II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4630 

To amend chapter 37 of title 18, United States Code, to authorize appropriate 

disclosure of classified information, to appropriately limit the scope of 

the offense of disclosing classified information, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 27, 2022 

Mr. WYDEN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend chapter 37 of title 18, United States Code, to 

authorize appropriate disclosure of classified information, 

to appropriately limit the scope of the offense of disclosing classified information, 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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Espionage Act Reform 

5 Act of 2022’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DISCLOSURE OF CLASSIFIED INFORMATION RE2 LATED TO SIGNALS INTELLIGENCE. 

3 (a) AUTHORITY TO DISCLOSE INFORMATION.—Sec4 tion 798(c) of title 18, United States Code, is amended 

5 by striking ‘‘furnishing,’’ and all that follows and inserting 

6 the following: ‘‘furnishing of information to— 

7 ‘‘(1) any Member of the Senate or the House 

8 of Representatives; 

9 ‘‘(2) a Federal court, in accordance with such 

10 procedures as the court may establish; 

11 ‘‘(3) the inspector general of an element of the 

12 intelligence community (as defined in section 3 of 

13 the National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 

14 3003)), including the Inspector General of the Intel15 ligence Community; 

16 ‘‘(4) the Chairman or a member of the Privacy 

17 and Civil Liberties Oversight Board or any employee 

18 of the Board designated by the Board, in accordance 

19 with such procedures as the Board may establish; 

20 ‘‘(5) the Chairman or a commissioner of the 

21 Federal Trade Commission or any employee of the 

22 Commission designated by the Commission, in ac23 cordance with such procedures as the Commission 

24 may establish; 

25 ‘‘(6) the Chairman or a commissioner of the 

26 Federal Communications Commission or any emVerDate Sep 11 2014 16:24 Aug 04, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4630.IS S4630

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1 ployee of the Commission designated by the Com2 mission, in accordance with such procedures as the 

3 Commission may establish; or 

4 ‘‘(7) any other person or entity authorized to 

5 receive disclosures containing classified information 

6 pursuant to any applicable law, regulation, or execu7 tive order regarding the protection of whistle8 blowers.’’. 

9 (b) AUTHORIZED PERSONS.—Section 798(b) of title 

10 18, United States Code, is amended— 

11 (1) in the matter preceding the first undesig12 nated paragraph, by striking ‘‘this section—’’ and 

13 inserting ‘‘this section:’’; 

14 (2) by striking ‘‘The term ‘classified informa15 tion’ means information which, at the time of a vio16 lation of this section, is,’’ and inserting the fol17 lowing: 

18 ‘‘(1) The term ‘classified information’— 

19 ‘‘(A) means information which, at the time 

20 of a violation of this section, is known to the 

21 person violating this section to be,’’; 

22 (3) in paragraph (1), as so designated— 

23 (A) by inserting ‘‘and’’ after ‘‘distribu24 tion;’’; and 

25 (B) by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(B) does not include any information that 

2 is specifically designated as ‘Unclassified’ under 

3 any Executive Order, Act of Congress, or action 

4 by a committee of Congress in accordance with 

5 the rules of its House of Congress.’’; 

6 (4) by striking ‘‘The terms ‘code,’ ‘cipher,’ and 

7 ‘cryptographic system’ include’’ and inserting the 

8 following: 

9 ‘‘(2) The terms ‘code’, ‘cipher’, and ‘cryp10 tographic system’ include’’; 

11 (5) in paragraph (2), as so designated, by strik12 ing ‘‘communications;’’ and inserting ‘‘communica13 tions.’’; 

14 (6) by striking ‘‘The term ‘foreign’’ and insert15 ing the following: 

16 ‘‘(5) The term ‘foreign’’; 

17 (7) in paragraph (5), as so designated, by strik18 ing ‘‘United States;’’ and inserting ‘‘United States.’’; 

19 (8) by striking ‘‘The term ‘communication’’ and 

20 inserting the following: 

21 ‘‘(3) The term ‘communication’’; 

22 (9) in paragraph (3), as so designated, by strik23 ing ‘‘recipients;’’ and inserting ‘‘recipients.’’; 


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1 (10) by transferring paragraph (3), as so des2 ignated, to appear after paragraph (2), as so des3 ignated; and 

4 (11) by striking ‘‘The term ‘unauthorized’’ and 

5 all that follows through ‘‘for the United States.’’ and 

6 inserting the following: 

7 ‘‘(6) The term ‘unauthorized person’ means any 

8 person who, or agency which, is not authorized to re9 ceive information of the categories set forth in sub10 section (a) of this section by— 

11 ‘‘(A) the President; 

12 ‘‘(B) the head of a department or agency 

13 of the United States Government which is ex14 pressly designated by the President to engage 

15 in communication intelligence activities for the 

16 United States; or 

17 ‘‘(C) an Act of Congress.’’. 

18 (c) SCOPE OF PROHIBITION.—Section 798 of title 18, 

19 United States Code, is amended— 

20 (1) in subsection (a), in the matter preceding 

21 paragraph (1)— 

22 (A) by striking ‘‘Whoever’’ and inserting 

23 ‘‘Any individual who’’; and 

24 (B) by inserting ‘‘obtained by the indi25 vidual while the individual was a covered person 


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1 and acting within the scope of his or her activi2 ties as a covered person’’ after ‘‘any classified 

3 information’’; and 

4 (2) in subsection (b), by inserting after para5 graph (3), as so designated and transferred by sub6 section (b) of this section, the following: 

7 ‘‘(4) The term ‘covered person’ means an indi8 vidual who— 

9 ‘‘(A) receives official access to classified in10 formation granted by the United States Govern11 ment; 

12 ‘‘(B) signs a nondisclosure agreement with 

13 regard to such classified information; and 

14 ‘‘(C) is authorized to receive information of 

15 the categories set forth in subsection (a) of this 

16 section— 

17 ‘‘(i) by the President; or 

18 ‘‘(ii) the head of a department or 

19 agency of the United States Government 

20 which is expressly designated by the Presi21 dent to engage in communication intel22 ligence activities for the United States.’’. 

23 (d) LIMITATION ON SCOPE.—Section 798 of title 18, 

24 United States Code, is amended— 


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1 (1) by redesignating subsection (d) as sub2 section (e); and 

3 (2) by inserting after subsection (c) the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘(d)(1) In this subsection, the term ‘foreign agent’— 

6 ‘‘(A) has the meaning given the term ‘agent of 

7 a foreign power’ under section 101 of the Foreign 

8 Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 

9 1801); and 

10 ‘‘(B) does not include a person who is an agent 

11 of a foreign power (as so defined) with respect to a 

12 foreign power described in section 101(a)(5) of the 

13 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 

14 U.S.C. 1801(a)(5)). 

15 ‘‘(2) A foreign agent who— 

16 ‘‘(A) aids, abets, counsels, commands, induces, 

17 or procures the commission of an offense under this 

18 section shall be subject to prosecution under this 

19 section by virtue of section 2 of this title; 

20 ‘‘(B) knowing that an offense under this section 

21 has been committed by another person, receives, re22 lieves, comforts, or assists such other person in 

23 order to hinder or prevent the apprehension, trial, or 

24 punishment of such other person shall be subject to 

25 prosecution under section 3 of this title; 


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1 ‘‘(C) having knowledge of the actual commis2 sion of an offense under this section, conceals and 

3 does not as soon as possible make known the same 

4 to some judge or other person in civil or military au5 thority under the United States shall be subject to 

6 prosecution under section 4 of this title; or 

7 ‘‘(D) conspires to commit an offense under this 

8 section shall be subject to prosecution under section 

9 371 of this title. 

10 ‘‘(3) Any person who is not a foreign agent shall not 

11 be subject to prosecution under this section by virtue of 

12 section 2 of this title or under section 3, 4, or 371 of this 

13 title, unless the person— 

14 ‘‘(A) commits a felony under Federal law in the 

15 course of committing an offense under this section 

16 (by virtue of section 2 of this title) or under section 

17 3, 4, or 371 of this title; 

18 ‘‘(B) was a covered person at the time of the 

19 offense; or 

20 ‘‘(C) subject to paragraph (4), directly and ma21 terially aids, or procures in exchange for anything of 

22 monetary value, the commission of an offense under 

23 this section with the specific intent to— 

24 ‘‘(i) harm the national security of the 

25 United States; or 


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1 ‘‘(ii) benefit any foreign government to the 

2 detriment of the United States. 

3 ‘‘(4) Paragraph (3)(C) shall not apply to direct and 

4 material aid that consists of— 

5 ‘‘(A) counseling, education, or other speech ac6 tivity; or 

7 ‘‘(B) providing an electronic communication 

8 service to the public or a remote computing service 

9 (as such terms are defined in section 2510 and 

10 2711, respectively).’’. 

11 SEC. 3. GATHERING, TRANSMITTING, OR LOSING DEFENSE 

12 INFORMATION. 

13 (a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 793 of title 18, United 

14 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol15 lowing: 

16 ‘‘(i) In this section— 

17 ‘‘(1) the term ‘covered person’ means an indi18 vidual who— 

19 ‘‘(A) receives official access to classified in20 formation granted by the United States Govern21 ment; 

22 ‘‘(B) signs a nondisclosure agreement with 

23 regard to such classified information; and 

24 ‘‘(C) is authorized to receive documents, 

25 writings, code books, signal books, sketches, 


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1 photographs, photographic negatives, blue2 prints, plans, maps, models, instruments, appli3 ances, or notes of anything connected with the 

4 national defense by— 

5 ‘‘(i) the President; or 

6 ‘‘(ii) the head of a department or 

7 agency of the United States Government 

8 which is expressly designated by the Presi9 dent to engage in activities relating to the 

10 national defense; and 

11 ‘‘(2) the term ‘foreign agent’— 

12 ‘‘(A) has the meaning given the term 

13 ‘agent of a foreign power’ under section 101 of 

14 the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 

15 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1801); and 

16 ‘‘(B) does not include a person who is an 

17 agent of a foreign power (as so defined) with 

18 respect to a foreign power described in section 

19 101(a)(5) of the Foreign Intelligence Surveil20 lance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1801(a)(5)).’’. 

21 (b) OBTAINING OR RECEIVING DEFENSE INFORMA22 TION.—Section 793(c) of title 18, United States Code, is 

23 amended— 

24 (1) by striking ‘‘Whoever’’ and inserting ‘‘A 

25 foreign agent who’’; 


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1 (2) by inserting ‘‘and with like intent or reason 

2 to believe,’’ after ‘‘aforesaid,’’; and 

3 (3) by striking ‘‘he’’ and inserting ‘‘the foreign 

4 agent’’. 

5 (c) TRANSMISSION OF LAWFULLY POSSESSED DE6 FENSE INFORMATION TO UNAUTHORIZED PERSONS.— 

7 Section 793(d) of title 18, United States Code, is amended 

8 by striking ‘‘or note relating to the national defense, or 

9 information relating to the national defense which infor10 mation’’ and inserting ‘‘note, or information relating to 

11 the national defense, which document, writing, code book, 

12 signal book, sketch, photograph, photographic negative, 

13 blueprint, plan, map, model, instrument, appliance, note, 

14 or information’’. 

15 (d) TRANSMISSION OF UNLAWFULLY POSSESSED

16 DEFENSE INFORMATION TO UNAUTHORIZED PERSONS.— 

17 Section 793(e) of title 18, United States Code, is amended 

18 to read as follows: 

19 ‘‘(e) An individual who— 

20 ‘‘(1) while a covered person, gains unauthorized 

21 possession of, access to, or control over any non22 public document, writing, code book, signal book, 

23 sketch, photograph, photographic negative, blue24 print, plan, map, model, instrument, appliance, or 


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1 note of anything connected with the national de2 fense; and 

3 ‘‘(2)(A) with reason to believe such information 

4 could be used to the injury of the United States or 

5 to the advantage of any foreign nation, willfully com6 municates, delivers, transmits, or causes to be com7 municated, delivered, or transmitted, or attempts to 

8 communicate, deliver, transmit, or cause to be com9 municated, delivered, or transmitted, the same to 

10 any person not entitled to receive it; or 

11 ‘‘(B) willfully— 

12 ‘‘(i) retains the same at an unauthorized 

13 location; and 

14 ‘‘(ii) fails to deliver the same to the officer 

15 or employee of the United States entitled to re16 ceive it; or’’. 

17 (e) OBTAINING INFORMATION FROM PLACES CON18 NECTED WITH THE NATIONAL DEFENSE.—Section 

19 793(a) of title 18, United States Code, is amended by 

20 striking ‘‘otherwise obtains information concerning’’ and 

21 inserting ‘‘otherwise unlawfully obtains nonpublic infor22 mation concerning’’. 

23 (f) COPYING AND TAKING DEFENSE INFORMA24 TION.—Section 793(b) of title 18, United States Code, is 

25 amended— 


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1 (1) by striking ‘‘Whoever,’’ and inserting ‘‘An 

2 individual who, while a covered person,’’; and 

3 (2) by inserting ‘‘nonpublic’’ before ‘‘sketch,’’. 

4 (g) LIMITATION ON SCOPE.—Section 793 of title 18, 

5 United States Code, is amended by striking subsection (g) 

6 and inserting the following: 

7 ‘‘(g)(1) A foreign agent who— 

8 ‘‘(A) aids, abets, counsels, commands, induces, 

9 or procures the commission of an offense under this 

10 section shall be subject to prosecution under this 

11 section by virtue of section 2 of this title; 

12 ‘‘(B) knowing that an offense under this section 

13 has been committed by another person, receives, re14 lieves, comforts, or assists such other person in 

15 order to hinder or prevent the apprehension, trial, or 

16 punishment of such other person shall be subject to 

17 prosecution under section 3 of this title; 

18 ‘‘(C) having knowledge of the actual commis19 sion of an offense under this section, conceals and 

20 does not as soon as possible make known the same 

21 to some judge or other person in civil or military au22 thority under the United States shall be subject to 

23 prosecution under section 4 of this title; or 


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1 ‘‘(D) conspires to commit an offense under this 

2 section shall be subject to prosecution under section 

3 371 of this title. 

4 ‘‘(2) Any person who is not a foreign agent shall not 

5 be subject to prosecution under this section by virtue of 

6 section 2 of this title or under section 3, 4, or 371 of this 

7 title, unless the person— 

8 ‘‘(A) commits a felony under Federal law in the 

9 course of committing an offense under this section 

10 (by virtue of section 2 of this title) or under section 

11 3, 4, or 371 of this title; 

12 ‘‘(B) was a covered person at the time of the 

13 offense; or 

14 ‘‘(C) subject to paragraph (3), directly and ma15 terially aids, or procures in exchange for anything of 

16 monetary value, the commission of an offense under 

17 this section with the specific intent to— 

18 ‘‘(i) harm the national security of the 

19 United States; or 

20 ‘‘(ii) benefit any foreign government to the 

21 detriment of the United States. 

22 ‘‘(3) Paragraph (2)(C) shall not apply to direct and 

23 material aid that consists of— 

24 ‘‘(A) counseling, education, or other speech ac25 tivity; or 


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1 ‘‘(B) providing an electronic communication 

2 service to the public or a remote computing service 

3 (as such terms are defined in section 2510 and 

4 2711, respectively).’’. 

5 SEC. 4. PUBLIC MONEY, PROPERTY, OR RECORDS. 

6 Section 641 of title 18, United States Code, is 

7 amended in the first undesignated paragraph by inserting 

8 ‘‘tangible’’ before ‘‘thing of value’’. 

9 SEC. 5. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

10 Nothing in section 793 or 798 of title 18, United 

11 States Code, shall be construed to supersede or limit the 

12 protections under the speech or debate clause of the Con13 stitution of the United States. 

Æ 


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