Title: FARM Act of 2019
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
Foreign Agents Registration Modernization Act of 2019 or the FARM Act of 2019
This bill imposes additional requirements related to the public database of registrations that are filed, as required by the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), by agents that engage in certain political activities for foreign principals. Specifically, the Department of Justice shall establish the National Foreign Agents Database, which shall be a publicly searchable, sortable, and machine-processable database of the information contained in such registrations. Current law requires a database of registrations to have search and sort functions only to the extent technically practicable.
FARA-required registrations shall be filed in an electronic, structured data format. Electronically filed registrations shall be immediately available to the public over the internet.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5122 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 5122

    To amend the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938 to require 
     registration statements filed under such Act to be filed in a 
structured data format which enables the statements to be digitized for 
purposes of the publicly available electronic database maintained under 
                   such Act, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           November 15, 2019

 Mr. Buck (for himself and Mr. Khanna) introduced the following bill; 
          which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To amend the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938 to require 
     registration statements filed under such Act to be filed in a 
structured data format which enables the statements to be digitized for 
purposes of the publicly available electronic database maintained under 
                   such 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 ``Foreign Agents Registration 
Modernization Act of 2019'' or the ``FARM Act of 2019''.

SEC. 2. FORMAT FOR REGISTRATION STATEMENTS FILED UNDER FOREIGN AGENTS 
              REGISTRATION ACT OF 1938.

    (a) Requiring Registration Statements To Be in Structured Data 
Format.--Section 2(g) of the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, 
as amended (22 U.S.C. 612(g)) is amended by striking ``in electronic 
form'' and inserting ``in an electronic, structured data format under 
which the statement or supplement shall be published in a publicly 
available, machine-processable digital format for purposes of the 
National Foreign Agents Database under section 6(d)''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply with respect to statements filed on or after the expiration of 
the 180-day period which begins on the date of the enactment of this 
Act.

SEC. 3. REQUIREMENTS FOR ELECTRONIC DATABASE OF REGISTRATION 
              STATEMENTS.

    (a) Requiring Database To Be Searchable and Sortable by Public; 
Designation of Database as ``National Foreign Agents Database''.--
Section 6(d)(1) of the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, as 
amended (22 U.S.C. 616(d)(1)) is amended--
            (1) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by striking 
        ``to the extent technically practicable,'';
            (2) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by striking 
        ``an electronic database'' and inserting ``an electronic 
        database to be known as the `National Foreign Agents 
        Database'''; and
            (3) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``includes the 
        information'' and inserting ``includes in a digitized format 
        the information''.
    (b) Requiring Immediate Posting of Statements Upon Receipt.--
Section 6(d)(2) of such Act (22 U.S.C. 616(d)(2)) is amended by 
striking ``as soon as technically practicable'' and inserting 
``immediately''.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall take 
effect upon the expiration of the 180-day period which begins on the 
date of the enactment of this Act.
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