[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 102 (Tuesday, June 18, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3755-S3757]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 729. Mrs. FEINSTEIN submitted an amendment intended to be proposed
by her to the bill S. 1790, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year
2020 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. _____. PREVENTION OF FOREIGN INTERFERENCE WITH
ELECTIONS.
(a) Short Title.--This section may be cited as the
``Prevention of Foreign Interference with Elections Act of
2019''.
(b) Interference in Elections by Foreign Nationals.--
(1) In general.--Chapter 29 of title 18, United States
Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 612. Interference in elections by foreign nationals
``(a) Penalty.--
``(1) In general.--Whoever--
``(A) conspires with an individual, while having knowledge
or reasonable cause to believe such individual is a foreign
national, to prevent, obstruct, impede, interfere with,
promote, support, or oppose the nomination or the election of
any candidate for any Federal, State, or local office, or any
ballot measure, initiative, or referendum; and
``(B) knows or has reasonable cause to believe that an
interfering act would be or has been committed to effect the
object of the conspiracy;
shall be fined under this title, imprisoned for not more than
5 years, or both.
``(2) Agents of foreign powers.--Whoever violates paragraph
(1) by conspiring with an agent of a foreign power shall be
fined under this title, imprisoned for not more than 10
years, or both.
``(b) Consecutive Sentence.--No term of imprisonment
imposed on a person under this section shall run concurrently
with any other term of imprisonment imposed on the person
under any other provision of law.
``(c) Injunctions.--
``(1) In general.--Whenever it shall appear that any person
is engaged or is about to engage in any act which constitutes
a violation of this section, the Attorney General may bring a
civil action in a district court of the United States seeking
an order to enjoin such act.
``(2) Action by court.--The court shall proceed as soon as
practicable to the hearing and determination of a civil
action brought under this subsection, and may, at any time
before final determination, enter such a restraining order or
prohibition, or take such other action, as is warranted to
prevent a continuing and substantial injury to the United
States, a State, or a locality, or to any person or class of
persons for whose protection the civil action is brought.
``(3) Procedure.--
``(A) In general.--A proceeding under this subsection shall
be governed by the Federal
[[Page S3756]]
Rules of Civil Procedure, except that, if an indictment has
been returned against the respondent, discovery shall be
governed by the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure.
``(B) Sealed proceedings.--If a civil action is brought
under this subsection, before an indictment is returned
against the respondent or while an indictment against the
respondent is under seal--
``(i) the court shall place the civil action under seal;
and
``(ii) when the indictment is unsealed, the court shall
unseal the civil action unless good cause exists to keep the
civil action under seal.
``(4) Classified information if indictment has not been
returned against respondent.--For any civil proceeding
brought by the Attorney General under this subsection in
which an indictment has not been returned against the
respondent, classified information in the civil proceeding
shall be subject to the procedures described in section
2339B(f).
``(d) Definitions.--In this section--
``(1) the term `agent of a foreign power'--
``(A) has the meaning given to the term in section 101 of
the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C.
1801); and
``(B) does not include a United States person (as defined
under section 101 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance
Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1801));
``(2) the term `classified information' has the meaning
given the term in section 1 of the Classified Information
Procedures Act (18 U.S.C. App.);
``(3) the term `foreign national'--
``(A) means a foreign principal, as such term is defined by
section 1(b) of the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938
(22 U.S.C. 611(b)); and
``(B) does not include any individual who is a citizen of
the United States or a lawful permanent resident of the
United States; and
``(4) the term `interfering act' means any offense, that
does have to be otherwise proven, under or violation of--
``(A) this title;
``(B) section 12 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52
U.S.C. 10308);
``(C) the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C.
30101 et seq.); or
``(D) chapter 95 or 96 of the Internal Revenue Code of
1986.
``(e) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section shall
be construed or applied to abridge the exercise of rights
guaranteed under the First Amendment to the Constitution of
the United States.''.
(2) Severability.--If any provision of this section, an
amendment made by this section, or the application of such
provision or amendment to any person or circumstance is held
to be unconstitutional, the remainder of this section, the
amendments made by this section, and the applications of the
provisions of such to any other person or circumstance shall
not be affected thereby.
(3) Technical and conforming amendment.--The table of
sections for chapter 29 of title 18, United States Code, is
amended by adding at the end the following:
``612. Interference in elections by foreign nationals.''.
(c) Inadmissibility for Interference in Elections by
Foreign Nationals.--Section 212(a)(10)(D) of the Immigration
and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(10)(D)) is amended to
read as follows:
``(D) Unlawful voters and election interference by foreign
nationals.--
``(i) Unlawful voters.--Except as provided in clause (iii),
any alien who has voted in violation of any Federal, State,
or local constitutional provision, statute, ordinance, or
regulation is inadmissible.
``(ii) Election interference by foreign nationals.--
``(I) In general.--Except as provided in subclause (II) and
clause (iii), any alien convicted of violating section 612 of
title 18, United States Code, is inadmissible.
``(II) Exception.--If an alien described in subclause (I)
is eligible under section 245(j) for an adjustment of status
to that of an alien lawfully admitted for permanent
residence, the Secretary of Homeland Security, in the
Secretary's sole, unreviewable discretion, may waive the
applicability of subclause (I) with respect to such alien.
``(iii) Exception.--An alien shall not be considered to be
inadmissible under this subparagraph if--
``(I) the alien voted in a Federal, State, or local
election (including an initiative, recall, or referendum) in
violation of a lawful restriction of voting to citizens;
``(II) each natural parent of the alien (or, in the case of
an adopted alien, each adoptive parent of the alien) is or
was a United States citizen (whether by birth or
naturalization);
``(III) the alien permanently resided in the United States
before reaching 16 years of age; and
``(IV) the alien reasonably believed at the time of the
violation described in clause (i) or (ii)(I) that he or she
was a United States citizen.''.
(d) Strengthening Prohibitions on Expenditures by Foreign
Nationals.--Section 319 of the Federal Election Campaign Act
of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30121) is amended--
(1) in subsection (a)(1)(C), by inserting ``, subject to
subsection (c)'' after ``within the meaning of section
304(f)(3)''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following new subsections:
``(c) Application to Electioneering Communications.--
``(1) Electioneering communications.--
``(A) In general.--For purposes of applying subsection
(a)(1)(C) and subsection (d), an `electioneering
communication'--
``(i) does not include a news story, commentary, editorial,
or other communication produced and distributed in the
ordinary course of bona fide press activity by a news or
press service or association, newspaper, magazine,
periodical, or other publication as determined under
subparagraph (B);
``(ii) except as provided in clause (i), includes an
Internet or digital communication that otherwise meets the
requirements of section 304(f)(3) as modified by this
paragraph;
``(iii) includes a communication that does not refer to a
clearly identified candidate for Federal office as described
in subparagraph (A)(i)(I) of section 304(f)(3) if--
``(I) the communication otherwise meets the requirements of
such section as modified by this paragraph except that items
(aa) and (bb) of subparagraph (A)(i)(II) of such section
shall each be applied by substituting `Federal, State, or
local office' for `the office sought by the candidate';
``(II) the communication--
``(aa) references voting or a Federal, State, or local
election;
``(bb) addresses an issue that is reasonably understood to
distinguish one candidate for Federal, State, or local office
from another;
``(cc) republishes or is substantially identical to the
communications of a candidate for Federal, State, or local
office on that same issue;
``(dd) expresses approval or disapproval of a position
reasonably identified with a candidate for Federal, State, or
local office and presented in substantially similar terms,
regardless of whether there is a specific reference to that
candidate; or
``(ee) references an employee of a candidate or campaign
for Federal, State, or local office or a political party; and
``(iv) does not include a commercial advertisement for
goods or services by a foreign corporation or business
entity.
``(B) Determination of bona fide press activity.--For
purposes of subparagraph (A)(i), a news story, commentary,
editorial, or other communication is not produced and
distributed in the ordinary course of bona fide press
activity by a news or press service or association,
newspaper, magazine, periodical, or other publication and the
exception under such subparagraph shall not apply if--
``(i) such media outlet is owned, directed, supervised,
controlled, subsidized, or financed by a government of a
foreign country, as defined in section 1 of the Foreign
Agents Registration Act of 1938 (22 U.S.C. 611); and
``(ii) such news story, commentary, editorial, or other
communication--
``(I) is directed, produced, or distributed, at the
direction of government or political party officials; and
``(II) promotes, attacks, supports, or opposes any
candidate for public office or political party in the United
States.
``(2) Foreign individual internet activity exception.--
``(A) In general.--When an individual or a group of
individuals engages in Internet activities for the purposes
of influencing an election, neither of the following is a
contribution or expenditure for purposes of this section by
that individual or group of individuals:
``(i) The uncompensated personal services of the individual
related to such Internet activities. The exception under the
preceding sentence shall not apply to individuals or a group
of individuals acting on behalf of or in any capacity at the
order, request, or under the direction or control, of a
government of a foreign country, a foreign political party,
or a person whose activities are directly or indirectly
supervised, directed, controlled, financed, or subsidized in
whole or in major part by a government of a foreign country
or a foreign political party.
``(ii) The use of equipment or services by the individual
for uncompensated Internet activities, regardless of the
identity of the owner of the equipment or services. The
exception under the preceding sentence shall not apply to
equipment or services supplied or provided directly or
indirectly by a government of a foreign country, a foreign
political party, or a person whose activities are directly or
indirectly supervised, directed, controlled, financed, or
subsidized in whole or in major part by a government of a
foreign country or a foreign political party.
``(B) Definition.--For purposes of this paragraph, the
terms `Internet activities' and `equipment and services' have
the meaning given such terms in section 100.94 of title 11,
Code of Federal Regulations (or any successor regulation).
``(d) Prohibition on Providing Substantial Assistance to a
Foreign Governments and Foreign Political Parties in Making
Contributions, Donations, or Expenditures.--
``(1) In general.--No person shall knowingly provide
substantial assistance to a foreign national, including a
foreign government or foreign political party, with respect
to directly or indirectly making a contribution or donation,
or other thing of value, or an expenditure, independent
expenditure, or disbursement for an electioneering
communication (within the meaning of section 304(f)(3)), or
any other act prohibited under subsection (a).
[[Page S3757]]
``(2) Definition.--As used in this subsection, the term
`providing substantial assistance' means, with respect to an
act described in paragraph (1), the facilitation of such act
by a foreign national, including a foreign government or
foreign political party. Such facilitation includes the
knowing republication of foreign government and foreign
political party electioneering communications referred to in
subsection (b), regardless of whether the communication was
made in concert or cooperation with or at the request or
suggestion of a foreign government or foreign political
party.''.
______