Congressional and Executive Foreign Lobbying Ban Act

Bill: 118-hr-8174
Sponsor: full_name: Rep. Golden, Jared F. [D-ME-2]
Introduced: 2024-04-30
Policy area: Government Operations and Politics
Latest action: action_date: 2024-04-30
text: Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.

Summaries:

tv_txt: I 118th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 8174 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES April 30, 2024 Mr. Golden of Maine 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 prohibit certain individuals from service as an agent of a foreign principal, and for other purposes.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Congressional and Executive Foreign Lobbying Ban Act . 2. Prohibiting certain individuals from acting as agents of foreign principals (a) Former Members of Congress; general or flag officers of armed forces (1) Prohibiting registration as agent The Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, as amended ( 22 U.S.C. 611 et seq. ) is amended— (A) by redesignating sections 12 through 14 as sections 13 through 15; and (B) by inserting after section 11 the following new section: 12. Prohibiting registration of certain individuals (a) Prohibition No individual may register under this Act or otherwise serve as the agent of a foreign principal if the individual at any time served as a Member of Congress, as a senior political appointee, or as a general or flag officer of the Armed Forces. (b) Definitions In this section— (1) the term Member of Congress means a Senator or Representative in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, the Congress; and (2) the term senior political appointee — (A) means— (i) any individual occupying a full-time senior position and who is appointed by the President or the Vice President; (ii) any noncareer appointee in the Senior Executive Service (or other SES-type system); and (iii) any appointee to a position, at or above the level of a noncareer member of the Senior Executive Service, that has been excepted from the competitive service by reason of being of a confidential or policymaking character (schedule C and other positions excepted under comparable criteria) in an executive agency; and (B) does not include any individual appointed as a member of the Senior Foreign Service or, except for a general or flag officer of the Armed Forces, solely as a uniformed service commissioned officer. . (2) Other representation of foreign entities Section 207(f)(1) of title 18, United States Code, is amended by inserting after within 1 year the following: (or, in the case of a person who is subject to any of such restrictions and who is a Member of Congress, a senior political appointee (as that term is defined in section 12 of the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, as amended ( 22 U.S.C. 611 et seq. )), or a general or flag officer of the Armed Forces, at any time) . (b) Effective date The amendments made by subsection (a) shall apply with respect to any individual whose service as a Member of Congress, a senior political appointee (as that term is defined in section 12(b)(2) of the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, as amended ( 22 U.S.C. 611 et seq. ) (as added by subsection (a)), or as a general or flag officer of the Armed Forces terminates on or after the date of the enactment of this Act.