Foreign Entities Reform Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3698 To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to provide for additional disclosure requirements with respect to content from registered foreign agents. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JULY 11, 2019 Ms. ESHOO (for herself, Mr. MCNERNEY, and Ms. SCHAKOWSKY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to provide for additional disclosure requirements with respect to content from registered foreign agents. 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 Entities Re- 4 form Act of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:34 Jul 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3698.IH H3698 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 3698 IH SEC. 2. DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS WITH RESPECT TO 1 CONTENT FROM REGISTERED FOREIGN 2 AGENTS. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title VII of the Communications 4 Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) is amended by adding 5 at the end the following: 6 ‘‘SEC. 723. DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS WITH RESPECT TO 7 CONTENT FROM REGISTERED FOREIGN 8 AGENTS. 9 ‘‘(a) RECORD OF REQUESTS FOR COVERED TIME 10 FROM REGISTERED FOREIGN AGENTS.— 11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A covered provider shall 12 maintain a complete record of a request for covered 13 time that is made by or on behalf of a registered for- 14 eign agent. 15 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS OF RECORD.—A record main- 16 tained under paragraph (1) shall contain informa- 17 tion regarding— 18 ‘‘(A) whether the request for covered time 19 is accepted or rejected by the provider; 20 ‘‘(B) the rate (if any) charged for the cov- 21 ered time; 22 ‘‘(C) the date and time (if any) on which 23 the communication is broadcast or otherwise 24 transmitted by the provider; 25 ‘‘(D) the class of time that is requested; 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:34 Jul 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3698.IH H3698 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 3698 IH ‘‘(E) the name, address, and phone num- 1 ber of a contact person for the registered for- 2 eign agent (and of any person requesting the 3 covered time on behalf of the agent), and a list 4 of the chief executive officers or members of the 5 executive committee or of the board of directors 6 of the agent (and of any person requesting the 7 covered time on behalf of the agent); and 8 ‘‘(F) the name of the foreign principal of 9 the registered foreign agent. 10 ‘‘(3) LOCATION; TIME TO RETAIN.—The infor- 11 mation required under this subsection shall be 12 placed in the online public inspection file hosted by 13 the Commission as soon as possible and shall be re- 14 tained in such file for a period of not less than 2 15 years. For purposes of the preceding sentence, the 16 term ‘as soon as possible’ means immediately absent 17 unusual circumstances. 18 ‘‘(b) SPONSORSHIP IDENTIFICATION REQUIRE- 19 MENTS.— 20 ‘‘(1) APPLICABILITY TO COVERED CONTENT.— 21 ‘‘(A) ANNOUNCEMENT BY STATION.—For 22 purposes of section 317, any covered content 23 broadcast by a broadcast station, if such station 24 knew or should have known that the content 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:34 Jul 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3698.IH H3698 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 3698 IH was covered content, shall be treated as matter 1 for which money, service, or other valuable con- 2 sideration was paid for broadcasting, regardless 3 of whether any such consideration was paid. 4 ‘‘(B) DISCLOSURES BY STATION EMPLOY- 5 EES, PROGRAM PRODUCERS, AND OTHERS.— 6 For purposes of section 507— 7 ‘‘(i) any agreement for the broadcast 8 of covered content, between an employee of 9 a broadcast station and any registered for- 10 eign agent who developed, produced, dis- 11 seminated, or funded the covered content, 12 shall be treated as acceptance by the em- 13 ployee and payment by the agent of money, 14 service, or other valuable consideration for 15 the broadcast of such content, regardless 16 of whether any such consideration was 17 paid; and 18 ‘‘(ii) any agreement for the inclusion 19 of covered content as part of a program or 20 program matter that is intended for broad- 21 casting over a broadcast station, between 22 any person in connection with the produc- 23 tion or preparation of such program or 24 program matter and any registered foreign 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:34 Jul 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3698.IH H3698 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 3698 IH agent who developed, produced, dissemi- 1 nated, or funded the covered content, shall 2 be treated as acceptance by such person 3 and payment by such agent of money, 4 service, or other valuable consideration for 5 such inclusion, regardless of whether any 6 such consideration was paid. 7 ‘‘(2) STATEMENT REQUIRED.— 8 ‘‘(A) IN ANNOUNCEMENT BY STATION.—In 9 the case of any announcement required by sec- 10 tion 317 (including as the application of such 11 section is modified by this subsection) with re- 12 spect to covered content, such announcement 13 shall— 14 ‘‘(i) contain, with respect to each reg- 15 istered foreign agent who developed, pro- 16 duced, disseminated, or funded the covered 17 content— 18 ‘‘(I) the same statement as the 19 statement required by section 4(b) of 20 the Foreign Agents Registration Act 21 of 1938 (22 U.S.C. 614(b)); or 22 ‘‘(II) for any such agent for 23 whom no statement is required under 24 such section with respect to the cov- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:34 Jul 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3698.IH H3698 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 3698 IH ered content, a similar statement that 1 such agent developed, produced, dis- 2 seminated, or funded (as the case may 3 be) the covered content on behalf of 4 the foreign principal; and 5 ‘‘(ii) be made at regular and periodic 6 intervals throughout the broadcast of the 7 covered content. 8 ‘‘(B) IN DISCLOSURES BY STATION EM- 9 PLOYEES, PROGRAM PRODUCERS, AND OTH- 10 ERS.—In the case of any disclosure required by 11 section 507 (including as the application of 12 such section is modified by this subsection) with 13 respect to covered content, such disclosure shall 14 contain the same information as the informa- 15 tion described in subparagraph (A)(i). 16 ‘‘(3) APPLICABILITY TO CABLE OPERATORS 17 AND SATELLITE PROVIDERS.—Not later than 180 18 days after the date of the enactment of this section, 19 the Commission shall promulgate regulations that 20 contain— 21 ‘‘(A) requirements for cable operators, 22 DBS providers, and SDARS licensees with re- 23 spect to the transmission of covered content 24 that are comparable to the requirements for 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:34 Jul 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3698.IH H3698 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 3698 IH broadcast stations under section 317 (including 1 as the application of such section is modified by 2 this subsection) with respect to the broadcast of 3 covered content; 4 ‘‘(B) requirements for employees of cable 5 operators, DBS providers, and SDARS licens- 6 ees with respect to the transmission of covered 7 content that are comparable to the require- 8 ments for employees of broadcast stations 9 under section 507(a) (including as the applica- 10 tion of such section is modified by this sub- 11 section) with respect to the broadcast of covered 12 content; 13 ‘‘(C) requirements with respect to the in- 14 clusion of covered content in any program or 15 program matter that is intended for trans- 16 mission by any cable operator, DBS provider, 17 or SDARS licensee that are comparable to the 18 requirements with respect to the inclusion of 19 covered content in any program or program 20 matter that is intended for broadcasting over a 21 broadcast station under section 507(b) (includ- 22 ing as the application of such section is modi- 23 fied by this subsection); and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:34 Jul 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3698.IH H3698 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •HR 3698 IH ‘‘(D) requirements with respect to the sup- 1 plying of any program or program matter that 2 is intended for transmission by any cable oper- 3 ator, DBS provider, or SDARS licensee, in any 4 case in which covered content is included as a 5 part of the program or program matter being 6 supplied, that are comparable to the require- 7 ments with respect to the supplying of any pro- 8 gram or program matter that is intended for 9 broadcasting over a broadcast station, in any 10 case in which covered content is included as a 11 part of the program or program matter being 12 supplied, under section 507(c) (including as the 13 application of such section is modified by this 14 subsection). 15 ‘‘(c) QUARTERLY REPORTS.— 16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 14 days 17 after the end of a calendar quarter during which a 18 covered provider receives a request for which a 19 record is required to be maintained under subsection 20 (a), or broadcasts or otherwise transmits covered 21 content for which an announcement is required by 22 section 317 (including as the application of such sec- 23 tion is modified by subsection (b)) or by the regula- 24 tions of the Commission issued under paragraph (3) 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:34 Jul 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3698.IH H3698 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •HR 3698 IH of such subsection, such provider shall submit to the 1 Commission, the Attorney General, and the Sec- 2 retary of State a report that summarizes any such 3 requests received, and any such covered content 4 broadcast or otherwise transmitted, by such provider 5 during such quarter. 6 ‘‘(2) FORM AND CONTENTS.—The Commission 7 may issue regulations prescribing the form and con- 8 tents of the reports required by paragraph (1). 9 ‘‘(3) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The Commission, 10 the Attorney General, and the Secretary of State 11 shall make the reports submitted under paragraph 12 (1) publicly available on their internet websites. 13 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 14 ‘‘(1) AGENT OF A FOREIGN PRINCIPAL.—The 15 term ‘agent of a foreign principal’ has the meaning 16 given such term in section 1 of the Foreign Agents 17 Registration Act of 1938 (22 U.S.C. 611). 18 ‘‘(2) BROADCAST TIME.—The term ‘broadcast 19 time’ means broadcast time, as such term is used in 20 section 315(e). 21 ‘‘(3) CABLECAST TIME.—The term ‘cablecast 22 time’ means cablecast time, as such term is used in 23 section 76.1701 of title 47, Code of Federal Regula- 24 tions. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:34 Jul 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3698.IH H3698 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •HR 3698 IH ‘‘(4) CABLE OPERATOR.—The term ‘cable oper- 1 ator’ has the meaning given such term in section 2 602. 3 ‘‘(5) COVERED CONTENT.—The term ‘covered 4 content’ means any program or other matter that— 5 ‘‘(A) is broadcast or otherwise transmitted 6 or intended for broadcast or other transmission 7 by a covered provider; and 8 ‘‘(B) is developed, produced, disseminated, 9 or funded by a registered foreign agent. 10 ‘‘(6) COVERED PROVIDER.—The term ‘covered 11 provider’ means a broadcast station licensee, cable 12 operator, DBS provider, or SDARS licensee. 13 ‘‘(7) COVERED TIME.—The term ‘covered time’ 14 means— 15 ‘‘(A) with respect to a broadcast station li- 16 censee, broadcast time; 17 ‘‘(B) with respect to a cable operator, ca- 18 blecast time; 19 ‘‘(C) with respect to a DBS provider, DBS 20 origination time; and 21 ‘‘(D) with respect to an SDARS licensee, 22 SDARS origination time. 23 ‘‘(8) DBS ORIGINATION TIME.—The term ‘DBS 24 origination time’ means DBS origination time, as 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:34 Jul 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3698.IH H3698 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 •HR 3698 IH such term is used in section 25.701(d) of title 47, 1 Code of Federal Regulations. 2 ‘‘(9) DBS PROVIDER.—The term ‘DBS pro- 3 vider’ has the meaning given such term in section 4 25.701(a) of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations. 5 ‘‘(10) FOREIGN PRINCIPAL.—The term ‘foreign 6 principal’ has the meaning given such term in sec- 7 tion 1 of the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 8 1938 (22 U.S.C. 611). 9 ‘‘(11) REGISTERED FOREIGN AGENT.—The 10 term ‘registered foreign agent’ means an agent of a 11 foreign principal registered under section 2 of the 12 Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938 (22 U.S.C. 13 612). 14 ‘‘(12) SDARS LICENSEE.—The term ‘SDARS 15 licensee’ means a licensee in the Satellite Digital 16 Audio Radio Service, as defined in section 25.103 of 17 title 47, Code of Federal Regulations. 18 ‘‘(13) SDARS ORIGINATION TIME.—The term 19 ‘SDARS origination time’ means SDARS origination 20 time, as such term is used in section 25.702(b) of 21 title 47, Code of Federal Regulations.’’. 22 (b) EFFECTIVE DATES.— 23 (1) RECORD OF REQUESTS FOR COVERED TIME 24 FROM REGISTERED FOREIGN AGENTS.—Subsection 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:34 Jul 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3698.IH H3698 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 12 •HR 3698 IH (a) of section 723 of the Communications Act of 1 1934, as added by subsection (a) of this section, 2 shall apply with respect to a request for covered time 3 made by a registered foreign agent after the date 4 that is 90 days after the date of the enactment of 5 this Act. 6 (2) SPONSORSHIP IDENTIFICATION REQUIRE- 7 MENTS.—Subsection (b) of section 723 of the Com- 8 munications Act of 1934, as added by subsection (a) 9 of this section, and the regulations promulgated 10 under paragraph (3) of such subsection (b), shall 11 apply— 12 (A) in the case of an announcement by a 13 covered provider under section 317 of the Com- 14 munications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 317) (in- 15 cluding as the application of such section is 16 modified by such subsection (b)) or under such 17 regulations, only if the broadcast or other 18 transmission of covered content occurs after the 19 date that is 90 days after the Commission pro- 20 mulgates such regulations; and 21 (B) in the case of a disclosure under sec- 22 tion 507 of the Communications Act of 1934 23 (47 U.S.C. 508) (including as the application of 24 such section is modified by such subsection (b)) 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:34 Jul 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3698.IH H3698 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 13 •HR 3698 IH or under such regulations, only if the accept- 1 ance or agr [Text truncated for display. 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