H.R. 4291, Sanctions Lists Harmonization Act

H.R. 4291 would establish an administrative review process to align six federal lists of foreign individuals and entities subject to United States sanctions or export controls. Three of those lists are managed by the Office of Foreign Assets Control in the Department of the Treasury. The other three are maintained by the Departments of Commerce and Defense.

Under that review process, when a federal agency adds an individual or entity to a list under its jurisdiction, it would be required to notify the officials who maintain the other five lists. Within 90 days, those officials would determine if the individual or entity meets the requirements to be added to their list. The bill also would require each of the affected agencies to submit a report to the Congress within one year of enactment, certifying compliance with this process and listing all the instances in which notifications under the bill resulted in the inclusion of additional individuals or entities on the specified lists.

If the administrative review process leads the agencies to list individuals and entities that they otherwise would not have included, additional persons would be subject to sanctions and export controls. More people would be denied visas by the Department of State, resulting in an insignificant decrease in revenues from fees. Although most visa fees are retained by the Department of State and spent, some collections are deposited into the Treasury as revenues. Denying foreign nationals entry into the United States also would reduce direct spending on federal benefits (emergency Medicaid or federal subsidies for health insurance, for example) for which those people might otherwise be eligible.

In addition, the review process could lead the agencies to limit exports to certain individuals and entities and to block transactions involving certain assets and property that are in the United States or that come under the control of people in the United States. People who violate those export controls or sanctions would be subject to civil or criminal monetary penalties. Those penalties are recorded as revenues, and a portion can be spent without further appropriation.

Using data about similar sanctions and export controls, CBO estimates that any additional regulations would affect a small number of people; thus, enacting H.R. 4291 would have insignificant effects on revenues and direct spending, and would, on net, reduce deficits by insignificant amounts over the 2026-2035 period.

Because many of the lists are maintained by a few common agencies, CBO expects that existing agency personnel could coordinate the review process and conduct any additional reviews, and that any additional cost to those agencies would be minimal. Based on the cost of reports similar to those required by H.R. 4291, CBO estimates that preparing those reports would cost less than $500,000 over the 2026-2030 period. Such spending would be subject to the availability of appropriated funds.

The CBO staff contact for this estimate is David Rafferty. The estimate was reviewed by Christina Hawley Anthony, Deputy Director of Budget Analysis.