Foreign Influence Reporting in Elections Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2242 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 Presidential campaigns to detect and report such acts. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JULY 23, 2019 Mr. WARNER (for himself, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Mr. REED, Mr. KING, Mr. BEN- NET, and Ms. HARRIS) 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 Presidential 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 23:12 Jul 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2242.IS S2242 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 2242 IS SEC. 2. FEDERAL CAMPAIGN REPORTING OF FOREIGN CON- 1 TACTS. 2 Section 304 of the Federal Election Campaign Act 3 of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30104) is amended by adding at the 4 end the following new subsection: 5 ‘‘(j) DISCLOSURE OF REPORTABLE FOREIGN CON- 6 TACTS.— 7 ‘‘(1) COMMITTEE OBLIGATION.—Not later than 8 1 week after a reportable foreign contact, each au- 9 thorized committee of a candidate for the office of 10 President shall notify the Federal Bureau of Inves- 11 tigation and the Commission of the reportable for- 12 eign contact and provide a summary of the cir- 13 cumstances with respect to such reportable foreign 14 contact. 15 ‘‘(2) INDIVIDUAL OBLIGATION.—Not later than 16 1 week after a reportable foreign contact— 17 ‘‘(A) each candidate for the office of Presi- 18 dent shall notify the treasurer or other des- 19 ignated official of the principal campaign com- 20 mittee of such candidate of the reportable for- 21 eign contact and provide a summary of the cir- 22 cumstances with respect to such reportable for- 23 eign contact; and 24 ‘‘(B) each official, employee, or agent of an 25 authorized committee of a candidate for the of- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:12 Jul 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2242.IS S2242 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 2242 IS fice of President shall notify the treasurer or 1 other designated official of the authorized com- 2 mittee of the reportable foreign contact and 3 provide a summary of the circumstances with 4 respect to such reportable foreign contact. 5 ‘‘(3) REPORTABLE FOREIGN CONTACT.—In this 6 subsection: 7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘reportable 8 foreign contact’ means any direct or indirect 9 contact or communication that— 10 ‘‘(i) is between— 11 ‘‘(I) a candidate for the office of 12 President, an authorized committee of 13 such a candidate, or any official, em- 14 ployee, or agent of such authorized 15 committee; and 16 ‘‘(II) a foreign national (as de- 17 fined in section 319(b)) or a person 18 that the person described in subclause 19 (I) believes to be a foreign national; 20 and 21 ‘‘(ii) the person described in clause 22 (i)(I) knows, has reason to know, or rea- 23 sonably believes involves— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:12 Jul 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2242.IS S2242 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 2242 IS ‘‘(I) a contribution, donation, ex- 1 penditure, disbursement, or solicita- 2 tion described in section 319; or 3 ‘‘(II) coordination or collabora- 4 tion with, an offer or provision of in- 5 formation or services to or from, or 6 persistent and repeated contact with a 7 government of a foreign country or an 8 agent thereof. 9 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—Such term shall not in- 10 clude any contact or communication with a for- 11 eign government or an agent of a foreign prin- 12 cipal by an elected official or an employee of an 13 elected official solely in an official capacity as 14 such an official or employee.’’. 15 SEC. 3. FEDERAL CAMPAIGN FOREIGN CONTACT REPORT- 16 ING COMPLIANCE SYSTEM. 17 Section 302(e) of the Federal Election Campaign Act 18 of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30102(e)) is amended by adding at 19 the end the following new paragraph: 20 ‘‘(6) REPORTABLE FOREIGN CONTACTS COMPLI- 21 ANCE POLICY.— 22 ‘‘(A) REPORTING.—Each authorized com- 23 mittee of a candidate for the office of President 24 shall establish a policy that requires all officials, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:12 Jul 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2242.IS S2242 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 2242 IS employees, and agents of such committee to no- 1 tify the treasurer or other appropriate des- 2 ignated official of the committee of any report- 3 able foreign contact (as defined in section 4 304(j)) not later than 1 week after such contact 5 was made. 6 ‘‘(B) RETENTION AND PRESERVATION OF 7 RECORDS.—Each authorized committee of a 8 candidate for the office of President shall estab- 9 lish a policy that provides for the retention and 10 preservation of records and information related 11 to reportable foreign contacts (as so defined) 12 for a period of not less than 3 years. 13 ‘‘(C) CERTIFICATION.—Upon designation 14 of a political committee as an authorized com- 15 mittee by a candidate for the office of Presi- 16 dent, and with each report filed by such com- 17 mittee under section 304(a), the candidate shall 18 certify that— 19 ‘‘(i) the committee has in place poli- 20 cies that meet the requirements of sub- 21 paragraphs (A) and (B); 22 ‘‘(ii) the committee has designated an 23 official to monitor compliance with such 24 policies; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:12 Jul 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2242.IS S2242 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 2242 IS ‘‘(iii) not later than 1 week after the 1 beginning of any formal or informal affili- 2 ation with the committee, all officials, em- 3 ployees, and agents of such committee 4 will— 5 ‘‘(I) receive notice of such poli- 6 cies; 7 ‘‘(II) be informed of the prohibi- 8 tions under section 319; and 9 ‘‘(III) sign a certification affirm- 10 ing their understanding of such poli- 11 cies and prohibitions.’’. 12 SEC. 4. CRIMINAL PENALTIES. 13 Section 309(d)(1) of the Federal Election Campaign 14 Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30109(d)(1)) is amended by add- 15 ing at the end the following new subparagraphs: 16 ‘‘(E) Any person who knowingly and will- 17 fully commits a violation of section 304(j) or 18 section 302(e)(6) shall be fined not more than 19 $500,000, imprisoned not more than 5 years, or 20 both. 21 ‘‘(F) Any person who knowingly or will- 22 fully conceals or destroys any materials relating 23 to a reportable foreign contact (as defined in 24 section 304(j)) shall be fined not more than 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:12 Jul 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2242.IS S2242 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 2242 IS $1,000,000, imprisoned not more than 5 years, 1 or both.’’. 2 SEC. 5. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 3 Nothing in this Act or the amendments made by this 4 Act shall be construed— 5 (1) to impede legitimate journalistic activities; 6 or 7 (2) to impose any additional limitation on the 8 right of any individual who is not a citizen of the 9 United States or a national of the United States (as 10 defined in section 101(a)(22) of the Immigration 11 and Nationality Act) and who is not lawfully admit- 12 ted for permanent residence, as defined by section 13 101(a)(20) of the Immigration and Nationality Act 14 (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(20)) to express political views or 15 to participate in public discourse. 16 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:12 Jul 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S2242.IS S2242 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS