,i #aaeth ,,congress #b;d ,session ,h4 ,r4 #fjec ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of ,,representatives ,june #h1 #bjah,mr4 ,deutch 7for himself and ,ms4 ,ros-,lehtinen7 introduced the following bill2 which was referred to the ,committee on ,foreign ,affairs ,a ,,bill ,to prohibit the modification of civil penalties under export control and sanctions laws of the ,united ,states with respect to ,chinese telecommunication companies4 #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited as the ,stop ,sanctions ,violators ,act4 #b4 ,findings ,congress finds the following3 7#a7 ,in ,march #bjaf ,chinese electronics company ,zhongxing ,telecommunications ,equipment 7,,zte7 was found to have breached ,united ,states sanctions laws by exporting products with ,american-made components to ,iran in violation of the ,export ,administration ,regulations 7#ae ,c4,f4,r4 part #gcj et seq47 and the ,iranian ,transactions and ,sanctions ,regulations 7#ca ,c4,f4,r4 part #efj74 7#b7 ,in ,march #bjag the ,department of ,commerce announced that ,,zte also shipped #bhc microprocessors1 servers1 and routers to ,north ,korea in violation of ,united ,states law4 7#c7 ,the ,department of ,commerce found that ,,zte had knowingly made false statements and misled investigators about its business with ,iran and ,north ,korea1 with ,secretary of ,commerce1 ,wilbur ,l4 ,ross1 ,jr41 stating1 ,the results of this investigation and the unprecedented penalty reflects ,,zte's egregious scheme to evade ,u4,s4 law and systematically mislead investigators44 7#d7 ,the ,department of ,commerce found that ,,zte employees had destroyed1 removed1 or sanitized all materials concerning transactions or other activities relating to ,,zte's ,iran business that post-dated ,march #bjab2 deleted on a nightly basis all of the team's emails to conceal the team's activities2 and required each of the team members to sign a non-disclosure agreement covering the ,,zte transactions and activities the team was tasked with hiding44 7#e7 ,the ,department of ,commerce further disclosed a #bjaa internal ,,zte document detailing its ongoing business in ,iran1 ,north ,korea1 ,syria1 ,sudan1 and ,cuba1 at the time all listed by the ,united ,states as state sponsors of terrorism and subject to embargoes4 7#f7 ,,zte plead guilty to the charges and the ,department of ,commerce fined ,,zte #a4ai billion1 the largest-ever combined civil and criminal penalty4 7#g7 ,in announcing the plea and subsequent fine1 ,secretary of ,commerce1 ,wilbur ,l4 ,ross1 ,jr41 stated1 ,those who flout our economic sanctions and export control laws will not go unpunished--they will suffer the harshest of consequences44 7#h7 ,as part of ,,zte's plea agreement with the ,united ,states1 ,,zte would be subject to a seven-year suspended denial of export privileges1 which could be quickly activated if any aspect of the deal was not met4 7#i7 ,on ,april #af1 #bjah1 the ,department of ,commerce announced it had imposed a denial of export privileges against ,,zte due to its determination that ,,zte made false statements to the ,bureau of ,industry and ,security of the ,department of ,commerce in #bjaf1 during settlement negotiations1 and #bjag1 during the probationary period1 related to senior employee disciplinary actions the company said it was taking or had already taken44 7#aj7 ,in #bjab1 a report of the ,permanent ,select ,committee on ,intelligence of the ,house of ,representatives entitled1 ,investigative ,report on the ,united ,states ,national ,security ,issues ,posed by ,chinese ,telecommunication ,companies ,huawei and ,,zte1 it was recommended that ,u4,s4 government systems1 particularly sensitive systems1 should not include ,huawei or ,,zte equipment1 including in component parts4 ,similarly1 government contractors--particularly those working on contracts for sensitive ,u4,s4 programs--should exclude ,,zte or ,huawei equipment in their systems44 7#aa7 ,the ,federal ,bureau of ,investigation1 in a ,february #bjae ,counterintelligence ,strategy ,partnership ,intelligence ,note stated that1 ,chinese ,government-supported telecommunications equipment on ,u4,s4 networks may be exploited through ,chinese cyber activity1 with ,china's intelligence services operating as an advanced persistent threat to ,u4,s4 networks44 #c4 ,prohibition on modification of civil penalties under export control and sanctions laws with respect to ,chinese telecommunication companies 7a7 ,in general ,notwithstanding any other provision of law1 the ,president may not modify any civil penalties1 including denial orders1 implemented by the ,government of the ,united ,states with respect to a ,chinese telecommunication company pursuant to a determination that the company has violated an export control or sanctions law of the ,united ,states until the date that is #cj days after the ,president certifies to the appropriate committees of ,congress that-- 7#a7 the company-- 7,a7 is fully cooperating with investigations conducted by the ,government of the ,united ,states1 if any1 of activities relating to the violation of the export control or sanctions law of the ,united ,states2 and 7,b7 has not1 for a period of at least one year after the date on which the civil penalties were imposed1 conducted any other activities in violation of an export control or sanctions law of the ,united ,states2 and 7#b7 the modification of the civil penalties is in the vital national security interest of the ,united ,states and the ,president includes in the certification a specific and detailed rationale for such modification4 7b7 ,appropriate committees of ,congress defined ,in this section1 the term appropriate committees of ,congress means-- 7#a7 the ,committee on ,banking1 ,housing1 and ,urban ,affairs and the ,committee on ,foreign ,relations of the ,senate2 and 7#b7 the ,committee on ,financial ,services and the ,committee on ,foreign ,affairs of the ,house of ,representatives4