I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3859 

To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to prohibit contributions and expenditures by multicandidate political committees controlled 

by foreign-owned corporations, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 20, 2009 

Ms. KAPTUR introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House Administration, and in addition to the Committee on the 

Judiciary, 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 Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to 

prohibit contributions and expenditures by multicandidate political committees controlled by foreignowned corporations, 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 ‘‘Ethics in Foreign Lob5 bying Act of 2009’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PROHIBITION OF CONTRIBUTIONS AND EXPENDI2 TURES BY MULTICANDIDATE POLITICAL 

3 COMMITTEES OR SEPARATE SEGREGATED 

4 FUNDS SPONSORED BY FOREIGN-CON5 TROLLED CORPORATIONS AND ASSOCIA6 TIONS. 

7 Title III of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 

8 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441 et seq.) is amended by adding at the 

9 end the following new section: 

10 ‘‘PROHIBITION OF CONTRIBUTIONS AND EXPENDITURES

11 BY MULTICANDIDATE POLITICAL COMMITTEES SPON12 SORED BY FOREIGN-CONTROLLED CORPORATIONS

13 AND ASSOCIATIONS

14 ‘‘SEC. 325. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision 

15 of law— 

16 ‘‘(1) no multicandidate political committee or 

17 separate segregated fund of a foreign-controlled cor18 poration may make any contribution or expenditure 

19 with respect to an election for Federal office; and 

20 ‘‘(2) no multicandidate political committee or 

21 separate segregated fund of a trade organization, 

22 membership organization, cooperative, or corporation 

23 without capital stock may make any contribution or 

24 expenditure with respect to an election for Federal 

25 office if 50 percent or more of the operating fund of 

26 the trade organization, membership organization, coVerDate Nov 24 2008 07:19 Oct 21, 2009 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3859.IH H3859

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1 operative, or corporation without capital stock is 

2 supplied by foreign-controlled corporations or foreign 

3 nationals. 

4 ‘‘(b) The Commission shall— 

5 ‘‘(1) require each multicandidate political com6 mittee or separate segregated fund of a corporation 

7 to include in the statement of organization of the 

8 multicandidate political committee or separate seg9 regated fund a statement (to be updated annually 

10 and at any time when the percentage goes above or 

11 below 50 percent) of the percentage of ownership in12 terest in the corporation that is controlled by per13 sons other than citizens or nationals of the United 

14 States; 

15 ‘‘(2) require each trade association, membership 

16 organization, cooperative, or corporation without 

17 capital stock to include in its statement of organiza18 tion of the multicandidate political committee or sep19 arate segregated fund (and update annually) the 

20 percentage of its operating fund that is derived from 

21 foreign-owned corporations and foreign nationals; 

22 and 

23 ‘‘(3) take such action as may be necessary to 

24 enforce subsection (a). 


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1 ‘‘(c) The Commission shall maintain a list of the 

2 identity of the multicandidate political committees or sepa3 rate segregated funds that file reports under subsection 

4 (b), including a statement of the amounts and percentage 

5 reported by such multicandidate political committees or 

6 separate segregated funds. 

7 ‘‘(d) As used in this section— 

8 ‘‘(1) the term ‘foreign-owned corporation’ 

9 means a corporation at least 50 percent of the own10 ership interest of which is controlled by persons 

11 other than citizens or nationals of the United States; 

12 ‘‘(2) the term ‘multicandidate political com13 mittee’ has the meaning given that term in section 

14 315(a)(4); 

15 ‘‘(3) the term ‘separate segregated fund’ means 

16 a separate segregated fund referred to in section 

17 316(b)(2)(C); and 

18 ‘‘(4) the term ‘foreign national’ has the mean19 ing given that term in section 319.’’. 

20 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION OF CERTAIN ELECTION-RELATED AC21 TIVITIES OF FOREIGN NATIONALS. 

22 Section 319 of the Federal Election Campaign Act 

23 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441e) is amended by adding at the end 

24 the following new subsection: 


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1 ‘‘(c) A foreign national shall not direct, dictate, con2 trol, or directly or indirectly participate in the decision3 making process of any person, such as a corporation, labor 

4 organization, or political committee, with regard to such 

5 person’s Federal or non-Federal election-related activities, 

6 such as decisions concerning the making of contributions 

7 or expenditures in connection with elections for any local, 

8 State, or Federal office or decisions concerning the admin9 istration of a political committee.’’. 

10 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF A CLEARINGHOUSE OF POLIT11 ICAL ACTIVITIES INFORMATION WITHIN THE 

12 FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION. 

13 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There shall be established 

14 within the Federal Election Commission a clearinghouse 

15 of public information regarding the political activities of 

16 foreign principals and agents of foreign principals. The in17 formation comprising this clearinghouse shall include only 

18 the following: 

19 (1) All registrations and reports filed pursuant 

20 to the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 

21 1601 et seq.) during the preceding 5-year period. 

22 (2) All registrations and reports filed pursuant 

23 to the Foreign Agents Registration Act, as amended 

24 (22 U.S.C. 611 et seq.), during the preceding 5-year 

25 period. 


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1 (3) The listings of public hearings, hearing wit2 nesses, and witness affiliations printed in the Con3 gressional Record during the preceding 5-year pe4 riod. 

5 (4) Public information disclosed pursuant to the 

6 rules of the Senate or the House of Representatives 

7 regarding honoraria, the receipt of gifts, travel, and 

8 earned and unearned income. 

9 (5) All reports filed pursuant to title I of the 

10 Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) 

11 during the preceding 5-year period. 

12 (6) All public information filed with the Federal 

13 Election Commission pursuant to the Federal Elec14 tion Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431 et seq.) 

15 during the preceding 5-year period. 

16 (b) DISCLOSURE OF OTHER INFORMATION PROHIB17 ITED.—The disclosure by the clearinghouse, or any officer 

18 or employee thereof, of any information other than that 

19 set forth in subsection (a) is prohibited, except as other20 wise provided by law. 

21 (c) DIRECTOR OF CLEARINGHOUSE.—(1) The clear22 inghouse shall have a Director, who shall administer and 

23 manage the responsibilities and all activities of the clear24 inghouse. 


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1 (2) The Director shall be appointed by the Federal 

2 Election Commission. 

3 (3) The period of the Director’s term of service shall 

4 be determined by the Commission, but may not exceed 5 

5 years. 

6 (4) No individual appointed to serve a term as the 

7 Director may serve for an additional term. 

8 (d) ENSURING SUFFICIENT STAFF AND OTHER RE9 SOURCES.—The Commission shall ensure that the Direc10 tor has sufficient resources, including staff, to carry out 

11 the Director’s duties and responsibilities under this Act. 

12 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

13 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 

14 necessary to conduct the activities of the clearinghouse. 

15 SEC. 5. DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE DIRECTOR 

16 OF THE CLEARINGHOUSE. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—It shall be the duty of the Direc18 tor of the clearinghouse established under section 4— 

19 (1) to develop a filing, coding, and cross-index20 ing system to carry out the purposes of this Act 

21 (which shall include an index of all persons identi22 fied in the reports, registrations, and other informa23 tion comprising the clearinghouse); 

24 (2) notwithstanding any other provision of law, 

25 to make copies of registrations, reports, and other 


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1 information comprising the clearinghouse available 

2 for public inspection and copying, beginning not 

3 later than 30 days after the information is first 

4 available to the public, and to permit copying of any 

5 such registration, report, or other information by 

6 hand or by copying machine or, at the request of 

7 any person, to furnish a copy of any such registra8 tion, report, or other information upon payment of 

9 the cost of making and furnishing such copy, except 

10 that no information contained in such registration or 

11 report and no such other information shall be sold 

12 or used by any person for the purpose of soliciting 

13 contributions or for any profit-making purpose; 

14 (3) to compile and summarize, for each cal15 endar quarter, the information contained in such 

16 registrations, reports, and other information com17 prising the clearinghouse in a manner which facili18 tates the disclosure of political activities, including, 

19 but not limited to, information on— 

20 (A) political activities pertaining to issues 

21 before the Congress and issues before the exec22 utive branch; and 

23 (B) the political activities of individuals, 

24 organizations, foreign principals, and agents of 


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1 foreign principals who share an economic, busi2 ness, or other common interest; 

3 (4) to make the information compiled and sum4 marized under paragraph (3) available to the public 

5 within 30 days after the close of each calendar quar6 ter, and to publish such information in the Federal 

7 Register at the earliest practicable opportunity; 

8 (5) not later than 150 days after the date of 

9 the enactment of this Act and at any time there10 after, to prescribe, in consultation with the Comp11 troller General, such rules, regulations, and forms, 

12 in conformity with the provisions of chapter 5 of 

13 title 5, United States Code, as are necessary to 

14 carry out the provisions of section 4 and this section 

15 in the most effective and efficient manner; and 

16 (6) at the request of any Member of the Senate 

17 or Member of the House of Representatives, to pre18 pare and submit to such Member a study or report 

19 relating to the political activities of any person and 

20 consisting only of the information in the registra21 tions, reports, and other information comprising the 

22 clearinghouse. 

23 (b) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section— 

24 (1) the terms ‘‘foreign principal’’ and ‘‘agent of 

25 a foreign principal’’ have the meanings given those 


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1 terms in section 1 of the Foreign Agents Registra2 tion Act of 1938 (22 U.S.C. 611); 

3 (2) the term ‘‘issue before the Congress’’ means 

4 the total of all matters, both substantive and proce5 dural, relating to— 

6 (A) any pending or proposed bill, resolu7 tion, report, nomination, treaty, hearing, inves8 tigation, or other similar matter in either the 

9 Senate or the House of Representatives or any 

10 committee or office of the Congress; or 

11 (B) any pending action by a Member, offi12 cer, or employee of the Congress to affect, or 

13 attempt to affect, any action or proposed action 

14 by any officer or employee of the executive 

15 branch; 

16 (3) the term ‘‘issue before the executive 

17 branch’’ means the total of all matters, both sub18 stantive and procedural, relating to any pending ac19 tion by any executive agency, or by any officer or 

20 employee of the executive branch, concerning— 

21 (A) any pending or proposed rule, rule of 

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1 cers and employees, other than appointments in 

2 the competitive service; or 

3 (B) any issue before the Congress; and 

4 (4) the term ‘‘Member of the House of Rep5 resentatives’’ includes a Delegate or Resident Com6 missioner to the Congress. 

7 SEC. 6. PENALTIES FOR DISCLOSURE. 

8 Any person who discloses information in violation of 

9 section 4(b), and any person who sells or uses information 

10 for the purpose of soliciting contributions or for any prof11 it-making purpose in violation of section 5(a)(2), shall be 

12 imprisoned for a period of not more than 1 year, or fined 

13 under title 18, United States Code, or both. 

14 SEC. 7. AMENDMENTS TO THE FOREIGN AGENTS REG15 ISTRATION ACT OF 1938. 

16 (a) QUARTERLY REPORTS.—Section 2(b) of the For17 eign Agents Registration Act of 1938 (22 U.S.C. 612(b)), 

18 is amended in the first sentence by striking ‘‘, within thir19 ty days’’ and all that follows through ‘‘preceding six 

20 months’ period’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘on January 

21 31, April 30, July 31, and October 31 of each year, file 

22 with the Attorney General a supplement thereto on a form 

23 prescribed by the Attorney General, which shall set forth 

24 regarding the three-month periods ending the previous De25 cember 31, March 31, June 30, and September 30, respecVerDate Nov 24 2008 07:19 Oct 21, 2009 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3859.IH H3859

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1 tively, or if a lesser period, the period since the initial fil2 ing,’’. 

3 (b) EXEMPTION FOR LEGAL REPRESENTATION.— 

4 Section 3(g) of the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 

5 1938 (22 U.S.C. 613(g)) is amended by adding at the end 

6 the following: ‘‘A person may be exempt under this sub7 section only upon filing with the Attorney General a re8 quest for such exemption.’’. 

9 (c) CIVIL PENALTIES.—Section 8 of the Foreign 

10 Agents Registration Act of 1938 (22 U.S.C. 618) is 

11 amended by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(i)(1) Any person who is determined, after notice 

13 and opportunity for an administrative hearing— 

14 ‘‘(A) to have failed to file a registration state15 ment under section 2(a) or a supplement thereto 

16 under section 2(b), 

17 ‘‘(B) to have omitted a material fact required to 

18 be stated therein, or 

19 ‘‘(C) to have made a false statement with re20 spect to such a material fact, 

21 shall be required to pay a civil penalty in an amount not 

22 less than $2,000 or more than $5,000 for each violation 

23 committed. In determining the amount of the penalty, the 

24 Attorney General shall give due consideration to the na25 ture and duration of the violation. 


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1 ‘‘(2)(A) In conducting investigations and hearings 

2 under paragraph (1), administrative law judges may, if 

3 necessary, compel by subpoena the attendance of witnesses 

4 and the production of evidence at any designated place 

5 or hearing. 

6 ‘‘(B) In the case of contumacy or refusal to obey a 

7 subpoena lawfully issued under this paragraph and, upon 

8 application by the Attorney General, an appropriate dis9 trict court of the United States may issue an order requir10 ing compliance with such subpoena and any failure to obey 

11 such order may be punished by such court as contempt 

12 thereof.’’. 

Æ 


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