I am glad to see the House taking seriously the risk of foreign
interference in domestic elections. In that spirit, I encourage my
colleagues to consider other comprehensive democracy reforms to close
loopholes.
  House Democrats' Freedom to Vote Act, which includes the DISCLOSE
Act, would crack down on foreign campaign spending, and I think it is
well past time for Congress to do something to stem the tide of dark
money, including foreign money, in American elections.
  This bill is a start, and I think I would continue to urge us to do
more.
  Madam Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to support the bill, and I
reserve the balance of my time.

                              {time}  1710

  Mr. STEIL. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Madam Speaker, this bill is broadly about making sure that American
elections are for American citizens only.
  As my colleague Mr. Morelle noted, there is a significant, gaping
hole in U.S. campaign finance laws, and, in particular, that is in
relation to the measures that we have spoken about, about ballot
initiatives, other essential pieces of American democracy that
currently allow for foreign funding to come in and influence those
campaigns.
  While that is not an office seeker for elected office, I think it is
without a doubt that those elections and those ballot initiatives are
in many ways equally essential to American democracy. Closing out this
gap and making sure that foreign funds are not finding their way into
U.S. elections is absolutely essential.
  I thank my colleague, Mr. Fitzpatrick, for authoring this
legislation, understanding the importance of making sure that we are
rooting out foreign funds inside U.S. elections. There is a basic
premise and a basic principle, and in a particular period of time when
it is so simple and so easy for funds to be transmitted into these
political activities here in the United States of America, an
individual outside of the United States could easily move funds in to
influence a U.S. election.
  Of course, it is illegal for a donation to be made to an individual
seeking Federal elected office, but right now the underlying law does
not ban that for purposes of ballot initiatives, local ballot
initiatives, referenda, or recall elections.
  This legislation fixes that very important point.
  Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. MORELLE. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume. I concur with my colleague about the importance of making sure
that we don't have involvement of foreign entities into our politics.
  If I can just opine for a minute, I do think in many ways one of the
real challenges facing this country right now is a lack of faith in
their government and Americans losing trust and losing faith. Part of
that is because of the broad influence of money just generally in our
politics. You see billionaires contributing hundreds of millions of
dollars. We see the influence of dark money, of super-PACs.
  I am looking forward to over the next several months working with my
colleagues, and over the next several years, if need be, to repair some
of the damage to those relationships and let the people of this country
know that the democracy which we celebrated 250 years of this month
that it is in their hands, that they are ultimately the sovereigns, and
that there weren't outside influences. But I think that is becoming
harder and harder to be able to make that point and to convince people
of that without dramatic changes in the way we finance our campaigns
and the way that the public dialogue engages.
  Frankly, I am disappointed in the Supreme Court's decision just this
month related to coordination between super-PACs and party committees
and individual candidates. I think there is much to do. If we are going
to have the ability to persuade American citizens that their government
is theirs, we are going to have to take out the influence of all manner
of people. Certainly, this bill is a step in the right direction.
  I see my colleague, the sponsor of the bill, has arrived, so I will
certainly let him address the House.
  Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. STEIL. Madam Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the
gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Fitzpatrick), the author of this bill
who is not only a colleague but also a friend.
  Mr. FITZPATRICK. Madam Speaker, I thank the chairman for yielding.
  Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong support of my legislation, H.R.
3535, the Stop Foreign Funds in Elections Act.
  Madam Speaker, this legislation is built on a simple principle:
American elections should be decided by the American people, not by the
influence of foreign actors.
  The Stop Foreign Funds in Elections Act closes a dangerous and
longstanding loophole in our current election system. While current
Federal law already prohibits foreign nationals from contributing to
candidates running for office, there remains gaps when it comes to
State and local ballot measures.
  Ballot initiatives, referendum, and recall elections often determine
major public policy questions that directly affect American
communities, yet existing law does not clearly prohibit foreign money
from being used to influence these outcomes. This bill closes that
loophole.
  Madam Speaker, this is not a partisan issue. Whether the issue on the
ballot is one you support or oppose, every American should agree that
the outcome should reflect the will of the American voters, not the
financial influence of foreign interests.
  Our elections and ballot measures exist to give the American people a
voice, not outside actors with agendas that may conflict with our
national interests.
  The Stop Foreign Funds in Elections Act simply extends an existing
safeguard to ensure that all taxpayer-funded elections receive the same
protection from foreign influence.
  I thank Congressman Golden for his partnership on this legislation as
well as Chairman Steil and Ranking Member Morelle for their engagement
on this legislation.
  I urge all my colleagues to support this commonsense bill to
strengthen the integrity of our electoral system and ensure that our
democratic process remains accountable to the citizens that it serves.
  Mr. MORELLE. Madam Speaker, again, I reiterate my support for the
bill, and I want to thank the bill's sponsors, Mr. Fitzpatrick as well
as Mr. Golden, for their work on this bill and continue to believe that
there is much we can do and much that we need to do. This is an
important step along the way.
  I thank my colleague and my friend Chairman Steil for bringing this
bill before us.
  Madam Speaker, I urge all my colleagues to vote in favor of this
bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. STEIL. Madam Speaker, I will close by saying I thank my colleague
Brian Fitzpatrick from Pennsylvania and Ranking Member Morelle for
their work on closing this gap in Federal law.
  I encourage all of my colleagues to vote in favor of H.R. 3535, and I
yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Steil) that the House suspend the rules
and pass the bill, H.R. 3535.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                  FEC ADMINISTRATIVE IMPROVEMENTS ACT

  Mr. STEIL. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 8738) to amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to
require electronic report filing for persons making certain
electioneering communications and to permit political committees to
make disbursements other than by check.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 8738