FOIA Fix Act
Bill: S.4401 | Sponsor: Sen. Rubio, Marco (R-FL)
Policy area: Government Operations and Politics

Summary:
First Opportunity for Information to Americans Act or the FOIA Fix Act
This bill bars certain foreign nationals and entities from obtaining U.S. government records under the Freedom of Information Act.
The bill specifically prohibits an agency from making records available to specified requesters, including an entity that is a subsidiary of an entity with a principal place of business or headquarters located in China, Russia, North Korea, Iran, Cuba, Syria, or Venezuela.
Further, the bill sets penalties for knowingly assisting, conspiring, or abetting a request for information on behalf of an individual or entity that is prohibited from receiving it.

To modify the Freedom of Information Act, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``First Opportunity for Information to 
Americans Act'' or the ``FOIA Fix Act''.

SEC. 2. FOIA REQUESTS.

    Section 552 of title 5, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)--
                    (A) in paragraph (3)(A), by inserting ``or 
                paragraph (9)'' after ``subparagraph (E)''; and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(9)(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (D), an agency may not 
make any record available under this subsection to any requester that--
            ``(i) is an individual who is not a citizen of the United 
        States or an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence;
            ``(ii) is an entity that does not have a principal place of 
        business or headquarters located in a State, the District of 
        Columbia, or any territory or possession of the United States; 
        or
            ``(iii) is an entity that is a subsidiary of an entity with 
        a principal place of business or headquarters located in--
                    ``(I) the People's Republic of China;
                    ``(II) the Russian Federation;
                    ``(III) the Democratic People's Republic of Korea;
                    ``(IV) the Islamic Republic of Iran;
                    ``(V) the Republic of Cuba;
                    ``(VI) the Syrian Arab Republic; or
                    ``(VII) the regime of Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela.
    ``(B) Knowingly assisting, conspiring, or abetting a request for 
information under this section on behalf of an individual or entity 
that is prohibited from receiving the information under subparagraph 
(A) is punishable by a fine of up $10,000 per violation and not more 
than 1 year in prison.
    ``(C) Each agency shall promulgate regulations as necessary to 
carry out subparagraph (A).
    ``(D) Subparagraph (A) shall not apply to a requester that is 
seeking official copies of the immigration court proceedings of the 
requester.
    ``(10) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, an 
agency may determine the manner in which a request is fulfilled under 
this subsection if the agency has a reasonable belief that fulfilling 
the request in the manner requested by the requester--
            ``(A) is likely to result in the exposure of material or 
        information that is not responsive to the request, including 
        any data describing the structure, data elements, 
        interrelationships, or other characteristics of electronic 
        records otherwise responsive to the request; or
            ``(B) poses a material security risk to the agency or 
        another entity in the Federal Government.''; and
            (2) in subsection (b)--
                    (A) in paragraph (8), by striking ``or'' at the 
                end; and
                    (B) in paragraph (9), by striking the period at the 
                end and inserting ``; or''; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(10) records or information, such as blueprints, 
        schematics, formulae, technical expertise, or other similar 
        information that is susceptible to reverse engineering--
                    ``(A) the disclosure of which is likely to damage 
                the interests of the United States;
                    ``(B) that is materially related to the study of an 
                emerging or foundational technology identified by the 
                Department of Commerce; and
                    ``(C) for which the interest of the public in 
                disclosure does not outweigh the interests described in 
                subparagraph (A).''.
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