PAID AD Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2135 To prevent foreign adversaries from influencing elections by prohibiting for- eign nationals from purchasing at any time a broadcast, cable, or satellite communication that mentions a clearly identified candidate for Federal office. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 8, 2019 Ms. SLOTKIN (for herself and Ms. STEFANIK) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House Administration A BILL To prevent foreign adversaries from influencing elections by prohibiting foreign nationals from purchasing at any time a broadcast, cable, or satellite communication that men- tions a clearly identified candidate for Federal office. 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 ‘‘Preventing Adversaries 4 Internationally from Disbursing Advertising Dollars Act’’ 5 or the ‘‘PAID AD Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:43 Apr 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2135.IH H2135 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2135 IH SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 1 The purpose of this Act is to protect the integrity 2 of American democracy by expanding the scope of the pro- 3 hibition on political advertising by foreign principals in 4 order to uphold the well-established standard of the 5 United States Supreme Court that foreign nationals may 6 lawfully be excluded from participating in certain electoral 7 activities. 8 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 9 It is the sense of Congress that— 10 (1) the growing threat of malicious interference 11 in our elections by foreign actors requires the Con- 12 gress and the Federal Election Commission to take 13 meaningful action to ensure that laws and regula- 14 tions protect against influence by foreign nationals 15 in activity fundamental to our democracy; 16 (2) the Supreme Court has long held that there 17 is a compelling national interest in preventing for- 18 eign influence in the United States political process 19 and that foreign citizens lack a ‘‘constitutional right 20 to participate in, and thus may be excluded from, 21 activities of democratic self-government’’; and 22 (3) the current prohibition on foreign nationals 23 contributing to political campaigns and advertise- 24 ments must be updated. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:43 Apr 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2135.IH H2135 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2135 IH SEC. 4. EXPANSION OF LIMITATION ON FOREIGN NATION- 1 ALS. 2 (a) DISBURSEMENTS DESCRIBED.—Section 3 319(a)(1) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 4 (52 U.S.C. 30121(a)(1)) is amended— 5 (1) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of subparagraph 6 (B); and 7 (2) by striking subparagraph (C) and inserting 8 the following: 9 ‘‘(C) an expenditure; 10 ‘‘(D) an independent expenditure; 11 ‘‘(E) a disbursement for an electioneering 12 communication (within the meaning of section 13 304(f)(3)); 14 ‘‘(F) a disbursement for a paid internet or 15 paid digital communication that refers to a 16 clearly identified candidate for election for Fed- 17 eral office and is disseminated within 60 days 18 before a general, special or runoff election for 19 the office sought by the candidate or 30 days 20 before a primary or preference election, or a 21 convention or caucus of a political party that 22 has authority to nominate a candidate for the 23 office sought by the candidate; 24 ‘‘(G) a disbursement for a broadcast, cable 25 or satellite communication, or for a paid inter- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:43 Apr 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2135.IH H2135 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2135 IH net or paid digital communication, that pro- 1 motes, supports, attacks or opposes the election 2 of a clearly identified candidate for Federal, 3 State, or local office (regardless of whether the 4 communication contains express advocacy or the 5 functional equivalent of express advocacy); or 6 ‘‘(H) a disbursement for a broadcast, 7 cable, or satellite communication, or for any 8 communication which is placed or promoted for 9 a fee on an online platform, that discusses a 10 national legislative issue of public importance in 11 a year in which a regularly scheduled general 12 election for Federal office is held, but only if 13 the disbursement is made by a foreign principal 14 who is a government of a foreign country or a 15 foreign political party or an agent of such a for- 16 eign principal under the Foreign Agents Reg- 17 istration Act of 1938.’’. 18 (b) DEFINITION OF ONLINE PLATFORM.—Section 19 319 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 30121) is amended by adding 20 at the end the following new subsection: 21 ‘‘(c) ONLINE PLATFORM.—As used in this section, 22 the term ‘online platform’ means any public-facing 23 website, web application, or digital application (including 24 a social network, ad network, or search engine) which— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:43 Apr 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2135.IH H2135 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2135 IH ‘‘(1) sells qualified political advertisements; and 1 ‘‘(2) has 50,000,000 or more unique monthly 2 United States visitors or users for a majority of 3 months during the preceding 12 months.’’. 4 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 5 this section shall apply with respect to disbursements 6 made on or after the date of the enactment of this Act. 7 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:43 Apr 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2135.IH H2135 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS