Holding Accountable Russian Mercenaries Act

Subjects: International Affairs

Summary:  <p><b>Holding Accountable Russian Mercenaries Act or the HARM Act</b></p> <p>This bill requires the Department of State to designate the Wagner Group as a foreign terrorist organization. Such designation also applies to any affiliated and successor entities undertaking malign activities against the United States and its allies or partners. </p> <p>(Among other things, such a designation allows the Department of the Treasury to require financial institutions to block transactions involving the organization.)</p> <p>The President may waive the application of sanctions against these entities if the President determines it to be in the national interest. <br> </p>

<html><body><pre>[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 416 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

&lt;DOC&gt;






118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 416

  To designate the Russian-based mercenary Wagner Group as a foreign 
            terrorist organization, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           February 14, 2023

  Mr. Wicker (for himself, Mr. Cardin, Mrs. Shaheen, Mr. Tillis, Mr. 
 Blumenthal, Mr. Graham, Mr. Whitehouse, and Mr. Rubio) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                           Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To designate the Russian-based mercenary Wagner Group as a foreign 
            terrorist organization, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLES.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Holding Accountable Russian 
Mercenaries Act'' or the ``HARM Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) The Secretary of State's designation of an entity as a 
        foreign terrorist organization results from a determination 
        that--
                    (A) the entity is foreign and engages in terrorism 
                or terrorist activity; and
                    (B) the terrorist activity threatens the security 
                of the United States or its nationals.
            (2) The activities of the Wagner Group and affiliated 
        entities of Russian national Yevgeniy Prigozhin pose a threat 
        to the national interests and national security of the United 
        States and allies and partners of the United States, including 
        with respect to Russia's war on Ukraine, which President Biden 
        declared, on March 2, 2022, ``pose[s] an unusual and 
        extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign 
        policy of the United States''.
            (3) On June 20, 2017, the Department of the Treasury's 
        Office of Foreign Assets Control designated the Wagner Group 
        and its military leader, Dmitry Utkin, pursuant to Executive 
        Order 13660 (50 U.S.C. 1701 note; relating to blocking property 
        of certain persons contributing to the situation in Ukraine) 
        ``for being responsible for or complicit in, or having engaged 
        in, directly or indirectly, actions or policies that threaten 
        the peace, security, stability, sovereignty or territorial 
        integrity of Ukraine''.
            (4) On September 20, 2018, the Department of State added 
        Yevgeniy Prigozhin and his affiliated entities, including the 
        Wagner Group, to the list of persons identified as part of, or 
        operating for or on behalf of, the defense or intelligence 
        sectors of the Government of the Russian Federation under 
        section 231 of the Countering America's Adversaries Through 
        Sanctions Act (22 U.S.C. 9525).
            (5) On January 20, 2023, a White House spokesperson 
        announced that the Department of the Treasury will designate 
        the Wagner Group as a significant transnational criminal 
        organization pursuant to Executive Order 13581 (50 U.S.C. 1701 
        note; relating to blocking property of transnational criminal 
        organizations), consistent with the authority granted to the 
        President under section 203(a) of the International Emergency 
        Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1702).
            (6) The Wagner Group, a self-described private actor that 
        undertakes military action and subversive operations at the 
        behest of the Government of the Russian Federation, is a 
        ``terrorist group'' that engages in ``terrorism'' (as defined 
        in section 140(d) of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, 
        Fiscal Year 1988 and 1989 (22 U.S.C. 2656f(d))), which is 
        ``premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated 
        against noncombatant targets by subnational groups or 
        clandestine agents''.
            (7) The Wagner Group and its affiliated entities have 
        committed, or are credibly accused of committing, terrorist 
        activity (as defined in section 212(a)(3)(B) of the Immigration 
        and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(3)(B))), through their 
        involvement in--
                    (A) the massacres, rape, and torture of civilians 
                in Bucha, Ukraine, in March 2022;
                    (B) the massacres in Moura, Mali, in March 2022;
                    (C) the massacres of migrant workers and civilians 
                in mining regions along the Sudan- Central African 
                Republic border in 2022;
                    (D) the murder of Russian journalists in the 
                Central African Republic in June 2018 as well as 
                threats against United States journalists investigating 
                such incident;
                    (E) the kidnapping of children in the Central 
                African Republic in 2022 to work in mines;
                    (F) the rape and sex trafficking of women and 
                children in the Central African Republic between 2018 
                and 2022;
                    (G) the sabotage and lethal suppression of civilian 
                protestors in Sudan in 2019;
                    (H) the use of nerve agents against Libya's 
                Government of National Accord and deployment of illegal 
                land mines and booby-traps in civilian areas of Tripoli 
                between 2019 and 2020;
                    (I) the torture and execution of a Syrian national 
                in June 2017;
                    (J) efforts to assassinate Ukrainian President 
                Volodymyr Zelensky in March 2022; and
                    (K) the receipt of weapons shipments initially 
                reported in December 2022 from the Democratic People's 
                Republic of Korea, which the Secretary of State had 
                designated a state sponsor of terrorism on November 20, 
                2017.

SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) the Russian-based mercenary Wagner Group meets the 
        criteria for designation by the Secretary of State as a foreign 
        terrorist organization under section 219(a) of the Immigration 
        and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1189(a)); and
            (2) the Secretary of State should designate the Wagner 
        Group as a foreign terrorist organization under such section 
        219(a).

SEC. 4. DESIGNATION OF THE MERCENARY WAGNER GROUP AS A FOREIGN 
              TERRORIST ORGANIZATION.

    (a) In General.--Upon the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 
State shall designate the Wagner Group as a foreign terrorist 
organization in accordance with section 219(a) of the Immigration and 
Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1189(a)).
    (b) Application.--The designation required under subsection (a) 
shall equally apply to any affiliated and successor entities to the 
Wagner Group undertaking malign activities against the United States 
and its allies and partners, including activities taking place in 
Ukraine, Africa, and the Middle East.
    (c) Waiver.--The President may waive the application of sanctions 
under this section if the President determines and reports to the 
appropriate congressional committees that such a waiver is in the 
national security interest of the United States.
    (d) Annual Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Secretary of State 
shall submit a report to the appropriate congressional committees 
describing the international activities of the Russian-based mercenary 
Wagner Group.
    (e) Defined Term.--In this section, the term ``appropriate 
congressional committees'' means--
            (1) the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate;
            (2) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate;
            (3) the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of 
        the Senate;
            (4) the Committee on Financial Services of the House of 
        Representatives;
            (5) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of 
        Representatives;
            (6) the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of 
        Representatives; and
            (7) the Committee on Armed Services of the House of 
        Representatives.
                                 &lt;all&gt;
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