[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3236 Introduced in House (IH)]
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116th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 3236
To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to treat the sharing
of nonpublic campaign material by a candidate or political committee
with a foreign power as the solicitation of a contribution or donation
in support of the candidate or committee from a foreign national for
purposes of the ban on such solicitations under such Act, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 12, 2019
Mr. Malinowski (for himself, Mr. Raskin, Mr. Himes, Mr. Phillips, and
Mr. Casten of Illinois) introduced the following bill; which was
referred to the Committee on House Administration
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to treat the sharing
of nonpublic campaign material by a candidate or political committee
with a foreign power as the solicitation of a contribution or donation
in support of the candidate or committee from a foreign national for
purposes of the ban on such solicitations under such Act, 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 ``Anti-Collusion Act''.
SEC. 2. RESTRICTIONS ON EXCHANGE OF CAMPAIGN INFORMATION BETWEEN
CANDIDATES AND FOREIGN POWERS.
Section 319 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C.
30121) is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
``(c) Restrictions on Exchange of Information Between Candidates
and Foreign Powers.--
``(1) Treatment of offer to share nonpublic campaign
material as solicitation of contribution from foreign
national.--If a candidate or an individual affiliated with the
campaign of a candidate, or if a political committee or an
individual affiliated with a political committee, provides or
offers to provide nonpublic campaign material to a foreign
power or an agent of a foreign power or to another person whom
the candidate, committee, or individual knows or has reason to
know will provide the material to a foreign power or an agent
of a foreign power, the candidate, committee, or individual (as
the case may be) shall be considered for purposes of this
section to have solicited a contribution or donation described
in subsection (a)(1)(A) from a foreign national.
``(2) Suspicious activity reports.--
``(A) Duty to file.--If a candidate or any
individual affiliated with a campaign of a candidate,
or if a political committee or an individual affiliated
with a political committee, knowingly receives an offer
of assistance with respect to the campaign or the
committee from a person the candidate, committee, or
individual knows is a foreign power or an agent of a
foreign power, not later than 72 hours after receiving
the offer the candidate, committee, or individual shall
file a suspicious activity report with the Attorney
General (or such official as may be designated by the
Attorney General for purposes of this paragraph) which
describes the offer, and shall include in the report
(to the extent known) the name, address, and
nationality of the foreign power or agent making the
offer.
``(B) Referral.--Upon receiving a suspicious
activity report under subparagraph (A), the Attorney
General shall refer the report to the Secretary of
State and the Commission. The Commission may take such
action in response to the report as may be authorized
under section 309, without regard to whether or not the
Attorney General takes any action in response to the
report.
``(C) Effective date.--This paragraph shall take
effect upon the expiration of the 120-day period which
begins on the date of the enactment of this paragraph.
``(3) Definitions.--In this subsection, the following
definitions apply:
``(A) The term `agent of a foreign power' means any
person who acts as an agent, representative, employee
or servant, or any person who acts in any other
capacity at the order, request, or under the direction
or control, of a foreign power or of any person whose
activities are directly or indirectly supervised,
directed, controlled, financed, or subsidized in whole
or in major part by a foreign power.
``(B) The term `candidate' means an individual who
seeks nomination for, or election to, any Federal,
State, or local public office.
``(C) The term `foreign power' means--
``(i) a government of a foreign country, as
defined in section 1(e) of the Foreign Agents
Registration Act of 1938, as Amended (22 U.S.C.
611(e));
``(ii) a foreign political party, as
defined in section 1(f) of the Foreign Agents
Registration Act of 1938, as Amended (22 U.S.C.
611(f)); or
``(iii) a partnership, association,
corporation, organization, or other combination
of persons organized under the laws of or
having its principal place of business in a
foreign country.
``(D) The term `individual affiliated with a
campaign' means, with respect to a candidate, an
employee of any organization legally authorized under
Federal, State, or local law to support the candidate's
campaign for nomination for, or election to, any
Federal, State, or local public office, as well as any
independent contractor of such an organization and any
individual who performs services on behalf of the
organization, whether paid or unpaid.
``(E) The term `individual affiliated with a
political committee' means, with respect to a political
committee, an employee of the committee as well as any
independent contractor of the committee and any
individual who performs services on behalf of the
committee, whether paid or unpaid.
``(F) The term `nonpublic campaign material' means,
with respect to a candidate or a political committee,
campaign material that is produced by the candidate or
the committee or produced at the candidate or
committee's expense or request which is not distributed
or made available to the general public or otherwise in
the public domain, including polling and focus group
data and opposition research, except that such term
does not include material produced for purposes of
consultations relating solely to the candidate's or
committee's position on a legislative or policy matter.
``(G) The term `offer of assistance' means, with
respect to a candidate or a political committee, an
offer to provide direct assistance to the candidate or
committee with respect to activities of the candidate
or committee, including an offer to provide polling
information, opposition research, or similar
information, including information that would
reasonably be expected to have been obtained through
illicit means, except that such term does not include
an offer to engage in consultations relating solely to
the candidate's or committee's position on a
legislative or policy matter or an offer to provide
material produced solely for purposes of such
consultations.''.
SEC. 3. DUTY OF CANDIDATES AND COMMITTEES TO FILE SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY
REPORTS AFTER RECEIVING OFFER OF UNLAWFUL ASSISTANCE.
Title III of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C.
30101 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following new
section:
``SEC. 325. DUTY OF CANDIDATES AND COMMITTEES TO FILE SUSPICIOUS
ACTIVITY REPORTS AFTER RECEIVING OFFER OF UNLAWFUL
ASSISTANCE.
``(a) Duty To File.--If a candidate or any individual affiliated
with a campaign of a candidate, or if a political committee or an
individual affiliated with a political committee, knowingly receives an
offer of unlawful assistance with respect to the campaign or committee
from any person, not later than 72 hours after receiving the offer the
candidate, committee, or individual shall file a suspicious activity
report with the Attorney General (or such official as may be designated
by the Attorney General for purposes of this paragraph) which describes
the offer, and shall include in the report (to the extent known) the
name and address of the person making the offer.
``(b) Referral.--Upon receiving a suspicious activity report under
subparagraph (A), the Attorney General shall refer the report to the
Commission. The Commission may take such action in response to the
report as may be authorized under section 309, without regard to
whether or not the Attorney General takes any action in response to the
report.
``(c) Definitions.--In this section, the following definitions
apply:
``(1) The term `individual affiliated with a campaign'
means, with respect to a candidate, an employee of any
authorized committee of the candidate, as well as any
independent contractor of an authorized committee of the
candidate and any individual who performs services on behalf of
the committee, whether paid or unpaid.
``(2) The term `individual affiliated with a political
committee' means, with respect to a political committee, an
employee of the committee as well as any independent contractor
of the committee and any individual who performs services on
behalf of the committee, whether paid or unpaid.
``(3) The term `offer of unlawful assistance' means, with
respect to a candidate or a political committee, an offer by a
person to provide direct assistance to the candidate or
committee which consists of providing information (including
polling information, opposition research, or similar
information) that the candidate, committee, or individual knows
or reasonably should know was obtained by such person through
illicit means, except that such term does not include an offer
to engage in consultations relating solely to the candidate's
or committee's position on a legislative or policy matter or an
offer to provide material produced solely for purposes of such
consultations.
``(d) Effective Date.--This section shall take effect upon the
expiration of the 120-day period which begins on the date of the
enactment of this section.''.
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