Title: Prevention of Foreign Interference with Elections Act of 2019
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement

Summary:
Prevention of Foreign Interference with Elections Act of 2019
This bill establishes new criminal penalties and revises certain prohibitions related to the interference of elections by foreign nationals.
Specifically, the bill establishes a new criminal offense for conspiring with a foreign national to interfere with an election. A violator is subject to criminal penalties—a fine, a prison term of up to five years, or both.
Further, a person who conspires with an agent of a foreign power to interfere with an election is subject to criminal penalties—a fine, a prison term of up to 10 years, or both.
In addition, an alien that engages in election interference is inadmissible into the United States. However, the Department of Homeland Security may waive this prohibition if the alien receives an adjustment of status for assisting in certain criminal prosecutions.
The bill also (1) expands the prohibition on a foreign national making an expenditure or disbursement for an electioneering communication; and (2) prohibits an individual from knowingly providing substantial assistance to foreign governments or foreign political parties, such as by making an expenditure or disbursement for an electioneering communication.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1469 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1469

   To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit interfering in 
             elections with agents of a foreign government.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 14, 2019

Mrs. Feinstein (for herself, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Durbin, Mr. 
 Whitehouse, Ms. Klobuchar, Ms. Harris, and Mr. Booker) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                             the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit interfering in 
             elections with agents of a foreign government.

    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 ``Prevention of Foreign Interference 
with Elections Act of 2019''.

SEC. 2. INTERFERENCE IN ELECTIONS BY FOREIGN NATIONALS.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 29 of title 18, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 612. Interference in elections by foreign nationals
    ``(a) Penalty.--
            ``(1) In general.--Whoever--
                    ``(A) conspires with an individual, while having 
                knowledge or reasonable cause to believe such 
                individual is a foreign national, to prevent, obstruct, 
                impede, interfere with, promote, support, or oppose the 
                nomination or the election of any candidate for any 
                Federal, State, or local office, or any ballot measure, 
                initiative, or referendum; and
                    ``(B) knows or has reasonable cause to believe that 
                an interfering act would be or has been committed to 
                effect the object of the conspiracy;
        shall be fined under this title, imprisoned for not more than 5 
        years, or both.
            ``(2) Agents of foreign powers.--Whoever violates paragraph 
        (1) by conspiring with an agent of a foreign power shall be 
        fined under this title, imprisoned for not more than 10 years, 
        or both.
    ``(b) Consecutive Sentence.--No term of imprisonment imposed on a 
person under this section shall run concurrently with any other term of 
imprisonment imposed on the person under any other provision of law.
    ``(c) Injunctions.--
            ``(1) In general.--Whenever it shall appear that any person 
        is engaged or is about to engage in any act which constitutes a 
        violation of this section, the Attorney General may bring a 
        civil action in a district court of the United States seeking 
        an order to enjoin such act.
            ``(2) Action by court.--The court shall proceed as soon as 
        practicable to the hearing and determination of a civil action 
        brought under this subsection, and may, at any time before 
        final determination, enter such a restraining order or 
        prohibition, or take such other action, as is warranted to 
        prevent a continuing and substantial injury to the United 
        States, a State, or a locality, or to any person or class of 
        persons for whose protection the civil action is brought.
            ``(3) Procedure.--
                    ``(A) In general.--A proceeding under this 
                subsection shall be governed by the Federal Rules of 
                Civil Procedure, except that, if an indictment has been 
                returned against the respondent, discovery shall be 
                governed by the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure.
                    ``(B) Sealed proceedings.--If a civil action is 
                brought under this subsection, before an indictment is 
                returned against the respondent or while an indictment 
                against the respondent is under seal--
                            ``(i) the court shall place the civil 
                        action under seal; and
                            ``(ii) when the indictment is unsealed, the 
                        court shall unseal the civil action unless good 
                        cause exists to keep the civil action under 
                        seal.
            ``(4) Classified information if indictment has not been 
        returned against respondent.--For any civil proceeding brought 
        by the Attorney General under this subsection in which an 
        indictment has not been returned against the respondent, 
        classified information in the civil proceeding shall be subject 
        to the procedures described in section 2339B(f).
    ``(d) Definitions.--In this section--
            ``(1) the term `agent of a foreign power'--
                    ``(A) has the meaning given to the term in section 
                101 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 
                1978 (50 U.S.C. 1801); and
                    ``(B) does not include a United States person (as 
                defined under section 101 of the Foreign Intelligence 
                Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1801));
            ``(2) the term `classified information' has the meaning 
        given the term in section 1 of the Classified Information 
        Procedures Act (18 U.S.C. App.);
            ``(3) the term `foreign national'--
                    ``(A) means a foreign principal, as such term is 
                defined by section 1(b) of the Foreign Agents 
                Registration Act of 1938 (22 U.S.C. 611(b)); and
                    ``(B) does not include any individual who is a 
                citizen of the United States or a lawful permanent 
                resident of the United States; and
            ``(4) the term `interfering act' means any offense, that 
        does have to be otherwise proven, under or violation of--
                    ``(A) this title;
                    ``(B) section 12 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 
                (52 U.S.C. 10308);
                    ``(C) the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 
                U.S.C. 30101 et seq.); or
                    ``(D) chapter 95 or 96 of the Internal Revenue Code 
                of 1986.
    ``(e) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section shall be 
construed or applied to abridge the exercise of rights guaranteed under 
the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.''.
    (b) Severability.--If any provision of this Act, an amendment made 
by this Act, or the application of such provision or amendment to any 
person or circumstance is held to be unconstitutional, the remainder of 
this Act, the amendments made by this Act, and the applications of the 
provisions of such to any other person or circumstance shall not be 
affected thereby.
    (c) Technical and Conforming Amendment.--The table of sections for 
chapter 29 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 
end the following:

``612. Interference in elections by foreign nationals.''.

SEC. 3. INADMISSIBILITY FOR INTERFERENCE IN ELECTIONS BY FOREIGN 
              NATIONALS.

    Section 212(a)(10)(D) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 
U.S.C. 1182(a)(10)(D)) is amended to read as follows:
                    ``(D) Unlawful voters and election interference by 
                foreign nationals.--
                            ``(i) Unlawful voters.--Except as provided 
                        in clause (iii), any alien who has voted in 
                        violation of any Federal, State, or local 
                        constitutional provision, statute, ordinance, 
                        or regulation is inadmissible.
                            ``(ii) Election interference by foreign 
                        nationals.--
                                    ``(I) In general.--Except as 
                                provided in subclause (II) and clause 
                                (iii), any alien convicted of violating 
                                section 612 of title 18, United States 
                                Code, is inadmissible.
                                    ``(II) Exception.--If an alien 
                                described in subclause (I) is eligible 
                                under section 245(j) for an adjustment 
                                of status to that of an alien lawfully 
                                admitted for permanent residence, the 
                                Secretary of Homeland Security, in the 
                                Secretary's sole, unreviewable 
                                discretion, may waive the applicability 
                                of subclause (I) with respect to such 
                                alien.
                            ``(iii) Exception.--An alien shall not be 
                        considered to be inadmissible under this 
                        subparagraph if--
                                    ``(I) the alien voted in a Federal, 
                                State, or local election (including an 
                                initiative, recall, or referendum) in 
                                violation of a lawful restriction of 
                                voting to citizens;
                                    ``(II) each natural parent of the 
                                alien (or, in the case of an adopted 
                                alien, each adoptive parent of the 
                                alien) is or was a United States 
                                citizen (whether by birth or 
                                naturalization);
                                    ``(III) the alien permanently 
                                resided in the United States before 
                                reaching 16 years of age; and
                                    ``(IV) the alien reasonably 
                                believed at the time of the violation 
                                described in clause (i) or (ii)(I) that 
                                he or she was a United States 
                                citizen.''.

SEC. 4. STRENGTHENING PROHIBITIONS ON EXPENDITURES BY FOREIGN 
              NATIONALS.

    Section 319 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 
30121) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)(1)(C), by inserting ``, subject to 
        subsection (c)'' after ``within the meaning of section 
        304(f)(3)''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new subsections:
    ``(c) Application to Electioneering Communications.--
            ``(1) Electioneering communications.--
                    ``(A) In general.--For purposes of applying 
                subsection (a)(1)(C) and subsection (d), an 
                `electioneering communication'--
                            ``(i) does not include a news story, 
                        commentary, editorial, or other communication 
                        produced and distributed in the ordinary course 
                        of bona fide press activity by a news or press 
                        service or association, newspaper, magazine, 
                        periodical, or other publication as determined 
                        under subparagraph (B);
                            ``(ii) except as provided in clause (i), 
                        includes an Internet or digital communication 
                        that otherwise meets the requirements of 
                        section 304(f)(3) as modified by this 
                        paragraph;
                            ``(iii) includes a communication that does 
                        not refer to a clearly identified candidate for 
                        Federal office as described in subparagraph 
                        (A)(i)(I) of section 304(f)(3) if--
                                    ``(I) the communication otherwise 
                                meets the requirements of such section 
                                as modified by this paragraph except 
                                that items (aa) and (bb) of 
                                subparagraph (A)(i)(II) of such section 
                                shall each be applied by substituting 
                                `Federal, State, or local office' for 
                                `the office sought by the candidate';
                                    ``(II) the communication--
                                            ``(aa) references voting or 
                                        a Federal, State, or local 
                                        election;
                                            ``(bb) addresses an issue 
                                        that is reasonably understood 
                                        to distinguish one candidate 
                                        for Federal, State, or local 
                                        office from another;
                                            ``(cc) republishes or is 
                                        substantially identical to the 
                                        communications of a candidate 
                                        for Federal, State, or local 
                                        office on that same issue;
                                            ``(dd) expresses approval 
                                        or disapproval of a position 
                                        reasonably identified with a 
                                        candidate for Federal, State, 
                                        or local office and presented 
                                        in substantially similar terms, 
                                        regardless of whether there is 
                                        a specific reference to that 
                                        candidate; or
                                            ``(ee) references an 
                                        employee of a candidate or 
                                        campaign for Federal, State, or 
                                        local office or a political 
                                        party; and
                            ``(iv) does not include a commercial 
                        advertisement for goods or services by a 
                        foreign corporation or business entity.
                    ``(B) Determination of bona fide press activity.--
                For purposes of subparagraph (A)(i), a news story, 
                commentary, editorial, or other communication is not 
                produced and distributed in the ordinary course of bona 
                fide press activity by a news or press service or 
                association, newspaper, magazine, periodical, or other 
                publication and the exception under such subparagraph 
                shall not apply if--
                            ``(i) such media outlet is owned, directed, 
                        supervised, controlled, subsidized, or financed 
                        by a government of a foreign country, as 
                        defined in section 1 of the Foreign Agents 
                        Registration Act of 1938 (22 U.S.C. 611); and
                            ``(ii) such news story, commentary, 
                        editorial, or other communication--
                                    ``(I) is directed, produced, or 
                                distributed, at the direction of 
                                government or political party 
                                officials; and
                                    ``(II) promotes, attacks, supports, 
                                or opposes any candidate for public 
                                office or political party in the United 
                                States.
            ``(2) Foreign individual internet activity exception.--
                    ``(A) In general.--When an individual or a group of 
                individuals engages in Internet activities for the 
                purposes of influencing an election, neither of the 
                following is a contribution or expenditure for purposes 
                of this section by that individual or group of 
                individuals:
                            ``(i) The uncompensated personal services 
                        of the individual related to such Internet 
                        activities. The exception under the preceding 
                        sentence shall not apply to individuals or a 
                        group of individuals acting on behalf of or in 
                        any capacity at the order, request, or under 
                        the direction or control, of a government of a 
                        foreign country, a foreign political party, or 
                        a person whose activities are directly or 
                        indirectly supervised, directed, controlled, 
                        financed, or subsidized in whole or in major 
                        part by a government of a foreign country or a 
                        foreign political party.
                            ``(ii) The use of equipment or services by 
                        the individual for uncompensated Internet 
                        activities, regardless of the identity of the 
                        owner of the equipment or services. The 
                        exception under the preceding sentence shall 
                        not apply to equipment or services supplied or 
                        provided directly or indirectly by a government 
                        of a foreign country, a foreign political 
                        party, or a person whose activities are 
                        directly or indirectly supervised, directed, 
                        controlled, financed, or subsidized in whole or 
                        in major part by a government of a foreign 
                        country or a foreign political party.
                    ``(B) Definition.--For purposes of this paragraph, 
                the terms `Internet activities' and `equipment and 
                services' have the meaning given such terms in section 
                100.94 of title 11, Code of Federal Regulations (or any 
                successor regulation).
    ``(d) Prohibition on Providing Substantial Assistance to a Foreign 
Governments and Foreign Political Parties in Making Contributions, 
Donations, or Expenditures.--
            ``(1) In general.--No person shall knowingly provide 
        substantial assistance to a foreign national, including a 
        foreign government or foreign political party, with respect to 
        directly or indirectly making a contribution or donation, or 
        other thing of value, or an expenditure, independent 
        expenditure, or disbursement for an electioneering 
        communication (within the meaning of section 304(f)(3)), or any 
        other act prohibited under subsection (a).
            ``(2) Definition.--As used in this subsection, the term 
        `providing substantial assistance' means, with respect to an 
        act described in paragraph (1), the facilitation of such act by 
        a foreign national, including a foreign government or foreign 
        political party. Such facilitation includes the knowing 
        republication of foreign government and foreign political party 
        electioneering communications referred to in subsection (b), 
        regardless of whether the communication was made in concert or 
        cooperation with or at the request or suggestion of a foreign 
        government or foreign political party.''.
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