Get Foreign Money Out of U.S. Elections Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 746 To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to apply the ban on contributions and expenditures by foreign nationals under such Act to foreign-controlled, foreign-influenced, and foreign-owned domestic cor- porations, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 24, 2019 Mr. RASKIN (for himself and Ms. SPANBERGER) 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 apply the ban on contributions and expenditures by for- eign nationals under such Act to foreign-controlled, for- eign-influenced, and foreign-owned domestic corporations, 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 ‘‘Get Foreign Money 4 Out of U.S. Elections Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:41 Feb 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H746.IH H746 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 746 IH SEC. 2. APPLICATION OF BAN ON CONTRIBUTIONS AND EX- 1 PENDITURES BY FOREIGN NATIONALS TO DO- 2 MESTIC CORPORATIONS, LIMITED LIABILITY 3 CORPORATIONS, AND PARTNERSHIPS THAT 4 ARE FOREIGN-CONTROLLED, FOREIGN-IN- 5 FLUENCED, AND FOREIGN-OWNED. 6 (a) APPLICATION OF BAN.—Section 319(b) of the 7 Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 8 30121(b)) is amended— 9 (1) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of paragraph 10 (1); 11 (2) by striking the period at the end of para- 12 graph (2) and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 13 (3) by adding at the end the following new 14 paragraph: 15 ‘‘(3) any corporation, limited liability corpora- 16 tion, or partnership which is not a foreign national 17 described in paragraph (1) and— 18 ‘‘(A) in which a foreign national described 19 in paragraph (1) or (2) directly or indirectly 20 owns or controls— 21 ‘‘(i) 5 percent or more of the voting 22 shares, if the foreign national is a foreign 23 country, a foreign government official, or a 24 corporation principally owned or controlled 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:41 Feb 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H746.IH H746 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 746 IH by a foreign country or foreign government 1 official; or 2 ‘‘(ii) 20 percent or more of the voting 3 shares, if the foreign national is not de- 4 scribed in clause (i); 5 ‘‘(B) in which two or more foreign nation- 6 als described in paragraph (1) or (2), each of 7 whom owns or controls at least 5 percent of the 8 voting shares, directly or indirectly own or con- 9 trol 50 percent or more of the voting shares; 10 ‘‘(C) over which one or more foreign na- 11 tionals described in paragraph (1) or (2) has 12 the power to direct, dictate, or control the deci- 13 sionmaking process of the corporation, limited 14 liability corporation, or partnership with respect 15 to its interests in the United States; or 16 ‘‘(D) over which one or more foreign na- 17 tionals described in paragraph (1) or (2) has 18 the power to direct, dictate, or control the deci- 19 sionmaking process of the corporation, limited 20 liability corporation, or partnership with respect 21 to activities in connection with a Federal, State, 22 or local election, including— 23 ‘‘(i) the making of a contribution, do- 24 nation, expenditure, independent expendi- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:41 Feb 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H746.IH H746 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 746 IH ture, or disbursement for an electioneering 1 communication (within the meaning of sec- 2 tion 304(f)(3)); or 3 ‘‘(ii) the administration of a political 4 committee established or maintained by the 5 corporation.’’. 6 (b) CERTIFICATION OF COMPLIANCE.—Section 319 7 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 30121) is amended by adding at 8 the end the following new subsection: 9 ‘‘(c) CERTIFICATION OF COMPLIANCE REQUIRED 10 PRIOR TO CARRYING OUT ACTIVITY.—Prior to the mak- 11 ing in connection with an election for Federal office of any 12 contribution, donation, expenditure, independent expendi- 13 ture, or disbursement for an electioneering communication 14 by a corporation, limited liability corporation, or partner- 15 ship during a year, the chief executive officer of the cor- 16 poration, limited liability corporation, or partnership (or, 17 if the corporation, limited liability corporation, or partner- 18 ship does not have a chief executive officer, the highest 19 ranking official of the corporation, limited liability cor- 20 poration, or partnership), shall file a certification with the 21 Commission, under penalty of perjury, that the corpora- 22 tion, limited liability corporation, or partnership is not 23 prohibited from carrying out such activity under sub- 24 section (b)(3), unless the chief executive officer has pre- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:41 Feb 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H746.IH H746 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 746 IH viously filed such a certification during that calendar 1 year.’’. 2 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 3 this section shall take effect upon the expiration of the 4 180-day period which begins on the date of the enactment 5 of this Act, and shall take effect without regard to whether 6 or not the Federal Election Commission has promulgated 7 regulations to carry out such amendments. 8 SEC. 3. CLARIFICATION OF APPLICATION OF FOREIGN 9 MONEY BAN TO CERTAIN DISBURSEMENTS 10 AND ACTIVITIES. 11 (a) APPLICATION TO DISBURSEMENTS TO SUPER 12 PACS.—Section 319(a)(1)(A) of the Federal Election 13 Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30121(a)(1)(A)) is 14 amended by striking the semicolon and inserting the fol- 15 lowing: ‘‘, including any disbursement to a political com- 16 mittee which accepts donations or contributions that do 17 not comply with the limitations, prohibitions, and report- 18 ing requirements of this Act (or any disbursement to or 19 on behalf of any account of a political committee which 20 is established for the purpose of accepting such donations 21 or contributions);’’. 22 (b) CONDITIONS UNDER WHICH CORPORATE PACS 23 MAY MAKE CONTRIBUTIONS AND EXPENDITURES.—Sec- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:41 Feb 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H746.IH H746 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 746 IH tion 316(b) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 30118(b)) is amended 1 by adding at the end the following new paragraph: 2 ‘‘(8) A separate segregated fund established by a cor- 3 poration may not make a contribution or expenditure dur- 4 ing a year unless the fund has certified to the Commission 5 the following during the year: 6 ‘‘(A) Each individual who manages the fund, 7 and who is responsible for exercising decisionmaking 8 authority for the fund, is a citizen of the United 9 States or is lawfully admitted for permanent resi- 10 dence in the United States. 11 ‘‘(B) No foreign national under section 319 12 participates in any way in the decisionmaking proc- 13 esses of the fund with regard to contributions or ex- 14 penditures under this Act. 15 ‘‘(C) The fund does not solicit or accept rec- 16 ommendations from any foreign national under sec- 17 tion 319 with respect to the contributions or expend- 18 itures made by the fund. 19 ‘‘(D) Any member of the board of directors of 20 the corporation who is a foreign national under sec- 21 tion 319 abstains from voting on matters concerning 22 the fund or its activities.’’. 23 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:41 Feb 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H746.IH H746 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS