nec23 essary to permit the United States to comply with 

24 the Agreement regarding the Headquarters of the 

25 United Nations, signed at Lake Success June 26, 


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1 1947, and entered into force November 21, 1947, 

2 between the United Nations and the United States, 

3 or other applicable international obligations. 

4 (c) IMPLEMENTATION; REGULATORY AUTHORITY.— 

5 (1) IMPLEMENTATION.—The President may ex6 ercise all authorities provided under sections 203 

7 and 205 of the International Emergency Economic 

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

9 this section. 

10 (2) REGULATORY AUTHORITY.—The President 

11 shall issue such regulations, licenses, and orders as 

12 are necessary to carry out this section. 

13 (d) NATIONAL SECURITY WAIVER.—The President 

14 may waive, on a case-by-case basis, the application of a 

15 sanction under subsection (b) with respect to a foreign 

16 person if the President— 

17 (1) determines that such a waiver is in the na18 tional security interest of the United States; and 

19 (2) submits to the appropriate congressional 

20 committees a notice of and justification for the waiv21 er. 

22 (e) TERMINATION.—The authority to impose sanc23 tions under subsection (b), and any sanctions imposed 

24 pursuant to such authority, shall expire on the date that 

25 is 3 years after the date of the enactment of this Act. 


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1 (f) EXCEPTION RELATING TO IMPORTATION OF

2 GOODS.—The authorities and requirements to impose 

3 sanctions authorized under this Act shall not include the 

4 authority or requirement to impose sanctions on the im5 portation of goods. 

6 (g) REPORTS REQUIRED.— 

7 (1) REPORTS.—Not later than 180 days after 

8 the date of the enactment of this Act, and not less 

9 frequently than annually thereafter, the President 

10 shall submit to the appropriate congressional com11 mittees a report that identifies each foreign person 

12 in Mexico who the President determines to have 

13 knowingly engaged in actions that facilitate the illicit 

14 production, distribution, or sale of illicit fentanyl or 

15 fentanyl analogs, including through the acts listed in 

16 paragraphs (1) through (5) of subsection (a). 

17 (2) FORM.—Each report under paragraph (1) 

18 shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may in19 clude a classified annex. 

20 (h) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

21 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT22 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com23 mittees’’ means— 

24 (A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the 

25 Committee on the Judiciary, and the ComVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:34 Apr 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1779.IH H1779

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1 mittee on Financial Services of the House of 

2 Representatives; and 

3 (B) the Committee on Foreign Relations, 

4 the Committee on the Judiciary, and the Com5 mittee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

6 of the Senate. 

7 (2) FENTANYL ANALOG.—The term ‘‘fentanyl 

8 analog’’ means a controlled substance analogue (as 

9 defined in section 102 of the Controlled Substances 

10 Act (21 U.S.C. 802)) of fentanyl. 

11 (3) FOREIGN PERSON.—The term ‘‘foreign per12 son’’ means any person that is not a United States 

13 person. 

14 (4) GOOD.—The term ‘‘good’’ means any arti15 cle, natural or man-made substance, material, supply 

16 or manufactured product, including inspection and 

17 test equipment, and excluding technical data. 

18 (5) UNITED STATES PERSON.—The term 

19 ‘‘United States person’’ means, with respect to a 

20 person who is an individual, a United States citizen 

21 or an alien lawfully admitted for permanent resi22 dence to the United States. 

Æ 


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