I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1970 To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide for the public reporting of certain contributions received by charitable organizations from foreign governments and foreign political parties. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 17, 2021 Mr. GOODEN of Texas (for himself, Mr. BANKS, and Mr. WILSON of South Carolina) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on Ways and Means A BILL To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide for the public reporting of certain contributions received by charitable organizations from foreign governments and foreign political parties. 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 ‘‘Think Tank and Non- 4 profit Foreign Influence Disclosure Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds the following: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:08 May 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1970.IH H1970 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1970 IH (1) Foreign governments and foreign political 1 parties attempt to influence the government and po- 2 litical system of the United States through donations 3 to nonprofit charitable organizations especially think 4 tanks and cultural organizations. 5 (2) While institutions of higher learning are re- 6 quired to disclose foreign gifts to the Department of 7 Education pursuant to the Higher Education Act, 8 no such requirement exists for think tanks. 9 (3) A number of think tanks and cultural orga- 10 nizations incorporated in the United States have re- 11 ceived money from the United Front Work Depart- 12 ment of the Chinese Communist Party—an organi- 13 zation based on conducting political warfare against 14 enemies of the Chinese Communist Party and under- 15 mining democracy around the world. 16 (4) The Department of Defense found in its 17 Military and Strategic Developments Involving the 18 People’s Republic of China 2019 Report that: 19 ‘‘China conducts influence operations against cul- 20 tural institutions, media organizations, and the busi- 21 ness, academic, and policy communities of the 22 United States, other countries, and international in- 23 stitutions to achieve outcomes favorable to its secu- 24 rity and military strategy objectives. . . . China har- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:08 May 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1970.IH H1970 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1970 IH nesses academia and educational institutions, think 1 tanks, and state-run media to advance its soft power 2 campaign in support of China’s security interests.’’. 3 (5) A report by the U.S. China Security and 4 Economic Commission noted that a number of 5 Washington DC think tanks and universities have 6 received funding from Tung Cheehwa, a vice chair- 7 man of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative 8 Conference, which is a group that directs the United 9 Front Work Department. 10 (6) The Center for a New American Security 11 noted in its 2019 report ‘‘Rising to the China Chal- 12 lenge’’ that: ‘‘A number of U.S. universities, aca- 13 demic departments, individual scholars, think tanks, 14 and other civil society organizations receive substan- 15 tial funding from Beijing that is often targeted at 16 shaping views and discourse on China. Higher de- 17 grees of transparency can help to ensure that this 18 funding is not generating hidden forms of foreign 19 lobbying, self censorship, or other activities that un- 20 dermine core U.S. democratic principles.’’. 21 (7) Bill Gertz of the Washington Free Beacon 22 reported on August 28, 2018, that: ‘‘In addition to 23 Johns Hopkins, other think tanks linked to China 24 and influential in American policy circles include the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:08 May 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1970.IH H1970 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1970 IH Brookings Institution, Atlantic Council, Center for 1 American Progress, EastWest Institute, Carter Cen- 2 ter, and the Carnegie Endowment for International 3 Peace.’’. 4 SEC. 3. ANNUAL DISCLOSURE OF CONTRIBUTIONS FROM 5 FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS AND POLITICAL 6 PARTIES BY CERTAIN TAX-EXEMPT ORGANI- 7 ZATIONS. 8 (a) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.—Section 6033(b) of 9 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking 10 ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph (15), by redesignating 11 paragraph (16) as paragraph (17) and by inserting after 12 paragraph (15) the following new paragraph: 13 ‘‘(16) with respect to each government of a for- 14 eign country (within the meaning of section 1(e) of 15 the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938 (22 16 U.S.C. 611(e))) and each foreign political party 17 (within the meaning of section 1(f) of such Act (22 18 U.S.C. 611(f)) which made aggregate contributions 19 and gifts to the organization during the year in ex- 20 cess of $50,000, the name of such government or 21 political party and such aggregate amount, and’’. 22 (b) PUBLIC DISCLOSURE.—Section 6104 of such 23 Code is amended by adding at the end the following new 24 subsection: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:08 May 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1970.IH H1970 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1970 IH ‘‘(e) PUBLIC DISCLOSURE OF CERTAIN INFORMA- 1 TION.—The Secretary shall make publicly available in a 2 searchable database the following information: 3 ‘‘(1) The information furnished under section 4 6033(b)(16) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, 5 as amended by this section. 6 ‘‘(2) The name of the organization furnishing 7 the information described in paragraph (1). 8 ‘‘(3) The aggregate amount reported under 9 such section as having been received as contributions 10 or gifts in each year from the People’s Republic of 11 China and (stated separately) from the Chinese 12 Communist Party.’’. 13 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 14 this section shall apply to returns filed for taxable years 15 beginning after the date of the enactment of this Act. 16 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:08 May 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1970.IH H1970 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS