This bill, called the CASES Act, directs the U.S. State Department to investigate five specific Argentine officials and determine whether they should face American sanctions. The officials named are Cristina Fernández de Kirchner (a former Argentine president), her son Máximo Kirchner, and three other government figures: Juan Martin Mena, Oscar Parrilli, and Carlos Zannini.

Within six months of the law passing, and then every year after, the State Department must submit a report to Congress about each of these individuals. The report needs to detail their assets, including their estimated wealth, their family members' wealth, and all their property, bank accounts, and business interests—whether those assets were obtained legally or illegally. The State Department must then determine if these individuals meet the criteria for U.S. sanctions based on existing rules about corruption.

If the President agrees that any of these officials meet the criteria for sanctions, the President is required to impose those sanctions against them. Sanctions typically mean freezing their U.S. assets, banning them from doing business with Americans, and restricting their ability to travel to or conduct transactions in the United States. Essentially, this bill is Congress telling the executive branch to investigate these five Argentine officials for corruption and, if warranted, to punish them with American economic penalties.

CASES Act of 2023

Salazar, Maria Elvira

Corruption in Argentina Stymied by Enforcing Sanctions Act of 2023 or the CASES Act of 2023 This bill requires sanctions to be imposed on five specified Argentinian public officials if such individuals meet the criteria for such sanctions. The specified Argentinian officials are Cristina Elisabet Fernandez de Kirchner, Maximo Kirchner, Juan Martin Mena, Oscar Isidro Jose Parrilli, and Carlos Alberto Zannini. The bill requires the Department of State to submit an annual report to Congress containing (1) a description of each person's assets, including the net worth of immediate family members; and (2) a determination as to whether each person meets the criteria for the imposition of visa- and property-blocking sanctions related to corruption or human rights violations. The President must impose such sanctions on any of these individuals whom the President determines meets the sanctions criteria.