Sec. 204. Prohibitions against United States recognition of the Russian Federation’s annexation of Crimea and occupation of South Ossetia and Abkhazia
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Between the years of 1940 and 1991, the United States did not recognize the forcible incorporation and annexation of the three Baltic States of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia into the Soviet Union under a policy known as the Stimson Doctrine . No Federal agency shall take any action or extend any assistance that recognizes or implies any recognition of— the de jure or de facto sovereignty of the Russian Federation over Crimea or its airspace or territorial waters; or the de jure or de facto independence of South Ossetia or Abkhazia, or the airspace or territorial waters of South Ossetia or Abkhazia, from Georgia.
In any matter before any United States court, upon request of the court or any party to the matter, the Attorney General shall affirm the United States policies of not recognizing— the de jure or de facto sovereignty of the Russian Federation over Crimea or its airspace or territorial waters; and the de jure or de facto independence of South Ossetia or Abkhazia, or the airspace or territorial waters of South Ossetia or Abkhazia, from Georgia. The Government Publishing Office shall not print any map, document, record, or other paper of the United States portraying or otherwise indicating— Crimea as part of the territory of the Russian Federation; or South Ossetia or Abkhazia as anything other than a part of Georgia.
The Secretary of Defense may not take any action, including any movement of aircraft or vessels, that implies recognition of— the sovereignty of the Russian Federation over Crimea or its airspace or territorial waters; or the independence of Abkhazia or South Ossetia, or the airspace or territorial waters of South Ossetia or Abkhazia, from Georgia. No vessel that is issued a certificate of documentation under chapter 121 of title 46, United States Code, may take any action that implies recognition of— the sovereignty of the Russian Federation over Crimea or its territorial waters; or the independence of South Ossetia or Abkhazia, or the territorial waters of South Ossetia or Abkhazia, from Georgia.
No aircraft operated by an air carrier that holds an air carrier certificate issued under chapter 411 of title 49, United States Code, may take any action that implies recognition of— the sovereignty of the Russian Federation over Crimea or its airspace; or the independence of South Ossetia or Abkhazia, or the airspace of South Ossetia or Abkhazia, from Georgia.