I 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4125 

To require corporations to publish what they pay to foreign governments. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 1, 2004 

Mr. WEINER (for himself and Mr. ISRAEL) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To require corporations to publish what they pay to foreign 

governments. 

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 ‘‘Publish What You Pay 

5 Act of 2004’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) Each year, corporations pay resource-de9 pendent developing countries billions of dollars in re10 turn for the opportunity to extract natural re11 sources. 
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1 (2) Foreign governments often misappropriate 

2 or misuse those billions of dollars, thereby causing 

3 political instability and increasing the risk of violent 

4 internal conflict. 

5 (3) Investors managing $6.9 trillion in funds 

6 have recently made a public statement that lack of 

7 transparency may lead to oil and mining corpora8 tions being accused of colluding in corruption, and 

9 may therefore undermine their social legitimacy and 

10 future business prospects in resource-dependent de11 veloping countries. 

12 (4) Regular reporting by corporations of pay13 ments to foreign governments would aid efforts to 

14 end corruption, and enable citizens of such countries 

15 to better hold their governments to account for the 

16 use of their natural wealth. 

17 (5) Transparency will aid shareholders in evalu18 ating the corporations in which they invest. 

19 SEC. 3. RULEMAKING REQUIRED. 

20 (a) REVISION OF DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS RE21 QUIRED.—The Securities and Exchange Commission shall 

22 revise its rules and regulations under sections 13 and 

23 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 

24 78m, 78o(d)) to require each issuer subject to such sec25 tions to disclose in the annual and quarterly reports of 
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1 such issuer the aggregate payments by such issuer made 

2 in connection with the securing of exploration, develop3 ment, exploitation, extraction, and production rights for 

4 natural resources to any foreign government or any other 

5 public entity of a foreign country. Such aggregate pay6 ments shall include taxes, royalties, fees, and other 

7 amounts paid in such connection. 

8 (b) MINIMUM PAYMENTS EXCEPTED.—The disclo9 sure required by subsection (a) shall not apply to an issuer 

10 if the amount of such aggregate payments by such issuer 

11 for the reporting period are less than $250,000. 

12 (c) DEFINITION OF NATURAL RESOURCES.—For 

13 purposes of this section, the term ‘‘natural resources’’ 

14 means oil, gas, and minerals. 

15 SEC. 4. INJUNCTIVE RELIEF; INVESTIGATIONS. 

16 (a) INJUNCTIONS AUTHORIZED.—When it appears to 

17 the Attorney General that any domestic concern to which 

18 section 3 applies, or any officer, director, employee, agent, 

19 or stockholder thereof, is engaged, or about to engage, in 

20 any act or practice constituting a violation of the rules 

21 and regulations required by that section, the Attorney 

22 General may, in his or her discretion, bring a civil action 

23 in an appropriate district court of the United States to 

24 enjoin such act or practice, and upon a proper showing, 
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1 a permanent injunction or a temporary restraining order 

2 shall be granted without bond. 

3 (b) INVESTIGATIONS.—For purposes of any civil in4 vestigation that, in the opinion of the Attorney General, 

5 is necessary and proper to enforce the rules and regula6 tions prescribed under section 3, the Attorney General or 

7 his designee is empowered to administer oaths and affir8 mation, subpoena witnesses, take evidence, and required 

9 the production of any documents deemed relevant to such 

10 investigation. 

11 SEC. 5. ENFORCEMENT. 

12 (a) WILLFUL VIOLATIONS.—Any person who willfully 

13 violates any rule or regulation prescribed under section 3 

14 shall be fined not more than $2,000,000, or imprisoned 

15 not more than 5 years, or both. 

16 (b) OTHER VIOLATIONS.—Except as provided in sub17 section (a), any person who violates any rule or regulation 

18 prescribed under section 3 shall be fined not more than 

19 $100,000. 

20 SEC. 6. REPORTS. 

21 (a) REPORTS.—The Securities and Exchange Com22 mission, in conjunction with the Secretary of the Treasury 

23 and the Attorney General, shall submit an annual report 

24 to the President and the Congress, reporting compiling the 
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1 aggregate amount of payments reported under the rules 

2 and regulations prescribed under section 3. 

3 (b) TITLE; DEADLINE.—The report required by sub4 section (a), which shall be entitled the ‘‘Publish What You 

5 Pay Report’’, shall be issued on 1 July of each year. 

6 SEC. 7. DEADLINE FOR REVISIONS. 

7 The Securities and Exchange Commission shall pre8 scribe the revisions to its rules and regulations required 

9 by section 3(a) not later than 6 months after the date 

10 of enactment of this Act. 

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