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TITLE VIII--ACQUISITION POLICY, ACQUISITION MANAGEMENT, AND RELATED MATTERS

Subtitle H—Other Matters

P. L. 116-92

House Conference Report 116-333

(a) Prohibition.--Except as provided under subsections (c), (d), and (e), the Department of Defense may not enter into a contract for the procurement of goods or services with any person that has business operations with an authority of the Government of Venezuela that is not recognized as the legitimate Government of Venezuela by the United States Government.

(b) Exceptions.--

(1) In general.--The prohibition under subsection (a) does not apply to a contract that the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of State jointly determine--

(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 vital to the national security interests of the United States.

(2) Notification requirement.--The Secretary of Defense shall notify the congressional defense committees, the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives, and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate 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) shall not apply to a person that has a valid license to operate in Venezuela issued by the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the Department of the Treasury.

(d) American Diplomatic Mission in Venezuela.--The prohibition in subsection (a) shall not apply to contracts related to the operation and maintenance of the United States Government's consular offices and diplomatic posts in Venezuela.

(e) Definitions.--In this section:

(1) 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.

(2) Government of venezuela.--The term ``Government of Venezuela'' includes the government of any political subdivision of Venezuela, and any agency or instrumentality of the Government of Venezuela. For purposes of this paragraph, 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''.

(3) 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, including a multilateral development institution (as defined in section 1701(c)(3) of the International Financial Institutions Act (22 U.S.C. 262r(c)(3))); 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).

(f) Applicability.--This section shall apply with respect to any
contract entered into on or after the date of the enactment of this
section.

The Senate bill contained a provision (sec. 864) that would prohibit the Department of Defense from entering into a contract with any person or entity that has business operations with an authority of the Government of Venezuela that is not recognized as the legitimate Government of Venezuela by the United States Government.

The House amendment contained a similar provision (sec. 897).

The Senate recedes.

Senate Report 116-48

Prohibition on contracting with persons that have business operations with the Maduro regime (sec. 864)

The committee recommends a provision that would prohibit the Department of Defense from awarding contracts to certain persons and entities affiliated with the illegitimate Maduro regime of Venezuela.

House Report 116-120

Section 897--Prohibition on Contracting with Persons That Have Business Operations with the Maduro Regime

This section would prohibit the Department of Defense from entering into a contract for the procurement of goods or services with any person that has business operations with an authority of the Government of Venezuela that is not recognized by the United States as the legitimate Government of Venezuela.