I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 452

To strengthen the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, as amended.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 9, 1995

Mr. TRAFICANT introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To strengthen the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938,

as amended.

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

3 SECTION 1. STRENGTHENING THE FOREIGN AGENTS REG4 ISTRATION ACT OF 1938, AS AMENDED.

5 (a) DEFINITIONS.—

6 (1) AGENT OF A FOREIGN PRINCIPAL.—

7 (A) IN GENERAL.—Section 1(c) of the

8 Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, as

9 amended (22 U.S.C. 611(c)), is amended—
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1 (i) by striking ‘‘agent of a foreign

2 principal’’ each place it appears and insert3 ing ‘‘representative of a foreign principal’’;

4 (ii) in paragraph (1)(iv), by striking

5 ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon at the end;

6 (iii) in paragraph (2), by striking the

7 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’;

8 and

9 (iv) by adding at the end the follow10 ing:

11 ‘‘(3) any person who engages in political activi12 ties for purposes of furthering commercial, indus13 trial, or financial operations with a foreign principal.

14 For purposes of clause (1), a foreign principal shall be

15 considered to control a person in major part if the foreign

16 principal holds more than 50 percent equitable ownership

17 in such person or, subject to rebuttal evidence, if the for18 eign principal holds at least 20 percent but not more than

19 50 percent equitable ownership in such person.’’.

20 (B) FURTHER DEFINITION.—Section 1(d)

21 of that Act (22 U.S.C. 611(d)) is amended to

22 read as follows:

23 ‘‘(d) The term ‘representative of a foreign principal’

24 does not include—
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1 ‘‘(1) any news or press service or association

2 organized under the laws of the United States or of

3 any State or other place subject to the jurisdiction

4 of the United States, or any newspaper, magazine,

5 periodical, or other publication for which there is on

6 file with the United States Postal Service informa7 tion in compliance with section 3685 of title 39,

8 United States Code, published in the United States,

9 solely by virtue of any bona fide news or journalistic

10 activities, including the solicitation or acceptance of

11 advertisements, subscriptions, or other compensation

12 therefor, so long as it is at least 80 percent bene13 ficially owned by, and its officers and directors, if

14 any, are citizens of the United States, and such

15 news or press service or association, newspaper mag16 azine, periodical, or other publication, is not owned,

17 directed, supervised, controlled, subsidized, or fi18 nanced, and none of its policies are determined by

19 any foreign principal defined in subsection (b) of

20 this section, or by any representative of a foreign

21 principal required to register under this Act; or

22 ‘‘(2) any incorporated, nonprofit membership

23 organization organized under the laws of the United

24 States or of any State or other place subject to the

25 jurisdiction of the United States that is registered
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1 under section 308 of the Federal Regulation of Lob2 bying Act and has obtained tax-exempt status under

3 section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986

4 and whose activities are directly supervised, directed,

5 controlled, financed, or subsidized in whole by citi6 zens of the United States.’’.

7 (2) POLITICAL PROMOTIONAL OR INFORMA8 TIONAL MATERIALS.—Section 1(j) of that Act (22

9 U.S.C. 611(j)) is amended—

10 (A) in the matter preceding clause (1), by

11 striking ‘‘propaganda’’ and inserting ‘‘pro12 motional or informational materials’’; and

13 (B) in clause (1), by striking ‘‘prevail

14 upon, indoctrinate, convert, induce, or in any

15 other way’’ and inserting ‘‘in any way’’.

16 (3) POLITICAL ACTIVITIES.—Section 1(o) of

17 that Act (22 U.S.C. 611(o)) is amended—

18 (A) by striking ‘‘prevail upon, indoctrinate,

19 convert, induce, persuade, or in any other way’’

20 and inserting ‘‘in any way’’; and

21 (B) by striking ‘‘or changing the domestic

22 or foreign’’ and inserting ‘‘enforcing, or chang23 ing the domestic or foreign laws, regulations,

24 or’’.
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1 (4) POLITICAL CONSULTANT.—Section 1(p) of

2 that Act (22 U.S.C. 611(p)) is amended—

3 (A) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ after ‘‘any person’’;

4 and

5 (B) by inserting before the semicolon at

6 the end the following: ‘‘, or (2) who distributes

7 political promotional or informational materials

8 to an officer or employee of the United States

9 Government, in his or her capacity as such offi10 cer or employee’’.

11 (5) SERVING PREDOMINANTLY A FOREIGN IN12 TEREST.—Section 1(q) of that Act (22 U.S.C.

13 611(q)) is amended—

14 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of clause

15 (ii) of the proviso; and

16 (B) by inserting before the period at the

17 end the following: ‘‘, and (iv) such activities do

18 not involve the representation of the interests of

19 the foreign principal before any agency or offi20 cial of the Government of the United States

21 other than providing information in response to

22 requests by such agency or official or as a nec23 essary part of a formal judicial or administra24 tive proceeding, including the initiation of such

25 a proceeding.’’.
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1 (b) SUPPLEMENTAL REGISTRATION.—Section 2(b) of

2 that Act (22 U.S.C. 612(b)) is amended—

3 (1) in the first sentence by striking ‘‘, within

4 thirty days’’ and all that follows through ‘‘preceding

5 six months’ period’’ and inserting ‘‘on January 31

6 and July 31 of each year file with the Attorney Gen7 eral a supplement thereto under oath, on a form

8 prescribed by the Attorney General, which shall set

9 forth regarding the six-month periods ending the

10 previous December 31, and June 30, respectively, or,

11 if a lesser period, the period since the initial filing,’’;

12 and

13 (2) by inserting after the first sentence the fol14 lowing new sentence: ‘‘Any registrant using an ac15 counting system with a fiscal year which is different

16 from the calendar year may petition the Attorney

17 General to permit the filing of supplemental state18 ments at the close of the first and seventh month of

19 each such fiscal year in lieu of the dates specified by

20 the preceding sentence.’’.

21 (c) REMOVAL OF EXEMPTION FOR CERTAIN COUN22 TRIES.—Section 3(f) of that Act (22 U.S.C. 613(f)) is re23 pealed.

24 (d) LIMITING EXEMPTION FOR LEGAL REPRESENTA25 TION.—Section 3(g) of that Act (22 U.S.C. 613(g)) is
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1 amended by striking ‘‘or any agency of the Government

2 of the United States’’ and all that follows through ‘‘infor3 mal’’ and inserting ‘‘or before the Patent and Trademark

4 Office, including any written submission to that Office’’.

5 (e) NOTIFICATION OF RELIANCE ON EXEMPTIONS.—

6 Section 3 of that Act (22 U.S.C. 613) is amended by add7 ing at the end the following:

8 ‘‘Any person who does not register under section 2(a)

9 on account of any provision of subsections (a) through (g)

10 of this section shall so notify the Attorney General in such

11 form and manner as the Attorney General prescribes.’’.

12 (f) CIVIL PENALTIES AND ENFORCEMENT PROVI13 SIONS.—Section 8 of that Act (22 U.S.C. 618) is amended

14 by adding at the end the following:

15 ‘‘(i)(1) Any person who is determined, after notice

16 and opportunity for an administrative hearing—

17 ‘‘(A) to have failed to file when such filing is

18 required a registration statement under section 2(a)

19 or a supplement thereto under section 2(b),

20 ‘‘(B) to have omitted a material fact required to

21 be stated therein, or

22 ‘‘(C) to have made a false statement with re23 spect to such a material fact,

24 shall be required to pay for each violation committed a

25 civil penalty of not less than $2,000 and not more than
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1 $1,000,000. In determining the amount of the penalty, the

2 Attorney General shall give due consideration to the na3 ture and duration of the violation.

4 ‘‘(2)(A) Whenever the Attorney General has reason

5 to believe that any person may be in possession, custody,

6 or control of any documentary material relevant to an in7 vestigation regarding any violation of paragraph (1) of

8 this subsection or of section 5, the Attorney General may,

9 before bringing any civil or criminal proceeding thereon,

10 issue in writing, and cause to be served upon such person,

11 a civil investigative demand requiring such person to

12 produce such material for examination.

13 ‘‘(B) Civil investigative demands issued under this

14 paragraph shall be subject to the applicable provisions of

15 section 1968 of title 18, United States Code.’’.

16 (g) CHANGE IN SHORT TITLE OF THE ACT.—Section

17 14 of that Act (22 U.S.C. 611 note) is amended by strik18 ing ‘‘Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, as amend19 ed’’ and inserting ‘‘Foreign Interests Representation Act’’.

20 SEC. 2. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.

21 (a) REFERENCES TO AGENT OF A FOREIGN PRIN22 CIPAL.—The Foreign Interests Representation Act is

23 amended—
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1 (1) by striking ‘‘agent of a foreign principal’’

2 each place it appears and inserting ‘‘representative

3 of a foreign principal’’;

4 (2) by striking ‘‘agents of foreign principals’’

5 each place it appears and inserting ‘‘representatives

6 of foreign principals’’;

7 (3) by striking ‘‘agent of such principal’’ each

8 place it appears and inserting ‘‘representative of

9 such principal’’; and

10 (4) by striking ‘‘such agent’’ each place it ap11 pears and inserting ‘‘such representative’’.

12 (b) REFERENCES TO POLITICAL PROPAGANDA.—

13 (1) The paragraph preceding section 1 of the

14 Foreign Interests Representation Act is amended by

15 striking ‘‘propaganda’’ and inserting ‘‘political’’.

16 (2) The Foreign Interests Representation Act

17 (other than the paragraph amended by paragraph

18 (1) of this subsection) is amended by striking ‘‘prop19 aganda’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘pro20 motional or informational materials’’.

21 (c) REFERENCES TO THE ACT.—

22 (1) Section 207(f)(2) of title 18, United States

23 Code, is amended by striking ‘‘Foreign Agents Reg24 istration Act of 1938, as amended,’’ and inserting

25 ‘‘Foreign Interests Representation Act’’.
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1 (2) Section 219 of title 18, United States Code,

2 is amended—

3 (A) in subsection (a) by striking ‘‘agent of

4 a foreign principal required to register under

5 the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938,

6 as amended,’’ and inserting ‘‘representative of a

7 foreign principal required to register under the

8 Foreign Interests Representation Act’’; and

9 (B) in subsection (b)—

10 (i) by striking ‘‘agent of a foreign

11 principal’’ and inserting ‘‘representative of

12 a foreign principal’’;

13 (ii) by striking ‘‘such agent’’ and in14 serting ‘‘such representative’’; and

15 (iii) by striking ‘‘Foreign Agents Reg16 istration Act of 1938, as amended’’ and in17 serting ‘‘Foreign Interests Representation

18 Act’’.

19 (3) Section 5210(4) of the Competitiveness Pol20 icy Council Act (15 U.S.C. 4809(4)) is amended—

21 (A) by striking ‘‘agent of a foreign prin22 cipal’’ and inserting ‘‘representative of a foreign

23 principal’’; and

24 (B) by striking ‘‘subsection (d) of the first

25 section of the Foreign Agents Registration Act
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1 of 1938 (22 U.S.C. 611)’’ and inserting ‘‘sec2 tion 1(d) of the Foreign Interests Representa3 tion Act (22 U.S.C. 611(d)),’’.

4 (4) Section 34(a) of the Trading With the

5 Enemy Act (50 U.S.C. App. 34(a)) is amended by

6 striking ‘‘Act of June 8, 1934 (ch. 327, 52 Stat.

7 631), as amended’’ and inserting ‘‘Foreign Interests

8 Representation Act’’.

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