I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1970 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide for the public 

reporting of certain contributions received by charitable organizations 

from foreign governments and foreign political parties. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 17, 2021 

Mr. GOODEN of Texas (for himself, Mr. BANKS, and Mr. WILSON of South 

Carolina) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means 

A BILL 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide 

for the public reporting of certain contributions received 

by charitable organizations from foreign governments 

and foreign political parties. 

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 ‘‘Think Tank and Non5 profit Foreign Influence Disclosure Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) Foreign governments and foreign political 

2 parties attempt to influence the government and po3 litical system of the United States through donations 

4 to nonprofit charitable organizations especially think 

5 tanks and cultural organizations. 

6 (2) While institutions of higher learning are re7 quired to disclose foreign gifts to the Department of 

8 Education pursuant to the Higher Education Act, 

9 no such requirement exists for think tanks. 

10 (3) A number of think tanks and cultural orga11 nizations incorporated in the United States have re12 ceived money from the United Front Work Depart13 ment of the Chinese Communist Party—an organi14 zation based on conducting political warfare against 

15 enemies of the Chinese Communist Party and under16 mining democracy around the world. 

17 (4) The Department of Defense found in its 

18 Military and Strategic Developments Involving the 

19 People’s Republic of China 2019 Report that: 

20 ‘‘China conducts influence operations against cul21 tural institutions, media organizations, and the busi22 ness, academic, and policy communities of the 

23 United States, other countries, and international in24 stitutions to achieve outcomes favorable to its secu25 rity and military strategy objectives. . . . China harVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:08 May 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1970.IH H1970

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1 nesses academia and educational institutions, think 

2 tanks, and state-run media to advance its soft power 

3 campaign in support of China’s security interests.’’. 

4 (5) A report by the U.S. China Security and 

5 Economic Commission noted that a number of 

6 Washington DC think tanks and universities have 

7 received funding from Tung Cheehwa, a vice chair8 man of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative 

9 Conference, which is a group that directs the United 

10 Front Work Department. 

11 (6) The Center for a New American Security 

12 noted in its 2019 report ‘‘Rising to the China Chal13 lenge’’ that: ‘‘A number of U.S. universities, aca14 demic departments, individual scholars, think tanks, 

15 and other civil society organizations receive substan16 tial funding from Beijing that is often targeted at 

17 shaping views and discourse on China. Higher de18 grees of transparency can help to ensure that this 

19 funding is not generating hidden forms of foreign 

20 lobbying, self censorship, or other activities that un21 dermine core U.S. democratic principles.’’. 

22 (7) Bill Gertz of the Washington Free Beacon 

23 reported on August 28, 2018, that: ‘‘In addition to 

24 Johns Hopkins, other think tanks linked to China 

25 and influential in American policy circles include the 


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1 Brookings Institution, Atlantic Council, Center for 

2 American Progress, EastWest Institute, Carter Cen3 ter, and the Carnegie Endowment for International 

4 Peace.’’. 

5 SEC. 3. ANNUAL DISCLOSURE OF CONTRIBUTIONS FROM 

6 FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS AND POLITICAL 

7 PARTIES BY CERTAIN TAX-EXEMPT ORGANI8 ZATIONS. 

9 (a) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.—Section 6033(b) of 

10 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking 

11 ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph (15), by redesignating 

12 paragraph (16) as paragraph (17) and by inserting after 

13 paragraph (15) the following new paragraph: 

14 ‘‘(16) with respect to each government of a for15 eign country (within the meaning of section 1(e) of 

16 the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938 (22 

17 U.S.C. 611(e))) and each foreign political party 

18 (within the meaning of section 1(f) of such Act (22 

19 U.S.C. 611(f)) which made aggregate contributions 

20 and gifts to the organization during the year in ex21 cess of $50,000, the name of such government or 

22 political party and such aggregate amount, and’’. 

23 (b) PUBLIC DISCLOSURE.—Section 6104 of such 

24 Code is amended by adding at the end the following new 

25 subsection: 


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1 ‘‘(e) PUBLIC DISCLOSURE OF CERTAIN INFORMA2 TION.—The Secretary shall make publicly available in a 

3 searchable database the following information: 

4 ‘‘(1) The information furnished under section 

5 6033(b)(16) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, 

6 as amended by this section. 

7 ‘‘(2) The name of the organization furnishing 

8 the information described in paragraph (1). 

9 ‘‘(3) The aggregate amount reported under 

10 such section as having been received as contributions 

11 or gifts in each year from the People’s Republic of 

12 China and (stated separately) from the Chinese 

13 Communist Party.’’. 

14 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

15 this section shall apply to returns filed for taxable years 

16 beginning after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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