II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1562 

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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 21, 2019 

Mr. WARNER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Rules and 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.—Section 304 of the Federal 

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

5 amended by adding at the end the following new sub6 section: 

7 ‘‘(j) DISCLOSURE OF REPORTABLE FOREIGN CON8 TACTS.— 

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

10 1 week after a reportable foreign contact, each au11 thorized committee shall notify the Commission of 

12 the reportable foreign contact and provide a sum13 mary of the circumstances with respect to such re14 portable foreign contact. 

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

16 1 week after a reportable foreign contact— 

17 ‘‘(A) each candidate shall notify the treas18 urer or other designated official of the principal 

19 campaign committee of such candidate of the 

20 reportable foreign contact and provide a sum21 mary of the circumstances with respect to such 

22 reportable foreign contact; and 

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

24 authorized committee shall notify the treasurer 

25 or other designated official of the authorized 

26 committee of the reportable foreign contact and 


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1 provide a summary of the circumstances with 

2 respect to such reportable foreign contact. 

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

4 subsection: 

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

6 foreign contact’ means any direct or indirect 

7 contact or communication that— 

8 ‘‘(i) is between— 

9 ‘‘(I) a candidate, an authorized 

10 committee of a candidate, or any offi11 cial, employee, or agent of such au12 thorized committee; and 

13 ‘‘(II) a foreign national (as de14 fined in section 319(b)) or a person 

15 that the person described in subclause 

16 (I) believes to be a foreign national; 

17 and 

18 ‘‘(ii) the person described in clause 

19 (i)(I) knows, has reason to know, or rea20 sonably believes involves— 

21 ‘‘(I) a contribution, donation, ex22 penditure, disbursement, or solicita23 tion described in section 319; or 

24 ‘‘(II) coordination or collabora25 tion with, an offer or provision of inVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 May 31, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1562.IS S1562

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1 formation or services to or from, or 

2 persistent and repeated contact with a 

3 government of a foreign country or an 

4 agent thereof. 

5 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—Such term shall not in6 clude any contact or communication with a for7 eign government or an agent of a foreign prin8 cipal by an elected official or an employee of an 

9 elected official solely in an official capacity as 

10 such an official or employee.’’. 

11 (b) INFORMATION INCLUDED ON QUARTERLY RE12 PORT.—Section 304(b) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 30104(b)) 

13 is amended by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph (7), 

14 by striking the period at the end of paragraph (8) and 

15 inserting ‘‘; and’’, and by adding at the end the following 

16 new paragraph: 

17 ‘‘(9) for any reportable foreign contact (as de18 fined in subsection (j)(3))— 

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

20 contact; 

21 ‘‘(B) the date and time of when a des22 ignated official of the committee was notified of 

23 the contact; 

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

25 and 


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

2 the nature of any contribution, donation, ex3 penditure, disbursement, or solicitation involved 

4 and the nature of any activity described in sub5 section (j)(3)(A)(ii)(II) involved.’’. 

6 (c) NOTIFICATION TO THE FBI.—Not later than 1 

7 week after receiving a notification or report under section 

8 304(j), the Federal Election Commission shall notify the 

9 Federal Bureau of Investigation of any reportable foreign 

10 contact (as defined in section 304(j) of the Federal Elec11 tion Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30104), as added 

12 by this section). 

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

15 Section 302(e) of the Federal Election Campaign Act 

16 of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30102(e)) is amended by adding at 

17 the end the following new paragraph: 

18 ‘‘(6) REPORTABLE FOREIGN CONTACTS COMPLI19 ANCE POLICY.— 

20 ‘‘(A) REPORTING.—Each authorized com21 mittee shall establish a policy that requires all 

22 officials, employees, and agents of such com23 mittee to notify the treasurer or other appro24 priate designated official of the committee of 

25 any reportable foreign contact (as defined in 


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

2 contact was made. 

3 ‘‘(B) RETENTION AND PRESERVATION OF

4 RECORDS.—Each authorized committee shall 

5 establish a policy that provides for the retention 

6 and preservation of records and information re7 lated to reportable foreign contacts (as so de8 fined) for a period of not less than 3 years. 

9 ‘‘(C) CERTIFICATION.—Upon designation 

10 of a political committee as an authorized com11 mittee by a candidate, and with each report 

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

13 the candidate shall certify that— 

14 ‘‘(i) the committee has in place poli15 cies that meets the requirements of sub16 paragraph (A) and (B); 

17 ‘‘(ii) the committee has designated an 

18 official to monitor compliance with such 

19 policies; and 

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

21 beginning of any formal or informal affili22 ation with the committee, all officials, em23 ployees, and agents of such committee 

24 will— 


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1 ‘‘(I) receive notice of such poli2 cies; 

3 ‘‘(II) be informed of the prohibi4 tions under section 319; and 

5 ‘‘(III) sign a certification affirm6 ing their understanding of such poli7 cies and prohibitions.’’. 

8 SEC. 4. CRIMINAL PENALTIES. 

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

10 Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30109(d)(1)) is amended by add11 ing at the end the following new subparagraphs: 

12 ‘‘(E) Any person who knowingly and will13 fully commits a violation of subsection (j) or 

14 (b)(9) of section 304 or section 302(e)(6) shall 

15 be fined not more than $500,000, imprisoned 

16 not more than 5 years, or both. 

17 ‘‘(F) Any person who knowingly or will18 fully conceals or destroys any materials relating 

19 to a reportable foreign contact (as defined in 

20 section 304(j)) shall be fined not more than 

21 $1,000,000, imprisoned not more than 5 years, 

22 or both.’’. 

23 SEC. 5. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

24 Nothing in this Act or the amendments made by this 

25 Act shall be construed— 


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1 (1) to impede legitimate journalistic activities; 

2 or 

3 (2) to impose any additional limitation on the 

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

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

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

7 and Nationality Act) and who is not lawfully admit8 ted for permanent residence, as defined by section 

9 101(a)(20) of the Immigration and Nationality Act 

10 (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(20)) to express political views or 

11 to participate in public discourse. 

Æ 


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