II 

Calendar No. 189 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1151 

[Report No. 116–85] 

To prohibit contracting with persons that have business operations with the 

Maduro regime, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 11, 2019 

Mr. SCOTT of Florida (for himself, Mr. RUBIO, and Mr. COTTON) introduced 

the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee 

on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

SEPTEMBER 10, 2019 

Reported by Mr. JOHNSON, with an amendment 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

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 ‘‘Venezuelan Con5 tracting Restriction 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.—The head of an executive agency 

5 may not enter into a contract for the procurement of 

6 goods or services with any person that has business oper7 ations with an authority of the government of Venezuela 

8 that is not recognized as the legitimate government of 

9 Venezuela by the United States Government. 

10 (b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

11 (1) BUSINESS OPERATIONS.—The term ‘‘busi12 ness operations’’ means engaging in commerce in 

13 any form, including acquiring, developing, maintain14 ing, owning, selling, possessing, leasing, or operating 

15 equipment, facilities, personnel, products, services, 

16 personal property, real property, or any other appa17 ratus of business or commerce. 

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

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

20 133 of title 41, United States Code. 

21 (3) PERSON.—The term ‘‘person’’ means— 

22 (A) a natural person, corporation, com23 pany, business association, partnership, society, 

24 trust, or any other nongovernmental entity, or25 ganization, or group; 


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1 (B) any governmental entity or instrumen2 tality of a government, including a multilateral 

3 development institution (as defined in section 

4 1701(c)(3) of the International Financial Insti5 tutions Act (22 U.S.C. 262r(c)(3))); and 

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

7 or subsidiary of, or any entity under common 

8 ownership or control with, any entity described 

9 in subparagraph (A) or (B). 

10 (c) APPLICABILITY.—This section shall apply with re11 spect to any contract entered into on or after the date 

12 of the enactment of this section. 

13 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

14 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Venezuelan Contracting 

15 Restriction Act’’. 

16 SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON CONTRACTING WITH PERSONS 

17 THAT HAVE BUSINESS OPERATIONS WITH 

18 THE MADURO REGIME. 

19 (a) PROHIBITION.—Except as provided in subsections 

20 (b), (c), and (d), the head of an executive agency may not 

21 enter into a contract for the procurement of goods or services 

22 with any person that the head of an executive agency deter23 mines, with the concurrence of the Secretary of State, know24 ingly engages in significant business operations with an au25 thority of the Government of Venezuela that is not recogVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:10 Sep 10, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S1151.RS S1151

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1 nized as the legitimate Government of Venezuela by the 

2 United States. 

3 (b) EXCEPTIONS.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The prohibition under sub5 section (a) does not apply to a contract that the Sec6 retary of State determines— 

7 (A) is necessary— 

8 (i) for purposes of providing humani9 tarian assistance to the people of Venezuela; 

10 (ii) for purposes of providing disaster 

11 relief and other urgent life-saving measures; 

12 or 

13 (iii) to carry out noncombatant evacu14 ations; or 

15 (B) is in the national security interests of 

16 the United States. 

17 (2) SUPPORT FOR UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT

18 ACTIVITIES.—The prohibition in subsection (a) shall 

19 not apply to contracts that support United States 

20 Government activities in Venezuela, including those 

21 necessary for the maintenance of United States Gov22 ernment facilities in Venezuela, or to contracts with 

23 international organizations. 

24 (3) NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENT.—The Sec25 retary of State shall notify the appropriate congresVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:10 Sep 10, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S1151.RS S1151

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1 sional committees of any contract entered into on the 

2 basis of an exception provided for under paragraph 

3 (1). 

4 (c) OFFICE OF FOREIGN ASSETS CONTROL LI5 CENSES.—The prohibition in subsection (a) does not apply 

6 to a person that has a valid license to operate in Venezuela 

7 issued by the Office of Foreign Assets Control. 

8 (d) AMERICAN DIPLOMATIC MISSION IN VEN9 EZUELA.—The prohibition in subsection (a) does not apply 

10 to contracts related to the operation and maintenance of 

11 the United States Government’s consular offices and diplo12 matic posts in Venezuela. 

13 (e) WAIVER.—The Secretary of State may waive the 

14 requirements of subsection (a) if the Secretary of State de15 termines that to do so is in the national interest of the 

16 United States. 

17 (f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

18 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT19 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional commit20 tees’’ means the Committee on Homeland Security 

21 and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Com22 mittee on Homeland Security of the House of Rep23 resentatives. 

24 (2) BUSINESS OPERATIONS.—The term ‘‘business 

25 operations’’ means engaging in commerce in any 


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1 form, including acquiring, developing, maintaining, 

2 owning, selling, possessing, leasing, or operating 

3 equipment, facilities, personnel, products, services, 

4 personal property, real property, or any other appa5 ratus of business or commerce. 

6 (3) EXECUTIVE AGENCY.—The term ‘‘executive 

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

8 133 of title 41, United States Code. 

9 (4) GOVERNMENT OF VENEZUELA.—(A) The term 

10 ‘‘Government of Venezuela’’ includes the government 

11 of any political subdivision of Venezuela, and any 

12 agency or instrumentality of the Government of Ven13 ezuela. 

14 (B) For purposes of subparagraph (A), the term 

15 ‘‘agency or instrumentality of the Government of Ven16 ezuela’’ means an agency or instrumentality of a for17 eign state as defined in section 1603(b) of title 28, 

18 United States Code, with each reference in such sec19 tion to ‘‘a foreign state’’ deemed to be a reference to 

20 ‘‘Venezuela’’. 

21 (5) PERSON.—The term ‘‘person’’ means— 

22 (A) a natural person, corporation, com23 pany, business association, partnership, society, 

24 trust, or any other nongovernmental entity, or25 ganization, or group; 


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1 (B) any governmental entity or instrumen2 tality of a government; and 

3 (C) any successor, subunit, parent entity, or 

4 subsidiary of, or any entity under common own5 ership or control with, any entity described in 

6 subparagraph (A) or (B). 

7 (g) APPLICABILITY.—This section shall apply with re8 spect to any contract entered into on or after the date of 

9 the enactment of this section. 


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Calendar No. 189 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1151 

[Report No. 116–85] 

A BILL 

To prohibit contracting with persons that have 

for other purposes. business operations with the Maduro regime, and 

SEPTEMBER 10, 2019 

Reported with an amendment 


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