SHIELD Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2669 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, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES OCTOBER 23, 2019 Ms. KLOBUCHAR (for herself, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. CARDIN, Ms. HIRONO, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. REED, Ms. SMITH, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. WARNER, Mr. WYDEN, and Mr. KING) 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, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4 ‘‘Stopping Harmful Interference in Elections for a Lasting 5 Democracy Act’’ or the ‘‘SHIELD Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Oct 25, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2669.IS S2669 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 2669 IS (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 1 this Act is as follows: 2 Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. TITLE I—ENHANCED REPORTING REQUIREMENTS Subtitle A—Establishing Duty To Report Foreign Election Interference Sec. 101. Federal campaign reporting of foreign contacts. Sec. 102. Federal campaign foreign contact reporting compliance system. Sec. 103. Criminal penalties. Sec. 104. Rule of construction. Subtitle B—Strengthening Oversight of Online Political Advertising Sec. 111. Short title. Sec. 112. Purpose. Sec. 113. Expansion of definition of public communication. Sec. 114. Expansion of definition of electioneering communication. Sec. 115. Application of disclaimer statements to online communications. Sec. 116. Political record requirements for online platforms. Sec. 117. Preventing contributions, expenditures, independent expenditures, and disbursements for electioneering communications by for- eign nationals in the form of online advertising. TITLE II—CLOSING LOOPHOLES ALLOWING SPENDING BY FOREIGN NATIONALS IN ELECTIONS Sec. 201. Clarification of prohibition on participation by foreign nationals in election-related activities. Sec. 202. Clarification of application of foreign money ban to certain disburse- ments and activities. Sec. 203. Audit and report on illicit foreign money in Federal elections. Sec. 204. Prohibition on contributions and donations by foreign nationals in connections with ballot initiatives and referenda. Sec. 205. Expansion of limitations on foreign nationals participating in political advertising. TITLE III—DETERRING FOREIGN INTERFERENCE IN ELECTIONS Subtitle A—Deterrence Under Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 Sec. 301. Restrictions on exchange of campaign information between candidates and foreign powers. Sec. 302. Clarification of standard for determining existence of coordination be- tween campaigns and outside interests. Subtitle B—Prohibiting Deceptive Practices and Preventing Voter Intimidation Sec. 311. Short title. Sec. 312. Prohibition on deceptive practices in Federal elections. Sec. 313. Corrective action. Sec. 314. Reports to Congress. TITLE IV—MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Oct 25, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\S2669.IS S2669 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 2669 IS Sec. 401. Effective dates of provisions. Sec. 402. Severability. TITLE I—ENHANCED 1 REPORTING REQUIREMENTS 2 Subtitle A—Establishing Duty To 3 Report Foreign Election Inter- 4 ference 5 SEC. 101. FEDERAL CAMPAIGN REPORTING OF FOREIGN 6 CONTACTS. 7 (a) INITIAL NOTICE.— 8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 304 of the Federal 9 Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30104) 10 is amended by adding at the end the following new 11 subsection: 12 ‘‘(j) DISCLOSURE OF REPORTABLE FOREIGN CON- 13 TACTS.— 14 ‘‘(1) COMMITTEE OBLIGATION TO NOTIFY.— 15 Not later than 1 week after a reportable foreign con- 16 tact, each political committee shall notify the Fed- 17 eral Bureau of Investigation and the Commission of 18 the reportable foreign contact and provide a sum- 19 mary of the circumstances with respect to such re- 20 portable foreign contact. 21 ‘‘(2) INDIVIDUAL OBLIGATION TO NOTIFY.— 22 Not later than 3 days after a reportable foreign con- 23 tact— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Oct 25, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2669.IS S2669 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 2669 IS ‘‘(A) each candidate shall notify the treas- 1 urer or other designated official of the principal 2 campaign committee of such candidate of the 3 reportable foreign contact and provide a sum- 4 mary of the circumstances with respect to such 5 reportable foreign contact; and 6 ‘‘(B) each official, employee, or agent of a 7 political committee shall notify the treasurer or 8 other designated official of the committee of the 9 reportable foreign contact and provide a sum- 10 mary of the circumstances with respect to such 11 reportable foreign contact. 12 ‘‘(3) REPORTABLE FOREIGN CONTACT.—In this 13 subsection: 14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘reportable 15 foreign contact’ means any direct or indirect 16 contact or communication that— 17 ‘‘(i) is between— 18 ‘‘(I) a candidate, a political com- 19 mittee, or any official, employee, or 20 agent of such committee; and 21 ‘‘(II) an individual that the per- 22 son described in subclause (I) knows, 23 has reason to know, or reasonably be- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Oct 25, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2669.IS S2669 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 2669 IS lieves is a covered foreign national; 1 and 2 ‘‘(ii) the person described in clause 3 (i)(I) knows, has reason to know, or rea- 4 sonably believes involves— 5 ‘‘(I) an offer or other proposal 6 for a contribution, donation, expendi- 7 ture, disbursement, or solicitation de- 8 scribed in section 319; or 9 ‘‘(II) coordination or collabora- 10 tion with, an offer or provision of in- 11 formation or services to or from, or 12 persistent and repeated contact with, 13 a covered foreign national in connec- 14 tion with an election. 15 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—The term ‘reportable 16 foreign contact’ shall not include any contact or 17 communication with a covered foreign national 18 by an elected official or an employee of an elect- 19 ed official solely in an official capacity as such 20 an official or employee. For purposes of the 21 previous sentence, a contact or communication 22 by an elected official or an employee of an elect- 23 ed official shall not be considered to be made 24 solely in an official capacity if the contact or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Oct 25, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2669.IS S2669 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 2669 IS communication involves a contribution, dona- 1 tion, expenditure, disbursement, or solicitation 2 described in section 319. 3 ‘‘(C) COVERED FOREIGN NATIONAL DE- 4 FINED.— 5 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In this paragraph, 6 the term ‘covered foreign national’ 7 means— 8 ‘‘(I) a foreign principal (as de- 9 fined in section 1(b) of the Foreign 10 Agents Registration Act of 1938 (22 11 U.S.C. 611(b)) that is a government 12 of a foreign country or a foreign polit- 13 ical party; 14 ‘‘(II) any person who acts as an 15 agent, representative, employee, or 16 servant, or any person who acts in 17 any other capacity at the order, re- 18 quest, or under the direction or con- 19 trol, of a foreign principal described in 20 subclause (I) or of a person any of 21 whose activities are directly or indi- 22 rectly supervised, directed, controlled, 23 financed, or subsidized in whole or in 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Oct 25, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2669.IS S2669 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 2669 IS major part by a foreign principal de- 1 scribed in subclause (I); or 2 ‘‘(III) any person included in the 3 list of specially designated nationals 4 and blocked persons maintained by 5 the Office of Foreign Assets Control 6 of the Department of the Treasury 7 pursuant to authorities relating to the 8 imposition of sanctions relating to the 9 conduct of a foreign principal de- 10 scribed in subclause (I). 11 ‘‘(ii) CLARIFICATION REGARDING AP- 12 PLICATION TO CITIZENS OF THE UNITED 13 STATES.—In the case of a citizen of the 14 United States, subclause (II) of clause (i) 15 applies only to the extent that the person 16 involved acts within the scope of that per- 17 son’s status as the agent of a foreign prin- 18 cipal described in subclause (I) of clause 19 (i).’’. 20 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made 21 by paragraph (1) shall apply with respect to report- 22 able foreign contacts which occur on or after the 23 date of the enactment of this Act. 24 (b) INFORMATION INCLUDED ON REPORT.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Oct 25, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2669.IS S2669 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 2669 IS (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 304(b) of such Act 1 (52 U.S.C. 30104(b)) is amended— 2 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para- 3 graph (7); 4 (B) by striking the period at the end of 5 paragraph (8) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 6 (C) by adding at the end the following new 7 paragraph: 8 ‘‘(9) for any reportable foreign contact (as de- 9 fined in subsection (j)(3))— 10 ‘‘(A) the date, time, and location of the 11 contact; 12 ‘‘(B) the date and time of when a des- 13 ignated official of the committee was notified of 14 the contact; 15 ‘‘(C) the identity of individuals involved; 16 and 17 ‘‘(D) a description of the contact, including 18 the nature of any contribution, donation, ex- 19 penditure, disbursement, or solicitation involved 20 and the nature of any activity described in sub- 21 section (j)(3)(A)(ii)(II) involved.’’. 22 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made 23 by paragraph (1) shall apply with respect to reports 24 filed on or after the expiration of the 60-day period 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Oct 25, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2669.IS S2669 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 2669 IS which begins on the date of the enactment of this 1 Act. 2 SEC. 102. FEDERAL CAMPAIGN FOREIGN CONTACT RE- 3 PORTING COMPLIANCE SYSTEM. 4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 302 of the Federal Elec- 5 tion Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30102) is amended 6 by adding at the end the following new subsection: 7 ‘‘(j) REPORTABLE FOREIGN CONTACTS COMPLIANCE 8 POLICY.— 9 ‘‘(1) REPORTING.—Each political committee 10 shall establish a policy that requires all officials, em- 11 ployees, and agents of such committee to notify the 12 treasurer or other appropriate designated official of 13 the committee of any reportable foreign contact (as 14 defined in section 304(j)) not later than 3 days after 15 such contact was made. 16 ‘‘(2) RETENTION AND PRESERVATION OF 17 RECORDS.—Each political committee shall establish 18 a policy that provides for the retention and preserva- 19 tion of records and information related to reportable 20 foreign contacts (as so defined) for a period of not 21 less than 3 years. 22 ‘‘(3) CERTIFICATION.— 23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Upon filing its state- 24 ment of organization under section 303(a), and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Oct 25, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2669.IS S2669 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 2669 IS with each report filed under section 304(a), the 1 treasurer of each political committee (other 2 than an authorized committee) shall certify 3 that— 4 ‘‘(i) the committee has in place poli- 5 cies that meet the requirements of para- 6 graphs (1) and (2); 7 ‘‘(ii) the committee has designated an 8 official to monitor compliance with such 9 policies; and 10 ‘‘(iii) not later than 1 week after the 11 beginning of any formal or informal affili- 12 ation with the committee, all officials, em- 13 ployees, and agents of such committee 14 will— 15 ‘‘(I) receive notice of such poli- 16 cies; 17 ‘‘(II) be informed of the prohibi- 18 tions under section 319; and 19 ‘‘(III) sign a certification affirm- 20 ing their understanding of such poli- 21 cies and prohibitions. 22 ‘‘(B) AUTHORIZED COMMITTEES.—With 23 respect to an authorized committee, the can- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Oct 25, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2669.IS S2669 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 2669 IS didate shall make the certification required 1 under subparagraph (A).’’. 2 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 3 (1) IN GENERAL.—The amendment made by 4 subsection (a) shall apply with respect to political 5 committees which file a statement of organization 6 under section 303(a) of the Federal Election Cam- 7 paign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30103(a)) on or after 8 the date of the enactment of this Act. 9 (2) TRANSITION RULE FOR EXISTING COMMIT- 10 TEES.—Not later than 30 days after the date of the 11 enactment of this Act, each political committee 12 under the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 13 shall file a certification with the Federal Election 14 Commission that the committee is in compliance 15 with the requirements of section 302(j) of such Act 16 (as added by subsection (a)). 17 SEC. 103. CRIMINAL PENALTIES. 18 Section 309(d)(1) of the Federal Election Campaign 19 Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30109(d)(1)) is amended by add- 20 ing at the end the following new subparagraphs: 21 ‘‘(E) Any person who knowingly and willfully com- 22 mits a violation of subsection (j) or (b)(9) of section 304 23 or section 302(j) shall be fined not more than $500,000, 24 imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Oct 25, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2669.IS S2669 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 2669 IS ‘‘(F) Any person who knowingly and willfully conceals 1 or destroys any materials relating to a reportable foreign 2 contact (as defined in section 304(j)) shall be fined not 3 more than $1,000,000, imprisoned not more than 5 years, 4 or both.’’. 5 SEC. 104. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 6 Nothing in this subtitle or the amendments made by 7 this subtitle shall be construed— 8 (1) to impede legitimate journalistic activities; 9 or 10 (2) to impose any additional limitation on the 11 right to express political views or t [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]