a final determination whether there was a violation and
a final determination of the penalty, if any. If no written
response was received under this section within the 30-
day period provided, the determination and penalty assess-
ment shall constitute a final order not subject to appeal.
(c) WRITTEN DECISION.—
(1) DETERMINATION OF VIOLATION.—If the At-
torney General makes a final determination under
subsection (b) that there was a violation, the Attor-
ney General shall issue a written decision in accord-
ance with section 9—
(A) directing the person or entity to cor-
rect the violation; and
(B) assessing a civil monetary penalty—
(i) in the case of a minor violation,
which shall be no more than $10,000, de-
pending on the extent and gravity of the
violation;
(ii) in the case of a major violation,
which shall be more than $10,000, but no
more than $100,000, depending on the ex-
tent and gravity of the violation;
(iii) in the case of a late registration
or filing, which shall be $200 for each
week by which the registration or filing
was late, unless the Attorney General de-
termines that the failure to timely register
or file constitutes a major violation (as de-
fined under subsection (e)(2)) in which
case the amount shall be as prescribed by
clause (ii); or
(iv) in the case of a failure to provide
information requested by the Attorney
General pursuant to section 7(c), which
shall be no more than $10,000, depending
on the extent and gravity of the violation,
except that no penalty shall be assessed if
the Attorney General determines that the
violation was the result of a good faith dis-
pute over the validity or appropriate scope
of a request for information.
(2) DETERMINATION OF NO VIOLATION OR IN-
SUFFICIENT
EVIDENCE.—If the Attorney General
determines that no violation occurred or there was
not sufficient evidence that a violation occurred, the
Attorney General shall issue a written decision in ac-
cordance with section 9.
(d) CIVIL INJUNCTIVE RELIEF.—If a person or en-
tity fails to comply with a directive to correct a violation
under subsection (c), the Attorney General may seek civil
injunctive relief in the appropriate court of the United
States to compel such person or entity to comply with such
directive.
(e) PENALTY GUIDELINES.—The Attorney General
shall, after notice and a reasonable opportunity for public
comment and consultation with the Secretary of the Sen-
ate, the Clerk of the House of Representatives, and the
Administrative Conference of the United States, prescribe
such penalty guidelines as are necessary to carry out this
Act.
(f) PENALTY ASSESSMENTS.—
(1) GENERAL RULE.—No penalty shall be as-
sessed under this section unless the Attorney Gen-
eral finds that the person or entity subject to the
penalty knew or should have known that such person
or entity was in violation of this Act. In determining
the amount of a penalty to be assessed, the Attorney
General shall take into account the totality of the
circumstances, including the extent and gravity of
the violation, whether the violation was voluntarily
admitted and corrected, the extent to which the per-
son or entity may have profited from the violation,
the ability of the person or entity to pay, and such
other matters as justice may require.
(2) REGULATIONS.—Major violations shall be
defined to include a failure to register and any other
violation that is extensive or repeated, if the person
or entity who failed to register or committed such
other violation—
(A) had actual knowledge that the conduct
constituted a violation;
(B) acted in deliberate ignorance of the
provisions of this Act or regulations related to
the conduct constituting a violation; or
(C) acted in reckless disregard of the pro-
visions of this Act or regulations related to the
conduct constituting a violation.
(g) LIMITATION.—No proceeding shall be initiated
under section 7 or this section unless the Attorney General
notifies the person or entity who is to be the subject of
the proceeding of the alleged violation within 3 years after
the date on which the alleged violation occurred.
SEC. 9. DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION; WRITTEN DECI-
SIONS.
(a) DISCLOSURE
OF
INFORMATION.—Information
provided to the Attorney General pursuant to sections 7
and 8 shall not be made available to the public without
the consent of the person or entity providing the informa-
tion, except to the extent that such information may be
included in—
(1) a new or amended report or registration
filed under this Act; or
(2) a written decision issued by the Attorney
General under this section.
(b) WRITTEN DECISIONS.—All written decisions is-
sued by the Attorney General under sections 7 and 8 shall
be made available to the public. The Attorney General may
provide for the publication of a written decision if the At-
torney General determines that publication would provide
useful guidance. Before making a written decision public,
the Attorney General—
(1) shall delete information that would identify
a person or entity who was alleged to have violated
this Act if—
(A) there was insufficient evidence to de-
termine that the person or entity violated this
Act or the Attorney General found that person
or entity did not violate this Act, and
(B) the person or entity so requests; and
(2) shall delete information that would identify
any other person or entity (other than a person or
entity who was found to have violated this Act), if
the Attorney General determines that such person or
taken in the decision shall be stayed during the pendency
of the appeal.
(c) RECOVERY OF PENALTY.—Any penalty assessed
in a written decision which has become final under this
Act may be recovered in a civil action brought by the At-
torney General in an appropriate United States district
court. In any such action, no matter that was raised or
that could have been raised before the Attorney General
or pursuant to judicial review under subsection (b) may
be raised as a defense, and the determination of liability
and the determination of amounts of penalties and assess-
ments shall not be subject to review.
SEC. 11. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS TO OTHER STATUTES.
(a) AMENDMENT
TO
COMPETITIVENESS
POLICY
COUNCIL ACT.—Section 5206(e) of the Competitiveness
Policy Council Act (15 U.S.C. 4804(e)) is amended by in-
serting ‘‘or a lobbyist for a foreign entity (as the terms
‘lobbyist’ and ‘foreign entity’ are defined under section 3
of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995)’’ after ‘‘an agent
for a foreign principal’’.
(b) AMENDMENTS TO TITLE 18, UNITED STATES
CODE.—Section 219(a) of title 18, United States Code,
is amended—
(1) by inserting ‘‘or a lobbyist required to reg-
ister under the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 in
connection with the representation of a foreign en-
tity, as defined in section 3(8) of that Act’’ after
‘‘an agent of a foreign principal required to register
under the Foreign Agents Registration Act of
1938’’; and
(2) by striking out ‘‘, as amended,’’.
(c) AMENDMENT
TO FOREIGN SERVICE ACT
OF
1980.—Section 602(c) of the Foreign Service Act of 1980
(22 U.S.C. 4002(c)) is amended by inserting ‘‘or a lobby-
ist for a foreign entity (as defined in section 3(8) of the
Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995)’’ after ‘‘an agent of a
foreign principal (as defined by section 1(b) of the Foreign
Agents Registration Act of 1938)’’.
SEC. 12. SEVERABILITY.
If any provision of this Act, or the application there-
of, is held invalid, the validity of the remainder of this
Act and the application of such provision to other persons
and circumstances shall not be affected thereby.
SEC. 13. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There are authorized to be appropriated for fiscal
years 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, and 1999 such sums as
may be necessary to carry out this Act.
SEC. 14. IDENTIFICATION OF CLIENTS AND COVERED OFFI-
CIALS.
(a) ORAL LOBBYING CONTACTS.—Any person or en-
tity that makes an oral lobbying contact with a covered
legislative branch official or a covered executive branch of-
ficial shall, on the request of the official at the time of
the lobbying contact—
(1) state whether the person or entity is reg-
istered under this Act and identify the client on
whose behalf the lobbying contact is made; and
(2) state whether such client is a foreign entity
and identify any foreign entity required to be dis-
closed under section 4(b)(4) that has a direct inter-
est in the outcome of the lobbying activity.
(b) WRITTEN LOBBYING CONTACTS.—Any person or
entity registered under this Act that makes a written lob-
bying contact (including an electronic communication)
with a covered legislative branch official or a covered exec-
utive branch official shall—
(1) if the client on whose behalf the lobbying
contact was made is a foreign entity, identify such
client, state that the client is considered a foreign
entity under this Act, and state whether the person
making the lobbying contact is registered on behalf
of that client under section 4; and
(2) identify any other foreign entity identified
pursuant to section 4(b)(4) that has a direct interest
in the outcome of the lobbying activity.
(c) IDENTIFICATION AS COVERED OFFICIAL.—Upon
request by a person or entity making a lobbying contact,
the individual who is contacted or the office employing
that individual shall indicate whether or not the individual
is a covered legislative branch official or a covered execu-
tive branch official.
SEC. 15. TRANSITIONAL FILING REQUIREMENT.
(a) SIMULTANEOUS FILING.—Subject to subsection
(b), each registrant shall transmit simultaneously to the
Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the House of
Representatives an identical copy of each registration and
report required to be filed under this Act.
(b) SUNSET PROVISION.—The simultaneous filing re-
quirement under subsection (a) shall be effective until
such time as the Chairman, in consultation with the Sec-
retary of the Senate and the Clerk of the House of Rep-
resentatives, determines that the Federal Elections Com-
mission is able to provide computer telecommunication or
other transmittal of registrations and reports as required
under section 6(11).
(c) IMPLEMENTATION.—The Chairman, the Sec-
retary of the Senate, and the Clerk of the House of Rep-
resentatives shall take such actions as necessary to ensure
that the Federal Elections Commission is able to provide
computer telecommunication or other transmittal of reg-
istrations and reports as required under section 6(11) on
the effective date of this Act, or as soon thereafter as rea-
sonably practicable.
SEC. 16. ESTIMATES BASED ON TAX REPORTING SYSTEM.
(a) ENTITIES COVERED BY SECTION 6033(b) OF THE
INTERNAL REVENUE CODE OF 1986.—A registrant that
is required to report and does report lobbying expenditures
pursuant to section 6033(b)(8) of the Internal Revenue
Code of 1986 may—
(1) make a good faith estimate (by category of
dollar value) of applicable amounts that would be re-
quired to be disclosed under such section for the ap-
propriate semiannual period to meet the require-
ments of sections 4(a)(3), 5(a)(2), and 5(b)(4); and
(2) in lieu of using the definition of ‘‘lobbying
activities’’ in section 3(9) of this Act, consider as
lobbying activities only those activities that are influ-
encing legislation as defined in section 4911(d) of
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
(b) ENTITIES COVERED BY SECTION 162(e) OF THE
INTERNAL REVENUE CODE OF 1986.—A registrant that
is required to account for lobbying expenditures and does