IB 

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Union Calendar No. 196 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4617 

[Report No. 116–246, Part I] 

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. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 8, 2019 

Ms. LOFGREN (for herself, Mr. SARBANES, Mr. RASKIN, Mrs. DAVIS of California, Mr. BUTTERFIELD, Ms. FUDGE, Mr. AGUILAR, Mr. NADLER, Mrs. 

MURPHY of Florida, Mr. MCEACHIN, Mr. MALINOWSKI, and Mr. KILMER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on House Administration, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each 

case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of 

the committee concerned 

OCTOBER 21, 2019 

Additional sponsors: Ms. BONAMICI, Ms. HAALAND, Ms. ESCOBAR, Ms. NORTON, Mr. PHILLIPS, Ms. WILD, Ms. LEE of California, Mrs. BUSTOS, Mr. 

SUOZZI, Mr. VEASEY, Mr. MORELLE, Mr. CA ́RDENAS, Mr. CISNEROS, Mr. 

WELCH, Mr. LANGEVIN, Mr. EVANS, Mr. RYAN, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. 

PALLONE, Mr. COX of California, Ms. TLAIB, Mr. RUSH, Ms. JACKSON

LEE, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York, Mr. 

LYNCH, Mr. CARBAJAL, Mr. DEUTCH, Mr. COOPER, Mr. VELA, Mr. 

KRISHNAMOORTHI, Mr. MICHAEL F. DOYLE of Pennsylvania, Mr. 

CASTEN of Illinois, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Ms. DEAN, Ms. HOULAHAN, Mrs. 

KIRKPATRICK, Ms. CRAIG, Mr. GALLEGO, Mr. SABLAN, Mr. CICILLINE, 

Mr. CRIST, Mr. NEAL, Mrs. MCBATH, Ms. SLOTKIN, Ms. WASSERMAN

SCHULTZ, Mr. LUJA ́N, Mr. PANETTA, Mr. NORCROSS, Mr. GARCI ́A of Illinois, Mr. HIGGINS of New York, Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. 

MEEKS, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. GRIJALVA, 

Mr. CASE, Ms. SHALALA, Mr. ROUDA, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mr. KENNEDY, 

Mr. COURTNEY, Mr. PAPPAS, Mr. KIND, Mr. THOMPSON of California, 


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Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. DEFAZIO, Ms. SCANLON, Ms. MENG, Ms. 

VELA ́ZQUEZ, Mr. TED LIEU of California, Ms. KENDRA S. HORN of 

Oklahoma, Ms. GARCIA of Texas, Mr. GONZALEZ of Texas, Mr. QUIGLEY, 

Mrs. LAWRENCE, Mr. COSTA, Miss RICE of New York, Mr. PRICE of 

North Carolina, Mrs. TORRES of California, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Mr. 

BROWN of Maryland, Ms. SPANBERGER, Ms. SCHRIER, Ms. CASTOR of 

Florida, Mr. LARSEN of Washington, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. 

PERLMUTTER, Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. CORREA, Mr. 

SWALWELL of California, Ms. KUSTER of New Hampshire, Mr. GOLDEN, 

Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. VAN DREW, Ms. PINGREE, Mrs. DEMINGS, Ms. 

WEXTON, Mrs. FLETCHER, Ms. STEVENS, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mr. PETERS, 

Mr. SOTO, Mr. YARMUTH, Mr. SCHNEIDER, Mr. ALLRED, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. TRONE, Mr. GOMEZ, Mrs. LOWEY, Mr. MOULTON, Mr. 

O’HALLERAN, Mr. FOSTER, Ms. BROWNLEY of California, Ms. UNDERWOOD, Mrs. AXNE, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Ms. SPEIER, Mr. COHEN, 

Mr. KIM, Mr. BERA, Mr. BRENDAN F. BOYLE of Pennsylvania, Mrs. LEE

of Nevada, Mr. SMITH of Washington, and Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts 

OCTOBER 21, 2019 

Reported from the Committee on House Administration with an amendment 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

OCTOBER 21, 2019 

Committee on the Judiciary discharged; committed to the Committee of the 

Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on October 8, 2019] 

A BILL 

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. 


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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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

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

5 ‘‘Stopping Harmful Interference in Elections for a Lasting 

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

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

8 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. 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. 

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. 


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TITLE III—DETERRING FOREIGN INTERFERENCE IN ELECTIONS 

Subtitle A—Deterrence Under Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 

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. 

Subtitle B—[Reserved] 

TITLE IV—MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS 

Sec. 401. Effective dates of provisions. 

Sec. 402. Severability. 

1 TITLE I—ENHANCED REPORTING 

2 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.— 

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

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

11 amended by adding at the end the following new sub12 section: 

13 ‘‘(j) DISCLOSURE OF REPORTABLE FOREIGN CON14 TACTS.— 

15 ‘‘(1) COMMITTEE OBLIGATION TO NOTIFY.—Not 

16 later than 1 week after a reportable foreign contact, 

17 each political committee shall notify the Federal Bu18 reau of Investigation and the Commission of the re19 portable foreign contact and provide a summary of 


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1 the circumstances with respect to such reportable for2 eign contact. 

3 ‘‘(2) INDIVIDUAL OBLIGATION TO NOTIFY.—Not 

4 later than 3 days after a reportable foreign contact— 

5 ‘‘(A) each candidate shall notify the treas6 urer or other designated official of the principal 

7 campaign committee of such candidate of the re8 portable foreign contact and provide a summary 

9 of the circumstances with respect to such report10 able foreign contact; and 

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

12 political committee shall notify the treasurer or 

13 other designated official of the committee of the 

14 reportable foreign contact and provide a sum15 mary of the circumstances with respect to such 

16 reportable foreign contact. 

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

18 subsection: 

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

20 foreign contact’ means any direct or indirect 

21 contact or communication that— 

22 ‘‘(i) is between— 

23 ‘‘(I) a candidate, a political com24 mittee, or any official, employee, or 

25 agent of such committee; and 


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1 ‘‘(II) an individual that the per2 son described in subclause (I) knows, 

3 has reason to know, or reasonably be4 lieves is a covered foreign national; 

5 and 

6 ‘‘(ii) the person described in clause 

7 (i)(I) knows, has reason to know, or reason8 ably believes involves— 

9 ‘‘(I) an offer or other proposal for 

10 a contribution, donation, expenditure, 

11 disbursement, or solicitation described 

12 in section 319; or 

13 ‘‘(II) coordination or collabora14 tion with, an offer or provision of in15 formation or services to or from, or 

16 persistent and repeated contact with, a 

17 covered foreign national in connection 

18 with an election. 

19 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—The term ‘reportable for20 eign contact’ shall not include any contact or 

21 communication with a covered foreign national 

22 by an elected official or an employee of an elect23 ed official solely in an official capacity as such 

24 an official or employee. For purposes of the pre25 vious sentence, a contact or communication by 


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1 an elected official or an employee of an elected 

2 official shall not be considered to be made solely 

3 in an official capacity if the contact or commu4 nication involves a contribution, donation, ex5 penditure, disbursement, or solicitation described 

6 in section 319. 

7 ‘‘(C) COVERED FOREIGN NATIONAL DE8 FINED.— 

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

10 the term ‘covered foreign national’ means— 

11 ‘‘(I) a foreign principal (as de12 fined in section 1(b) of the Foreign 

13 Agents Registration Act of 1938 (22 

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

15 a foreign country or a foreign political 

16 party; 

17 ‘‘(II) any person who acts as an 

18 agent, representative, employee, or 

19 servant, or any person who acts in any 

20 other capacity at the order, request, or 

21 under the direction or control, of a for22 eign principal described in subclause 

23 (I) or of a person any of whose activi24 ties are directly or indirectly super25 vised, directed, controlled, financed, or 


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1 subsidized in whole or in major part 

2 by a foreign principal described in 

3 subclause (I); or 

4 ‘‘(III) any person included in the 

5 list of specially designated nationals 

6 and blocked persons maintained by the 

7 Office of Foreign Assets Control of the 

8 Department of the Treasury pursuant 

9 to authorities relating to the imposi10 tion of sanctions relating to the con11 duct of a foreign principal described in 

12 subclause (I). 

13 ‘‘(ii) CLARIFICATION REGARDING AP14 PLICATION TO CITIZENS OF THE UNITED

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

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

17 applies only to the extent that the person 

18 involved acts within the scope of that per19 son’s status as the agent of a foreign prin20 cipal described in subclause (I) of clause 

21 (i).’’. 

22 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

23 paragraph (1) shall apply with respect to reportable 

24 foreign contacts which occur on or after the date of 

25 the enactment of this Act. 


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1 (b) INFORMATION INCLUDED ON REPORT.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 304(b) of such Act (52 

3 U.S.C. 30104(b)) is amended— 

4 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para5 graph (7); 

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

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

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

9 paragraph: 

10 ‘‘(9) for any reportable foreign contact (as de11 fined in subsection (j)(3))— 

12 ‘‘(A) the date, time, and location of the con13 tact; 

14 ‘‘(B) the date and time of when a des15 ignated official of the committee was notified of 

16 the contact; 

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

18 and 

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

20 the nature of any contribution, donation, ex21 penditure, disbursement, or solicitation involved 

22 and the nature of any activity described in sub23 section (j)(3)(A)(ii)(II) involved.’’. 

24 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

25 paragraph (1) shall apply with respect to reports 


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

2 which begins on the date of the enactment of this Act. 

3 SEC. 102. FEDERAL CAMPAIGN FOREIGN CONTACT REPORT4 ING COMPLIANCE SYSTEM. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 302 of the Federal Election 

6 Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30102) is amended by 

7 adding at the end the following new subsection: 

8 ‘‘(j) REPORTABLE FOREIGN CONTACTS COMPLIANCE

9 POLICY.— 

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

11 shall establish a policy that requires all officials, em12 ployees, and agents of such committee to notify the 

13 treasurer or other appropriate designated official of 

14 the committee of any reportable foreign contact (as 

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

16 such contact was made. 

17 ‘‘(2) RETENTION AND PRESERVATION OF

18 RECORDS.—Each political committee shall establish a 

19 policy that provides for the retention and preserva20 tion of records and information related to reportable 

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

22 than 3 years. 

23 ‘‘(3) CERTIFICATION.— 

24 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Upon filing its state25 ment of organization under section 303(a), and 


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

2 treasurer of each political committee (other than 

3 an authorized committee) shall certify that— 

4 ‘‘(i) the committee has in place policies 

5 that meet the requirements of paragraphs 

6 (1) and (2); 

7 ‘‘(ii) the committee has designated an 

8 official to monitor compliance with such 

9 policies; and 

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

11 beginning of any formal or informal affili12 ation with the committee, all officials, em13 ployees, and agents of such committee 

14 will— 

15 ‘‘(I) receive notice of such policies; 

16 ‘‘(II) be informed of the prohibi17 tions under section 319; and 

18 ‘‘(III) sign a certification affirm19 ing their understanding of such poli20 cies and prohibitions. 

21 ‘‘(B) AUTHORIZED COMMITTEES.—With re22 spect to an authorized committee, the candidate 

23 shall make the certification required under sub24 paragraph (A).’’. 

25 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The amendment made by sub2 section (a) shall apply with respect to political com3 mittees which file a statement of organization under 

4 section 303(a) of the Federal Election Campaign Act 

5 of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30103(a)) on or after the date of 

6 the enactment of this Act. 

7 (2) TRANSITION RULE FOR EXISTING COMMIT8 TEES.—Not later than 30 days after the date of the 

9 enactment of this Act, each political committee under 

10 the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 shall file 

11 a certification with the Federal Election Commission 

12 that the committee is in compliance with the require13 ments of section 302(j) of such Act (as added by sub14 section (a)). 

15 SEC. 103. CRIMINAL PENALTIES. 

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

17 Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30109(d)(1)) is amended by adding 

18 at the end the following new subparagraphs: 

19 ‘‘(E) Any person who knowingly and willfully commits 

20 a violation of subsection (j) or (b)(9) of section 304 or sec21 tion 302(j) shall be fined not more than $500,000, impris22 oned not more than 5 years, or both. 

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

24 or destroys any materials relating to a reportable foreign 

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


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

2 both.’’. 

3 SEC. 104. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

4 Nothing in this subtitle or the amendments made by 

5 this subtitle shall be construed— 

6 (1) to impede legitimate journalistic activities; 

7 or 

8 (2) to impose any additional limitation on the 

9 right to express political views or to participate in 

10 public discourse of any individual who— 

11 (A) resides in the United States; 

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

13 a national of the United States, as defined in 

14 section 101(a)(22) of the Immigration and Na15 tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(22)); and 

16 (C) is not lawfully admitted for permanent 

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

18 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

19 1101(a)(20)). 

20 Subtitle B—Strengthening Over21 sight of Online Political Adver22 tising 

23 SEC. 111. SHORT TITLE. 

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


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1 SEC. 112. PURPOSE. 

2 The purpose of this subtitle is to enhance the integrity 

3 of American democracy and national security by improving 

4 disclosure requirements for online political advertisements 

5 in order to uphold the Supreme Court’s well-established 

6 standard that the electorate bears the right to be fully in7 formed. 

8 SEC. 113. EXPANSION OF DEFINITION OF PUBLIC COMMU9 NICATION. 

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

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

12 30101(22)) is amended by striking ‘‘or satellite communica13 tion’’ and inserting ‘‘satellite, paid internet, or paid digital 

14 communication’’. 

15 (b) TREATMENT OF CONTRIBUTIONS AND EXPENDI16 TURES.—Section 301 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 30101) is 

17 amended— 

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

19 broadcasting stations, or in newspapers, magazines, 

20 or similar types of general public political adver21 tising’’ and inserting ‘‘in any public communica22 tion’’; and 

23 (2) in paragraph (9)(B)— 

24 (A) by amending clause (i) to read as fol25 lows: 


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

2 editorial distributed through the facilities of 

3 any broadcasting station or any print, on4 line, or digital newspaper, magazine, blog, 

5 publication, or periodical, unless such 

6 broadcasting, print, online, or digital facili7 ties are owned or controlled by any political 

8 party, political committee, or candidate;’’; 

9 and 

10 (B) in clause (iv), by striking ‘‘on broad11 casting stations, or in newspapers, magazines, or 

12 similar types of general public political adver13 tising’’ and inserting ‘‘in any public commu14 nication’’. 

15 (c) DISCLOSURE AND DISCLAIMER STATEMENTS.— 

16 Subsection (a) of section 318 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 30120) 

17 is amended— 

18 (1) by striking ‘‘financing any communication 

19 through any broadcasting station, newspaper, maga20 zine, outdoor advertising facility, mailing, or any 

21 other type of general public political advertising’’ and 

22 inserting ‘‘financing any public communication’’; 

23 and 

24 (2) by striking ‘‘solicits any contribution through 

25 any broadcasting station, newspaper, magazine, outVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:04 Oct 22, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00015 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H4617.RH H4617

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1 door advertising facility, mailing, or any other type 

2 of general public political advertising’’ and inserting 

3 ‘‘solicits any contribution through any public commu4 nication’’. 

5 SEC. 114. EXPANSION OF DEFINITION OF ELECTIONEERING 

6 COMMUNICATION. 

7 (a) EXPANSION TO ONLINE COMMUNICATIONS.— 

8 (1) APPLICATION TO QUALIFIED INTERNET AND

9 DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS.— 

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

11 section 304(f)(3) of the Federal Election Cam12 paign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30104(f)(3)(A)) is 

13 amended by striking ‘‘or satellite communica14 tion’’ each place it appears in clauses (i) and 

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

16 or digital communication’’. 

17 (B) QUALIFIED INTERNET OR DIGITAL COM18 MUNICATION.—Paragraph (3) of section 304(f) of 

19 such Act (52 U.S.C. 30104(f)) is amended by 

20 adding at the end the following new subpara21 graph: 

22 ‘‘(D) QUALIFIED INTERNET OR DIGITAL

23 COMMUNICATION.—The term ‘qualified internet 

24 or digital communication’ means any commu25 nication which is placed or promoted for a fee on 


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1 an online platform (as defined in subsection 

2 (k)(3)).’’. 

3 (2) NONAPPLICATION OF RELEVANT ELECTORATE

4 TO ONLINE COMMUNICATIONS.—Section 

5 304(f)(3)(A)(i)(III) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 

6 30104(f)(3)(A)(i)(III)) is amended by inserting ‘‘any 

7 broadcast, cable, or satellite’’ before ‘‘communication’’. 

8 (3) NEWS EXEMPTION.—Section 304(f)(3)(B)(i) 

9 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 30104(f)(3)(B)(i)) is amended 

10 to read as follows: 

11 ‘‘(i) a communication appearing in a 

12 news story, commentary, or editorial dis13 tributed through the facilities of any broad14 casting station or any online or digital 

15 newspaper, magazine, blog, publication, or 

16 periodical, unless such broadcasting, online, 

17 or digital facilities are owned or controlled 

18 by any political party, political committee, 

19 or candidate;’’. 

20 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by this 

21 section shall apply with respect to communications made 

22 on or after January 1, 2020. 


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1 SEC. 115. APPLICATION OF DISCLAIMER STATEMENTS TO 

2 ONLINE COMMUNICATIONS. 

3 (a) CLEAR AND CONSPICUOUS MANNER REQUIRE4 MENT.—Subsection (a) of section 318 of the Federal Elec5 tion Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30120(a)) is amend6 ed— 

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

8 appears in paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) and inserting 

9 ‘‘shall state in a clear and conspicuous manner’’; and 

10 (2) by adding at the end the following flush sen11 tence: ‘‘For purposes of this section, a communication 

12 does not make a statement in a clear and conspicuous 

13 manner if it is difficult to read or hear or if the 

14 placement is easily overlooked.’’. 

15 (b) SPECIAL RULES FOR QUALIFIED INTERNET OR

16 DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS.— 

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

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

19 following new subsection: 

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

21 DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS.— 

22 ‘‘(1) SPECIAL RULES WITH RESPECT TO STATE23 MENTS.—In the case of any communication to which 

24 this section applies which is a qualified internet or 

25 digital communication (as defined in section 

26 304(f)(3)(D)) which is disseminated through a meVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:04 Oct 22, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00018 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H4617.RH H4617

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1 dium in which the provision of all of the information 

2 specified in this section is not possible, the commu3 nication shall, in a clear and conspicuous manner— 

4 ‘‘(A) state the name of the person who paid 

5 for the communication; and 

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

7 the communication to obtain the remainder of 

8 the information required under this section with 

9 minimal effort and without receiving or viewing 

10 any additional material other than such re11 quired information. 

12 ‘‘(2) SAFE HARBOR FOR DETERMINING CLEAR

13 AND CONSPICUOUS MANNER.—A statement in a quali14 fied internet or digital communication (as defined in 

15 section 304(f)(3)(D)) shall be considered to be made 

16 in a clear and conspicuous manner as provided in 

17 subsection (a) if the communication meets the fol18 lowing requirements: 

19 ‘‘(A) TEXT OR GRAPHIC COMMUNICA20 TIONS.—In the case of a text or graphic commu21 nication, the statement— 

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

23 as the majority of the text in the commu24 nication; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) meets the requirements of para2 graphs (2) and (3) of subsection (c). 

3 ‘‘(B) AUDIO COMMUNICATIONS.—In the case 

4 of an audio communication, the statement is 

5 spoken in a clearly audible and intelligible man6 ner at the beginning or end of the communica7 tion and lasts at least 3 seconds. 

8 ‘‘(C) VIDEO COMMUNICATIONS.—In the case 

9 of a video communication which also includes 

10 audio, the statement— 

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

12 or the end of the communication; and 

13 ‘‘(ii) is made both in— 

14 ‘‘(I) a written format that meets 

15 the requirements of subparagraph (A) 

16 and appears for at least 4 seconds; and 

17 ‘‘(II) an audible format that 

18 meets the requirements of subpara19 graph (B). 

20 ‘‘(D) OTHER COMMUNICATIONS.—In the 

21 case of any other type of communication, the 

22 statement is at least as clear and conspicuous as 

23 the statement specified in subparagraph (A), (B), 

24 or (C).’’. 


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1 (2) NONAPPLICATION OF CERTAIN EXCEP2 TIONS.—The exceptions provided in section 

3 110.11(f)(1)(i) and (ii) of title 11, Code of Federal 

4 Regulations, or any successor to such rules, shall have 

5 no application to qualified internet or digital commu6 nications (as defined in section 304(f)(3)(D) of the 

7 Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as added by 

8 this Act). 

9 (c) MODIFICATION OF ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS

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

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

12 (1) in paragraph (1)(A)— 

13 (A) by striking ‘‘which is transmitted 

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

15 audio format’’; and 

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

17 and inserting ‘‘AUDIO FORMAT’’; 

18 (2) in paragraph (1)(B)— 

19 (A) by striking ‘‘which is transmitted 

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

21 video format’’; and 

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

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

24 (3) in paragraph (2)— 


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1 (A) by striking ‘‘transmitted through radio 

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

3 video format’’; and 

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

5 second sentence and inserting ‘‘in video format’’. 

6 SEC. 116. POLITICAL RECORD REQUIREMENTS FOR ONLINE 

7 PLATFORMS. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 304 of the Federal Election 

9 Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30104), as amended by 

10 section 101(a), is further amended by adding at the end 

11 the following new subsection: 

12 ‘‘(k) DISCLOSURE OF CERTAIN ONLINE ADVERTISE13 MENTS.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 

15 ‘‘(A) REQUIREMENTS FOR ONLINE PLAT16 FORMS.—An online platform shall maintain, 

17 and make available for online public inspection 

18 in machine readable format, a complete record of 

19 any request to purchase on such online platform 

20 a qualified political advertisement which is 

21 made by a person whose aggregate requests to 

22 purchase qualified political advertisements on 

23 such online platform during the calendar year 

24 exceeds $500. 


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1 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENTS FOR ADVERTISERS.— 

2 Any person who requests to purchase a qualified 

3 political advertisement on an online platform 

4 shall provide the online platform with such in5 formation as is necessary for the online platform 

6 to comply with the requirements of subparagraph 

7 (A). 

8 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS OF RECORD.—A record main9 tained under paragraph (1)(A) shall contain— 

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

11 advertisement; 

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

13 by the advertisement, the number of views gen14 erated from the advertisement, and the date and 

15 time that the advertisement is first displayed 

16 and last displayed; and 

17 ‘‘(C) information regarding— 

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

19 advertisement; 

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

21 which the advertisement refers and the office 

22 to which the candidate is seeking election, 

23 the election to which the advertisement re24 fers, or the national legislative issue to 


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1 which the advertisement refers (as applica2 ble); 

3 ‘‘(iii) in the case of a request made by, 

4 or on behalf of, a candidate, the name of the 

5 candidate, the authorized committee of the 

6 candidate, and the treasurer of such com7 mittee; and 

8 ‘‘(iv) in the case of any request not de9 scribed in clause (iii), the name of the per10 son purchasing the advertisement, the name 

11 and address of a contact person for such 

12 person, and a list of the chief executive offi13 cers or members of the executive committee 

14 or of the board of directors of such person. 

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

16 subsection, the term ‘online platform’ means any pub17 lic-facing website, web application, or digital applica18 tion (including a social network, ad network, or 

19 search engine) which— 

20 ‘‘(A) sells qualified political advertisements; 

21 and 

22 ‘‘(B) has 50,000,000 or more unique month23 ly United States visitors or users for a majority 

24 of months during the preceding 12 months. 


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1 ‘‘(4) QUALIFIED POLITICAL ADVERTISEMENT.— 

2 For purposes of this subsection, the term ‘qualified 

3 political advertisement’ means any advertisement (in4 cluding search engine marketing, display advertise5 ments, video advertisements, native advertisements, 

6 and sponsorships) that— 

7 ‘‘(A) is made by or on behalf of a candidate; 

8 or 

9 ‘‘(B) communicates a message relating to 

10 any political matter of national importance, in11 cluding— 

12 ‘‘(i) a candidate; 

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

14 ‘‘(iii) a national legislative issue of 

15 public importance. 

16 ‘‘(5) TIME TO MAINTAIN FILE.—The information 

17 required under this subsection shall be made available 

18 as soon as possible and shall be retained by the online 

19 platform for a period of not less than 4 years. 

20 ‘‘(6) SAFE HARBOR FOR PLATFORMS MAKING

21 BEST EFFORTS TO IDENTIFY REQUESTS WHICH ARE

22 SUBJECT TO RECORD MAINTENANCE REQUIRE23 MENTS.—In accordance with rules established by the 

24 Commission, if an online platform shows that the 

25 platform used best efforts to determine whether or not 


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1 a request to purchase a qualified political advertise2 ment was subject to the requirements of this sub3 section, the online platform shall not be considered to 

4 be in violation of such requirements. 

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

6 online platforms, and persons requesting to purchase 

7 a qualified political advertisement on online plat8 forms, to comply with the requirements of this sub9 section, see section 309.’’. 

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

11 date of the enactment of this Act, the Federal Election Com12 mission shall establish rules— 

13 (1) requiring common data formats for the 

14 record required to be maintained under section 304(k) 

15 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (as 

16 added by subsection (a)) so that all online platforms 

17 submit and maintain data online in a common, ma18 chine-readable and publicly accessible format; 

19 (2) establishing search interface requirements re20 lating to such record, including searches by candidate 

21 name, issue, purchaser, and date; and 

22 (3) establishing the criteria for the safe harbor 

23 exception provided under paragraph (6) of section 

24 304(k) of such Act (as added by subsection (a)). 


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

2 of the enactment of this Act, and biannually thereafter, the 

3 Chairman of the Federal Election Commission shall submit 

4 a report to Congress on— 

5 (1) matters relating to compliance with and the 

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

7 the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as added 

8 by subsection (a); 

9 (2) recommendations for any modifications to 

10 such section to assist in carrying out its purposes; 

11 and 

12 (3) identifying ways to bring transparency and 

13 accountability to political advertisements distributed 

14 online for free. 

15 SEC. 117. PREVENTING CONTRIBUTIONS, EXPENDITURES, 

16 INDEPENDENT EXPENDITURES, AND DIS17 BURSEMENTS FOR ELECTIONEERING COMMU18 NICATIONS BY FOREIGN NATIONALS IN THE 

19 FORM OF ONLINE ADVERTISING. 

20 Section 319 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 

21 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30121) is amended by adding at the end 

22 the following new subsection: 

23 ‘‘(c) RESPONSIBILITIES OF BROADCAST STATIONS, 

24 PROVIDERS OF CABLE AND SATELLITE TELEVISION, AND

25 ONLINE PLATFORMS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) RESPONSIBILITIES DESCRIBED.—Each tele2 vision or radio broadcast station, provider of cable or 

3 satellite television, or online platform (as defined in 

4 section 304(k)(3)) shall make reasonable efforts to en5 sure that communications described in section 318(a) 

6 and made available by such station, provider, or plat7 form are not purchased by a foreign national, directly 

8 or indirectly. For purposes of the previous sentence, 

9 a station, provider, or online platform shall not be 

10 considered to have made reasonable efforts under this 

11 paragraph in the case of the availability of a commu12 nication unless the station, provider, or online plat13 form directly inquires from the individual or entity 

14 making such purchase whether the purchase is to be 

15 made by a foreign national, directly or indirectly. 

16 ‘‘(2) SPECIAL RULES FOR DISBURSEMENT PAID

17 WITH CREDIT CARD.—For purposes of paragraph (1), 

18 a television or radio broadcast station, provider of 

19 cable or satellite television, or online platform shall be 

20 considered to have made reasonable efforts under such 

21 paragraph in the case of a purchase of the avail22 ability of a communication which is made with a 

23 credit card if— 

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

25 purchase is required, at the time of making such 


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1 purchase, to disclose the credit verification value 

2 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 provides 

8 the television or radio broadcast station, pro9 vider of cable or satellite television, or online 

10 platform with the United States mailing address 

11 the individual uses for voter registration pur12 poses.’’. 

13 TITLE II—CLOSING LOOPHOLES 

14 ALLOWING SPENDING BY 

15 FOREIGN NATIONALS IN 

16 ELECTIONS 

17 SEC. 201. CLARIFICATION OF PROHIBITION ON PARTICIPA18 TION BY FOREIGN NATIONALS IN ELECTION19 RELATED ACTIVITIES. 

20 (a) CLARIFICATION OF PROHIBITION.—Section 319(a) 

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

22 30121(a)) is amended— 

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

24 (2) by striking the period at the end of para25 graph (2) and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 


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1 (3) by adding at the end the following new para2 graph: 

3 ‘‘(3) a foreign national to direct, dictate, control, 

4 or directly or indirectly participate in the decision 

5 making process of any person (including a corpora6 tion, labor organization, political committee, or polit7 ical organization) with regard to such person’s Fed8 eral or non-Federal election-related activity, includ9 ing any decision concerning the making of contribu10 tions, donations, expenditures, or disbursements in 

11 connection with an election for any Federal, State, or 

12 local office or any decision concerning the adminis13 tration of a political committee.’’. 

14 (b) CERTIFICATION OF COMPLIANCE.—Section 319 of 

15 such Act (52 U.S.C. 30121), as amended by section 117, 

16 is further amended by adding at the end the following new 

17 subsection: 

18 ‘‘(d) CERTIFICATION OF COMPLIANCE REQUIRED

19 PRIOR TO CARRYING OUT ACTIVITY.—Prior to the making 

20 in connection with an election for Federal office of any con21 tribution, donation, expenditure, independent expenditure, 

22 or disbursement for an electioneering communication by a 

23 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 corpora5 tion, labor organization, limited liability corporation, or 

6 partnership), shall file a certification with the Commission, 

7 under penalty of perjury, that a foreign national did not 

8 direct, dictate, control, or directly or indirectly participate 

9 in the decision making process relating to such activity in 

10 violation of subsection (a)(3), unless the chief executive offi11 cer has previously filed such a certification during that cal12 endar year.’’. 

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

14 section shall take effect upon the expiration of the 180-day 

15 period which begins on the date of the enactment of this 

16 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 Cam22 paign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30121(a)(1)(A)) is amended 

23 by striking the semicolon and inserting the following: ‘‘, in24 cluding any disbursement to a political committee which 

25 accepts donations or contributions that do not comply with 


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1 the limitations, prohibitions, and reporting requirements of 

2 this Act (or any disbursement to or on behalf of any account 

3 of a political committee which is established for the purpose 

4 of accepting such donations or contributions);’’. 

5 (b) CONDITIONS UNDER WHICH CORPORATE PACS

6 MAY MAKE CONTRIBUTIONS AND EXPENDITURES.—Section 

7 316(b) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 30118(b)) is amended by add8 ing at the end the following new paragraph: 

9 ‘‘(8) A separate segregated fund established by a cor10 poration may not make a contribution or expenditure dur11 ing a year unless the fund has certified to the Commission 

12 the following during the year: 

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

14 and who is responsible for exercising decisionmaking 

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

16 States or is lawfully admitted for permanent resi17 dence in the United States. 

18 ‘‘(B) No foreign national under section 319 par19 ticipates in any way in the decisionmaking processes 

20 of the fund with regard to contributions or expendi21 tures under this Act. 

22 ‘‘(C) The fund does not solicit or accept rec23 ommendations from any foreign national under sec24 tion 319 with respect to the contributions or expendi25 tures made by the fund. 


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

2 corporation who is a foreign national under section 

3 319 abstains from voting on matters concerning the 

4 fund or its activities.’’. 

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

6 IN FEDERAL ELECTIONS. 

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

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

9 by inserting after section 319 the following new section: 

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

11 FOREIGN NATIONALS. 

12 ‘‘(a) AUDIT.— 

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall con14 duct an audit after each Federal election cycle to de15 termine the incidence of illicit foreign money in such 

16 Federal election cycle. 

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

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

19 any disbursements required to be reported under this 

20 Act, in accordance with procedures established by the 

21 Commission. 

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

23 of each Federal election cycle, the Commission shall submit 

24 to Congress a report containing— 


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

2 (a)(1); and 

3 ‘‘(2) recommendations to address the presence of 

4 illicit foreign money in elections, as appropriate. 

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

6 ‘‘(1) The term ‘Federal election cycle’ means the 

7 period which begins on the day after the date of a reg8 ularly scheduled general election for Federal office 

9 and which ends on the date of the first regularly 

10 scheduled general election for Federal office held after 

11 such date. 

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

13 disbursement by a foreign national (as defined in sec14 tion 319(b)) prohibited under such section.’’. 

15 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by sub16 section (a) shall apply with respect to the Federal election 

17 cycle that began during November 2018, and each suc18 ceeding Federal election cycle. 

19 SEC. 204. PROHIBITION ON CONTRIBUTIONS AND DONA20 TIONS BY FOREIGN NATIONALS IN CONNEC21 TIONS WITH BALLOT INITIATIVES AND 

22 REFERENDA. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 319(a)(1)(A) of the Federal 

24 Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30121(a)(1)(A)) 

25 is amended by striking ‘‘election’’ and inserting the folVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:04 Oct 22, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00034 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H4617.RH H4617

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1 lowing: ‘‘election, including a State or local ballot initiative 

2 or referendum’’. 

3 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by this 

4 section shall apply with respect to elections held in 2020 

5 or any succeeding year. 

6 SEC. 205. EXPANSION OF LIMITATIONS ON FOREIGN NA7 TIONALS PARTICIPATING IN POLITICAL AD8 VERTISING. 

9 (a) DISBURSEMENTS DESCRIBED.—Section 319(a)(1) 

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

11 30121(a)(1)) is amended— 

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

13 (B); and 

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

15 the following: 

16 ‘‘(C) an expenditure; 

17 ‘‘(D) an independent expenditure; 

18 ‘‘(E) a disbursement for an electioneering 

19 communication (within the meaning of section 

20 304(f)(3)); 

21 ‘‘(F) a disbursement for a communication 

22 which is placed or promoted for a fee on a 

23 website, web application, or digital application 

24 that refers to a clearly identified candidate for 

25 election for Federal office and is disseminated 


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1 within 60 days before a general, special or runoff 

2 election for the office sought by the candidate or 

3 30 days before a primary or preference election, 

4 or a convention or caucus of a political party 

5 that has authority to nominate a candidate for 

6 the office sought by the candidate; 

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

8 or satellite communication, or for a communica9 tion which is placed or promoted for a fee on a 

10 website, web application, or digital application, 

11 that promotes, supports, attacks or opposes the 

12 election of a clearly identified candidate for Fed13 eral, State, or local office (regardless of whether 

14 the communication contains express advocacy or 

15 the functional equivalent of express advocacy); 

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

17 or satellite communication, or for any commu18 nication which is placed or promoted for a fee on 

19 an online platform (as defined in section 

20 304(k)(3)), that discusses a national legislative 

21 issue of public importance in a year in which a 

22 regularly scheduled general election for Federal 

23 office is held, but only if the disbursement is 

24 made by a covered foreign national described in 

25 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 Federal, 

6 State, or local office (regardless of whether the 

7 activity communication contains express advo8 cacy or the functional equivalent of express advo9 cacy);’’. 

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

11 section shall apply with respect to disbursements made on 

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

13 TITLE III—DETERRING FOREIGN 

14 INTERFERENCE IN ELECTIONS 

15 Subtitle A—Deterrence Under Fed16 eral Election Campaign Act of 

17 1971 

18 SEC. 301. RESTRICTIONS ON EXCHANGE OF CAMPAIGN IN19 FORMATION BETWEEN CANDIDATES AND 

20 FOREIGN POWERS. 

21 Section 319 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 

22 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30121), as amended by section 117 and 

23 section 201(b), is further amended by adding at the end 

24 the following new subsection: 


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1 ‘‘(e) RESTRICTIONS ON EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION

2 BETWEEN CANDIDATES AND FOREIGN POWERS.— 

3 ‘‘(1) TREATMENT OF OFFER TO SHARE NON4 PUBLIC CAMPAIGN MATERIAL AS SOLICITATION OF

5 CONTRIBUTION FROM FOREIGN NATIONAL.—If a can6 didate or an individual affiliated with the campaign 

7 of a candidate, or if a political committee or an indi8 vidual affiliated with a political committee, provides 

9 or offers to provide nonpublic campaign material to 

10 a covered foreign national or to another person whom 

11 the candidate, committee, or individual knows or has 

12 reason to know will provide the material to a covered 

13 foreign national, the candidate, committee, or indi14 vidual (as the case may be) shall be considered for 

15 purposes of this section to have solicited a contribu16 tion or donation described in subsection (a)(1)(A) 

17 from a foreign national. 

18 ‘‘(2) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection, the fol19 lowing definitions apply: 

20 ‘‘(A) The term ‘candidate’ means an indi21 vidual who seeks nomination for, or election to, 

22 any Federal, State, or local public office. 

23 ‘‘(B) The term ‘covered foreign national’ has 

24 the meaning given such term in section 

25 304(j)(3)(C). 


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

2 campaign’ means, with respect to a candidate, 

3 an employee of any organization legally author4 ized under Federal, State, or local law to sup5 port the candidate’s campaign for nomination 

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

7 public office, as well as any independent con8 tractor of such an organization and any indi9 vidual who performs services on behalf of the or10 ganization, whether paid or unpaid. 

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

12 political committee’ means, with respect to a po13 litical committee, an employee of the committee 

14 as well as any independent contractor of the 

15 committee and any individual who performs 

16 services on behalf of the committee, whether paid 

17 or unpaid. 

18 ‘‘(E) The term ‘nonpublic campaign mate19 rial’ means, with respect to a candidate or a po20 litical committee, campaign material that is pro21 duced by the candidate or the committee or pro22 duced at the candidate or committee’s expense or 

23 request which is not distributed or made avail24 able to the general public or otherwise in the 

25 public domain, including polling and focus 


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1 group data and opposition research, except that 

2 such term does not include material produced for 

3 purposes of consultations relating solely to the 

4 candidate’s or committee’s position on a legisla5 tive or policy matter.’’. 

6 SEC. 302. CLARIFICATION OF STANDARD FOR DETER7 MINING EXISTENCE OF COORDINATION BE8 TWEEN CAMPAIGNS AND OUTSIDE INTER9 ESTS. 

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

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

12 end the following new paragraph: 

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

14 or disbursement may be considered to have been made in 

15 cooperation, consultation, or concert with, or coordinated 

16 with, a person without regard to whether or not the coopera17 tion, consultation, or coordination is carried out pursuant 

18 to agreement or formal collaboration.’’. 

19 Subtitle B—[Reserved] 

20 TITLE IV—MISCELLANEOUS 

21 PROVISIONS 

22 SEC. 401. EFFECTIVE DATES OF PROVISIONS. 

23 Each provision of this Act and each amendment made 

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

25 date provided under this Act for such provision or such 


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1 amendment without regard to whether or not the Federal 

2 Election Commission, the Attorney General, or any other 

3 person has promulgated regulations to carry out such provi4 sion or such amendment. 

5 SEC. 402. SEVERABILITY. 

6 If any provision of this Act or any amendment made 

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

8 or an amendment made by this Act to any person or cir9 cumstance, is held to be unconstitutional, the remainder of 

10 this Act, and the application of the provisions to any person 

11 or circumstance, shall not be affected by the holding. 


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Union Calendar No. 196 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4617 

[Report No. 116–246, Part I] 

A BILL 

To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 

acts, and for other purposes. Federal campaigns to detect and report such tation of compliance and reporting systems by foreign election influence and require implemen1971 to clarify the obligation to report acts of 

OCTOBER 21, 2019 

Reported from the Committee on House Administration 

O

with an amendment 

CTOBER 21, 2019 

Committee on the Judiciary discharged; committed to the 

Union and ordered to be printed Committee of the Whole House on the State of the 


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