What This Bill Does
This bill requires certain nonprofit and not-for-profit organizations to report foreign funding to the Attorney General. The bill aims to make public what foreign money these organizations receive and what agreements they have with foreign governments or entities. (Sec. 1, 2, 3)
##
Who It Affects
- Nonprofit organizations that spend more than 20 percent of their resources on influencing U.S. public policy or public opinion
- Not-for-profit social welfare organizations that meet the same spending threshold
- Research units connected to universities that publish policy research or host events with government officials
- The Attorney General (who receives and publishes the reports)
- Congress (which can request records from these organizations)
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Key Provisions
- Organizations must report to the Attorney General within 90 days after receiving $10,000 or more in gifts, donations, or contributions from a foreign source in a calendar year (Sec. 3)
- Organizations must report within 90 days when they enter into or change contracts, agreements, or memoranda of understanding with foreign sources (Sec. 3)
- Reports must include the foreign source's identity, the amount of money, any conditions attached to the money, and whether the money influenced the organization's research or programs (Sec. 3)
- Organizations must identify on written materials and briefings which foreign sources funded that work if they present research to Congress or executive branch officials (Sec. 5)
- The Attorney General must maintain a public database with all disclosed foreign funding information (Sec. 7)
- Organizations must keep records about foreign funding for at least 5 years and make them available to the Attorney General or Congress upon request (Sec. 7)
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What Changes
If this bill becomes law, nonprofits and not-for-profit organizations will be required to publicly disclose all foreign government funding of $10,000 or more per year. Organizations will also have to report foreign contracts and agreements. Anyone testifying before Congress or briefing executive branch officials from these organizations must identify the foreign funding sources for that work. The Attorney General will create a public database where Americans can see which organizations receive foreign money and from which countries. Organizations that fail to report can be fined at least $1,000 per day of non-compliance.
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Important Definitions
- **Covered Entity**: A nonprofit or not-for-profit social welfare organization that spends more than 20 percent of its resources influencing U.S. public policy or public opinion, or a research unit at a university that publishes policy research or hosts events with government officials (Sec. 8)
- **Foreign Principal**: A foreign government, foreign political party, or any person or organization based outside the United States (Sec. 8)
- **Gift, Donation, or Contribution**: Any money, property, or in-kind contribution (goods or services instead of money) given directly or indirectly to a covered entity by a foreign source (Sec. 8)
- **Restricted or Conditional Gift or Contract**: Foreign funding that includes rules about who researchers must be, which departments get money, what research topics are studied, what can be published, or what the foreign source can review or approve before publication (Sec. 8)
- **Conduct Intending to Directly or Indirectly Influence Public Policy or Public Opinion**: Any activity the organization believes will influence any U.S. government agency, official, or the American public regarding how the U.S. makes domestic or foreign policy (Sec. 8)
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Effective Date
This bill takes effect 120 days after it becomes law. (Sec. 9)
I
118TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION H. R. 1438
To require certain nonprofit and not-for-profit social welfare organizations
to submit disclosure reports on foreign funding to the Attorney General;
and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH 8, 2023
Mr. BERGMAN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To require certain nonprofit and not-for-profit social welfare
organizations to submit disclosure reports on foreign
funding to the Attorney General; 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 ‘‘Think Tank Trans-
4
parency Act’’.
5
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
6
Congress finds the following:
7
(1) Think tanks have provided Congress and
8
the Administration with a wealth of research and
9
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•HR 1438 IH
scholarship that largely has benefitted the American
1
public by improving the drafting, enactment, and en-
2
forcement of U.S. policy.
3
(2) There is broad bipartisan agreement that
4
think tanks possess enormous influence on the pas-
5
sage and enforcement of policies, particularly those
6
that relate to foreign policy.
7
(3) In recent years, foreign funding of think
8
tanks has increased substantially.
9
(4) Congress, the Administration, and especially
10
the American people have a right to know which
11
think tanks receive foreign funds and to assess for
12
themselves the extent that foreign influence should
13
be considered when analyzing the credibility and
14
value of research and scholarship produced by such
15
organizations that receive foreign funds.
16
(5) The House has already recognized the na-
17
tional security issues inherent in undue foreign in-
18
fluence of entities with covert sources of foreign
19
funding who testify before Congress. Since 2015, in-
20
dividuals who testify before the U.S. House of Rep-
21
resentatives have been required to disclose relevant
22
foreign funding sources directed to them or their
23
employers in Truth in Testimony disclosure forms.
24
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(The original looser requirement was enacted in
1
1997).
2
(6) Over 30 years ago, Congress enacted section
3
117 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) in
4
light of concerns about the growing financial rela-
5
tionship between U.S. universities and foreign
6
sources. Congress balanced academic freedom and
7
national security by mandating financial trans-
8
parency through required reporting of contracts with
9
and gifts from a foreign source.
10
(7) Section 117 does not prohibit institutions
11
from taking foreign money; it mandates accurate
12
and transparent disclosures of sources and amounts
13
to the Department of Education. In 2019, the De-
14
partment took concrete steps to enforce section 117
15
by ensuring the integrity of reporting requirements,
16
confirming the correct reporting and categorization
17
of donations, and prohibiting the use of domestic
18
conduits and intermediaries to avoid the disclosures
19
of foreign gifts.
20
(8) Between 2011 and 2021, Russia has given
21
at least $160 million to U.S. universities. China
22
alone has given at least $2.7 billion during the same
23
time frame. And during that span, the State of
24
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Qatar has given at least $5 billion to U.S. univer-
1
sities.
2
(9) Each of these nations has a repressive and
3
deeply troubling record on human rights, and all
4
three have engaged in cyber espionage targeting
5
Americans.
6
(10) Russia, China, and Qatar all pose grave
7
threats to U.S. national security interests, yet they
8
have successfully lavished billions of dollars to cul-
9
tivate strong ties with institutions of higher edu-
10
cation and research across the United States.
11
(11) There is also evidence suggesting that
12
Qatar encouraged and potentially facilitated U.S.
13
universities receiving its largess to flout U.S. disclo-
14
sure requirements under section 117 of the Higher
15
Education Act.
16
(12) Although the Center for International Pol-
17
icy conducted a study in 2020 that concluded that
18
think tanks focused on Federal policy received at
19
least $174 million in funding from foreign govern-
20
mental entities between 2014 and 2018, there is cur-
21
rently no means to determine the actual level or ex-
22
tent of foreign influence on such think tanks.
23
(13) While the exact amount of foreign funding
24
that U.S. based think tanks receive is unknown, it
25
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is clear that the foreign sources would not provide
1
that level of funding unless it impacted think tanks’
2
policy recommendations.
3
(14) One prominent think tank, the East West
4
Institute, received substantial funding from China’s
5
People’s Liberation Army, which conducts cyber es-
6
pionage attacks, including against Americans. After
7
the East West Institute was dissolved in 2021, the
8
Stimson Center took over several of the think tank’s
9
key programs involving China.
10
(15) The Stimson Center worked to signifi-
11
cantly alter the Homeland and Cyber Threat Act
12
(H.R. 1607, introduced into the 117th Congress on
13
March 8, 2021). The HACT Act, which would pro-
14
vide an exception to the Foreign Sovereign Immuni-
15
ties Act of 1976 (FSIA) to allow U.S. persons
16
harmed
by
foreign-government
sponsored
17
cyberattacks to bring civil claims for damages,
18
passed in the last Congress with broad bipartisan
19
support. The changes advocated by the Stimson
20
Center would gut the bill and render it completely
21
ineffective in holding foreign nations and their
22
agents responsible for cyberattacks on and in the
23
United States.
24
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(16) One of the main sources of the Stimson
1
Center’s funding is the State of Qatar, a major
2
sponsor of terrorism worldwide and one of the most
3
notorious sponsors of cyberattacks against U.S. enti-
4
ties. In 2019 alone, the Stimson Center took over
5
$600,000 in contributions from the Government of
6
Qatar.
7
(17) The Brookings Institution has received at
8
least $22 million from the State of Qatar from 2013
9
through 2021, but the exact amount has not been
10
disclosed publicly.
11
(18) There is also significant concern in Con-
12
gress about potential contractual stipulations tied to
13
foreign funding that could be leveraged by foreign
14
powers to exert even greater influence over the re-
15
search and policy recommendations of think tanks
16
that the Federal Government and the American pub-
17
lic would otherwise believe to be independent.
18
(19) In a 2007 ‘‘Establishment Agreement’’ be-
19
tween the Brookings Institution and Qatar’s Min-
20
istry of Foreign Affairs—which appears to have
21
been in place in its original form through the end of
22
2021—the Doha ‘‘branch’’ of the Brookings Institu-
23
tion, called Brookings Doha Center, was effectively
24
owned and controlled by the Emir of Qatar. Under
25
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•HR 1438 IH
the terms of the contract, the Brookings Institu-
1
tion’s role in the Doha Center was limited to that
2
of a ‘‘Promoter’’.
3
(20) As only revealed publicly in June 2022,
4
the Brookings Doha Center was a separate and dis-
5
tinct legal entity, specifically a Private Foundation
6
for the Public Benefit, the same incorporation status
7
as the State of Qatar’s propaganda arm, Al Jazeera.
8
(21) Pursuant to the 2007 Establishment
9
Agreement, the Director of the Brookings Doha
10
Center was required to report directly to Qatar’s
11
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including to ‘‘engage in
12
regular consultation . . . regarding the development
13
and ongoing operations’’ and for prior approval of
14
‘‘programs that will be developed by the [Brookings
15
Doha] Center’’.
16
(22) The Brookings Doha Center was renamed
17
the Middle East Council on Global Affairs, and evi-
18
dence indicates that it is now entirely under the con-
19
trol of the Qatari Government. According to a Janu-
20
ary 2022 ‘‘Amendment’’ to the 2007 Articles of In-
21
corporation, the Brookings Institution ceded the
22
‘‘Promoter’’ role for Brookings Doha Center to a
23
senior employee of Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Af-
24
fairs, Majed Al-Ansari. This Amendment also called
25
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on the Middle East Council to assume control of in-
1
tellectual property rights that had been under the
2
‘‘Brookings’’ brand, including the content from and
3
followers of the ‘‘@BrookingsDoha’’ Twitter ac-
4
count.
5
(23) Congress currently is unable to determine
6
what other agreements that the Brookings Institu-
7
tion or other influential think tanks have with for-
8
eign governmental entities, a void which has already
9
been exploited by at least the State of Qatar in ob-
10
taining prior approval of budgets and research
11
projects conducted under the branding of the Brook-
12
ings Institution and the Brookings Doha Center in
13
the aforementioned 2007 contract, or the trans-
14
ference of valuable intellectual property to the
15
Qatari Government pursuant to the 2022 amend-
16
ment.
17
(24) There is broad bipartisan agreement that
18
undue foreign influence obscured through the use of
19
proxies—or hidden by the powerful brand of a highly
20
respected think tank—threatens the national secu-
21
rity interests of the United States. There is also
22
broad agreement that transparency is the most im-
23
portant and effective tool for reducing the harm of
24
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•HR 1438 IH
foreign influence targeting U.S. public policy or pub-
1
lic opinion.
2
(25) As such, this bill aims to provide critical
3
transparency regarding the foreign funding provided
4
to and the related contractual agreements with think
5
tanks whose work includes influencing U.S. policies
6
or public opinion.
7
SEC. 3. CONTEMPORANEOUS DISCLOSURE REPORTS.
8
(a) REPORTING CONDITIONS.—
9
(1) GIFTS, DONATIONS, OR CONTRIBUTIONS.—
10
(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in
11
section 6, a covered entity that receives a gift,
12
donation, or contribution from a foreign prin-
13
cipal during a calendar year in an aggregate
14
amount of $10,000 or greater shall file a disclo-
15
sure report with the Attorney General in ac-
16
cordance with subsection (b) not later than 90
17
days after each disclosure date.
18
(B) DISCLOSURE DATE DEFINED.—In this
19
paragraph, the term ‘‘disclosure date’’ means—
20
(i) the first date during any calendar
21
year by which a covered entity has received
22
a gift, donation, or contribution from a
23
foreign principal in an aggregate amount
24
of $10,000 or greater; and
25
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•HR 1438 IH
(ii) any other date during such cal-
1
endar year by which a covered entity has
2
received a gift, donation, or contribution
3
from a foreign principal in an aggregate
4
amount of $10,000 or greater since the
5
most recent disclosure date for such cal-
6
endar year.
7
(2) CONTRACT,
MEMORANDUM
OF
UNDER-
8
STANDING, OR AGREEMENT.—Except as provided in
9
section 6, a covered entity that enters into or modi-
10
fies a contract, memorandum of understanding, or
11
agreement with a foreign principal shall file a disclo-
12
sure report with the Attorney General in accordance
13
with subsection (b) within 90 days of the formation
14
or modification of such contract, memorandum, or
15
agreement.
16
(b) CONTENTS OF CONTEMPORANEOUS DISCLOSURE
17
REPORT.—
18
(1) GIFTS, DONATIONS, OR
CONTRIBUTIONS
19
ONLY.—The report required under subsection (a)(1)
20
shall detail the following:
21
(A) The identities of the foreign principal
22
and the primary point of contact of the foreign
23
principal for engaging with the covered entity,
24
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including the name and title of such point of
1
contact.
2
(B) The date on which the foreign prin-
3
cipal provided a gift, donation, or contribution
4
to the covered entity.
5
(C) The aggregate dollar amount of such
6
gift, donation, or contribution attributable to a
7
particular foreign principal.
8
(D) A description of any conditions or re-
9
strictions regarding any of the disclosed gifts,
10
donations, or contributions.
11
(E) The aggregate amount of such gifts,
12
donations, or contributions received from each
13
foreign principal.
14
(F) A description of any decisions made
15
because of the foreign principal to the structure
16
of the organization or to the research, pro-
17
grams, or content intended to be or actually
18
published, disseminated, or promoted by the
19
covered entity.
20
(2) CONTRACT,
MEMORANDUM
OF
UNDER-
21
STANDING, OR AGREEMENT ONLY.—The report re-
22
quired under subsection (a)(2) shall detail the fol-
23
lowing:
24
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(A) The identities of the foreign principal
1
and the primary point of contact of the foreign
2
principal for engaging with the covered entity,
3
including the name and title of such point of
4
contact.
5
(B) The date on which the covered entity
6
entered into or modified a contract, memo-
7
randum of understanding, or agreement with a
8
foreign principal.
9
(C) Copies of all written contracts, agree-
10
ments, or memoranda of understanding the cov-
11
ered entity entered into or modified with any
12
foreign principal.
13
(D) Copies of all internal and exter
[Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]