I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8988 

To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to apply the ban 

on contributions and expenditures by foreign nationals under such Act 

to foreign-controlled, foreign-influenced, and foreign-owned domestic business entities, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 10, 2024 

Mr. RASKIN (for himself, Mr. ALLRED, Mr. CARSON, Mr. CROW, Mr. 

DESAULNIER, Ms. PEREZ, Mr. GOLDEN of Maine, Mr. GOLDMAN of New 

York, Mr. GOTTHEIMER, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. JOHNSON of 

Georgia, Mr. LEVIN, Ms. NORTON, Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ, Mr. POCAN, Ms. 

SCANLON, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. SLOTKIN, Ms. TLAIB, Mrs. TRAHAN, 

Mr. TRONE, and Ms. WILD) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House Administration 

A BILL 

To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to 

apply the ban on contributions and expenditures by foreign nationals under such Act to foreign-controlled, foreign-influenced, and foreign-owned domestic business entities, 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 ‘‘Get Foreign Money 

5 Out of U.S. Elections Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. APPLICATION OF BAN ON CONTRIBUTIONS AND EX2 PENDITURES BY FOREIGN NATIONALS TO DO3 MESTIC BUSINESS ENTITIES THAT ARE FOR4 EIGN-CONTROLLED, FOREIGN-INFLUENCED, 

5 AND FOREIGN-OWNED. 

6 (a) APPLICATION OF BAN.—Section 319(b) of the 

7 Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 

8 30121(b)) is amended— 

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

10 (1); 

11 (2) by striking the period at the end of para12 graph (2) and inserting a semicolon; and 

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

14 paragraphs: 

15 ‘‘(3) any business entity in which a foreign na16 tional which is outside of the United States and is 

17 described in paragraph (1) or (2) directly or indi18 rectly owns or controls or otherwise holds direct or 

19 indirect beneficial ownership of 50 percent or more 

20 of the voting shares, total equity, membership units, 

21 or other applicable ownership interests of the entity; 

22 or 

23 ‘‘(4) any business entity which is not a foreign 

24 national described in paragraph (1), and— 

25 ‘‘(A) in which a foreign national which is 

26 outside of the United States and is described in 


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1 paragraph (1), (2), or (3) directly or indirectly 

2 owns or controls or otherwise holds direct or in3 direct beneficial ownership of 1 percent or more 

4 of the voting shares, total equity, membership 

5 units, or other applicable ownership units of the 

6 entity; 

7 ‘‘(B) in which two or more foreign nation8 als which are outside of the United States and 

9 are described in paragraph (1), (2), or (3), in 

10 the aggregate, directly or indirectly own or con11 trol or otherwise hold direct or indirect bene12 ficial ownership of 5 percent or more of the vot13 ing shares, total equity, membership units, or 

14 other applicable ownership interests of the enti15 ty; 

16 ‘‘(C) over which one or more foreign na17 tionals which are outside of the United States 

18 and are described in paragraph (1), (2), or (3) 

19 have the power to direct, dictate, or control the 

20 decisionmaking process of the entity with re21 spect to its interests in the United States; or 

22 ‘‘(D) over which one or more foreign na23 tionals which are outside of the United States 

24 and are described in paragraph (1), (2), or (3) 

25 have the power to direct, dictate, or control the 


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1 decision-making process of the entity with re2 spect to activities in connection with a Federal, 

3 State, or local election, including— 

4 ‘‘(i) the making of a contribution, do5 nation, expenditure, independent expendi6 ture, or disbursement for an electioneering 

7 communication (within the meaning of sec8 tion 304(f)(3)); or 

9 ‘‘(ii) the administration of a political 

10 committee established or maintained by the 

11 entity.’’. 

12 (b) CERTIFICATION OF COMPLIANCE.—Section 319 

13 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 30121) is amended by adding at 

14 the end the following new subsection: 

15 ‘‘(c) CERTIFICATION OF COMPLIANCE REQUIRED

16 FOR CARRYING OUT ELECTION ACTIVITY BY BUSINESS

17 ENTITY.— 

18 ‘‘(1) CERTIFICATION REQUIRED.—Not later 

19 than 7 days after a business entity makes any con20 tribution, donation, expenditure, independent ex21 penditure, disbursement for an electioneering com22 munication, or any disbursement in connection with 

23 an election for Federal, State, or local office or with 

24 any State or local ballot measure, the chief executive 

25 officer of the entity (or, if the entity does not have 


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1 a chief executive officer, the highest ranking official 

2 of the entity), shall file a certification with the Com3 mission, under penalty of perjury, avowing that after 

4 due inquiry, the entity was not a foreign national on 

5 the date the entity made the contribution, donation, 

6 expenditure, independent expenditure, or disburse7 ment. 

8 ‘‘(2) DETERMINATION OF BENEFICIAL OWNER9 SHIP.—A business entity shall determine beneficial 

10 ownership for purposes of this section in a manner 

11 consistent with applicable State law, except that if 

12 the entity is registered pursuant to section 12(g) of 

13 the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 

14 78l), the entity shall determine beneficial ownership 

15 in accordance with section 13(d) of that Act (15 

16 U.S.C. 78m(d)). 

17 ‘‘(3) PROVISION TO RECIPIENTS.—The business 

18 entity shall provide a copy of the certification filed 

19 under paragraph (1) to each political committee to 

20 which it makes a contribution, and, upon the request 

21 of the recipient, to each recipient of a contribution, 

22 donation, expenditure, independent expenditure, or 

23 disbursement with respect to which the certification 

24 under paragraph (1) is filed.’’. 


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1 (c) PREVENTION OF CIRCUMVENTION.—Section 319 

2 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 30121), as amended by subsection 

3 (b), is amended by adding at the end the following new 

4 subsection: 

5 ‘‘(d) PROHIBITING USE OF FUNDS FROM BUSINESS

6 ENTITIES WITHOUT CERTIFICATION.— 

7 ‘‘(1) PROHIBITION.—Except as provided in 

8 paragraph (2), it shall be unlawful for any person 

9 that receives from a business entity a contribution, 

10 donation, expenditure, independent expenditure, or 

11 disbursement with respect to which the business en12 tity is required to file a certification of compliance 

13 under subsection (c) to use that contribution, dona14 tion, expenditure, independent expenditure, or dis15 bursement, directly or indirectly, to— 

16 ‘‘(A) make such a contribution, donation, 

17 expenditure, independent expenditure, or dis18 bursement; or 

19 ‘‘(B) contribute, donate, transfer, or other20 wise convey such a contribution, donation, ex21 penditure, independent expenditure, or dis22 bursement to another person for use as such a 

23 contribution, donation, expenditure, inde24 pendent expenditure, or disbursement. 


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1 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION FOR FUNDS ACCOMPANIED BY

2 CERTIFICATION.—Paragraph (1) does not apply to a 

3 person that receives from a business entity a con4 tribution, donation, expenditure, independent ex5 penditure, or disbursement described in such para6 graph if— 

7 ‘‘(A) the person receives from the business 

8 entity a copy of the certification of compliance 

9 under subsection (c) with respect to such con10 tribution, donation, expenditure, independent 

11 expenditure, or disbursement; 

12 ‘‘(B) the use by the person of the contribu13 tion, donation, expenditure, independent ex14 penditure, or disbursement is otherwise lawful; 

15 and 

16 ‘‘(C) the person separately designates, 

17 records, and accounts for the contribution, do18 nation, expenditure, independent expenditure, 

19 or disbursement, and ensures that disburse20 ments by the person for a contribution, dona21 tion, expenditure, independent expenditure, dis22 bursement for an electioneering communication, 

23 or any disbursement in connection with an elec24 tion for Federal, State, or local office are only 


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1 made from funds that comply with the require2 ments of this section. 

3 ‘‘(3) GOOD FAITH RELIANCE ON CERTIFICATION

4 OF COMPLIANCE.—For purposes of this subsection, 

5 a person may rely in good faith on a certification of 

6 compliance provided to the person under subsection 

7 (c)(3).’’. 

8 (d) BUSINESS ENTITY DEFINED.—Section 319 of 

9 such Act (52 U.S.C. 30121), as amended by subsection 

10 (b) and subsection (c), is amended by adding at the end 

11 the following new subsection: 

12 ‘‘(e) BUSINESS ENTITY DEFINED.—For purposes of 

13 this section, the term ‘business entity’ means a for-profit 

14 corporation, limited liability corporation, partnership, 

15 company, limited partnership, business trust, business as16 sociation, or other similar for-profit entity.’’. 

17 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

18 this section shall take effect upon the expiration of the 

19 180-day period which begins on the date of the enactment 

20 of this Act, and shall take effect without regard to whether 

21 or not the Federal Election Commission has promulgated 

22 regulations to carry out such amendments. 


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1 SEC. 3. CLARIFICATION OF APPLICATION OF FOREIGN 

2 MONEY BAN TO CERTAIN DISBURSEMENTS 

3 AND ACTIVITIES. 

4 (a) APPLICATION TO DISBURSEMENTS IN CONNEC5 TION WITH STATE AND LOCAL BALLOT INITIATIVES AND

6 DISBURSEMENTS TO SUPER PACS.—Section 

7 319(a)(1)(A) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 

8 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30121(a)(1)(A)) is amended by striking 

9 ‘‘election;’’ inserting the following: ‘‘election (including a 

10 State or local ballot initiative or referendum), including 

11 any disbursement to a political committee which accepts 

12 donations or contributions that do not comply with the 

13 limitations, prohibitions, or reporting requirements of this 

14 Act (or any disbursement to or on behalf of any account 

15 of a political committee which is established for the pur16 pose of accepting such donations or contributions);’’. 

17 (b) CONDITIONS UNDER WHICH CORPORATE PACS

18 MAY MAKE CONTRIBUTIONS AND EXPENDITURES.—Sec19 tion 316(b) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 30118(b)) is amended 

20 by adding at the end the following new paragraph: 

21 ‘‘(8) A separate segregated fund established by a cor22 poration may not make a contribution or expenditure dur23 ing a year unless the fund has certified to the Commission 

24 each of the following during the year: 

25 ‘‘(A) Each individual who manages the fund, 

26 and who is responsible for exercising decision-makVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:27 Aug 15, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8988.IH H8988

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1 ing authority for the fund, is a citizen of the United 

2 States or is lawfully admitted for permanent resi3 dence in the United States. 

4 ‘‘(B) No foreign national under section 319 

5 participates in any way in the decision-making proc6 esses of the fund with regard to contributions or ex7 penditures under this Act. 

8 ‘‘(C) The fund does not solicit or accept rec9 ommendations from any foreign national under sec10 tion 319 with respect to the contributions or expend11 itures made by the fund. 

12 ‘‘(D) Any member of the board of directors of 

13 the corporation who is a foreign national under sec14 tion 319 abstains from voting on matters concerning 

15 the fund or its activities.’’. 

Æ 


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