I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4551 

To amend the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938 to prohibit any 

individual who served as the head of any element of the intelligence 

community from acting as the agent of a foreign principal, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 5, 2017 

Mr. CASTRO of Texas (for himself and Mr. CARSON of Indiana) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, 

and in addition to the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (Permanent Select), 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 Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938 

to prohibit any individual who served as the head of 

any element of the intelligence community from acting 

as the agent of a foreign principal, 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 ‘‘Intelligence Directors 

5 Lobbying Prevention Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

2 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) President Donald J. Trump issued an Exec4 utive order on January 28, 2017, entitled ‘‘Ethics 

5 Commitments by Executive Branch Appointees’’, 

6 paragraph (4) of which requires executive branch 

7 appointees to contractually commit to the following: 

8 ‘‘I will not, at any time after the termination of my 

9 employment in the United States Government, en10 gage in any activity on behalf of any foreign govern11 ment or foreign political party which, were it under12 taken on January 20, 2017, would require me to 

13 register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act 

14 of 1938, as amended.’’. 

15 (2) To the extent that paragraph (4) of this 

16 Executive order has no time restriction, the Execu17 tive order amounts to a lifetime ban on lobbying on 

18 behalf of a foreign principal by employees of the ex19 ecutive branch. 

20 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con21 gress that— 

22 (1) The United States intelligence community 

23 provides the backbone of security for the United 

24 States, and its members contribute daily to the safe25 ty, security, and well-being of Americans worldwide. 


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•HR 4551 IH

1 (2) Leaders of the intelligence community, 

2 whether political or civilian appointees, should be 

3 held to the highest of ethical standards. 

4 (3) Given recent revelations regarding previous 

5 heads of elements of the intelligence community lob6 bying on behalf of foreign principals, Congress 

7 should codify and expand the Executive order signed 

8 by President Trump on January 28, 2017, so that 

9 it applies to the heads of elements of the intelligence 

10 community. 

11 SEC. 3. PROHIBITING HEADS OF ELEMENTS OF INTEL12 LIGENCE COMMUNITY FROM ACTING AS 

13 AGENTS OF FOREIGN PRINCIPALS. 

14 (a) PROHIBITION.—The Foreign Agents Registration 

15 Act of 1938 (22 U.S.C. 611 et seq.), as amended is 

16 amended by adding at the end the following new section: 

17 ‘‘SEC. 12. PROHIBITING REGISTRATION BY FORMER HEADS 

18 OF ELEMENTS OF INTELLIGENCE COMMU19 NITY. 

20 ‘‘(a) PROHIBITION.—No individual may register 

21 under this Act or otherwise serve as the agent of a foreign 

22 principal, including by engaging in lobbying activity on be23 half of a foreign entity under the Lobbying Disclosure Act 

24 of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), if the individual at any 


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1 time served as the head of an element of the intelligence 

2 community. 

3 ‘‘(b) ANNUAL REPORT.—On an annual basis, the Di4 rector of National Intelligence, in coordination with the 

5 head of each element of the intelligence community, shall 

6 submit to Congress a report on the compliance of former 

7 heads of such elements with respect to the prohibition 

8 under subsection (a). 

9 ‘‘(c) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘element 

10 of the intelligence community’ means each agency included 

11 in paragraph (4) of section 3 of the National Security Act 

12 of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3003(4)), and includes the National 

13 Counterterrorism Center and the National Counterpro14 liferation Center.’’. 

15 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

16 subsection (a) shall apply with respect to any individual 

17 who, on or after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

18 serves as the head of an element of the intelligence com19 munity as described in section 12 of the Foreign Agents 

20 Registration Act of 1938, as amended, as added by sub21 section (a). 

Æ 


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