Title: Duty to Report Act of 2018
Policy area: Government Operations and Politics

Summary:
Duty to Report Act of 2018
This bill requires each candidate for public office (and certain affiliated individuals) to notify the Federal Bureau of Investigation upon receiving unsolicited information (or an offer of such information) about another candidate for the same office from a source the candidate knows to be a foreign power, unless (1) the candidate reasonably believes the information is in the public domain, or (2) the information could not give an advantage to the receiving candidate. An individual who fails to comply with this bill may be criminally liable.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6046 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6046

  To require candidates for election for public office to notify the 
Federal Bureau of Investigation upon receiving unsolicited information 
about other candidates in the election from a foreign power or an agent 
              of a foreign power, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              June 7, 2018

  Mr. Swalwell of California (for himself, Mr. Cohen, Mr. Ted Lieu of 
 California, Mr. Carson of Indiana, Mr. Quigley, Mr. Castro of Texas, 
  Ms. Clarke of New York, Mr. Gallego, Mr. Garamendi, Ms. Norton, Mr. 
 Ryan of Ohio, Mrs. Demings, Mr. Jeffries, Ms. Speier, Mr. Brendan F. 
     Boyle of Pennsylvania, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, and Mr. Welch) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                             the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To require candidates for election for public office to notify the 
Federal Bureau of Investigation upon receiving unsolicited information 
about other candidates in the election from a foreign power or an agent 
              of a foreign power, 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 ``Duty to Report Act of 2018''.

SEC. 2. REQUIRING CANDIDATES RECEIVING INFORMATION ON OPPONENTS FROM 
              FOREIGN POWERS TO NOTIFY FBI.

    (a) Notification Requirement.--If a candidate, an individual who is 
an immediate family member of a candidate, or any individual affiliated 
with a campaign of a candidate knowingly receives or is offered 
unsolicited information about any of the other candidates for election 
for that office which is from a source the candidate or individual 
knows is a foreign power or an agent of a foreign power (or if the 
candidate or individual recklessly disregards the fact that the source 
is a foreign power or an agent of a foreign power), or receives an 
unsolicited notification that a foreign power or an agent of a foreign 
power has such information in its possession, the candidate or 
individual shall notify the Federal Bureau of Investigation of the 
receipt or offer of the information or the notification (as the case 
may be).
    (b) Exceptions.--Subsection (a) does not apply with respect to--
            (1) information which a candidate or individual knows or 
        may reasonably believe is in the public domain; or
            (2) information which no person would reasonably believe 
        could be used to the advantage of the campaign of the candidate 
        who receives the information or to whom the information is 
        offered (or whose immediate family member or individual 
        affiliated with the campaign receives or is offered the 
        information).
    (c) Penalty.--Whoever fails to comply with subsection (a) shall be 
fined under title 18, United States Code, or imprisoned not more than 2 
years, or both.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act, the following definitions apply:
            (1) The term ``agent of a foreign power'' and the term 
        ``foreign power'' each has the meaning given such term in 
        section 101 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 
        1978 (50 U.S.C. 1801).
            (2) The term ``candidate'' means an individual who seeks 
        nomination for, or election to, any Federal, State, or local 
        public office.
            (3) The term ``immediate family member'' means, with 
        respect to a candidate, a parent, parent-in-law, spouse, child, 
        or sibling.
            (4) The term ``individual affiliated with a campaign'' 
        means, with respect to a candidate, an employee of any 
        organization legally authorized under Federal, State, or local 
        law to support the candidate's campaign for nomination for, or 
        election to, any Federal, State, or local public office, as 
        well as any independent contractor of such an organization and 
        any individual who performs services for the organization on an 
        unpaid basis (including an intern or volunteer).
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