Foreign Influence Transparency Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7063 To amend the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938 to limit the exemption from the registration requirements of such Act for persons engaging in activities in furtherance of bona fide religious, scholastic, academic, or scientific pursuits or the fine arts to activities which do not promote the political agenda of a foreign government, to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to clarify the disclosures of foreign gifts by institutions, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 28, 2020 Mr. WILSON of South Carolina (for himself, Mr. GIBBS, and Mr. GUEST) in- troduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Education and Labor, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the com- mittee concerned A BILL To amend the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938 to limit the exemption from the registration requirements of such Act for persons engaging in activities in further- ance of bona fide religious, scholastic, academic, or sci- entific pursuits or the fine arts to activities which do not promote the political agenda of a foreign government, to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to clarify the disclosures of foreign gifts by institutions, and for other purposes. VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:35 Jun 19, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H7063.IH H7063 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 7063 IH 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 4 Transparency Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. LIMITING EXEMPTION FROM FOREIGN AGENT REG- 6 ISTRATION REQUIREMENT FOR PERSONS EN- 7 GAGING IN ACTIVITIES IN FURTHERANCE OF 8 CERTAIN PURSUITS TO ACTIVITIES NOT PRO- 9 MOTING POLITICAL AGENDA OF FOREIGN 10 GOVERNMENTS. 11 (a) LIMITATION ON EXEMPTION.—Section 3(e) of the 12 Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938 (22 U.S.C. 13 613(e)) is amended by striking the semicolon at the end 14 and inserting the following: ‘‘, but only if the activities 15 do not promote the political agenda of a government of 16 a foreign country;’’. 17 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 18 subsection (a) shall apply with respect to activities carried 19 out on or after the date of the enactment of this Act. 20 SEC. 3. DISCLOSURES OF FOREIGN GIFTS. 21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 117 of the Higher Edu- 22 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1011f) is amended— 23 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘the value of 24 which is $250,000 or more, considered alone or in 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:35 Jun 19, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7063.IH H7063 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 7063 IH combination with all other gifts from or contracts 1 with’’ and inserting ‘‘the value of which is $50,000 2 or more for such gift from or contract with’’; 3 (2) in subsection (b)— 4 (A) in paragraph (1), in the first sentence, 5 by inserting before the period at the end the 6 following: ‘‘, and the content of each such con- 7 tract’’; and 8 (B) in paragraph (2), by inserting before 9 the period the following: ‘‘, and the content of 10 each such contract’’; 11 (3) in subsection (e), by inserting ‘‘, including 12 the contents of any contracts,’’ after ‘‘reports’’; and 13 (4) in subsection (h)(3), by inserting before the 14 semicolon at the end the following: ‘‘, or the fair 15 market value of an in-kind gift’’. 16 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 17 subsection (a) shall apply with respect to gifts received 18 or contracts entered into, or other activities carried out, 19 on or after the date of enactment of this Act. 20 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:35 Jun 19, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H7063.IH H7063 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS