I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1419 To amend the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938 to establish a separate unit within the Department of Justice for the investigation and enforce- ment of such Act, to provide the Attorney General with the authority to impose civil money penalties for violations of such Act, and to require agents of foreign principals who are registered under such Act to disclose transactions involving things of financial value conferred on officeholders. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 26, 2021 Ms. OMAR (for herself, Ms. NORTON, and Ms. PRESSLEY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To amend the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938 to establish a separate unit within the Department of Justice for the investigation and enforcement of such Act, to provide the Attorney General with the authority to impose civil money penalties for violations of such Act, and to require agents of foreign principals who are registered under such Act to disclose transactions involving things of financial value conferred on office- holders. 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 18:25 Apr 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1419.IH H1419 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1419 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protect Against Un- 2 lawful Lobbying (PAUL) Act of 2021’’. 3 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF FARA INVESTIGATION AND EN- 4 FORCEMENT UNIT WITHIN DEPARTMENT OF 5 JUSTICE. 6 Section 8 of the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 7 1938, as amended (22 U.S.C. 618) is amended by adding 8 at the end the following new subsection: 9 ‘‘(i) DEDICATED ENFORCEMENT UNIT.— 10 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 180 11 days after the date of enactment of this subsection, 12 the Attorney General shall establish a unit within 13 the counterespionage section of the National Secu- 14 rity Division of the Department of Justice with re- 15 sponsibility for the enforcement of this Act. 16 ‘‘(2) POWERS.—The unit established under this 17 subsection is authorized to— 18 ‘‘(A) take appropriate legal action against 19 individuals suspected of violating this Act; and 20 ‘‘(B) coordinate any such legal action with 21 the United States Attorney for the relevant ju- 22 risdiction. 23 ‘‘(3) CONSULTATION.—In operating the unit es- 24 tablished under this subsection, the Attorney Gen- 25 eral shall, as appropriate, consult with the Director 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:25 Apr 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1419.IH H1419 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1419 IH of National Intelligence, the Secretary of Homeland 1 Security, and the Secretary of State. 2 ‘‘(4) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 3 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 4 the activities of the unit established under this sub- 5 section $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2021 and each 6 succeeding fiscal year.’’. 7 SEC. 3. AUTHORITY TO IMPOSE CIVIL MONEY PENALTIES. 8 (a) ESTABLISHING AUTHORITY.—Section 8 of the 9 Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, as amended (22 10 U.S.C. 618) is amended by inserting after subsection (c) 11 the following new subsection: 12 ‘‘(d) CIVIL MONEY PENALTIES.— 13 ‘‘(1) REGISTRATION STATEMENTS.—Whoever 14 fails to file timely or complete a registration state- 15 ment as provided under section 2(a) shall be subject 16 to a civil money penalty of not more than $10,000 17 per violation. 18 ‘‘(2) SUPPLEMENTS.—Whoever fails to file 19 timely or complete supplements as provided under 20 section 2(b) shall be subject to a civil money penalty 21 of not more than $1,000 per violation. 22 ‘‘(3) OTHER VIOLATIONS.—Whoever knowingly 23 fails to— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:25 Apr 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1419.IH H1419 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1419 IH ‘‘(A) remedy a defective filing within 60 1 days after notice of such defect by the Attorney 2 General; or 3 ‘‘(B) comply with any other provision of 4 this Act, 5 shall upon proof of such knowing violation by a pre- 6 ponderance of the evidence, be subject to a civil 7 money penalty of not more than $200,000, depend- 8 ing on the extent and gravity of the violation. 9 ‘‘(4) NO FINES PAID BY FOREIGN PRIN- 10 CIPALS.—A civil money penalty paid under para- 11 graph (1) may not be paid, directly or indirectly, by 12 a foreign principal. 13 ‘‘(5) USE OF FINES.—All civil money penalties 14 collected under this subsection shall be used to de- 15 fray the cost of the enforcement unit established 16 under subsection (i).’’. 17 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 18 subsection (a) shall take effect on the date of the enact- 19 ment of this Act. 20 SEC. 4. DISCLOSURE OF TRANSACTIONS INVOLVING 21 THINGS OF FINANCIAL VALUE CONFERRED 22 ON OFFICEHOLDERS. 23 (a) REQUIRING AGENTS TO DISCLOSE KNOWN 24 TRANSACTIONS.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:25 Apr 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1419.IH H1419 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1419 IH (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 2(a) of the Foreign 1 Agents Registration Act of 1938, as amended (22 2 U.S.C. 612(a)) is amended— 3 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (10) and 4 (11) as paragraphs (11) and (12); and 5 (B) by inserting after paragraph (9) the 6 following new paragraph: 7 ‘‘(10) To the extent that the registrant has 8 knowledge of any transaction which occurred in the 9 preceding 60 days and in which the foreign principal 10 for whom the registrant is acting as an agent con- 11 ferred on a Federal or State officeholder any thing 12 of financial value, including a gift, profit, salary, fa- 13 vorable regulatory treatment, or any other direct or 14 indirect economic or financial benefit, a detailed 15 statement describing each such transaction.’’. 16 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 17 by paragraph (1) shall apply with respect to state- 18 ments filed on or after the expiration of the 90-day 19 period which begins on the date of the enactment of 20 this Act. 21 (b) SUPPLEMENTAL DISCLOSURE FOR CURRENT 22 REGISTRANTS.—Not later than the expiration of the 90- 23 day period which begins on the date of the enactment of 24 this Act, each registrant who (prior to the expiration of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:25 Apr 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1419.IH H1419 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 1419 IH such period) filed a registration statement with the Attor- 1 ney General under section 2(a) of the Foreign Agents Reg- 2 istration Act of 1938, as amended (22 U.S.C. 612(a)) and 3 who has knowledge of any transaction described in para- 4 graph (10) of section 2(a) of such Act (as added by sub- 5 section (a)(1)) which occurred at any time during which 6 the registrant was an agent of the foreign principal in- 7 volved, shall file with the Attorney General a supplement 8 to such statement under oath, on a form prescribed by 9 the Attorney General, containing a detailed statement de- 10 scribing each such transaction. 11 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:25 Apr 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1419.IH H1419 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS