[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2499 Introduced in House (IH)]







104th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2499

    To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to prohibit 
 contributions and expenditures by multicandidate political committees 
   controlled by foreign-owned corporations, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 18, 1995

  Ms. Kaptur introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
 Committee on House Oversight, and in addition to the Committee on the 
 Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, 
 in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the 
                jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to prohibit 
 contributions and expenditures by multicandidate political committees 
   controlled by foreign-owned corporations, and for other purposes.

    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 ``Ethics in Foreign Lobbying Act of 
1995''.

SEC. 2. PROHIBITION OF CONTRIBUTIONS AND EXPENDITURES BY MULTICANDIDATE 
              POLITICAL COMMITTEES OR SEPARATE SEGREGATED FUNDS 
              SPONSORED BY FOREIGN-CONTROLLED CORPORATIONS AND 
              ASSOCIATIONS.

    Title III of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 
441 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following new section:

   ``prohibition of contributions and expenditures by multicandidate 
 political committees sponsored by foreign-controlled corporations and 
                              associations

    ``Sec. 324. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law--
            ``(1) no multicandidate political committee or separate 
        segregated fund of a foreign-controlled corporation may make 
        any contribution or expenditure with respect to an election for 
        Federal office; and
            ``(2) no multicandidate political committee or separate 
        segregated fund of a trade organization, membership 
        organization, cooperative, or corporation without capital stock 
        may make any contribution or expenditure with respect to an 
        election for Federal office if 50 percent or more of the 
        operating fund of the trade organization, membership 
        organization, cooperative, or corporation without capital stock 
        is supplied by foreign-controlled corporations or foreign 
        nationals.
    ``(b) The Commission shall--
            ``(1) require each multicandidate political committee or 
        separate segregated fund of a corporation to include in the 
        statement of organization of the multicandidate political 
        committee or separate segregated fund a statement (to be 
        updated annually and at any time when the percentage goes above 
        or below 50 percent) of the percentage of ownership interest in 
        the corporation that is controlled by persons other than 
        citizens or nationals of the United States;
            ``(2) require each trade association, membership 
        organization, cooperative, or corporation without capital stock 
        to include in its statement of organization of the 
        multicandidate political committee or separate segregated fund 
        (and update annually) the percentage of its operating fund that 
        is derived from foreign-owned corporations and foreign 
        nationals; and
            ``(3) take such action as may be necessary to enforce 
        subsection (a).
    ``(c) The Commission shall maintain a list of the identity of the 
multicandidate political committees or separate segregated funds that 
file reports under subsection (b), including a statement of the amounts 
and percentage reported by such multicandidate political committees or 
separate segregated funds.
    ``(d) As used in this section--
            ``(1) the term `foreign-owned corporation' means a 
        corporation at least 50 percent of the ownership interest of 
        which is controlled by persons other than citizens or nationals 
        of the United States;
            ``(2) the term `multicandidate political committee' has the 
        meaning given that term in section 315(a)(4);
            ``(3) the term `separate segregated fund' means a separate 
        segregated fund referred to in section 316(b)(2)(C); and
            ``(4) the term `foreign national' has the meaning given 
        that term in section 319.''.

SEC. 3. PROHIBITION OF CERTAIN ELECTION-RELATED ACTIVITIES OF FOREIGN 
              NATIONALS.

    Section 319 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 
441e) is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(c) A foreign national shall not direct, dictate, control, or 
directly or indirectly participate in the decisionmaking process of any 
person, such as a corporation, labor organization, or political 
committee, with regard to such person's Federal or non-Federal 
election-related activities, such as decisions concerning the making of 
contributions or expenditures in connection with elections for any 
local, State, or Federal office or decisions concerning the 
administration of a political committee.''.

SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF A CLEARINGHOUSE OF POLITICAL ACTIVITIES 
              INFORMATION WITHIN THE FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION.

    (a) There shall be established within the Federal Election 
Commission a clearinghouse of existing public information regarding the 
political activities of foreign principals and foreign agents (as 
defined by the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, as amended). 
The information comprising this clearinghouse shall include and be 
solely limited to the following:
            (1) Existing publicly disclosed registrations and quarterly 
        reports required by the Federal Regulation of Lobbying Act (2 
        U.S.C. 261-270).
            (2) Existing publicly disclosed registrations and quarterly 
        reports required by the Foreign Agents Registration Act, as 
        amended (22 U.S.C. 611-621).
            (3) The catalogue of public hearings, hearings witnesses 
        and witness affiliations as printed in the Congressional 
        Record.
            (4) Existing public information disclosed pursuant to House 
        and Senate rules regarding honoraria, the receipt of gifts, 
        travel, earned and unearned income, post-congressional 
        employment, and conflict of interest regulations.
            (5) Existing public information disclosed pursuant to the 
        requirements of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 
        U.S.C. 431 et seq.).
    (b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the disclosure by 
the clearinghouse of any information other than that set forth in 
subsection (a) shall be prohibited except by Act of Congress.
    (c) A Director shall administer and manage the responsibilities and 
all activities of the clearinghouse.
    (d) The Director shall be appointed by the Federal Election 
Commission.
    (e) The Director shall serve a single term not to exceed 5 years.
    (f) There shall be authorized such sums as necessary to conduct 
activities of the clearinghouse.

SEC. 5. DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE DIRECTOR OF THE 
              CLEARINGHOUSE.

    (a) In General.--It shall be the duty of the Director--
            (1) to develop a filing, coding, and cross-indexing system 
        to carry out the purposes of this Act (which shall include an 
        index of all persons identified in the reports, registrations, 
        and other existing public disclosures filed under this Act);
            (2) notwithstanding any other provision of law, to make 
        copies of registrations, reports and public disclosures filed 
        with him under this Act available for public inspection and 
        copying, commencing as soon as practicable, and to permit 
        copying of any such registration or report by hand or by 
        copying machine or, at the request of any person, to furnish a 
        copy of any such registration or report upon payment of the 
        cost of making and furnishing such copy; but no information 
        contained in such registration or report shall be sold or 
        utilized by any person for the purpose of soliciting 
        contributions or for any profit-making purpose;
            (3) to compile and summarize, for each calendar quarter, 
        the information contained in such registrations, reports, and 
        other existing public disclosures required by this Act in a 
        manner which facilitates the disclosure of political 
        activities, including, but not limited to, information on--
                    (A) political activities pertaining to issues 
                before the Congress and issues before the executive 
                branch; and
                    (B) the political activities of individuals, 
                organizations, foreign principals, and foreign agents 
                who share an economic, business, or other common 
                interest;
            (4) to make the information compiled and summarized under 
        paragraph (3) available to the public within 30 days after the 
        close of each quarterly period, and to publish such information 
        in the Federal Register at the earliest practicable 
        opportunity;
            (5) not later than 150 days after the date of the enactment 
        of this Act and at any time thereafter, to prescribe, in 
        consultation with the Comptroller General of the United States, 
        rules, regulations, and forms, in conformity with the 
        provisions of chapter 5 of title 5, United States Code, as are 
        necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act in the most 
        effective and efficient manner;
            (6) at the request of any Member of the Senate or the House 
        of Representatives, to prepare and submit to such Member a 
        special study or report relating to the political activities of 
        any person, such report to consist solely of the information in 
        the registrations, reports, and other publicly disclosed 
        information required in this Act;
            (7) to require the accurate, timely, and complete transfer 
        of information required under section 1 of this Act to the 
        clearinghouse; and
            (8) to refer to the Comptroller General for investigation 
        any instances where registrations, reports, and political 
        information required in section 1 of this Act are not forwarded 
        to the clearinghouse in an accurate, timely, and complete 
        fashion.
    (b) Definitions.--As used in this section--
            (1) the term ``issue before the Congress'' means the total 
        of all matters, both substantive and procedural, relating to 
        (A) any pending or proposed bill, resolution, report, 
        nomination, treaty, hearing, investigation, or other similar 
        matter in either the Senate or the House of Representatives or 
        any committee or office of the Congress, or (B) any action or 
        proposed action by a Member, officer, or employee of the 
        Congress to affect, or attempt to affect, any action or 
        proposed action by any officer or employee of the executive 
        branch; and
            (2) the term ``issue before the executive branch'' means 
        the total of all matters, both substantive and procedural, 
        relating to any action or possible action by any executive 
        agency, or by any officer or employee of the executive branch, 
        concerning (A) any pending or proposed rule, rule of practice, 
        adjudication, regulation, determination, hearing, 
        investigation, contract, grant, license, negotiation, or the 
        appointment of officers and employees, other than appointments 
        in the competitive service, or (B) any issue before the 
        Congress.

SEC. 6. AMENDMENTS TO THE FOREIGN AGENTS REGISTRATION ACT OF 1938, AS 
              AMENDED.

    (a) Section 2(b) of the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, as 
amended, is amended in the first sentence by striking out ``, within 
thirty days'' and all that follows through ``preceding six months' 
period'' and inserting in lieu thereof ``on January 31, April 30, July 
31, and October 31 of each year, file with the Attorney General a 
supplement thereto on a form prescribed by the Attorney General, which 
shall set forth regarding the three-month periods ending the previous 
December 31, March 31, June 30, and September 30, respectively, or if a 
lesser period, the period since the initial filing,''.
    (b) Section 3(g) of the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, as 
amended, is amended by inserting after ``whether formal or informal.'' 
the following: ``Notwithstanding any other provision of law, persons 
covered by this subsection shall be exempt only upon filing with the 
Attorney General an affirmative request for exemption.''.
    (c) Section 8 of the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, as 
amended, is amended by adding at the end thereof the following:
    ``(i)(1) Any person who is determined, after notice and opportunity 
for an administrative hearing--
            ``(A) to have failed to file a registration statement under 
        section 2(a) or a supplement thereto under section 2(b),
            ``(B) to have omitted a material fact required to be stated 
        therein, or
            ``(C) to have made a false statement with respect to such a 
        material fact,
shall be required to pay a civil penalty in an amount not less than 
$2,000 or more than $5,000 for each violation committed. In determining 
the amount of the penalty, the Attorney General shall give due 
consideration to the nature and duration of the violation.
    ``(2)(A) In conducting investigations and hearings under paragraph 
(1), administrative law judges may, if necessary, compel by subpoena 
the attendance of witnesses and the production of evidence at any 
designated place or hearing.
    ``(B) In the case of contumacy or refusal to obey a subpoena 
lawfully issued under this paragraph and, upon application by the 
Attorney General, an appropriate district court of the United States 
may issue an order requiring compliance with such subpoena and any 
failure to obey such order may be punished by such court as contempt 
thereof.''.
                                 <all>