II 119THCONGRESS 1 STSESSION S. 1490 To establish and authorize funding for a Russia Sanctions Enforcement Fund to enforce United States sanctions with respect to the Russian Federation and its illegal ghost ship fleet to pay off the United States public debt and to codify the Export Enforcement Coordination Center. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL10, 2025 Ms. E RNST(for herself and Mr. BLUMENTHAL) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To establish and authorize funding for a Russia Sanctions Enforcement Fund to enforce United States sanctions with respect to the Russian Federation and its illegal ghost ship fleet to pay off the United States public debt and to codify the Export Enforcement Coordination Center. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Global Hunt for Off-4 shore Smuggling and Trafficking Act of 2025’’ or the 5 ‘‘GHOST Act of 2025’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:27 Apr 30, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1490.IS S1490 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 2 •S 1490 IS SEC. 2. RUSSIA SANCTIONS ENFORCEMENT FUND. 1 (a) I NGENERAL.—Not later than 15 days after the 2 date of the enactment of this Act, there shall be estab-3 lished in the Treasury of the United States a fund, to be 4 known as the ‘‘Russia Sanctions Enforcement Fund’’ (in 5 this section referred to as the ‘‘Fund’’), to pay expenses 6 relating to seizures and forfeitures of property made with 7 respect to violations by the Russian Federation and cov-8 ered merchant ships of sanctions imposed by the United 9 States. 10 (b) D ESIGNATION OF ADMINISTRATOR.—Not later 11 than 15 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 12 the Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation with 13 the Secretary of the Treasury, shall appoint an adminis-14 trator for the Fund (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Ad-15 ministrator’’). 16 (c) E XPENDITURESFROM THEFUND.— 17 (1) I N GENERAL.—The Administrator may au-18 thorize amounts from the Fund to be used, without 19 further appropriation or fiscal year limitation, for 20 payment of all proper expenses relating to a covered 21 seizure or forfeiture, including the following: 22 (A) Investigative costs incurred by a law 23 enforcement agency of the Department of 24 Homeland Security or the Department of Jus-25 tice. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:27 Apr 30, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1490.IS S1490 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 3 •S 1490 IS (B) Expenses of detention, inventory, secu-1 rity, maintenance, advertisement, or disposal of 2 the property seized or forfeited, and if con-3 demned by a court and a bond for such costs 4 was not given, the costs as taxed by the court. 5 (C) Costs of— 6 (i) contract services relating to a cov-7 ered seizure or forfeiture; 8 (ii) the employment of outside con-9 tractors to operate and manage properties 10 seized or forfeited or to provide other spe-11 cialized services necessary to dispose of 12 such properties in an effort to maximize 13 the return from such properties; and 14 (iii) reimbursing any Federal, State, 15 or local agency for any expenditures made 16 to perform the functions described in this 17 subparagraph. 18 (D) Payments to reimburse any covered 19 Federal agency for investigative costs incurred 20 leading to a covered seizure or forfeiture. 21 (E) Payments for contracting for the serv-22 ices of experts and consultants needed by the 23 Department of Homeland Security or the De-24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:27 Apr 30, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1490.IS S1490 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 4 •S 1490 IS partment of Justice to assist in carrying out 1 duties related to a covered seizure or forfeiture. 2 (F) Awards of compensation to informers 3 for assistance provided with respect to a viola-4 tion by the Russian Federation or a covered 5 merchant ship of sanctions imposed by the 6 United States that leads to a covered seizure or 7 forfeiture. 8 (G) Equitable sharing payments made to 9 other Federal agencies, State and local law en-10 forcement agencies, and foreign governments 11 for expenses incurred with respect to a covered 12 seizure or forfeiture. 13 (H) Payment of overtime pay, salaries, 14 travel, fuel, training, equipment, and other 15 similar expenses of State or local law enforce-16 ment officers that are incurred in joint law en-17 forcement operations with a covered Federal 18 agency relating to covered seizure or forfeiture. 19 (2) A UTHORIZATION OF USE OF FUND FOR AD -20 DITIONAL PURPOSES.—The Secretary of Homeland 21 Security may direct the Administrator to authorize 22 the use of amounts in the Fund for the following: 23 (A) Payment of awards for information or 24 assistance leading to a civil or criminal for-25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:27 Apr 30, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1490.IS S1490 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 5 •S 1490 IS feiture made with respect to a violation by the 1 Russian Federation or a covered merchant ship 2 of sanctions imposed by the United States and 3 involving any covered Federal agency. 4 (B) Purchases of evidence or information 5 by a covered Federal agency with respect to a 6 violation by the Russian Federation or a cov-7 ered merchant ship of sanctions imposed by the 8 United States that leads to a covered seizure or 9 forfeiture. 10 (C) Payment for equipment for any vessel, 11 vehicle, or aircraft available for official use by 12 a covered Federal agency to enable the vessel, 13 vehicle, or aircraft to assist in law enforcement 14 functions relating to a covered seizure or for-15 feiture, and for other equipment directly related 16 to a covered seizure or forfeiture, including lab-17 oratory equipment, protective equipment, com-18 munications equipment, and the operation and 19 maintenance costs of such equipment. 20 (D) Payment for equipment for any vessel, 21 vehicle, or aircraft for official use by a State or 22 local law enforcement agency to enable the ves-23 sel, vehicle, or aircraft to assist in law enforce-24 ment functions relating to a covered seizure or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:27 Apr 30, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1490.IS S1490 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 6 •S 1490 IS forfeiture if the vessel, vehicle, or aircraft will 1 be used in joint law enforcement operations 2 with a covered Federal agency. 3 (E) Reimbursement of individuals or orga-4 nizations for expenses incurred by such individ-5 uals or organizations in cooperating with a cov-6 ered Federal agency in investigations and un-7 dercover law enforcement operations relating to 8 a covered seizure or forfeiture. 9 (3) P RIORITIZATION OF ACTIVITIES WITHIN 10 THE FUND.—In allocating amounts from the Fund 11 for the purposes described in paragraphs (1) and 12 (2), the Administrator shall prioritize activities that 13 result in the seizure and forfeiture of oil or petro-14 leum products or other commodities or methods of 15 exchange that fund the efforts of the Russian Fed-16 eration or a covered merchant ship to carry out eva-17 sive or deceptive acts. 18 (d) M ANAGEMENT OF FUND.—The Fund shall be 19 managed and invested in the same manner as a trust fund 20 is managed and invested under section 9602 of the Inter-21 nal Revenue Code of 1986. 22 (e) F UNDING.— 23 (1) I NITIAL FUNDING.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:27 Apr 30, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1490.IS S1490 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 7 •S 1490 IS (A) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIA -1 TIONS.—There is authorized to be appropriated 2 to the Fund $150,000,000 for fiscal year 2026, 3 to remain available until expended. 4 (B) R EPAYMENT OF INITIAL FUNDING .— 5 (i) I N GENERAL.—Not later than Sep-6 tember 30, 2036, the Administrator shall 7 transfer from the Fund into the general 8 fund of the Treasury an amount equal to 9 $150,000,000, as adjusted pursuant to 10 paragraph (3). 11 (ii) R ULE OF CONSTRUCTION .—The 12 repayment of amounts under clause (i) 13 shall not be construed as a termination of 14 the authority for the operation of the 15 Fund. 16 (2) M AXIMUM END-OF-YEAR BALANCE.— 17 (A) I N GENERAL.—If, at the end of a fis-18 cal year, the amount in the Fund exceeds the 19 amount specified in subparagraph (B), the Ad-20 ministrator shall transfer the amount in excess 21 of the amount specified in subparagraph (B) to 22 the general fund of the Treasury for the pay-23 ment of the public debt of the United States. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:27 Apr 30, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1490.IS S1490 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 8 •S 1490 IS (B) AMOUNT SPECIFIED .—The amount 1 specified in this subparagraph is— 2 (i) in fiscal year 2026, $500,000,000; 3 and 4 (ii) in any fiscal year thereafter, 5 $500,000,000, as adjusted pursuant to 6 paragraph (3). 7 (3) A DJUSTMENTS FOR INFLATION .— 8 (A) I N GENERAL.—The amounts described 9 in paragraphs (1)(B)(i) and (3)(B)(ii) shall be 10 adjusted, at the beginning of each of fiscal 11 years 2027 through 2036, to reflect the per-12 centage (if any) of the increase in the average 13 of the Consumer Price Index for the preceding 14 12-month period compared to the Consumer 15 Price Index for fiscal year 2025. 16 (B) C ONSUMER PRICE INDEX DEFINED .— 17 In this paragraph, the term ‘‘Consumer Price 18 Index’’ means the Consumer Price Index for All 19 Urban Consumers published by the Bureau of 20 Labor Statistics of the Department of Labor. 21 (f) P ROHIBITION ONTRANSFER OFFUNDS.— 22 (1) I N GENERAL.—Any expenditure of amounts 23 in the Fund, or transfer of amounts from the Fund, 24 not authorized by this section is prohibited. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:27 Apr 30, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1490.IS S1490 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 9 •S 1490 IS (2) ACTS BY CONGRESS.—Any Act of Congress 1 to remove money from the Fund shall be reported in 2 the Federal Register not later than 10 days after 3 the enactment of the Act. 4 (g) R EPORT.—Not later than September 1, 2026, 5 and annually thereafter through September 1, 2036, the 6 Secretary of Homeland Security, with the concurrence of 7 the Secretary of the Treasury, shall submit to the appro-8 priate congressional committees a report on— 9 (1) all activities supported by the Fund during 10 the fiscal year during which the report is submitted 11 and the preceding fiscal year; 12 (2) a list of each covered seizure or forfeiture 13 supported by the Fund during those fiscal years 14 and, with respect to each such seizure or for-15 feiture— 16 (A) the goods seized; 17 (B) the current status of the forfeiture of 18 the goods; 19 (C) an assessment of the impact on the na-20 tional security of the United States of the sei-21 zure or forfeiture, including the estimated loss 22 of revenue to the person from which the goods 23 were seized; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:27 Apr 30, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1490.IS S1490 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 10 •S 1490 IS (D) any anticipated response or outcome of 1 the seizure or forfeiture; 2 (3) the financial health and financial data of 3 the Fund as of the date of the report; 4 (4) the amount transferred to the general fund 5 of the Treasury under subsection (e) or (h); 6 (5)(A) the amount paid to informants for infor-7 mation or evidence under subsection (c); 8 (B) whether the information or evidence led to 9 a seizure; and 10 (C) if so, the cost of the goods seized; 11 (6) the amount remaining to be transferred 12 under subsection (e)(2) and an estimated timeline 13 for transferring the full amount required by that 14 subsection; and 15 (7)(A) any instances during the fiscal years 16 covered by the report of a covered seizure or for-17 feiture if, after amounts were expended from the 18 Fund to support the seizure or forfeiture, the seizure 19 or forfeiture did not occur as a result of a policy de-20 cision made by the Secretary of Homeland Security, 21 the President, or any other official of the United 22 States; and 23 (B) a description of the costs incurred and rea-24 sons the seizure or forfeiture did not occur. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:27 Apr 30, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1490.IS S1490 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 11 •S 1490 IS (h) FAILURETOREPORT ORUTILIZE THEFUND.— 1 (1) E FFECT OF FAILURE TO SUBMIT RE -2 PORT.—If a report required by subsection (g) is not 3 submitted to the appropriate congressional commit-4 tees by the date that is 180 days after the report is 5 due under subsection (g), the Administrator shall 6 transfer an amount equal to 5 percent of the 7 amounts in the Fund to the general fund of the 8 Treasury for the payment of the public debt of the 9 United States. For each 90-day period thereafter 10 during which the report is not submitted, the Ad-11 ministrator shall transfer an additional amount, 12 equal to 5 percent of the amounts in the Fund, to 13 the general fund of the Treasury for that purpose. 14 (2) E FFECT OF FAILURE TO USE FUND .—If a 15 report submitted under subsection (g) indicates that 16 amounts in the Fund have not been used for any 17 seizure or forfeiture activity during the fiscal years 18 covered by the report, the Fund shall be terminated 19 and any amounts in the Fund shall transferred to 20 the general fund of the Treasury for the payment of 21 the public debt of the United States. 22 (3) W AIVER OF TERMINATION OF FUND FOR 23 NATIONAL SECURITY PURPOSES .— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:27 Apr 30, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1490.IS S1490 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 12 •S 1490 IS (A) IN GENERAL.—If the President deter-1 mines that it is in the national security inter-2 ests of the United States not to terminate the 3 Fund as required by paragraph (2), the Presi-4 dent may waive the requirement to terminate 5 the Fund. 6 (B) R EPORT REQUIRED.—If the President 7 exercises the waiver authority under subpara-8 graph (A), the President shall submit to the ap-9 propriate congressional committees a report de-10 scribing the factors considered in determining 11 that it is in the national security interests of 12 the United States not to terminate the Fund. 13 (C) F ORM.—The report required by sub-14 paragraph (B) shall be submitted in unclassi-15 fied form, but may include a classified annex. 16 (i) R ULE OFCONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec-17 tion may be construed to affect the requirements of sub-18 section (e) of the Justice for United States Victims of 19 State Sponsored Terrorism Act (34 U.S.C. 20144) or the 20 operation of the United States Victims of State Sponsored 21 Terrorism Fund under that subsection. 22 (j) D EFINITIONS.—In this section: 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:27 Apr 30, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1490.IS S1490 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 13 •S 1490 IS (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT -1 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com-2 mittees’’ means— 3 (A) the Committee on Banking, Housing, 4 and Urban Affairs and the Committee on 5 Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 6 of the Senate; and 7 (B) the Committee on Financial Services 8 and the Committee on Homeland Security of 9 the House of Representatives. 10 (2) C OVERED FEDERAL AGENCY .—The term 11 ‘‘covered Federal agency’’ means any Federal agency 12 specified in section 3(b). 13 (3) C OVERED MERCHANT SHIP .—The term 14 ‘‘covered merchant ship’’ means a flag ship trans-15 porting oil subject to sanctions imposed by the 16 United States for the Russian Federation or an or-17 ganization that works on behalf of, or receives finan-18 cial or material support from, the Government of the 19 Russian Federation, including Gazprom. 20 (4) C OVERED SEIZURE OR FORFEITURE .—The 21 term ‘‘covered seizure or forfeiture’’ means a seizure 22 or forfeiture of property made with respect to a vio-23 lation by the Russian Federation or a covered mer-24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:27 Apr 30, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1490.IS S1490 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 14 •S 1490 IS chant ship of sanctions imposed by the United 1 States. 2 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF EXPORT ENFORCEMENT CO-3 ORDINATION CENTER. 4 (a) E STABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Homeland 5 Security shall operate and maintain, within Homeland Se-6 curity Investigations, the Export Enforcement Coordina-7 tion Center, as established by Executive Order 13558 (50 8 U.S.C. 4601 note) (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Cen-9 ter’’). 10 (b) P URPOSES.—The Center shall serve as the pri-11 mary center for Federal Government export enforcement 12 efforts among the following agencies: 13 (1) The Department of State. 14 (2) The Department of the Treasury. 15 (3) The Department of Defense. 16 (4) The Department of Justice. 17 (5) The Department of Commerce. 18 (6) The Department of Energy. 19 (7) The Department of Homeland Security. 20 (8) The Office of the Director of National Intel-21 ligence. 22 (9) Such other agencies as the President may 23 designate. 24 (c) C OORDINATIONAUTHORITY.—The Center shall— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:27 Apr 30, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00014 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1490.IS S1490 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 15 •S 1490 IS (1) serve as a conduit between Federal law en-1 forcement agencies and the intelligence community 2 (as defined in section 3(4) of the National Security 3 Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3003(4))) for the exchange 4 of information related to potential violations of 5 United States export controls; 6 (2) serve as a primary point of contact between 7 enforcement authorities and agencies engaged in ex-8 port licensing; 9 (3) coordinate law enforcement public outreach 10 activities related to United States export controls; 11 (4) serve as the primary deconfliction and sup-12 port center to assist law enforcement agencies to co-13 ordinate and enhance investigations with respect to 14 export control violations; 15 (5) establish integrated, governmentwide statis-16 tical tracking and targeting capabilities to support 17 export enforcement; and 18 (6) carry out additional duties as assigned by 19 the Secretary of Homeland Security regarding the 20 enforcement of United States export control laws. 21 (d) A DMINISTRATION.—The Executive Associate Di-22 rector of Homeland Security Investigations shall— 23 (1) serve as the administrator of the Center; 24 and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:27 Apr 30, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00015 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1490.IS S1490 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 16 •S 1490 IS (2) maintain documentation that describes the 1 participants in, funding of, core functions of, and 2 personnel assigned to, the Center. 3 (e) D IRECTOR; DEPUTYDIRECTORS.— 4 (1) D IRECTOR.—The Center shall have a Direc-5 tor, who shall be— 6 (A) a member of the Senior Executive 7 Service (as defined in section 2101a of title 5, 8 United States Code) and a special agent within 9 Homeland Security Investigations; and 10 (B) designated by the Secretary of Home-11 land Security. 12 (2) D EPUTY DIRECTORS .—The Center shall 13 have 2 Deputy Directors, as follows: 14 (A) One Deputy Director, who shall be— 15 (i) a full-time employee of the Depart-16 ment of Commerce; and 17 (ii) appointed by the Secretary of 18 Commerce. 19 (B) One Deputy Director, who shall be— 20 (i) a full-time employee of the Depart-21 ment of Justice; and 22 (ii) appointed by the Attorney Gen-23 eral. 24 (f) L IAISONSFROMOTHERAGENCIES.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:27 Apr 30, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00016 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1490.IS S1490 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 17 •S 1490 IS (1) INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY LIAISON .—An 1 intelligence community liaison shall be detailed to 2 the Center. The liaison shall be— 3 (A) a full-time employee of an element of 4 the intelligence community; and 5 (B) designated by the Director of National 6 Intelligence. 7 (2) L IAISONS FROM OTHER AGENCIES .— 8 (A) I N GENERAL.—A liaison shall be de-9 tailed to the Center by each agency specified in 10 subparagraph (B). Such liaisons shall be special 11 agents, officers, intelligence analysts, or intel-12 ligence officers, as appropriate. 13 (B) A GENCIES SPECIFIED.—The agencies 14 specified in this subparagraph are the following: 15 (i) Homeland Security Investigations. 16 (ii) U.S. Customs and Border Protec-17 tion. 18 (iii) The Office of Export Enforce-19 ment of the Bureau of Industry and Secu-20 rity of the Department of Commerce. 21 (iv) The Federal Bureau of Investiga-22 tion. 23 (v) The Defense Criminal Investiga-24 tive Service. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:27 Apr 30, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00017 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1490.IS S1490 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 18 •S 1490 IS (vi) The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, 1 Firearms and Explosives. 2 (vii) The National Counterintelligence 3 and Security Center of the Office of the 4 Director of National Intelligence. 5 (viii) The Department of Energy. 6 (ix) The Office of Foreign Assets Con-7 trol of the Department of the Treasury. 8 (x) The Directorate of Defense Trade 9 Controls of the Department of State. 10 (xi) The Office of Export Administra-11 tion of the Bureau of Industry and Secu-12 rity. 13 (xii) The Office of Enforcement Anal-14 ysis of the Bureau of Industry and Secu-15 rity. 16 (xiii) The Office of Special Investiga-17 tions of the Air Force. 18 (xiv) The Criminal Investigation Divi-19 sion of the Army. 20 (xv) The Naval Criminal Investigative 21 Service. 22 (xvi) The Defense Intelligence Agency. 23 (xvii) The Defense Counterintelligence 24 and Security Agency. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:27 Apr 30, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00018 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1490.IS S1490 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 19 •S 1490 IS (xviii) Any other agency, at the re-1 quest of the Secretary of Homeland Secu-2 rity. 3 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:27 Apr 30, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00019 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1490.IS S1490 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB