I 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 6528 
To encourage State and local governments to prohibit certain investment 
activities in the People’s Republic of China, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
NOVEMBER 30, 2023 
Mr. JOHNSON of South Dakota (for himself, Mr. MOOLENAAR, Mr. WITTMAN, 
Mrs. HINSON, and Mr. GIMENEZ) introduced the following bill; which was 
referred to the Committee on Financial Services 
A BILL 
To encourage State and local governments to prohibit certain 
investment activities in the People’s Republic of China, 
and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘PRC Accountability 
and Divestment Act of 2023’’. 
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SEC. 2. AUTHORITY OF STATE OR LOCAL GOVERNMENTS 
TO DIVEST FROM CERTAIN ENTITIES THAT 
INVEST IN CHINA. 
(a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con-
gress that the United States should support the decision 
of any State or local government that for moral, pruden-
tial, or reputational reasons divests from, or prohibits the 
investment of assets of the State or local government in, 
a person that engages in investment activities in the Peo-
ple’s Republic of China, as described in subsection (c). 
(b) AUTHORITY TO DIVEST.—Notwithstanding any 
other provision of law, a State or local government may 
adopt and enforce measures that meet the requirements 
of subsection (d) to divest the assets of the State or local 
government from, or prohibit investment of the assets of 
the State or local government in, any person that the 
State or local government determines, using credible infor-
mation available to the public, engages in investment ac-
tivities in the People’s Republic of China described in sub-
section (c). 
(c) INVESTMENT ACTIVITIES DESCRIBED.—A person 
described in this subsection engages in investment activi-
ties in the People’s Republic of China if the person has 
an investment in any of the following: 
(1) A Chinese entity— 
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(A) designated by Executive Order 13959 
(50 U.S.C. 1701 note; relating to addressing 
the threat from securities investments that fi-
nance Communist Chinese military companies); 
(B) designated by Executive Order 14105 
(88 Fed. Reg. 54867; relating to addressing 
United States investments in certain national 
security technologies and products in countries 
of concern); or 
(C) included in the List of Specially Des-
ignated Nationals and Blocked Persons main-
tained by the Office of Foreign Assets Control. 
(2) A Chinese entity— 
(A) included on the Non-SDN Chinese 
Military-Industrial Complex Companies List 
(NS–CMIC List) maintained by the Office of 
Foreign Assets Control of the Department of 
the Treasury under Executive Order 14032; 
(B) that is a Chinese military company or 
a military-civil fusion contributor and included 
on the list maintained by the Department of 
Defense in accordance with section 1260H(b) of 
the National Defense Authorization Act for Fis-
cal Year 2021 (10 U.S.C. 113 note); 
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(C) included on the list required under sec-
tion 1237 of the National Defense Authoriza-
tion Act for Fiscal Year 1999 (50 U.S.C. 1701 
note); 
(D) included on the Entity List set forth 
in Supplement No. 4 to part 744 of the Export 
Administration Regulations; 
(E) included on the Denied Persons List 
described in section 764.3(a)(2) of the Export 
Administration Regulations; 
(F) included on the Unverified List set 
forth in Supplement No. 6 to part 744 of the 
Export Administration Regulations; 
(G) included on the Military End User 
List set forth in Supplement No. 7 to part 744 
of the Export Administration Regulations; 
(H) that produces or provides communica-
tions equipment or service on the list published 
by the Federal Communications Commission 
under section 2(a) of the Secure and Trusted 
Communications Networks Act of 2019 (47 
U.S.C. 1601(a)); 
(I) included on the on the Uyghur Forced 
Labor Prevention Act Entity List, maintained 
by the Department of Homeland Security; 
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(J) included on the Withhold Release Or-
ders and Findings List maintained by the Com-
missioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protec-
tion pursuant to the Uyghur Forced Labor Pre-
vention Act (Public Law 117–78); 
(K) included on the list of covered issuers 
(as defined in section 104 of the Sarbanes- 
Oxley Act of 2002 (15 U.S.C. 7214)) main-
tained by the Securities and Exchange Commis-
sion; or 
(L) any other list maintained by the 
United States Government that designates a 
Chinese entities for a restriction relating to in-
vestment, contracting, or procurement. 
(3) A Chinese entity otherwise subject to the 
control of a Chinese entity listed in (1) or (2). 
(4) Any agency or instrumentality of the Peo-
ple’s Republic of China. 
(d) REQUIREMENTS.—Any measure taken by a State 
or local government under subsection (b) shall meet the 
following requirements: 
(1) NOTICE.—The State or local government 
shall provide written notice to each person to which 
a measure is to be applied. 
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(2) TIMING.—The measure shall apply to a per-
son not earlier than the date that is 90 days after 
the date on which written notice is provided to the 
person under paragraph (1). 
(3) OPPORTUNITY FOR HEARING.—The State 
or local government shall provide an opportunity to 
comment in writing to each person to which a meas-
ure is to be applied. If the person demonstrates to 
the State or local government that the person does 
not engage in investment activities in the People’s 
Republic of China described in subsection (c), the 
measure shall not apply to the person. 
(4) SENSE OF CONGRESS ON AVOIDING ERRO-
NEOUS
TARGETING.—It is the sense of Congress 
that a State or local government should not adopt 
a measure under subsection (b) with respect to a 
person unless the State or local government has 
made every effort to avoid erroneously targeting the 
person and has verified that the person engages in 
investment activities in the People’s Republic of 
China described in subsection (c). 
(e) NOTICE
TO DEPARTMENT
OF JUSTICE.—Not 
later than 30 days after adopting a measure pursuant to 
subsection (b), a State or local government shall submit 
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written notice to the Attorney General describing the 
measure. 
(f) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—A Federal law or reg-
ulation, including this Act, shall not preempt any measure 
of a State or local government authorized under sub-
section (b). 
(g) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para-
graph (2) or subsection (h), this section applies to 
measures adopted by a State or local government be-
fore, on, or after the date of the enactment of this 
Act. 
(2) NOTICE REQUIREMENTS.—Except as pro-
vided in subsection (h), subsections (d) and (e) apply 
to measures adopted by a State or local government 
on or after the date of the enactment of this Act. 
(h) AUTHORIZATION FOR PRIOR ENACTED MEAS-
URES.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 
provision of this section or any other provision of 
law, a State or local government may enforce a 
measure (without regard to the requirements of sub-
section (d), except as provided in paragraph (2)) 
adopted by the State or local government before the 
date of the enactment of this Act that provides for 
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