Title: Duty to Refuse and Report Foreign Interference in American Elections Act of 2019
Policy area: Government Operations and Politics

Summary:
Duty to Refuse and Report Foreign Interference in American Elections Act of 2019
This bill prohibits campaigns from accepting foreign assistance and requires a campaign to report an offer of foreign assistance to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2353 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2353

     To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to require 
     candidates for election for public office to refuse offers of 
assistance from foreign powers and to report such offers to the Federal 
            Bureau of Investigation, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 25, 2019

Ms. Jackson Lee (for herself and Mr. Johnson of Georgia) introduced the 
     following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House 
                             Administration

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
     To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to require 
     candidates for election for public office to refuse offers of 
assistance from foreign powers and to report such offers to the Federal 
            Bureau of Investigation, 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 Refuse and Report Foreign 
Interference in American Elections Act of 2019''.

SEC. 2. REQUIRING CANDIDATES TO REFUSE OFFERS OF ASSISTANCE FROM 
              FOREIGN POWERS AND TO REPORT OFFERS TO FBI.

    (a) Requirements Described.--Section 319 of the Federal Election 
Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30121) is amended by adding at the end 
the following new subsection:
    ``(c) Requirements for Candidates Receiving Offers of Assistance 
From Foreign Powers.--
            ``(1) Duty to refuse assistance and report offer to fbi.--
        If a candidate or any individual affiliated with a campaign of 
        a candidate knowingly receives an offer for assistance with the 
        campaign from a source the candidate or individual knows is a 
        foreign power or an agent of a foreign power, the candidate or 
        individual shall--
                    ``(A) refuse the offer for such assistance; and
                    ``(B) notify the Federal Bureau of Investigation of 
                the offer not later than 72 hours after receiving the 
                offer.
            ``(2) Certification requirement for federal candidates.--
        Not later than 10 days after the expiration of each calendar 
        quarter, each authorized committee of a candidate for election 
        for Federal office shall file a report with the Commission 
        certifying that the candidate and the individuals affiliated 
        with the candidate's campaign are in compliance with the 
        requirements of paragraph (1).
            ``(3) Penalty.--Whoever fails to comply with subsection (a) 
        shall be fined not more than $250,000, or imprisoned not more 
        than 5 years, or both.
            ``(4) Definitions.--In this section, the following 
        definitions apply:
                    ``(A) 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).
                    ``(B) The term `candidate' means an individual who 
                seeks nomination for, or election to, any Federal, 
                State, or local public office.
                    ``(C) 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).''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall 
take effect 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act.
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