[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2959 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

111th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2959

To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to protect Federal, 
  State, and local elections from the influence of foreign nationals.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            January 27, 2010

  Mr. Franken introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
         referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to protect Federal, 
  State, and local elections from the influence of foreign nationals.

    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 ``American Elections Act of 2010''.

SEC. 2. FOREIGN NATIONALS PROHIBITED FROM MAKING CONTRIBUTIONS, 
              DONATIONS, OR EXPENDITURES IN CONNECTION WITH A FEDERAL, 
              STATE, OR LOCAL ELECTION.

    Section 319 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 
441e) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (b)--
                    (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ``or'' at the 
                end;
                    (B) in paragraph (2), by striking the period at the 
                end and inserting ``; or''; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following new 
                paragraph:
            ``(3) any corporation (other than a foreign principal 
        described in paragraph (1)) under foreign control or 
        substantial foreign influence, including a corporation in 
        which--
                    ``(A) a foreign principal or an individual 
                described in paragraph (2)--
                            ``(i) provided the corporation a majority 
                        of its gross receipts for the immediately 
                        preceding fiscal year, or the current pro-rated 
                        fiscal year if the corporation was established 
                        during the current fiscal year;
                            ``(ii) controls 20 percent or more of the 
                        voting shares of the corporation;
                            ``(iii) controls a majority of the Board of 
                        Directors of the corporation; or
                            ``(iv) has the power to direct, dictate, 
                        control, or directly or indirectly participate 
                        in the decisionmaking process of the 
                        corporation with respect to activities in 
                        connection with a Federal, State, or local 
                        election, such as a decision concerning--
                                    ``(I) the making of a contribution, 
                                donation, expenditure, or disbursement 
                                in connection with such an election; or
                                    ``(II) the administration of a 
                                political committee; or
                    ``(B) 2 or more foreign principals or individuals 
                described in paragraph (2), in the aggregate--
                            ``(i) provided the corporation a majority 
                        of its gross receipts for the immediately 
                        preceding fiscal year, or the current pro-rated 
                        fiscal year if the corporation was established 
                        during the current fiscal year;
                            ``(ii) control 25 percent or more of the 
                        voting shares of the corporation; or
                            ``(iii) control a majority of the Board of 
                        Directors of the corporation.''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(c) Certification of Compliance.--A corporation shall, prior to 
carrying out any activity described in subsection (a), certify (in a 
form and manner specified by the Commission) that the corporation is in 
compliance with this section.''.

SEC. 3. DISCLOSURE OF INFLUENCE OF FOREIGN NATIONALS IN CONNECTION WITH 
              A FEDERAL, STATE, OR LOCAL ELECTION.

    Section 318 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 
441d) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)(3)--
                    (A) by striking ``shall clearly state the name'' 
                and inserting ``shall clearly state--
                    ``(A) the name'';
                    (B) in subparagraph (A), as added by subparagraph 
                (A), by striking the period at the end and inserting 
                ``; and''; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following new 
                subparagraph:
                    ``(B) if the person who paid for the communication 
                is a corporation, the percentage of voting shares of 
                the corporation that are controlled by a foreign 
                national (as defined in section 319(b)) or, if no such 
                shares exist, the percentage of gross receipts that the 
                corporation received from a foreign national (as so 
                defined) in the immediately preceding fiscal year, or 
                the current pro-rated fiscal year if the corporation 
                was established during the current fiscal year.''; and
            (2) in subsection (d)(2)--
                    (A) by striking ``others.--Any communication'' and 
                inserting ``others.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Any communication''; and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following new 
                subparagraph:
                    ``(B) Supplemental audio statements by 
                corporations.--
                            ``(i) Corporations with voting stock.--If 
                        the person who paid for a communication 
                        described in paragraph (3) of subsection (a) is 
                        a corporation that has voting stock, such 
                        communication shall include, in addition to the 
                        requirements of that paragraph and the audio 
                        statement required under subparagraph (A), in a 
                        clearly spoken manner, the following audio 
                        statement: `` _______ of our corporation is 
                        controlled by foreign nationals.'' (With the 
                        blank to be filled in with the percentage of 
                        voting shares of the corporation that is owned 
                        by foreign nationals, as defined in section 
                        319(b)).
                            ``(ii) Corporations without voting stock.--
                        If the person who paid for a communication 
                        described in paragraph (3) of subsection (a) is 
                        a corporation that does not have voting stock, 
                        such communication shall include, in addition 
                        to the requirements of that paragraph and the 
                        audio statement required under subparagraph 
                        (A), in a clearly spoken manner, the following 
                        audio statement: `` _______ of our 
                        organization's funds come from foreign 
                        nationals.'' (With the blank to be filled in 
                        with the percentage of gross receipts for the 
                        immediately preceding fiscal year, or the 
                        current pro-rated fiscal year if the 
                        corporation was established the current fiscal 
                        year, that the corporation received from a 
                        foreign national, as defined in section 
                        319(b)).
                            ``(iii) Transmission through television.--
                        The second sentence of subparagraph (A) shall 
                        apply to a supplemental audio statement under 
                        this paragraph in the same manner as such 
                        sentence applies to an audio statement under 
                        such subparagraph.''.

SEC. 4. SEVERABILITY.

    If any provision of this Act or amendment made by this Act, or the 
application of a provision or amendment to any person or circumstance, 
is held to be unconstitutional, the remainder of this Act and 
amendments made by this Act, and the application of the provisions and 
amendment to any person or circumstance, shall not be affected by the 
holding.

SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    The provisions of and amendments made by this Act shall apply with 
respect to contributions and expenditures made on or after the date 
that is 45 days after the date of enactment of this Act.
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