I 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3859 
To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to prohibit contribu-
tions and expenditures by multicandidate political committees controlled 
by foreign-owned corporations, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 20, 2009 
Ms. KAPTUR introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on House Administration, and in addition to the Committee on the 
Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 
each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdic-
tion of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to 
prohibit contributions and expenditures by multi-
candidate political committees controlled by foreign- 
owned corporations, and for other purposes. 
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 ‘‘Ethics in Foreign Lob-
bying Act of 2009’’. 
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SEC. 2. PROHIBITION OF CONTRIBUTIONS AND EXPENDI-
TURES 
BY 
MULTICANDIDATE 
POLITICAL 
COMMITTEES OR SEPARATE SEGREGATED 
FUNDS 
SPONSORED 
BY 
FOREIGN-CON-
TROLLED 
CORPORATIONS 
AND 
ASSOCIA-
TIONS. 
Title III of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 
1971 (2 U.S.C. 441 et seq.) is amended by adding at the 
end the following new section: 
‘‘PROHIBITION OF CONTRIBUTIONS AND EXPENDITURES 
BY MULTICANDIDATE POLITICAL COMMITTEES SPON-
SORED
BY
FOREIGN-CONTROLLED
CORPORATIONS 
AND ASSOCIATIONS 
‘‘SEC. 325. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision 
of law— 
‘‘(1) no multicandidate political committee or 
separate segregated fund of a foreign-controlled cor-
poration may make any contribution or expenditure 
with respect to an election for Federal office; and 
‘‘(2) no multicandidate political committee or 
separate segregated fund of a trade organization, 
membership organization, cooperative, or corporation 
without capital stock may make any contribution or 
expenditure with respect to an election for Federal 
office if 50 percent or more of the operating fund of 
the trade organization, membership organization, co-
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operative, or corporation without capital stock is 
supplied by foreign-controlled corporations or foreign 
nationals. 
‘‘(b) The Commission shall— 
‘‘(1) require each multicandidate political com-
mittee or separate segregated fund of a corporation 
to include in the statement of organization of the 
multicandidate political committee or separate seg-
regated fund a statement (to be updated annually 
and at any time when the percentage goes above or 
below 50 percent) of the percentage of ownership in-
terest in the corporation that is controlled by per-
sons other than citizens or nationals of the United 
States; 
‘‘(2) require each trade association, membership 
organization, cooperative, or corporation without 
capital stock to include in its statement of organiza-
tion of the multicandidate political committee or sep-
arate segregated fund (and update annually) the 
percentage of its operating fund that is derived from 
foreign-owned corporations and foreign nationals; 
and 
‘‘(3) take such action as may be necessary to 
enforce subsection (a). 
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‘‘(c) The Commission shall maintain a list of the 
identity of the multicandidate political committees or sepa-
rate segregated funds that file reports under subsection 
(b), including a statement of the amounts and percentage 
reported by such multicandidate political committees or 
separate segregated funds. 
‘‘(d) As used in this section— 
‘‘(1) the term ‘foreign-owned corporation’ 
means a corporation at least 50 percent of the own-
ership interest of which is controlled by persons 
other than citizens or nationals of the United States; 
‘‘(2) the term ‘multicandidate political com-
mittee’ has the meaning given that term in section 
315(a)(4); 
‘‘(3) the term ‘separate segregated fund’ means 
a separate segregated fund referred to in section 
316(b)(2)(C); and 
‘‘(4) the term ‘foreign national’ has the mean-
ing given that term in section 319.’’. 
SEC. 3. PROHIBITION OF CERTAIN ELECTION-RELATED AC-
TIVITIES OF FOREIGN NATIONALS. 
Section 319 of the Federal Election Campaign Act 
of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441e) is amended by adding at the end 
the following new subsection: 
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‘‘(c) A foreign national shall not direct, dictate, con-
trol, or directly or indirectly participate in the decision-
making process of any person, such as a corporation, labor 
organization, or political committee, with regard to such 
person’s Federal or non-Federal election-related activities, 
such as decisions concerning the making of contributions 
or expenditures in connection with elections for any local, 
State, or Federal office or decisions concerning the admin-
istration of a political committee.’’. 
SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF A CLEARINGHOUSE OF POLIT-
ICAL ACTIVITIES INFORMATION WITHIN THE 
FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There shall be established 
within the Federal Election Commission a clearinghouse 
of public information regarding the political activities of 
foreign principals and agents of foreign principals. The in-
formation comprising this clearinghouse shall include only 
the following: 
(1) All registrations and reports filed pursuant 
to the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 
1601 et seq.) during the preceding 5-year period. 
(2) All registrations and reports filed pursuant 
to the Foreign Agents Registration Act, as amended 
(22 U.S.C. 611 et seq.), during the preceding 5-year 
period. 
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(3) The listings of public hearings, hearing wit-
nesses, and witness affiliations printed in the Con-
gressional Record during the preceding 5-year pe-
riod. 
(4) Public information disclosed pursuant to the 
rules of the Senate or the House of Representatives 
regarding honoraria, the receipt of gifts, travel, and 
earned and unearned income. 
(5) All reports filed pursuant to title I of the 
Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) 
during the preceding 5-year period. 
(6) All public information filed with the Federal 
Election Commission pursuant to the Federal Elec-
tion Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431 et seq.) 
during the preceding 5-year period. 
(b) DISCLOSURE OF OTHER INFORMATION PROHIB-
ITED.—The disclosure by the clearinghouse, or any officer 
or employee thereof, of any information other than that 
set forth in subsection (a) is prohibited, except as other-
wise provided by law. 
(c) DIRECTOR OF CLEARINGHOUSE.—(1) The clear-
inghouse shall have a Director, who shall administer and 
manage the responsibilities and all activities of the clear-
inghouse. 
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(2) The Director shall be appointed by the Federal 
Election Commission. 
(3) The period of the Director’s term of service shall 
be determined by the Commission, but may not exceed 5 
years. 
(4) No individual appointed to serve a term as the 
Director may serve for an additional term. 
(d) ENSURING SUFFICIENT STAFF AND OTHER RE-
SOURCES.—The Commission shall ensure that the Direc-
tor has sufficient resources, including staff, to carry out 
the Director’s duties and responsibilities under this Act. 
(e) AUTHORIZATION
OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 
are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 
necessary to conduct the activities of the clearinghouse. 
SEC. 5. DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE DIRECTOR 
OF THE CLEARINGHOUSE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—It shall be the duty of the Direc-
tor of the clearinghouse established under section 4— 
(1) to develop a filing, coding, and cross-index-
ing system to carry out the purposes of this Act 
(which shall include an index of all persons identi-
fied in the reports, registrations, and other informa-
tion comprising the clearinghouse); 
(2) notwithstanding any other provision of law, 
to make copies of registrations, reports, and other 
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information comprising the clearinghouse available 
for public inspection and copying, beginning not 
later than 30 days after the information is first 
available to the public, and to permit copying of any 
such registration, report, or other information by 
hand or by copying machine or, at the request of 
any person, to furnish a copy of any such registra-
tion, report, or other information upon payment of 
the cost of making and furnishing such copy, except 
that no information contained in such registration or 
report and no such other information shall be sold 
or used by any person for the purpose of soliciting 
contributions or for any profit-making purpose; 
(3) to compile and summarize, for each cal-
endar quarter, the information contained in such 
registrations, reports, and other information com-
prising the clearinghouse in a manner which facili-
tates the disclosure of political activities, including, 
but not limited to, information on— 
(A) political activities pertaining to issues 
before the Congress and issues before the exec-
utive branch; and 
(B) the political activities of individuals, 
organizations, foreign principals, and agents of 
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foreign principals who share an economic, busi-
ness, or other common interest; 
(4) to make the information compiled and sum-
marized under paragraph (3) available to the public 
within 30 days after the close of each calendar quar-
ter, and to publish such information in the Federal 
Register at the earliest practicable opportunity; 
(5) not later than 150 days after the date of 
the enactment of this Act and at any time there-
after, to prescribe, in consultation with the Comp-
troller General, such rules, regulations, and forms, 
in conformity with the provisions of chapter 5 of 
title 5, United States Code, as are necessary to 
carry out the provisions of section 4 and this section 
in the most effective and efficient manner; and 
(6) at the request of any Member of the Senate 
or Member of the House of Representatives, to pre-
pare and submit to such Member a study or report 
relating to the political activities of any person and 
consisting only of the information in the registra-
tions, reports, and other information comprising the 
clearinghouse. 
(b) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section— 
(1) the terms ‘‘foreign principal’’ and ‘‘agent of 
a foreign principal’’ have the meanings given those 
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