Title: Telecommunications Denial Order Enforcement Act
Policy area: Foreign Trade and International Finance

Summary:
Telecommunications Denial Order Enforcement Act
This bill directs the President to determine annually whether telecommunications companies domiciled in China, including Huawei and ZTE, have violated U.S. export controls or sanctions. If a violation is found, the President must impose appropriate penalties. Chinese subsidiaries of foreign companies are excluded from the bill.
The bill also prohibits executive agencies from reducing any penalty imposed on a Chinese telecommunications company for violating a sanction or export control, unless the President certifies that the company has not violated U.S. law for at least one year and is fully cooperating with investigations.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 152 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 152

 To direct the President to impose penalties pursuant to denial orders 
 with respect to certain Chinese telecommunications companies that are 
  in violation of the export control or sanctions laws of the United 
                    States, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            January 16, 2019

 Mr. Cotton (for himself and Mr. Van Hollen) introduced the following 
 bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, 
                       Housing, and Urban Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To direct the President to impose penalties pursuant to denial orders 
 with respect to certain Chinese telecommunications companies that are 
  in violation of the export control or sanctions laws of 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 ``Telecommunications Denial Order 
Enforcement Act''.

SEC. 2. STATEMENT OF POLICY.

    It shall be the policy of the United States to enforce denial 
orders on covered telecommunications companies (as defined in section 
3(d)) found to have violated the export control or sanctions laws of 
the United States.

SEC. 3. IMPOSITION AND ENFORCEMENT OF DENIAL ORDERS WITH RESPECT TO 
              COVERED TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMPANIES.

    (a) Imposition of Denial Orders.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
        the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter--
                    (A) the President shall determine and report to the 
                appropriate congressional committees if any covered 
                telecommunications company is in violation of an export 
                control or sanctions law of the United States; and
                    (B) if the President makes an affirmative 
                determination with respect to a covered 
                telecommunications company under subparagraph (A), the 
                President shall impose penalties pursuant to a denial 
                order with respect to the company or its agents or 
                affiliates as described in paragraph (2).
            (2) Penalties described.--The penalties described in this 
        paragraph are the following:
                    (A) The covered telecommunications company and when 
                acting for or on their behalf, their successors, 
                assigns, directors, officers, employees, 
                representatives, or agents (hereinafter each a ``denied 
                person''), may not, directly or indirectly, participate 
                in any way in any transaction involving any commodity, 
                software, or technology (hereinafter collectively 
                referred to as ``item'') exported or to be exported 
                from the United States that is subject to the Export 
                Administration Regulations (as codified in subchapter C 
                of chapter VII of title 15, Code of Federal 
                Regulations, or any successor regulations), or in any 
                other activity subject to the Export Administration 
                Regulations.
                    (B) No person may, directly or indirectly, do any 
                of the following:
                            (i) Export or reexport to or on behalf of a 
                        denied person any item subject to the Export 
                        Administration Regulations.
                            (ii) Take any action that facilitates the 
                        acquisition or attempted acquisition by a 
                        denied person of the ownership, possession, or 
                        control of any item subject to the Export 
                        Administration Regulations that has been or 
                        will be exported from the United States, 
                        including financing or other support activities 
                        related to a transaction whereby a denied 
                        person acquires or attempts to acquire such 
                        ownership, possession, or control.
                            (iii) Take any action to acquire from or to 
                        facilitate the acquisition or attempted 
                        acquisition from a denied person of any item 
                        subject to the Export Administration 
                        Regulations that has been exported from the 
                        United States.
                            (iv) Obtain from a denied person in the 
                        United States any item subject to the Export 
                        Administration Regulations with knowledge or 
                        reason to know that the item will be, or is 
                        intended to be, exported from the United 
                        States.
                            (v) Engage in any transaction to service 
                        any item subject to the Export Administration 
                        Regulations that has been or will be exported 
                        from the United States and which is owned, 
                        possessed, or controlled by a denied person, or 
                        service any item, of whatever origin, that is 
                        owned, possessed, or controlled by a denied 
                        person if such service involves the use of any 
                        item subject to the Export Administration 
                        Regulations that has been or will be exported 
                        from the United States.
            (3) Report.--The President shall submit to the appropriate 
        congressional committees an annual report on the implementation 
        of this subsection.
    (b) Prohibition on Modification of Penalties.--Notwithstanding any 
other provision of law, no official of an executive agency may modify 
any penalty, including a penalty imposed pursuant to a denial order, 
implemented by the Government of the United States with respect to a 
covered telecommunications company or its agents or affiliates pursuant 
to a determination that the company has violated an export control or 
sanctions law of the United States until the date that is 30 days after 
the President certifies to the appropriate congressional committees 
that the company--
            (1) has not, for a period of one year, conducted activities 
        in violation of the laws of the United States; and
            (2) is fully cooperating with investigations into the 
        activities of the company conducted by the Government of the 
        United States, if any.
    (c) Regulations.--The President is authorized to prescribe such 
regulations as may be necessary to carry out this section.
    (d) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
        ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
                    (A) the Committee on Financial Services and the 
                Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of 
                Representatives; and
                    (B) the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban 
                Affairs and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the 
                Senate.
            (2) Covered telecommunications company.--The term ``covered 
        telecommunications company'' means any of the following:
                    (A) Huawei Technologies Company or ZTE Corporation 
                (or any subsidiary or affiliate of such entities).
                    (B) Any other telecommunications company domiciled 
                in the People's Republic of China (or any subsidiary or 
                affiliate of such entities), excluding any subsidiary 
                of a foreign company domiciled in the People's Republic 
                of China.
            (3) Executive agency.--The term ``executive agency'' 
        means--
                    (A) an executive department specified in section 
                101 of title 5, United States Code;
                    (B) a military department specified in section 102 
                of title 5, United States Code;
                    (C) an independent establishment as defined in 
                section 104(1) of title 5, United States Code; and
                    (D) a wholly owned Government corporation fully 
                subject to chapter 91 of title 31, United States Code.
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