116th CONGRESS

1st Session

1. R. 2853

 

To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to require

corporations to report disbursements made by foreign nationals for

purposes of disseminating campaign-related public communications and to

inquire whether persons providing such disbursements are foreign

nationals, and for other purposes.

 

 

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IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 

May 20, 2019

 

Mr. Swalwell of California introduced the following bill; which was

referred to the Committee on House Administration

 

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A BILL

 

 

 

To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to require

corporations to report disbursements made by foreign nationals for

purposes of disseminating campaign-related public communications and to

inquire whether persons providing such disbursements are foreign

nationals, 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 “Corporate Duty to Report Act of

2019”.

 

SEC. 2. RESPONSIBILITIES OF CORPORATIONS RELATING TO DISBURSEMENTS FROM

FOREIGN NATIONALS FOR PURPOSES OF DISSEMINATING CAMPAIGN-

RELATED PUBLIC COMMUNICATIONS.

 

(a) Responsibilities Described.–

(1) In general.–Section 319 of the Federal Election

Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30121) is amended–

(A) by redesignating subsection (b) as subsection

(c); and

(B) by inserting after subsection (a) the following

new subsection:

“(b) Responsibilities of Corporations Relating to Disbursements

From Foreign Nationals for Purposes of Disseminating Campaign-Related

Public Communications.–

“(1) Duties to report receipt of disbursements.–

“(A) Requirement.–It shall be unlawful for a

corporation which receives a disbursement and knows

that the disbursement is made in whole or in part for

purposes of disseminating a campaign-related public

communication described in paragraph (3) and knows that

the person providing the disbursement is a foreign

national to fail to notify the Federal Bureau of

Investigation of the receipt of the disbursement.

“(B) Good faith reliance on affirmation by person

providing disbursement.–It is an affirmative defense

to an allegation that a corporation committed a

violation of subparagraph (A) that the corporation

relied in good faith on an affirmation by the person

providing a disbursement described in such subparagraph

that–

“(i) the disbursement is not made in whole

or in part for purposes of disseminating a

campaign-related public communication described

in paragraph (3); or

“(ii) the person providing the

disbursement is not a foreign national.

“(C) Penalty.–A violation of subparagraph (A)

shall result in a fine under title 18, United States

Code, of not more than $1,000,000 for each such

violation.

“(2) Duty to inquire whether disbursement is for campaign

purposes and whether person providing disbursement is a foreign

national.–

“(A) Requirement.–It shall be unlawful for a

corporation which receives a disbursement which is made

in whole or in part for purposes of disseminating a

public communication (as defined in section 301(22))–

“(i) to fail to inquire whether the

communication is a campaign-related public

communication described in paragraph (3); and

“(ii) if the corporation determines that

the communication is a campaign-related public

communication), to fail to inquire whether the

person providing the disbursement is a foreign

national.

“(B) Civil money penalty.–A corporation which

violates subparagraph (A) shall be subject to a civil

money penalty in accordance with section 309, except

that the amount of the penalty may not exceed $500,000

for each such violation.

“(3) Campaign-related public communications described.–In

this subsection, a `campaign-related public communication’ is–

“(A) a public communication (as defined in section

301(22)) which is funded in whole or in part with an

independent expenditure; or

“(B) an electioneering communication described in

section 304(f)(3).”.

(2) Effective date.–The amendments made by this section

shall take effect upon the expiration of the 1-year period

which begins on the date of the enactment of this Act.

(b) Promulgation of Regulations.–Not later than one year after the

date of enactment of this Act, the Federal Election Commission shall

promulgate regulations providing additional indicators beyond the

pertinent facts described in section 110.20(a)(5) of title 11, Code of

Federal Regulations (as in effect on the date of enactment of this Act)

that may lead a reasonable person to conclude that there is a

substantial probability that the source of the funds solicited,

accepted, or received is a foreign national, as defined in section

319(c) of the Federal Election Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30121(c)), as

redesignated by subsection (a)(1), or to inquire whether the source of

the funds solicited, accepted, or received is a foreign national, as so

defined. Regulations promulgated under the proceeding sentence shall

also provide guidance to political committees and campaigns to not

engage in racial or ethnic profiling in making such a conclusion or

inquiry.