Designating the Russian Federation as a State Sponsor of Terrorism Act

Bill: 118-s-4625
Sponsor: full_name: Sen. Graham, Lindsey [R-SC]
Introduced: 2024-06-20
Policy area: International Affairs
Latest action: action_date: 2024-06-20
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.

Summaries:

tv_txt: II 118th CONGRESS 2d Session S. 4625 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES June 20, 2024 Mr. Graham (for himself and Mr. Blumenthal ) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations A BILL To provide for the designation of the Russian Federation as a state sponsor of terrorism.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Designating the Russian Federation as a State Sponsor of Terrorism Act . 2. Findings Congress finds the following: (1) United States law authorizes the designation of countries as state sponsors of terrorism if they have repeatedly provided support for acts of international terrorism. (2) The Republic of Cuba, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the Islamic Republic of Iran, and the Syrian Arab Republic are currently designated as state sponsors of terrorism. (3) At the direction of President Vladimir Putin, the Government of the Russian Federation has promoted, and continues to promote, acts of international terrorism against political opponents, foreign nationals, and nation states. (4) Under the orders of President Vladimir Putin, the Government of the Russian Federation engaged in a campaign of terror that utilized brutal force to target civilians and civilian centers, such as Grozny (the capital of Chechnya) during the Second Chechen War, which left countless innocent men, women, and children dead or wounded. (5) In 2004, agents of the Government of the Russian Federation allegedly poisoned then candidate for President of Ukraine and informal opposition coalition leader, Viktor Yushchenko, with 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (commonly known as TCDD ). (6) In 2006, agents of the Government of the Russian Federation allegedly poisoned a former officer of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation, Alexander Litvinenko, with the rare and highly toxic radionuclide polonium-210 while Mr. Litvinenko was in London. (7) In 2014, the Russian Federation illegally seized and annexed the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine by military force. (8) In 2014, the Wagner Group, a private military company, was established following the Russian Federation’s illegal seizure and annexation of the Crimean Peninsula and has since— (A) been subject to United States Government sanctions for its involvement in the Russian Federation’s initial invasion of Ukraine; (B) been added to the Department of Commerce's Entity List set forth in Supplement No. 4 to part 744 of the Export Administration Regulations for violating international law and fueling the conflict in eastern Ukraine; (C) been identified by the Department of the Treasury as a designated Russian Ministry of Defense proxy force ; (D) been redesignated by the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the Department of the Treasury pursuant to Executive Order 13581 for being a foreign person that constitutes a significant transnational criminal organization , due to the Wagner Group’s ongoing pattern of serious criminal activity, including mass executions, rape, child abductions and physical abuse ; and (E) had additional sanctions placed on individuals who have directly or indirectly acted on behalf of the Wagner Group, even after the death of the former head of the Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin. (9) Since 2014, the Government of the Russian Federation has supported separatists engaging in acts of violence against Ukrainian civilians in the Donbas region. (10) On July 27, 2014, the Government of the Russian Federation supplied the surface-to-air missile used by pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine to shoot down Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, which resulted in the deaths of 298 innocent men, women, and children. (11) In September and October 2016, an aerial bombing campaign launched by the Russian-Syrian coalition against the city of Aleppo, Syria killed at least 430 people and struck civilian targets, including the al-Sakhour Medical Center. (12) In 2018, intelligence assessments by the United States Government concluded that President Vladimir Putin ordered the poisoning of former Russian military officer and double agent for British intelligence agencies Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia Skripal, in the United Kingdom. (13) The Government of the Russian Federation has entered into trade deals with the Republic of Cuba, a nation that is currently designated a state sponsor of terrorism, with the intent to continue to increase bilateral trade between the two countries, which reached $450,000,000 in 2022, which was a 200 percent increase in the value of trade between the two countries compared to 2021. (14) The Government of the Russian Federation has received diplomatic support from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, another nation that is currently designated a state sponsor of terrorism, and a nation that has recognized the Russian Federation’s illegal annexation of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia as legitimate. (15) The Government of the Russian Federation has provided and continues to provide military and technical support to the Islamic Republic of Iran, a third nation that is currently designated a state sponsor of terrorism, in return for weapons, including unmanned aerial vehicles, which the Russian Federation has used extensively in Ukraine, including against civilian targets. (16) The Government of the Russian Federation provides material support to the Syrian Arab Republic, a fourth nation that is currently designated a state sponsor of terrorism and a nation that has targeted innocent civilians with attacks on civilian markets, medical facilities, and schools. (17) On February 25, 2022, the day after Russia launched its full scaled invasion of Ukraine, and pursuant to Executive Order 14024 ( 50 U.S.C. 1701 note), which authorizes sanctions against Russia for its harmful foreign activities, including violating well-established principles of international law such as respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of other states, the United States imposed sanctions on— (A) the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin; (B) the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Sergei Lavrov; (C) the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, Valery Gerasimov; and (D) the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation, Sergei Shoigu. (18) On February 25, 2022, following the imposition of sanctions, the Department of the Treasury released a statement that reads, in part, President Putin and Minister Lavrov are directly responsible for Russia’s unprovoked and unlawful further invasion of Ukraine, a democratic sovereign state. It is exceedingly rare for Treasury to designate a head of state; President Putin joins a very small group that includes despots such as Kim Jong Un, Alyaksandr Lukashenka, and Bashar al-Assad. . (19) On March 1, 2022, Jason Blazakis, former Director of the Counterterrorism Finance and Designations Office, Bureau of Counterterrorism, Department of State, wrote Russia provides sanctuary to a U.S.-designated terrorist group, the Russian Imperial Movement, which operates with impunity in Russian territory. . (20) 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 . (21) On March 17, 2022, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called for the world to acknowledge the Russian Federation as a terrorist state. (22) In July 2022, it was reported that between 2013 and 2021 the Governments of the Russian Federation and the Syrian Arab Republic had carried out at least 58 double-tap air strikes in residential areas in the Syrian Arab Republic outside of government-held territory that targeted rescue personnel responding to assist civilian casualties caused by the initial air strikes. (23) On July 27, 2022, during the 117th Congress, the Senate unanimously passed a resolution calling on the Secretary of State to designate the Russian Federation as a state sponsor of terrorism. (24) On November 23, 2022, the European Parliament designated the Russian Federation as a state sponsor of terrorism for its military strikes on civilian targets, including energy infrastructure, hospitals, schools and shelters. (25) As of December 21, 2022, four NATO allies have formally declared that the Russian Federation is a state sponsor of terrorism. (26) On December 21, 2022, President Zelensky, speaking before a joint meeting of the United States Congress, called on the United States to let the terrorist state [of Russia] be held responsible for its terror and aggression [towards Ukraine] . (27) On March 17, 2023, Pre-Trial Chamber II of the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, and the Commissioner for Children’s Rights in the Office of the President, Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova, for the war crime of unlawful deportation of children and the unlawful transfer of children from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation. (28) On February 16, 2024, Aleksey Navalny, a Russian opposition leader and vocal critic of President Vladimir Putin, was reported dead after Russian officials announced he died from sudden death syndrome . (29) On February 16, 2024, following reports of the death of Aleksey Navalny, President Biden stated Make no mistake: Putin is responsible for Navalny’s death. What has happened to Navalny is more proof of Putin’s brutality , which built on his earlier comments that the consequences of [Navalny’s death] would be devastating for Russia. . (30) On March 5, 2024, Pre-Trial Chamber II of the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for the Commander of the Long-Range Aviation of the Aerospace Force, Sergei Ivanovich Kobylash, and Commander of the Black Sea Fleet, Viktor Nikolayevich Sokolov, for the war crime of directing attacks at civilian objects, the war crime of causing excessive incidental harm to civilians and damage to civilian objects, and the crime against humanity of inhumane acts. (31) The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has appealed to Congress to encourage the Department of State to designate 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. . (32) While those who oppose designating the Russian Federation as a state sponsor of terrorism claim such designation would prevent diplomatic engagement between the Russian Federation and the United States, section 112b of title 1, United States Code (commonly known as the Case-Zablocki Act ) does not prohibit the President of the United States nor the Secretary of State from engaging diplomatically and entering into international agreements with any foreign government that is designated as a state sponsor of terrorism. (33) The United States has previously engaged diplomatically and entered into agreements with governments designated as state sponsors of terrorism, including— (A) in 1984, 1994, and 1995 when the United States and the Republic of Cuba negotiated a number of joint communiqués and joint statements related to migration procedures; (B) in 1996, when the United States entered into three agreements with the Islamic Republic of Iran related to the resolution of claims before the Iran-United States Claims Tribunal and the International Court of Justice; (C) in 2010, when the United States held security talks with the President of the Syrian Arab Republic; (D) in 2013 and 2015, when the United States and the Islamic Republic of Iran participated in and signed the multinational Joint Plan of Action and the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, respectively; (E) in 2018 and 2019, when the President of the United States held a series of bilateral meetings with the Supreme Leader of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea; and (F) by maintaining United States Embassy or interest section operations in the Republic of Cuba and the Syrian Arab Republic while the respective countries were designated as state sponsors of terrorism. (34) The United States has a range of tools available— (A) to hold the Russian Federation accountable; (B) to reduce the Russian Federation's war machine; and (C) to isolate the Russian Federation economically and diplomatically, including— (i) by designating the Russian Federation a state sponsor of terrorism; and (ii) by imposing corresponding sanctions. 3. Definitions In this Act: (1) Agricultural commodity The term agricultural commodity has the meaning given such term in section 102 of the Agricultural Trade Act of 1978 ( 7 U.S.C. 5602 ). (2) Appropriate congressional committees The term appropriate congressional committees means— (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate ; (B) the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate ; (C) the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate ; (D) the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate ; (E) the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate ; (F) the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate ; (G) the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate ; (H) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives ; (I) the Committee on Financial Services of the House of Representatives ; (J) the Committee on Armed Services of the House of Representatives ; (K) the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives ; (L) the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives ; (M) the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives ; and (N) the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives . (3) Medical device The term medical device has the meaning given the term device in section 201(h)(1) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act ( 21 U.S.C. 321(h)(1) ). (4) Medicine The term medicine has the meaning given the term drug in section 201(g)(1) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act ( 21 U.S.C. 321(g)(1) ). 4. Designation of the Russian Federation as a state sponsor of terrorism (a) Designation Upon the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall designate the Russian Federation a state sponsor of terrorism pursuant to— (1) section 1754(c) of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 ( 50 U.S.C. 4813(c) ); (2) section 40 of the Arms Export Control Act ( 22 U.S.C. 2780 ); (3) section 620A of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 ( 22 U.S.C. 2371 ); and (4) any other relevant provision of law. (b) Technical and conforming amendments Section 1605A(h)(6) of title 28, United States Code, is amended— (1) by inserting Congress or before the Secretary of State ; and (2) by striking section 6(j) of the Export Administration Act of 1979 ( 50 U.S.C. App. 2405(j) ), . 5. Exceptions (a) In general (1) License requirement Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, the export of agricultural commodities, medicine, or medical devices to the Russian Federation may only be made pursuant to a 2-year license issued by the United States Government for contracts entered into during the 2-year license period and shipped during the 2-year period beginning on the date on which the contract is signed. (2) Certain transactions in support of nongovernmental organizations' activities The designation of the Russian Federation as a state sponsor of terrorism pursuant to section 4(a) shall not impact certain transactions in support of nongovernmental organizations’ activities in Ukraine set forth in paragraph (b) of General License Number 23, which was issued by the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the Department of the Treasury on March 11, 2022. (3) Other requirements Except as provided in paragraph (4), the requirements under a 2-year license issued pursuant to paragraph (1) may not be more restrictive than license exceptions administered by the Department of Commerce or general licenses administered by the Department of the Treasury. (4) Denial of license to certain entities The Secretary of Commerce shall establish procedures to deny licenses for exports to the Russian Federation. (b) Quarterly reports The applicable department or agency of the Federal Government shall submit a quarterly report to the appropriate congressional committees that describes any activities undertaken pursuant to subsection (a) during the most recently concluded calendar quarter. (c) Biennial reports Not later than 2 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, and biennially thereafter, the applicable department or agency of the Federal Government shall submit a report to the appropriate congressional committees regarding the operation of the licensing system required under this section during the preceding 2-year period, which shall include— (1) the number and types of licenses for which applications were submitted; (2) the number and types of licenses that were approved; (3) the average amount of time elapsed between the date on which the license application was filed and the date on which the license was approved; (4) the extent to which the licensing procedures were effectively implemented; and (5) a description of comments received from interested parties about the extent to which the licensing procedures were effective, after the applicable department or agency holds a public 30-day comment period. 6. Conditions for removing the state sponsor of terrorism designation from the Russian Federation The President may remove the designation required under section 4(a) on the date that is 30 days after the date on which the President certifies to the appropriate congressional committees, the majority leader and minority leader of the Senate, and the Speaker and minority leader of the House of Representatives, that— (1) the Russian Federation is no longer supporting acts of international terrorism; and (2) removing such designation is in the national security interest of the United States.