April 1 (legislative day, March 31), 2025
Mr. Scott of Florida (for himself, Mr. Cruz, and Mrs. Blackburn) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
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.