1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Russia is a State Sponsor of Terrorism Act”.
Russia is a State Sponsor of Terrorism Act
A BILL
To provide for the designation of the Russian Federation as a state sponsor of terrorism.
2. Findings
Congress finds the following:
United States law authorizes the designation of countries that have repeatedly provided support for acts of international terrorism as state sponsors of terrorism.
Cuba, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Iran, and Syria have been designated as state sponsors of terrorism.
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 and nation states.
Under the orders of President Putin, the Government of the Russian Federation engaged in a campaign of terror that utilized brutal force to target its civilians during the Second Chechen War.
Actions by the Government of the Russian Federation against civilian centers, such as Grozny (the capital of Chechnya), left countless innocent men, women, and children dead or wounded.
Since 2014, the Government of the Russian Federation—
has supported separatists engaging in acts of violence against Ukrainian civilians in the Donbas region; and
has detained United States citizens as hostages.
The Government of the Russian Federation provides material support to Syria, a nation currently designated as a state sponsor of terrorism.
According to the Congressional Research Service, the Russian Federation spreads terror throughout the world through private military networks of mercenaries, such as the Wagner Group, in an effort to “project power cheaply and deniably”.
The Wagner Group collaborates with the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation to support the foreign policy objectives of the Russian Federation.
The Department of the Treasury—
has identified the Wagner Group as “a designated Russian Ministry of Defense proxy force”; and
has stated that “Wagner’s activities in other countries, including Ukraine, Syria, Sudan, and Libya, have generated insecurity and incited violence against innocent civilians”.
In February 2022, more than 400 Russian mercenaries from the Wagner Group were dispatched to Kyiv with orders from the Kremlin to assassinate President Volodymyr Zelensky and members of the Government of Ukraine.
On March 1, 2022, Jason Blazakis, former Director of the Counterterrorism Finance and Designations Office, Bureau of Counterterrorism, Department of State, wrote in reference to white supremacist groups that “Russia provides sanctuary to a U.S.-designated terrorist group, the Russian Imperial Movement, which operates with impunity in Russian territory.”.
On March 17, 2022, President Volodymyr Zelensky called for the world to acknowledge the Russian Federation as a terrorist state.
The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has appealed to Congress to encourage the Department of State to recognize 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”.
On May 24, 2022, Ukrainian prosecutors accused 2 Wagner Group mercenaries of committing war crimes against civilians near Kyiv.
On July 18, 2022, the United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defence confirmed that the Wagner Group plays a central role in recent fighting in Ukraine, including Russia’s capture of Popasna and Lysyschansk.
The United States has a range of tools available to hold the Russian Federation accountable, reduce its war machine, and isolate it economically and diplomatically, including by designating it as a state sponsor of terrorism and imposing corresponding sanctions.
3. Designation of the Russian Federation as a state sponsor of terrorism
In general— Beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act, the Russian Federation shall be deemed to have repeatedly provided support for acts of international terrorism and shall be designated as a state sponsor of terrorism pursuant to—
section 1754(c)(1)(A)(i) of the Export Control Reform Act of 2018 (50 U.S.C. 4813(c)(1)(A)(i));
section 620A(a) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2371(a));
section 40(d) of the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2780(d)); and
any other relevant provision of law.
Technical and conforming amendments— Section 1605A(h)(6) of title 28, United States Code, is amended—
by inserting “Congress or” before “the Secretary of State”; and
by striking “section 6(j) of the Export Administration Act of 1979 (50 U.S.C. App. 2405(j)),”.
4. Waiver
The President may remove the designation required under section 3(a) on the date that is 30 days after the date on which the President certifies to the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate, the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives, the majority leader and minority leader of the Senate, and the Speaker, majority leader, and minority leader of the House of Representatives that—
the Russian Federation is no longer supporting acts of international terrorism; and
removing such designation is in the national security interests of the United States.