Duty to Report Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1266 To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to require reporting to the Federal Election Commission and the Federal Bureau of Investiga- tion of offers by foreign nationals to make prohibited contributions, donations, expenditures, or disbursements, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 23, 2021 Mr. SWALWELL (for himself, Mr. DEUTCH, Mr. COHEN, Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. LIEU, Mrs. DEMINGS, Ms. GARCIA of Texas, Ms. BROWNLEY, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. DESAULNIER, Ms. ESHOO, Ms. LEE of Cali- fornia, Ms. MATSUI, Ms. NORTON, Mr. PANETTA, Mr. PRICE of North Carolina, Mr. QUIGLEY, Mr. THOMPSON of California, Mr. VEASEY, and Mr. WELCH) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House Administration, and in addition to the Committee on 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 A BILL To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to require reporting to the Federal Election Commission and the Federal Bureau of Investigation of offers by foreign nationals to make prohibited contributions, dona- tions, expenditures, or disbursements, and for other pur- poses. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:19 Mar 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1266.IH H1266 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1266 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; FINDINGS. 1 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 2 ‘‘Duty to Report Act’’. 3 (b) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find- 4 ings: 5 (1) Political contributions and express-advocacy 6 expenditures are an integral aspect of the process by 7 which Americans elect officials to Federal, State, 8 and local government offices. 9 (2) It is fundamental to the definition of a na- 10 tional political community that foreign citizens do 11 not have a constitutional right to participate in, and 12 thus may be excluded from, activities of democratic 13 self-governance. 14 (3) The United States has a compelling interest 15 in limiting the participation of foreign citizens in ac- 16 tivities of democratic self-government, and in there- 17 by preventing foreign influence over the United 18 States political process. 19 (4) Foreign donations and expenditures have a 20 corrupting influence on the campaign process and 21 limiting the activities of foreign citizens in our elec- 22 tions is necessary to preserve the basic conception of 23 a political community and democratic self-govern- 24 ance. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:19 Mar 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1266.IH H1266 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1266 IH SEC. 2. REPORTING TO THE FEC. 1 (a) REPORTING OFFERS OF PROHIBITED CONTRIBU- 2 TIONS, DONATIONS, EXPENDITURES, OR DISBURSEMENTS 3 BY FOREIGN NATIONALS.—Section 304 of the Federal 4 Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30104) is 5 amended by adding at the end the following new sub- 6 section: 7 ‘‘(j) DISCLOSURE OF OFFERS OF PROHIBITED CON- 8 TRIBUTIONS, DONATIONS, EXPENDITURES, OR DISBURSE- 9 MENTS BY FOREIGN NATIONALS.—If a political com- 10 mittee, an agent of the committee, or in the case of an 11 authorized committee of a candidate for Federal office, a 12 candidate, receives an offer (orally, in writing, or other- 13 wise) of a prohibited contribution, donation, expenditure, 14 or disbursement (as defined in section 3(c) of the Duty 15 to Report Act), the committee shall, within 24 hours of 16 receiving the offer, report to the Commission— 17 ‘‘(1) to the extent known, the name, address, 18 and nationality of the foreign national (as defined in 19 section 319(b)) making the offer; and 20 ‘‘(2) the amount and type of contribution, dona- 21 tion, expenditure, or disbursement offered.’’. 22 (b) REPORTING MEETINGS WITH FOREIGN GOVERN- 23 MENTS OR THEIR AGENTS.—Section 304 of the Federal 24 Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30104), as 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:19 Mar 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1266.IH H1266 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1266 IH amended by subsection (a), is amended by adding at the 1 end the following new subsection: 2 ‘‘(k) DISCLOSURE OF MEETINGS WITH FOREIGN 3 GOVERNMENTS OR THEIR AGENTS.— 4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para- 5 graph (2), if a political committee, an agent of the 6 committee, or in the case of an authorized com- 7 mittee of a candidate for Federal office, a candidate, 8 meets with a foreign government or an agent of a 9 foreign principal, as defined in section 1 of the For- 10 eign Agents Registration Act of 1938 (22 U.S.C. 11 611), the committee shall, within 24 hours of meet- 12 ing, report to the Commission— 13 ‘‘(A) to the extent known, the identity of 14 each individual at the meeting and the foreign 15 government involved; and 16 ‘‘(B) the purpose of the meeting. 17 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION FOR MEETINGS IN OFFICIAL 18 CAPACITY.—Paragraph (1) shall not apply with re- 19 spect to a meeting with a foreign government or an 20 agent of a foreign principal by an elected official or 21 as an employee of an elected official in their official 22 capacity as such an official or employee.’’. 23 (c) PROMULGATION OF REGULATIONS.—Not later 24 than one year after the date of enactment of this Act, the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:19 Mar 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1266.IH H1266 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1266 IH Federal Election Commission shall promulgate regulations 1 providing additional indicators beyond the pertinent facts 2 described in section 110.20(a)(5) of title 11, Code of Fed- 3 eral Regulations (as in effect on the date of enactment 4 of this Act) that may lead a reasonable person to conclude 5 that there is a substantial probability that the source of 6 the funds solicited, accepted, or received is a foreign na- 7 tional, as defined in section 319(b) of the Federal Election 8 Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30121(b)), or to inquire whether 9 the source of the funds solicited, accepted, or received is 10 a foreign national, as so defined. Regulations promulgated 11 under the proceeding sentence shall also provide guidance 12 to political committees and campaigns to not engage in 13 racial or ethnic profiling in making such a conclusion or 14 inquiry. 15 SEC. 3. REPORTING OFFERS OF PROHIBITED CONTRIBU- 16 TIONS, DONATIONS, EXPENDITURES, OR DIS- 17 BURSEMENTS BY FOREIGN NATIONALS TO 18 THE FBI. 19 (a) IN GENERAL.—If a political committee or an ap- 20 plicable individual (as defined in subsection (c)) receives 21 an offer (orally, in writing, or otherwise) of a prohibited 22 contribution, donation, expenditure, or disbursement, the 23 committee or applicable individual shall, within 24 hours 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:19 Mar 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1266.IH H1266 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 1266 IH of receiving the offer, report to the Federal Bureau of In- 1 vestigation— 2 (1) to the extent known, the name, address, and 3 nationality of the foreign national making the offer; 4 and 5 (2) the amount and type of contribution, dona- 6 tion, expenditure, or disbursement offered. 7 (b) OFFENSE.— 8 (1) IN GENERAL.—It shall be unlawful to know- 9 ingly and willfully fail to comply with subsection (a). 10 (2) PENALTY.—Any person who violates para- 11 graph (1) shall be fined under title 18, United 12 States Code, imprisoned not more than 2 years, or 13 both. 14 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 15 (1) APPLICABLE INDIVIDUAL.— 16 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘applicable 17 individual’’ means— 18 (i) an agent of a political committee; 19 (ii) a candidate; 20 (iii) an individual who is an imme- 21 diate family member of a candidate; or 22 (iv) any individual affiliated with a 23 campaign of a candidate. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:19 Mar 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1266.IH H1266 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 1266 IH (B) IMMEDIATE FAMILY MEMBER; INDI- 1 VIDUAL AFFILIATED WITH A CAMPAIGN.—For 2 purposes of subparagraph (A)— 3 (i) the term ‘‘immediate family mem- 4 ber’’ means, with respect to a candidate, a 5 parent, parent-in-law, spouse, adult child, 6 or sibling; and 7 (ii) the term ‘‘individual affiliated 8 with a campaign’’ means, with respect to a 9 candidate, an employee of any organization 10 legally authorized under Federal, State, or 11 local law to support the candidate’s cam- 12 paign for nomination for, or election to, 13 any Federal, State, or local public office, 14 as well as any independent contractor of 15 such an organization and any individual 16 who performs services for the organization 17 on an unpaid basis (including an intern or 18 volunteer). 19 (2) FOREIGN NATIONAL.—The term ‘‘foreign 20 national’’ has the meaning given that term in section 21 319(b) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 22 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30121(b)). 23 (3) KNOWINGLY.—The term ‘‘knowingly’’ has 24 the meaning given that term in section 110.20(a)(4) 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:19 Mar 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1266.IH H1266 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 1266 IH of title 11, Code of Federal Regulations (or any suc- 1 cessor regulations). 2 (4) PROHIBITED CONTRIBUTION, DONATION, 3 EXPENDITURE, OR DISBURSEMENT.— 4 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘prohibited 5 contribution, donation, expenditure, or disburse- 6 ment’’ means a contribution, donation, expendi- 7 ture, or disbursement prohibited under section 8 319(a) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 9 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30121(a)). 10 (B) CLARIFICATION.—Such term includes, 11 with respect to a candidate or election, any in- 12 formation— 13 (i) regarding any of the other can- 14 didates for election for that office; 15 (ii) that is not in the public domain; 16 and 17 (iii) which could be used to the advan- 18 tage of the campaign of the candidate. 19 (5) OTHER TERMS.—Any term used in this sec- 20 tion which is defined in section 301 of the Federal 21 Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30101) 22 and which is not otherwise defined in this section 23 shall have the meaning given such term under such 24 section 301. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:19 Mar 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1266.IH H1266 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 1266 IH SEC. 4. CLARIFICATION REGARDING USE OF INFORMATION 1 REPORTED. 2 Information reported under subsection (j) or (k) of 3 section 304 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 4 (52 U.S.C. 30104), as added by section 2, or under section 5 3(a), may not be used to enforce the provisions under 6 chapter 4 of title II of the Immigration and Nationality 7 Act (8 U.S.C. 1221 et seq.) relating to the removal of un- 8 documented aliens. 9 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:19 Mar 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1266.IH H1266 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS