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. 
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 ‘‘Publish What You Pay 
Act of 2004’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds the following: 
(1) Each year, corporations pay resource-de-
pendent developing countries billions of dollars in re-
turn for the opportunity to extract natural re-
sources.
(2) Foreign governments often misappropriate 
or misuse those billions of dollars, thereby causing 
political instability and increasing the risk of violent 
internal conflict. 
(3) Investors managing $6.9 trillion in funds 
have recently made a public statement that lack of 
transparency may lead to oil and mining corpora-
tions being accused of colluding in corruption, and 
may therefore undermine their social legitimacy and 
future business prospects in resource-dependent de-
veloping countries. 
(4) Regular reporting by corporations of pay-
ments to foreign governments would aid efforts to 
end corruption, and enable citizens of such countries 
to better hold their governments to account for the 
use of their natural wealth. 
(5) Transparency will aid shareholders in evalu-
ating the corporations in which they invest. 
SEC. 3. RULEMAKING REQUIRED. 
(a) REVISION OF DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS RE-
QUIRED.—The Securities and Exchange Commission shall 
revise its rules and regulations under sections 13 and 
15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 
78m, 78o(d)) to require each issuer subject to such sec-
tions to disclose in the annual and quarterly reports of
such issuer the aggregate payments by such issuer made 
in connection with the securing of exploration, develop-
ment, exploitation, extraction, and production rights for 
natural resources to any foreign government or any other 
public entity of a foreign country. Such aggregate pay-
ments shall include taxes, royalties, fees, and other 
amounts paid in such connection. 
(b) MINIMUM PAYMENTS EXCEPTED.—The disclo-
sure required by subsection (a) shall not apply to an issuer 
if the amount of such aggregate payments by such issuer 
for the reporting period are less than $250,000. 
(c) DEFINITION
OF NATURAL RESOURCES.—For 
purposes of this section, the term ‘‘natural resources’’ 
means oil, gas, and minerals. 
SEC. 4. INJUNCTIVE RELIEF; INVESTIGATIONS. 
(a) INJUNCTIONS AUTHORIZED.—When it appears to 
the Attorney General that any domestic concern to which 
section 3 applies, or any officer, director, employee, agent, 
or stockholder thereof, is engaged, or about to engage, in 
any act or practice constituting a violation of the rules 
and regulations required by that section, the Attorney 
General may, in his or her discretion, bring a civil action 
in an appropriate district court of the United States to 
enjoin such act or practice, and upon a proper showing,
a permanent injunction or a temporary restraining order 
shall be granted without bond. 
(b) INVESTIGATIONS.—For purposes of any civil in-
vestigation that, in the opinion of the Attorney General, 
is necessary and proper to enforce the rules and regula-
tions prescribed under section 3, the Attorney General or 
his designee is empowered to administer oaths and affir-
mation, subpoena witnesses, take evidence, and required 
the production of any documents deemed relevant to such 
investigation. 
SEC. 5. ENFORCEMENT. 
(a) WILLFUL VIOLATIONS.—Any person who willfully 
violates any rule or regulation prescribed under section 3 
shall be fined not more than $2,000,000, or imprisoned 
not more than 5 years, or both. 
(b) OTHER VIOLATIONS.—Except as provided in sub-
section (a), any person who violates any rule or regulation 
prescribed under section 3 shall be fined not more than 
$100,000. 
SEC. 6. REPORTS. 
(a) REPORTS.—The Securities and Exchange Com-
mission, in conjunction with the Secretary of the Treasury 
and the Attorney General, shall submit an annual report 
to the President and the Congress, reporting compiling the
aggregate amount of payments reported under the rules 
and regulations prescribed under section 3. 
(b) TITLE; DEADLINE.—The report required by sub-
section (a), which shall be entitled the ‘‘Publish What You 
Pay Report’’, shall be issued on 1 July of each year. 
SEC. 7. DEADLINE FOR REVISIONS. 
The Securities and Exchange Commission shall pre-
scribe the revisions to its rules and regulations required 
by section 3(a) not later than 6 months after the date 
of enactment of this Act. 
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