PRIA, Government Policy, Made Personal

Summary

The President must impose sanctions on people who take part in serious violence or human rights abuses during the anti‑government protests that began on November 21, 2013; people who try to weaken Ukraine’s peace, security, stability, independence, or borders (including economic extortion); Russian officials (or their close associates or family) who commit serious corruption in Ukraine (such as seizing assets, corrupt contracts or resource deals, bribery, or moving stolen money abroad); and anyone who helps, funds, or provides goods, technology, or services for those acts. Those sanctions let the President freeze and block property and transactions in the United States, property that enters the United States, or property controlled by U.S. persons, and deny or revoke visas and exclude aliens from the United States. The importation of goods cannot be sanctioned. Visa rules do not apply when admitting someone is required to follow the United Nations Headquarters Agreement signed June 26, 1947 (entered into force November 21, 1947), or other international obligations. People who break the asset‑blocking rules face penalties under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. The President may waive or end sanctions for national security reasons or if the person stops the activity, but must notify specific congressional committees beforehand. The President must issue rules, licenses, and orders needed to carry out these actions. Subject to section 9511, the President may terminate sanctions after giving required notices.

Title 22, §8907

Foreign Relations and Intercourse, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)In general

The President shall impose the sanctions described in subsection (b) with respect to—

(1)any person, including a current or former official of the Government of Ukraine or a person acting on behalf of that Government, that the President determines has perpetrated, or is responsible for ordering, controlling, or otherwise directing, significant acts of violence or gross human rights abuses in Ukraine against persons associated with the antigovernment protests in Ukraine that began on November 21, 2013;

(2)any person that the President determines has perpetrated, or is responsible for ordering, controlling, or otherwise directing, significant acts that are intended to undermine the peace, security, stability, sovereignty, or territorial integrity of Ukraine, including acts of economic extortion;

(3)any official of the Government of the Russian Federation, or a close associate or family member of such an official, that the President determines is responsible for, complicit in, or responsible for ordering, controlling, or otherwise directing, acts of significant corruption in Ukraine, including the expropriation of private or public assets for personal gain, corruption related to government contracts or the extraction of natural resources, bribery, or the facilitation or transfer of the proceeds of corruption to foreign jurisdictions; and

(4)any individual that the President determines materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services in support of, the commission of acts described in paragraph (1), (2), or (3).

(b)Sanctions described

(1)In general

The sanctions described in this subsection are the following:

(A)Asset blocking

The exercise of all powers granted to the President by the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) to the extent necessary to block and prohibit all transactions in all property and interests in property of a person determined by the President to be subject to subsection (a) 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.

(B)Exclusion from the United States and revocation of visa or other documentation

In the case of an alien determined by the President to be subject to subsection (a), denial of a visa to, and exclusion from the United States of, the alien, and revocation in accordance with section 1201(i) of title 8, of any visa or other documentation of the alien.

(2)Penalties

A person that violates, attempts to violate, conspires to violate, or causes a violation of paragraph (1)(A) or any regulation, license, or order issued to carry out paragraph (1)(A) 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.

(3)Exception relating to the importation of goods

(A)In general

The requirement to block and prohibit all transactions in all property and interests in property under paragraph (1)(A) shall not include the authority to impose sanctions on the importation of goods.

(B)Good defined

In this paragraph, the term “good” has the meaning given that term in section 4618 of title 50 (as continued in effect pursuant to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.)).

(4)Exception to comply with United Nations headquarters agreement

Sanctions under paragraph (1)(B) shall not apply to an alien if admitting the alien 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.

(c)Waiver

The President may waive the application of sanctions under subsection (b) with respect to a person if the President—

(1)determines that such a waiver is in the national security interests of the United States; and

(2)on or before the date on which the waiver takes effect, submits to the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on Financial Services of the House of Representatives a notice of and a justification for the waiver.

(d)Termination

Subject to section 9511 of this title, the President may terminate the application of sanctions under subsection (b) with respect to a person if the President submits to the appropriate congressional committees a notice that—

(1)the person is not engaging in the activity that was the basis for the sanctions or has taken significant verifiable steps toward stopping the activity; and

(2)the President has received reliable assurances that the person will not knowingly engage in activity subject to sanctions under subsection (a) in the future.

(e)Regulatory authority

The President shall issue such regulations, licenses, and orders as are necessary to carry out this section.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

The International Emergency Economic Powers Act, referred to in subsec. (b)(1)(A), (3)(B), is title II of Pub. L. 95–223, Dec. 28, 1977, 91 Stat. 1626, which is classified generally to chapter 35 (§ 1701 et seq.) of Title 50, War and National Defense. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see

Short Title

note set out under section 1701 of Title 50 and Tables. Section 4618 of title 50, referred to in subsec. (b)(3)(B), was repealed by Pub. L. 115–232, div. A, title XVII, § 1766(a), Aug. 13, 2018, 132 Stat. 2232.

Amendments

2017—Subsecs. (d), (e). Pub. L. 115–44, which directed amendment of section 8 of the “Sovereignty, Integrity, Democracy, and Economic Stability of Ukraine Act of 2014” by adding subsec. (d) and redesignating former subsec. (d) as (e), was executed to this section, which is section 8 of the Support for the Sovereignty, Integrity, Democracy, and Economic Stability of Ukraine Act of 2014, to reflect the probable intent of Congress.

§8907 Sanctions on Persons Responsible for Violence or Undermining the Peace, Security, Stability, Sovereignty, or Territorial Integrity of Ukraine