I 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6775 

To amend chapter 190 of title 28, United States Code, to require businesses 

with a principal place of business in a foreign country to register an 

agent for the service of process in the United States, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 18, 2022 

Mr. HILL (for himself and Mr. COHEN) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend chapter 190 of title 28, United States Code, 

to require businesses with a principal place of business 

in a foreign country to register an agent for the service 

of process in the United States, 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 ‘‘Protecting American 

5 Business from Foreign Adversaries Act of 2022’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. REGISTRATION OF AGENT. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 190 of title 28, United 

3 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol4 lowing new section: 

5 ‘‘§ 5002. Registration of an agent for the service of 

6 process on covered entities 

7 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A covered entity conducting 

8 business in the United States shall register with the De9 partment of Commerce not less than one agent residing 

10 in the United States if the covered entity— 

11 ‘‘(1) is organized under the laws of, or has its 

12 principal place of business in, a foreign country; 

13 ‘‘(2) is traded in shares and such shares are 

14 held in majority by any individual or group of indi15 viduals who reside in a foreign country; or 

16 ‘‘(3) is owned by individuals or other entities 

17 who reside or are headquartered outside of the 

18 United States and the majority of business earnings 

19 of the covered entity are derived from commerce out20 side of the United States. 

21 ‘‘(b) FILING.—A registration required under sub22 section (a) shall be filed with the Department of Com23 merce not later than 30 days after— 

24 ‘‘(1) the date of enactment of this Act; or 


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1 ‘‘(2) the departure of the previously registered 

2 agent from employment or contract with the covered 

3 entity. 

4 ‘‘(c) PURPOSE OF REGISTERED AGENT.— 

5 ‘‘(1) AVAILABILITY.—A covered entity shall en6 sure that not less than one registered agent on 

7 whom process may be served is available at the busi8 ness address of the registered agent each day from 

9 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the time zone of the business ad10 dress, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and Federal 

11 holidays. 

12 ‘‘(2) COMMUNICATION.—The registered agent 

13 shall be required to be available to accept service of 

14 process on behalf of the covered entity under which 

15 the agent is registered by the means of any commu16 nication included in the registration submitted to the 

17 Department of Commerce. 

18 ‘‘(d) COOPERATION.—A registered agent shall co19 operate in good faith with the United States Government 

20 and representatives of other individuals and entities. 

21 ‘‘(e) REQUIRED INFORMATION.—The registration 

22 submitted to the Department of Commerce shall include 

23 the following information: 

24 ‘‘(1) The name of the covered entity registering 

25 an agent under this section. 


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1 ‘‘(2) The name of the Chief Executive Officer, 

2 President, Partner, Chairman, or other controlling 

3 individual of the covered entity. 

4 ‘‘(3) The name of the individual who is being 

5 registered as the agent for the service of process. 

6 ‘‘(4) The business address of the covered entity 

7 registering an agent under this section. 

8 ‘‘(5) The business address of the individual who 

9 is being registered as the agent for the service of 

10 process. 

11 ‘‘(6) Contact information, including an email 

12 address and phone number for the individual who is 

13 being registered as the agent for the service of proc14 ess. 

15 ‘‘(7) The date on which the agent shall begin 

16 to accept service of process under this section. 

17 ‘‘(f) WEBSITE.—The information submitted to the 

18 Department of Commerce pursuant to this section shall 

19 be made available on a publicly accessible database on the 

20 website of the Department of Commerce. 

21 ‘‘(g) PERSONAL JURISDICTION.—A covered entity 

22 that registers an agent under this section thereby consents 

23 to the personal jurisdiction of the State or Federal courts 

24 of the State in which the registered agent is located for 


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1 the purpose of any regulatory proceeding or civil action 

2 relating to such covered entity. 

3 ‘‘(h) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

4 ‘‘(1) COVERED ENTITY.—The term ‘covered en5 tity’ means— 

6 ‘‘(A) a corporation, partnership, associa7 tion, organization, or other combination of per8 sons established for the purpose of commercial 

9 activities; or 

10 ‘‘(B) a trust or a fund established for the 

11 purpose of commercial activities. 

12 ‘‘(2) DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE.—The term 

13 ‘Department of Commerce’ means the United States 

14 Department of Commerce.’’. 

15 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

16 for chapter 190 of title 28, United States Code, is amend17 ed by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘5002. Registration of an agent for the service of process on covered entities.’’. 

Æ 


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