H.R. 6207 would codify in law certain sanctions relating to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) that were imposed under executive orders. It would require the President to compile a list of senior DRC government officials and determine whether they should be sanctioned for engaging in human rights abuses, corruption, or the conflict in that country. The sanctions would include freezing assets held in the United States and prohibiting entry into the United States. The bill would require the President to report to the Congress on his decisions to impose those sanctions and to report on human rights abuses by, and corrupt practices of, DRC officials.
Implementing H.R. 6207 would increase administrative costs at the Department of State and the Department of the Treasury. Based on the costs of implementing similar sanctions and reporting requirements, CBO estimates that the costs of implementing the bill would total less than $500,000 each year and $1 million over the 2019-2023 period. That spending would be subject to the availability of appropriated funds.
Enacting H.R. 6207 would increase the number of people who would be denied visas by the Department of State and the number who would be subject to civil or criminal penalties. Most visa fees are retained by the department and spent without further appropriation, but some fees are deposited in the Treasury as revenues. Penalties also are recorded as revenues, and a portion of those penalties can be spent without further appropriation. Pay-as-you-go procedures apply to this bill because enacting it would affect direct spending and revenues by reducing the collection of visa fees. However, CBO expects H.R. 6207 would affect very few additional people and thus would have insignificant effects on both revenues and direct spending.
CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 6207 would not significantly increase net direct spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2029.
H.R. 6207 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act.
