Title: Russian-Venezuelan Threat Mitigation Act
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
Russian-Venezuelan Threat Mitigation Act
This bill calls for assessments of Russia's relationship with Venezuela and bars from U.S. entry aliens who have supported Venezuelan security forces on behalf of Russia.
The Department of State shall report to Congress an assessment of Russia and Venezuela's security cooperation and the threat it poses to countries in the Western Hemisphere, including the United States. The State Department shall also devise a strategy to address such a threat.
The President shall report to Congress an assessment of the security risks posed by a potential Russian acquisition of CITGO's U.S. energy infrastructure holdings. CITGO is an energy company owned by Petroleos de Venezuela (PdVSA), a Venezuelan state-owned oil company. A Russian state-owned company has extended a loan to PdVSA, and a default on that loan could result in Russian ownership of CITGO.
The bill bars the entry into the United States of aliens who have worked on behalf of Russia to support Venezuelan security forces. It also revokes any current visas belonging to such individuals. The President may waive this bar as to an alien if it is in the national interest of the United States to do so.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1477 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>






116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1477

    To require a threat assessment and strategy to counter Russian 
 influence in Venezuela, an assessment of foreign acquisition of CITGO 
          assets in the United States, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 28, 2019

  Ms. Wasserman Schultz (for herself, Mr. Diaz-Balart, Mr. Soto, Ms. 
Mucarsel-Powell, and Ms. Shalala) introduced the following bill; which 
 was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to 
    the Committee on the Judiciary, 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 require a threat assessment and strategy to counter Russian 
 influence in Venezuela, an assessment of foreign acquisition of CITGO 
          assets in the United States, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Russian-Venezuelan Threat Mitigation 
Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The Russian Federation's increased presence in the 
        western hemisphere is of concern to the United States and our 
        allies in the region.
            (2) In December 2018, the Russian Federation sent two Tu-
        160 nuclear-capable bombers to Venezuela for joint exercises 
        with the Venezuelan military. The Tu-160 can carry conventional 
        or nuclear-tipped cruise missiles with an estimated maximum 
        range of around 3,000 miles.
            (3) Russian and Venezuelan forces took part in a joint 10-
        hour exercise across the Caribbean in December 2018 with the 
        Tu-160 nuclear-capable bombers.
            (4) The Maduro regime has turned to the Russian Federation, 
        one of its strongest political allies, for financial support 
        during its current economic crisis.
            (5) Nicolas Maduro secured loans from the Russian 
        Federation to be repaid through future oil exports, but fell 
        behind on those payments in 2017. News reports in December 2018 
        suggest that Russian State oil company Rosneft has lent 
        Venezuelan state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela (PdVSA) 
        $6.5 billion partly as prepayment for crude oil, $3.1 billion 
        of which remained outstanding as of the end of September 2018.
            (6) In 2016, PdVSA secured a $1.5 billion loan from 
        Rosneft, and PdVSA used 49.9 percent of its shares in United 
        States-based and Venezuelan-owned company CITGO as collateral. 
        A Venezuelan default could lead to potential Russian ownership 
        of United States energy infrastructure.
            (7) At the conclusion of a 3-day visit to Moscow in 
        December 2018, Maduro announced $6 billion worth of Russian 
        investment pledges focused on the oil and mining sectors as 
        well as the export of 600,000 tons of Russian wheat to 
        Venezuela to cover its 2019 needs.

SEC. 3. THREAT ASSESSMENT AND STRATEGY TO COUNTER RUSSIAN INFLUENCE IN 
              VENEZUELA.

    (a) Threat Assessment.--Not later than 120 days after the date of 
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall submit to the 
appropriate congressional committees an assessment on Russian-
Venezuelan security cooperation and the potential threat such 
cooperation poses to the United States and countries in the Western 
Hemisphere.
    (b) Strategy.--Not later than 30 days after the submission of the 
threat assessment required under subsection (a), the Secretary of State 
shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a strategy to 
address Russian-Venezuelan cooperation.
    (c) Definition.--In this section, the term ``appropriate 
congressional committees'' means the Committee on Foreign Affairs of 
the House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations of 
the Senate.

SEC. 4. ASSESSMENT OF FOREIGN ACQUISITION OF CITGO ASSETS IN THE UNITED 
              STATES.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 90 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the President shall transmit to the appropriate 
congressional committees an assessment of the security risks posed by 
potential Russian acquisition of CITGO's United States energy 
infrastructure holdings.
    (b) Definition.--In this section, the term ``appropriate 
congressional committees'' means the Committee on Foreign Affairs and 
the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the 
Committee on Foreign Relations and the Committee on Appropriations of 
the Senate.

SEC. 5. ALIENS INELIGIBLE FOR VISAS, ADMISSION, OR PAROLE.

    (a) In General.--An alien who the Secretary of State or the 
Secretary of Homeland Security (or a designee of one of such 
Secretaries) knows, or has reason to believe, is an alien who is acting 
or has acted on behalf of the Russian Government in direct support of 
the Venezuelan security forces is--
            (1) inadmissible to the United States;
            (2) ineligible to receive a visa or other documentation to 
        enter the United States; and
            (3) otherwise ineligible to be admitted or paroled into the 
        United States or to receive any other benefit under the 
        Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.).
    (b) Current Visas Revoked.--
            (1) In general.--The issuing consular officer, the 
        Secretary of State, or the Secretary of Homeland Security (or a 
        designee of one of such Secretaries) shall, in accordance with 
        section 221(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
        1201(i)), revoke any visa or other entry documentation issued 
        to an alien described in subsection (a) regardless of when the 
        visa or other entry documentation is issued.
            (2) Effect of revocation.--A revocation under paragraph (1) 
        shall--
                    (A) take effect immediately; and
                    (B) automatically cancel any other valid visa or 
                entry documentation that is in the alien's possession.
    (c) Exception To Comply With United Nations Headquarters Agreement 
or for National Security Reasons.--
            (1) International obligations.--This section shall not 
        apply to an alien if admitting the alien into the United States 
        is necessary to permit the United States to comply with--
                    (A) the Agreement 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 United States; or
                    (B) other applicable international obligations of 
                the United States.
            (2) National security.--The President may waive the 
        application of this section to an alien if the President--
                    (A) determines that such a waiver is in the 
                national interest of the United States; and
                    (B) transmits to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 
                of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 
                Foreign Relations a notice of and justification for 
                such waiver.
    (d) Termination.--This section shall terminate on the earlier of--
            (1) the date that is three years after the date of the 
        enactment of this Act; or
            (2) the date on which the President certifies to the 
        Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives 
        and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate that the 
        Government of Venezuela has returned to a democratic form of 
        government with respect for the essential elements of 
        representative democracy as set forth in Article 3 of the 
        Inter-American Democratic Charter.
    (e) Definition.--In this subsection, the term ``Venezuelan security 
forces'' includes the following:
            (1) The Bolivarian National Armed Forces, including the 
        Bolivarian National Guard.
            (2) The Bolivarian National Intelligence Service.
            (3) The Bolivarian National Police.
            (4) The Bureau for Scientific, Criminal and Forensic 
        Investigations of the Ministry of Interior, Justice, and Peace.
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