Chinese Communist Party Lobbying Divestment Act of 2024

Bill: 118-s-3989
Sponsor: full_name: Sen. Rubio, Marco [R-FL]
Introduced: 2024-03-20
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security
Latest action: action_date: 2024-03-20
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services.

Summaries:

tv_txt: II 118th CONGRESS 2d Session S. 3989 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES March 20, 2024 Mr. Rubio introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services A BILL To prohibit defense contracting with companies that employ lobbyists who represent Chinese military companies or human rights abusers, and for other purposes.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Chinese Communist Party Lobbying Divestment Act of 2024 . 2. Prohibition on contracting with companies with lobbying ties to Chinese military companies and human rights abusers (a) In general Chapter 363 of title 10, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new section: 4663. Prohibition on contracting with companies with lobbying ties to Chinese military companies and human rights abusers (a) Prohibition The Secretary of Defense may not enter into a contract for the procurement of goods or services with any person unless that person certifies to the Secretary of Defense that— (1) the person does not employ or retain, and will not employ or retain for the duration of the contract, any lobbyist or lobbying firm that is registered to conduct lobbying activities on behalf of a client that is listed on— (A) the Department of Defense’s Chinese Military Company List; (B) the Department of the Treasury’s Non-SDN Chinese Military Industrial Complex Companies List; (C) the Department of Commerce’s Denied Persons List, Entity List, or Military End User List, if the client in question is— (i) an agency or instrumentality of the People’s Republic of China; (ii) an entity headquartered in the People’s Republic of China; or (iii) directly or indirectly owned or controlled by an agency, instrumentality, or entity described in clause (i) or (ii); or (D) the Department of Homeland Security’s Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity List; and (2) the person will adopt reasonable procedures to detect and report if any lobbyist or lobbying firm it has employed or retained registers to conduct lobbying activities on behalf of a client described in paragraph (1) during the performance of a contract. (b) Violations Each contract described under subsection (a) shall— (1) include a mechanism for the contractor or third parties to report violations of a requirement under subsection (a); (2) provide that the Department of Defense may audit or otherwise inspect the records of the contractor to determine if the contractor has violated a requirement under subsection (a); and (3) provide that, if the head of an agency determines that a contractor has violated a requirement under subsection (a), the Department of Defense may— (A) withhold or claw back funds from the contractor until such time as the contractor ceases to employ or retain the lobbyist; and (B) rescind the contract if the contractor fails to come into compliance with a requirement under subsection (a) in a timely manner. (c) Waiver The Secretary of Defense may waive the prohibition on a case-by-case basis if the Secretary determines and certifies to the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate and the Committee on Armed Services of the House of Representatives that exercising such waiver is necessary to the national security interests of the United States. (d) Lobbyist and lobbying firm defined In this section, the terms lobbyist and lobbying firm have the meaning given the terms in section 3 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 ( 2 U.S.C. 1602 ). . (b) Clerical amendment The table of sections at the beginning of chapter 363 of title 10, United States Code, is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 4662 the following new item: 4663. Prohibition on contracting with companies with lobbying ties to Chinese military companies and human rights abusers. . (c) Effective date The amendments made by this section shall take effect 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act.