Chinese Communist Party Influence Transparency Act

Bill: 116-s-4843
Sponsor: full_name: Sen. Cotton, Tom [R-AR]
Introduced: 2020-10-22
Policy area: International Affairs
Subjects: Asia

China

Foreign and international corporations

Government information and archives

Licensing and registrations

Political parties and affiliation

Public participation and lobbying
Latest action: action_date: 2020-10-22
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.

Summaries:
action_date: 2020-10-22
action_desc: Introduced in Senate
text: <p><b>Chinese Communist Party Influence Transparency Act</b></p> <p>This bill requires an agent of a Chinese business entity to register as an agent of a foreign principal in certain instances.</p> <p>The bill's provisions shall apply to an entity that (1) is organized under the laws of China and has its principal place of business there, unless the entity is a Chinese subsidy or affiliate of a non-Chinese entity; or (2) has been designated by the Department of Justice (DOJ) as being subject to the Chinese Communist Party's extrajudicial direction.</p> <p>Generally, under current law, an agent of a foreign principal engaging in lobbying in the United States must periodically file disclosures with DOJ, with specified exemptions. Under the bill, an existing exemption for a foreign agent that engages only in private and nonpolitical activities to further trade and commerce shall not apply to an agent operating on behalf of such a Chinese entity. Similarly, another existing exemption for an agent that has already registered as a lobbyist shall not apply to an agent working for such a Chinese entity.</p>

tv_txt: II 116th CONGRESS 2d Session S. 4843 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES October 22 (legislative day, October 19), 2020 Mr. Cotton introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations A BILL To amend the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938 to repeal the exemption from registration under such Act for persons providing private and nonpolitical representation of trade and commercial interests, and the exemption from registration under such Act for persons filing disclosure reports under the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995, in connection with the representation of business organizations organized under the laws of or having their principal place of business in the People’s Republic of China, and for other purposes.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Chinese Communist Party Influence Transparency Act . 2. Repealing certain exemptions from registration under Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938 by agents representing Chinese business organizations (a) In general The Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, as amended ( 22 U.S.C. 611 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 3 the following: 3A. Special rules for agents representing Chinese business organizations (a) Repeal of exemption from registration for persons providing private and nonpolitical representation of bona fide trade or commercial interests Section 3(d)(1) shall not apply to an agent of a covered Chinese business organization. (b) Repeal of exemption from registration for persons filing disclosure reports under Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (1) Repeal Section 3(h) shall not apply to an agent of a covered Chinese business organization. (2) Timing for filing of registration statements In the case of an agent of a covered Chinese business organization who has registered under the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 ( 2 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), after the agent files the first registration required under section 2(a) in connection with the agent’s representation of the covered Chinese business organization, the agent shall file all subsequent statements, information, or documents required under section 2 at the same time, and in the same frequency, as the reports filed with the Clerk of the House of Representatives or the Secretary of the Senate (as the case may be) under section 5 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 ( 2 U.S.C. 1604 ) in connection with the agent’s representation of the covered Chinese business organization. (c) Covered Chinese business organization defined In this section, the term covered Chinese business organization means— (1) an entity described in section 1(b)(3) which is organized under the laws of, or has its principal place of business in, the People’s Republic of China (including any subsidiary or affiliate of such an entity), except that such term does not include a subsidiary or affiliate of an entity which is organized under the laws of, and has its principal place of business in, a country other than the People’s Republic of China; or (2) an entity designated by the Attorney General as subject to the extrajudicial direction of the Chinese Communist Party. . (b) Conforming amendments (1) Repeal of exemption Section 3 of such Act ( 22 U.S.C. 613 ) is amended— (A) in subsection (d)(1), by striking in private and inserting except as provided in section 3A(a), in private ; and (B) in subsection (h), by striking Any agent and inserting Except as provided in section 3A(b), any agent . (2) Timing of filing of registration statements Section 2(b) of such Act ( 22 U.S.C. 612(b) ) is amended in the first sentence by striking six months succeeding such filing and inserting six months succeeding such filing (except as provided in section 3A(b)(2)) . (c) Effective date The amendments made by this Act shall take effect 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act.