Foreign Extortion Prevention Act

Bill: 116-hr-4140
Sponsor: full_name: Rep. Jackson Lee, Sheila [D-TX-18]
Introduced: 2019-08-02
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement
Subjects: Diplomacy, foreign officials, Americans abroad

Fraud offenses and financial crimes

Government ethics and transparency, public corruption
Latest action: action_date: 2019-08-28
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security.

Summaries:
action_date: 2019-08-02
action_desc: Introduced in House
text: <p><b>Foreign Extortion Prevention Act</b></p> <p>This bill makes it a crime for foreign officials to demand or accept bribes to influence an official act or violate an official duty. An individual who violates this provision is subject to criminal penalties&#8212;a fine, a prison term of up to two years, or both.</p>

tv_txt: I 116th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 4140 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES August 2, 2019 Ms. Jackson Lee (for herself, Mr. Curtis , Mr. Malinowski , and Mr. Hudson ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit a foreign official from demanding a bribe, and for other purposes.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Foreign Extortion Prevention Act . 2. Prohibition of demand for bribe Section 201 of title 18, United States Code is amended— (1) in subsection (a), by adding at the end the following: (4) The term foreign official means any officer or employee— (A) of a foreign government or any department, agency, or instrumentality thereof; (B) of a public international organization; or (C) any person acting in an official capacity for or on behalf of any such government or department, agency, or instrumentality, or for or on behalf of any such public international organization. (5) The term public international organization means— (A) an organization that is designated by Executive order pursuant to section 1 of the International Organizations Immunities Act ( 22 U.S.C. 288 ); or (B) any other international organization that is designated by the President by Executive order for the purposes of this section, effective as of the date of publication of such order in the Federal Register ; and (2) by adding at the end the following: (f) Whoever, being a foreign official or person selected to be a foreign official, otherwise than as provided by law for the proper discharge of official duty, directly or indirectly, corruptly demands, seeks, receives, accepts, or agrees to receive or accept anything of value personally or for any other person or entity, in return for— (1) being influenced in the performance of any official act; or (2) being induced to do or omit to do any act in violation of the official duty of such official or person, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned for not more than two years or both. .