I
105TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2708
To provide a framework for consideration by the legislative and executive
branches of unilateral economic sanctions.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
OCTOBER 23, 1997
Mr. HAMILTON (for himself, Mr. CRANE, Mr. KOLBE, Mr. BEREUTER, Mr.
EWING, Mr. MANZULLO, and Mr. BLUMENAUER) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on International Relations, and
in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means, and Banking and Fi-
nancial Services, 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 provide a framework for consideration by the legislative
and executive branches of unilateral economic sanctions.
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 ‘‘Enhancement of
Trade, Security, and Human Rights through Sanctions
Reform Act’’.
SEC. 2. PURPOSE.
It is the purpose of this Act to establish an effective
framework for consideration by the legislative and execu-
tive branches of unilateral economic sanctions.
SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY.
It is the policy of the United States—
(1) to pursue United States interests through
vigorous and effective diplomatic, political, commer-
cial, charitable, educational, cultural, and strategic
engagement with other countries, while recognizing
that the national security interests of the United
States may sometimes require the imposition of eco-
nomic sanctions on other countries;
(2) to foster multilateral cooperation on vital
matters of United States foreign policy, including
promoting human rights and democracy, combating
international terrorism, proliferation of weapons of
mass destruction, and international narcotics traf-
ficking, and ensuring adequate environmental pro-
tection;
(3) to promote United States economic growth
and job creation by expanding exports of goods,
services, and agricultural commodities, and by en-
couraging investment that supports the sale abroad
of products and services of the United States;
(4) to maintain the reputation of United States
businesses and farmers as reliable suppliers to inter-
national customers of quality products and services,
including United States manufactures, technology
products, financial services, and agricultural com-
modities;
(5) to avoid the use of restrictions on exports
of agricultural commodities as a foreign policy weap-
on;
(6) to oppose policies of other countries de-
signed to discourage economic interaction with coun-
tries friendly to the United States or with any Unit-
ed States national, and to avoid use of such meas-
ures as instruments of United States foreign policy;
and
(7) when economic sanctions are necessary—
(A) to target them as narrowly as possible
on those foreign governments, entities, and offi-
cials that are responsible for the conduct being
targeted, thereby minimizing unnecessary or
disproportionate harm to individuals who are
not responsible for such conduct; and
(B) to the extent feasible, to avoid any ad-
verse impact of economic sanctions on the hu-
manitarian activities of United States and for-
eign nongovernmental organizations in a coun-
try against which sanctions are imposed.
SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.
As used in this Act:
(1) UNILATERAL ECONOMIC SANCTION.—
(A) IN
GENERAL.—The term ‘‘unilateral
economic sanction’’ means any restriction or
condition on economic activity with respect to a
foreign country or foreign entity that is im-
posed by the United States for reasons of for-
eign policy or national security, including any of
the measures described in subparagraph (B),
except in a case in which the United States im-
poses the measure pursuant to a multilateral
regime and the other members of that regime
have agreed to impose substantially equivalent
measures.
(B) PARTICULAR MEASURES.—The meas-
ures referred to in subparagraph (A) are the
following:
(i) The suspension, restriction, or pro-
hibition of exports or imports of any prod-
uct, technology, or service to or from a for-
eign country or entity.
(ii) The suspension of, or any restric-
tion or prohibition on, financial trans-
actions with a foreign country or entity.
(iii) The suspension of, or any restric-
tion or prohibition on, direct or indirect in-
vestment in or from a foreign country or
entity.
(iv) The imposition of increased tar-
iffs on, or other restrictions on imports of,
products of a foreign country or entity, in-
cluding the denial, revocation, or condi-
tioning 
of 
nondiscriminatory 
(most-fa-
vored-nation) trade treatment.
(v) The suspension of, or any restric-
tion or prohibition on—
(I) the authority of the Export-
Import Bank of the United States to
give approval to the issuance of any
guarantee, insurance, or extension of
credit in connection with the export of
goods or services to a foreign country
or entity;
(II) the authority of the Trade
and Development Agency to provide
assistance in connection with projects
in a foreign country or in which a
particular foreign entity participates;
or
(III) the authority of the Over-
seas Private Investment Corporation
to provide insurance, reinsurance, fi-
nancing, or conduct other activities in
connection with projects in a foreign
country or in which a particular for-
eign entity participates.
(vi) A requirement that the United
States representative to an international fi-
nancial institution vote against any loan or
other utilization of funds to, for, or in a
foreign country or particular foreign entity.
(vii) A measure imposing any restric-
tion or condition on economic activity on
any foreign government or entity on the
ground that such government or entity
does business in or with a foreign country.
(viii) A measure imposing any restric-
tion or condition on economic activity on
any person that is a national of a foreign
country, or on any government or other en-
tity of a foreign country, on the ground
that the government of that country has
not taken measures in cooperation with, or
similar to, sanctions imposed by the Unit-
ed States on a third country.
(ix) The suspension of, or any restric-
tion or prohibition on, travel rights or air
transportation to or from a foreign coun-
try.
(x) Any restriction on the filing or
maintenance in a foreign country of any
proprietary interest in intellectual property
rights (including patents, copyrights, and
trademarks), including payment of patent
maintenance fees.
(C) MULTILATERAL REGIME.—As used in
this paragraph, the term ‘‘multilateral regime’’
means an agreement, arrangement, or obliga-
tion under which the United States cooperates
with other countries in restricting commerce for
reasons of foreign policy or national security,
including—
(i) obligations under resolutions of the
United Nations;
(ii) nonproliferation and export con-
trol arrangements, such as the Australia
Group, the Nuclear Supplier’s Group, the
Missile Technology Control Regime, and
the Wassenaar Arrangement;
(iii) treaty obligations, such as under
the Chemical Weapons Convention, the
Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear
Weapons, and the Biological Weapons Con-
vention; and
(iv) agreements concerning protection
of the environment, such as the Inter-
national Convention for the Conservation
of Atlantic Tunas, the Declaration of Pan-
ama referred to in section 2(a)(1) of the
International Dolphin Conservation Act
(16 U.S.C. 1361 note), the Convention on
International Trade in Endangered Spe-
cies, the Montreal Protocol on Substances
that Deplete the Ozone Layer, and the
Basel Convention on the Control of
Transboundary Movements of Hazardous
Wastes.
(D) FINANCIAL
TRANSACTION.—As used
in this paragraph, the term ‘‘financial trans-
action’’ has the meaning given that term in sec-
tion 1956(c)(4) of title 18, United States Code.
(E) INVESTMENT.—As used in this para-
graph, the term ‘‘investment’’ means any con-
tribution or commitment of funds, commodities,
services, patents, or other forms of intellectual
property, processes, or techniques, including—
(i) a loan or loans;
(ii) the purchase of a share of owner-
ship;
(iii) participation in royalties, earn-
ings, or profits; and
(iv) the furnishing or commodities or
services pursuant to a lease or other con-
tract.
(F) EXCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘unilateral
economic sanction’’ does not include—
(i) any measure imposed to remedy
unfair trade practices or to enforce United
States rights under a trade agreement, in-
cluding under section 337 of the Tariff Act
of 1930, title VII of that Act, title III of
the Trade Act of 1974, sections 1374 and
1377 of the Omnibus Trade and Competi-
tiveness Act of 1988 (19 U.S.C. 3103 and
3106), and section 3 of the Act of March
3, 1933 (41 U.S.C. 10b-1);
(ii) any measure imposed to remedy
market disruption or to respond to injury
to a domestic industry for which increased
imports are a substantial cause or threat
thereof, including remedies under sections
201 and 406 of the Trade Act of 1974,
and textile import restrictions (including
those imposed under section 204 of the
Agricultural Act of 1956 (7 U.S.C. 1784));
(iii) any action taken under title IV of
the Trade Act of 1974, including the en-
actment of a joint resolution under section
402(d)(2) of that Act;
(iv) any measure imposed to restrict
imports of agricultural commodities to pro-
tect food safety or to ensure the orderly
marketing of commodities in the United
States, including actions taken under sec-
tion 22 of the Agricultural Adjustment Act
(7 U.S.C. 624);
(v) any measure imposed to restrict
imports of any other products in order to
protect domestic health or safety;
(vi) any measure authorized by, or im-
posed under, a multilateral or bilateral
trade agreement to which the United
States is a signatory, including the Uru-
guay Round Agreements, the North Amer-
ican Free Trade Agreement, the United
States-Israel Free Trade Agreement, and
the United States-Canada Free Trade
Agreement; and
(vii) any export control imposed on
any item on the United States Munitions
List.
(2) NATIONAL
EMERGENCY.—The term ‘‘na-
tional emergency’’ means any unusual or extraor-
dinary threat, which has its source in whole or sub-
stantial part outside the United States, to the na-
tional security, foreign policy, or economy of the
United States.
(3) AGRICULTURAL
COMMODITY.—The term
‘‘agricultural commodity’’ has the meaning given
that term in section 102(1) of the Agricultural
Trade Act of 1978 (7 U.S.C. 5602(1)).
(4) APPROPRIATE
COMMITTEES.—The term
‘‘appropriate committees’’ means the Committee on
Agriculture, the Committee on International Rela-
tions, the Committee on Ways and Means, and the
Committee on Banking and Financial Services of the