Ukraine Freedom Support Act of 2014

Bill: 113-hr-5782
Sponsor: Rep. Kaptur, Marcy [D-OH-9]
Introduced: 2014-12-02 in the House
Policy area: International Affairs
Subjects: Alliances
Alternative and renewable resources
Arms control and nonproliferation
Asia
Bank accounts, deposits, capital
Competitiveness, trade promotion, trade deficits
Congressional oversight
Corporate finance and management
Diplomacy, foreign officials, Americans abroad
Electric power generation and transmission
Energy efficiency and conservation
Energy storage, supplies, demand
Estonia
Europe
Financial services and investments
Foreign aid and international relief
Foreign and international banking
Foreign loans and debt
Georgia (Republic)
Government ethics and transparency, public corruption
Infrastructure development
International exchange and broadcasting
International law and treaties
International organizations and cooperation
Internet and video services
Internet, web applications, social media
Latvia
Licensing and registrations
Lighting, heating, cooling
Lithuania
Middle East
Military assistance, sales, and agreements
Military procurement, research, weapons development
Moldova
Motor fuels
Multilateral development programs
News media and reporting
Oil and gas
Poland
Presidents and presidential powers, Vice Presidents
Public contracts and procurement
Refugees, asylum, displaced persons
Rule of law and government transparency
Russia
Sanctions
Sovereignty, recognition, national governance and status
Syria
Technology transfer and commercialization
Trade restrictions
Ukraine
Visas and passports
War and emergency powers

Summary:
action_date: 2014-12-02
text: 
Ukraine Freedom Support Act of 2014 - Directs the President to impose three or more specified sanctions against: 
 
 
Rosoboronexport; 
 
an entity owned by the government of the Russian Federation or controlled by its nationals that transfers or manufactures or sells defense articles transferred to, Syria or into the territory of a specified country without its government's consent; or 
 
a person that knowingly sponsors or provides financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, such an entity. 
 
 
Directs the President to impose three or more specified sanctions against a person that makes a significant investment in a special Russian crude oil project. 
 
Authorizes the President to impose additional licensing requirements or other restrictions on the export of items for Russia's energy sector. 
 
Directs the President to impose specified sanctions on Gazprom if it is withholding significant natural gas supplies from North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) member countries, or further withholds significant natural gas supplies from countries such as Ukraine, Georgia, or Moldova. 
 
Sets forth sanctions against a foreign person, including executive officers of an entity, relating to: 
 
 
Export-Import Bank of the United States assistance, 
 
executive agency procurement, 
 
arms and dual-use item exports, 
 
U.S. property transactions, 
 
banking transactions, 
 
investing in or purchasing equity or debt instruments, and 
 
U.S. entry prohibition or visa revocation. 
 
 
Excludes import sanctions from the authority to block and prohibit U.S. property transactions. 
 
Authorizes the President to impose a prohibition on the opening, and a prohibition or the imposition of strict conditions on the maintaining, in the United States of a correspondent account or a payable-through account by a foreign financial institution that knowingly engages in significant transactions involving sanctioned persons. 
 
Authorizes the President to provide Ukraine with defense articles, services, and training. 
 
Directs the Secretary of State (Secretary) to submit a plan to Congress to meet the need for protection of and assistance for internally displaced persons in Ukraine. 
 
Directs the President to use U.S. influence at United Nations (U.N.) voluntary agencies to support assistance for internally displaced persons in Ukraine. 
 
Urges the Secretary and the Secretary of Defense (DOD) to assist Ukrainian defense sector entities reorient exports from Russian Federation customers to alternative markets in the Ukrainian defense sector that have already significantly reduced exports to and cooperation with Russian defense sector entities. 
 
Directs the Secretary and the Secretary of Energy (DOE) to work with Ukrainian officials to develop an emergency energy assistance plan to help Ukraine address the potentially severe heating fuel and electricity shortages facing Ukraine in 2014 and 2015. 
 
Directs the Secretary to work with Ukrainian officials to increase energy security by helping Ukraine reduce its dependence on natural gas imported from the Russian Federation. 
 
Directs: 
 
 
the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) to prioritize support for investments to increase energy efficiency, develop domestic oil and natural gas reserves, and develop renewable energy sources in Ukraine; and 
 
the President to use U.S. influence to encourage the World Bank Group, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and other international financial institutions to invest in and stimulate private investment in such projects. 
 
 
Directs the Secretary and the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to: (1) strengthen democratic civil society in Ukraine, (2) support independent media outlets, and (3) counter government corruption and improve accountability. 
 
Directs the Chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors to submit to Congress a plan for increasing and maintaining the quantity of Russian-language broadcasting into the countries of the former Soviet Union in order to counter Russian Federation propaganda. 
 
 Directs the Secretary to: (1) improve and strengthen democratic institutions and political and civil society organizations in the Russian Federation, and (2) expand uncensored Internet and independent media access. 
 
 Expresses the sense of Congress that the President should: (1) hold the Russian Federation accountable for being in violation of its obligations under the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, and (2) demand that the Russian Federation eliminate the military systems that constitute such violation. 
 
States that nothing in this Act shall be construed as an authorization for the use of military force.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2014-12-18
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security.
action_date: 2014-12-02
text: Referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committees on Financial Services, Oversight and Government Reform, and 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.
action_date: 2014-12-02
text: Referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committees on Financial Services, Oversight and Government Reform, and 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.
action_date: 2014-12-02
text: Referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committees on Financial Services, Oversight and Government Reform, and 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.
action_date: 2014-12-02
text: Referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committees on Financial Services, Oversight and Government Reform, and 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.
action_date: 2014-12-02
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2014-12-02
text: Introduced in House