II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2493 

To establish the Malign Foreign Influence Response Center in the Office 

of the Director of National Intelligence, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 17, 2019 

Ms. KLOBUCHAR (for herself and Mr. REED) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Select Committee on Intelligence 

A BILL 

To establish the Malign Foreign Influence Response Center 

in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, 

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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Combatting Foreign 

5 Influence Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find8 ings: 


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1 (1) Foreign powers and agents are increasingly 

2 targeting the United States with malign foreign in3 fluence operations and campaigns. 

4 (2) In 2016, Kremlin and Kremlin-linked actors 

5 interfered in the presidential election and in re6 sponse the intelligence community, including the Di7 rector of National Intelligence in the 2019 World 

8 Wide Threat Assessment, has repeatedly warned 

9 that such malign foreign influence operations and 

10 campaigns pose a growing threat to the national se11 curity of the United States. 

12 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con13 gress that— 

14 (1) the operations of the Malign Foreign Influ15 ence Response Center should be integrated with ex16 isting task forces at individual agencies that have 

17 mandates and resources which are limited by their 

18 particular mission and budget in order to have an 

19 effective whole of government approach to coun20 tering malign foreign influence operations and cam21 paigns; 

22 (2) the intelligence community and Congress 

23 should work together to resolve existing legal limita24 tions on elements of the intelligence community to 


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1 monitor malign foreign influence operations and 

2 campaigns; 

3 (3) the intelligence community and Congress 

4 should ensure that appropriate legal authorities are 

5 in place to protect the privacy and civil liberties of 

6 citizens of the United States; and 

7 (4) lessons learned from post-9/11 counterter8 rorism experiences should be applied to countering 

9 threats from malign foreign influence operations and 

10 campaigns. 

11 SEC. 3. MALIGN FOREIGN INFLUENCE RESPONSE CENTER. 

12 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The National Security Act of 

13 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3001 et seq.) is amended by inserting 

14 after section 119B the following new section: 

15 ‘‘SEC. 119C. MALIGN FOREIGN INFLUENCE RESPONSE CEN16 TER. 

17 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

18 ‘‘(1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT19 TEES.—The term ‘appropriate congressional com20 mittees’ means— 

21 ‘‘(A) the congressional intelligence commit22 tees; 

23 ‘‘(B) the Committee on Foreign Relations, 

24 the Committee on Armed Services, and the 


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1 Committee on Rules and Administration of the 

2 Senate; and 

3 ‘‘(C) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, 

4 the Committee on Armed Services, and the 

5 Committee on House Administration of the 

6 House of Representatives. 

7 ‘‘(2) MALIGN FOREIGN INFLUENCE OPER8 ATIONS AND CAMPAIGNS.—The term ‘malign foreign 

9 influence operations and campaigns’ means the co10 ordinated direct or indirect application of national 

11 diplomatic, informational, military, economic, busi12 ness, corruption, educational, and other capability by 

13 hostile foreign powers to affect attitudes, behaviors, 

14 decisions, or outcomes within the United States. 

15 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is within the Office of 

16 the Director of National Intelligence a Malign Foreign In17 fluence Response Center (in this section referred to as the 

18 ‘Center’). 

19 ‘‘(c) MISSIONS.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The primary missions of 

21 the Center shall be as follows: 

22 ‘‘(A) To serve as the primary organization 

23 in the United States Government for analyzing 

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1 taining to malign foreign influence operations 

2 and campaigns. 

3 ‘‘(B) To synchronize the efforts of the in4 telligence community with respect to countering 

5 malign foreign influence operations and cam6 paigns to undermine the national security, polit7 ical sovereignty, and economies of the United 

8 States and the allies of the United States, in9 cluding by— 

10 ‘‘(i) ensuring that each such element 

11 is aware of and coordinating on such ef12 forts; and 

13 ‘‘(ii) overseeing the development and 

14 implementation of comprehensive and inte15 grated policy responses to such efforts. 

16 ‘‘(C) In coordination with the relevant ele17 ments of the Department of State, the Depart18 ment of Defense, the Federal Bureau of Inves19 tigation, the intelligence community, and other 

20 departments and agencies of the United 

21 States— 

22 ‘‘(i) to develop, in consultation with 

23 the employee of the National Security 

24 Council designated under section 

25 101(g)(1), policy recommendations for the 


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1 President to detect, deter, and respond to 

2 malign foreign influence operations and 

3 campaigns including with respect to covert 

4 activities pursuant to section 503; and 

5 ‘‘(ii) to monitor and assess foreign ef6 forts to carry out such operations and 

7 campaigns. 

8 ‘‘(D) In coordination with the head of the 

9 Global Engagement Center established by sec10 tion 1287 of the National Defense Authoriza11 tion Act for Fiscal Year 2017 (Public Law 

12 114–328; 22 U.S.C. 2656 note), to examine 

13 current and emerging foreign efforts to use 

14 disinformation and information operations re15 lating to the threats described in paragraph (1). 

16 ‘‘(E) To identify and close gaps across the 

17 departments and agencies of the Federal Gov18 ernment with respect to expertise, readiness, 

19 and planning to address malign foreign influ20 ence operations and campaigns. 

21 ‘‘(F) To make information available to the 

22 public, as the Director of National Intelligence 

23 considers appropriate, regarding trends, 

24 threats, and tactics deployed by malign foreign 

25 influence operations and campaigns. 


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1 ‘‘(G) To share information, as the Director 

2 of National Intelligence considers appropriate, 

3 with allied intelligence partners on malign for4 eign influence operations and campaigns and in 

5 so doing establish a two-way exchange of infor6 mation about malign foreign influence oper7 ations and campaigns. 

8 ‘‘(2) SCOPE.—The primary missions of the Cen9 ter shall apply to malign foreign influence operations 

10 and campaigns conducted by, at the direction of, on 

11 behalf of, conspiring with, aiding or abetting the ef12 forts, or acting with substantial support of the fol13 lowing countries: 

14 ‘‘(A) Russia. 

15 ‘‘(B) Iran. 

16 ‘‘(C) North Korea. 

17 ‘‘(D) China. 

18 ‘‘(E) Such other countries as the Director 

19 of National Intelligence determines appropriate 

20 for purposes of this section. 

21 ‘‘(3) LIMITATIONS AND REQUIREMENTS.— 

22 ‘‘(A) OTHER PROVISIONS OF LAW.—The 

23 Center shall ensure that any actions taken pur24 suant to this subsection are consistent with 

25 other applicable limitations, including applicable 


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1 limitations on the collection, retention, dissemi2 nation, and processing of intelligence, under 

3 Federal law, including court orders and Execu4 tive orders, and any relevant agency guidelines 

5 or procedures. 

6 ‘‘(B) CONSTITUTION.— 

7 ‘‘(i) CONSISTENCY.—The Center shall 

8 ensure that activities undertaken pursuant 

9 to this section are conducted consistent 

10 with protections under the Constitution. 

11 ‘‘(ii) COLLECTION AND MAINTE12 NANCE.—The Center may not directly col13 lect information or maintain information 

14 about a United States person solely for the 

15 purpose of monitoring activities protected 

16 by the First Amendment of the Constitu17 tion or the lawful exercise of other rights 

18 secured by the Constitution or laws of the 

19 United States. 

20 ‘‘(C) ARTICULATION OF FOREIGN CONNEC21 TIONS AND THREATS.—In receiving information 

22 arising out of an information collection effort in 

23 which the collection target is a United States 

24 person and such information is received from a 

25 relevant department or agency of the Federal 


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1 Government participating in the mission of the 

2 Center, the Center shall take such steps as may 

3 be necessary to ensure that such department or 

4 agency articulates a reasonable belief that the 

5 person is connected to a foreign power and such 

6 person and connection pose a threat to the 

7 United States. 

8 ‘‘(d) DIRECTOR.— 

9 ‘‘(1) APPOINTMENT.—There is a Director, who 

10 shall be the head of the Center, and who shall be ap11 pointed by the Director of National Intelligence, 

12 with the concurrence of the Secretary of State. The 

13 Director of the Center may not simultaneously serve 

14 in any other capacity in the executive branch. 

15 ‘‘(2) REPORTING.—The Director of the Center 

16 shall directly report to the Director of National In17 telligence. 

18 ‘‘(3) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The Director of the 

19 Center shall— 

20 ‘‘(A) ensure that the relevant departments 

21 and agencies of the Federal Government par22 ticipate in the mission of the Center, including 

23 by recruiting detailees from such departments 

24 and agencies in accordance with subsection 

25 (g)(1); and 


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1 ‘‘(B) have primary responsibility within the 

2 United States Government, in coordination with 

3 the Director of National Intelligence, for estab4 lishing requirements for the collection of intel5 ligence related to, or regarding, malign foreign 

6 influence operations and campaigns, in accord7 ance with applicable provisions of law and Ex8 ecutive orders. 

9 ‘‘(e) ANNUAL REPORTS.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—At the direction of the Di11 rector of National Intelligence, but not less than 

12 once each year, the Director of the Center shall sub13 mit to the appropriate congressional committees a 

14 report on malign foreign influence operations and 

15 campaigns. 

16 ‘‘(2) MATTERS INCLUDED.—Each report under 

17 paragraph (1) shall include, with respect to the pe18 riod covered by the report, a discussion of the fol19 lowing: 

20 ‘‘(A) The nature of the malign foreign in21 fluence operations and campaigns. 

22 ‘‘(B) The ability of the United States Gov23 ernment to counter and deter such operations 

24 and campaigns. 


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1 ‘‘(C) The progress of the Center in achiev2 ing the missions of the Center. 

3 ‘‘(D) Such recommendations as the Direc4 tor may determine necessary for legislative ac5 tion to improve the ability of the Center to 

6 achieve the missions of the Center. 

7 ‘‘(E) Any implications of the activities of 

8 the Center as may regard the privacy and civil 

9 liberties of the people of the United States. 

10 ‘‘(F) Recommendations— 

11 ‘‘(i) to improve on the activities of the 

12 Center with respect to privacy and civil lib13 erties; and 

14 ‘‘(ii) to improve privacy and civil lib15 erties safeguards of the intelligence com16 munity for the people of the United States. 

17 ‘‘(3) FORM.—Each report under paragraph (1) 

18 shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may in19 clude a classified annex. 

20 ‘‘(f) ANNUAL INDEPENDENT REVIEW.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not less frequently than 

22 once each year, the Inspector General of the Intel23 ligence Community shall conduct an independent re24 view of the programs and activities of the Center 


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1 and submit to Congress a report on the findings of 

2 the Inspector General with respect to the review. 

3 ‘‘(2) MATTERS INCLUDED.—Each report sub4 mitted under paragraph (1) shall include, with re5 spect to the period covered by the report, the fol6 lowing: 

7 ‘‘(A) Discussion of the progress of the 

8 Center in achieving the missions of the Center. 

9 ‘‘(B) The effectiveness of integrating ac10 tivities from agencies across the Federal Gov11 ernment into the operations of the Center. 

12 ‘‘(C) Such recommendations for legislative 

13 action as the Inspector General may have to im14 prove the ability of the Center to achieve the 

15 missions of the Center. 

16 ‘‘(D) Such recommendations as the Inspec17 tor General may have for improving intelligence 

18 gathering and sharing practices across the in19 telligence community relating to the mission 

20 and activities of the Center. 

21 ‘‘(E) An assessment of the effect of the ac22 tivities of the Center on the privacy and civil 

23 liberties of the people of the United States and 

24 such recommendations as the Inspector General 


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1 may have to improve safeguards to privacy and 

2 civil liberties of the people of the United States. 

3 ‘‘(3) FORM.—Each report under paragraph (1) 

4 shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may in5 clude a classified annex. 

6 ‘‘(g) EMPLOYEES.— 

7 ‘‘(1) DETAILEES.—Any Federal Government 

8 employee may be detailed to the Center on a reim9 bursable or nonreimbursable basis, and such detail 

10 shall be without interruption or loss of civil service 

11 status or privilege for a period of not more than 8 

12 years. 

13 ‘‘(2) PERSONAL SERVICE CONTRACTORS.—The 

14 Director of National Intelligence, in consultation 

15 with the Secretary of State, may hire United States 

16 citizens or aliens as personal services contractors for 

17 purposes of personnel resources of the Center, if— 

18 ‘‘(A) the Director of National Intelligence 

19 determines that existing personnel resources are 

20 insufficient; 

21 ‘‘(B) the period in which services are pro22 vided by a personal services contractor, includ23 ing options, does not exceed 3 years, unless the 

24 Director of National Intelligence determines 


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1 that exceptional circumstances justify an exten2 sion of up to 1 additional year; 

3 ‘‘(C) not more than 10 United States citi4 zens or aliens are employed as personal services 

5 contractors under the authority of this para6 graph at any time; and 

7 ‘‘(D) the authority of this paragraph is 

8 only used to obtain specialized skills or experi9 ence or to respond to urgent needs. 

10 ‘‘(3) SECURITY CLEARANCES.—Each employee 

11 detailed to the Center and contractor of the Center 

12 shall have the security clearance appropriate for the 

13 assigned duties of the employee or contractor. 

14 ‘‘(h) BOARD.— 

15 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a 

16 Board of the Malign Foreign Influence Response 

17 Center (in this section referred to as the ‘Board’). 

18 ‘‘(2) FUNCTIONS.—The Board shall conduct 

19 oversight to ensure the Center is achieving the mis20 sions of the Center. 

21 ‘‘(3) MEMBERSHIP.— 

22 ‘‘(A) APPOINTMENT.—The Board shall 

23 consist of 8 members as follows: 


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1 ‘‘(i) One senior official of the Depart2 ment of State appointed by the Secretary 

3 of State. 

4 ‘‘(ii) One senior official of the Depart5 ment of Defense appointed by the Sec6 retary of Defense. 

7 ‘‘(iii) One senior official of the De8 partment of Justice appointed by the At9 torney General. 

10 ‘‘(iv) One senior official of the De11 partment of the Treasury appointed by the 

12 Secretary of the Treasury. 

13 ‘‘(v) One senior official of the Depart14 ment of Homeland Security appointed by 

15 the Secretary of Homeland Security. 

16 ‘‘(vi) One senior official of the Central 

17 Intelligence Agency appointed by the Di18 rector of the Central Intelligence Agency. 

19 ‘‘(vii) One senior official of the Fed20 eral Bureau of Investigation appointed by 

21 the Director of the Federal Bureau of In22 vestigation. 

23 ‘‘(viii) The Chief of the Office of Civil 

24 Liberties, Privacy and Transparency of the 

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1 ligence, who shall serve as a member of the 

2 Board without delegation to any other per3 son. 

4 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENT.—Each person ap5 pointed under clauses (i) through (vii) of sub6 paragraph (A) shall be appointed from among 

7 members of the Senior Executive Service. 

8 ‘‘(4) MEETINGS.—The Board shall meet not 

9 less than semiannually and shall be convened by the 

10 member appointed by the Secretary of State. 

11 ‘‘(5) OUTSIDE EXPERTS.—The board may con12 fer with appropriate outside experts with regard to 

13 improving the ability of the Center to safeguard the 

14 privacy and civil liberties of the people of the United 

15 States. 

16 ‘‘(i) INTERNATIONAL ENGAGEMENT.—The Director 

17 of the Center may convene semiannual conferences to co18 ordinate international efforts to counter and deter malign 

19 foreign influence operations and campaigns. 

20 ‘‘(j) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec21 tion shall be construed to authorize any activity, including 

22 the collection, retention, or dissemination of intelligence 

23 information, that was not already delegated to the Direc24 tor of National Intelligence before the date of the enact25 ment of the Combatting Foreign Influence Act of 2019. 


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1 ‘‘(k) TERMINATION.—The Center shall terminate on 

2 the date that is 8 years after the date of the enactment 

3 of the Combatting Foreign Influence Act of 2019.’’. 

4 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

5 at the beginning of such Act is amended by inserting after 

6 the item relating to section 119B the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 119C. Malign Foreign Influence Response Center.’’. 

7 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 507(a) of 

8 such Act (50 U.S.C. 3106) is amended by adding at the 

9 end the following new paragraph: 

10 ‘‘(6) An annual report submitted under section 

11 119C(e)(1).’’. 

Æ 


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