Stop Supporting Foreign Interference in Our Democracy Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1237 To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to prohibit a person from knowingly providing substantial assistance relating to a contribution or donation by a foreign national, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 23, 2021 Ms. HOULAHAN 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 prohibit a person from knowingly providing substantial assistance relating to a contribution or donation by a foreign national, 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 ‘‘Stop Supporting For- 4 eign Interference in Our Democracy Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:01 Mar 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1237.IH H1237 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1237 IH SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON PROVISION OF SUBSTANTIAL AS- 1 SISTANCE RELATING TO CONTRIBUTION OR 2 DONATION BY FOREIGN NATIONALS. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 319 of the Federal Elec- 4 tion Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30121) is amend- 5 ed— 6 (1) in subsection (a)— 7 (A) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of para- 8 graph (1)(C); 9 (B) by striking the period at the end of 10 paragraph (2) and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 11 (C) by adding at the end the following: 12 ‘‘(3) a person to knowingly provide substantial 13 assistance to another person in carrying out an ac- 14 tivity described in paragraph (1) or (2).’’; and 15 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub- 16 sections: 17 ‘‘(c) KNOWINGLY DESCRIBED.— 18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of subsection 19 (a)(3), the term ‘knowingly’ means actual knowl- 20 edge, awareness of pertinent facts that would lead a 21 reasonable person to conclude there is a substantial 22 probability, or awareness of pertinent facts that 23 would lead a reasonable person to conduct a reason- 24 able inquiry to establish— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:01 Mar 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1237.IH H1237 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1237 IH ‘‘(A) with respect to an activity described 1 in subsection (a)(1), that the contribution, do- 2 nation, expenditure, independent expenditure, 3 or disbursement is from a foreign national; and 4 ‘‘(B) with respect to an activity described 5 in subsection (a)(2), that the contribution or 6 donation solicited, accepted, or received is from 7 a foreign national. 8 ‘‘(2) PERTINENT FACTS.—For purposes of 9 paragraph (1), pertinent facts include, but are not 10 limited to, that the person making the contribution, 11 donation, expenditure, independent expenditure, or 12 disbursement, or that the person from whom the 13 contribution or donation is solicited, accepted, or re- 14 ceived— 15 ‘‘(A) uses a foreign passport or passport 16 number for identification purposes; 17 ‘‘(B) provides a foreign address; 18 ‘‘(C) uses a check or other written instru- 19 ment drawn on a foreign bank, or by a wire 20 transfer from a foreign bank, in carrying out 21 the activity; or 22 ‘‘(D) resides abroad. 23 ‘‘(d) SUBSTANTIAL ASSISTANCE DEFINED.—As used 24 in this section, the term ‘substantial assistance’ means, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:01 Mar 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1237.IH H1237 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1237 IH with respect to an activity prohibited by paragraph (1) or 1 (2) of subsection (a), involvement with an intent to facili- 2 tate successful completion of the activity.’’. 3 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:01 Mar 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1237.IH H1237 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS