Title: A resolution calling on the Secretary of State to designate the Russian Federation as a state sponsor of terrorism.
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
This resolution expresses that the Senate

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 623 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






117th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 623

 Calling on the Secretary of State to designate the Russian Federation 
                    as a state sponsor of terrorism.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 9, 2022

  Mr. Graham (for himself and Mr. Blumenthal) submitted the following 
  resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Calling on the Secretary of State to designate the Russian Federation 
                    as a state sponsor of terrorism.

Whereas, pursuant to section 1754(c) of the John S. McCain National Defense 
        Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 (50 U.S.C. 4813(c)), section 40 
        of the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2779A), and section 620A of 
        the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2371), the authority to 
        designate a country as a state sponsor of terrorism rests with the 
        Secretary of State;
Whereas Cuba, the Democratic People's Republic of North Korea, Iran, and Syria 
        are designated as state sponsors of terrorism;
Whereas, at the direction of President Vladimir Putin, the Government of the 
        Russian Federation has and continues to promote acts of international 
        terrorism against political opponents and nation states;
Whereas, under the orders of President Putin, the Government of the Russian 
        Federation engaged in a campaign of terror, utilizing brutal force 
        targeting civilians during the Second Chechen War;
Whereas actions by the Government of the Russian Federation against civilian 
        centers, such as Grozny, the capital of Chechnya, left countless 
        innocent men, women, and children dead or wounded;
Whereas, since 2014, the Government of the Russian Federation has supported 
        separatists engaging in acts of violence against Ukrainian civilians in 
        the Donbas region;
Whereas, since the entry of the Russian Federation into the Syrian Civil War in 
        2015, the Russian Federation has targeted innocent civilians in Syria 
        with attacks on civilian markets, medical facilities, and schools;
Whereas the Government of the Russian Federation provides material support to 
        Syria, a nation currently designated as a state sponsor of terrorism, 
        that has been used to target the Syrian people;
Whereas, according to the Congressional Research Service, the Russian Federation 
        spreads terror throughout the world through private military networks of 
        mercenaries, such as the Wagner Group, in an effort to ``project power 
        cheaply and deniably'';
Whereas the Wagner Group collaborates with the Ministry of Defense of the 
        Russian Federation to support the foreign policy objectives of the 
        Russian Federation;
Whereas the Department of the Treasury identifies the Wagner Group as ``a 
        designated Russian Ministry of Defense proxy force'' and states that 
        ``Wagner's activities in other countries, including Ukraine, Syria, 
        Sudan, and Libya, have generated insecurity and incited violence against 
        innocent civilians'';
Whereas it was reported in February 2022 that more than 400 Russian mercenaries 
        from the Wagner Group were dispatched to Kyiv with orders from the 
        Kremlin to assassinate President Volodymyr Zelensky and members of the 
        Government of Ukraine;
Whereas, on March 14, 2022, Chairperson-in-Office of the Organization for 
        Security and Co-operation in Europe Zbigniew Rau stated that actions of 
        the Government of the Russian Federation in Ukraine against innocent 
        civilians and civilian infrastructure is ``state terrorism'';
Whereas, on March 17, 2022, President Volodymyr Zelensky called for the world to 
        acknowledge the Russian Federation as a terrorist state;
Whereas the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has appealed to Congress to encourage the 
        Department of State to recognize the Russian Federation as a state 
        sponsor of terrorism noting that ``the Russian Federation has for years 
        supported and financed terrorist regimes and terrorist organizations, 
        including being the main supplier of weapons to the Assad regime in 
        Syria and supporting terrorists in the Middle East and Latin America, 
        organizing acts of international terrorism, including the poisoning of 
        the Skripal family in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern 
        Ireland, the downing of a civilian Malaysian airliner and other acts of 
        terrorism'';
Whereas, on April 27, 2022, Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated before 
        Congress that ``there's no doubt in my mind that the Russians are 
        terrorizing the Ukrainian people'';
Whereas, at the direction of President Putin, the Russian Federation has and 
        continues to commit war crimes by directing and authorizing the 
        indiscriminate targeting of civilian centers within Chechnya, Georgia, 
        Syria, and Ukraine, resulting in the deaths of countless innocent men, 
        women, and children;
Whereas armed forces of the Russian Federation have committed numerous summary 
        executions against innocent civilians and have attempted to cover their 
        atrocities with mass graves across Ukraine; and
Whereas, when responding to questions regarding designating the Russian 
        Federation as a state sponsor of terrorism, the spokesperson for the 
        Department of State stated that ``we are going to look at all potential 
        options--options that are available to us under the law, options that 
        would be effective in holding Russia to account--and if a tool is 
        available and effective, we won't hesitate to use it'': Now, therefore, 
        be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) views the actions of the Government of the Russian 
        Federation, at the direction of President Vladimir Putin, as 
        acts of terrorism; and
            (2) calls on the Secretary of State to designate the 
        Russian Federation as a state sponsor of terrorism.
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