I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3698 

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to provide for additional 

disclosure requirements with respect to content from registered foreign agents. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 11, 2019 

Ms. ESHOO (for herself, Mr. MCNERNEY, and Ms. SCHAKOWSKY) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and 

Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to provide for 

additional disclosure requirements with respect to content 

from registered foreign agents. 

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 ‘‘Foreign Entities Re5 form Act of 2019’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS WITH RESPECT TO 

2 CONTENT FROM REGISTERED FOREIGN 

3 AGENTS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title VII of the Communications 

5 Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) is amended by adding 

6 at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 723. DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS WITH RESPECT TO 

8 CONTENT FROM REGISTERED FOREIGN 

9 AGENTS. 

10 ‘‘(a) RECORD OF REQUESTS FOR COVERED TIME

11 FROM REGISTERED FOREIGN AGENTS.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A covered provider shall 

13 maintain a complete record of a request for covered 

14 time that is made by or on behalf of a registered for15 eign agent. 

16 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS OF RECORD.—A record main17 tained under paragraph (1) shall contain informa18 tion regarding— 

19 ‘‘(A) whether the request for covered time 

20 is accepted or rejected by the provider; 

21 ‘‘(B) the rate (if any) charged for the cov22 ered time; 

23 ‘‘(C) the date and time (if any) on which 

24 the communication is broadcast or otherwise 

25 transmitted by the provider; 

26 ‘‘(D) the class of time that is requested; 


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1 ‘‘(E) the name, address, and phone num2 ber of a contact person for the registered for3 eign agent (and of any person requesting the 

4 covered time on behalf of the agent), and a list 

5 of the chief executive officers or members of the 

6 executive committee or of the board of directors 

7 of the agent (and of any person requesting the 

8 covered time on behalf of the agent); and 

9 ‘‘(F) the name of the foreign principal of 

10 the registered foreign agent. 

11 ‘‘(3) LOCATION; TIME TO RETAIN.—The infor12 mation required under this subsection shall be 

13 placed in the online public inspection file hosted by 

14 the Commission as soon as possible and shall be re15 tained in such file for a period of not less than 2 

16 years. For purposes of the preceding sentence, the 

17 term ‘as soon as possible’ means immediately absent 

18 unusual circumstances. 

19 ‘‘(b) SPONSORSHIP IDENTIFICATION REQUIRE20 MENTS.— 

21 ‘‘(1) APPLICABILITY TO COVERED CONTENT.— 

22 ‘‘(A) ANNOUNCEMENT BY STATION.—For 

23 purposes of section 317, any covered content 

24 broadcast by a broadcast station, if such station 

25 knew or should have known that the content 


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1 was covered content, shall be treated as matter 

2 for which money, service, or other valuable con3 sideration was paid for broadcasting, regardless 

4 of whether any such consideration was paid. 

5 ‘‘(B) DISCLOSURES BY STATION EMPLOY6 EES, PROGRAM PRODUCERS, AND OTHERS.— 

7 For purposes of section 507— 

8 ‘‘(i) any agreement for the broadcast 

9 of covered content, between an employee of 

10 a broadcast station and any registered for11 eign agent who developed, produced, dis12 seminated, or funded the covered content, 

13 shall be treated as acceptance by the em14 ployee and payment by the agent of money, 

15 service, or other valuable consideration for 

16 the broadcast of such content, regardless 

17 of whether any such consideration was 

18 paid; and 

19 ‘‘(ii) any agreement for the inclusion 

20 of covered content as part of a program or 

21 program matter that is intended for broad22 casting over a broadcast station, between 

23 any person in connection with the produc24 tion or preparation of such program or 

25 program matter and any registered foreign 


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1 agent who developed, produced, dissemi2 nated, or funded the covered content, shall 

3 be treated as acceptance by such person 

4 and payment by such agent of money, 

5 service, or other valuable consideration for 

6 such inclusion, regardless of whether any 

7 such consideration was paid. 

8 ‘‘(2) STATEMENT REQUIRED.— 

9 ‘‘(A) IN ANNOUNCEMENT BY STATION.—In 

10 the case of any announcement required by sec11 tion 317 (including as the application of such 

12 section is modified by this subsection) with re13 spect to covered content, such announcement 

14 shall— 

15 ‘‘(i) contain, with respect to each reg16 istered foreign agent who developed, pro17 duced, disseminated, or funded the covered 

18 content— 

19 ‘‘(I) the same statement as the 

20 statement required by section 4(b) of 

21 the Foreign Agents Registration Act 

22 of 1938 (22 U.S.C. 614(b)); or 

23 ‘‘(II) for any such agent for 

24 whom no statement is required under 

25 such section with respect to the covVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:34 Jul 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3698.IH H3698

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1 ered content, a similar statement that 

2 such agent developed, produced, dis3 seminated, or funded (as the case may 

4 be) the covered content on behalf of 

5 the foreign principal; and 

6 ‘‘(ii) be made at regular and periodic 

7 intervals throughout the broadcast of the 

8 covered content. 

9 ‘‘(B) IN DISCLOSURES BY STATION EM10 PLOYEES, PROGRAM PRODUCERS, AND OTH11 ERS.—In the case of any disclosure required by 

12 section 507 (including as the application of 

13 such section is modified by this subsection) with 

14 respect to covered content, such disclosure shall 

15 contain the same information as the informa16 tion described in subparagraph (A)(i). 

17 ‘‘(3) APPLICABILITY TO CABLE OPERATORS

18 AND SATELLITE PROVIDERS.—Not later than 180 

19 days after the date of the enactment of this section, 

20 the Commission shall promulgate regulations that 

21 contain— 

22 ‘‘(A) requirements for cable operators, 

23 DBS providers, and SDARS licensees with re24 spect to the transmission of covered content 

25 that are comparable to the requirements for 


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1 broadcast stations under section 317 (including 

2 as the application of such section is modified by 

3 this subsection) with respect to the broadcast of 

4 covered content; 

5 ‘‘(B) requirements for employees of cable 

6 operators, DBS providers, and SDARS licens7 ees with respect to the transmission of covered 

8 content that are comparable to the require9 ments for employees of broadcast stations 

10 under section 507(a) (including as the applica11 tion of such section is modified by this sub12 section) with respect to the broadcast of covered 

13 content; 

14 ‘‘(C) requirements with respect to the in15 clusion of covered content in any program or 

16 program matter that is intended for trans17 mission by any cable operator, DBS provider, 

18 or SDARS licensee that are comparable to the 

19 requirements with respect to the inclusion of 

20 covered content in any program or program 

21 matter that is intended for broadcasting over a 

22 broadcast station under section 507(b) (includ23 ing as the application of such section is modi24 fied by this subsection); and 


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1 ‘‘(D) requirements with respect to the sup2 plying of any program or program matter that 

3 is intended for transmission by any cable oper4 ator, DBS provider, or SDARS licensee, in any 

5 case in which covered content is included as a 

6 part of the program or program matter being 

7 supplied, that are comparable to the require8 ments with respect to the supplying of any pro9 gram or program matter that is intended for 

10 broadcasting over a broadcast station, in any 

11 case in which covered content is included as a 

12 part of the program or program matter being 

13 supplied, under section 507(c) (including as the 

14 application of such section is modified by this 

15 subsection). 

16 ‘‘(c) QUARTERLY REPORTS.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 14 days 

18 after the end of a calendar quarter during which a 

19 covered provider receives a request for which a 

20 record is required to be maintained under subsection 

21 (a), or broadcasts or otherwise transmits covered 

22 content for which an announcement is required by 

23 section 317 (including as the application of such sec24 tion is modified by subsection (b)) or by the regula25 tions of the Commission issued under paragraph (3) 


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1 of such subsection, such provider shall submit to the 

2 Commission, the Attorney General, and the Sec3 retary of State a report that summarizes any such 

4 requests received, and any such covered content 

5 broadcast or otherwise transmitted, by such provider 

6 during such quarter. 

7 ‘‘(2) FORM AND CONTENTS.—The Commission 

8 may issue regulations prescribing the form and con9 tents of the reports required by paragraph (1). 

10 ‘‘(3) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The Commission, 

11 the Attorney General, and the Secretary of State 

12 shall make the reports submitted under paragraph 

13 (1) publicly available on their internet websites. 

14 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

15 ‘‘(1) AGENT OF A FOREIGN PRINCIPAL.—The 

16 term ‘agent of a foreign principal’ has the meaning 

17 given such term in section 1 of the Foreign Agents 

18 Registration Act of 1938 (22 U.S.C. 611). 

19 ‘‘(2) BROADCAST TIME.—The term ‘broadcast 

20 time’ means broadcast time, as such term is used in 

21 section 315(e). 

22 ‘‘(3) CABLECAST TIME.—The term ‘cablecast 

23 time’ means cablecast time, as such term is used in 

24 section 76.1701 of title 47, Code of Federal Regula25 tions. 


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1 ‘‘(4) CABLE OPERATOR.—The term ‘cable oper2 ator’ has the meaning given such term in section 

3 602. 

4 ‘‘(5) COVERED CONTENT.—The term ‘covered 

5 content’ means any program or other matter that— 

6 ‘‘(A) is broadcast or otherwise transmitted 

7 or intended for broadcast or other transmission 

8 by a covered provider; and 

9 ‘‘(B) is developed, produced, disseminated, 

10 or funded by a registered foreign agent. 

11 ‘‘(6) COVERED PROVIDER.—The term ‘covered 

12 provider’ means a broadcast station licensee, cable 

13 operator, DBS provider, or SDARS licensee. 

14 ‘‘(7) COVERED TIME.—The term ‘covered time’ 

15 means— 

16 ‘‘(A) with respect to a broadcast station li17 censee, broadcast time; 

18 ‘‘(B) with respect to a cable operator, ca19 blecast time; 

20 ‘‘(C) with respect to a DBS provider, DBS 

21 origination time; and 

22 ‘‘(D) with respect to an SDARS licensee, 

23 SDARS origination time. 

24 ‘‘(8) DBS ORIGINATION TIME.—The term ‘DBS 

25 origination time’ means DBS origination time, as 


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1 such term is used in section 25.701(d) of title 47, 

2 Code of Federal Regulations. 

3 ‘‘(9) DBS PROVIDER.—The term ‘DBS pro4 vider’ has the meaning given such term in section 

5 25.701(a) of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations. 

6 ‘‘(10) FOREIGN PRINCIPAL.—The term ‘foreign 

7 principal’ has the meaning given such term in sec8 tion 1 of the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 

9 1938 (22 U.S.C. 611). 

10 ‘‘(11) REGISTERED FOREIGN AGENT.—The 

11 term ‘registered foreign agent’ means an agent of a 

12 foreign principal registered under section 2 of the 

13 Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938 (22 U.S.C. 

14 612). 

15 ‘‘(12) SDARS LICENSEE.—The term ‘SDARS 

16 licensee’ means a licensee in the Satellite Digital 

17 Audio Radio Service, as defined in section 25.103 of 

18 title 47, Code of Federal Regulations. 

19 ‘‘(13) SDARS ORIGINATION TIME.—The term 

20 ‘SDARS origination time’ means SDARS origination 

21 time, as such term is used in section 25.702(b) of 

22 title 47, Code of Federal Regulations.’’. 

23 (b) EFFECTIVE DATES.— 

24 (1) RECORD OF REQUESTS FOR COVERED TIME

25 FROM REGISTERED FOREIGN AGENTS.—Subsection 


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1 (a) of section 723 of the Communications Act of 

2 1934, as added by subsection (a) of this section, 

3 shall apply with respect to a request for covered time 

4 made by a registered foreign agent after the date 

5 that is 90 days after the date of the enactment of 

6 this Act. 

7 (2) SPONSORSHIP IDENTIFICATION REQUIRE8 MENTS.—Subsection (b) of section 723 of the Com9 munications Act of 1934, as added by subsection (a) 

10 of this section, and the regulations promulgated 

11 under paragraph (3) of such subsection (b), shall 

12 apply— 

13 (A) in the case of an announcement by a 

14 covered provider under section 317 of the Com15 munications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 317) (in16 cluding as the application of such section is 

17 modified by such subsection (b)) or under such 

18 regulations, only if the broadcast or other 

19 transmission of covered content occurs after the 

20 date that is 90 days after the Commission pro21 mulgates such regulations; and 

22 (B) in the case of a disclosure under sec23 tion 507 of the Communications Act of 1934 

24 (47 U.S.C. 508) (including as the application of 

25 such section is modified by such subsection (b)) 


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1 or under such regulations, only if the accept2 ance or agreement to accept or payment or 

3 agreement to pay money, service, or other valu4 able consideration (or the agreement in the ab5 sence of any such consideration that is treated 

6 as such acceptance and payment as provided in 

7 such subsection (b) or such regulations) was 

8 made (in the case of a payment) or entered into 

9 (in the case of an agreement) after the date 

10 that is 90 days after the Commission promul11 gates such regulations. 

12 (3) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection, the 

13 terms defined in subsection (d) of section 723 of the 

14 Communications Act of 1934, as added by sub15 section (a) of this section, shall have the meanings 

16 given such terms in such subsection (d). 

Æ 


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