119-s2934

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2934 Introduced in Senate

    (IS) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 S. 2934

 To limit the availability of civil actions affected by United States 
 sanctions.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

 September 29, 2025

Mr. Cornyn (for himself and Mr. Padilla) introduced the following bill; 
 which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To limit the availability of civil actions affected by United States 
 sanctions.

 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 ``Protecting Americans from Russian 
Litigation Act of 2025''.

SEC. 2. STATEMENT OF POLICY.

 It is the policy of the United States--

    (1) to ensure that United States persons are not 
 disadvantaged for actions or omissions undertaken to comply 
 with United States sanctions or export controls; and

    (2) to ensure that foreign persons, or persons acting on 
 their behalf, cannot obtain compensation for any action related 
 to United States persons attempting in good faith to comply 
 with their obligations under United States sanctions or export 
 controls.

SEC. 3. LIMITATION ON CIVIL ACTIONS AFFECTED BY UNITED STATES 
 SANCTIONS.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 111 of title 28, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
``

Sec. 1660. Limitation on civil actions affected by United States 
 sanctions
 ``

    (a) Limitation.--Notwithstanding any provision of law, no person 
(other than the United States or a person acting on behalf of the 
United States) may bring a civil action in Federal or State court to 
enforce any foreign judgment or foreign arbitral award arising from a 
claim where--
 ``

    (1) the underlying conduct or circumstances giving rise 
 to the claim resulted from actions to comply with United States 
 sanctions impeding the performance of a contract; or
 ``

    (2) the court or tribunal issuing the judgment or 
 arbitral award asserted jurisdiction based, in whole or in 
 part, on the imposition of United States sanctions or export 
 controls (or any foreign law enacted in response to the 
 imposition of United States sanctions or export controls).
 ``

    (b) Removal and Dismissal.--An action to recognize or enforce a 
foreign judgment or foreign arbitral award described in subsection

    (a) may be removed by any defendant to the appropriate United States 
district court, which shall dismiss the action.
 ``
            (c) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section may be 
construed to limit--
 ``

    (1) the authority of the President, any delegate of the 
 President (including the Office of Foreign Assets Control of 
 the Department of the Treasury), or any other officer or 
 official of the United States to bring any action or exercise 
 any responsibility under any applicable State or Federal law;
 ``

    (2) any right, remedy, or cause of action available to a 
 victim of international terrorism, torture, extrajudicial 
 killing, aircraft sabotage, or hostage taking, who is, or was 
 at the time of the victim's injury, a national of the United 
 States, a member of the United States Armed Forces, an employee 
 of the United States Government, or an individual performing a 
 contract awarded by the United States Government acting within 
 the scope of the individual's employment, or a family member of 
 any such victim, under any applicable State or Federal law, 
 including--
 ``
        (A) chapter 97 of this title;
 ``
        (B) chapter 113B of title 18; and
 ``
            (C) the Iran Threat Reduction and Syria Human 
 Rights Act of 2012 (22 U.S.C. 8701 et seq.) and any 
 other laws providing for the application of sanctions 
 with respect to Iran or Syria;
 ``

    (3) any right, remedy, or cause of action available to 
 any party arising under or relating to the party's contractual 
 rights (other than an action to enforce a foreign judgment or 
 foreign arbitral award described in subsection

    (a) ) where the 
 parties agreed to resolve all disputes by litigation in a State 
 or Federal court within the United States or by arbitration 
 within the United States; or
 ``

    (4) any other right, remedy, or cause of action available 
 to any party arising under State or Federal law (other than an 
 action to enforce a foreign judgment or foreign arbitral award 
 described in subsection

    (a) ) where the underlying conduct or 
 circumstances giving rise to the claim resulted from the 
 imposition of United States sanctions or export controls.
 ``
            (d) United States Sanctions Defined.--In this section:
 ``

    (1) In general.--The term `United States sanctions' means 
 any prohibition, restriction, or condition on transactions 
 involving any property in which any foreign country or national 
 thereof has any interest that is imposed by the United States 
 to address threats to the national security, foreign policy, or 
 economy of the United States pursuant to--
 ``
        (A) section 203 of the International Emergency 
 Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1702); or
 ``
        (B) any other provision of law, including any 
 provision of law relating to export controls.
 ``

    (2) Duties.--The term `United States sanctions' does not 
 include the imposition of a duty on the importation of 
 goods.''.

    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for such chapter is 
amended by inserting after the item relating to 

section 1659 the 
following new item:

``1660. Limitation on civil actions affected by United States 
 sanctions.''.
            (c) Application.--

Section 1660 of title 28, United States Code, as 
added by subsection

    (a) , applies with respect to civil actions pending 
on or after the date of the enactment of this Act.
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