IB 

Union Calendar No. 559 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8399 

[Report No. 118–663, Part I] 

To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to further restrict 

contributions of foreign nationals, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 14, 2024 

Mr. STEIL (for himself and Mrs. BICE) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on House Administration, and in addition 

to the Committee on Oversight and Accountability, 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 

SEPTEMBER 12, 2024 

Additional sponsor: Ms. LEE of Florida 

SEPTEMBER 12, 2024 

Reported from the Committee on House Administration with an amendment 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

SEPTEMBER 12, 2024 

Committee on Oversight and Accountability discharged; committed to the 

Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered 

to be printed 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on May 14, 2024] 


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A BILL 

To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to 

further restrict contributions of foreign nationals, and 

for other purposes. 


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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 ‘‘Preventing Foreign In5 terference in American Elections Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. MODIFICATIONS TO FOREIGN MONEY BAN. 

7 (a) ADDITIONAL RESTRICTIONS.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 319(a)(1) of the Fed9 eral Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 

10 30121(a)(1)) is amended— 

11 (A) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of subpara12 graph (B); and 

13 (B) by adding at the end the following new 

14 subparagraph: 

15 ‘‘(D) a donation for the purpose of— 

16 ‘‘(i) voter registration activity; 

17 ‘‘(ii) ballot collection; 

18 ‘‘(iii) voter identification; 

19 ‘‘(iv) get-out-the-vote activity; 

20 ‘‘(v) any public communication that 

21 refers to a clearly identified Federal, State, 

22 or local political party; or 

23 ‘‘(vi) the administration of a Federal, 

24 State, or local election; or’’. 


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1 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 

2 319(a)(2) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 30121(a)(2)) is 

3 amended by striking ‘‘subparagraph (A) or (B) of 

4 paragraph (1)’’ and inserting ‘‘subparagraph (A), 

5 (B), or (D) of paragraph (1)’’. 

6 (b) PROHIBITION ON AIDING OR FACILITATING VIOLA7 TIONS.—Section 319(a) of the Federal Election Campaign 

8 Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30121(a)), as amended by subsection 

9 (a), is amended— 

10 (1) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of paragraph 

11 (1)(D); 

12 (2) by striking the period at the end of para13 graph (2) and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

14 (3) by adding at the end the following new para15 graph: 

16 ‘‘(3) a person to knowingly aid or facilitate a 

17 violation of paragraph (1) or (2).’’. 

18 (c) INDIRECT CONTRIBUTIONS.—Section 319 of the 

19 Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30121) 

20 is amended by adding at the end the following new sub21 section: 

22 ‘‘(c) INDIRECT CONTRIBUTIONS.—For purposes of this 

23 section, a person shall be treated as having indirectly made 

24 a contribution, donation, expenditure, or disbursement de25 scribed in subparagraphs (A), (B), (C), or (D) of subsection 


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1 (a)(1) if such person has made a contribution or donation 

2 to a person with a designation, instruction, or encumbrance 

3 (whether direct or indirect, express or implied, oral or writ4 ten, or involving intermediaries or conduits) which results 

5 in any part of such contribution, donation, expenditure, or 

6 disbursement being used for an activity described in sub7 paragraphs (A), (B), (C), or (D) of subsection (a)(1).’’. 

8 (d) ENFORCEMENT PROVISIONS.—Section 319 of the 

9 Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30121), 

10 as amended by subsection (c), is amended by adding at the 

11 end the following new subsection: 

12 ‘‘(d) ENFORCEMENT.— 

13 ‘‘(1) USE OF CERTIFICATION AS A DEFENSE.— 

14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In the case of any alle15 gation that a person has violated subsection (a), 

16 any person alleged in the complaint may, in 

17 connection with a response to such allegation 

18 under section 309(a)(1), submit, under penalty 

19 of perjury, a certification that no such violation 

20 has occurred. 

21 ‘‘(B) EFFECT OF SUBMISSION.—The Com22 mission shall take into consideration any certifi23 cation submitted under subparagraph (A) in 

24 making a determination under section 309(a)(2) 


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1 whether there is reason to believe such violation 

2 has occurred. 

3 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION ON INVESTIGATIONS.— 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If the Commission 

5 makes a determination under section 309(a)(2) 

6 that there is reason to believe a violation of sub7 section (a) has occurred or is about to occur, any 

8 investigation of such alleged violation shall be 

9 limited in scope to the factual matter necessary 

10 to determine whether such alleged violation oc11 curred. 

12 ‘‘(B) PETITION TO QUASH SUBPOENA OR

13 ORDER ON BASIS NOT LIMITED IN SCOPE TO NEC14 ESSARY FACTUAL MATTER.— 

15 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—A person subject to 

16 an investigation by the Commission fol17 lowing a determination of the Commission 

18 that there is reason to believe a violation of 

19 subsection (a) has occurred or is about to 

20 occur may file a petition in any United 

21 States district court with jurisdiction to 

22 quash any subpoena or order of the Com23 mission issued under paragraph (3) or (4), 

24 respectively, of section 307(a) on the basis 

25 that the subpoena or order is not limited in 


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1 scope to the factual matter necessary to de2 termine whether such alleged violation oc3 curred as required under subparagraph (A). 

4 ‘‘(ii) CLARIFICATION.—Nothing in 

5 clause (i) shall be construed to alter the 

6 right of any person to otherwise challenge 

7 the power of the Commission to issue a sub8 poena under section 307(a)(3) or an order 

9 under section 307(a)(4).’’. 

10 (e) REPORTING.— 

11 (1) CONTRIBUTIONS AND EXPENDITURES OF PO12 LITICAL COMMITTEES AND POLITICAL PARTIES.—Sec13 tion 304(b) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 

14 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30104(b)) is amended— 

15 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para16 graph (7); 

17 (B) by striking the period at the end of 

18 paragraph (8) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

19 (C) by adding at the end the following new 

20 paragraph: 

21 ‘‘(9) under penalty of perjury, a certification 

22 that the committee has complied with the require23 ments of section 319(a).’’. 

24 (2) INDEPENDENT EXPENDITURES.— 


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1 (A) COMMITTEE REPORTS.—Section 

2 304(b)(6)(B)(iii) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 

3 30104(b)(6)(B)(iii)) is amended— 

4 (i) by striking ‘‘and a certification’’ 

5 and inserting ‘‘a certification’’; and 

6 (ii) by inserting ‘‘, and a certification, 

7 under penalty of perjury that the inde8 pendent expenditure does not violate section 

9 319(a)’’ before the semicolon at the end. 

10 (B) OTHER PERSONS.—Section 304(c)(2) of 

11 such Act (52 U.S.C. 30104(c)(2)) is amended— 

12 (i) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub13 paragraph (B); 

14 (ii) by redesignating subparagraph (C) 

15 as subparagraph (D); and 

16 (iii) by inserting after subparagraph 

17 (B) the following new subparagraph: 

18 ‘‘(C) under penalty of perjury, a certification 

19 that the independent expenditure does not violate sec20 tion 319(a); and’’. 

21 (3) ELECTIONEERING COMMUNICATIONS.—Sec22 tion 304(f)(2) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 30104(f)(2)) is 

23 amended by adding at the end the following new sub24 paragraph: 


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1 ‘‘(G) A certification, under penalty of per2 jury, that the disbursement does not violate sec3 tion 319(a).’’. 

4 SEC. 3. PROTECTING PRIVACY OF DONORS TO TAX-EXEMPT 

5 ORGANIZATIONS. 

6 (a) RESTRICTIONS ON COLLECTION OF DONOR INFOR7 MATION.— 

8 (1) RESTRICTIONS.—An entity of the Federal 

9 government may not collect or require the submission 

10 of information on the identification of any donor to 

11 a tax-exempt organization. 

12 (2) EXCEPTIONS.—Paragraph (1) does not apply 

13 to the following: 

14 (A) The Internal Revenue Service, acting 

15 lawfully pursuant to section 6033 of the Internal 

16 Revenue Code of 1986 or any successor provision. 

17 (B) The Secretary of the Senate and the 

18 Clerk of the House of Representatives, acting 

19 lawfully pursuant to section 3 of the Lobbying 

20 Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1604). 

21 (C) The Federal Election Commission, act22 ing lawfully pursuant to— 

23 (i) section 510 of title 36, United 

24 States Code; or 


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1 (ii) any provision of title III of the 

2 Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 

3 U.S.C. 30101 et seq.). 

4 (D) An entity acting pursuant to a lawful 

5 order of a court or administrative body which 

6 has the authority under law to direct the entity 

7 to collect or require the submission of the infor8 mation, but only to the extent permitted by the 

9 lawful order of such court or administrative 

10 body. 

11 (b) RESTRICTIONS ON RELEASE OF DONOR INFORMA12 TION.— 

13 (1) RESTRICTIONS.—An entity of the Federal 

14 government may not disclose to the public informa15 tion revealing the identification of any donor to a 

16 tax-exempt organization. 

17 (2) EXCEPTIONS.—Paragraph (1) does not apply 

18 to the following: 

19 (A) The Internal Revenue Service, acting 

20 lawfully pursuant to section 6104 of the Internal 

21 Revenue Code of 1986 or any successor provision. 

22 (B) The Secretary of the Senate and the 

23 Clerk of the House of Representatives, acting 

24 lawfully pursuant to section 3 of the Lobbying 

25 Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1604). 


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1 (C) The Federal Election Commission, act2 ing lawfully pursuant to— 

3 (i) section 510 of title 36, United 

4 States Code; or 

5 (ii) any provision of title III of the 

6 Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 

7 U.S.C. 30101 et seq.). 

8 (D) An entity acting pursuant to a lawful 

9 order of a court or administrative body which 

10 has the authority under law to direct the entity 

11 to disclose the information, but only to the extent 

12 permitted by the lawful order of such court or 

13 administrative body. 

14 (E) An entity which discloses the informa15 tion as authorized by the organization. 

16 (c) TAX-EXEMPT ORGANIZATION DEFINED.—In this 

17 section, a ‘‘tax-exempt organization’’ means an organiza18 tion which is described in section 501(c) of the Internal 

19 Revenue Code of 1986 and is exempt from taxation under 

20 section 501(a) of such Code. Nothing in this subsection may 

21 be construed to treat a political organization under section 

22 527 of such Code as a tax-exempt organization for purposes 

23 of this section. 

24 (d) PENALTIES.—It shall be unlawful for any officer 

25 or employee of the United States, or any former officer or 


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1 employee, willfully to disclose to any person, except as au2 thorized in this section, any information revealing the iden3 tification of any donor to a tax-exempt organization. Any 

4 violation of this section shall be a felony punishable upon 

5 conviction by a fine in any amount not exceeding $250,000, 

6 or imprisonment of not more than 5 years, or both, together 

7 with the costs of prosecution, and if such offense is com8 mitted by any officer or employee of the United States, he 

9 shall, in addition to any other punishment, be dismissed 

10 from office or discharged from employment upon conviction 

11 for such offense. 

12 SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

13 (a) MODIFICATIONS TO FOREIGN MONEY BAN.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para15 graph (2), section 2 and the amendments made by 

16 section 2 shall apply with respect to donations or 

17 other amounts provided on or after the date of the en18 actment of this Act. 

19 (2) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—Subsection (e) 

20 of section 2 and the amendments made by such sub21 section shall apply with respect to reports filed under 

22 the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 on or 

23 after the date of the enactment of this Act. 


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1 (b) PROTECTING PRIVACY OF DONORS.—Section 3 

2 shall apply with respect to donations made on or after the 

3 date of the enactment of this Act. 


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Union Calendar No. 559 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8399 

[Report No. 118–663, Part I] 

A BILL 

To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 

nationals, and for other purposes. 1971 to further restrict contributions of foreign 

SEPTEMBER 12, 2024 

Reported from the Committee on House Administration 

with an amendment 

SEPTEMBER 12, 2024 

Committee on Oversight and Accountability discharged; 

the State of the Union and ordered to be printed committed to the Committee of the Whole House on 


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