I 

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. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 30, 2020 

Mr. MOULTON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on the Judiciary 

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. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Foreign Influence Reg3 istration Modernization Act’’ or the ‘‘FIRM Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. WAIVING APPLICATION OF FOREIGN AGENTS REG5 ISTRATION ACT TO AGENTS REPRESENTING 

6 FOREIGN ENTERPRISES NOT UNDER CON7 TROL OR DIRECTION OF FOREIGN GOVERN8 MENTS AND FOREIGN POLITICAL PARTIES. 

9 Section 1(b)(3) of the Foreign Agents Registration 

10 Act of 1938, as amended (22 U.S.C. 611(b)(3)) is amend11 ed— 

12 (1) by striking ‘‘a partnership’’ and inserting 

13 ‘‘an enterprise consisting of a partnership’’; and 

14 (2) by striking the period at the end and insert15 ing the following: ‘‘, but only if the enterprise is 

16 under the control or direction of a government of a 

17 foreign country or a foreign political party.’’: 

18 SEC. 3. EXCLUDING AGENTS REPRESENTING GOVERN19 MENTS WHICH VIOLATE HUMAN RIGHTS 

20 FROM EXEMPTION FOR AGENTS ENGAGED IN 

21 RELIGIOUS, SCHOLASTIC, ACADEMIC, OR SCI22 ENTIFIC PURSUITS OR FINE ARTS. 

23 Section 3(e) of the Foreign Agents Registration Act 

24 of 1938, as amended (22 U.S.C. 613(e)) is amended by 

25 striking the semicolon at the end and inserting the fol26 lowing: ‘‘, except that this subsection does not apply in 


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1 the case of an agent who represents a foreign principal 

2 that is prohibited from receiving assistance under part I 

3 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 by reason of the 

4 application of section 116 of such Act (22 U.S.C. 2151n) 

5 or part II of such Act by reason of the application of sec6 tion 502B of such Act (22 U.S.C. 2304).’’. 

7 SEC. 4. REQUIRING STATEMENTS TO BE FILED IN 

8 DIGITIZED FORMAT. 

9 (a) REQUIREMENT.—Section 2(g) of the Foreign 

10 Agents Registration Act of 1938, as amended (22 U.S.C. 

11 612(g)) is amended by striking the period at the end and 

12 inserting the following: ‘‘, in a manner which enables the 

13 statements and supplements to be filed in a digitized for14 mat and which incorporates the statements and supple15 ments in a database which is fully searchable, sortable and 

16 downloadable.’’. 

17 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

18 subsection (a) shall apply with respect to statements and 

19 supplements filed after the expiration of the 1-year period 

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

21 SEC. 5. AVAILABILITY OF CIVIL MONEY PENALTY FOR VIO22 LATION. 

23 Section 8 of the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 

24 1938, as amended (22 U.S.C. 618) is amended by insert25 ing after subsection (c) the following new subsection: 


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1 ‘‘(d) Whoever knowingly violates any provision of this 

2 Act shall, upon proof of such knowing violation by a pre3 ponderance of the evidence, be subject to a civil money 

4 penalty of not more than $200,000, depending on the ex5 tent and severity of the violation.’’. 

6 SEC. 6. TRANSFER OF RESPONSIBILITY FOR ADMINISTRA7 TION OF LOBBYING DISCLOSURE ACT OF 1995 

8 TO ATTORNEY GENERAL. 

9 (a) REQUIRING LOBBYISTS TO REGISTER WITH AT10 TORNEY GENERAL.— 

11 (1) REGISTRATION.—Section 4(a)(1) of the 

12 Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 

13 1603(a)(1)) is amended by striking ‘‘the Secretary 

14 of the Senate and the Clerk of the House of Rep15 resentatives’’ and inserting ‘‘the Attorney General’’. 

16 (2) NOTICE OF TERMINATION OF REGISTRA17 TION.—Section 4(d) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 1603(d)) 

18 is amended by striking ‘‘the Secretary of the Senate 

19 and the Clerk of the House of Representatives’’ and 

20 inserting ‘‘the Attorney General’’. 

21 (b) REQUIRING LOBBYISTS TO FILE REPORTS WITH

22 ATTORNEY GENERAL.— 

23 (1) QUARTERLY REPORTS BY LOBBYISTS.—Sec24 tion 5(a) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 1604(a)) is amended 

25 by striking ‘‘the Secretary of the Senate and the 


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1 Clerk of the House of Representatives’’ and insert2 ing ‘‘the Attorney General’’. 

3 (2) SEMIANNUAL REPORTS ON CERTAIN CON4 TRIBUTIONS.—Section 5(d)(1) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 

5 1604(d)(1)) is amended by striking ‘‘the Secretary 

6 of the Senate and the Clerk of the House of Rep7 resentatives’’ and inserting ‘‘the Attorney General’’. 

8 (3) ELECTRONIC FILING.—Section 5(e) of such 

9 Act (2 U.S.C. 1604(e)) is amended— 

10 (A) by striking ‘‘the Secretary of the Sen11 ate or the Clerk of the House of Representa12 tives’’ and inserting ‘‘the Attorney General’’; 

13 and 

14 (B) by striking the second sentence. 

15 (c) DISCLOSURE AND ENFORCEMENT.—Section 6(a) 

16 of such Act (2 U.S.C. 1605(a)) is amended in the matter 

17 preceding paragraph (1) by striking ‘‘The Secretary of the 

18 Senate and the Clerk of the House of Representatives’’ 

19 and inserting ‘‘The Attorney General’’. 

20 (d) PENALTIES.—Section 7(a)(1) of such Act (2 

21 U.S.C. 1606(a)(1)) is amended by striking ‘‘the Secretary 

22 of the Senate or the Clerk of the House of Representa23 tives’’ and inserting ‘‘the Attorney General’’. 

24 (e) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO LACK

25 OF GENERAL AUDIT OR INVESTIGATIVE AUTHORITY OF


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1 SECRETARY AND CLERK.—Section 8 of such Act (2 

2 U.S.C. 1607) is amended by striking subsection (c). 

3 (f) PERMITTING USE OF GOOD FAITH ESTIMATES

4 BASED ON TAX RETURN INFORMATION.—Section 

5 15(c)(1) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 1610(c)(1)) is amended 

6 by striking ‘‘the Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk 

7 of the House of Representatives’’ and inserting ‘‘the At8 torney General’’. 

9 (g) EFFECTIVE DATE; TRANSITION.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—The amendments made by 

11 this section shall apply with respect to statements 

12 and reports filed after the expiration of the 1-year 

13 period which begins on the date of the enactment of 

14 this Act. 

15 (2) TRANSITION.—Not later than 1 year after 

16 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

17 of the Senate and the Clerk of the House of Rep18 resentatives shall transfer to the Attorney General 

19 information on the statements and reports filed 

20 prior to the effective date described in paragraph (1) 

21 with the Secretary and the Clerk under the Lob22 bying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1601 et 

23 seq.). 

Æ 


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