I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4617 
To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to clarify the obligation 
to report acts of foreign election influence and require implementation 
of compliance and reporting systems by Federal campaigns to detect 
and report such acts, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 8, 2019 
Ms. LOFGREN (for herself, Mr. SARBANES, Mr. RASKIN, Mrs. DAVIS of Cali-
fornia, Mr. BUTTERFIELD, Ms. FUDGE, Mr. AGUILAR, Mr. NADLER, Mrs. 
MURPHY of Florida, Mr. MCEACHIN, Mr. MALINOWSKI, and Mr. KIL-
MER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on House Administration, and in addition to the Committee on the Judi-
ciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each 
case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of 
the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to 
clarify the obligation to report acts of foreign election 
influence and require implementation of compliance and 
reporting systems by Federal campaigns to detect and 
report such acts, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Stopping Harmful Interference in Elections for a Lasting 
Democracy Act’’ or the ‘‘SHIELD Act’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 
this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
TITLE I—ENHANCED REPORTING REQUIREMENTS 
Subtitle A—Establishing Duty To Report Foreign Election Interference 
Sec. 101. Federal campaign reporting of foreign contacts. 
Sec. 102. Federal campaign foreign contact reporting compliance system. 
Sec. 103. Criminal penalties. 
Sec. 104. Rule of construction. 
Subtitle B—Strengthening Oversight of Online Political Advertising 
Sec. 111. Short title. 
Sec. 112. Purpose. 
Sec. 113. Expansion of definition of public communication. 
Sec. 114. Expansion of definition of electioneering communication. 
Sec. 115. Application of disclaimer statements to online communications. 
Sec. 116. Political record requirements for online platforms. 
Sec. 117. Preventing contributions, expenditures, independent expenditures, 
and disbursements for electioneering communications by for-
eign nationals in the form of online advertising. 
TITLE II—CLOSING LOOPHOLES ALLOWING SPENDING BY 
FOREIGN NATIONALS IN ELECTIONS 
Sec. 201. Clarification of prohibition on participation by foreign nationals in 
election-related activities. 
Sec. 202. Clarification of application of foreign money ban to certain disburse-
ments and activities. 
Sec. 203. Audit and report on illicit foreign money in Federal elections. 
Sec. 204. Prohibition on contributions and donations by foreign nationals in 
connections with ballot initiatives and referenda. 
Sec. 205. Expansion of limitations on foreign nationals participating in political 
advertising. 
TITLE III—DETERRING FOREIGN INTERFERENCE IN ELECTIONS 
Subtitle A—Deterrence Under Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 
Sec. 301. Restrictions on exchange of campaign information between candidates 
and foreign powers. 
Sec. 302. Clarification of standard for determining existence of coordination be-
tween campaigns and outside interests. 
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Subtitle B—Prohibiting Deceptive Practices and Preventing Voter 
Intimidation 
Sec. 311. Short title. 
Sec. 312. Prohibition on deceptive practices in Federal elections. 
Sec. 313. Corrective action. 
Sec. 314. Reports to Congress. 
TITLE IV—MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS 
Sec. 401. Effective dates of provisions. 
Sec. 402. Severability. 
TITLE I—ENHANCED 
REPORTING REQUIREMENTS 
Subtitle A—Establishing Duty To 
Report Foreign Election Inter-
ference 
SEC. 101. FEDERAL CAMPAIGN REPORTING OF FOREIGN 
CONTACTS. 
(a) INITIAL NOTICE.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 304 of the Federal 
Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30104) 
is amended by adding at the end the following new 
subsection: 
‘‘(j) DISCLOSURE OF REPORTABLE FOREIGN CON-
TACTS.— 
‘‘(1) COMMITTEE
OBLIGATION
TO
NOTIFY.— 
Not later than 1 week after a reportable foreign con-
tact, each political committee shall notify the Fed-
eral Bureau of Investigation and the Commission of 
the reportable foreign contact and provide a sum-
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mary of the circumstances with respect to such re-
portable foreign contact. 
‘‘(2) INDIVIDUAL
OBLIGATION
TO
NOTIFY.— 
Not later than 3 days after a reportable foreign con-
tact— 
‘‘(A) each candidate shall notify the treas-
urer or other designated official of the principal 
campaign committee of such candidate of the 
reportable foreign contact and provide a sum-
mary of the circumstances with respect to such 
reportable foreign contact; and 
‘‘(B) each official, employee, or agent of a 
political committee shall notify the treasurer or 
other designated official of the committee of the 
reportable foreign contact and provide a sum-
mary of the circumstances with respect to such 
reportable foreign contact. 
‘‘(3) REPORTABLE FOREIGN CONTACT.—In this 
subsection: 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘reportable 
foreign contact’ means any direct or indirect 
contact or communication that— 
‘‘(i) is between— 
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‘‘(I) a candidate, a political com-
mittee, or any official, employee, or 
agent of such committee; and 
‘‘(II) an individual that the per-
son described in subclause (I) knows, 
has reason to know, or reasonably be-
lieves is a covered foreign national; 
and 
‘‘(ii) the person described in clause 
(i)(I) knows, has reason to know, or rea-
sonably believes involves— 
‘‘(I) an offer or other proposal 
for a contribution, donation, expendi-
ture, disbursement, or solicitation de-
scribed in section 319; or 
‘‘(II) coordination or collabora-
tion with, an offer or provision of in-
formation or services to or from, or 
persistent and repeated contact with, 
a covered foreign national in connec-
tion with an election. 
‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—The term ‘reportable 
foreign contact’ shall not include any contact or 
communication with a covered foreign national 
by an elected official or an employee of an elect-
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ed official solely in an official capacity as such 
an official or employee. For purposes of the 
previous sentence, a contact or communication 
by an elected official or an employee of an elect-
ed official shall not be considered to be made 
solely in an official capacity if the contact or 
communication involves a contribution, dona-
tion, expenditure, disbursement, or solicitation 
described in section 319. 
‘‘(C) COVERED
FOREIGN
NATIONAL
DE-
FINED.— 
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In this paragraph, 
the 
term 
‘covered 
foreign 
national’ 
means— 
‘‘(I) a foreign principal (as de-
fined in section 1(b) of the Foreign 
Agents Registration Act of 1938 (22 
U.S.C. 611(b)) that is a government 
of a foreign country or a foreign polit-
ical party; 
‘‘(II) any person who acts as an 
agent, representative, employee, or 
servant, or any person who acts in 
any other capacity at the order, re-
quest, or under the direction or con-
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trol, of a foreign principal described in 
subclause (I) or of a person any of 
whose activities are directly or indi-
rectly supervised, directed, controlled, 
financed, or subsidized in whole or in 
major part by a foreign principal de-
scribed in subclause (I); or 
‘‘(III) any person included in the 
list of specially designated nationals 
and blocked persons maintained by 
the Office of Foreign Assets Control 
of the Department of the Treasury 
pursuant to authorities relating to the 
imposition of sanctions relating to the 
conduct of a foreign principal de-
scribed in subclause (I). 
‘‘(ii) CLARIFICATION REGARDING AP-
PLICATION TO CITIZENS OF THE UNITED 
STATES.—In the case of a citizen of the 
United States, subclause (II) of clause (i) 
applies only to the extent that the person 
involved acts within the scope of that per-
son’s status as the agent of a foreign prin-
cipal described in subclause (I) of clause 
(i).’’. 
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