I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2353 

To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to require candidates 

for election for public office to refuse offers of assistance from foreign 

powers and to report such offers to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 25, 2019 

Ms. JACKSON LEE (for herself and Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia) 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 

require candidates for election for public office to refuse 

offers of assistance from foreign powers and to report 

such offers to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, 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 ‘‘Duty to Refuse and 

5 Report Foreign Interference in American Elections Act of 

6 2019’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. REQUIRING CANDIDATES TO REFUSE OFFERS OF 

2 ASSISTANCE FROM FOREIGN POWERS AND 

3 TO REPORT OFFERS TO FBI. 

4 (a) REQUIREMENTS DESCRIBED.—Section 319 of the 

5 Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 

6 30121) is amended by adding at the end the following new 

7 subsection: 

8 ‘‘(c) REQUIREMENTS FOR CANDIDATES RECEIVING

9 OFFERS OF ASSISTANCE FROM FOREIGN POWERS.— 

10 ‘‘(1) DUTY TO REFUSE ASSISTANCE AND RE11 PORT OFFER TO FBI.—If a candidate or any indi12 vidual affiliated with a campaign of a candidate 

13 knowingly receives an offer for assistance with the 

14 campaign from a source the candidate or individual 

15 knows is a foreign power or an agent of a foreign 

16 power, the candidate or individual shall— 

17 ‘‘(A) refuse the offer for such assistance; 

18 and 

19 ‘‘(B) notify the Federal Bureau of Inves20 tigation of the offer not later than 72 hours 

21 after receiving the offer. 

22 ‘‘(2) CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENT FOR FED23 ERAL CANDIDATES.—Not later than 10 days after 

24 the expiration of each calendar quarter, each author25 ized committee of a candidate for election for Fed26 eral office shall file a report with the Commission 


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1 certifying that the candidate and the individuals af2 filiated with the candidate’s campaign are in compli3 ance with the requirements of paragraph (1). 

4 ‘‘(3) PENALTY.—Whoever fails to comply with 

5 subsection (a) shall be fined not more than 

6 $250,000, or imprisoned not more than 5 years, or 

7 both. 

8 ‘‘(4) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the fol9 lowing definitions apply: 

10 ‘‘(A) The term ‘agent of a foreign power’ 

11 and the term ‘foreign power’ each has the 

12 meaning given such term in section 101 of the 

13 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 

14 (50 U.S.C. 1801). 

15 ‘‘(B) The term ‘candidate’ means an indi16 vidual who seeks nomination for, or election to, 

17 any Federal, State, or local public office. 

18 ‘‘(C) The term ‘individual affiliated with a 

19 campaign’ means, with respect to a candidate, 

20 an employee of any organization legally author21 ized under Federal, State, or local law to sup22 port the candidate’s campaign for nomination 

23 for, or election to, any Federal, State, or local 

24 public office, as well as any independent con25 tractor of such an organization and any indiVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:04 Apr 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2353.IH H2353

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1 vidual who performs services for the organiza2 tion on an unpaid basis (including an intern or 

3 volunteer).’’. 

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

5 subsection (a) shall take effect 90 days after the date of 

6 the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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