IIB 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 526 
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
JULY 16, 2019 
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 
AN ACT 
To promote free and fair elections, political freedoms, and 
human rights in Cambodia, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Cambodia Democracy 
Act of 2019’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) Prime Minister Hun Sen has been in power 
in Cambodia since 1985 and is the longest-serving 
leader in Southeast Asia. Despite decades of inter-
national attention and assistance to promote a plu-
ralistic, multi-party democratic system in Cambodia, 
the Government of Cambodia continues to be 
undemocratically dominated by the ruling Cambodia 
People’s Party (CPP), which controls every agency 
and security apparatus of the state. 
(2) In 2015, the CPP-controlled parliament 
passed the ‘‘Law on Associations and Non-Govern-
mental Organizations’’, which gave the government 
sweeping powers to revoke the registration of NGOs 
that the government believed to be operating with a 
political bias in a blatant attempt to restrict the le-
gitimate work of civil society. On August 23, 2017, 
Cambodia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs ordered the 
closure of the National Democratic Institute and the 
expulsion of its foreign staff. On September 15, 
2017, Prime Minister Hun Sen called for the with-
drawal of all volunteers from the United States 
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Peace Corps, which has operated in Cambodia since 
2006 with 500 United States volunteers providing 
English language and healthcare training. 
(3) The Government of Cambodia has taken 
several measures to restrict its media environment, 
especially through politicized tax investigations 
against independent media outlets that resulted in 
the closure of The Cambodian Daily and Radio Free 
Asia in early September 2017. Additionally, the Gov-
ernment of Cambodia has ordered several radio sta-
tions to stop the broadcasting of Radio Free Asia 
and Voice of America programming. 
(4) On September 3, 2017, Kem Sokha, the 
President of the Cambodia National Rescue Party 
(CNRP), was arrested on politically motivated 
charges, including treason and conspiring to over-
throw the Government of Cambodia, and faces up to 
30 years in prison. The CNRP’s previous leader, 
Sam Rainsy, remains in exile. On November 16, 
2017, Cambodia’s Supreme Court dissolved the 
CNRP, eliminating the primary opposition party. 
(5) Each of the six elections that have taken 
place in Cambodia since 1991 were conducted in cir-
cumstances that were not free and fair, and were 
marked by fraud, intimidation, violence, and the gov-
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ernment’s misuse of legal mechanisms to weaken op-
position candidates and parties. 
(6) In the most recent general election in July 
2018, following the dissolution of the CNRP, the 
CPP secured every parliamentary seat, an electoral 
victory that a statement from the White House 
Press Secretary stated was ‘‘neither free nor fair 
and failed to represent the will of the Cambodian 
people’’. 
(7) The United States is committed to pro-
moting democracy, human rights, and the rule of 
law in Cambodia. The United States continues to 
urge the Government of Cambodia to immediately 
release Mr. Kem Sokha, reinstate the political status 
of the CNRP and restore its elected seats in the Na-
tional Assembly, and support electoral reform efforts 
in Cambodia with free and fair elections monitored 
by international observers. 
SEC. 3. SANCTIONS RELATING TO UNDERMINING DEMOC-
RACY IN CAMBODIA. 
(a) DESIGNATION OF PERSONS RESPONSIBLE FOR 
UNDERMINING DEMOCRACY IN CAMBODIA.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 
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President shall designate and transmit to the appro-
priate congressional committees a list of— 
(A) each senior official of the government, 
military, or security forces of Cambodia who the 
President determines has directly and substan-
tially undermined democracy in Cambodia; 
(B) each senior official of the government, 
military, or security forces of Cambodia who the 
President determines has committed or directed 
serious human rights violations associated with 
undermining democracy in Cambodia; and 
(C) entities owned or controlled by senior 
officials of the government, military, or security 
forces of Cambodia described in subparagraphs 
(A) and (B). 
(2) IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS.—The President 
shall impose the sanctions described in subsection 
(b) on each foreign person designated pursuant to 
paragraph (1). 
(3) UPDATES.—The President shall transmit to 
the appropriate congressional committees updated 
lists under paragraph (1) as new information be-
comes available. 
(b) SANCTIONS
DESCRIBED.—The sanctions de-
scribed in this subsection are the following: 
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(1) ASSET BLOCKING.—The President shall ex-
ercise all of the powers granted to the President 
under the International Emergency Economic Pow-
ers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) to the extent nec-
essary to block and prohibit all transactions in prop-
erty and interests in property of a foreign person 
designated under subsection (a) if such property and 
interests 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. 
(2) INADMISSIBILITY
OF
CERTAIN
INDIVID-
UALS.— 
(A) INELIGIBILITY FOR VISAS AND ADMIS-
SION TO THE UNITED STATES.—A foreign per-
son designated under subsection (a) is— 
(i) inadmissible to the United States; 
(ii) ineligible to receive a visa or other 
documentation to enter the United States; 
and 
(iii) otherwise ineligible to be admitted 
or paroled into the United States or to re-
ceive any other benefit under the Immigra-
tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et 
seq.). 
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(B) CURRENT VISAS REVOKED.—A foreign 
person designated under subsection (a) is sub-
ject to the following: 
(i) Revocation of any visa or other 
entry documentation regardless of when 
the visa or other entry documentation is or 
was issued. 
(ii) A revocation under clause (i) 
shall— 
(I) take effect immediately; and 
(II) automatically cancel any 
other valid visa or entry documenta-
tion that is in the foreign person’s 
possession. 
(C) EXCEPTION TO COMPLY WITH INTER-
NATIONAL OBLIGATIONS.—Sanctions under this 
paragraph shall not apply with respect to a for-
eign person if admitting or paroling the person 
into the United States is necessary to permit 
the United States to comply with the Agree-
ment regarding the Headquarters of the United 
Nations, signed at Lake Success June 26, 
1947, and entered into force November 21, 
1947, between the United Nations and the 
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United States, or other applicable international 
obligations. 
(3) PENALTIES.—The penalties provided for in 
subsections (b) and (c) of section 206 of the Inter-
national Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 
U.S.C. 1705) shall apply to a foreign person that 
violates, attempts to violate, conspires to violate, or 
causes a violation of paragraph (1) to the same ex-
tent that such penalties apply to a person that com-
mits an unlawful act described in subsection (a) of 
such section 206. 
(c) 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. 
(d) WAIVER.—The President may waive the applica-
tion of sanctions described in subsection (b) with respect 
to a person designated under subsection (a) if the Presi-
dent determines and certifies to the appropriate congres-
sional committees that such waiver is in the national inter-
est of the United States. 
(e) EXCEPTION RELATING
TO IMPORTATION
OF 
GOODS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The authorities and require-
ments to impose sanctions authorized under this Act 
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shall not include the authority or requirement to im-
pose sanctions on the importation of goods. 
(2) GOOD
DEFINED.—In this subsection, the 
term ‘‘good’’ means any article, natural or man- 
made substance, material, supply or manufactured 
product, including inspection and test equipment, 
and excluding technical data. 
SEC. 4. SUSPENSION OF SANCTIONS. 
(a) SUSPENSION.—The sanctions described in section 
3 may be suspended for up to 1-year upon certification 
by the President to the appropriate congressional commit-
tees that Cambodia is making meaningful progress toward 
the following: 
(1) Ending government efforts to undermine 
democracy. 
(2) Ending human rights violations associated 
with undermining democracy. 
(3) Conducting free and fair elections which 
allow for the active participation of credible opposi-
tion candidates. 
(b) RENEWAL OF SUSPENSION.—The suspension de-
scribed in subsection (a) may be renewed for additional, 
consecutive-day periods if the President certifies to the ap-
propriate congressional committees that Cambodia is con-
tinuing to make meaningful progress towards satisfying 
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the conditions described in such subsection during the pre-
vious year. 
SEC. 5. DETERMINATION OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS. 
The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of 
complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, 
shall be determined by reference to the latest statement 
titled ‘‘Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation’’ for this 
Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional Record 
by the Chairman of the House Budget Committee, pro-
vided that such statement has been submitted prior to the 
vote on passage. 
SEC. 6. SUNSET. 
This Act shall terminate on the date that is 5 years 
after the date of the enactment of this Act. 
SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) APPROPRIATE
CONGRESSIONAL
COMMIT-
TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com-
mittees’’ means the Committee on Foreign Affairs 
and the Committee on Financial Services of the 
House of Representatives, and the Committee on 
Foreign Relations and the Committee on Banking, 
Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate. 
(2) PERSON.— 
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(A) IN
GENERAL.—The term ‘‘person’’ 
means— 
(i) a natural person; or 
(ii) a corporation, business associa-
tion, partnership, society, trust, financial 
institution, insurer, underwriter, guar-
antor, and any other business organization, 
any other nongovernmental entity, organi-
zation, or group, and any governmental en-
tity operating as a business enterprise or 
any successor to any entity described in 
this clause. 
(B) APPLICATION TO GOVERNMENTAL EN-
TITIES.—The term ‘‘person’’ does not include a 
government or governmental entity that is not 
operating as a business enterprise. 
(3) 
UNITED
STATES
PERSON.—The 
term 
‘‘United States person’’ means— 
(A) a United States citizen or an alien law-
fully admitted for permanent residence to the 
United States; or 
(B) an entity organized under the laws of 
the United States or of any jurisdiction of the 
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United States, including a foreign branch of 
such an entity. 
Passed the House of Representatives July 15, 2019. 
Attest: 
CHERYL L. JOHNSON, 
Clerk. 
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