House bill · 116th Congress · Did not become law

Belarus Democracy, Human Rights, and Sovereignty Act of 2020

H.R. 8438Introduced Sep 29, 2020Policy area: International Affairs

Sponsor: Rep. Christopher Smith R-NJ

Where it went

IntroducedSep 29, 2020
Committee actionOct 1, 2020
Passed HouseNov 18, 2020 · by voice vote
Passed Senate—
To the President—
Became law—

Latest action: Nov 30, 2020 — Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.

Cost and committee reports

Official records Congress.gov attaches to H.R. 8438.

CBO cost estimateThe Congressional Budget Office published “H.R. 8438, Belarus Democracy, Human Rights, and Sovereignty Act of 2020” on November 2, 2020. CBO’s description reads “As ordered reported by the House Committee on Foreign Affairs on October 1, 2020”.
Read the CBO estimate ↗Source: Congressional Budget Office, November 2, 2020 ↗
Evidence
Field in the Congress.gov record
cboCostEstimates
CBO publication
https://www.cbo.gov/publication/56723
CBO publication date
November 2, 2020
Congress.gov bill record
H.R. 8438, 116th Congress
Congress.gov API record
https://api.congress.gov/v3/bill/116/hr/8438
Record last updated by Congress.gov
May 28, 2025
PORKER copy retrieved
September 20, 2026
Stored copy, SHA-256 of the file
28caf48e2eec778fa9ee701b9476688f3dec99a55e97e3308bd0acf1ac207a32
PORKER links to the estimate and does not repeat its dollar figures. Each estimate is for the version of the bill its description names; the bill may have changed since.
Constitutional authority statementThe sponsor’s statement of where the Constitution gives Congress the power to pass this bill. Statement by Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, as printed in the Congressional Record (Vol. 166, No. 169, September 29, 2020, Page H5053):
Article 1 Section 8 of the US Constitution
Source: Congress.gov, Congressional Record September 29, 2020 ↗
Evidence
Field in the Congress.gov record
constitutionalAuthorityStatementText
Statement length
42 characters
Congress.gov bill record
H.R. 8438, 116th Congress
Congress.gov API record
https://api.congress.gov/v3/bill/116/hr/8438
Record last updated by Congress.gov
May 28, 2025
PORKER copy retrieved
September 20, 2026
Stored copy, SHA-256 of the file
28caf48e2eec778fa9ee701b9476688f3dec99a55e97e3308bd0acf1ac207a32
PORKER shows the statement exactly as printed, with the page markup removed. It is the sponsor’s claim; it is not a legal finding.

Congress.gov’s record for this bill does not list a committee report (as of May 28, 2025). Not every bill gets one.

Sent to: Financial Services Committee, Foreign Affairs Committee, Judiciary Committee, Foreign Relations CommitteeBills with a CBO estimate Bills with a committee report See it in the Data Web

From the Congress.gov bill record for H.R. 8438, last updated May 28, 2025. PORKER’s copy was retrieved September 20, 2026 and is refreshed nightly. Open “Evidence” on any line for the record, field and file fingerprint.

Vote results

No recorded roll-call votes on this bill in PORKER’s records (voice votes and unanimous consent are not roll calls; roll-call records start in 2011).

Cosponsors

15 cosponsors — 3 Republicans, 12 Democrats

12 of 15 cosponsors (80%) are from the other party.

David Cicilline (D-RI), Steve Cohen (D-TN), Theodore Deutch (D-FL), Eliot Engel (D-NY), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), William Keating (D-MA), Ron Kind (D-WI), Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), Michael McCaul (R-TX), Eleanor Norton (D-DC), Dean Phillips (D-MN), Brad Sherman (D-CA), Abigail Spanberger (D-VA), Maxine Waters (D-CA).

More from the sponsor

Other 116th Congress bills sponsored by Rep. Christopher Smith.

Sponsor’s state and district

New Jersey in Congress · NJ-4 district

Open in Bill Explorer →

Data as of Sep 20, 2026 · bill record checked by PORKER from Congress.gov · votes from Senate.gov and the House Clerk. PORKER is non-partisan.