Foreign Influence Reporting in Elections Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1562 To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to clarify the obligation to report acts of foreign election influence and require implementation of compliance and reporting systems by Federal campaigns to detect and report such acts. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 21, 2019 Mr. WARNER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration A BILL To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to clarify the obligation to report acts of foreign election influence and require implementation of compliance and reporting systems by Federal campaigns to detect and report such acts. 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 ‘‘Foreign Influence Re- 4 porting in Elections Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 May 31, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1562.IS S1562 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1562 IS SEC. 2. FEDERAL CAMPAIGN REPORTING OF FOREIGN CON- 1 TACTS. 2 (a) INITIAL NOTICE.—Section 304 of the Federal 3 Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30104) is 4 amended by adding at the end the following new sub- 5 section: 6 ‘‘(j) DISCLOSURE OF REPORTABLE FOREIGN CON- 7 TACTS.— 8 ‘‘(1) COMMITTEE OBLIGATION.—Not later than 9 1 week after a reportable foreign contact, each au- 10 thorized committee shall notify the Commission of 11 the reportable foreign contact and provide a sum- 12 mary of the circumstances with respect to such re- 13 portable foreign contact. 14 ‘‘(2) INDIVIDUAL OBLIGATION.—Not later than 15 1 week after a reportable foreign contact— 16 ‘‘(A) each candidate shall notify the treas- 17 urer or other designated official of the principal 18 campaign committee of such candidate of the 19 reportable foreign contact and provide a sum- 20 mary of the circumstances with respect to such 21 reportable foreign contact; and 22 ‘‘(B) each official, employee, or agent of an 23 authorized committee shall notify the treasurer 24 or other designated official of the authorized 25 committee of the reportable foreign contact and 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 May 31, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1562.IS S1562 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1562 IS provide a summary of the circumstances with 1 respect to such reportable foreign contact. 2 ‘‘(3) REPORTABLE FOREIGN CONTACT.—In this 3 subsection: 4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘reportable 5 foreign contact’ means any direct or indirect 6 contact or communication that— 7 ‘‘(i) is between— 8 ‘‘(I) a candidate, an authorized 9 committee of a candidate, or any offi- 10 cial, employee, or agent of such au- 11 thorized committee; and 12 ‘‘(II) a foreign national (as de- 13 fined in section 319(b)) or a person 14 that the person described in subclause 15 (I) believes to be a foreign national; 16 and 17 ‘‘(ii) the person described in clause 18 (i)(I) knows, has reason to know, or rea- 19 sonably believes involves— 20 ‘‘(I) a contribution, donation, ex- 21 penditure, disbursement, or solicita- 22 tion described in section 319; or 23 ‘‘(II) coordination or collabora- 24 tion with, an offer or provision of in- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 May 31, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1562.IS S1562 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1562 IS formation or services to or from, or 1 persistent and repeated contact with a 2 government of a foreign country or an 3 agent thereof. 4 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—Such term shall not in- 5 clude any contact or communication with a for- 6 eign government or an agent of a foreign prin- 7 cipal by an elected official or an employee of an 8 elected official solely in an official capacity as 9 such an official or employee.’’. 10 (b) INFORMATION INCLUDED ON QUARTERLY RE- 11 PORT.—Section 304(b) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 30104(b)) 12 is amended by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph (7), 13 by striking the period at the end of paragraph (8) and 14 inserting ‘‘; and’’, and by adding at the end the following 15 new paragraph: 16 ‘‘(9) for any reportable foreign contact (as de- 17 fined in subsection (j)(3))— 18 ‘‘(A) the date, time, and location of the 19 contact; 20 ‘‘(B) the date and time of when a des- 21 ignated official of the committee was notified of 22 the contact; 23 ‘‘(C) the identity of individuals involved; 24 and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 May 31, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1562.IS S1562 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1562 IS ‘‘(D) a description of the contact, including 1 the nature of any contribution, donation, ex- 2 penditure, disbursement, or solicitation involved 3 and the nature of any activity described in sub- 4 section (j)(3)(A)(ii)(II) involved.’’. 5 (c) NOTIFICATION TO THE FBI.—Not later than 1 6 week after receiving a notification or report under section 7 304(j), the Federal Election Commission shall notify the 8 Federal Bureau of Investigation of any reportable foreign 9 contact (as defined in section 304(j) of the Federal Elec- 10 tion Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30104), as added 11 by this section). 12 SEC. 3. FEDERAL CAMPAIGN FOREIGN CONTACT REPORT- 13 ING COMPLIANCE SYSTEM. 14 Section 302(e) of the Federal Election Campaign Act 15 of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30102(e)) is amended by adding at 16 the end the following new paragraph: 17 ‘‘(6) REPORTABLE FOREIGN CONTACTS COMPLI- 18 ANCE POLICY.— 19 ‘‘(A) REPORTING.—Each authorized com- 20 mittee shall establish a policy that requires all 21 officials, employees, and agents of such com- 22 mittee to notify the treasurer or other appro- 23 priate designated official of the committee of 24 any reportable foreign contact (as defined in 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 May 31, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1562.IS S1562 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1562 IS section 304(j)) not later than 1 week after such 1 contact was made. 2 ‘‘(B) RETENTION AND PRESERVATION OF 3 RECORDS.—Each authorized committee shall 4 establish a policy that provides for the retention 5 and preservation of records and information re- 6 lated to reportable foreign contacts (as so de- 7 fined) for a period of not less than 3 years. 8 ‘‘(C) CERTIFICATION.—Upon designation 9 of a political committee as an authorized com- 10 mittee by a candidate, and with each report 11 filed by such committee under section 304(a), 12 the candidate shall certify that— 13 ‘‘(i) the committee has in place poli- 14 cies that meets the requirements of sub- 15 paragraph (A) and (B); 16 ‘‘(ii) the committee has designated an 17 official to monitor compliance with such 18 policies; and 19 ‘‘(iii) not later than 1 week after the 20 beginning of any formal or informal affili- 21 ation with the committee, all officials, em- 22 ployees, and agents of such committee 23 will— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 May 31, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1562.IS S1562 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1562 IS ‘‘(I) receive notice of such poli- 1 cies; 2 ‘‘(II) be informed of the prohibi- 3 tions under section 319; and 4 ‘‘(III) sign a certification affirm- 5 ing their understanding of such poli- 6 cies and prohibitions.’’. 7 SEC. 4. CRIMINAL PENALTIES. 8 Section 309(d)(1) of the Federal Election Campaign 9 Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30109(d)(1)) is amended by add- 10 ing at the end the following new subparagraphs: 11 ‘‘(E) Any person who knowingly and will- 12 fully commits a violation of subsection (j) or 13 (b)(9) of section 304 or section 302(e)(6) shall 14 be fined not more than $500,000, imprisoned 15 not more than 5 years, or both. 16 ‘‘(F) Any person who knowingly or will- 17 fully conceals or destroys any materials relating 18 to a reportable foreign contact (as defined in 19 section 304(j)) shall be fined not more than 20 $1,000,000, imprisoned not more than 5 years, 21 or both.’’. 22 SEC. 5. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 23 Nothing in this Act or the amendments made by this 24 Act shall be construed— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 May 31, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1562.IS S1562 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1562 IS (1) to impede legitimate journalistic activities; 1 or 2 (2) to impose any additional limitation on the 3 right of any individual who is not a citizen of the 4 United States or a national of the United States (as 5 defined in section 101(a)(22) of the Immigration 6 and Nationality Act) and who is not lawfully admit- 7 ted for permanent residence, as defined by section 8 101(a)(20) of the Immigration and Nationality Act 9 (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(20)) to express political views or 10 to participate in public discourse. 11 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 May 31, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1562.IS S1562 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS