[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5733 Introduced in House (IH)]
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116th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 5733
To amend the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, as amended to
waive the application of the Act to agents representing foreign
enterprises which are not under the control or direction of foreign
governments or foreign political parties, to exclude agents who
represent foreign governments which engage in a pattern of gross
violations of human rights from the exemption provided under the Act
for agents engaged in scholastic and certain other pursuits, and for
other purposes.
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IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 30, 2020
Mr. Moulton introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary
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A BILL
To amend the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, as amended to
waive the application of the Act to agents representing foreign
enterprises which are not under the control or direction of foreign
governments or foreign political parties, to exclude agents who
represent foreign governments which engage in a pattern of gross
violations of human rights from the exemption provided under the Act
for agents engaged in scholastic and certain other pursuits, and for
other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Foreign Influence Registration
Modernization Act'' or the ``FIRM Act''.
SEC. 2. WAIVING APPLICATION OF FOREIGN AGENTS REGISTRATION ACT TO
AGENTS REPRESENTING FOREIGN ENTERPRISES NOT UNDER CONTROL
OR DIRECTION OF FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS AND FOREIGN POLITICAL
PARTIES.
Section 1(b)(3) of the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, as
amended (22 U.S.C. 611(b)(3)) is amended--
(1) by striking ``a partnership'' and inserting ``an
enterprise consisting of a partnership''; and
(2) by striking the period at the end and inserting the
following: ``, but only if the enterprise is under the control
or direction of a government of a foreign country or a foreign
political party.'':
SEC. 3. EXCLUDING AGENTS REPRESENTING GOVERNMENTS WHICH VIOLATE HUMAN
RIGHTS FROM EXEMPTION FOR AGENTS ENGAGED IN RELIGIOUS,
SCHOLASTIC, ACADEMIC, OR SCIENTIFIC PURSUITS OR FINE
ARTS.
Section 3(e) of the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, as
amended (22 U.S.C. 613(e)) is amended by striking the semicolon at the
end and inserting the following: ``, except that this subsection does
not apply in the case of an agent who represents a foreign principal
that is prohibited from receiving assistance under part I of the
Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 by reason of the application of section
116 of such Act (22 U.S.C. 2151n) or part II of such Act by reason of
the application of section 502B of such Act (22 U.S.C. 2304).''.
SEC. 4. REQUIRING STATEMENTS TO BE FILED IN DIGITIZED FORMAT.
(a) Requirement.--Section 2(g) of the Foreign Agents Registration
Act of 1938, as amended (22 U.S.C. 612(g)) is amended by striking the
period at the end and inserting the following: ``, in a manner which
enables the statements and supplements to be filed in a digitized
format and which incorporates the statements and supplements in a
database which is fully searchable, sortable and downloadable.''.
(b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall
apply with respect to statements and supplements filed after the
expiration of the 1-year period which begins on the date of the
enactment of this Act.
SEC. 5. AVAILABILITY OF CIVIL MONEY PENALTY FOR VIOLATION.
Section 8 of the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, as
amended (22 U.S.C. 618) is amended by inserting after subsection (c)
the following new subsection:
``(d) Whoever knowingly violates any provision of this Act shall,
upon proof of such knowing violation by a preponderance of the
evidence, be subject to a civil money penalty of not more than
$200,000, depending on the extent and severity of the violation.''.
SEC. 6. TRANSFER OF RESPONSIBILITY FOR ADMINISTRATION OF LOBBYING
DISCLOSURE ACT OF 1995 TO ATTORNEY GENERAL.
(a) Requiring Lobbyists To Register With Attorney General.--
(1) Registration.--Section 4(a)(1) of the Lobbying
Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1603(a)(1)) is amended by
striking ``the Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the
House of Representatives'' and inserting ``the Attorney
General''.
(2) Notice of termination of registration.--Section 4(d) of
such Act (2 U.S.C. 1603(d)) is amended by striking ``the
Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the House of
Representatives'' and inserting ``the Attorney General''.
(b) Requiring Lobbyists To File Reports With Attorney General.--
(1) Quarterly reports by lobbyists.--Section 5(a) of such
Act (2 U.S.C. 1604(a)) is amended by striking ``the Secretary
of the Senate and the Clerk of the House of Representatives''
and inserting ``the Attorney General''.
(2) Semiannual reports on certain contributions.--Section
5(d)(1) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 1604(d)(1)) is amended by
striking ``the Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the
House of Representatives'' and inserting ``the Attorney
General''.
(3) Electronic filing.--Section 5(e) of such Act (2 U.S.C.
1604(e)) is amended--
(A) by striking ``the Secretary of the Senate or
the Clerk of the House of Representatives'' and
inserting ``the Attorney General''; and
(B) by striking the second sentence.
(c) Disclosure and Enforcement.--Section 6(a) of such Act (2 U.S.C.
1605(a)) is amended in the matter preceding paragraph (1) by striking
``The Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the House of
Representatives'' and inserting ``The Attorney General''.
(d) Penalties.--Section 7(a)(1) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 1606(a)(1))
is amended by striking ``the Secretary of the Senate or the Clerk of
the House of Representatives'' and inserting ``the Attorney General''.
(e) Conforming Amendment Relating to Lack of General Audit or
Investigative Authority of Secretary and Clerk.--Section 8 of such Act
(2 U.S.C. 1607) is amended by striking subsection (c).
(f) Permitting Use of Good Faith Estimates Based on Tax Return
Information.--Section 15(c)(1) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 1610(c)(1)) is
amended by striking ``the Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the
House of Representatives'' and inserting ``the Attorney General''.
(g) Effective Date; Transition.--
(1) In general.--The amendments made by this section shall
apply with respect to statements and reports filed after the
expiration of the 1-year period which begins on the date of the
enactment of this Act.
(2) Transition.--Not later than 1 year after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Senate and the
Clerk of the House of Representatives shall transfer to the
Attorney General information on the statements and reports
filed prior to the effective date described in paragraph (1)
with the Secretary and the Clerk under the Lobbying Disclosure
Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.).
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