I 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5733 
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 gov-
ernments which engage in a pattern of gross violations of human rights 
from the exemption provided under the Act for agents engaged in scho-
lastic and certain other pursuits, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 30, 2020 
Mr. MOULTON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
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 viola-
tions of human rights from the exemption provided under 
the Act for agents engaged in scholastic and certain 
other pursuits, 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. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Foreign Influence Reg-
istration Modernization Act’’ or the ‘‘FIRM Act’’. 
SEC. 2. WAIVING APPLICATION OF FOREIGN AGENTS REG-
ISTRATION ACT TO AGENTS REPRESENTING 
FOREIGN ENTERPRISES NOT UNDER CON-
TROL OR DIRECTION OF FOREIGN GOVERN-
MENTS 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)) is amend-
ed— 
(1) by striking ‘‘a partnership’’ and inserting 
‘‘an enterprise consisting of a partnership’’; and 
(2) by striking the period at the end and insert-
ing 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.’’: 
SEC. 3. EXCLUDING AGENTS REPRESENTING GOVERN-
MENTS 
WHICH 
VIOLATE 
HUMAN 
RIGHTS 
FROM EXEMPTION FOR AGENTS ENGAGED IN 
RELIGIOUS, SCHOLASTIC, ACADEMIC, OR SCI-
ENTIFIC PURSUITS OR FINE ARTS. 
Section 3(e) of the Foreign Agents Registration Act 
of 1938, as amended (22 U.S.C. 613(e)) is amended by 
striking the semicolon at the end and inserting the fol-
lowing: ‘‘, except that this subsection does not apply in 
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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) 
or part II of such Act by reason of the application of sec-
tion 502B of such Act (22 U.S.C. 2304).’’. 
SEC. 
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)) is amended by striking the period at the end and 
inserting the following: ‘‘, in a manner which enables the 
statements and supplements to be filed in a digitized for-
mat and which incorporates the statements and supple-
ments 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. 
SEC. 5. AVAILABILITY OF CIVIL MONEY PENALTY FOR VIO-
LATION. 
Section 8 of the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 
1938, as amended (22 U.S.C. 618) is amended by insert-
ing after subsection (c) the following new subsection: 
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‘‘(d) Whoever knowingly violates any provision of this 
Act shall, upon proof of such knowing violation by a pre-
ponderance of the evidence, be subject to a civil money 
penalty of not more than $200,000, depending on the ex-
tent and severity of the violation.’’. 
SEC. 6. TRANSFER OF RESPONSIBILITY FOR ADMINISTRA-
TION OF LOBBYING DISCLOSURE ACT OF 1995 
TO ATTORNEY GENERAL. 
(a) REQUIRING LOBBYISTS TO REGISTER WITH AT-
TORNEY GENERAL.— 
(1) REGISTRATION.—Section 4(a)(1) of the 
Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 
1603(a)(1)) is amended by striking ‘‘the Secretary 
of the Senate and the Clerk of the House of Rep-
resentatives’’ and inserting ‘‘the Attorney General’’. 
(2) NOTICE
OF
TERMINATION
OF
REGISTRA-
TION.—Section 4(d) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 1603(d)) 
is amended by striking ‘‘the Secretary of the Senate 
and the Clerk of the House of Representatives’’ and 
inserting ‘‘the Attorney General’’. 
(b) REQUIRING LOBBYISTS TO FILE REPORTS WITH 
ATTORNEY GENERAL.— 
(1) QUARTERLY REPORTS BY LOBBYISTS.—Sec-
tion 5(a) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 1604(a)) is amended 
by striking ‘‘the Secretary of the Senate and the 
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Clerk of the House of Representatives’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘the Attorney General’’. 
(2) SEMIANNUAL REPORTS ON CERTAIN CON-
TRIBUTIONS.—Section 5(d)(1) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 
1604(d)(1)) is amended by striking ‘‘the Secretary 
of the Senate and the Clerk of the House of Rep-
resentatives’’ and inserting ‘‘the Attorney General’’. 
(3) ELECTRONIC FILING.—Section 5(e) of such 
Act (2 U.S.C. 1604(e)) is amended— 
(A) by striking ‘‘the Secretary of the Sen-
ate or the Clerk of the House of Representa-
tives’’ and inserting ‘‘the Attorney General’’; 
and 
(B) by striking the second sentence. 
(c) DISCLOSURE AND ENFORCEMENT.—Section 6(a) 
of such Act (2 U.S.C. 1605(a)) is amended in the matter 
preceding paragraph (1) by striking ‘‘The Secretary of the 
Senate and the Clerk of the House of Representatives’’ 
and inserting ‘‘The Attorney General’’. 
(d) PENALTIES.—Section 7(a)(1) of such Act (2 
U.S.C. 1606(a)(1)) is amended by striking ‘‘the Secretary 
of the Senate or the Clerk of the House of Representa-
tives’’ and inserting ‘‘the Attorney General’’. 
(e) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO LACK 
OF GENERAL AUDIT OR INVESTIGATIVE AUTHORITY OF 
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SECRETARY
AND CLERK.—Section 8 of such Act (2 
U.S.C. 1607) is amended by striking subsection (c). 
(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)) is amended 
by striking ‘‘the Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk 
of the House of Representatives’’ and inserting ‘‘the At-
torney 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 Rep-
resentatives 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 Lob-
bying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1601 et 
seq.). 
Æ 
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