Federal

A bill to establish an FBI hotline to receive tips about persons trying to engage in certain activities in the United States on behalf of the Government of China or the Chinese Communist Party, and to criminalize the performance of the functions of a law enforcement agency in the United States on behalf of the Government of China or the Chinese Communist Party.

Source: Congress.gov · 555 words in original text

What This Bill Does

This bill does two main things. First, it requires the FBI to set up a hotline where people can report tips about anyone working for the Chinese government or Chinese Communist Party who is surveilling, harassing, intimidating or coercing people in the United States. Second, it makes it a federal crime for anyone in the United States to perform law enforcement functions on behalf of the Chinese government or Chinese Communist Party.

Who It Affects

The FBI (the federal law enforcement agency that investigates federal crimes). Any person in the United States who performs law enforcement functions or engages in surveillance, harassment, intimidation or coercion on behalf of the Government of China or the Chinese Communist Party. Members of the public who can report tips to the hotline.

Key Provisions

* The Director of the FBI must establish a hotline to receive anonymous tips about people acting on behalf of the Chinese government or Communist Party who are surveilling, harassing, intimidating, coercing or performing law enforcement activities in the United States, including coercing Chinese nationals to return to China (Sec. 1). * It becomes unlawful for any person in the United States to perform any function of a law enforcement agency on behalf of the Chinese government or Communist Party (Sec. 2(a)(1)). * It becomes unlawful for any person in the United States to engage in surveillance, harassment, intimidation or coercion of another person on behalf of the Chinese government or Communist Party (Sec. 2(a)(2)). * Anyone violating these rules can be fined and imprisoned for not more than 10 years, or both (Sec. 2(b)).

What Changes

A new federal crime is created. Anyone performing law enforcement functions or engaging in surveillance, harassment, intimidation or coercion on behalf of the Chinese government or Communist Party in the United States can now be prosecuted and sent to prison for up to 10 years. The FBI gains a new hotline to collect tips about these activities.

Important Definitions

None defined in bill text.

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 982 To establish an FBI hotline to receive tips about persons trying to engage in certain activities in the United States on behalf of the Government of China or the Chinese Communist Party, and to criminalize the per- formance of the functions of a law enforcement agency in the United States on behalf of the Government of China or the Chinese Communist Party. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 27, 2023 Mr. MARSHALL (for himself, Mrs. BLACKBURN, and Mr. KENNEDY) intro- duced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Com- mittee on the Judiciary A BILL To establish an FBI hotline to receive tips about persons trying to engage in certain activities in the United States on behalf of the Government of China or the Chinese Communist Party, and to criminalize the performance of the functions of a law enforcement agency in the United States on behalf of the Government of China or the Chinese Communist Party. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:01 Apr 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S982.IS S982 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 982 IS SECTION 1. FBI HOTLINE. 1 The Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation 2 shall establish a hotline to receive anonymous tips about 3 any person who is, on behalf of the Government of China 4 or the Chinese Communist Party, surveilling, harassing, 5 intimidating, or coercing another person, or performing 6 law enforcement activities, in the United States, including 7 by coercing current or former Chinese nationals to return 8 to China. 9 SEC. 2. CRIMINAL PROHIBITION ON PERFORMING FUNC- 10 TIONS OF LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY ON 11 BEHALF OF GOVERNMENT OF CHINA OR CHI- 12 NESE COMMUNIST PARTY. 13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 45 of title 18, United 14 States Code, is amended by inserting after section 967 the 15 following: 16 ‘‘§ 968. Performing functions of law enforcement 17 agency on behalf of Government of China 18 or Chinese Communist Party 19 ‘‘(a) OFFENSE.—It shall be unlawful for any person 20 in the United States, on behalf of the Government of 21 China or the Chinese Communist Party, to— 22 ‘‘(1) perform any function of a law enforcement 23 agency; or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:01 Apr 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S982.IS S982 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 982 IS ‘‘(2) engage in surveillance, harassment, intimi- 1 dation, or coercion of another person in the United 2 States. 3 ‘‘(b) PENALTY.—Any person who violates subsection 4 (a) shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more 5 than 10 years, or both.’’. 6 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 7 The table of sections for chapter 45 of title 18, United 8 States Code, is amended by inserting after the item relat- 9 ing to section 967 the following: 10 ‘‘968. Performing functions of law enforcement agency on behalf of Government of China or Chinese Communist Party.’’. Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:01 Apr 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S982.IS S982 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS

Important: This plain English summary was generated by AI and is provided for informational purposes only. It is not legal advice. Always consult the official bill text on Congress.gov or a qualified attorney for legal matters.