Corporate Duty to Report Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1264 To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to require corporations to report disbursements made by foreign nationals for purposes of dis- seminating campaign-related public communications and to inquire whether persons providing such disbursements are foreign nationals, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 23, 2021 Mr. SWALWELL (for himself, Mr. CASE, Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois, and Ms. NOR- TON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House Administration A BILL To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to require corporations to report disbursements made by foreign nationals for purposes of disseminating cam- paign-related public communications and to inquire whether persons providing such disbursements are for- eign nationals, and for other purposes. 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 ‘‘Corporate Duty to Re- 4 port Act of 2021’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:18 Mar 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1264.IH H1264 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1264 IH SEC. 2. RESPONSIBILITIES OF CORPORATIONS RELATING 1 TO DISBURSEMENTS FROM FOREIGN NATION- 2 ALS FOR PURPOSES OF DISSEMINATING CAM- 3 PAIGN-RELATED PUBLIC COMMUNICATIONS. 4 (a) RESPONSIBILITIES DESCRIBED.— 5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 319 of the Federal 6 Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30121) 7 is amended— 8 (A) by redesignating subsection (b) as sub- 9 section (c); and 10 (B) by inserting after subsection (a) the 11 following new subsection: 12 ‘‘(b) RESPONSIBILITIES OF CORPORATIONS RELAT- 13 ING TO DISBURSEMENTS FROM FOREIGN NATIONALS FOR 14 PURPOSES OF DISSEMINATING CAMPAIGN-RELATED PUB- 15 LIC COMMUNICATIONS.— 16 ‘‘(1) DUTIES TO REPORT RECEIPT OF DIS- 17 BURSEMENTS.— 18 ‘‘(A) REQUIREMENT.—It shall be unlawful 19 for a corporation which receives a disbursement 20 and knows that the disbursement is made in 21 whole or in part for purposes of disseminating 22 a campaign-related public communication de- 23 scribed in paragraph (3) and knows that the 24 person providing the disbursement is a foreign 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:18 Mar 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1264.IH H1264 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1264 IH national to fail to notify the Federal Bureau of 1 Investigation of the receipt of the disbursement. 2 ‘‘(B) GOOD FAITH RELIANCE ON AFFIRMA- 3 TION BY PERSON PROVIDING DISBURSEMENT.— 4 It is an affirmative defense to an allegation that 5 a corporation committed a violation of subpara- 6 graph (A) that the corporation relied in good 7 faith on an affirmation by the person providing 8 a disbursement described in such subparagraph 9 that— 10 ‘‘(i) the disbursement is not made in 11 whole or in part for purposes of dissemi- 12 nating a campaign-related public commu- 13 nication described in paragraph (3); or 14 ‘‘(ii) the person providing the dis- 15 bursement is not a foreign national. 16 ‘‘(C) PENALTY.—A violation of subpara- 17 graph (A) shall result in a fine under title 18, 18 United States Code, of not more than 19 $1,000,000 for each such violation. 20 ‘‘(2) DUTY TO INQUIRE WHETHER DISBURSE- 21 MENT IS FOR CAMPAIGN PURPOSES AND WHETHER 22 PERSON PROVIDING DISBURSEMENT IS A FOREIGN 23 NATIONAL.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:18 Mar 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1264.IH H1264 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1264 IH ‘‘(A) REQUIREMENT.—It shall be unlawful 1 for a corporation which receives a disbursement 2 which is made in whole or in part for purposes 3 of disseminating a public communication (as de- 4 fined in section 301(22))— 5 ‘‘(i) to fail to inquire whether the 6 communication is a campaign-related pub- 7 lic communication described in paragraph 8 (3); and 9 ‘‘(ii) if the corporation determines 10 that the communication is a campaign-re- 11 lated public communication), to fail to in- 12 quire whether the person providing the dis- 13 bursement is a foreign national. 14 ‘‘(B) CIVIL MONEY PENALTY.—A corpora- 15 tion which violates subparagraph (A) shall be 16 subject to a civil money penalty in accordance 17 with section 309, except that the amount of the 18 penalty may not exceed $500,000 for each such 19 violation. 20 ‘‘(3) CAMPAIGN-RELATED PUBLIC COMMUNICA- 21 TIONS DESCRIBED.—In this subsection, a ‘campaign- 22 related public communication’ is— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:18 Mar 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1264.IH H1264 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1264 IH ‘‘(A) a public communication (as defined in 1 section 301(22)) which is funded in whole or in 2 part with an independent expenditure; or 3 ‘‘(B) an electioneering communication de- 4 scribed in section 304(f)(3).’’. 5 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 6 by this section shall take effect upon the expiration 7 of the 1-year period which begins on the date of the 8 enactment of this Act. 9 (b) PROMULGATION OF REGULATIONS.—Not later 10 than one year after the date of enactment of this Act, the 11 Federal Election Commission shall promulgate regulations 12 providing additional indicators beyond the pertinent facts 13 described in section 110.20(a)(5) of title 11, Code of Fed- 14 eral Regulations (as in effect on the date of enactment 15 of this Act) that may lead a reasonable person to conclude 16 that there is a substantial probability that the source of 17 the funds solicited, accepted, or received is a foreign na- 18 tional, as defined in section 319(c) of the Federal Election 19 Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30121(c)), as redesignated by sub- 20 section (a)(1), or to inquire whether the source of the 21 funds solicited, accepted, or received is a foreign national, 22 as so defined. Regulations promulgated under the pro- 23 ceeding sentence shall also provide guidance to political 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:18 Mar 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1264.IH H1264 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 1264 IH committees and campaigns to not engage in racial or eth- 1 nic profiling in making such a conclusion or inquiry. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:18 Mar 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1264.IH H1264 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS