I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3873 

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. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 22, 2019 

Ms. SLOTKIN (for herself and Ms. UNDERWOOD) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on House Administration 

A BILL 

To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to 

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. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Foreign Influence Re5 porting in Elections Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FEDERAL CAMPAIGN REPORTING OF FOREIGN CON2 TACTS. 

3 (a) INITIAL NOTICE.— 

4 (1) REQUIREMENT TO PROVIDE NOTICE.—Sec5 tion 304 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 

6 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30104) is amended by adding at 

7 the end the following new subsection: 

8 ‘‘(j) DISCLOSURE OF REPORTABLE FOREIGN CON9 TACTS.— 

10 ‘‘(1) COMMITTEE OBLIGATION.—Not later than 

11 1 week after a reportable foreign contact, each au12 thorized committee shall notify the Commission of 

13 the reportable foreign contact and provide a sum14 mary of the circumstances with respect to such re15 portable foreign contact. 

16 ‘‘(2) INDIVIDUAL OBLIGATION.—Not later than 

17 1 week after a reportable foreign contact— 

18 ‘‘(A) each candidate shall notify the treas19 urer or other designated official of the principal 

20 campaign committee of such candidate of the 

21 reportable foreign contact and provide a sum22 mary of the circumstances with respect to such 

23 reportable foreign contact; and 

24 ‘‘(B) each official, employee, or agent of an 

25 authorized committee shall notify the treasurer 

26 or other designated official of the authorized 


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1 committee of the reportable foreign contact and 

2 provide a summary of the circumstances with 

3 respect to such reportable foreign contact. 

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

5 subsection: 

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

7 foreign contact’ means any direct or indirect 

8 contact or communication that— 

9 ‘‘(i) is between— 

10 ‘‘(I) a candidate, an authorized 

11 committee of a candidate, or any offi12 cial, employee, or agent of such au13 thorized committee; and 

14 ‘‘(II) a person that the person 

15 described in subclause (I) knows or 

16 has reason to know is, or believes to 

17 be, a foreign national (as defined in 

18 section 319(b)); and 

19 ‘‘(ii) the person described in clause 

20 (i)(I) knows, has reason to know, or rea21 sonably believes involves a credible offer or 

22 other proposal for— 

23 ‘‘(I) a contribution, donation, ex24 penditure, disbursement, or solicita25 tion described in section 319; or 


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1 ‘‘(II) coordination or collabora2 tion with, an offer or provision of in3 formation or services to or from, or 

4 persistent and repeated contact with a 

5 government of a foreign country or an 

6 agent thereof. 

7 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—Such term shall not in8 clude any contact or communication with a for9 eign government or an agent of a foreign prin10 cipal by an elected official or an employee of an 

11 elected official solely in an official capacity as 

12 such an official or employee.’’. 

13 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made 

14 by this subsection shall apply with respect to report15 able foreign contacts, as defined in section 304(j)(3) 

16 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (as 

17 added by paragraph (1)) which occur on or after the 

18 date of the enactment of this Act. 

19 (b) INFORMATION INCLUDED ON QUARTERLY RE20 PORT.— 

21 (1) REQUIRING INCLUSION OF INFORMATION.— 

22 Section 304(b) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 30104(b)) is 

23 amended— 

24 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para25 graph (7); 


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

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

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

4 paragraph: 

5 ‘‘(9) for any reportable foreign contact (as de6 fined in subsection (j)(3))— 

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

8 contact; 

9 ‘‘(B) the date and time of when a des10 ignated official of the committee was notified of 

11 the contact; 

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

13 and 

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

15 the nature of any contribution, donation, ex16 penditure, disbursement, or solicitation involved 

17 and the nature of any activity described in sub18 section (j)(3)(A)(ii)(II) involved.’’. 

19 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made 

20 by this subsection shall apply with respect to reports 

21 filed on or after the date of the enactment of this 

22 Act. 

23 (c) NOTIFICATION TO THE FEDERAL BUREAU OF IN24 VESTIGATION.—Section 307 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 


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1 30107) is amended by adding at the end the following new 

2 subsection: 

3 ‘‘(f) REQUIRING GENERAL COUNSEL TO NOTIFY

4 FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION OF REPORTABLE

5 FOREIGN CONTACTS.—Not later than 1 week after the 

6 Commission receives a notification of a reportable foreign 

7 contact under section 304(j) from an authorized com8 mittee, the General Counsel of the Commission shall notify 

9 the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation of 

10 such reportable foreign contact, unless the General Coun11 sel determines that notifying the Director is not war12 ranted.’’. 

13 SEC. 3. FEDERAL CAMPAIGN FOREIGN CONTACT REPORT14 ING COMPLIANCE SYSTEM. 

15 (a) REQUIRING AUTHORIZED COMMITTEES TO ES16 TABLISH POLICIES.—Section 302(e) of the Federal Elec17 tion Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30102(e)) is 

18 amended by adding at the end the following new para19 graph: 

20 ‘‘(6) REPORTABLE FOREIGN CONTACTS COMPLI21 ANCE POLICY.— 

22 ‘‘(A) REPORTING.—Each authorized com23 mittee shall establish a policy that requires all 

24 officials, employees, and agents of such com25 mittee to notify the treasurer or other approVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:26 Jul 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3873.IH H3873

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1 priate designated official of the committee of 

2 any reportable foreign contact (as defined in 

3 section 304(j)) not later than 1 week after such 

4 contact was made. 

5 ‘‘(B) RETENTION AND PRESERVATION OF

6 RECORDS.—Each authorized committee shall 

7 establish a policy that provides for the retention 

8 and preservation of records and information re9 lated to reportable foreign contacts (as so de10 fined) for a period of not less than 3 years. 

11 ‘‘(C) CERTIFICATION.—Upon designation 

12 of a political committee as an authorized com13 mittee by a candidate, and with each report 

14 filed by such committee under section 304(a), 

15 the candidate shall provide a certification 

16 that— 

17 ‘‘(i) the committee has in place poli18 cies that meets the requirements of sub19 paragraph (A) and (B); 

20 ‘‘(ii) the committee has designated an 

21 official to monitor compliance with such 

22 policies; and 

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

24 beginning of any formal or informal affili25 ation with the committee, all officials, emVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:26 Jul 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3873.IH H3873

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1 ployees, and agents of such committee 

2 will— 

3 ‘‘(I) receive notice of such poli4 cies; 

5 ‘‘(II) be informed of the prohibi6 tions under section 319; and 

7 ‘‘(III) sign a certification affirm8 ing their understanding of such poli9 cies and prohibitions.’’. 

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

11 subsection (a) shall apply with respect to political commit12 tees which are designated as authorized committees of a 

13 candidate on or after the date of the enactment of this 

14 Act. 

15 SEC. 4. 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 add18 ing at the end the following new subparagraphs: 

19 ‘‘(E) Any person who knowingly and willfully com20 mits a violation of subsection (j) or (b)(9) of section 304 

21 or section 302(e)(6) shall be fined not more than 

22 $500,000, imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both. 

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

24 or destroys any materials relating to a reportable foreign 

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


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

2 or both.’’. 

3 SEC. 5. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

4 Nothing in this Act or the amendments made by this 

5 Act shall be construed— 

6 (1) to impede legitimate journalistic activities; 

7 or 

8 (2) to impose any additional limitation on the 

9 right of any individual who is not a citizen of the 

10 United States or a national of the United States (as 

11 defined in section 101(a)(22) of the Immigration 

12 and Nationality Act) and who is not lawfully admit13 ted for permanent residence, as defined by section 

14 101(a)(20) of the Immigration and Nationality Act 

15 (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(20)) to express political views or 

16 to participate in public discourse. 

Æ 


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