[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 126 (Wednesday, July 26, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4320-S4321]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 328. Mrs. SHAHEEN submitted an amendment intended to be proposed
by her to the bill H.R. 2810, to authorize appropriations for fiscal
year 2018 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for
military construction, and for defense activities of the Department of
Energy, to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year,
and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as
follows:
At the appropriate place, insert the following:
SEC. __. FOREIGN AGENTS REGISTRATION.
(a) Short Title.--This section may be cited as the
``Foreign Agents Registration Modernization and Enforcement
Act''.
(b) Civil Investigative Demand Authority.--The Foreign
Agents Registration Act of 1938 (22 U.S.C. 611 et seq.) is
amended--
(1) by redesignating sections 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14
as sections 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, and 16, respectively; and
(2) by inserting after section 7 (22 U.S.C. 617) the
following:
``CIVIL INVESTIGATIVE DEMAND AUTHORITY
``Sec. 8. (a) Whenever the Attorney General has reason to
believe that any person or enterprise may be in possession,
custody, or control of any documentary material relevant to
an investigation under this Act, the Attorney General, before
initiating a civil or criminal proceeding with respect to the
production of such material, may serve a written demand upon
such person to produce such material for examination.
``(b) Each such demand under subsection (a) shall--
``(1) state the nature of the conduct constituting the
alleged violation which is under investigation and the
provision of law applicable to such violation;
``(2) describe the class or classes of documentary material
required to be produced under such demand with such
definiteness and certainty as to permit such material to be
fairly identified;
``(3) state that the demand is immediately returnable or
prescribe a return date which will provide a reasonable
period within which the material may be assembled and made
available for inspection and copying or reproduction; and
``(4) identify the custodian to whom such material shall be
made available.
``(c) A demand under subsection (a) may not--
``(1) contain any requirement that would be considered
unreasonable if contained in a subpoena duces tecum issued by
a court of the United States in aid of grand jury
investigation of such alleged violation; or
``(2) require the production of any documentary evidence
that would be privileged from disclosure if demanded by a
subpoena duces tecum issued by a court of the United States
in aid of a grand jury investigation of such alleged
violation.''.
(c) Informational Materials.--
(1) Definitions.--Section 1 of the Foreign Agents
Registration Act of 1938, as amended (22 U.S.C. 611) is
amended--
(A) in subsection (c), by striking ``Expect as provided in
subsection (d) hereof,'' and inserting ``Except as provided
in subsection (d),''; and
(B) by inserting after subsection (i) the following:
``(j) The term `informational materials' means any oral,
visual, graphic, written, or pictorial information or matter
of any kind, including matter published by means of
advertising, books, periodicals, newspapers, lectures,
broadcasts, motion pictures, or any means or instrumentality
of interstate or foreign commerce or otherwise.''.
(2) Informational materials.--Section 4 of the such Act (22
U.S.C. 614) is amended--
(A) in subsection (a)--
(i) by inserting ``, including electronic mail and social
media,'' after ``United States mails''; and
(ii) by striking ``, not later than forty-eight hours after
the beginning of the transmittal thereof, file with the
Attorney General two copies thereof'' and inserting ``file
such materials with the Attorney General in conjunction with,
and at the same intervals as, disclosures required under
section 2(b).''; and
(B) in subsection (b)--
(i) by striking ``It shall'' and inserting ``(1) Except as
provided in paragraph (2), it shall''; and
(ii) by inserting at the end the following:
``(2) Foreign agents described in paragraph (1) may omit
disclosure required under that paragraph in individual
messages, posts, or transmissions on social media on behalf
of a foreign principal if the social media account or profile
from which the information is sent includes a conspicuous
statement that--
``(A) the account is operated by, and distributes
information on behalf of, the foreign agent; and
``(B) additional information about the account is on file
with the Department of Justice in Washington, District of
Columbia.
``(3) Informational materials disseminated by an agent of a
foreign principal as part of an activity that is exempt from
registration, or an activity which by itself would not
require registration, need not be filed under this
subsection.''.
(d) Fees.--
(1) Repeal.--The Department of Justice and Related Agencies
Appropriations Act, 1993 (title I of Public Law 102-395) is
amended, under the heading ``salaries and expenses, general
legal activities'', by striking ``In addition,
notwithstanding 31 U.S.C. 3302, for fiscal year 1993 and
thereafter, the Attorney General shall establish and collect
fees to recover necessary expenses of the Registration Unit
(to include salaries, supplies, equipment and training)
pursuant to the Foreign Agents Registration Act, and shall
credit such fees to this appropriation, to remain available
until expended.''.
(2) Registration fee.--The Foreign Agents Registration Act
of 1938, as amended (22 U.S.C. 611 et seq.), as amended by
this Act, is further amended by adding after section 14, as
redesignated by subsection (b)(1), the following:
``FEES
``Sec. 15. The Attorney General shall--
``(1) establish and collect a registration fee, as part of
the initial filing requirement, to help defray the expenses
of the FARA Registration Unit; and
``(2) credit such fees to the amount appropriated to carry
out the activities of the National Security Division, which
shall remain available until expended.''.
(e) Reports to Congress.--Section 12 of the Foreign Agents
Registration Act of 1938, as amended, as redesignated by
subsection (b)(1), is amended to read as follows:
[[Page S4321]]
``REPORTS TO CONGRESS
``Sec. 12. The Assistant Attorney General for National
Security, through the FARA Registration Unit of the National
Security Division, shall submit a semiannual report to
Congress regarding the administration of this Act. Each
report under this section shall include, for the applicable
reporting period, the identification of--
``(1) registrations filed pursuant to this Act;
``(2) the nature, sources, and content of political
propaganda disseminated and distributed by agents of foreign
principal;
``(3) the number of investigations initiated based upon a
perceived violation of section 8; and
``(4) the number of such investigations that were referred
to the Attorney General for prosecution.''.
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