IV 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 458 

Requiring foreign state media outlets with credentialed members in the House 

news media galleries to comply with the Foreign Agents Registration 

Act by prohibiting the admission into such galleries of reporters and 

correspondents who are representatives of such outlets who are not 

in compliance with the requirements of such Act, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 31, 2023 

Mr. BERGMAN submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 

Committee on Rules, and in addition to the Committee on House Administration, 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 

RESOLUTION 

Requiring foreign state media outlets with credentialed members in the House news media galleries to comply with 

the Foreign Agents Registration Act by prohibiting the 

admission into such galleries of reporters and correspondents who are representatives of such outlets who 

are not in compliance with the requirements of such 

Act, and for other purposes. 

Whereas freedom of the press is essential for a functioning 

democracy, which is why Congress grants unparalleled 

access on Capitol Hill to journalists who are credentialed 

members of the Congressional Media Galleries; 


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•HRES 458 IH 

Whereas there is broad bipartisan agreement, however, that 

media outlets owned or controlled by foreign state actors 

cannot be afforded the same privileges as traditional 

media; 

Whereas, while the extraordinary access inside Capitol Hill 

granted to credentialed members of the media helps facilitate accurate reporting to the American public, it is 

also the kind of access coveted by foreign powers seeking 

sensitive information from inside Congress, and those 

with State-sponsored media outlets currently can easily 

obtain such access, even if they openly flout United 

States laws; 

Whereas, in order to effectively safeguard the national security interests of the United States, foreign State-sponsored media outlets must be required to strictly comply 

with the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938 

(FARA) and other United States laws as a prerequisite 

for their journalists to receive credentials in the Congressional Media Galleries; 

Whereas several foreign countries with reported histories of 

spying on Americans, such as Russia, Qatar, and China, 

own and control State-sponsored media outlets whose 

journalists in recent years have been credentialed by the 

House and Senate Media Galleries; 

Whereas over the past decade, the People’s Republic of 

China, Russia, and the State of Qatar have aggressively 

deployed their espionage forces against United States 

Government agencies and government officials, as well as 

targeting thousands of United States businesses and 

Americans perceived to be opponents or dissidents of 

their regimes; 


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Whereas, in January and February 2023, for example, the 

People’s Republic of China brazenly launched a surveillance balloon over the continental United States, which 

was part of a repeated pattern by China, and as a result 

of China’s long history of targeting Americans, the Department of Justice has indicted dozens of entities affiliated with the Chinese Government for cyberattacks and 

surveillance, and the United States Government in July 

2020 took the extraordinary measure of closing the Chinese Consulate in Houston, Texas, because of espionage 

operations being carried out in the Mission; 

Whereas, despite China’s extensive surveillance operations 

targeting Americans, media outlets registered as Chinese 

agents under FARA had over two dozen journalists who 

had received credentials from the Congressional Media 

Galleries in the 118th Congress, and another 16 journalists received credentials in the 118th Congress through 

media outlets reportedly owned or controlled by senior 

members of the Chinese Communist Party, including two 

journalists who received credentials through the China 

News Service, which is not registered under FARA, but 

which was designated in June 2020 by the Department 

of States as a ‘‘foreign mission’’ because the outlet was 

‘‘effectively controlled by the Chinese Government’’; 

Whereas the State of Qatar has reportedly engaged in extensive espionage and surveillance operations to target 

American political leaders who have been up for consideration for top Cabinet positions in both the Trump and 

Biden administrations, as well as numerous senior Members of Congress, and in 2018, for example, Qatari 

agents reportedly helped generate multiple high-profile 

media articles based on hacked materials to target thenVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:29 Jun 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR458.IH HR458

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Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee Ed 

Royce because of his committee’s support of the Hamas 

Sanctions Bill, which was opposed by the State of Qatar; 

Whereas the State of Qatar’s State-sponsored media company, Al Jazeera, reportedly also was deployed to carry 

out surveillance operations targeting young pro-Israel activists at several nonprofit organizations based in Washington, DC; 

Whereas, despite the State of Qatar’s and Al Jazeera’s extensive surveillance operations targeting Americans, at least 

136 Al Jazeera journalists received credentials from the 

House and Senate Media Galleries in the 118th Congress, dramatically more than the 82 New York Times 

journalists who had received such credentials; 

Whereas Al Jazeera journalists were afforded the privilege of 

credentials, even though the Department of Justice had 

determined since at least 2018 that Al Jazeera’s parent 

entity, the Al Jazeera Media Network (AJMN), and its 

various subsidiaries qualify as foreign agents of Qatar 

under FARA, and in a September 14, 2020, letter, the 

Department of Justice stated, ‘‘AJMN is an agent of the 

Government of Qatar under FARA’’, and also stated, 

‘‘AJMN and its affiliates are controlled and funded by 

the Government of Qatar’’ and that the ‘‘Government of 

Qatar has ultimate authority through its control of 

AJMN’s Board of Directors and AJMN’s budget [and] 

exercises ultimate control of AJMN.’’; 

Whereas, in order to preserve the extraordinary access provided to credentialed journalists in the Congressional 

Media Galleries, it is imperative to limit the number of 

credentials available to reporters affiliated with any given 

foreign State-sponsored media outlet; 


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Whereas journalists with foreign State-sponsored media outlets should only be eligible to apply for credentials to the 

Congressional Media Galleries after they have undergone 

background checks performed by the Federal Bureau of 

Investigation (FBI); and 

Whereas this legislation aims to enhance the national security 

of the United States by limiting the access of foreign 

State-sponsored media outlets to credentials from the 

House Media Galleries and by requiring the FBI to perform background checks of journalists with those outlets 

in order to be eligible to receive such credentials: Now, 

therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, 

2 SECTION 1. REQUIREMENTS FOR ADMISSION OF FOREIGN 

3 REPORTERS AND CORRESPONDENTS INTO 

4 HOUSE NEWS MEDIA GALLERIES. 

5 Rule VI of the Rules of the House of Representatives 

6 is amended by adding at the end the following new clause: 

7 ‘‘4.(a) Under the regulations prescribed under clause 

8 2 or clause 3, a reporter or correspondent who is a rep9 resentative of a noncompliant foreign state media outlet 

10 shall not be admitted into the portion of the gallery de11 scribed in clause 2 or clause 3 (as the case may be). In 

12 this paragraph, a ‘noncompliant foreign state media out13 let’ means a foreign state media outlet which either— 

14 ‘‘(1) is not registered as the agent of a foreign 

15 principal under the Foreign Agents Registration Act 

16 of 1938, as amended (22 U.S.C. 611 et seq.) notVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:55 Jun 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR458.IH HR458

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1 withstanding that the outlet is designated as a for2 eign mission by the Secretary of State or is deter3 mined by the Attorney General to be an agent of a 

4 foreign principal for purposes of such Act; or 

5 ‘‘(2) is registered as the agent of a foreign prin6 cipal under such Act but is not otherwise in compli7 ance with the applicable requirements of such Act. 

8 ‘‘(b) Under the regulations prescribed under clause 

9 2 or clause 3, not more than 10 reporters or correspond10 ents who are representatives of the same foreign state 

11 media outlet, including representatives of any outlet which 

12 is owned or controlled by the same foreign state media 

13 outlet, may be admitted into the portion of the gallery de14 scribed in clause 2 or 3 (as the case may be). 

15 ‘‘(c) Under the regulations prescribed under clause 

16 2 or clause 3, a reporter or correspondent who is a rep17 resentative of a foreign state media outlet shall not be ad18 mitted into the portion of the gallery described in clause 

19 2 or 3 (as the case may be) unless the reporter or cor20 respondent certifies to the Speaker that— 

21 ‘‘(1) during the 6-month period which ends on 

22 the date the reporter or correspondent is to be ad23 mitted, the reporter or correspondent has undergone 

24 a background check conducted by the Federal Bu25 reau of Investigation; and 


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1 ‘‘(2) the Federal Bureau of Investigation, on 

2 the basis of the background check, has determined 

3 that the admission of the reporter or correspondent 

4 to such portion of the gallery will not pose a threat 

5 to the security of the United States. 

6 ‘‘(d) In this clause, the term ‘foreign state media out7 let’ means a media outlet which is owned, funded, or con8 trolled by the government of a foreign country or instru9 mentality thereof, a member of the family of the ruling 

10 monarch of a foreign country, or a foreign political 

11 party.’’. 

12 SEC. 2. REPORT ON IMPLEMENTATION. 

13 Not later than 30 days after the date of the adoption 

14 of this resolution, the Chief Administrative Officer of the 

15 House of Representatives, in consultation with the Ser16 geant at Arms, shall submit a report to the Speaker on 

17 the most effective methods for implementing clause 4 of 

18 rule VI of the Rules of the House of Representatives, as 

19 added by section 1. 

Æ 


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