I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1493 
To address state-sponsored cyber activities against the United States, and 
for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 4, 2019 
Mr. YOHO (for himself, Mr. MCCAUL, Mr. LANGEVIN, Mrs. LESKO, Mr. SHER-
MAN, Mr. GOSAR, Mr. CURTIS, Mr. TED LIEU of California, Mr. SCHNEI-
DER, Mr. MEADOWS, Mr. CHABOT, Mr. FITZPATRICK, and Mr. 
RATCLIFFE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committees on Finan-
cial Services, Oversight and Reform, and the Judiciary, for a period to 
be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consider-
ation of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 
concerned 
A BILL 
To address state-sponsored cyber activities against the 
United States, 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 ‘‘Cyber Deterrence and 
Response Act of 2019’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:21 Mar 20, 2019
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H1493.IH
H1493
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
(1) On February 13, 2018, the Director of Na-
tional Intelligence stated in his testimony before the 
Senate Select Committee on Intelligence that ‘‘Rus-
sia, China, Iran, and North Korea will pose the 
greatest cyber threats to the United States during 
the next year’’ through the use of cyber operations 
as low-cost tools of statecraft, and assessed that 
these states would ‘‘work to use cyber operations to 
achieve strategic objectives unless they face clear re-
percussions for their cyber operations’’. 
(2) The 2017 Worldwide Threat Assessment of 
the United States Intelligence Community stated 
that ‘‘The potential for surprise in the cyber realm 
will increase in the next year and beyond as billions 
more digital devices are connected—with relatively 
little built-in security—and both nation states and 
malign actors become more emboldened and better 
equipped in the use of increasingly widespread cyber 
toolkits. The risk is growing that some adversaries 
will conduct cyber attacks—such as data deletion or 
localized and temporary disruptions of critical infra-
structure—against the United States in a crisis 
short of war.’’. 
(3) On March 29, 2017, President Donald J. 
Trump deemed it necessary to continue the national 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:21 Mar 20, 2019
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H1493.IH
H1493
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
emergency declared in Executive Order No. 13694 
as ‘‘Significant malicious cyber-enabled activities 
originating from, or directed by persons located, in 
whole or in substantial part, outside the United 
States, continue to pose an unusual and extraor-
dinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, 
and economy of the United States.’’. 
(4) On January 5, 2017, former Director of 
National Intelligence, James Clapper, former Under-
secretary of Defense for Intelligence, Marcel Lettre, 
and the Commander of the United States Cyber 
Command, Admiral Michael Rogers, submitted joint 
testimony to the Committee on Armed Services of 
the Senate that stated ‘‘As of late 2016 more than 
30 nations are developing offensive cyber attack ca-
pabilities’’ and that ‘‘Protecting critical infrastruc-
ture, such as crucial energy, financial, manufac-
turing, transportation, communication, and health 
systems, will become an increasingly complex na-
tional security challenge.’’. 
(5) There is significant evidence that hackers 
affiliated with foreign governments have conducted 
cyber operations targeting companies and critical in-
frastructure sectors in the United States as the De-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:21 Mar 20, 2019
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H1493.IH
H1493
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
partment of Justice and the Department of the 
Treasury have announced that— 
(A) on March 15, 2018, five Russian enti-
ties and 19 Russian individuals were designated 
under the Countering America’s Adversaries 
Through Sanctions Act, as well as pursuant to 
Executive Order No. 13694, for interference in 
the 2016 United States elections and other ma-
licious cyber-enabled activities; 
(B) on March 24, 2016, seven Iranians 
working for Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps- 
affiliated entities were indicted for conducting 
distributed denial of service attacks against the 
financial sector in the United States from 2012 
to 2013; and 
(C) on May 19, 2014, five Chinese military 
hackers were charged for hacking United States 
companies in the nuclear power, metals, and 
solar products industries, and engaging in eco-
nomic espionage. 
(6) In May 2017, North Korea released 
‘‘WannaCry’’ pseudo-ransomware, which posed a sig-
nificant risk to the economy, national security, and 
the citizens of the United States and the world, as 
it resulted in the infection of over 300,000 computer 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:21 Mar 20, 2019
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H1493.IH
H1493
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
systems in more than 150 countries, including in the 
healthcare sector of the United Kingdom, dem-
onstrating the global reach and cost of cyber-enabled 
malicious activity. 
(7) In June 2017, Russia carried out the most 
destructive cyber-enabled operation in history, re-
leasing the NotPetya malware that caused billions of 
dollars’ worth of damage within Ukraine and across 
Europe, Asia, and the Americas. 
(8) In May 2018, the Department of State, 
pursuant to section 3(b) of Executive Order No. 
13800, prepared recommendations to the President 
on Deterring Adversaries and Better Protecting the 
American People From Cyber Threats, which stated 
‘‘With respect to activities below the threshold of the 
use of force, the United States should, working with 
likeminded partners when possible, adopt an ap-
proach of imposing swift, costly, and transparent 
consequences on foreign governments responsible for 
significant malicious cyber activities aimed at harm-
ing U.S. national interests.’’. 
SEC. 3. ACTIONS TO ADDRESS STATE-SPONSORED CYBER 
ACTIVITIES AGAINST THE UNITED STATES. 
(a) DESIGNATION AS A CRITICAL CYBER THREAT 
ACTOR.— 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:21 Mar 20, 2019
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H1493.IH
H1493
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
(1) 
IN
GENERAL.—The 
President, 
acting 
through the Secretary of State, and in coordination 
with other relevant Federal agency heads, shall des-
ignate as a critical cyber threat actor— 
(A) each foreign person and each agency 
or instrumentality of a foreign state that the 
President determines to be knowingly respon-
sible for or complicit in, or have engaged in, di-
rectly or indirectly, state-sponsored cyber activi-
ties that are reasonably likely to result in, or 
have contributed to, a significant threat to the 
national security, foreign policy, or economic 
health or financial stability of the United States 
and that have the purpose or effect of— 
(i) causing a significant disruption to 
the availability of a computer or network 
of computers; 
(ii) harming, or otherwise significantly 
compromising the provision of service by, a 
computer or network of computers that 
support one or more entities in a critical 
infrastructure sector; 
(iii) significantly compromising the 
provision of services by one or more enti-
ties in a critical infrastructure sector; 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:21 Mar 20, 2019
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00006
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H1493.IH
H1493
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
(iv) causing a significant misappro-
priation of funds or economic resources, 
trade secrets, personal identifiers, or finan-
cial information for commercial or competi-
tive advantage or private financial gain; 
(v) destabilizing the financial sector of 
the United States by tampering with, alter-
ing, or causing a misappropriation of data; 
or 
(vi) interfering with or undermining 
election processes or institutions by tam-
pering with, altering, or causing misappro-
priation of data; 
(B) each foreign person that the President 
has determined to have knowingly, significantly, 
and materially assisted, sponsored, or provided 
financial, material, or technological support for, 
or goods or services to or in support of, any ac-
tivities described in subparagraph (A) by a for-
eign person or agency or instrumentality of a 
foreign state designated as a critical cyber 
threat actor under subparagraph (A); and 
(C) each agency or instrumentality of a 
foreign state that the President has determined 
to have significantly and materially assisted, 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:21 Mar 20, 2019
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00007
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H1493.IH
H1493
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
sponsored, or provided financial, material, or 
technological support for, or goods or services 
to or in support of, any activities described in 
subparagraph (A) by a foreign person or agency 
or instrumentality of a foreign state designated 
as a critical cyber threat actor under subpara-
graph (A). 
(2) TRANSMISSION
TO
CONGRESS.—Not later 
than 7 days after designating a foreign person or 
agency or instrumentality of a foreign state as a 
critical cyber threat actor, the President shall trans-
mit to the appropriate congressional committees in 
classified or unclassified form a report identifying 
the designee. 
(b) NON-TRAVEL-RELATED SANCTIONS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The President shall impose 
one or more of the applicable sanctions described in 
paragraph (2) with respect to each foreign person 
and each agency or instrumentality of a foreign 
state designated as a critical cyber threat actor 
under subsection (a). 
(2) SANCTIONS DESCRIBED.—The sanctions de-
scribed in this paragraph are the following: 
(A) The President may provide for the 
withdrawal, limitation, or suspension of non-hu-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:21 Mar 20, 2019
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00008
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H1493.IH
H1493
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
(iii) the Atomic Energy Act of 1954; 
or 
(iv) any other statute that requires 
the prior review and approval of the 
United States Government as a condition 
for the export or re-export of goods or 
services. 
(H)(i) The President may exercise all of 
the powers granted to the President under the 
International Emergency Economic Powers Act 
(50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) (except that the re-
quirements of section 202 of such Act (50 
U.S.C. 1701) shall not apply) to the extent nec-
essary to block and prohibit all transactions in 
property and interests in property of the des-
ignated foreign person if such property and in-
terests in property are in the United States, 
come within the United States, or are or come 
within the possession or control of a United 
States person. 
(ii) The penalties provided for in sub-
sections (b) and (c) of section 206 of the Inter-
national Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 
U.S.C. 1705) shall apply to a person that vio-
lates, attempts to violate, conspires to violate, 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:21 Mar 20, 2019
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00011
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H1493.IH
H1493
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
or causes a violation of regulations prescribed 
under clause (i) to the same extent that such 
penalties apply to a person that commits an un-
lawful act described in subsection (a) of such 
section 206. 
(I) The President may, pursuant to such 
regulations as the President may prescribe, pro-
hibit any transfers of credit or payments be-
tween one or more financial institutions or by, 
through, or to any financial institution, to the 
extent that such transfers or payments are sub-
ject to the jurisdiction of the United States and 
involve any interest of the designated foreign 
person. 
(c) TRAVEL-RELATED SANCTIONS.— 
(1) ALIENS INELIGIBLE FOR VISAS, ADMISSION, 
OR PAROLE.—An alien who is designated as a crit-
ical cyber threat actor under subsection (a) is— 
(A) inadmissible to the United States; 
(B) ineligible to receive a visa or other doc-
umentation to enter the United States; and 
(C) otherwise ineligible to be admitted or 
paroled into the United States or to receive any 
other benefit under the Immigration and Na-
tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.). 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:21 Mar 20, 2019
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00012
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H1493.IH
H1493
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
(2) CURRENT
VISAS
REVOKED.—The issuing 
consular officer, the Secretary of State, or the Sec-
retary of Homeland Security (or a designee of either 
such Secretaries) shall revoke any visa or other 
entry documentation issued to the foreign person 
designated as a critical cyber threat actor under sub-
section (a) regardless of when issued. A revocation 
under this clause shall take effect immediately and 
shall automatically cancel any other valid visa or 
entry documentation that is in the possession of 
such foreign person. 
(d) ADDITIONAL SANCTIONS WITH RESPECT
TO 
FOREIGN STATES.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The President may impose 
any of the sanctions described in paragraph (2) with 
respect to the government of each foreign state that 
the President has determined aided, abetted, or di-
rected a foreign person or agency or instrumentality 
of a foreign state designated as a critical cyber 
threat actor under subsection (a). 
(2) SANCTIONS DESCRIBED.—The sanctions re-
ferred to in paragraph (1) are the following: 
(A) The President may provide for the 
withdrawal, limitation, or suspension of non-hu-
manitarian 
or 
non-trade-related 
assistance 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:21 Mar 20, 2019
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00013
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H1493.IH
H1493
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
United States development assistance under 
chapter 1 of part I of the Foreign Assistance 
Act of 1961. 
(B) The President may provide for the 
withdrawal, limitation, or suspension of United 
States security assistance under part II of the 
Foreign Assistance Act of 1961. 
(C) The President may instruct the United 
States Executive Director to each appropriate 
international financial institution to oppose, and 
vote against the extension by such institution of 
any loan or financial assistance to the govern-
ment of the foreign state. 
(D) No item on the United States Muni-
tions List (established pursuant to section 38 of 
the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 
2778)) or the Commerce Control List set forth 
in Supplement No. 1 to part 774 of title 15, 
Code of Federal Regulations, may be exported 
to the government of the foreign state. 
(e) IMPLEMENTATION.—The President may exercise 
all authorities provided under sections 203 and 205 of the 
International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 
U.S.C. 1702 and 1704) to carry out this section. 
(f) COORDINATION.—To the extent practicable— 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:21 Mar 20, 2019
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00014
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H1493.IH
H1493
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
(1) actions taken by the President pursuant to 
this section should be coordinated with United 
States allies and partners; and 
(2) the Secretary of State should work with 
United States allies and partners, on a voluntary 
basis, to lead an international diplomatic initiative 
to— 
(A) deter critical cyber threat actors and 
state-sponsored cyber activities; and 
(B) provide mutual support to such allies 
and partners participating in such initiative to 
respond to such state-sponsored cyber activities. 
(g) EXEMPTIONS, WAIVERS, AND REMOVALS
OF 
SANCTIONS AND DESIGNATIONS.— 
(1) MANDATORY EXEMPTIONS.—The following 
activities shall be exempt from sanctions under sub-
sections (b), (c), and (d): 
(A) Activities subject to the reporting re-
quirements of title V of the National Security 
Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 413 et seq.), or to any 
authorized intelligence activities of the United 
States. 
(B) Any transaction necessary to comply 
with United States obligations under the Agree-
ment between the United Nations and the 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:21 Mar 20, 2019
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00015
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H1493.IH
H1493
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS