I 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2350 

To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to prohibit contributions and expenditures by multicandidate political committees controlled 

by foreign-owned corporations, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 16, 2007 

Ms. KAPTUR introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House Administration, and in addition to the Committee on the 

Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 

each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to 

prohibit contributions and expenditures by multicandidate political committees controlled by foreignowned corporations, 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 ‘‘Ethics in Foreign Lob5 bying Act of 2007’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PROHIBITION OF CONTRIBUTIONS AND EXPENDI2 TURES BY MULTICANDIDATE POLITICAL 

3 COMMITTEES OR SEPARATE SEGREGATED 

4 FUNDS SPONSORED BY FOREIGN-CON5 TROLLED CORPORATIONS AND ASSOCIA6 TIONS. 

7 Title III of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 

8 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441 et seq.) is amended by adding at the 

9 end the following new section: 

10 ‘‘PROHIBITION OF CONTRIBUTIONS AND EXPENDITURES

11 BY MULTICANDIDATE POLITICAL COMMITTEES SPON12 SORED BY FOREIGN-CONTROLLED CORPORATIONS

13 AND ASSOCIATIONS

14 ‘‘SEC. 325. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision 

15 of law— 

16 ‘‘(1) no multicandidate political committee or 

17 separate segregated fund of a foreign-controlled cor18 poration may make any contribution or expenditure 

19 with respect to an election for Federal office; and 

20 ‘‘(2) no multicandidate political committee or 

21 separate segregated fund of a trade organization, 

22 membership organization, cooperative, or corporation 

23 without capital stock may make any contribution or 

24 expenditure with respect to an election for Federal 

25 office if 50 percent or more of the operating fund of 

26 the trade organization, membership organization, coVerDate Aug 31 2005 01:34 May 18, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2350.IH H2350

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1 operative, or corporation without capital stock is 

2 supplied by foreign-controlled corporations or foreign 

3 nationals. 

4 ‘‘(b) The Commission shall— 

5 ‘‘(1) require each multicandidate political com6 mittee or separate segregated fund of a corporation 

7 to include in the statement of organization of the 

8 multicandidate political committee or separate seg9 regated fund a statement (to be updated annually 

10 and at any time when the percentage goes above or 

11 below 50 percent) of the percentage of ownership in12 terest in the corporation that is controlled by per13 sons other than citizens or nationals of the United 

14 States; 

15 ‘‘(2) require each trade association, membership 

16 organization, cooperative, or corporation without 

17 capital stock to include in its statement of organiza18 tion of the multicandidate political committee or sep19 arate segregated fund (and update annually) the 

20 percentage of its operating fund that is derived from 

21 foreign-owned corporations and foreign nationals; 

22 and 

23 ‘‘(3) take such action as may be necessary to 

24 enforce subsection (a). 


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1 ‘‘(c) The Commission shall maintain a list of the 

2 identity of the multicandidate political committees or sepa3 rate segregated funds that file reports under subsection 

4 (b), including a statement of the amounts and percentage 

5 reported by such multicandidate political committees or 

6 separate segregated funds. 

7 ‘‘(d) As used in this section— 

8 ‘‘(1) the term ‘foreign-owned corporation’ 

9 means a corporation at least 50 percent of the own10 ership interest of which is controlled by persons 

11 other than citizens or nationals of the United States; 

12 ‘‘(2) the term ‘multicandidate political com13 mittee’ has the meaning given that term in section 

14 315(a)(4); 

15 ‘‘(3) the term ‘separate segregated fund’ means 

16 a separate segregated fund referred to in section 

17 316(b)(2)(C); and 

18 ‘‘(4) the term ‘foreign national’ has the mean19 ing given that term in section 319.’’. 

20 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION OF CERTAIN ELECTION-RELATED AC21 TIVITIES OF FOREIGN NATIONALS. 

22 Section 319 of the Federal Election Campaign Act 

23 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441e) is amended by adding at the end 

24 the following new subsection: 


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1 ‘‘(c) A foreign national shall not direct, dictate, con2 trol, or directly or indirectly participate in the decision3 making process of any person, such as a corporation, labor 

4 organization, or political committee, with regard to such 

5 person’s Federal or non-Federal election-related activities, 

6 such as decisions concerning the making of contributions 

7 or expenditures in connection with elections for any local, 

8 State, or Federal office or decisions concerning the admin9 istration of a political committee.’’. 

10 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF A CLEARINGHOUSE OF POLIT11 ICAL ACTIVITIES INFORMATION WITHIN THE 

12 FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION. 

13 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There shall be established 

14 within the Federal Election Commission a clearinghouse 

15 of public information regarding the political activities of 

16 foreign principals and agents of foreign principals. The in17 formation comprising this clearinghouse shall include only 

18 the following: 

19 (1) All registrations and reports filed pursuant 

20 to the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 

21 1601 and following) during the preceding 5-year pe22 riod. 

23 (2) All registrations and reports filed pursuant 

24 to the Foreign Agents Registration Act, as amended 


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1 (22 U.S.C. 611 and following), during the preceding 

2 5-year period. 

3 (3) The listings of public hearings, hearing wit4 nesses, and witness affiliations printed in the Con5 gressional Record during the preceding 5-year pe6 riod. 

7 (4) Public information disclosed pursuant to the 

8 rules of the Senate or the House of Representatives 

9 regarding honoraria, the receipt of gifts, travel, and 

10 earned and unearned income. 

11 (5) All reports filed pursuant to title I of the 

12 Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) 

13 during the preceding 5-year period. 

14 (6) All public information filed with the Federal 

15 Election Commission pursuant to the Federal Elec16 tion Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431 and fol17 lowing) during the preceding 5-year period. 

18 (b) DISCLOSURE OF OTHER INFORMATION PROHIB19 ITED.—The disclosure by the clearinghouse, or any officer 

20 or employee thereof, of any information other than that 

21 set forth in subsection (a) is prohibited, except as other22 wise provided by law. 

23 (c) DIRECTOR OF CLEARINGHOUSE.—(1) The clear24 inghouse shall have a Director, who shall administer and 


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1 manage the responsibilities and all activities of the clear2 inghouse. 

3 (2) The Director shall be appointed by the Federal 

4 Election Commission. 

5 (3) The Director shall serve a single term of a period 

6 of time determined by the Commission, but not to exceed 

7 5 years. 

8 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

9 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 

10 necessary to conduct the activities of the clearinghouse. 

11 SEC. 5. DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE DIRECTOR 

12 OF THE CLEARINGHOUSE. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—It shall be the duty of the Direc14 tor of the clearinghouse established under section 4— 

15 (1) to develop a filing, coding, and cross-index16 ing system to carry out the purposes of this Act 

17 (which shall include an index of all persons identi18 fied in the reports, registrations, and other informa19 tion comprising the clearinghouse; 

20 (2) notwithstanding any other provision of law, 

21 to make copies of registrations, reports, and other 

22 information comprising the clearinghouse available 

23 for public inspection and copying, beginning not 

24 later than 30 days after the information is first 

25 available to the public, and to permit copying of any 


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1 such registration, report, or other information by 

2 hand or by copying machine or, at the request of 

3 any person, to furnish a copy of any such registra4 tion, report, or other information upon payment of 

5 the cost of making and furnishing such copy, except 

6 that no information contained in such registration or 

7 report and no such other information shall be sold 

8 or used by any person for the purpose of soliciting 

9 contributions or for any profit-making purpose; 

10 (3) to compile and summarize, for each cal11 endar quarter, the information contained in such 

12 registrations, reports, and other information com13 prising the clearinghouse in a manner which facili14 tates the disclosure of political activities, including, 

15 but not limited to, information on— 

16 (A) political activities pertaining to issues 

17 before the Congress and issues before the exec18 utive branch; and 

19 (B) the political activities of individuals, 

20 organizations, foreign principals, and agents of 

21 foreign principals who share an economic, busi22 ness, or other common interest; 

23 (4) to make the information compiled and sum24 marized under paragraph (3) available to the public 

25 within 30 days after the close of each calendar quarVerDate Aug 31 2005 01:34 May 18, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2350.IH H2350

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1 ter, and to publish such information in the Federal 

2 Register at the earliest practicable opportunity; 

3 (5) not later than 150 days after the date of 

4 the enactment of this Act and at any time there5 after, to prescribe, in consultation with the Comp6 troller General, such rules, regulations, and forms, 

7 in conformity with the provisions of chapter 5 of 

8 title 5, United States Code, as are necessary to 

9 carry out the provisions of section 4 and this section 

10 in the most effective and efficient manner; and 

11 (6) at the request of any Member of the Senate 

12 or the House of Representatives, to prepare and 

13 submit to such Member a study or report relating to 

14 the political activities of any person and consisting 

15 only of the information in the registrations, reports, 

16 and other information comprising the clearinghouse. 

17 (b) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section— 

18 (1) the terms ‘‘foreign principal’’ and ‘‘agent of 

19 a foreign principal’’ have the meanings given those 

20 terms in section 1 of the Foreign Agents Registra21 tion Act of 1938, as amended (22 U.S.C. 611); 

22 (2) the term ‘‘issue before the Congress’’ means 

23 the total of all matters, both substantive and proce24 dural, relating to— 


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1 (A) any pending or proposed bill, resolu2 tion, report, nomination, treaty, hearing, inves3 tigation, or other similar matter in either the 

4 Senate or the House of Representatives or any 

5 committee or office of the Congress; or 

6 (B) any pending action by a Member, offi7 cer, or employee of the Congress to affect, or 

8 attempt to affect, any action or proposed action 

9 by any officer or employee of the executive 

10 branch; and 

11 (3) the term ‘‘issue before the executive 

12 branch’’ means the total of all matters, both sub13 stantive and procedural, relating to any pending ac14 tion by any executive agency, or by any officer or 

15 employee of the executive branch, concerning— 

16 (A) any pending or proposed rule, rule of 

17 practice, adjudication, regulation, determina18 tion, hearing, investigation, contract, grant, li19 cense, negotiation, or the appointment of offi20 cers and employees, other than appointments in 

21 the competitive service; or 

22 (B) any issue before the Congress. 

23 SEC. 6. PENALTIES FOR DISCLOSURE. 

24 Any person who discloses information in violation of 

25 section 4(b), and any person who sells or uses information 


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1 for the purpose of soliciting contributions or for any prof2 it-making purpose in violation of section 5(a)(2), shall be 

3 imprisoned for a period of not more than 1 year, or fined 

4 under title 18, United States Code, or both. 

5 SEC. 7. AMENDMENTS TO THE FOREIGN AGENTS REG6 ISTRATION ACT OF 1938, AS AMENDED. 

7 (a) QUARTERLY REPORTS.—Section 2(b) of the For8 eign Agents Registration Act of 1938, as amended (22 

9 U.S.C. 612(b)), is amended in the first sentence by strik10 ing out ‘‘, within thirty days’’ and all that follows through 

11 ‘‘preceding six months’ period’’ and inserting in lieu there12 of ‘‘on January 31, April 30, July 31, and October 31 

13 of each year, file with the Attorney General a supplement 

14 thereto on a form prescribed by the Attorney General, 

15 which shall set forth regarding the three-month periods 

16 ending the previous December 31, March 31, June 30, and 

17 September 30, respectively, or if a lesser period, the period 

18 since the initial filing,’’. 

19 (b) EXEMPTION FOR LEGAL REPRESENTATION.— 

20 Section 3(g) of the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 

21 1938, as amended (22 U.S.C. 613(g)) is amended by add22 ing at the end the following: ‘‘A person may be exempt 

23 under this subsection only upon filing with the Attorney 

24 General a request for such exemption.’’. 


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1 (c) CIVIL PENALTIES.—Section 8 of the Foreign 

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

3 618), is amended by adding at the end thereof the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘(i)(1) Any person who is determined, after notice 

6 and opportunity for an administrative hearing— 

7 ‘‘(A) to have failed to file a registration state8 ment under section 2(a) or a supplement thereto 

9 under section 2(b), 

10 ‘‘(B) to have omitted a material fact required to 

11 be stated therein, or 

12 ‘‘(C) to have made a false statement with re13 spect to such a material fact, 

14 shall be required to pay a civil penalty in an amount not 

15 less than $2,000 or more than $5,000 for each violation 

16 committed. In determining the amount of the penalty, the 

17 Attorney General shall give due consideration to the na18 ture and duration of the violation. 

19 ‘‘(2)(A) In conducting investigations and hearings 

20 under paragraph (1), administrative law judges may, if 

21 necessary, compel by subpoena the attendance of witnesses 

22 and the production of evidence at any designated place 

23 or hearing. 

24 ‘‘(B) In the case of contumacy or refusal to obey a 

25 subpoena lawfully issued under this paragraph and, upon 


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1 application by the Attorney General, an appropriate dis2 trict court of the United States may issue an order requir3 ing compliance with such subpoena and any failure to obey 

4 such order may be punished by such court as contempt 

5 thereof.’’. 

Æ 


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