[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 825 Introduced in House (IH)]
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118th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 825
To prohibit contracting with persons that have business operations with
the Maduro regime, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 2, 2023
Mr. Waltz (for himself, Ms. Wasserman Schultz, Ms. Salazar, Mr.
Gimenez, Mrs. Gonzalez-Colon, Mr. Reschenthaler, Mr. Lamborn, Mr. Diaz-
Balart, and Ms. Mace) introduced the following bill; which was referred
to the Committee on Oversight and Accountability
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To prohibit contracting with persons that have business operations with
the Maduro regime, and for other purposes.
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 ``Banning Operations and Leases with
the Illegitimate Venezuelan Authoritarian Regime Act'' or the ``BOLIVAR
Act''.
SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON CONTRACTING WITH PERSONS THAT HAVE BUSINESS
OPERATIONS WITH THE MADURO REGIME.
(a) Prohibition.--Except as provided in subsections (b), (c), and
(d), the head of an executive agency may not enter into a contract for
the procurement of goods or services with any person that the head of
an executive agency determines, with the concurrence of the Secretary
of State, knowingly engages in significant business operations with an
authority of the Government of Venezuela that is not recognized as the
legitimate Government of Venezuela by the United States.
(b) Exceptions.--
(1) In general.--The prohibition under subsection (a) does
not apply to a contract that the Secretary of State
determines--
(A) is necessary--
(i) for purposes of providing humanitarian
assistance to the people of Venezuela;
(ii) for purposes of providing disaster
relief and other urgent life-saving measures;
or
(iii) to carry out noncombatant
evacuations; or
(B) is in the national security interests of the
United States.
(2) Support for united states government activities.--The
prohibition in subsection (a) shall not apply to contracts that
support United States Government activities in Venezuela,
including those necessary for the maintenance of United States
Government facilities in Venezuela, or to contracts with
international organizations.
(3) Notification requirement.--The Secretary of State shall
notify the appropriate congressional committees of any contract
entered into on the basis of an exception provided for under
paragraph (1).
(c) Office of Foreign Assets Control Licenses.--The prohibition in
subsection (a) does not apply to a person that has a valid license to
operate in Venezuela issued by the Office of Foreign Assets Control.
(d) American Diplomatic Mission in Venezuela.--The prohibition in
subsection (a) does not apply to contracts related to the operation and
maintenance of the United States Government's consular offices and
diplomatic posts in Venezuela.
(e) Waiver.--The Secretary of State may waive the requirements of
subsection (a) if the Secretary of State determines that to do so is in
the national interest of the United States.
(f) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term
``appropriate congressional committees'' means the Committee on
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and the Committee on
Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Committee on Homeland
Security and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of
Representatives.
(2) Business operations.--The term ``business operations''
means engaging in commerce in any form, including acquiring,
developing, maintaining, owning, selling, possessing, leasing,
or operating equipment, facilities, personnel, products,
services, personal property, real property, or any other
apparatus of business or commerce.
(3) Executive agency.--The term ``executive agency'' has
the meaning given the term in section 133 of title 41, United
States Code.
(4) Government of venezuela.--(A) The term ``Government of
Venezuela'' includes the government of any political
subdivision of Venezuela, and any agency or instrumentality of
the Government of Venezuela.
(B) For purposes of subparagraph (A), the term ``agency or
instrumentality of the Government of Venezuela'' means an
agency or instrumentality of a foreign state as defined in
section 1603(b) of title 28, United States Code, with each
reference in such section to ``a foreign state'' deemed to be a
reference to ``Venezuela''.
(5) Person.--The term ``person'' means--
(A) a natural person, corporation, company,
business association, partnership, society, trust, or
any other nongovernmental entity, organization, or
group;
(B) any governmental entity or instrumentality of a
government; and
(C) any successor, subunit, parent entity, or
subsidiary of, or any entity under common ownership or
control with, any entity described in subparagraph (A)
or (B).
(g) Term of Applicability.--This section shall apply with respect
to any contract entered into during the three-year period beginning on
the date of the enactment of this Act.
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