Sec. 3. Actions to address state-sponsored cyber activities against the United States
2,275 words·~10 min read·
/bill/116/hr/1493/ih/section-3A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
The President, acting through the Secretary of State, and in coordination with other relevant Federal agency heads, shall designate as a critical cyber threat actor— each foreign person and each agency or instrumentality of a foreign state that the President determines to be knowingly responsible for or complicit in, or have engaged in, directly or indirectly, state-sponsored cyber activities that are reasonably likely to result in, or have contributed to, a significant threat to the national security, foreign policy, or economic health or financial stability of the United States and that have the purpose or effect of— causing a significant disruption to the availability of a computer or network of computers; harming, or otherwise significantly compromising the provision of service by, a computer or network of computers that support one or more entities in a critical infrastructure sector; significantly compromising the provision of services by one or more entities in a critical infrastructure sector; causing a significant misappropriation of funds or economic resources, trade secrets, personal identifiers, or financial information for commercial or competitive advantage or private financial gain; destabilizing the financial sector of the United States by tampering with, altering, or causing a misappropriation of data; or interfering with or undermining election processes or institutions by tampering with, altering, or causing misappropriation of data; each foreign person that the President has determined to have knowingly, significantly, and materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, any activities described in subparagraph
(A)by a foreign person or agency or instrumentality of a foreign state designated as a critical cyber threat actor under subparagraph (A); and each agency or instrumentality of a foreign state that the President has determined to have significantly and materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, any activities described in subparagraph
(A)by a foreign person or agency or instrumentality of a foreign state designated as a critical cyber threat actor under subparagraph (A). Not later than 7 days after designating a foreign person or agency or instrumentality of a foreign state as a critical cyber threat actor, the President shall transmit to the appropriate congressional committees in classified or unclassified form a report identifying the designee. The President shall impose one or more of the applicable sanctions described in paragraph
(2)with respect to each foreign person and each agency or instrumentality of a foreign state designated as a critical cyber threat actor under subsection (a). The sanctions described in this paragraph are the following: The President may provide for the withdrawal, limitation, or suspension of non-humanitarian United States development assistance under chapter 1 of part I of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961. The President may provide for the withdrawal, limitation, or suspension of United States security assistance under part II of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961. The President may direct the United States executive director to each international financial institution to use the voice and vote of the United States to oppose any loan from the international financial institution that would benefit the designated foreign person or the designated agency or instrumentality of a foreign state. The President may direct the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, the United States International Development Finance Corporation, or any other United States Government agency not to approve the issuance of any (or a specified number of) guarantees, insurance, extensions of credit, or participations in the extension of credit. The President may, pursuant to such regulations or guidelines as the President may prescribe, prohibit any United States person from investing in or purchasing significant amounts of equity or debt instruments of the designated foreign person. The President may, pursuant to procedures the President shall prescribe, which shall include the opportunity to appeal actions under this subparagraph, prohibit any United States agency or instrumentality from procuring, or entering into any contract for the procurement of, any goods, technology, or services, or classes of goods, technology, or services, from the designated foreign person or the designated agency or instrumentality of a foreign state. The President may order the heads of the appropriate United States agencies to not issue any (or a specified number of) specific licenses, and to not grant any other specific authority (or a specified number of authorities), to export any goods or technology to the designated foreign person or the designated agency or instrumentality of a foreign state under— the Export Control Reform Act of 2018; the Arms Export Control Act; the Atomic Energy Act of 1954; or any other statute that requires the prior review and approval of the United States Government as a condition for the export or re-export of goods or services. The President may exercise all of the powers granted to the President under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act ( 50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) (except that the requirements of section 202 of such Act ( 50 U.S.C. 1701 ) shall not apply) to the extent necessary to block and prohibit all transactions in property and interests in property of the designated foreign person 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. The penalties provided for in subsections
(b)and
(c)of section 206 of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act ( 50 U.S.C. 1705 ) shall apply to a person that violates, attempts to violate, conspires to violate, or causes a violation of regulations prescribed under clause
(i)to the same extent that such penalties apply to a person that commits an unlawful act described in subsection
(a)of such section 206. The President may, pursuant to such regulations as the President may prescribe, prohibit any transfers of credit or payments between one or more financial institutions or by, through, or to any financial institution, to the extent that such transfers or payments are subject to the jurisdiction of the United States and involve any interest of the designated foreign person. An alien who is designated as a critical cyber threat actor under subsection
(a)is— inadmissible to the United States; ineligible to receive a visa or other documentation to enter the United States; and 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.). The issuing consular officer, the Secretary of State, or the Secretary of Homeland Security (or a designee of either such Secretaries) shall revoke any visa or other entry documentation issued to the foreign person designated as a critical cyber threat actor under subsection
(a)regardless of when issued. A revocation under this clause shall take effect immediately and shall automatically cancel any other valid visa or entry documentation that is in the possession of such foreign person. The President may impose any of the sanctions described in paragraph
(2)with respect to the government of each foreign state that the President has determined aided, abetted, or directed a foreign person or agency or instrumentality of a foreign state designated as a critical cyber threat actor under subsection (a). The sanctions referred to in paragraph
(1)are the following: The President may provide for the withdrawal, limitation, or suspension of non-humanitarian or non-trade-related assistance United States development assistance under chapter 1 of part I of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961. The President may provide for the withdrawal, limitation, or suspension of United States security assistance under part II of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961. The President may instruct the United States Executive Director to each appropriate international financial institution to oppose, and vote against the extension by such institution of any loan or financial assistance to the government of the foreign state. No item on the United States Munitions List (established pursuant to section 38 of the Arms Export Control Act ( 22 U.S.C. 2778 )) or the Commerce Control List set forth in Supplement No. 1 to part 774 of title 15, Code of Federal Regulations, may be exported to the government of the foreign state. 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. To the extent practicable— actions taken by the President pursuant to this section should be coordinated with United States allies and partners; and the Secretary of State should work with United States allies and partners, on a voluntary basis, to lead an international diplomatic initiative to— deter critical cyber threat actors and state-sponsored cyber activities; and provide mutual support to such allies and partners participating in such initiative to respond to such state-sponsored cyber activities. The following activities shall be exempt from sanctions under subsections (b), (c), and (d): Activities subject to the reporting requirements of title V of the National Security Act of 1947 ( 50 U.S.C. 413 et seq.), or to any authorized intelligence activities of the United States. Any transaction necessary to comply with United States obligations under the Agreement between the United Nations and the United States of America regarding the Headquarters of the United Nations, signed June 26, 1947, and entered into force on November 21, 1947, or under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, signed April 24, 1963, and entered into force on March 19, 1967, or under other international obligations. The President may waive the imposition of sanctions described in this section for a period of not more than 1 year, and may renew such waiver for additional periods of not more than 1 year, if the President transmits to the appropriate congressional committees a written determination that such waiver meets one or more of the following requirements: Such waiver is in the national interests of the United States. Such waiver will further the enforcement of this Act or is for an important law enforcement purpose. Such waiver is for an important humanitarian purpose. The President may prescribe rules and regulations for the removal of sanctions under subsections (b), (c), and
(d)and the removal of designations under subsection
(a)if the President determines that a foreign person, agency or instrumentality of a foreign state, or government of a foreign state subject to such sanctions or such designations, as the case may be, has verifiably ceased its participation in any of the conduct with respect to which such foreign person, agency or instrumentality of a foreign state, or government of a foreign state was subject to such sanctions or designation, as the case may be, under this section, and has given assurances that such foreign person, agency or instrumentality of a foreign state, or government of a foreign state, as the case may be, will no longer participate in such conduct. Sanctions under subsection
(c)shall not apply to a foreign person if admitting such foreign person 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. Nothing in this section may be construed to limit the authority of the President under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act ( 50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) or any other provision of law to impose sanctions to address critical cyber threat actors and malicious state-sponsored cyber activities. In this section: The terms admitted and alien have the meanings given such terms in section 101 of the Immigration and Nationality Act ( 8 U.S.C. 1101 ). The term appropriate congressional committees means— the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee on Financial Services, the Committee on the Judiciary, the Committee on Oversight and Reform, and the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives; and the Committee on Foreign Relations, the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, the Committee on the Judiciary, and the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate. The term agency or instrumentality of a foreign state has the meaning given such term in section 1603(b) of title 28, United States Code. The term critical infrastructure sector means any of the designated critical infrastructure sectors identified in the Presidential Policy Directive entitled Critical Infrastructure Security and Resilience , numbered 21, and dated February 12, 2013. The term foreign person means a person that is not a United States person. The term foreign state has the meaning given such term in section 1603(a) of title 28, United States Code. 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. The term misappropriation means taking or obtaining by improper means, without permission or consent, or under false pretenses. The term state-sponsored cyber activities means any malicious cyber-enabled activities that— are carried out by a government of a foreign state or an agency or instrumentality of a foreign state; or are carried out by a foreign person that is aided, abetted, or directed by a government of a foreign state or an agency or instrumentality of a foreign state. The term United States person means— a United States citizen or an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence to the United States; or an entity organized under the laws of the United States or of any jurisdiction within the United States, including a foreign branch of such an entity.
Connectionstraces to 6
Citation graph
cites case law
Sec. 3
Actions to address state-sponsored cyber activities against the United States
Cites 6Cited by 0 across 0 sources