HR 4723 United States House · 118th Congress

Upholding the Dayton Peace Agreement Through Sanctions Act

HR 4723 requires the U.S. President to impose sanctions on foreign individuals and entities that threaten Bosnia and Herzegovina's territorial integrity, democratic institutions, or the Dayton Peace Agreement. The President must submit a list of such persons every 90 days, triggering sanctions that block their U.S. assets and ban entry into the United States. The bill codifies existing sanctions from two executive orders and allows limited national security waivers (up to 180 days each, expiring after two years). It specifically targets actions like forming unauthorized government structures that disrupt Bosnia's central authority, violating court rulings, or engaging in government corruption.

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jul 2023

Committee Review

Mar 2024

House Passage

Mar 2024

Senate Passage

President

Introduced Jul 18, 2023 Last action Mar 20, 2024

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Introduced in House → Engrossed in House · 8 edits · Mar 19, 2024

MODERATE

The Engrossed version of HR 4723 makes several significant changes to the Bosnia sanctions bill: it extends reporting deadlines from 30/90 days to 180 days, adds a humanitarian assistance carve-out and an importation-of-goods prohibition, creates an exception for family members who publicly oppose sanctioned persons' activities, narrows the congressional request provision by removing foreign financial institutions, and adds a 7-year sunset for the entire Act. These changes substantially narrow the scope of sanctions while adding protections for humanitarian trade and goods imports.

Scope change

The bill's scope was narrowed in multiple ways: family members gained an opt-out exception, humanitarian trade is carved out, goods imports are explicitly excluded from sanctions authority, foreign financial institutions were removed from the congressional request provision, and the entire Act now has a 7-year expiration date.

TIMELINE

The President's deadline to submit lists of sanctioned persons was extended from 30 days after enactment (recurring every 90 days) to 180 days after enactment (recurring every 180 days), giving the administration six times more time for initial reporting and half as frequent updates.

A new 5-year sunset was added specifically for section 5 (the congressional request provision), terminating that authority 5 years after enactment.

A new section 7 adds a 7-year sunset for the entire Act, meaning all authorities provided by the bill terminate 7 years after enactment. Previously there was no overall sunset; only the waiver authority had a 2-year limit.

ELIGIBILITY

Adult family members of sanctioned persons are now exempt if they have both condemned the sanctioned person's activities and taken tangible steps to oppose them. Previously, family members were automatically subject to sanctions with no exception.

SCOPE

A new humanitarian assistance exception prohibits sanctions on transactions involving agricultural commodities, food, medicine, medical devices, humanitarian assistance, related financial transactions, and transport of goods or services for humanitarian purposes.

A new provision explicitly states that the section does not include authority to impose sanctions on the importation of goods, with a definition of 'good' covering articles, substances, materials, supplies, and manufactured products (excluding technical data).

The congressional request provision (section 5) was narrowed by removing 'foreign financial institution' from the types of persons that can be subject to such requests, limiting it to persons and foreign persons only.

ENFORCEMENT

The presidential waiver provision was restructured: it lost its own 2-year sunset (now governed by the overall 7-year Act sunset) and was moved from subsection (e)(1)-(2) to a simpler standalone subsection (e).

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Committee

Amendments

Mar 20, 2024

Committee

Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.

upper

Mar 19, 2024

Introduced

On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 365 - 30 (Roll no. 87). (text: CR H1195-1197)

lower

Mar 19, 2024

Lower · Passed

Passed/agreed to in House: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 365 - 30 (Roll no. 87). (text: CR H1195-1197)

lower

Mar 19, 2024

Introduced

Mrs. Wagner moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended.

lower

Nov 7, 2023

Lower · Passed

Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held

lower

Jul 18, 2023

Committee

Referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committees on Financial Services, and the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.

lower

Jul 18, 2023

Introduced

Introduced in House

lower

1 primary · 6 co-sponsors