IIB 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4617 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 28, 2019 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and 

Administration 

AN ACT 

To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to 

clarify the obligation to report acts of foreign election 

influence and require implementation of compliance and 

reporting systems by Federal campaigns to detect and 

report such acts, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

2 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

3 ‘‘Stopping Harmful Interference in Elections for a Lasting 

4 Democracy Act’’ or the ‘‘SHIELD Act’’. 

5 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 

6 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

TITLE I—ENHANCED REPORTING REQUIREMENTS 

Subtitle A—Establishing Duty To Report Foreign Election Interference 

Sec. 101. Federal campaign reporting of foreign contacts. 

Sec. 102. Federal campaign foreign contact reporting compliance system. 

Sec. 103. Criminal penalties. 

Sec. 104. Report to congressional intelligence committees. 

Sec. 105. Rule of construction. 

Subtitle B—Strengthening Oversight of Online Political Advertising 

Sec. 111. Short title. 

Sec. 112. Purpose. 

Sec. 113. Expansion of definition of public communication. 

Sec. 114. Expansion of definition of electioneering communication. 

Sec. 115. Application of disclaimer statements to online communications. 

Sec. 116. Political record requirements for online platforms. 

Sec. 117. Preventing contributions, expenditures, independent expenditures, 

and disbursements for electioneering communications by foreign nationals in the form of online advertising. 

Sec. 118. Independent study on media literacy and online political content consumption. 

TITLE II—CLOSING LOOPHOLES ALLOWING SPENDING BY 

FOREIGN NATIONALS IN ELECTIONS 

Sec. 201. Clarification of prohibition on participation by foreign nationals in 

election-related activities. 

Sec. 202. Clarification of application of foreign money ban to certain disbursements and activities. 

Sec. 203. Audit and report on illicit foreign money in Federal elections. 

Sec. 204. Prohibition on contributions and donations by foreign nationals in 

connections with ballot initiatives and referenda. 

Sec. 205. Expansion of limitations on foreign nationals participating in political 

advertising. 

Sec. 206. Prohibiting establishment of corporation to conceal election contributions and donations by foreign nationals. 

TITLE III—DETERRING FOREIGN INTERFERENCE IN ELECTIONS 

Subtitle A—Deterrence Under Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 


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Sec. 301. Restrictions on exchange of campaign information between candidates 

and foreign powers. 

Sec. 302. Clarification of standard for determining existence of coordination between campaigns and outside interests. 

Sec. 303. Prohibition on provision of substantial assistance relating to contribution or donation by foreign nationals. 

Subtitle B—Prohibiting Deceptive Practices and Preventing Voter 

Intimidation 

Sec. 311. Short title. 

Sec. 312. Prohibition on deceptive practices in Federal elections. 

Sec. 313. Corrective action. 

Sec. 314. Reports to Congress. 

Subtitle C—Inadmissibility and Deportability of Aliens Engaging in Improper 

Election Interference 

Sec. 321. Inadmissibility and deportability of aliens engaging in improper interference in United States elections. 

Subtitle D—Notifying States of Disinformation Campaigns by Foreign 

Nationals 

Sec. 331. Notifying States of disinformation campaigns by foreign nationals. 

Subtitle E—Prohibiting Use of Deepfakes in Election Campaigns 

Sec. 341. Prohibition on distribution of materially deceptive audio or visual 

media prior to election. 

Subtitle F—Assessment of Exemption of Registration Requirements Under 

FARA for Registered Lobbyists 

Sec. 351. Assessment of exemption of registration requirements under FARA 

for registered lobbyists. 

TITLE IV—MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS 

Sec. 401. Effective dates of provisions. 

Sec. 402. Severability. 

1 TITLE I—ENHANCED 

2 REPORTING REQUIREMENTS 

3 Subtitle A—Establishing Duty To 

4 Report Foreign Election Inter5 ference 

6 SEC. 101. FEDERAL CAMPAIGN REPORTING OF FOREIGN 

7 CONTACTS. 

8 (a) INITIAL NOTICE.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 304 of the Federal 

2 Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30104) 

3 is amended by adding at the end the following new 

4 subsection: 

5 ‘‘(j) DISCLOSURE OF REPORTABLE FOREIGN CON6 TACTS.— 

7 ‘‘(1) COMMITTEE OBLIGATION TO NOTIFY.— 

8 Not later than 1 week after a reportable foreign con9 tact, each political committee shall notify the Fed10 eral Bureau of Investigation and the Commission of 

11 the reportable foreign contact and provide a sum12 mary of the circumstances with respect to such re13 portable foreign contact. The Federal Bureau of In14 vestigation, not later than 1 week after receiving a 

15 notification from a political committee under this 

16 paragraph, shall submit to the political committee, 

17 the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of 

18 the House of Representatives, and the Select Com19 mittee on Intelligence of the Senate written or elec20 tronic confirmation of receipt of the notification. 

21 ‘‘(2) INDIVIDUAL OBLIGATION TO NOTIFY.— 

22 Not later than 3 days after a reportable foreign con23 tact— 

24 ‘‘(A) each candidate and each immediate 

25 family member of a candidate shall notify the 


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1 treasurer or other designated official of the 

2 principal campaign committee of such candidate 

3 of the reportable foreign contact and provide a 

4 summary of the circumstances with respect to 

5 such reportable foreign contact; and 

6 ‘‘(B) each official, employee, or agent of a 

7 political committee shall notify the treasurer or 

8 other designated official of the committee of the 

9 reportable foreign contact and provide a sum10 mary of the circumstances with respect to such 

11 reportable foreign contact. 

12 ‘‘(3) REPORTABLE FOREIGN CONTACT.—In this 

13 subsection: 

14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘reportable 

15 foreign contact’ means any direct or indirect 

16 contact or communication that— 

17 ‘‘(i) is between— 

18 ‘‘(I) a candidate, an immediate 

19 family member of the candidate, a po20 litical committee, or any official, em21 ployee, or agent of such committee; 

22 and 

23 ‘‘(II) an individual that the per24 son described in subclause (I) knows, 

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1 lieves is a covered foreign national; 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(ii) the person described in clause 

4 (i)(I) knows, has reason to know, or rea5 sonably believes involves— 

6 ‘‘(I) an offer or other proposal 

7 for a contribution, donation, expendi8 ture, disbursement, or solicitation de9 scribed in section 319; or 

10 ‘‘(II) coordination or collabora11 tion with, an offer or provision of in12 formation or services to or from, or 

13 persistent and repeated contact with, 

14 a covered foreign national in connec15 tion with an election. 

16 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTIONS.— 

17 ‘‘(i) CONTACTS IN OFFICIAL CAPACITY

18 AS ELECTED OFFICIAL.—The term ‘report19 able foreign contact’ shall not include any 

20 contact or communication with a covered 

21 foreign national by an elected official or an 

22 employee of an elected official solely in an 

23 official capacity as such an official or em24 ployee. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) CONTACTS FOR PURPOSES OF

2 ENABLING OBSERVATION OF ELECTIONS

3 BY INTERNATIONAL OBSERVERS.—The 

4 term ‘reportable foreign contact’ shall not 

5 include any contact or communication with 

6 a covered foreign national by any person 

7 which is made for purposes of enabling the 

8 observation of elections in the United 

9 States by a foreign national or the obser10 vation of elections outside of the United 

11 States by a candidate, political committee, 

12 or any official, employee, or agent of such 

13 committee. 

14 ‘‘(iii) EXCEPTIONS NOT APPLICABLE

15 IF CONTACTS OR COMMUNICATIONS IN16 VOLVE PROHIBITED DISBURSEMENTS.—A 

17 contact or communication by an elected of18 ficial or an employee of an elected official 

19 shall not be considered to be made solely 

20 in an official capacity for purposes of 

21 clause (i), and a contact or communication 

22 shall not be considered to be made for pur23 poses of enabling the observation of elec24 tions for purposes of clause (ii), if the con25 tact or communication involves a contribuVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:41 Oct 28, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4617.RFS H4617

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1 tion, donation, expenditure, disbursement, 

2 or solicitation described in section 319. 

3 ‘‘(C) COVERED FOREIGN NATIONAL DE4 FINED.— 

5 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In this paragraph, 

6 the term ‘covered foreign national’ 

7 means— 

8 ‘‘(I) a foreign principal (as de9 fined in section 1(b) of the Foreign 

10 Agents Registration Act of 1938 (22 

11 U.S.C. 611(b)) that is a government 

12 of a foreign country or a foreign polit13 ical party; 

14 ‘‘(II) any person who acts as an 

15 agent, representative, employee, or 

16 servant, or any person who acts in 

17 any other capacity at the order, re18 quest, or under the direction or con19 trol, of a foreign principal described in 

20 subclause (I) or of a person any of 

21 whose activities are directly or indi22 rectly supervised, directed, controlled, 

23 financed, or subsidized in whole or in 

24 major part by a foreign principal de25 scribed in subclause (I); or 


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1 ‘‘(III) any person included in the 

2 list of specially designated nationals 

3 and blocked persons maintained by 

4 the Office of Foreign Assets Control 

5 of the Department of the Treasury 

6 pursuant to authorities relating to the 

7 imposition of sanctions relating to the 

8 conduct of a foreign principal de9 scribed in subclause (I). 

10 ‘‘(ii) CLARIFICATION REGARDING AP11 PLICATION TO CITIZENS OF THE UNITED

12 STATES.—In the case of a citizen of the 

13 United States, subclause (II) of clause (i) 

14 applies only to the extent that the person 

15 involved acts within the scope of that per16 son’s status as the agent of a foreign prin17 cipal described in subclause (I) of clause 

18 (i). 

19 ‘‘(4) IMMEDIATE FAMILY MEMBER.—In this 

20 subsection, the term ‘immediate family member’ 

21 means, with respect to a candidate, a parent, parent22 in-law, spouse, adult child, or sibling.’’. 

23 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made 

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1 able foreign contacts which occur on or after the 

2 date of the enactment of this Act. 

3 (b) INFORMATION INCLUDED ON REPORT.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 304(b) of such Act 

5 (52 U.S.C. 30104(b)) is amended— 

6 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para7 graph (7); 

8 (B) by striking the period at the end of 

9 paragraph (8) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

10 (C) by adding at the end the following new 

11 paragraph: 

12 ‘‘(9) for any reportable foreign contact (as de13 fined in subsection (j)(3))— 

14 ‘‘(A) the date, time, and location of the 

15 contact; 

16 ‘‘(B) the date and time of when a des17 ignated official of the committee was notified of 

18 the contact; 

19 ‘‘(C) the identity of individuals involved; 

20 and 

21 ‘‘(D) a description of the contact, including 

22 the nature of any contribution, donation, ex23 penditure, disbursement, or solicitation involved 

24 and the nature of any activity described in sub25 section (j)(3)(A)(ii)(II) involved.’’. 


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1 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made 

2 by paragraph (1) shall apply with respect to reports 

3 filed on or after the expiration of the 60-day period 

4 which begins on the date of the enactment of this 

5 Act. 

6 SEC. 102. FEDERAL CAMPAIGN FOREIGN CONTACT RE7 PORTING COMPLIANCE SYSTEM. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 302 of the Federal Elec9 tion Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30102) is amended 

10 by adding at the end the following new subsection: 

11 ‘‘(j) REPORTABLE FOREIGN CONTACTS COMPLIANCE

12 POLICY.— 

13 ‘‘(1) REPORTING.—Each political committee 

14 shall establish a policy that requires all officials, em15 ployees, and agents of such committee to notify the 

16 treasurer or other appropriate designated official of 

17 the committee of any reportable foreign contact (as 

18 defined in section 304(j)) not later than 3 days after 

19 such contact was made. 

20 ‘‘(2) RETENTION AND PRESERVATION OF

21 RECORDS.—Each political committee shall establish 

22 a policy that provides for the retention and preserva23 tion of records and information related to reportable 

24 foreign contacts (as so defined) for a period of not 

25 less than 3 years. 


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1 ‘‘(3) CERTIFICATION.— 

2 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Upon filing its state3 ment of organization under section 303(a), and 

4 with each report filed under section 304(a), the 

5 treasurer of each political committee (other 

6 than an authorized committee) shall certify 

7 that— 

8 ‘‘(i) the committee has in place poli9 cies that meet the requirements of para10 graphs (1) and (2); 

11 ‘‘(ii) the committee has designated an 

12 official to monitor compliance with such 

13 policies; and 

14 ‘‘(iii) not later than 1 week after the 

15 beginning of any formal or informal affili16 ation with the committee, all officials, em17 ployees, and agents of such committee 

18 will— 

19 ‘‘(I) receive notice of such poli20 cies; 

21 ‘‘(II) be informed of the prohibi22 tions under section 319; and 

23 ‘‘(III) sign a certification affirm24 ing their understanding of such poli25 cies and prohibitions. 


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1 ‘‘(B) AUTHORIZED COMMITTEES.—With 

2 respect to an authorized committee, the can3 didate shall make the certification required 

4 under subparagraph (A).’’. 

5 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 

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

7 subsection (a) shall apply with respect to political 

8 committees which file a statement of organization 

9 under section 303(a) of the Federal Election Cam10 paign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30103(a)) on or after 

11 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

12 (2) TRANSITION RULE FOR EXISTING COMMIT13 TEES.—Not later than 30 days after the date of the 

14 enactment of this Act, each political committee 

15 under the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 

16 shall file a certification with the Federal Election 

17 Commission that the committee is in compliance 

18 with the requirements of section 302(j) of such Act 

19 (as added by subsection (a)). 

20 SEC. 103. CRIMINAL PENALTIES. 

21 Section 309(d)(1) of the Federal Election Campaign 

22 Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30109(d)(1)) is amended by add23 ing at the end the following new subparagraphs: 

24 ‘‘(E) Any person who knowingly and willfully com25 mits a violation of subsection (j) or (b)(9) of section 304 


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1 or section 302(j) shall be fined not more than $500,000, 

2 imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both. 

3 ‘‘(F) Any person who knowingly and willfully conceals 

4 or destroys any materials relating to a reportable foreign 

5 contact (as defined in section 304(j)) shall be fined not 

6 more than $1,000,000, imprisoned not more than 5 years, 

7 or both.’’. 

8 SEC. 104. REPORT TO CONGRESSIONAL INTELLIGENCE 

9 COMMITTEES. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

11 date of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, 

12 the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation shall 

13 submit to the congressional intelligence committees a re14 port relating to notifications received by the Federal Bu15 reau of Investigation under section 304(j)(1) of the Fed16 eral Election Campaign Act of 1971 (as added by section 

17 101(a) of this Act). 

18 (b) ELEMENTS.—Each report under subsection (a) 

19 shall include, at a minimum, the following with respect 

20 to notifications described in subsection (a): 

21 (1) The number of such notifications received 

22 from political committees during the year covered by 

23 the report. 

24 (2) A description of protocols and procedures 

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1 lating to receipt and maintenance of records relating 

2 to such notifications. 

3 (3) With respect to such notifications received 

4 during the year covered by the report, a description 

5 of any subsequent actions taken by the Director re6 sulting from the receipt of such notifications. 

7 (c) CONGRESSIONAL INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEES

8 DEFINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘congressional intel9 ligence committees’’ has the meaning given that term in 

10 section 3 of the National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 

11 3003). 

12 SEC. 105. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

13 Nothing in this subtitle or the amendments made by 

14 this subtitle shall be construed— 

15 (1) to impede legitimate journalistic activities; 

16 or 

17 (2) to impose any additional limitation on the 

18 right to express political views or to participate in 

19 public discourse of any individual who— 

20 (A) resides in the United States; 

21 (B) is not a citizen of the United States or 

22 a national of the United States, as defined in 

23 section 101(a)(22) of the Immigration and Na24 tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(22)); and 


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1 (C) is not lawfully admitted for permanent 

2 residence, as defined by section 101(a)(20) of 

3 the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

4 1101(a)(20)). 

5 Subtitle B—Strengthening Over6 sight of Online Political Adver7 tising 

8 SEC. 111. SHORT TITLE. 

9 This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘Honest Ads Act’’. 

10 SEC. 112. PURPOSE. 

11 The purpose of this subtitle is to enhance the integ12 rity of American democracy and national security by im13 proving disclosure requirements for online political adver14 tisements in order to uphold the Supreme Court’s well15 established standard that the electorate bears the right to 

16 be fully informed. 

17 SEC. 113. EXPANSION OF DEFINITION OF PUBLIC COMMU18 NICATION. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (22) of section 301 of 

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

21 30101(22)) is amended by striking ‘‘or satellite commu22 nication’’ and inserting ‘‘satellite, paid internet, or paid 

23 digital communication’’. 


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1 (b) TREATMENT OF CONTRIBUTIONS AND EXPENDI2 TURES.—Section 301 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 30101) is 

3 amended— 

4 (1) in paragraph (8)(B)(v), by striking ‘‘on 

5 broadcasting stations, or in newspapers, magazines, 

6 or similar types of general public political adver7 tising’’ and inserting ‘‘in any public communica8 tion’’; and 

9 (2) in paragraph (9)(B)— 

10 (A) by amending clause (i) to read as fol11 lows: 

12 ‘‘(i) any news story, commentary, or 

13 editorial distributed through the facilities 

14 of any broadcasting station or any print, 

15 online, or digital newspaper, magazine, 

16 blog, publication, or periodical, unless such 

17 broadcasting, print, online, or digital facili18 ties are owned or controlled by any polit19 ical party, political committee, or can20 didate;’’; and 

21 (B) in clause (iv), by striking ‘‘on broad22 casting stations, or in newspapers, magazines, 

23 or similar types of general public political ad24 vertising’’ and inserting ‘‘in any public commu25 nication’’. 


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1 (c) DISCLOSURE AND DISCLAIMER STATEMENTS.— 

2 Subsection (a) of section 318 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 

3 30120) is amended— 

4 (1) by striking ‘‘financing any communication 

5 through any broadcasting station, newspaper, maga6 zine, outdoor advertising facility, mailing, or any 

7 other type of general public political advertising’’ 

8 and inserting ‘‘financing any public communication’’; 

9 and 

10 (2) by striking ‘‘solicits any contribution 

11 through any broadcasting station, newspaper, maga12 zine, outdoor advertising facility, mailing, or any 

13 other type of general public political advertising’’ 

14 and inserting ‘‘solicits any contribution through any 

15 public communication’’. 

16 SEC. 114. EXPANSION OF DEFINITION OF ELECTIONEERING 

17 COMMUNICATION. 

18 (a) EXPANSION TO ONLINE COMMUNICATIONS.— 

19 (1) APPLICATION TO QUALIFIED INTERNET AND

20 DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS.— 

21 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subparagraph (A) of 

22 section 304(f)(3) of the Federal Election Cam23 paign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30104(f)(3)(A)) 

24 is amended by striking ‘‘or satellite communica25 tion’’ each place it appears in clauses (i) and 


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1 (ii) and inserting ‘‘satellite, or qualified internet 

2 or digital communication’’. 

3 (B) QUALIFIED INTERNET OR DIGITAL

4 COMMUNICATION.—Paragraph (3) of section 

5 304(f) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 30104(f)) is 

6 amended by adding at the end the following 

7 new subparagraph: 

8 ‘‘(D) QUALIFIED INTERNET OR DIGITAL

9 COMMUNICATION.—The term ‘qualified internet 

10 or digital communication’ means any commu11 nication which is placed or promoted for a fee 

12 on an online platform (as defined in subsection 

13 (k)(3)).’’. 

14 (2) NONAPPLICATION OF RELEVANT ELEC15 TORATE TO ONLINE COMMUNICATIONS.—Section 

16 304(f)(3)(A)(i)(III) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 

17 30104(f)(3)(A)(i)(III)) is amended by inserting ‘‘any 

18 broadcast, cable, or satellite’’ before ‘‘communica19 tion’’. 

20 (3) NEWS EXEMPTION.—Section 

21 304(f)(3)(B)(i) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 

22 30104(f)(3)(B)(i)) is amended to read as follows: 

23 ‘‘(i) a communication appearing in a 

24 news story, commentary, or editorial dis25 tributed through the facilities of any 


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1 broadcasting station or any online or dig2 ital newspaper, magazine, blog, publica3 tion, or periodical, unless such broad4 casting, online, or digital facilities are 

5 owned or controlled by any political party, 

6 political committee, or candidate;’’. 

7 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

8 this section shall apply with respect to communications 

9 made on or after January 1, 2020. 

10 SEC. 115. APPLICATION OF DISCLAIMER STATEMENTS TO 

11 ONLINE COMMUNICATIONS. 

12 (a) CLEAR AND CONSPICUOUS MANNER REQUIRE13 MENT.—Subsection (a) of section 318 of the Federal Elec14 tion Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30120(a)) is 

15 amended— 

16 (1) by striking ‘‘shall clearly state’’ each place 

17 it appears in paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) and in18 serting ‘‘shall state in a clear and conspicuous man19 ner’’; and 

20 (2) by adding at the end the following flush 

21 sentence: ‘‘For purposes of this section, a commu22 nication does not make a statement in a clear and 

23 conspicuous manner if it is difficult to read or hear 

24 or if the placement is easily overlooked.’’. 


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1 (b) SPECIAL RULES FOR QUALIFIED INTERNET OR

2 DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS.— 

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 318 of such Act (52 

4 U.S.C. 30120) is amended by adding at the end the 

5 following new subsection: 

6 ‘‘(e) SPECIAL RULES FOR QUALIFIED INTERNET OR

7 DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS.— 

8 ‘‘(1) SPECIAL RULES WITH RESPECT TO STATE9 MENTS.—In the case of any communication to which 

10 this section applies which is a qualified internet or 

11 digital communication (as defined in section 

12 304(f)(3)(D)) which is disseminated through a me13 dium in which the provision of all of the information 

14 specified in this section is not possible, the commu15 nication shall, in a clear and conspicuous manner— 

16 ‘‘(A) state the name of the person who 

17 paid for the communication; and 

18 ‘‘(B) provide a means for the recipient of 

19 the communication to obtain the remainder of 

20 the information required under this section with 

21 minimal effort and without receiving or viewing 

22 any additional material other than such re23 quired information. 

24 ‘‘(2) SAFE HARBOR FOR DETERMINING CLEAR

25 AND CONSPICUOUS MANNER.—A statement in a 


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1 qualified internet or digital communication (as de2 fined in section 304(f)(3)(D)) shall be considered to 

3 be made in a clear and conspicuous manner as pro4 vided in subsection (a) if the communication meets 

5 the following requirements: 

6 ‘‘(A) TEXT OR GRAPHIC COMMUNICA7 TIONS.—In the case of a text or graphic com8 munication, the statement— 

9 ‘‘(i) appears in letters at least as large 

10 as the majority of the text in the commu11 nication; and 

12 ‘‘(ii) meets the requirements of para13 graphs (2) and (3) of subsection (c). 

14 ‘‘(B) AUDIO COMMUNICATIONS.—In the 

15 case of an audio communication, the statement 

16 is spoken in a clearly audible and intelligible 

17 manner at the beginning or end of the commu18 nication and lasts at least 3 seconds. 

19 ‘‘(C) VIDEO COMMUNICATIONS.—In the 

20 case of a video communication which also in21 cludes audio, the statement— 

22 ‘‘(i) is included at either the beginning 

23 or the end of the communication; and 

24 ‘‘(ii) is made both in— 


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1 ‘‘(I) a written format that meets 

2 the requirements of subparagraph (A) 

3 and appears for at least 4 seconds; 

4 and 

5 ‘‘(II) an audible format that 

6 meets the requirements of subpara7 graph (B). 

8 ‘‘(D) OTHER COMMUNICATIONS.—In the 

9 case of any other type of communication, the 

10 statement is at least as clear and conspicuous 

11 as the statement specified in subparagraph (A), 

12 (B), or (C).’’. 

13 (2) NONAPPLICATION OF CERTAIN EXCEP14 TIONS.—The exceptions provided in section 

15 110.11(f)(1)(i) and (ii) of title 11, Code of Federal 

16 Regulations, or any successor to such rules, shall 

17 have no application to qualified internet or digital 

18 communications (as defined in section 304(f)(3)(D) 

19 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as 

20 added by this Act). 

21 (c) MODIFICATION OF ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS

22 FOR CERTAIN COMMUNICATIONS.—Section 318(d) of such 

23 Act (52 U.S.C. 30120(d)) is amended— 

24 (1) in paragraph (1)(A)— 


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1 (A) by striking ‘‘which is transmitted 

2 through radio’’ and inserting ‘‘which is in an 

3 audio format’’; and 

4 (B) by striking ‘‘BY RADIO’’ in the heading 

5 and inserting ‘‘AUDIO FORMAT’’; 

6 (2) in paragraph (1)(B)— 

7 (A) by striking ‘‘which is transmitted 

8 through television’’ and inserting ‘‘which is in 

9 video format’’; and 

10 (B) by striking ‘‘BY TELEVISION’’ in the 

11 heading and inserting ‘‘VIDEO FORMAT’’; and 

12 (3) in paragraph (2)— 

13 (A) by striking ‘‘transmitted through radio 

14 or television’’ and inserting ‘‘made in audio or 

15 video format’’; and 

16 (B) by striking ‘‘through television’’ in the 

17 second sentence and inserting ‘‘in video for18 mat’’. 

19 SEC. 116. POLITICAL RECORD REQUIREMENTS FOR ONLINE 

20 PLATFORMS. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 304 of the Federal Elec22 tion Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30104), as amend23 ed by section 101(a), is further amended by adding at the 

24 end the following new subsection: 


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1 ‘‘(k) DISCLOSURE OF CERTAIN ONLINE ADVERTISE2 MENTS.— 

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 

4 ‘‘(A) REQUIREMENTS FOR ONLINE PLAT5 FORMS.—An online platform shall maintain, 

6 and make available for online public inspection 

7 in machine readable format, a complete record 

8 of any request to purchase on such online plat9 form a qualified political advertisement which is 

10 made by a person whose aggregate requests to 

11 purchase qualified political advertisements on 

12 such online platform during the calendar year 

13 exceeds $500. 

14 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENTS FOR ADVER15 TISERS.—Any person who requests to purchase 

16 a qualified political advertisement on an online 

17 platform shall provide the online platform with 

18 such information as is necessary for the online 

19 platform to comply with the requirements of 

20 subparagraph (A). 

21 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS OF RECORD.—A record main22 tained under paragraph (1)(A) shall contain— 

23 ‘‘(A) a digital copy of the qualified political 

24 advertisement; 


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1 ‘‘(B) a description of the audience targeted 

2 by the advertisement, the number of views gen3 erated from the advertisement, and the date 

4 and time that the advertisement is first dis5 played and last displayed; and 

6 ‘‘(C) information regarding— 

7 ‘‘(i) the average rate charged for the 

8 advertisement; 

9 ‘‘(ii) the name of the candidate to 

10 which the advertisement refers and the of11 fice to which the candidate is seeking elec12 tion, the election to which the advertise13 ment refers, or the national legislative 

14 issue to which the advertisement refers (as 

15 applicable); 

16 ‘‘(iii) in the case of a request made 

17 by, or on behalf of, a candidate, the name 

18 of the candidate, the authorized committee 

19 of the candidate, and the treasurer of such 

20 committee; and 

21 ‘‘(iv) in the case of any request not 

22 described in clause (iii), the name of the 

23 person purchasing the advertisement, the 

24 name and address of a contact person for 

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1 ficers or members of the executive com2 mittee or of the board of directors of such 

3 person, and, if the person purchasing the 

4 advertisement is acting as the agent of a 

5 foreign principal under the Foreign Agents 

6 Registration Act of 1938, as amended (22 

7 U.S.C. 611 et seq.), a statement that the 

8 person is acting as the agent of a foreign 

9 principal and the identification of the for10 eign principal involved. 

11 ‘‘(3) ONLINE PLATFORM.—For purposes of this 

12 subsection, the term ‘online platform’ means any 

13 public-facing website, web application, or digital ap14 plication (including a social network, ad network, or 

15 search engine) which— 

16 ‘‘(A) sells qualified political advertise17 ments; and 

18 ‘‘(B) has 50,000,000 or more unique 

19 monthly United States visitors or users for a 

20 majority of months during the preceding 12 

21 months. 

22 ‘‘(4) QUALIFIED POLITICAL ADVERTISEMENT.— 

23 For purposes of this subsection, the term ‘qualified 

24 political advertisement’ means any advertisement 

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1 tisements, video advertisements, native advertise2 ments, and sponsorships) that— 

3 ‘‘(A) is made by or on behalf of a can4 didate; or 

5 ‘‘(B) communicates a message relating to 

6 any political matter of national importance, in7 cluding— 

8 ‘‘(i) a candidate; 

9 ‘‘(ii) any election to Federal office; or 

10 ‘‘(iii) a national legislative issue of 

11 public importance. 

12 ‘‘(5) TIME TO MAINTAIN FILE.—The informa13 tion required under this subsection shall be made 

14 available as soon as possible and shall be retained by 

15 the online platform for a period of not less than 4 

16 years. 

17 ‘‘(6) SAFE HARBOR FOR PLATFORMS MAKING

18 BEST EFFORTS TO IDENTIFY REQUESTS WHICH ARE

19 SUBJECT TO RECORD MAINTENANCE REQUIRE20 MENTS.—In accordance with rules established by the 

21 Commission, if an online platform shows that the 

22 platform used best efforts to determine whether or 

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1 section, the online platform shall not be considered 

2 to be in violation of such requirements. 

3 ‘‘(7) PENALTIES.—For penalties for failure by 

4 online platforms, and persons requesting to purchase 

5 a qualified political advertisement on online plat6 forms, to comply with the requirements of this sub7 section, see section 309.’’. 

8 (b) RULEMAKING.—Not later than 120 days after the 

9 date of the enactment of this Act, the Federal Election 

10 Commission shall establish rules— 

11 (1) requiring common data formats for the 

12 record required to be maintained under section 

13 304(k) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 

14 1971 (as added by subsection (a)) so that all online 

15 platforms submit and maintain data online in a com16 mon, machine-readable and publicly accessible for17 mat; 

18 (2) establishing search interface requirements 

19 relating to such record, including searches by can20 didate name, issue, purchaser, and date; and 

21 (3) establishing the criteria for the safe harbor 

22 exception provided under paragraph (6) of section 

23 304(k) of such Act (as added by subsection (a)). 

24 (c) REPORTING.—Not later than 2 years after the 

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1 after, the Chairman of the Federal Election Commission 

2 shall submit a report to Congress on— 

3 (1) matters relating to compliance with and the 

4 enforcement of the requirements of section 304(k) of 

5 the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as 

6 added by subsection (a); 

7 (2) recommendations for any modifications to 

8 such section to assist in carrying out its purposes; 

9 and 

10 (3) identifying ways to bring transparency and 

11 accountability to political advertisements distributed 

12 online for free. 

13 SEC. 117. PREVENTING CONTRIBUTIONS, EXPENDITURES, 

14 INDEPENDENT EXPENDITURES, AND DIS15 BURSEMENTS FOR ELECTIONEERING COM16 MUNICATIONS BY FOREIGN NATIONALS IN 

17 THE FORM OF ONLINE ADVERTISING. 

18 Section 319 of the Federal Election Campaign Act 

19 of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30121) is amended by adding at the 

20 end the following new subsection: 

21 ‘‘(c) RESPONSIBILITIES OF BROADCAST STATIONS, 

22 PROVIDERS OF CABLE AND SATELLITE TELEVISION, AND

23 ONLINE PLATFORMS.— 

24 ‘‘(1) RESPONSIBILITIES DESCRIBED.—Each tel25 evision or radio broadcast station, provider of cable 


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1 or satellite television, or online platform (as defined 

2 in section 304(k)(3)) shall make reasonable efforts 

3 to ensure that communications described in section 

4 318(a) and made available by such station, provider, 

5 or platform are not purchased by a foreign national, 

6 directly or indirectly. For purposes of the previous 

7 sentence, a station, provider, or online platform shall 

8 not be considered to have made reasonable efforts 

9 under this paragraph in the case of the availability 

10 of a communication unless the station, provider, or 

11 online platform directly inquires from the individual 

12 or entity making such purchase whether the pur13 chase is to be made by a foreign national, directly 

14 or indirectly. 

15 ‘‘(2) SPECIAL RULES FOR DISBURSEMENT PAID

16 WITH CREDIT CARD.—For purposes of paragraph 

17 (1), a television or radio broadcast station, provider 

18 of cable or satellite television, or online platform 

19 shall be considered to have made reasonable efforts 

20 under such paragraph in the case of a purchase of 

21 the availability of a communication which is made 

22 with a credit card if— 

23 ‘‘(A) the individual or entity making such 

24 purchase is required, at the time of making 


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1 such purchase, to disclose the credit verification 

2 value of such credit card; and 

3 ‘‘(B) the billing address associated with 

4 such credit card is located in the United States 

5 or, in the case of a purchase made by an indi6 vidual who is a United States citizen living out7 side of the United States, the individual pro8 vides the television or radio broadcast station, 

9 provider of cable or satellite television, or online 

10 platform with the United States mailing ad11 dress the individual uses for voter registration 

12 purposes.’’. 

13 SEC. 118. INDEPENDENT STUDY ON MEDIA LITERACY AND 

14 ONLINE POLITICAL CONTENT CONSUMPTION. 

15 (a) INDEPENDENT STUDY.—Not later than 30 days 

16 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Federal Elec17 tion Commission shall commission an independent study 

18 and report on media literacy with respect to online polit19 ical content consumption among voting-age Americans. 

20 (b) ELEMENTS.—The study and report under sub21 section (a) shall include the following: 

22 (1) An evaluation of media literacy skills, such 

23 as the ability to evaluate sources, synthesize multiple 

24 accounts into a coherent understanding of an issue, 

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1 sponsibly create and share information, among vot2 ing-age Americans. 

3 (2) An analysis of the effects of media literacy 

4 education and particular media literacy skills on the 

5 ability to critically consume online political content, 

6 including political advertising. 

7 (3) Recommendations for improving voting-age 

8 Americans’ ability to critically consume online polit9 ical content, including political advertising. 

10 (c) DEADLINE.—Not later than 270 days after the 

11 date of enactment of this Act, the entity conducting the 

12 study and report under subsection (a) shall submit the re13 port to the Commission. 

14 (d) SUBMISSION TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 30 

15 days after receiving the report under subsection (c), the 

16 Commission shall submit the report to the Committee on 

17 House Administration of the House of Representatives 

18 and the Committee on Rules and Administration of the 

19 Senate, together with such comments on the report as the 

20 Commission considers appropriate. 

21 (e) DEFINITION OF MEDIA LITERACY.—The term 

22 ‘‘media literacy’’ means the ability to— 

23 (1) access relevant and accurate information 

24 through media; 


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1 (2) critically analyze media content and the in2 fluences of media; 

3 (3) evaluate the comprehensiveness, relevance, 

4 credibility, authority, and accuracy of information; 

5 (4) make educated decisions based on informa6 tion obtained from media and digital sources; 

7 (5) operate various forms of technology and 

8 digital tools; and 

9 (6) reflect on how the use of media and tech10 nology may affect private and public life. 

11 TITLE II—CLOSING LOOPHOLES 

12 ALLOWING SPENDING BY 

13 FOREIGN NATIONALS IN 

14 ELECTIONS 

15 SEC. 201. CLARIFICATION OF PROHIBITION ON PARTICIPA16 TION BY FOREIGN NATIONALS IN ELECTION17 RELATED ACTIVITIES. 

18 (a) CLARIFICATION OF PROHIBITION.—Section 

19 319(a) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 

20 U.S.C. 30121(a)) is amended— 

21 (1) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of paragraph 

22 (1); 

23 (2) by striking the period at the end of para24 graph (2) and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 


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1 (3) by adding at the end the following new 

2 paragraph: 

3 ‘‘(3) a foreign national to direct, dictate, con4 trol, or directly or indirectly participate in the deci5 sion making process of any person (including a cor6 poration, labor organization, political committee, or 

7 political organization) with regard to such person’s 

8 Federal or non-Federal election-related activity, in9 cluding any decision concerning the making of con10 tributions, donations, expenditures, or disbursements 

11 in connection with an election for any Federal, 

12 State, or local office or any decision concerning the 

13 administration of a political committee.’’. 

14 (b) CERTIFICATION OF COMPLIANCE.—Section 319 

15 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 30121), as amended by section 

16 117, is further amended by adding at the end the following 

17 new subsection: 

18 ‘‘(d) CERTIFICATION OF COMPLIANCE REQUIRED

19 PRIOR TO CARRYING OUT ACTIVITY.—Prior to the mak20 ing in connection with an election for Federal office of any 

21 contribution, donation, expenditure, independent expendi22 ture, or disbursement for an electioneering communication 

23 by a corporation, labor organization (as defined in section 

24 316(b)), limited liability corporation, or partnership dur25 ing a year, the chief executive officer of the corporation, 


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1 labor organization, limited liability corporation, or part2 nership (or, if the corporation, labor organization, limited 

3 liability corporation, or partnership does not have a chief 

4 executive officer, the highest ranking official of the cor5 poration, labor organization, limited liability corporation, 

6 or partnership), shall file a certification with the Commis7 sion, under penalty of perjury, that a foreign national did 

8 not direct, dictate, control, or directly or indirectly partici9 pate in the decision making process relating to such activ10 ity in violation of subsection (a)(3), unless the chief execu11 tive officer has previously filed such a certification during 

12 that calendar year.’’. 

13 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

14 this section shall take effect upon the expiration of the 

15 180-day period which begins on the date of the enactment 

16 of this Act. 

17 SEC. 202. CLARIFICATION OF APPLICATION OF FOREIGN 

18 MONEY BAN TO CERTAIN DISBURSEMENTS 

19 AND ACTIVITIES. 

20 (a) APPLICATION TO DISBURSEMENTS TO SUPER

21 PACS.—Section 319(a)(1)(A) of the Federal Election 

22 Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30121(a)(1)(A)) is 

23 amended by striking the semicolon and inserting the fol24 lowing: ‘‘, including any disbursement to a political com25 mittee which accepts donations or contributions that do 


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1 not comply with the limitations, prohibitions, and report2 ing requirements of this Act (or any disbursement to or 

3 on behalf of any account of a political committee which 

4 is established for the purpose of accepting such donations 

5 or contributions);’’. 

6 (b) CONDITIONS UNDER WHICH CORPORATE PACS

7 MAY MAKE CONTRIBUTIONS AND EXPENDITURES.—Sec8 tion 316(b) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 30118(b)) is amended 

9 by adding at the end the following new paragraph: 

10 ‘‘(8) A separate segregated fund established by a cor11 poration may not make a contribution or expenditure dur12 ing a year unless the fund has certified to the Commission 

13 the following during the year: 

14 ‘‘(A) Each individual who manages the fund, 

15 and who is responsible for exercising decisionmaking 

16 authority for the fund, is a citizen of the United 

17 States or is lawfully admitted for permanent resi18 dence in the United States. 

19 ‘‘(B) No foreign national under section 319 

20 participates in any way in the decisionmaking proc21 esses of the fund with regard to contributions or ex22 penditures under this Act. 

23 ‘‘(C) The fund does not solicit or accept rec24 ommendations from any foreign national under secVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:41 Oct 28, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00037 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4617.RFS H4617

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1 tion 319 with respect to the contributions or expend2 itures made by the fund. 

3 ‘‘(D) Any member of the board of directors of 

4 the corporation who is a foreign national under sec5 tion 319 abstains from voting on matters concerning 

6 the fund or its activities.’’. 

7 SEC. 203. AUDIT AND REPORT ON ILLICIT FOREIGN MONEY 

8 IN FEDERAL ELECTIONS. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title III of the Federal Election 

10 Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30101 et seq.) is 

11 amended by inserting after section 319 the following new 

12 section: 

13 ‘‘SEC. 319A. AUDIT AND REPORT ON DISBURSEMENTS BY 

14 FOREIGN NATIONALS. 

15 ‘‘(a) AUDIT.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall con17 duct an audit after each Federal election cycle to de18 termine the incidence of illicit foreign money in such 

19 Federal election cycle. 

20 ‘‘(2) PROCEDURES.—In carrying out paragraph 

21 (1), the Commission shall conduct random audits of 

22 any disbursements required to be reported under 

23 this Act, in accordance with procedures established 

24 by the Commission. 


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1 ‘‘(b) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the end 

2 of each Federal election cycle, the Commission shall sub3 mit to Congress a report containing— 

4 ‘‘(1) results of the audit required by subsection 

5 (a)(1); 

6 ‘‘(2) an analysis of the extent to which illicit 

7 foreign money was used to carry out disinformation 

8 and propaganda campaigns focused on depressing 

9 turnout among rural communities and the success or 

10 failure of these efforts, together with recommenda11 tions to address these efforts in future elections; 

12 ‘‘(3) an analysis of the extent to which illicit 

13 foreign money was used to carry out disinformation 

14 and propaganda campaigns focused on depressing 

15 turnout among African-American and other minority 

16 communities and the success or failure of these ef17 forts, together with recommendations to address 

18 these efforts in future elections; 

19 ‘‘(4) an analysis of the extent to which illicit 

20 foreign money was used to carry out disinformation 

21 and propaganda campaigns focused on influencing 

22 military and veteran communities and the success or 

23 failure of these efforts, together with recommenda24 tions to address these efforts in future elections; and 


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1 ‘‘(5) recommendations to address the presence 

2 of illicit foreign money in elections, as appropriate. 

3 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section: 

4 ‘‘(1) The term ‘Federal election cycle’ means 

5 the period which begins on the day after the date of 

6 a regularly scheduled general election for Federal of7 fice and which ends on the date of the first regularly 

8 scheduled general election for Federal office held 

9 after such date. 

10 ‘‘(2) The term ‘illicit foreign money’ means any 

11 disbursement by a foreign national (as defined in 

12 section 319(b)) prohibited under such section.’’. 

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

14 subsection (a) shall apply with respect to the Federal elec15 tion cycle that began during November 2018, and each 

16 succeeding Federal election cycle. 

17 SEC. 204. PROHIBITION ON CONTRIBUTIONS AND DONA18 TIONS BY FOREIGN NATIONALS IN CONNEC19 TIONS WITH BALLOT INITIATIVES AND 

20 REFERENDA. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 319(a)(1)(A) of the Fed22 eral Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 

23 30121(a)(1)(A)) is amended by striking ‘‘election’’ and in24 serting the following: ‘‘election, including a State or local 

25 ballot initiative or referendum’’. 


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

2 this section shall apply with respect to elections held in 

3 2020 or any succeeding year. 

4 SEC. 205. EXPANSION OF LIMITATIONS ON FOREIGN NA5 TIONALS PARTICIPATING IN POLITICAL AD6 VERTISING. 

7 (a) DISBURSEMENTS DESCRIBED.—Section 

8 319(a)(1) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 

9 (52 U.S.C. 30121(a)(1)) is amended— 

10 (1) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of subparagraph 

11 (B); and 

12 (2) by striking subparagraph (C) and inserting 

13 the following: 

14 ‘‘(C) an expenditure; 

15 ‘‘(D) an independent expenditure; 

16 ‘‘(E) a disbursement for an electioneering 

17 communication (within the meaning of section 

18 304(f)(3)); 

19 ‘‘(F) a disbursement for a communication 

20 which is placed or promoted for a fee on a 

21 website, web application, or digital application 

22 that refers to a clearly identified candidate for 

23 election for Federal office and is disseminated 

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1 didate or 30 days before a primary or pref2 erence election, or a convention or caucus of a 

3 political party that has authority to nominate a 

4 candidate for the office sought by the can5 didate; 

6 ‘‘(G) a disbursement for a broadcast, cable 

7 or satellite communication, or for a communica8 tion which is placed or promoted for a fee on 

9 a website, web application, or digital applica10 tion, that promotes, supports, attacks or op11 poses the election of a clearly identified can12 didate for Federal, State, or local office (re13 gardless of whether the communication contains 

14 express advocacy or the functional equivalent of 

15 express advocacy); 

16 ‘‘(H) a disbursement for a broadcast, 

17 cable, or satellite communication, or for any 

18 communication which is placed or promoted for 

19 a fee on an online platform (as defined in sec20 tion 304(k)(3)), that discusses a national legis21 lative issue of public importance in a year in 

22 which a regularly scheduled general election for 

23 Federal office is held, but only if the disburse24 ment is made by a covered foreign national de25 scribed in section 304(j)(3)(C); or 


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1 ‘‘(I) a disbursement by a covered foreign 

2 national described in section 304(j)(3)(C) to 

3 compensate any person for internet activity that 

4 promotes, supports, attacks or opposes the elec5 tion of a clearly identified candidate for Fed6 eral, State, or local office (regardless of whether 

7 the activity communication contains express ad8 vocacy or the functional equivalent of express 

9 advocacy);’’. 

10 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

11 this section shall apply with respect to disbursements 

12 made on or after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

13 SEC. 206. PROHIBITING ESTABLISHMENT OF CORPORATION 

14 TO CONCEAL ELECTION CONTRIBUTIONS 

15 AND DONATIONS BY FOREIGN NATIONALS. 

16 (a) PROHIBITION.—Chapter 29 of title 18, United 

17 States Code is amended by adding at the end the fol18 lowing: 

19 ‘‘§ 612. Establishment of corporation to conceal elec20 tion contributions and donations by for21 eign nationals 

22 ‘‘(a) OFFENSE.—It shall be unlawful for an owner, 

23 officer, attorney, or incorporation agent of a corporation, 

24 company, or other entity to establish or use the corpora25 tion, company, or other entity with the intent to conceal 


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1 an activity of a foreign national (as defined in section 319 

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

3 30121)) prohibited under such section 319. 

4 ‘‘(b) PENALTY.—Any person who violates subsection 

5 (a) shall be imprisoned for not more than 5 years, fined 

6 under this title, or both.’’. 

7 (b) TABLE OF SECTIONS.—The table of sections for 

8 chapter 29 of title 18, United States Code, is amended 

9 by inserting after the item relating to section 611 the fol10 lowing: 

‘‘612. Establishment of corporation to conceal election contributions and donations by foreign nationals.’’. 

11 TITLE III—DETERRING FOREIGN 

12 INTERFERENCE IN ELECTIONS 

13 Subtitle A—Deterrence Under Fed14 eral Election Campaign Act of 

15 1971 

16 SEC. 301. RESTRICTIONS ON EXCHANGE OF CAMPAIGN IN17 FORMATION BETWEEN CANDIDATES AND 

18 FOREIGN POWERS. 

19 Section 319 of the Federal Election Campaign Act 

20 of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30121), as amended by section 117 

21 and section 201(b), is further amended by adding at the 

22 end the following new subsection: 

23 ‘‘(e) RESTRICTIONS ON EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION

24 BETWEEN CANDIDATES AND FOREIGN POWERS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) TREATMENT OF OFFER TO SHARE NON2 PUBLIC CAMPAIGN MATERIAL AS SOLICITATION OF

3 CONTRIBUTION FROM FOREIGN NATIONAL.—If a 

4 candidate or an individual affiliated with the cam5 paign of a candidate, or if a political committee or 

6 an individual affiliated with a political committee, 

7 provides or offers to provide nonpublic campaign 

8 material to a covered foreign national or to another 

9 person whom the candidate, committee, or individual 

10 knows or has reason to know will provide the mate11 rial to a covered foreign national, the candidate, 

12 committee, or individual (as the case may be) shall 

13 be considered for purposes of this section to have so14 licited a contribution or donation described in sub15 section (a)(1)(A) from a foreign national. 

16 ‘‘(2) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection, the fol17 lowing definitions apply: 

18 ‘‘(A) The term ‘candidate’ means an indi19 vidual who seeks nomination for, or election to, 

20 any Federal, State, or local public office. 

21 ‘‘(B) The term ‘covered foreign national’ 

22 has the meaning given such term in section 

23 304(j)(3)(C). 

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

25 campaign’ means, with respect to a candidate, 


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1 an employee of any organization legally author2 ized under Federal, State, or local law to sup3 port the candidate’s campaign for nomination 

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

5 public office, as well as any independent con6 tractor of such an organization and any indi7 vidual who performs services on behalf of the 

8 organization, whether paid or unpaid. 

9 ‘‘(D) The term ‘individual affiliated with a 

10 political committee’ means, with respect to a 

11 political committee, an employee of the com12 mittee as well as any independent contractor of 

13 the committee and any individual who performs 

14 services on behalf of the committee, whether 

15 paid or unpaid. 

16 ‘‘(E) The term ‘nonpublic campaign mate17 rial’ means, with respect to a candidate or a po18 litical committee, campaign material that is 

19 produced by the candidate or the committee or 

20 produced at the candidate or committee’s ex21 pense or request which is not distributed or 

22 made available to the general public or other23 wise in the public domain, including polling and 

24 focus group data and opposition research, ex25 cept that such term does not include material 


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1 produced for purposes of consultations relating 

2 solely to the candidate’s or committee’s position 

3 on a legislative or policy matter.’’. 

4 SEC. 302. CLARIFICATION OF STANDARD FOR DETER5 MINING EXISTENCE OF COORDINATION BE6 TWEEN CAMPAIGNS AND OUTSIDE INTER7 ESTS. 

8 Section 315(a) of the Federal Election Campaign Act 

9 of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30116(a)) is amended by adding at 

10 the end the following new paragraph: 

11 ‘‘(10) For purposes of paragraph (7), an expenditure 

12 or disbursement may be considered to have been made in 

13 cooperation, consultation, or concert with, or coordinated 

14 with, a person without regard to whether or not the co15 operation, consultation, or coordination is carried out pur16 suant to agreement or formal collaboration.’’. 

17 SEC. 303. PROHIBITION ON PROVISION OF SUBSTANTIAL 

18 ASSISTANCE RELATING TO CONTRIBUTION 

19 OR DONATION BY FOREIGN NATIONALS. 

20 Section 319 of the Federal Election Campaign Act 

21 of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30121), as amended by section 117, 

22 section 201(a), section 201(b), and section 301, is further 

23 amended— 

24 (1) in subsection (a)— 


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1 (A) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of para2 graph (2); 

3 (B) by striking the period at the end of 

4 paragraph (3) and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

5 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(4) a person to knowingly provide substantial 

7 assistance to another person in carrying out an ac8 tivity described in paragraph (1), (2), or (3).’’; and 

9 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub10 sections: 

11 ‘‘(f) KNOWINGLY DESCRIBED.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of subsection 

13 (a)(4), the term ‘knowingly’ means actual knowl14 edge, constructive knowledge, awareness of pertinent 

15 facts that would lead a reasonable person to con16 clude there is a substantial probability, or awareness 

17 of pertinent facts that would lead a reasonable per18 son to conduct a reasonable inquiry to establish— 

19 ‘‘(A) with respect to an activity described 

20 in subsection (a)(1), that the contribution, do21 nation, expenditure, independent expenditure, 

22 or disbursement is from a foreign national; 

23 ‘‘(B) with respect to an activity described 

24 in subsection (a)(2), that the contribution or 


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1 donation solicited, accepted, or received is from 

2 a foreign national; and 

3 ‘‘(C) with respect to an activity described 

4 in subsection (a)(3), that the person directing, 

5 dictating, controlling, or directly or indirectly 

6 participating in the decision making process is 

7 a foreign national. 

8 ‘‘(2) PERTINENT FACTS.—For purposes of 

9 paragraph (1), pertinent facts include, but are not 

10 limited to, that the person making the contribution, 

11 donation, expenditure, independent expenditure, or 

12 disbursement, or that the person from whom the 

13 contribution or donation is solicited, accepted, or re14 ceived, or that the person directing, dictating, con15 trolling, or directly or indirectly participating in the 

16 decision making process— 

17 ‘‘(A) uses a foreign passport or passport 

18 number for identification purposes; 

19 ‘‘(B) provides a foreign address; 

20 ‘‘(C) uses a check or other written instru21 ment drawn on a foreign bank, or by a wire 

22 transfer from a foreign bank, in carrying out 

23 the activity; or 

24 ‘‘(D) resides abroad. 


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1 ‘‘(g) SUBSTANTIAL ASSISTANCE DEFINED.—As used 

2 in this section, the term ‘substantial assistance’ means, 

3 with respect to an activity prohibited by paragraph (1), 

4 (2), or (3) of subsection (a), involvement with an intent 

5 to facilitate successful completion of the activity.’’. 

6 Subtitle B—Prohibiting Deceptive 

7 Practices and Preventing Voter 

8 Intimidation 

9 SEC. 311. SHORT TITLE. 

10 This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘Deceptive Prac11 tices and Voter Intimidation Prevention Act of 2019’’. 

12 SEC. 312. PROHIBITION ON DECEPTIVE PRACTICES IN FED13 ERAL ELECTIONS. 

14 (a) PROHIBITION.—Subsection (b) of section 2004 of 

15 the Revised Statutes (52 U.S.C. 10101(b)) is amended— 

16 (1) by striking ‘‘No person’’ and inserting the 

17 following: 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—No person’’; and 

19 (2) by inserting at the end the following new 

20 paragraphs: 

21 ‘‘(2) FALSE STATEMENTS REGARDING FEDERAL

22 ELECTIONS.— 

23 ‘‘(A) PROHIBITION.—No person, whether 

24 acting under color of law or otherwise, shall, 

25 within 90 days before an election described in 


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1 paragraph (5), by any means, including by 

2 means of written, electronic, or telephonic com3 munications, communicate or cause to be com4 municated information described in subpara5 graph (B), or produce information described in 

6 subparagraph (B) with the intent that such in7 formation be communicated, if such person— 

8 ‘‘(i) knows such information to be ma9 terially false; and 

10 ‘‘(ii) has the intent to impede or pre11 vent another person from exercising the 

12 right to vote in an election described in 

13 paragraph (5). 

14 ‘‘(B) INFORMATION DESCRIBED.—Infor15 mation is described in this subparagraph if such 

16 information is regarding— 

17 ‘‘(i) the time, place, or manner of 

18 holding any election described in para19 graph (5); or 

20 ‘‘(ii) the qualifications for or restric21 tions on voter eligibility for any such elec22 tion, including— 

23 ‘‘(I) any criminal penalties asso24 ciated with voting in any such elec25 tion; or 


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1 ‘‘(II) information regarding a 

2 voter’s registration status or eligi3 bility. 

4 ‘‘(3) FALSE STATEMENTS REGARDING PUBLIC

5 ENDORSEMENTS.— 

6 ‘‘(A) PROHIBITION.—No person, whether 

7 acting under color of law or otherwise, shall, 

8 within 90 days before an election described in 

9 paragraph (5), by any means, including by 

10 means of written, electronic, or telephonic com11 munications, communicate, or cause to be com12 municated, a materially false statement about 

13 an endorsement, if such person— 

14 ‘‘(i) knows such statement to be false; 

15 and 

16 ‘‘(ii) has the intent to impede or pre17 vent another person from exercising the 

18 right to vote in an election described in 

19 paragraph (5). 

20 ‘‘(B) DEFINITION OF ‘MATERIALLY

21 FALSE’.—For purposes of subparagraph (A), a 

22 statement about an endorsement is ‘materially 

23 false’ if, with respect to an upcoming election 

24 described in paragraph (5)— 


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1 ‘‘(i) the statement states that a spe2 cifically named person, political party, or 

3 organization has endorsed the election of a 

4 specific candidate for a Federal office de5 scribed in such paragraph; and 

6 ‘‘(ii) such person, political party, or 

7 organization has not endorsed the election 

8 of such candidate. 

9 ‘‘(4) HINDERING, INTERFERING WITH, OR PRE10 VENTING VOTING OR REGISTERING TO VOTE.—No 

11 person, whether acting under color of law or other12 wise, shall intentionally hinder, interfere with, or 

13 prevent another person from voting, registering to 

14 vote, or aiding another person to vote or register to 

15 vote in an election described in paragraph (5). 

16 ‘‘(5) ELECTION DESCRIBED.—An election de17 scribed in this paragraph is any general, primary, 

18 run-off, or special election held solely or in part for 

19 the purpose of nominating or electing a candidate 

20 for the office of President, Vice President, presi21 dential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of 

22 the House of Representatives, or Delegate or Com23 missioner from a Territory or possession.’’. 

24 (b) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (c) of section 

2 2004 of the Revised Statutes (52 U.S.C. 10101(c)) 

3 is amended— 

4 (A) by striking ‘‘Whenever any person’’ 

5 and inserting the following: 

6 ‘‘(1) Whenever any person’’; and 

7 (B) by adding at the end the following new 

8 paragraph: 

9 ‘‘(2) Any person aggrieved by a violation of 

10 subsection (b)(2), (b)(3), or (b)(4) may institute a 

11 civil action for preventive relief, including an appli12 cation in a United States district court for a perma13 nent or temporary injunction, restraining order, or 

14 other order. In any such action, the court, in its dis15 cretion, may allow the prevailing party a reasonable 

16 attorney’s fee as part of the costs.’’. 

17 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

18 (A) Subsection (e) of section 2004 of the 

19 Revised Statutes (52 U.S.C. 10101(e)) is 

20 amended by striking ‘‘subsection (c)’’ and in21 serting ‘‘subsection (c)(1)’’. 

22 (B) Subsection (g) of section 2004 of the 

23 Revised Statutes (52 U.S.C. 10101(g)) is 

24 amended by striking ‘‘subsection (c)’’ and in25 serting ‘‘subsection (c)(1)’’. 


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1 (c) CRIMINAL PENALTIES.— 

2 (1) DECEPTIVE ACTS.—Section 594 of title 18, 

3 United States Code, is amended— 

4 (A) by striking ‘‘Whoever’’ and inserting 

5 the following: 

6 ‘‘(a) INTIMIDATION.—Whoever’’; 

7 (B) in subsection (a), as inserted by sub8 paragraph (A), by striking ‘‘at any election’’ 

9 and inserting ‘‘at any general, primary, run-off, 

10 or special election’’; and 

11 (C) by adding at the end the following new 

12 subsections: 

13 ‘‘(b) DECEPTIVE ACTS.— 

14 ‘‘(1) FALSE STATEMENTS REGARDING FEDERAL

15 ELECTIONS.— 

16 ‘‘(A) PROHIBITION.—It shall be unlawful 

17 for any person, whether acting under color of 

18 law or otherwise, within 90 days before an elec19 tion described in subsection (e), by any means, 

20 including by means of written, electronic, or tel21 ephonic communications, to communicate or 

22 cause to be communicated information de23 scribed in subparagraph (B), or produce infor24 mation described in subparagraph (B) with the 


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1 intent that such information be communicated, 

2 if such person— 

3 ‘‘(i) knows such information to be ma4 terially false; and 

5 ‘‘(ii) has the intent to mislead voters, 

6 or the intent to impede or prevent another 

7 person from exercising the right to vote in 

8 an election described in subsection (e). 

9 ‘‘(B) INFORMATION DESCRIBED.—Infor10 mation is described in this subparagraph if such 

11 information is regarding— 

12 ‘‘(i) the time or place of holding any 

13 election described in subsection (e); or 

14 ‘‘(ii) the qualifications for or restric15 tions on voter eligibility for any such elec16 tion, including— 

17 ‘‘(I) any criminal penalties asso18 ciated with voting in any such elec19 tion; or 

20 ‘‘(II) information regarding a 

21 voter’s registration status or eligi22 bility. 

23 ‘‘(2) PENALTY.—Any person who violates para24 graph (1) shall be fined not more than $100,000, 

25 imprisoned for not more than 5 years, or both. 


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1 ‘‘(c) HINDERING, INTERFERING WITH, OR PRE2 VENTING VOTING OR REGISTERING TO VOTE.— 

3 ‘‘(1) PROHIBITION.—It shall be unlawful for 

4 any person, whether acting under color of law or 

5 otherwise, to intentionally hinder, interfere with, or 

6 prevent another person from voting, registering to 

7 vote, or aiding another person to vote or register to 

8 vote in an election described in subsection (e). 

9 ‘‘(2) PENALTY.—Any person who violates para10 graph (1) shall be fined not more than $100,000, 

11 imprisoned for not more than 5 years, or both. 

12 ‘‘(d) ATTEMPT.—Any person who attempts to commit 

13 any offense described in subsection (a), (b)(1), or (c)(1) 

14 shall be subject to the same penalties as those prescribed 

15 for the offense that the person attempted to commit. 

16 ‘‘(e) ELECTION DESCRIBED.—An election described 

17 in this subsection is any general, primary, run-off, or spe18 cial election held solely or in part for the purpose of nomi19 nating or electing a candidate for the office of President, 

20 Vice President, presidential elector, Member of the Senate, 

21 Member of the House of Representatives, or Delegate or 

22 Commissioner from a Territory or possession.’’. 

23 (2) MODIFICATION OF PENALTY FOR VOTER IN24 TIMIDATION.—Section 594(a) of title 18, United 

25 States Code, as amended by paragraph (1), is 


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1 amended by striking ‘‘fined under this title or im2 prisoned not more than one year’’ and inserting 

3 ‘‘fined not more than $100,000, imprisoned for not 

4 more than 5 years’’. 

5 (3) SENTENCING GUIDELINES.— 

6 (A) REVIEW AND AMENDMENT.—Not later 

7 than 180 days after the date of enactment of 

8 this Act, the United States Sentencing Commis9 sion, pursuant to its authority under section 

10 994 of title 28, United States Code, and in ac11 cordance with this section, shall review and, if 

12 appropriate, amend the Federal sentencing 

13 guidelines and policy statements applicable to 

14 persons convicted of any offense under section 

15 594 of title 18, United States Code, as amend16 ed by this section. 

17 (B) AUTHORIZATION.—The United States 

18 Sentencing Commission may amend the Federal 

19 Sentencing Guidelines in accordance with the 

20 procedures set forth in section 21(a) of the Sen21 tencing Act of 1987 (28 U.S.C. 994 note) as 

22 though the authority under that section had not 

23 expired. 

24 (4) PAYMENTS FOR REFRAINING FROM VOT25 ING.—Subsection (c) of section 11 of the Voting 


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1 Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10307) is amended 

2 by striking ‘‘either for registration to vote or for vot3 ing’’ and inserting ‘‘for registration to vote, for vot4 ing, or for not voting’’. 

5 SEC. 313. CORRECTIVE ACTION. 

6 (a) CORRECTIVE ACTION.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—If the Attorney General re8 ceives a credible report that materially false informa9 tion has been or is being communicated in violation 

10 of paragraphs (2) and (3) of section 2004(b) of the 

11 Revised Statutes (52 U.S.C. 10101(b)), as added by 

12 section 312(a), and if the Attorney General deter13 mines that State and local election officials have not 

14 taken adequate steps to promptly communicate accu15 rate information to correct the materially false infor16 mation, the Attorney General shall, pursuant to the 

17 written procedures and standards under subsection 

18 (b), communicate to the public, by any means, in19 cluding by means of written, electronic, or telephonic 

20 communications, accurate information designed to 

21 correct the materially false information. 

22 (2) COMMUNICATION OF CORRECTIVE INFORMA23 TION.—Any information communicated by the Attor24 ney General under paragraph (1)— 

25 (A) shall— 


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1 (i) be accurate and objective; 

2 (ii) consist of only the information 

3 necessary to correct the materially false in4 formation that has been or is being com5 municated; and 

6 (iii) to the extent practicable, be by a 

7 means that the Attorney General deter8 mines will reach the persons to whom the 

9 materially false information has been or is 

10 being communicated; and 

11 (B) shall not be designed to favor or dis12 favor any particular candidate, organization, or 

13 political party. 

14 (b) WRITTEN PROCEDURES AND STANDARDS FOR

15 TAKING CORRECTIVE ACTION.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

17 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney 

18 General shall publish written procedures and stand19 ards for determining when and how corrective action 

20 will be taken under this section. 

21 (2) INCLUSION OF APPROPRIATE DEADLINES.— 

22 The procedures and standards under paragraph (1) 

23 shall include appropriate deadlines, based in part on 

24 the number of days remaining before the upcoming 

25 election. 


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1 (3) CONSULTATION.—In developing the proce2 dures and standards under paragraph (1), the Attor3 ney General shall consult with the Election Assist4 ance Commission, State and local election officials, 

5 civil rights organizations, voting rights groups, voter 

6 protection groups, and other interested community 

7 organizations. 

8 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

9 are authorized to be appropriated to the Attorney General 

10 such sums as may be necessary to carry out this subtitle. 

11 SEC. 314. REPORTS TO CONGRESS. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after 

13 each general election for Federal office, the Attorney Gen14 eral shall submit to Congress a report compiling all allega15 tions received by the Attorney General of deceptive prac16 tices described in paragraphs (2), (3), and (4) of section 

17 2004(b) of the Revised Statutes (52 U.S.C. 10101(b)), as 

18 added by section 312(a), relating to the general election 

19 for Federal office and any primary, run-off, or a special 

20 election for Federal office held in the 2 years preceding 

21 the general election. 

22 (b) CONTENTS.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each report submitted 

24 under subsection (a) shall include— 


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1 (A) a description of each allegation of a 

2 deceptive practice described in subsection (a), 

3 including the geographic location, racial and 

4 ethnic composition, and language minority5 group membership of the persons toward whom 

6 the alleged deceptive practice was directed; 

7 (B) the status of the investigation of each 

8 allegation described in subparagraph (A); 

9 (C) a description of each corrective action 

10 taken by the Attorney General under section 

11 4(a) in response to an allegation described in 

12 subparagraph (A); 

13 (D) a description of each referral of an al14 legation described in subparagraph (A) to other 

15 Federal, State, or local agencies; 

16 (E) to the extent information is available, 

17 a description of any civil action instituted under 

18 section 2004(c)(2) of the Revised Statutes (52 

19 U.S.C. 10101(c)(2)), as added by section 

20 312(b), in connection with an allegation de21 scribed in subparagraph (A); and 

22 (F) a description of any criminal prosecu23 tion instituted under section 594 of title 18, 

24 United States Code, as amended by section 

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1 tion described in subparagraph (A) by the At2 torney General. 

3 (2) EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN INFORMATION.— 

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General 

5 shall not include in a report submitted under 

6 subsection (a) any information protected from 

7 disclosure by rule 6(e) of the Federal Rules of 

8 Criminal Procedure or any Federal criminal 

9 statute. 

10 (B) EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN OTHER IN11 FORMATION.—The Attorney General may deter12 mine that the following information shall not be 

13 included in a report submitted under subsection 

14 (a): 

15 (i) Any information that is privileged. 

16 (ii) Any information concerning an 

17 ongoing investigation. 

18 (iii) Any information concerning a 

19 criminal or civil proceeding conducted 

20 under seal. 

21 (iv) Any other nonpublic information 

22 that the Attorney General determines the 

23 disclosure of which could reasonably be ex24 pected to infringe on the rights of any inVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:41 Oct 28, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00063 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4617.RFS H4617

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1 dividual or adversely affect the integrity of 

2 a pending or future criminal investigation. 

3 (c) REPORT MADE PUBLIC.—On the date that the 

4 Attorney General submits the report under subsection (a), 

5 the Attorney General shall also make the report publicly 

6 available through the Internet and other appropriate 

7 means. 

8 Subtitle C—Inadmissibility and De9 portability of Aliens Engaging 

10 in Improper Election Inter11 ference 

12 SEC. 321. INADMISSIBILITY AND DEPORTABILITY OF 

13 ALIENS ENGAGING IN IMPROPER INTER14 FERENCE IN UNITED STATES ELECTIONS. 

15 (a) INADMISSIBILITY.—Section 212(a)(3) of the Im16 migration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(3)) is 

17 amended by adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(H) IMPROPER INTERFERENCE IN A

19 UNITED STATES ELECTION.—Any alien who a 

20 consular officer, the Secretary of Homeland Se21 curity, the Secretary of State, or the Attorney 

22 General knows, or has reasonable grounds to 

23 believe, is seeking admission to the United 

24 States to engage in improper interference in a 

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1 proper interference in a United States election, 

2 is inadmissible.’’. 

3 (b) DEPORTABILITY.—Section 237(a) of such Act (8 

4 U.S.C. 1227(a)) is amended by adding at the end the fol5 lowing: 

6 ‘‘(8) IMPROPER INTERFERENCE IN A UNITED

7 STATES ELECTION.—Any alien who has engaged, is 

8 engaged, or at any time after admission engages in 

9 improper interference in a United States election is 

10 deportable.’’. 

11 (c) DEFINITION.—Section 101(a) of such Act (8 

12 U.S.C. 1101(a)) is amended by adding at the end the fol13 lowing: 

14 ‘‘(53) The term ‘improper interference in a 

15 United States election’ means conduct by an alien 

16 that— 

17 ‘‘(A)(i) violates Federal criminal, voting 

18 rights, or campaign finance law; or 

19 ‘‘(ii) is performed by any person acting as 

20 an agent of or on behalf of a foreign govern21 ment or criminal enterprise; and 

22 ‘‘(B) includes any covert, fraudulent, de23 ceptive, or unlawful act or attempted act, un24 dertaken with the purpose or effect of under25 mining public confidence in election processes 


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1 or institutions, or influencing, undermining con2 fidence in, or altering the result or reported re3 sult of, a general or primary Federal, State, or 

4 local election or caucus, including— 

5 ‘‘(i) the campaign of a candidate; or 

6 ‘‘(ii) a ballot measure, including an 

7 amendment, a bond issue, an initiative, a 

8 recall, a referral, or a referendum.’’. 

9 Subtitle D—Notifying States of 

10 Disinformation Campaigns by 

11 Foreign Nationals 

12 SEC. 331. NOTIFYING STATES OF DISINFORMATION CAM13 PAIGNS BY FOREIGN NATIONALS. 

14 (a) REQUIRING DISCLOSURE.—If the Federal Elec15 tion Commission makes a determination that a foreign na16 tional has initiated or has attempted to initiate a 

17 disinformation campaign targeted at an election for public 

18 office held in a State, the Commission shall notify the 

19 State involved of the determination not later than 30 days 

20 after making the determination. 

21 (b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section the term ‘‘foreign 

22 national’’ has the meaning given such term in section 

23 319(b) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 

24 U.S.C. 30121(b)). 


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1 Subtitle E—Prohibiting Use of 

2 Deepfakes in Election Campaigns 

3 SEC. 341. PROHIBITION ON DISTRIBUTION OF MATERIALLY 

4 DECEPTIVE AUDIO OR VISUAL MEDIA PRIOR 

5 TO ELECTION. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title III of the Federal Election 

7 Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30101 et seq.), as 

8 amended by section 203, is further amended by adding 

9 at the end the following new section: 

10 ‘‘SEC. 325. PROHIBITION ON DISTRIBUTION OF MATERI11 ALLY DECEPTIVE MEDIA PRIOR TO ELEC12 TION. 

13 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in sub14 sections (b) and (c), a person, political committee, or other 

15 entity shall not, within 60 days of a election for Federal 

16 office at which a candidate for elective office will appear 

17 on the ballot, distribute, with actual malice, materially de18 ceptive audio or visual media of the candidate with the 

19 intent to injure the candidate’s reputation or to deceive 

20 a voter into voting for or against the candidate. 

21 ‘‘(b) EXCEPTION.— 

22 ‘‘(1) REQUIRED LANGUAGE.—The prohibition 

23 in subsection (a) does not apply if the audio or vis24 ual media includes— 


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1 ‘‘(A) a disclosure stating: ‘‘This 

2 lllll has been manipulated.’’; and 

3 ‘‘(B) filled in the blank in the disclosure 

4 under subparagraph (A), the term ‘image’, 

5 ‘video’, or ‘audio’, as most accurately describes 

6 the media. 

7 ‘‘(2) VISUAL MEDIA.—For visual media, the 

8 text of the disclosure shall appear in a size that is 

9 easily readable by the average viewer and no smaller 

10 than the largest font size of other text appearing in 

11 the visual media. If the visual media does not in12 clude any other text, the disclosure shall appear in 

13 a size that is easily readable by the average viewer. 

14 For visual media that is video, the disclosure shall 

15 appear for the duration of the video. 

16 ‘‘(3) AUDIO-ONLY MEDIA.—If the media con17 sists of audio only, the disclosure shall be read in a 

18 clearly spoken manner and in a pitch that can be 

19 easily heard by the average listener, at the beginning 

20 of the audio, at the end of the audio, and, if the 

21 audio is greater than 2 minutes in length, inter22 spersed within the audio at intervals of not greater 

23 than 2 minutes each. 

24 ‘‘(c) INAPPLICABILITY TO CERTAIN ENTITIES.—This 

25 section does not apply to the following: 


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1 ‘‘(1) A radio or television broadcasting station, 

2 including a cable or satellite television operator, pro3 grammer, or producer, that broadcasts materially 

4 deceptive audio or visual media prohibited by this 

5 section as part of a bona fide newscast, news inter6 view, news documentary, or on-the-spot coverage of 

7 bona fide news events, if the broadcast clearly ac8 knowledges through content or a disclosure, in a 

9 manner that can be easily heard or read by the aver10 age listener or viewer, that there are questions about 

11 the authenticity of the materially deceptive audio or 

12 visual media. 

13 ‘‘(2) A radio or television broadcasting station, 

14 including a cable or satellite television operator, pro15 grammer, or producer, when it is paid to broadcast 

16 materially deceptive audio or visual media. 

17 ‘‘(3) An internet website, or a regularly pub18 lished newspaper, magazine, or other periodical of 

19 general circulation, including an internet or elec20 tronic publication, that routinely carries news and 

21 commentary of general interest, and that publishes 

22 materially deceptive audio or visual media prohibited 

23 by this section, if the publication clearly states that 

24 the materially deceptive audio or visual media does 


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1 not accurately represent the speech or conduct of the 

2 candidate. 

3 ‘‘(4) Materially deceptive audio or visual media 

4 that constitutes satire or parody. 

5 ‘‘(d) CIVIL ACTION.— 

6 ‘‘(1) INJUNCTIVE OR OTHER EQUITABLE RE7 LIEF.—A candidate for elective office whose voice or 

8 likeness appears in a materially deceptive audio or 

9 visual media distributed in violation of this section 

10 may seek injunctive or other equitable relief prohib11 iting the distribution of audio or visual media in vio12 lation of this section. An action under this para13 graph shall be entitled to precedence in accordance 

14 with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. 

15 ‘‘(2) DAMAGES.—A candidate for elective office 

16 whose voice or likeness appears in a materially de17 ceptive audio or visual media distributed in violation 

18 of this section may bring an action for general or 

19 special damages against the person, committee, or 

20 other entity that distributed the materially deceptive 

21 audio or visual media. The court may also award a 

22 prevailing party reasonable attorney’s fees and costs. 

23 This paragraph shall not be construed to limit or 

24 preclude a plaintiff from securing or recovering any 

25 other available remedy. 


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1 ‘‘(3) BURDEN OF PROOF.—In any civil action 

2 alleging a violation of this section, the plaintiff shall 

3 bear the burden of establishing the violation through 

4 clear and convincing evidence. 

5 ‘‘(e) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—This section shall 

6 not be construed to alter or negate any rights, obligations, 

7 or immunities of an interactive service provider under sec8 tion 230 of title 47, United States Code. 

9 ‘‘(f) MATERIALLY DECEPTIVE AUDIO OR VISUAL

10 MEDIA DEFINED.—In this section, the term ‘materially 

11 deceptive audio or visual media’ means an image or an 

12 audio or video recording of a candidate’s appearance, 

13 speech, or conduct that has been intentionally manipulated 

14 in a manner such that both of the following conditions 

15 are met: 

16 ‘‘(1) The image or audio or video recording 

17 would falsely appear to a reasonable person to be 

18 authentic. 

19 ‘‘(2) The image or audio or video recording 

20 would cause a reasonable person to have a fun21 damentally different understanding or impression of 

22 the expressive content of the image or audio or video 

23 recording than that person would have if the person 

24 were hearing or seeing the unaltered, original 

25 version of the image or audio or video recording.’’. 


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1 (b) CRIMINAL PENALTIES.—Section 309(d)(1) of the 

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

3 30109(d)(1)), as amended by section 103, is further 

4 amended by adding at the end the following new subpara5 graph: 

6 ‘‘(G) Any person who knowingly and will7 fully commits a violation of section 325 shall be 

8 fined not more than $100,000, imprisoned not 

9 more than 5 years, or both.’’. 

10 (c) EFFECT ON DEFAMATION ACTION.—For pur11 poses of an action for defamation, a violation of section 

12 325 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as 

13 added by subsection (a), shall constitute defamation per 

14 se. 

15 Subtitle F—Assessment of Exemp16 tion of Registration Require17 ments Under FARA for Reg18 istered Lobbyists 

19 SEC. 351. ASSESSMENT OF EXEMPTION OF REGISTRATION 

20 REQUIREMENTS UNDER FARA FOR REG21 ISTERED LOBBYISTS. 

22 Not later than 90 days after the date of the enact23 ment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United 

24 States shall conduct and submit to Congress an assess25 ment of the implications of the exemption provided under 


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1 the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, as amended 

2 (22 U.S.C. 611 et seq.) for agents of foreign principals 

3 who are also registered lobbyists under the Lobbying Dis4 closure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), and shall 

5 include in the assessment an analysis of the extent to 

6 which revisions in such Acts might mitigate the risk of 

7 foreign government money influencing elections or political 

8 processes in the United States. 

9 TITLE IV—MISCELLANEOUS 

10 PROVISIONS 

11 SEC. 401. EFFECTIVE DATES OF PROVISIONS. 

12 Each provision of this Act and each amendment made 

13 by a provision of this Act shall take effect on the effective 

14 date provided under this Act for such provision or such 

15 amendment without regard to whether or not the Federal 

16 Election Commission, the Attorney General, or any other 

17 person has promulgated regulations to carry out such pro18 vision or such amendment. 

19 SEC. 402. SEVERABILITY. 

20 If any provision of this Act or any amendment made 

21 by this Act, or the application of a provision of this Act 

22 or an amendment made by this Act to any person or cir23 cumstance, is held to be unconstitutional, the remainder 

24 of this Act, and the application of the provisions to any 


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1 person or circumstance, shall not be affected by the hold2 ing. 

Passed the House of Representatives October 23, 

2019. 

Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, 

Clerk. 


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