Title: Cambodia Democracy Act of 2019
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
Cambodia Democracy Act of 2019
This bill directs the President to impose sanctions on individuals responsible for acts to undermine democracy in Cambodia, including acts that constituted serious human rights violations.
The sanctions shall be directed at senior Cambodian government, military, or security forces officials responsible for such actions, as well as entities controlled or owned by such individuals.
The sanctions shall include blocking assets and restricting the entry of sanctioned individuals into the United States, and shall not apply to the importation of goods.
The President may waive the sanctions with respect to a person or entity if it is in the national interest of the United States. The President may suspend the sanctions if Cambodia makes meaningful progress toward ending government efforts to undermine democracy or committing human rights violations.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3081 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 3081

   To promote free and fair elections, political freedoms, and human 
              rights in Cambodia, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           December 18, 2019

Mr. Gardner (for himself and Mr. Markey) introduced the following bill; 
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   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 Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

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 international attention and assistance to 
        promote a pluralistic, 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-Governmental Organizations'', which 
        gave the government sweeping powers to revoke the registration 
        of nongovernmental organizations that the government believed 
        to be operating with a political bias in a blatant attempt to 
        restrict the legitimate 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 withdrawal of all volunteers from the United 
        States Peace Corps, which has operated in Cambodia since 2006 
        with approximately 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 
        Government of Cambodia has ordered several radio stations 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 overthrow 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. A court in Cambodia announced plans to try Kem Sokha for 
        treason in January 2020.
            (5) Each of the 6 elections that have taken place in 
        Cambodia since 1991 were conducted in circumstances that were 
        not free and fair, and were marked by fraud, intimidation, 
        violence, and the government's misuse of legal mechanisms to 
        weaken opposition 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 promoting 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 
        National Assembly, and support electoral reform efforts in 
        Cambodia with free and fair elections monitored by 
        international observers.
            (8) In section 401 of the Asia Reassurance Initiative Act 
        of 2018 (Public Law 115-409; 132 Stat. 5407), Congress 
        expressed serious concerns with the rule of law and civil 
        liberties in Cambodia and made the finding that the promotion 
        of human rights and respect for democratic values in the Indo-
        Pacific region is in the United States national security 
        interest.
            (9) Section 7043(b) of the Department of State, Foreign 
        Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2018 
        (division K of Public Law 115-141; 132 Stat. 918) and section 
        201(f) of the Asia Reassurance Initiative Act of 2018 (Public 
        Law 115-409; 132 Stat. 5392) restricted United States 
        assistance to Cambodia unless the Government of Cambodia takes 
        effective steps to respect the rights and responsibilities 
        enshrined in the Constitution of Cambodia, including by 
        releasing all political prisoners, including journalists, civil 
        society activists, and members of the opposition political 
        party.
            (10) On December 9, 2019, the Department of the Treasury 
        imposed sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights 
        Accountability Act (subtitle F of title XII of Public Law 114-
        328; 22 U.S.C. 2656 note) with respect to certain corrupt 
        Cambodian actors and their networks.
            (11) In February 2019, the European Union began intense 
        scrutiny of Cambodia's eligibility to for preferential trade 
        access in light of the deterioration of democracy, the rule of 
        law, and the protection of human rights in Cambodia.

SEC. 3. SANCTIONS RELATING TO UNDERMINING DEMOCRACY IN CAMBODIA.

    (a) Identification 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 President shall submit to the 
        appropriate congressional committees a list of--
                    (A) each senior official of the government, 
                military, or security forces of Cambodia who the 
                President determines has, on or after such date of 
                enactment--
                            (i) directly and substantially undermined 
                        democracy in Cambodia; or
                            (ii) committed or directed serious human 
                        rights violations associated with undermining 
                        democracy in Cambodia; and
                    (B) each foreign person owned or controlled by an 
                official described in subparagraph (A).
            (2) Updates.--The President shall submit to the appropriate 
        congressional committees updated lists under paragraph (1) as 
        new information becomes available.
    (b) Imposition of Sanctions.--The President shall impose the 
following sanctions with respect to each foreign person on the list 
required by subsection (a):
            (1) Asset blocking.--The President shall exercise all of 
        the powers granted to the President under the International 
        Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) (except 
        that the requirements of section 202 of such Act (50 U.S.C. 
        1701) shall not apply) to the extent necessary to block and 
        prohibit all transactions in property and interests in property 
        of the person 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) Aliens inadmissible for visas, admission, or parole.--
                    (A) Visas, admission, or parole.--In the case of an 
                individual, that individual 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 receive 
                        any other benefit under the Immigration and 
                        Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.).
                    (B) Current visas revoked.--
                            (i) In general.--The visa or other entry 
                        documentation of the individual shall be 
                        revoked, regardless of when such visa or other 
                        entry documentation is or was issued.
                            (ii) Immediate effect.--A revocation under 
                        clause (i) shall--
                                    (I) take effect immediately; and
                                    (II) automatically cancel any other 
                                valid visa or entry documentation that 
                                is in the individual's possession.
    (c) Exceptions.--
            (1) Exception relating to importation of goods.--
                    (A) In general.--The authorities and requirements 
                to impose sanctions authorized under subsection (b)(1) 
                shall not include the authority or requirement to 
                impose sanctions on the importation of goods.
                    (B) Good defined.--In this paragraph, the term 
                ``good'' means any article, natural or manmade 
                substance, material, supply or manufactured product, 
                including inspection and test equipment, and excluding 
                technical data.
            (2) Exception to comply with international obligations.--
        Sanctions under subsection (b)(2) shall not apply with respect 
        to a foreign person if admitting or paroling the person 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 of the United States.
    (d) Waiver.--The President may waive the application of sanctions 
under subsection (b) with respect to a foreign person on the list 
required by subsection (a) if the President determines and certifies to 
the appropriate congressional committees that such a waiver is in the 
national interest of the United States.
    (e) Suspension of Sanctions.--
            (1) Suspension.--The requirement to impose sanctions under 
        this section may be suspended for an initial period of not more 
        than one year if the President determines and certifies to the 
        appropriate congressional committees that Cambodia is making 
        meaningful progress toward the following:
                    (A) Ending government efforts to undermine 
                democracy.
                    (B) Ending human rights violations associated with 
                undermining democracy.
                    (C) Conducting free and fair elections that allow 
                for the active participation of credible opposition 
                candidates.
            (2) Renewal of suspension.--The suspension under paragraph 
        (1) may be renewed for additional, consecutive one-year periods 
        if the President determines and certifies to the appropriate 
        congressional committees that Cambodia continued to make 
        meaningful progress toward satisfying the conditions described 
        in that paragraph during the year preceding the certification.
    (f) Implementation; Penalties.--
            (1) 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.
            (2) Penalties.--A person that violates, attempts to 
        violate, conspires to violate, or causes a violation of 
        subsection (b)(1) or any regulation, license, or order issued 
        to carry out that subsection 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.
    (g) Sunset.--This section shall terminate on the date that is 5 
years after the date of the enactment of this Act.
    (h) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
        ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
                    (A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the 
                Committee on Financial Services of the House of 
                Representatives; and
                    (B) the Committee on Foreign Relations and the 
                Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the 
                Senate.
            (2) Foreign person.--The term ``foreign person'' means a 
        person that is not a United States person.
            (3) Person.--
                    (A) In general.--The term ``person'' means--
                            (i) a natural person; or
                            (ii) a corporation, business association, 
                        partnership, society, trust, financial 
                        institution, insurer, underwriter, guarantor, 
                        and any other business organization, any other 
                        nongovernmental entity, organization, or group, 
                        and any governmental entity operating as a 
                        business enterprise or any successor to any 
                        entity described in this clause.
                    (B) Application to governmental entities.--The term 
                ``person'' does not include a government or 
                governmental entity that is not operating as a business 
                enterprise.
            (4) United states person.--The term ``United States 
        person'' means--
                    (A) a United States citizen or an alien lawfully 
                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 United 
                States, including a foreign branch of such an entity.
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