I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3395 

To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to clarify the treatment 

of information sought or obtained for political advantage from foreign 

nationals, to require political committees under such Act to acknowledge 

in writing that they are aware of the provisions of such Act which 

prohibit the solicitation, acceptance, or receipt of money and other things 

of value from foreign nationals in elections, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 20, 2019 

Mr. SCHIFF 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 

clarify the treatment of information sought or obtained 

for political advantage from foreign nationals, to require 

political committees under such Act to acknowledge in 

writing that they are aware of the provisions of such 

Act which prohibit the solicitation, acceptance, or receipt 

of money and other things of value from foreign nationals in elections, 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Prohibiting Foreign 

3 Election Assistance Act of 2019’’. 

4 SEC. 2. TREATMENT OF INFORMATION SOUGHT OR OB5 TAINED FOR POLITICAL ADVANTAGE FROM 

6 FOREIGN NATIONALS. 

7 (a) CLARIFICATION OF TREATMENT AS THING OF

8 VALUE FOR PURPOSES OF FOREIGN MONEY BAN.—Sec9 tion 319(a)(1)(A) of the Federal Election Campaign Act 

10 of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30121(a)(1)(A)) is amended by strik11 ing ‘‘or other thing of value’’ and inserting ‘‘or other thing 

12 of value (including information sought or obtained for po13 litical advantage)’’. 

14 (b) ENHANCED PENALTY FOR VIOLATION.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 309(d)(1) of such 

16 Act (52 U.S.C. 30109(d)(1)) is amended by adding 

17 at the end the following new subparagraph: 

18 ‘‘(E) Any person who knowingly and willfully com19 mits a violation of section 319 which involves the making, 

20 solicitation, acceptance, or receipt of any contribution, do21 nation, or expenditure involving information sought or ob22 tained for political advantage, shall be fined under title 

23 18, United States Code, or imprisoned for not more than 

24 5 years, or both.’’. 

25 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made 

26 by paragraph (1) shall apply with respect to conVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:18 Jun 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3395.IH H3395

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1 tributions, donations, and expenditures which are 

2 made, solicited, accepted, or received on or after the 

3 date of the enactment of this Act. 

4 SEC. 3. REQUIRING ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF FOREIGN 

5 MONEY BAN BY POLITICAL COMMITTEES. 

6 (a) PROVISION OF INFORMATION BY FEDERAL ELEC7 TION COMMISSION.—Section 303 of the Federal Election 

8 Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30103) is amended by 

9 adding at the end the following new subsection: 

10 ‘‘(e) ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF FOREIGN MONEY

11 BAN.— 

12 ‘‘(1) NOTIFICATION BY COMMISSION.—Not later 

13 than 30 days after a political committee files its 

14 statement of organization under subsection (a), and 

15 biennially thereafter until the committee terminates, 

16 the Commission shall provide the committee with a 

17 written explanation of section 319. 

18 ‘‘(2) ACKNOWLEDGMENT BY COMMITTEE.— 

19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 

20 days after receiving the written explanation of 

21 section 319 under paragraph (1), the committee 

22 shall transmit to the Commission a signed cer23 tification that the committee has received such 

24 written explanation and has provided a copy of 


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1 the explanation to all members, employees, con2 tractors, and volunteers of the committee. 

3 ‘‘(B) PERSON RESPONSIBLE FOR SIGNA4 TURE.—The certification required under sub5 paragraph (A) shall be signed— 

6 ‘‘(i) in the case of an authorized com7 mittee of a candidate, by the candidate; or 

8 ‘‘(ii) in the case of any other political 

9 committee, by the treasurer of the com10 mittee.’’. 

11 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE; TRANSITION FOR EXISTING

12 COMMITTEES.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—The amendment made by 

14 subsection (a) shall apply with respect to political 

15 committees which file statements of organization 

16 under section 303 of the Federal Election Campaign 

17 Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30103) on or after the date 

18 of the enactment of this Act. 

19 (2) TRANSITION FOR EXISTING COMMITTEES.— 

20 (A) NOTIFICATION BY FEDERAL ELECTION

21 COMMISSION.—Not later than 90 days after the 

22 date of the enactment of this Act, the Federal 

23 Election Commission shall provide each political 

24 committee under such Act with the written ex25 planation of section 319 of such Act, as reVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:18 Jun 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3395.IH H3395

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1 quired under section 303(e)(1) of such Act (as 

2 added by subsection (a)). 

3 (B) ACKNOWLEDGMENT BY COMMITTEE.— 

4 Not later than 30 days after receiving the writ5 ten explanation under subparagraph (A), each 

6 political committee under such Act shall trans7 mit to the Federal Election Commission the 

8 signed certification, as required under section 

9 303(e)(2) of such Act (as added by subsection 

10 (a)). 

Æ 


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