H.R. 2946 · 117th Congress

RENACER Act

Introduced on Apr 30, 2021 by Albio Sires (D-NJ-8). 19 cosponsors, 5 of them from another party. Latest action (Nov 9, 2021): Referred to the Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship.

Stage
Introduced
Introduced
Apr 30, 2021
Cosponsors
19
5 from the other party
Policy area
International Affairs
Open in the Congress explorerCongress.govAlert me

Progress

The furthest stage the measure reached. Simple and concurrent resolutions do not go to the President.

  1. Introduced
  2. 2Reported by committee
  3. 3Passed one chamber
  4. 4Passed both chambers
  5. 5Sent to the President
  6. 6Became law

Official title

To advance the strategic alignment of United States diplomatic tools toward the realization of free, fair, and transparent elections in Nicaragua and to reaffirm the commitment of the United States to protect the fundamental freedoms and human rights of the people of Nicaragua, and for other purposes.

Subjects

  • Canada
  • Caribbean area
  • Congressional oversight
  • Digital media
  • Diplomacy, foreign officials, Americans abroad
  • Elections, voting, political campaign regulation
  • Europe
  • European Union
  • Foreign aid and international relief
  • Foreign loans and debt
  • Government ethics and transparency, public corruption
  • Human rights
  • International exchange and broadcasting
  • International monetary system and foreign exchange
  • International organizations and cooperation
  • Latin America
  • Multilateral development programs
  • News media and reporting
  • Nicaragua
  • Political parties and affiliation
  • Protest and dissent
  • Racial and ethnic relations
  • Russia
  • Sanctions
  • Sovereignty, recognition, national governance and status
  • Television and film
  • U.S. and foreign investments

Summary

By the Congressional Research Service (Introduced in House, Apr 30, 2021). Public domain.

Reinforcing Nicaragua's Adherence to Conditions for Electoral Reform Act of 2021 or the RENACER Act

This bill establishes measures to monitor, report on, and address corruption and human rights abuses in Nicaragua.

Specifically, the bill directs U.S. leadership at international financial institutions to advocate for oversight with respect to any loan or financial or technical assistance for projects in Nicaragua.

The Department of State and the Department of the Treasury must establish a strategy to align diplomatic engagement with implementing sanctions to facilitate free, fair, and transparent elections in Nicaragua. Pursuant to this strategy, the President must prioritize implementing targeted sanctions on persons obstructing such elections. The State Department must also engage in diplomatic efforts with partner countries to impose targeted sanctions on such individuals.

The bill adds Nicaragua to a list of countries whose citizens are subject to visa-blocking sanctions for knowingly engaging in (1) actions undermining democratic processes or institutions, or (2) significant corruption or obstruction of investigations into such corruption.

Further, the bill requires the State Department to report on

  • the involvement of President Daniel Ortega, members of his family, and senior government officials in significant acts of public corruption;
  • Russian activities in Nicaragua; and
  • gross human rights violations by the Ortega government against campesinos (i.e., natives of Latin American rural areas, especially Latin American Indian farmers or farm laborers) and indigenous communities.

In addition, the State Department must report on obstacles to news and information about domestic and international affairs and submit a strategy for strengthening independent broadcasting, information distribution, and media platforms in Nicaragua.

Sponsor and cosponsors

Cosponsors by party as of the day they signed on. Original cosponsors signed on the day of introduction.

Albio SiresD-NJ-8Sponsor

Democrats · 14

Republicans · 5

Roll calls

Recorded votes on the measure. Most measures move by voice vote or unanimous consent, which record no individual positions.

No recorded roll call on this measure: it moved by voice vote or unanimous consent, or has not reached the floor.

History

Every action as published, oldest first. Roll calls link to how each member voted.

  1. Apr 30, 2021Introduced in House
  2. Apr 30, 2021Introduced in House
  3. Apr 30, 2021 · HouseReferred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committees on Financial Services, and the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
  4. Apr 30, 2021 · HouseReferred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committees on Financial Services, and the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
  5. Apr 30, 2021 · HouseReferred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committees on Financial Services, and the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
  6. Jul 29, 2021 · HouseCommittee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
  7. Jul 29, 2021 · HouseOrdered to be Reported by Voice Vote.
  8. Nov 9, 2021 · HouseReferred to the Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship.

Committees

Committees and subcommittees the measure was referred to.

Agencies in its committees' jurisdiction

Analisa's mapping of committee jurisdiction to federal agencies; the bill may touch others, or none of these.

Sources and method

Every figure on this page traces to these records.

  • Bill status: bills and resolutions, sponsors, actions, subjects and CRS summaries (U.S. Government Publishing Office (GovInfo), from Congress.gov (Library of Congress))GovInfo Bill Status bulk data (Congress.gov; summaries by the Congressional Research Service) · data current to Oct 9, 2026 · loaded Oct 9, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Members of Congress, their terms, committees and identifiers (The @unitedstates project (from the Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress, the House and the Senate))unitedstates/congress-legislators: legislators, committees and current committee membership · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: CC0 1.0 (public domain dedication)
  • House roll-call votes (Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives)Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives, roll-call vote records · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Senate roll-call votes and DW-NOMINATE scores (Voteview (UCLA Department of Political Science))Lewis, Jeffrey B., Keith Poole, Howard Rosenthal, Adam Boche, Aaron Rudkin, and Luke Sonnet (2026). Voteview: Congressional Roll-Call Votes Database. https://voteview.com/ · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Free to use with the required citation
  • Lobbying disclosures (LD-1 registrations, LD-2 quarterly reports, LD-203 contribution reports) (Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives)Clerk of the House, Lobbying Disclosure Act filings (organizations only; lobbyists' names are not loaded) · data current to Oct 9, 2026 · loaded Oct 9, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Positions are shown only where a roll call recorded them; voice votes and unanimous consent record none.