I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4914 
To impose sanctions against foreign persons and foreign governments in 
response to certain clandestine attacks on United States personnel, and 
for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
AUGUST 3, 2021 
Mr. MCCAUL (for himself, Ms. SALAZAR, Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, Mr. 
MEIJER, Mr. JACKSON, Mr. MAST, Mrs. KIM of California, Ms. TENNEY, 
Mr. GREEN of Tennessee, Ms. MALLIOTAKIS, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. 
KINZINGER, Mr. CHABOT, Mr. BURCHETT, and Mr. BARR) introduced 
the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Af-
fairs, and in addition to the Committees on the Judiciary, and Financial 
Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 
each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdic-
tion of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To impose sanctions against foreign persons and foreign 
governments in response to certain clandestine attacks 
on United States personnel, 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 ‘‘Havana Syndrome At-
tacks Response Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) United States personnel have suffered per-
sistent brain injuries after being targeted in attacks 
that have been increasing in number, geographic lo-
cation, and audacity. 
(2) In December 2016, a number of United 
States Embassy personnel in Havana, Cuba, began 
to experience the acute and sudden onset of unusual 
symptoms, usually concurrent with the perceived 
onset of a loud, directional noise, often accompanied 
by pain in the ears or the head and a sensation of 
pressure or vibration. 
(3) Symptoms, which have been chronic for 
some personnel, have included dizziness, hearing loss 
and tinnitus, vertigo, cognitive and motor impair-
ment, severe headaches, and insomnia. 
(4) A panel of experts convened by the Depart-
ment of State’s Bureau of Medical Services in July 
2017 to review triage assessments of medically eval-
uated personnel from the United States Embassy in 
Havana came to consensus that the findings were 
most likely related to neurotrauma from a non-
natural source. 
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(5) On August 11, 2017, Secretary of State 
Rex Tillerson characterized these episodes as ‘‘health 
attacks’’ against United States personnel in Cuba. 
(6) On September 29, 2017, the Department of 
State ordered the departure of non-essential per-
sonnel from the United States Embassy in Havana 
and issued a formal Cuba Travel Warning that stat-
ed: ‘‘Over the past several months, numerous U.S. 
Embassy Havana employees have been targeted in 
specific attacks. These employees have suffered sig-
nificant injuries as a consequence of these attacks.’’. 
(7) Other personnel at the United States Con-
sulate in Guangzhou, China, reported similar experi-
ences beginning in 2017. 
(8) A 2018 report, published in the Journal of 
the American Medical Association, based on clinical 
evaluation of affected personnel from United States 
Embassy, Havana, stated: ‘‘These individuals ap-
peared to have sustained injury to widespread brain 
networks without an associated history of head trau-
ma.’’. 
(9) The number and locations of these attacks 
have significantly expanded and, according to press 
reporting, as of May 2021 there have been more 
than 130 possible cases that have occurred in Asia, 
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in Europe, and in the Western Hemisphere, includ-
ing within the United States. 
(10) According to press reporting, these attacks 
have occurred, among other places, at the homes of 
United States personnel, at hotels, and on public 
streets, including in the immediate vicinity of the 
White House, in Washington, DC. 
(11) A 2020 report by the National Academy of 
Sciences (NAS) found that ‘‘many of the distinctive 
and acute signs, symptoms, and observations re-
ported by [affected] employees are consistent with 
the effects of directed, pulsed radio frequency (RF) 
energy’’ and that ‘‘directed pulsed RF energy . . . 
appears to be the most plausible mechanism in ex-
plaining these cases’’. 
(12) According to the NAS report, ‘‘such a sce-
nario raises grave concerns about a world with 
disinhibited malevolent actors and new tools for 
causing harm to others’’. 
(13) The continuing and expanding scope of 
these attacks has become a serious security concern 
that is also undermining the morale of United States 
personnel, especially those posted at overseas diplo-
matic missions. 
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(14) Article 22 of the Vienna Convention on 
Diplomatic Relations states that ‘‘The receiving 
State is under a special duty to take all appropriate 
steps to protect the premises of [a foreign] mission 
against any intrusion or damage and to prevent any 
disturbance of the peace of the mission or impair-
ment of its dignity.’’. 
(15) The Convention on the Prevention and 
Punishment of Crimes against Internationally Pro-
tected Persons, including Diplomatic Agents, to 
which 180 countries are a party, protects diplomatic 
personnel from attacks on their persons, accom-
modations, or means of transport, and requires all 
state parties to punish and take measures to prevent 
such grave crimes. 
SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 
It is the policy of the United States— 
(1) to detect, deter, and punish clandestine at-
tacks that cause persistent brain injury in United 
States personnel; 
(2) to provide appropriate assistance to United 
States personnel harmed by such attacks; 
(3) to hold responsible any persons, entities, or 
governments involved in ordering or carrying out 
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such attacks, including through appropriate sanc-
tions and criminal prosecutions; 
(4) to prioritize research into effective counter-
measures to help protect United States personnel 
from such attacks; and 
(5) to convey to foreign governments through 
official contact at the highest levels the gravity of 
United States concern about such attacks and the 
seriousness of consequences that may follow should 
attacks continue. 
SEC. 4. IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS AGAINST FOREIGN 
PERSONS IN RESPONSE TO CERTAIN CLAN-
DESTINE ATTACKS ON UNITED STATES PER-
SONNEL. 
(a) IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS.—The President shall 
impose the sanctions described in subsection (b) with re-
spect to any foreign person that the President determines, 
on or after the date of the enactment of this Act, know-
ingly has directed or carried out clandestine attacks on 
United States personnel that have resulted in brain injury 
to those personnel. 
(b) SANCTIONS
DESCRIBED.—The sanctions de-
scribed in this subsection are the following: 
(1) BLOCKING OF PROPERTY.—The President 
shall block, in accordance with the International 
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