FIRM Act

To amend the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, as amended to waive the application of the Act to agents representing foreign enterprises which are not under the control or direction of foreign governments or foreign political parties, to exclude agents who represent foreign governments which engage in a pattern of gross violations of human rights from the exemption provided under the Act for agents engaged in scholastic and certain other pursuits, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Foreign Influence Registration Modernization Act FIRM Act 2. Waiving application of Foreign Agents Registration Act to agents representing foreign enterprises not under control or direction of foreign governments and foreign political parties Section 1(b)(3) of the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, as amended ( 22 U.S.C. 611(b)(3) (1) by striking a partnership an enterprise consisting of a partnership (2) by striking the period at the end and inserting the following: , but only if the enterprise is under the control or direction of a government of a foreign country or a foreign political party. 3. Excluding agents representing governments which violate human rights from exemption for agents engaged in religious, scholastic, academic, or scientific pursuits or fine arts Section 3(e) of the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, as amended ( 22 U.S.C. 613(e) , except that this subsection does not apply in the case of an agent who represents a foreign principal that is prohibited from receiving assistance under part I of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 by reason of the application of section 116 of such Act ( 22 U.S.C. 2151n 22 U.S.C. 2304 4. Requiring statements to be filed in digitized format (a) Requirement Section 2(g) of the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, as amended ( 22 U.S.C. 612(g) , in a manner which enables the statements and supplements to be filed in a digitized format and which incorporates the statements and supplements in a database which is fully searchable, sortable and downloadable. (b) Effective date The amendment made by subsection (a) shall apply with respect to statements and supplements filed after the expiration of the 1-year period which begins on the date of the enactment of this Act. 5. Availability of civil money penalty for violation Section 8 of the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, as amended ( 22 U.S.C. 618 (d) Whoever knowingly violates any provision of this Act shall, upon proof of such knowing violation by a preponderance of the evidence, be subject to a civil money penalty of not more than $200,000, depending on the extent and severity of the violation. . 6. Transfer of responsibility for administration of Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 to Attorney General (a) Requiring lobbyists To register with Attorney General (1) Registration Section 4(a)(1) of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 ( 2 U.S.C. 1603(a)(1) the Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the House of Representatives the Attorney General (2) Notice of termination of registration Section 4(d) of such Act ( 2 U.S.C. 1603(d) the Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the House of Representatives the Attorney General (b) Requiring lobbyists To file reports with Attorney General (1) Quarterly reports by lobbyists Section 5(a) of such Act ( 2 U.S.C. 1604(a) the Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the House of Representatives the Attorney General (2) Semiannual reports on certain contributions Section 5(d)(1) of such Act ( 2 U.S.C. 1604(d)(1) the Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the House of Representatives the Attorney General (3) Electronic filing Section 5(e) of such Act ( 2 U.S.C. 1604(e) (A) by striking the Secretary of the Senate or the Clerk of the House of Representatives the Attorney General (B) by striking the second sentence. (c) Disclosure and enforcement Section 6(a) of such Act ( 2 U.S.C. 1605(a) The Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the House of Representatives The Attorney General (d) Penalties Section 7(a)(1) of such Act ( 2 U.S.C. 1606(a)(1) the Secretary of the Senate or the Clerk of the House of Representatives the Attorney General (e) Conforming amendment relating to lack of general audit or investigative authority of Secretary and Clerk Section 8 of such Act ( 2 U.S.C. 1607 (f) Permitting use of good faith estimates based on tax return information Section 15(c)(1) of such Act ( 2 U.S.C. 1610(c)(1) the Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the House of Representatives the Attorney General (g) Effective date; transition (1) In general The amendments made by this section shall apply with respect to statements and reports filed after the expiration of the 1-year period which begins on the date of the enactment of this Act. (2) Transition Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the House of Representatives shall transfer to the Attorney General information on the statements and reports filed prior to the effective date described in paragraph (1) with the Secretary and the Clerk under the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 ( 2 U.S.C. 1601

Summary: Foreign Influence Registration Modernization Act or the FIRM Act This bill revises provisions related to the registration of foreign agents, and it transfers certain oversight duties regarding lobbying to the Department of Justice (DOJ). Current law exempts from foreign agent registration requirements any person engaging only in religious, scholastic, or scientific pursuits. The bill eliminates this exemption for agents of foreign principals that are known violators of human rights. The bill also narrows the definition of foreign principal, waiving registration requirements for agents of foreign enterprises that are not under the control or direction of a foreign government or political party. The bill further requires registration statements and supplements to be filed in a digitized format and stored in a searchable, sortable, and downloadable database. In addition, the bill authorizes DOJ to enact a civil penalty of up to $200,000 for a violation of foreign agent registration requirements. Lastly, the bill transfers administration of lobbyist registration, reporting, disclosure and enforcement, and penalties from Congress to DOJ.