I 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 8676 
To prohibit the use of United States embassies or consulates in raising 
funds for foreign political parties or candidates. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 23, 2020 
Mr. MALINOWSKI introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Foreign Affairs 
A BILL 
To prohibit the use of United States embassies or consulates 
in raising funds for foreign political parties or candidates. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Opposing Foreign 
Fundraising at United States Embassies Act of 2020’’ or 
the ‘‘OFF U.S. Embassies Act of 2020’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress makes the following findings: 
(1) The promotion of democratic institutions 
and free and fair elections is a key foreign policy ini-
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tiative of the United States, carried out by the De-
partment of State through its embassies, diplomats, 
programs, and policies around the world. 
(2) Meeting with and building relationships 
with a range of political parties in foreign countries 
are appropriate and important functions consistent 
with the duties of any United States Ambassador or 
representative of the United States Government 
abroad. 
(3) It is the longstanding and bipartisan prac-
tice of the United States to encourage democratic 
norms, free and fair elections, rule of law, and free 
speech abroad, without regard for political party or 
affiliation. 
(4) The use of United States embassy or con-
sulate grounds, or the grounds of any other United 
States diplomatic post, to raise funds for any foreign 
political party or candidate in a foreign democratic 
electoral process is inappropriate and distinct from 
longstanding Department of State efforts to engage 
with foreign persons, including democracy activists 
and representatives of political parties, to advance 
democratic institutions and universal values around 
the world. 
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(5) On September 10, 2020, United States Am-
bassador to the Netherlands Pete Hoekstra held a 
private event for a Dutch political party and its do-
nors at the United States Embassy in The Hague. 
(6) The invitations to the event asked guests to 
join the United States Embassy ‘‘at the invitation of 
the Forum for Democracy and Pete Hoekstra,’’ and 
included contact details for the ‘‘Head of Fund-
raising’’ of that foreign political party. 
(7) Prior donors to the political party were in-
vited and attended the event at the United States 
Embassy. 
(8) The leader of the foreign political party 
used the event at the United States Embassy to 
speak about campaign strategy and to display a 
video made ahead of the 2021 electoral campaign in 
the Netherlands. 
(9) Following news reports highlighting the 
similarities between the September 10, 2020, event 
held at the United States Embassy and a political 
fundraiser, Dutch lawmakers raised concerns, with 
one member of parliament calling on the Dutch For-
eign Ministry to investigate whether Ambassador 
Hoekstra had ‘‘facilitated a fund raising event for a 
political party’’. 
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(10) Such behavior is part of a pattern in which 
Department of State officials under President Don-
ald J. Trump have publicly engaged in political ac-
tivities that break with the longstanding practice of 
not using one’s official position to lend support to 
particular parties or candidates, domestic or foreign, 
with whom one shares a partisan affinity. 
(11) In 2018, United States Ambassador to 
Germany Richard Grenell said, from his official resi-
dence in Berlin, ‘‘I absolutely want to empower 
other conservatives throughout Europe’’ and praised 
the leader of an Austrian political party, leading 
multiple German political figures to publicly rebuke 
the United States Ambassador for political inter-
ference. 
SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON HOSTING OF FOREIGN PARTY PO-
LITICAL EVENTS AT UNITED STATES EMBAS-
SIES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—No Federal funds may be obli-
gated or expended to host a fundraising event for, or on 
behalf of, a foreign political party or candidate at a United 
States embassy or consulate or any other United States 
diplomatic post. 
(b) FUNDRAISING EVENT DEFINED.—In this section, 
the term ‘‘fundraising event’’ means an event intended to 
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raise funds for, or on behalf of, a political party or can-
didate, including by knowingly facilitating contact between 
potential donors and political parties or candidates for 
fundraising purposes. 
(c) RESTRICTION ON ENTERTAINMENT AND REP-
RESENTATION EXPENSES.—Section 905 of the Foreign 
Service Act of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 4085) is amended by add-
ing at the end the following: ‘‘The Secretary may not pro-
vide for official receptions or pay expenses related to ac-
tivities by the Department or the Service, hosted by a 
United States embassy or consulate or other United States 
diplomatic post, intended to raise funds for or on behalf 
of a foreign political party or candidate.’’. 
(d) 
ADDITIONAL
RESTRICTION
ON
EXPENDI-
TURES.—Section 4(b)(2)(H) of the State Department 
Basic Authorities Act of 1956 (22 U.S.C. 2671(b)(2)(H)) 
is amended by inserting ‘‘, other than functions at a 
United States embassy or consulate or any other United 
States diplomatic post intended to raise funds for or on 
behalf of a foreign political party or candidate’’ after ‘‘al-
lowances’’. 
(e) REVISION OF DSSR AND FAM.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State shall 
revise the Department of State Standardized Regu-
lations (DSSR) and the Foreign Affairs Manual 
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(FAM) to prohibit the use of a United States em-
bassy or consulate or any other United States diplo-
matic post in a manner intended to raise funds for 
or on behalf of a foreign political party or candidate, 
reflect the prohibitions on expenditures under this 
section, and discourage any activity hosted by a 
United States embassy or consulate or other United 
States diplomatic post that could be construed as 
promoting the financial interest of any foreign polit-
ical party or candidate relative to others engaged in 
a democratic electoral process. 
(2) CERTIFICATION.—Not less than 90 days 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec-
retary shall certify to the appropriate congressional 
committees that the revisions required under para-
graph (1) have been made. 
(3) APPROPRIATE
CONGRESSIONAL
COMMIT-
TEES DEFINED.—In this subsection, the term ‘‘ap-
propriate congressional committees’’ means the 
Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and 
the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of 
Representatives. 
Æ 
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