H.R. 36 · Where this bill is now
In the Senate
Passed the House May 5, 2025. Received May 6, 2025; no Senate vote yet
What this bill does
In plain words · AI-written from the official summarySanctions on officials undermining Georgia's stability
This bill directs the President to impose sanctions—mainly blocking visas and potentially freezing property—on foreign persons, including Georgian government officials, who work to undermine Georgia's security or stability. It specifically targets people involved in blocking Georgia's integration with Europe and those engaged in corruption or violence related to that effort. Family members who benefited from these officials' conduct can also face sanctions.
How it affects you
This bill doesn't directly change daily life for most Americans. It's a foreign policy tool meant to influence the behavior of Georgian officials and others involved in actions that U.S. lawmakers view as destabilizing to Georgia.
Read the official summary (Introduced in House, Jan 3, 2025)
Mobilizing and Enhancing Georgia’s Options for Building Accountability, Resilience, and Independence Act or the MEGOBARI Act
This bill requires the President to impose sanctions on certain foreign persons, including Georgian government officials, who are undermining Georgia's security or stability.
Specifically, the bill requires the President to impose visa-blocking sanctions and authorizes the President to impose property-blocking sanctions on any foreign person the President determines is involved with actions or policies to undermine Georgia's security or stability. Immediate family members of a sanctioned individual are also subject to these sanctions if they benefited from the sanctioned individual's conduct.
The bill also requires the President to impose visa-blocking sanctions on the following foreign persons if the President determines such persons knowingly engaged in significant acts of corruption or acts of violence or intimidation in relation to the blocking of Euro-Atlantic integration in Georgia:
• any individual who served as a member of the Georgian parliament or as a senior official of a Georgian political party on or after January 1, 2014;
• any individual who is serving as an official in a leadership position on behalf of the Georgian government; and
• any immediate family member of such officials who benefited from their conduct.
Additionally, for the purpose of potential imposition of sanctions under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, the President must determine whether there are foreign persons who, on or after the bill's enactment, have engaged in (1) significant corruption in Georgia, or (2) acts to undermine Georgia's security or stability.
Written by AI (Claude) using only the official summary by the Congressional Research Service, the Library of Congress’s nonpartisan research staff. It can miss nuance, so check the official summary and the bill text for details.
1st SessionH. R. 36
AN ACT
Mobilizing and Enhancing Georgia’s Options for Building Accountability, Resilience, and Independence Act
MEGOBARI Act
Sponsor: Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC-2) · Introduced Jan 3, 2025 · International Affairs · 3 versions of the text
Sources: Congress.gov actions and votes · bill text from GovInfo · latest official action May 6, 2025: “Received in the Senate. Read twice. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 70.”
How Congress voted
Official roll callsHouse · On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass · May 5, 2025
Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass Passed 349–42
| Party | Yes | No | Didn’t vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| Democrats | 181 | 8 | 24 |
| Republicans | 168 | 34 | 18 |
42 members voted against most of their party: 8 Democrats voted No and 34 Republicans voted No.
Congress votes on whole bills and amendments, not on single sections.
Sections
The wording of this bill hasn’t changed across its 3 official versions.