I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7519 

To amend the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 to authorize 

rewards for providing information on foreign election interference, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 9, 2020 

Mr. ENGEL (for himself and Mr. MCCAUL) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 

1956 to authorize rewards for providing information on 

foreign election interference, 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 ‘‘Rewards for Providing 

5 Information on Foreign Election Interference Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION OF REWARDS FOR PROVIDING IN2 FORMATION ON FOREIGN ELECTION INTER3 FERENCE. 

4 Section 36 of the State Department Basic Authorities 

5 Act of 1956 (22 U.S.C. 2708) is amended— 

6 (1) in subsection (a)(2), by inserting ‘‘foreign 

7 election interference,’’ before ‘‘transnational orga8 nized crime’’; 

9 (2) in subsection (b)— 

10 (A) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘or (10)’’ 

11 and inserting ‘‘(10), or (13)’’; 

12 (B) in paragraph (11), by striking ‘‘or’’ 

13 after the semicolon at the end; 

14 (C) in paragraph (12)— 

15 (i) by striking ‘‘sections’’ and insert16 ing ‘‘section’’; 

17 (ii) by striking ‘‘or (b)(1)’’ and insert18 ing ‘‘or 2914(b)(1)’’; and 

19 (iii) by striking the period at the end 

20 and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

21 (D) by adding at the end the following new 

22 paragraph: 

23 ‘‘(13) the identification or location of a foreign 

24 person that knowingly engaged or is engaging in for25 eign election interference.’’; and 

26 (3) in subsection (k)— 


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1 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (3) 

2 through (8) as paragraphs (5) through (10), re3 spectively; 

4 (B) by inserting after paragraph (2) the 

5 following new paragraphs: 

6 ‘‘(3) FOREIGN PERSON.—The term ‘foreign per7 son’ means— 

8 ‘‘(A) an individual who is not a United 

9 States person; or 

10 ‘‘(B) a foreign entity. 

11 ‘‘(4) FOREIGN ELECTION INTERFERENCE.—The 

12 term ‘foreign election interference’ means conduct by 

13 a foreign person that— 

14 ‘‘(A)(i) violates Federal criminal, voting 

15 rights, or campaign finance law; or 

16 ‘‘(ii) is performed by any person act17 ing as an agent of or on behalf of a foreign 

18 government or criminal enterprise; and 

19 ‘‘(B) includes any covert, fraudulent, de20 ceptive, or unlawful act or attempted act, or 

21 knowing use of information acquired by theft, 

22 undertaken with the purpose or effect of under23 mining public confidence in election processes 

24 or institutions, or influencing, undermining con25 fidence in, or altering the result or reported reVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:14 Jul 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7519.IH H7519

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1 sult of, a general or primary Federal, State, or 

2 local election or caucus, including— 

3 ‘‘(i) the campaign of a candidate; or 

4 ‘‘(ii) a ballot measure, including an 

5 amendment, a bond issue, an initiative, a 

6 recall, a referral, or a referendum.’’; and 

7 (C) in paragraph (10), as so redesignated, 

8 in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘and’’ after 

9 the semicolon and inserting ‘‘or’’. 

Æ 


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