[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 452 Introduced in House (IH)]







104th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 452

 To strengthen the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, as amended.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 9, 1995

Mr. Traficant introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                       Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To strengthen the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, as amended.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. STRENGTHENING THE FOREIGN AGENTS REGISTRATION ACT OF 1938, 
              AS AMENDED.

    (a) Definitions.--
            (1) Agent of a foreign principal.--
                    (A) In general.--Section 1(c) of the Foreign Agents 
                Registration Act of 1938, as amended (22 U.S.C. 
                611(c)), is amended--
                            (i) by striking ``agent of a foreign 
                        principal'' each place it appears and inserting 
                        ``representative of a foreign principal'';
                            (ii) in paragraph (1)(iv), by striking 
                        ``and'' after the semicolon at the end;
                            (iii) in paragraph (2), by striking the 
                        period at the end and inserting ``; and''; and
                            (iv) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(3) any person who engages in political activities for 
        purposes of furthering commercial, industrial, or financial 
        operations with a foreign principal.
For purposes of clause (1), a foreign principal shall be considered to 
control a person in major part if the foreign principal holds more than 
50 percent equitable ownership in such person or, subject to rebuttal 
evidence, if the foreign principal holds at least 20 percent but not 
more than 50 percent equitable ownership in such person.''.
                    (B) Further definition.--Section 1(d) of that Act 
                (22 U.S.C. 611(d)) is amended to read as follows:
    ``(d) The term `representative of a foreign principal' does not 
include--
            ``(1) any news or press service or association organized 
        under the laws of the United States or of any State or other 
        place subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, or any 
        newspaper, magazine, periodical, or other publication for which 
        there is on file with the United States Postal Service 
        information in compliance with section 3685 of title 39, United 
        States Code, published in the United States, solely by virtue 
        of any bona fide news or journalistic activities, including the 
        solicitation or acceptance of advertisements, subscriptions, or 
        other compensation therefor, so long as it is at least 80 
        percent beneficially owned by, and its officers and directors, 
        if any, are citizens of the United States, and such news or 
        press service or association, newspaper magazine, periodical, 
        or other publication, is not owned, directed, supervised, 
        controlled, subsidized, or financed, and none of its policies 
        are determined by any foreign principal defined in subsection 
        (b) of this section, or by any representative of a foreign 
        principal required to register under this Act; or
            ``(2) any incorporated, nonprofit membership organization 
        organized under the laws of the United States or of any State 
        or other place subject to the jurisdiction of the United States 
        that is registered under section 308 of the Federal Regulation 
        of Lobbying Act and has obtained tax-exempt status under 
        section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and whose 
        activities are directly supervised, directed, controlled, 
        financed, or subsidized in whole by citizens of the United 
        States.''.
            (2) Political promotional or informational materials.--
        Section 1(j) of that Act (22 U.S.C. 611(j)) is amended--
                    (A) in the matter preceding clause (1), by striking 
                ``propaganda'' and inserting ``promotional or 
                informational materials''; and
                    (B) in clause (1), by striking ``prevail upon, 
                indoctrinate, convert, induce, or in any other way'' 
                and inserting ``in any way''.
            (3) Political activities.--Section 1(o) of that Act (22 
        U.S.C. 611(o)) is amended--
                    (A) by striking ``prevail upon, indoctrinate, 
                convert, induce, persuade, or in any other way'' and 
                inserting ``in any way''; and
                    (B) by striking ``or changing the domestic or 
                foreign'' and inserting ``enforcing, or changing the 
                domestic or foreign laws, regulations, or''.
            (4) Political consultant.--Section 1(p) of that Act (22 
        U.S.C. 611(p)) is amended--
                    (A) by inserting ``(1)'' after ``any person''; and
                    (B) by inserting before the semicolon at the end 
                the following: ``, or (2) who distributes political 
                promotional or informational materials to an officer or 
                employee of the United States Government, in his or her 
                capacity as such officer or employee''.
            (5) Serving predominantly a foreign interest.--Section 1(q) 
        of that Act (22 U.S.C. 611(q)) is amended--
                    (A) by striking ``and'' at the end of clause (ii) 
                of the proviso; and
                    (B) by inserting before the period at the end the 
                following: ``, and (iv) such activities do not involve 
                the representation of the interests of the foreign 
                principal before any agency or official of the 
                Government of the United States other than providing 
                information in response to requests by such agency or 
                official or as a necessary part of a formal judicial or 
                administrative proceeding, including the initiation of 
                such a proceeding.''.
    (b) Supplemental Registration.--Section 2(b) of that Act (22 U.S.C. 
612(b)) is amended--
            (1) in the first sentence by striking ``, within thirty 
        days'' and all that follows through ``preceding six months' 
        period'' and inserting ``on January 31 and July 31 of each year 
        file with the Attorney General a supplement thereto under oath, 
        on a form prescribed by the Attorney General, which shall set 
        forth regarding the six-month periods ending the previous 
        December 31, and June 30, respectively, or, if a lesser period, 
        the period since the initial filing,''; and
            (2) by inserting after the first sentence the following new 
        sentence: ``Any registrant using an accounting system with a 
        fiscal year which is different from the calendar year may 
        petition the Attorney General to permit the filing of 
        supplemental statements at the close of the first and seventh 
        month of each such fiscal year in lieu of the dates specified 
        by the preceding sentence.''.
    (c) Removal of Exemption for Certain Countries.--Section 3(f) of 
that Act (22 U.S.C. 613(f)) is repealed.
    (d) Limiting Exemption for Legal Representation.--Section 3(g) of 
that Act (22 U.S.C. 613(g)) is amended by striking ``or any agency of 
the Government of the United States'' and all that follows through 
``informal'' and inserting ``or before the Patent and Trademark Office, 
including any written submission to that Office''.
    (e) Notification of Reliance on Exemptions.--Section 3 of that Act 
(22 U.S.C. 613) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``Any person who does not register under section 2(a) on account of 
any provision of subsections (a) through (g) of this section shall so 
notify the Attorney General in such form and manner as the Attorney 
General prescribes.''.
    (f) Civil Penalties and Enforcement Provisions.--Section 8 of that 
Act (22 U.S.C. 618) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(i)(1) Any person who is determined, after notice and opportunity 
for an administrative hearing--
            ``(A) to have failed to file when such filing is required 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 for each violation committed a civil penalty 
of not less than $2,000 and not more than $1,000,000. In determining 
the amount of the penalty, the Attorney General shall give due 
consideration to the nature and duration of the violation.
    ``(2)(A) Whenever the Attorney General has reason to believe that 
any person may be in possession, custody, or control of any documentary 
material relevant to an investigation regarding any violation of 
paragraph (1) of this subsection or of section 5, the Attorney General 
may, before bringing any civil or criminal proceeding thereon, issue in 
writing, and cause to be served upon such person, a civil investigative 
demand requiring such person to produce such material for examination.
    ``(B) Civil investigative demands issued under this paragraph shall 
be subject to the applicable provisions of section 1968 of title 18, 
United States Code.''.
    (g) Change in Short Title of the Act.--Section 14 of that Act (22 
U.S.C. 611 note) is amended by striking ``Foreign Agents Registration 
Act of 1938, as amended'' and inserting ``Foreign Interests 
Representation Act''.

SEC. 2. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.

    (a) References to Agent of a Foreign Principal.--The Foreign 
Interests Representation Act is amended--
            (1) by striking ``agent of a foreign principal'' each place 
        it appears and inserting ``representative of a foreign 
        principal'';
            (2) by striking ``agents of foreign principals'' each place 
        it appears and inserting ``representatives of foreign 
        principals'';
            (3) by striking ``agent of such principal'' each place it 
        appears and inserting ``representative of such principal''; and
            (4) by striking ``such agent'' each place it appears and 
        inserting ``such representative''.
    (b) References to Political Propaganda.--
            (1) The paragraph preceding section 1 of the Foreign 
        Interests Representation Act is amended by striking 
        ``propaganda'' and inserting ``political''.
            (2) The Foreign Interests Representation Act (other than 
        the paragraph amended by paragraph (1) of this subsection) is 
        amended by striking ``propaganda'' each place it appears and 
        inserting ``promotional or informational materials''.
    (c) References to the Act.--
            (1) Section 207(f)(2) of title 18, United States Code, is 
        amended by striking ``Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, 
        as amended,'' and inserting ``Foreign Interests Representation 
        Act''.
            (2) Section 219 of title 18, United States Code, is 
        amended--
                    (A) in subsection (a) by striking ``agent of a 
                foreign principal required to register under the 
                Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, as amended,'' 
                and inserting ``representative of a foreign principal 
                required to register under the Foreign Interests 
                Representation Act''; and
                    (B) in subsection (b)--
                            (i) by striking ``agent of a foreign 
                        principal'' and inserting ``representative of a 
                        foreign principal'';
                            (ii) by striking ``such agent'' and 
                        inserting ``such representative''; and
                            (iii) by striking ``Foreign Agents 
                        Registration Act of 1938, as amended'' and 
                        inserting ``Foreign Interests Representation 
                        Act''.
            (3) Section 5210(4) of the Competitiveness Policy Council 
        Act (15 U.S.C. 4809(4)) is amended--
                    (A) by striking ``agent of a foreign principal'' 
                and inserting ``representative of a foreign 
                principal''; and
                    (B) by striking ``subsection (d) of the first 
                section of the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938 
                (22 U.S.C. 611)'' and inserting ``section 1(d) of the 
                Foreign Interests Representation Act (22 U.S.C. 
                611(d)),''.
            (4) Section 34(a) of the Trading With the Enemy Act (50 
        U.S.C. App. 34(a)) is amended by striking ``Act of June 8, 1934 
        (ch. 327, 52 Stat. 631), as amended'' and inserting ``Foreign 
        Interests Representation Act''.
                                 <all>