Title: Stopping Aggressive Incursions on Liberty by Ordering Russian Sanctions Act
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
Stopping Aggressive Incursions on Liberty by Ordering Russian Sanctions Act or the SAILORS Act
This bill directs the President to impose visa- and asset-blocking sanctions on a certain number of senior officers of Russia's Border Service or Federal Security Service, as well as on the families and close associates of such officers. The sanctions shall terminate when the President certifies to Congress that Russia has released the Ukrainian ships and sailors it had seized on November 25, 2018, in the Kerch Strait.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3841 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>






116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3841

To provide for the imposition of sanctions against 24 senior officials 
of the Border Service and Federal Security Service of Russia until the 
  release of certain seized Ukrainian ships and crewmembers, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 18, 2019

Ms. Kaptur (for herself, Mr. Fitzpatrick, Mr. Quigley, and Mr. Harris) 
 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 provide for the imposition of sanctions against 24 senior officials 
of the Border Service and Federal Security Service of Russia until the 
  release of certain seized Ukrainian ships and crewmembers, 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 ``Stopping Aggressive Incursions on 
Liberty by Ordering Russian Sanctions Act'' or the ``SAILORS Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) On November 25, 2018, the Border Service of the Federal 
        Security Service of the Russian Federation fired on and seized 
        three Ukrainian naval ships sailing through the Kerch Strait.
            (2) The Russian Federal Security Service also seized 24 
        Ukrainian crew members of those ships, and continue to 
        illegally detain them in Russia.
            (3) The Russian Government continues to refuse to release 
        and return these 24 sailors and 3 ships.
            (4) The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea has 
        ordered the release of the sailors and the ships seized by the 
        Border Service.
            (5) The seizure of these ships and crewmembers is yet 
        another escalation of Russia's illegal and aggressive assault 
        on Ukrainian territorial and naval sovereignty.

SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    Congress--
            (1) harshly condemns this attack on Ukraine, its ships, and 
        its citizens;
            (2) demands the immediate release and return of these three 
        Ukrainian ships and crewmembers;
            (3) welcomes the actions of the Secretary of the Treasury 
        to implement sanctions on senior border officials of the 
        Russian Federal Security Service involved in the Kerch Strait 
        attach on March 15, 2019;
            (4) urges the President to continue to prioritize the 
        return of these ships and crewmembers, including through the 
        implementation of additional sanctions on Russian financial 
        institutions, responsible parties in the Border Service and 
        Federal Security Service, and parties associated with the Nord 
        Stream 2 project, in order to increase the costs of such 
        aggression; and
            (5) reaffirms its resolute support for the Ukrainian people 
        and their territorial and maritime sovereignty.

SEC. 4. SANCTIONS IMPOSED.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 90 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the President shall impose the sanctions 
described in subsection (b) with respect to 24 individuals who are 
senior officers of the Border Service or the Federal Security Service 
of Russia, with respect to the families of such senior officers, and 
with respect to any person the President determines is a close 
associate of any such senior officer.
    (b) Sanctions Described.--The sanctions described in this 
subsection are the following:
            (1) Asset blocking.--The exercise of all powers granted to 
        the President by the International Emergency Economic Powers 
        Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) to the extent necessary to block 
        and prohibit all transactions in all property and interests in 
        property of a person subject to sanctions imposed pursuant to 
        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) Exclusion from the united states.--In the case of an 
        individual subject to sanctions imposed pursuant to subsection 
        (a), denial of a visa to, and exclusion from the United States 
        of, such individual, and revocation, in accordance with section 
        221(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
        1201(i)), of any visa or other documentation of the individual.
    (c) Termination; Penalties.--
            (1) Termination.--The authority to impose or maintain 
        sanctions pursuant to this section shall terminate on the date 
        on which the President certifies to the appropriate 
        congressional committees that the Ukranian ships and 
        crewmembers described in section 2 of this Act have been 
        released back to Ukraine.
            (2) Penalties.--Any person that violates, attempts to 
        violate, conspires to violate, or causes a violation of any 
        sanction imposed pursuant to this section or any regulation, 
        license, or order issued to carry out this section shall be 
        subject to the penalties set forth in subsections (b) and (c) 
        of section 206 of the International Emergency Economic Powers 
        Act (50 U.S.C. 1705) to the same extent as a person that 
        commits an unlawful act described in subsection (a) of that 
        section.
    (d) Exception Relating to the Importation of Goods.--
            (1) In general.--The authority to impose sanctions under 
        this section shall not include the authority to impose 
        sanctions on the importation of goods.
            (2) Good defined.--In this subsection, the term ``good'' 
        means any article, natural or manmade substance, material, 
        supply or manufactured product, including inspection and test 
        equipment, and excluding technical data.
    (e) Exception To Comply With United Nations Headquarters 
Agreement.--Sanctions under this section shall not apply to an 
individual if admitting the individual into the United States is 
necessary to permit the United States to comply with 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 other applicable 
international obligations.
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