Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions
Floor Speech
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Mr. CORNYN. The bill provides for a primary prevention research agenda and workforce.
5231
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 ``Protecting our Servicemembers through Proven Methods Act of 2022'' SEC. 547. PRIMARY PREVENTION RESEARCH AGENDA AND WORKFORCE.
(a) Annual Primary Prevention Research Agenda.--Section 549A(c) of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022 (Public Law 117-81; 135 Stat. 1722) is amended--
(1) by redesignating paragraphs (2), (3), and (4) as paragraphs (5), (6), and (7), respectively;
(2) by inserting after paragraph (1) the following new paragraphs:
``(2) include a focus on whether and to what extent sub- populations of the military community may be targeted for interpersonal violence more than others;
``(3) seek to identify factors that influence the prevention, perpetration, and victimization of interpersonal and self-directed violence;
``(4) seek to improve the collection and dissemination of data on hazing and bullying related to interpersonal and self-directed violence;''; and
(3) by amending paragraph (6), as redesignated by paragraph (1) of this section, to read as follows:
``(6) incorporate collaboration with other Federal departments and agencies, including the Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, State governments, academia, industry, federally funded research and development centers, nonprofit organizations, and other organizations outside of the Department of Defense, including civilian institutions that conduct similar data-driven studies, collection, and analysis; and''.
(b) Primary Prevention Workforce.--Section 549B of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022 (Public Law 117-81; 135 Stat. 1722) is amended--
(1) in subsection (c)--
(A) in paragraph (2), by striking ``subsection (a)'' and inserting ``paragraph (1)''; and
(B) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
``(3) Comptroller general report.--Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this paragraph, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to the congressional defense committees a report that--
``(A) compares the sexual harassment and prevention training of the Department of Defense with similar programs at other departments and agencies of the Federal Government; and
``(B) includes relevant data collected by colleges and universities and other relevant outside entities on hazing and bullying and interpersonal and self-directed violence.''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
``(e) Incorporation of Research and Findings.--The Secretary of Defense shall ensure that the findings and conclusions from the primary prevention research agenda established under section 549A are regularly incorporated, as appropriate, within the primary prevention workforce established under subsection (a).''. ______
By Mr. CORNYN (for himself and Mr. King):
S. 5232. A bill to require the imposition of sanctions with respect to the sale, supply, or transfer of gold to or from the Russian Federation; to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
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Mr. CORNYN. The bill requires the imposition of sanctions with respect to the sale, supply, or transfer of gold to or from the Russian Federation.
5232
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 ``Stop Russian Government and Oligarchs from Limiting Democracy Act of 2022'' or the ``Stop Russian GOLD Act of 2022''. SEC. 2. IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS WITH RESPECT TO THE SALE, SUPPLY, OR TRANSFER OF GOLD TO OR FROM RUSSIA.
(a) Identification.--Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, and periodically as necessary thereafter, the President--
(1) shall submit to Congress a report identifying foreign persons that knowingly participated in a significant transaction--
(A) for the sale, supply, or transfer (including transportation) of gold, directly or indirectly, to or from the Russian Federation or the Government of the Russian Federation, including from reserves of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation held outside the Russian Federation; or
(B) that otherwise involved gold in which the Government of the Russian Federation had any interest; and
(2) shall impose the sanctions described in subsection (b)(1) with respect to each such person; and
(3) may impose the sanctions described in subsection (b)(2) with respect to any such person that is an alien.
(b) Sanctions Described.--The sanctions described in this subsection are the following:
(1) Blocking of property.--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 foreign person identified in the report required by subsection (a)(1) 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) Ineligibility for visas, admission, or parole.--
(A) Visas, admission, or parole.--An alien described in subsection (a)(1) 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 issuing consular officer, the Secretary of State, or the Secretary of Homeland Security (or a designee of one of such Secretaries) shall, in accordance with section 221(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1201(i)), revoke any visa or other entry documentation issued to an alien described in subsection (a)(1).
(ii) Immediate effect.--The revocation under clause (i) of a visa or other entry documentation issued to an alien shall--
(I) take effect immediately; and
(II) automatically cancel any other valid visa or entry documentation that is in the alien's possession.
(c) 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 this section or any regulation, license, or order issued to carry out this section 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.
(d) National Interest Waiver.--The President may waive the imposition of sanctions under this section with respect to a person if the President--
(1) determines that such a waiver is in the national interests of the United States; and
(2) submits to Congress a notification of the waiver and the reasons for the waiver.
(e) Termination.--
(1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), the requirement to impose sanctions under this section, and any sanctions imposed under this section, shall terminate on the earlier of--
(A) the date that is 3 years after the date of the enactment of this Act; or
(B) the date that is 30 days after the date on which the President certifies to Congress that--
(i) the Government of the Russian Federation has ceased its destabilizing activities with respect to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine; and
(ii) such termination in the national interests of the United States.
(2) Transition rules.--
(A) Continuation of certain authorities.--Any authorities exercised before the termination date under paragraph (1) to impose sanctions with respect to a foreign person under this section may continue to be exercised on and after that date if the President determines that the continuation of those authorities is in the national interests of the United States.
(B) Application to ongoing investigations.--The termination date under paragraph (1) shall not apply to any investigation of a civil or criminal violation of this section or any regulation, license, or order issued to carry out this section, or the imposition of a civil or criminal penalty for such a violation, if--
(i) the violation occurred before the termination date; or
(ii) the person involved in the violation continues to be subject to sanctions pursuant to subparagraph (A).
(f) Exceptions.--
(1) Exceptions for authorized intelligence and law enforcement and national security activities.--This section shall not apply with respect to activities subject to the reporting requirements under title V of the National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3091 et seq.) or any authorized intelligence, law enforcement, or national security activities of the United States.
(2) Exception to comply with international agreements.-- Sanctions under subsection (b)(2) may not apply with respect to the admission of an alien to the United States if such admission is necessary to comply with the obligations of the United States under 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 the Convention on Consular Relations, done at Vienna April 24, 1963, and entered into force March 19, 1967, or other international obligations.
(3) Humanitarian exemption.--The President shall not impose sanctions under this section with respect to any person for conducting or facilitating a transaction for the sale of agricultural commodities, food, medicine, or medical devices or for the provision of humanitarian assistance.
(4) Exception relating to importation of goods.--
(A) In general.--The requirement or authority to impose sanctions under this section shall not include the authority or a 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.
(g) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) The terms ``admission'', ``admitted'', ``alien'', and ``lawfully admitted for permanent residence'' have the meanings given those terms in section 101 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101).
(2) The term ``foreign person'' means an individual or entity that is not a United States person.
(3) The term ``knowingly'', with respect to conduct, a circumstance, or a result, means that a person has actual knowledge, or should have known, of the conduct, the circumstance, or the result.
(4) The term ``United States person'' means--
(A) a United States citizen or an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence to the United States;
(B) an entity organized under the laws of the United States or any jurisdiction within the United States, including a foreign branch of such an entity; or
(C) any person in the United States. ______
By Mr. CORNYN (for himself and Mrs. Gillibrand):
S. 5233. A bill to require the President to submit to Congress a report on United States Government efforts to collect, analyze, and preserve evidence and information related to war crimes and other atrocities committed during the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine since February 24, 2022, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Foreign Relations.
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Mr. CORNYN. The bill requires the President to submit to Congress a report on U.S. Government efforts to collect, analyze, and preserve evidence and information related to war crimes and other atrocities committed during the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine.
5233
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. UKRAINE INVASION WAR CRIMES DETERRENCE AND ACCOUNTABILITY ACT.
(a) Short Title.--This section may be cited as the ``Ukraine Invasion War Crimes Deterrence and Accountability Act''.
(b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) in its premeditated, unprovoked, unjustified, and unlawful full-scale invasion of Ukraine that commenced on February 24, 2022, the military of the Government of the Russian Federation under the direction of President Vladimir Putin has committed war crimes that include but are not limited to--
(A) the deliberate targeting of civilians and injuring or killing of noncombatants;
(B) the deliberate targeting and attacking of hospitals, schools, and other non-military buildings dedicated to religion, art, science, or charitable purposes, such as the bombing of a theater in Mariupol that served as a shelter for noncombatants and had the word ``children'' written clearly in the Russian language outside;
(C) the indiscriminate bombardment of undefended dwellings and buildings;
(D) the wanton destruction of property not justified by military necessity;
(E) unlawful civilian deportations;
(F) the taking of hostages; and
(G) rape, or sexual assault or abuse;
(2) the use of chemical weapons by the Government of the Russian Federation in Ukraine would constitute a war crime, and engaging in any military preparations to use chemical weapons or to develop, produce, stockpile, or retain chemical weapons is prohibited by the Chemical Weapons Convention, to which the Russian Federation is a signatory;
(3) Vladimir Putin has a long record of committing acts of aggression, systematic abuses of human rights, and acts that constitute war crimes or other atrocities both at home and abroad, and the brutality and scale of these actions, including in the Russian Federation republic of Chechnya, Georgia, Syria, and Ukraine, demonstrate the extent to which his regime is willing to flout international norms and values in the pursuit of its objectives;
(4) Vladimir Putin has previously sanctioned the use of chemical weapons at home and abroad, including in the poisonings of Russian spy turned double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia and leading Russian opposition figure Aleksey Navalny, and aided and abetted the use of chemical weapons by President Bashar al-Assad in Syria; and
(5) in 2014, the Government of the Russian Federation initiated its unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine which resulted in its illegal occupation of Crimea, the unrecognized declaration of independence by the so-called ``Donetsk People's Republic'' and ``Luhansk People's Republic'' by Russia-backed proxies, and numerous human rights violations and deaths of civilians in Ukraine.
(c) Statement of Policy.--It is the policy of the United States--
(1) to collect, analyze, and preserve evidence and information related to war crimes and other atrocities committed during the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine that began on February 24, 2022, for use in appropriate domestic, foreign, and international courts and tribunals prosecuting those responsible for such crimes consistent with applicable law, including with the American Service Members' Protection Act of 2002 (22 U.S.C. 7421 et seq.);
(2) to help deter the commission of war crimes and other atrocities in Ukraine by publicizing to the maximum possible extent, including among Russian and other foreign military commanders and troops in Ukraine, efforts to identify and prosecute those responsible for the commission of war crimes during the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine that began on February 24, 2022; and
(3) to continue efforts to identify, deter, and pursue accountability for war crimes and other atrocities committed around the world and by other perpetrators, and to leverage international cooperation and best practices in this regard with respect to the current situation in Ukraine.
(d) Report on United States Efforts.--Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, and consistent with the protection of intelligence sources and methods, the President shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report, which may include a classified annex, describing in detail the following:
(1) United States Government efforts to collect, analyze, and preserve evidence and information related to war crimes and other atrocities committed during the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine since February 24, 2022, including a description of--
(A) the respective roles of various agencies, departments, and offices, and the interagency mechanism established for the coordination of such efforts;
(B) the types of information and evidence that are being collected, analyzed, and preserved to help identify those responsible for the commission of war crimes or other atrocities during the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022; and
(C) steps taken to coordinate with, and support the work of, allies, partners, international institutions and organizations, and nongovernmental organizations in such efforts.
(2) Media, public diplomacy, and information operations to make Russian military commanders, troops, political leaders and the Russian people aware of efforts to identify and prosecute those responsible for the commission of war crimes or other atrocities during the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and of the types of acts that may be prosecutable.
(3) The process for a domestic, foreign, or international court or tribunal to request and obtain from the United States Government information related to war crimes or other atrocities committed during the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
(e) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
(A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee on the Judiciary, the Committee on Armed Services, and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the House of Representatives; and
(B) the Committee on Foreign Relations, the Committee on the Judiciary, the Committee on Armed Services, and the Select Committee on Intelligence of the Senate.
(2) Atrocities.--The term ``atrocities'' has the meaning given that term in section 6(2) of the Elie Wiesel Genocide and Atrocities Prevention Act of 2018 (Public Law 115-441; 22 U.S.C. 2656 note).
(3) War crime.--The term ``war crime'' has the meaning given that term in section 2441(c) of title 18, United States Code. ______
By Mr. CORNYN (for himself and Mr. Cardin):
S. 5234. A bill to modify statutory definitions relating to narcotics and drug trafficking, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Foreign Relations.
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Mr. CORNYN. The bill modifies statutory definitions relating to narcotics and drug trafficking.
5234
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 ``Protecting America from Narcotics and Illicit Chemicals Act of 2022'' or the ``PANIC Act of 2022''. SEC. 2. DEFINITION OF MAJOR ILLICIT DRUG PRODUCING COUNTRY.
Section 481(e) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2291(e)) is amended--
(1) in paragraph (2)--
(A) in subparagraph (C), by striking ``; or'' and inserting a semicolon;
(B) in subparagraph (D), by striking the semicolon at the end and inserting ``; or''; and
(C) by adding at the end the following:
``(E) that is a significant direct source of covered synthetic drugs or psychotropic drugs or other controlled substances, including precursor chemicals when those chemicals are used in the production of such drugs and substances, significantly affecting the United States;'';
(2) by amending paragraph (5) to read as follows:
``(5) the term `major drug-transit country' means a country through which are transported covered synthetic drugs or psychotropic drugs or other controlled substances significantly affecting the United States;'';
(3) in paragraph (7), by striking ``; and'' and inserting a semicolon;
(4) in paragraph (8), by striking the period at the end and inserting ``; and''; and
(5) by adding at the end the following:
``(9) the term `covered synthetic drug' has the meaning given that term in section 5558 of the FENTANYL Results Act.''.
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