[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 118 (Monday, July 22, 2024)]
[House]
[Pages H4656-H4658]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         FOREIGN EXTORTION PREVENTION TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS ACT

  Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill 
(S. 4548) to make a technical correction to the National Defense 
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024 by repealing section 5101 and 
enacting an updated version of the Foreign Extortion Prevention Act.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                                S. 4548

       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 ``Foreign Extortion Prevention 
     Technical Corrections Act''.

     SEC. 2. TECHNICAL CORRECTION TO 2024 NDAA.

       (a) Repeal of Previous Version of FEPA.--Section 5101 of 
     the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024 
     (Public Law 118-31) is repealed, and each provision of law 
     amended by that section is

[[Page H4657]]

     amended to read as it read on the day before the date of 
     enactment of that Act.
       (b) Prohibition of Demand for Bribe.--
       (1) In general.--Chapter 63 of title 18, United States 
     Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:

     ``Sec. 1352. Demands by foreign officials for bribes

       ``(a) Definitions.--In this section:
       ``(1) Foreign official.--The term `foreign official' 
     means--
       ``(A)(i) any official or employee of a foreign government 
     or any department, agency, or instrumentality thereof; or
       ``(ii) any senior foreign political figure, as defined in 
     section 1010.605 of title 31, Code of Federal Regulations, or 
     any successor regulation;
       ``(B) any official or employee of a public international 
     organization;
       ``(C) any person acting in an official capacity for or on 
     behalf of--
       ``(i) a government, department, agency, or instrumentality 
     described in subparagraph (A)(i); or
       ``(ii) a public international organization.
       ``(2) Public international organization.--The term `public 
     international organization' means--
       ``(A) an organization that is designated by Executive order 
     pursuant to section 1 of the International Organizations 
     Immunities Act (22 U.S.C. 288); or
       ``(B) any other international organization that is 
     designated by the President by Executive order for the 
     purposes of this section, effective as of the date of 
     publication of the order in the Federal Register.
       ``(b) Prohibition of Demand for a Bribe.--
       ``(1) Offense.--It shall be unlawful for any foreign 
     official or person selected to be a foreign official to 
     corruptly demand, seek, receive, accept, or agree to receive 
     or accept, directly or indirectly, anything of value 
     personally or for any other person or nongovernmental entity, 
     by making use of the mails or any means or instrumentality of 
     interstate commerce--
       ``(A) from--
       ``(i) any person (as defined in section 104A of the Foreign 
     Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 (15 U.S.C. 78dd-3), except that 
     that definition shall be applied without regard to whether 
     the person is an offender) while the foreign official or 
     person selected to be a foreign official, or a person acting 
     on behalf of the foreign official or person selected to be a 
     foreign official, is in the territory of the United States;
       ``(ii) an issuer (as defined in section 3(a) of the 
     Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78c(a))), or any 
     officer, director, employee, or agent of an issuer or any 
     stockholder thereof acting on behalf of the issuer; or
       ``(iii) a domestic concern (as defined in section 104 of 
     the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 (15 U.S.C. 78dd-
     2)), or any officer, director, employee, or agent of a 
     domestic concern or any stockholder thereof acting on behalf 
     of the domestic concern; and
       ``(B) in return for--
       ``(i) being influenced in the performance of any act or 
     decision of the foreign official or person selected to be a 
     foreign official in the official capacity of the foreign 
     official or person selected to be a foreign official;
       ``(ii) being induced to do or omit to do any act in 
     violation of the lawful duty of the foreign official or 
     person selected to be a foreign official;
       ``(iii) conferring any improper advantage; or
       ``(iv) using the influence of the foreign official or 
     person selected to be a foreign official with a foreign 
     government or instrumentality thereof to affect or influence 
     any act or decision of that government or instrumentality,
     in connection with obtaining or retaining business for or 
     with, or directing business to, any person.
       ``(2) Penalties.--Any person who violates paragraph (1) 
     shall be fined not more than $250,000 or 3 times the monetary 
     equivalent of the thing of value, imprisoned for not more 
     than 15 years, or both.
       ``(3) Jurisdiction.--An offense under paragraph (1) shall 
     be subject to extraterritorial Federal jurisdiction.
       ``(4) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
     enactment of this section, and annually thereafter, the 
     Attorney General, in consultation with the Secretary of State 
     as relevant, shall submit to the Committee on the Judiciary 
     and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the 
     Committee on the Judiciary and the Committee on Foreign 
     Affairs of the House of Representatives, and post on the 
     publicly available website of the Department of Justice, a 
     report--
       ``(A) focusing, in part, on demands by foreign officials 
     for bribes from entities domiciled or incorporated in the 
     United States, and the efforts of foreign governments to 
     prosecute such cases;
       ``(B) addressing United States diplomatic efforts to 
     protect entities domiciled or incorporated in the United 
     States from foreign bribery, and the effectiveness of those 
     efforts in protecting such entities;
       ``(C) summarizing major actions taken under this section in 
     the previous year, including enforcement actions taken and 
     penalties imposed;
       ``(D) evaluating the effectiveness of the Department of 
     Justice in enforcing this section; and
       ``(E) detailing what resources or legislative action the 
     Department of Justice needs to ensure adequate enforcement of 
     this section.
       ``(5) Rule of construction.--This subsection shall not be 
     construed as encompassing conduct that would violate section 
     30A of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78dd-1) 
     or section 104 or 104A of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act 
     of 1977 (15 U.S.C. 78dd-2; 15 U.S.C. 78dd-3) whether pursuant 
     to a theory of direct liability, conspiracy, complicity, or 
     otherwise.''.
       (2) Technical and conforming amendment.--The table of 
     sections for chapter 63 of title 18, United States Code, is 
     amended by adding at the end the following:

``1352. Demands by foreign officials for bribes.''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Issa) and the gentleman from New York (Mr. Nadler) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California.


                             General Leave

  Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and 
include extraneous material on S. 4548.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from California?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, S. 4548 makes technical and conforming changes to the 
Foreign Extortion Prevention Act, which was enacted as part of last 
year's National Defense Authorization Act.
  The FEPA was introduced to create a Federal offense that would 
contemplate a Foreign Corruption Practices Act. Again, the Foreign 
Corruption Practices Act, which has been in place for many years, is 
the act that the American people rely on to make sure that Americans, 
no matter where they are doing business, abide by U.S. practices, no 
bribes, and no mislaid funds. In fact, it is the reason that the United 
States is the envy of the world when it comes to contracting with our 
companies.
  While the FCPA prohibits the paying of a bribe to a foreign official, 
the FEPA prohibits the demanding of a bribe by a foreign official. 
However, the FEPA text that was enacted last year in the NDAA had 
several flaws.
  First, the law was added to the domestic bribery statute in title 18, 
creating an inconsistency in the sections that are being defined in the 
elements of the crime. These inconsistencies may prevent the FEPA and 
the domestic bribery statute from operating in the way that Congress 
intended.
  Second, there were inconsistencies between the language of the FCPA 
and the FEPA. Because these statutes are intended to be complementary, 
with parts of them addressing the same problem, we need to harmonize 
it.
  For that reason, this technical and conforming change has been 
brought to the committee's attention. We stand for it, we have reviewed 
it, and in fact, we hope that all will vote on it.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of S. 4548, the Foreign 
Extortion Prevention Technical Corrections Act.
  Last year, we enacted the Foreign Extortion Prevention Act, or FEPA, 
landmark legislation that would combat kleptocracy and help protect the 
rule of law.
  FEPA was the first expansion of our country's antibribery and 
anticorruption laws in nearly 50 years. This law provides another 
useful tool to combat corruption and stop it at its source by making it 
a crime for any foreign official to solicit or accept a bribe from any 
American person or American company.
  It was already the law that U.S. persons who offer to pay bribes 
overseas could be prosecuted, but there was no corresponding law 
prohibiting foreign entities and officials from demanding or accepting 
bribes.
  Foreign corrupt officials too often demand bribes from companies 
hoping to do business with them. This unethical practice unfairly 
benefits dishonest companies, granting them a competitive advantage, 
and placing law-abiding companies and citizens, including American 
ones, at a disadvantage.
  FEPA changed that by stopping corruption at its source. The passage 
of FEPA was a watershed moment for our

[[Page H4658]]

democracy, particularly because research shows that the vast majority 
of bribe-demanding foreign officials never face consequences in their 
own countries. FEPA makes it much harder for these foreign officials to 
cultivate a culture where corruption and bribery are the norm.
  After FEPA was enacted into law, it became clear that certain 
technical corrections were necessary to fully effectuate the law. This 
legislation would make those necessary changes to ensure that our fight 
to end corruption is well equipped. I was proud to vote for FEPA last 
year, and I am proud to vote for it again through this bill.
  I must observe that consideration of this bill is bittersweet today 
because the House sponsor of FEPA was our late, beloved colleague, 
Sheila Jackson Lee, who we lost just this past weekend.
  Her impact on this Chamber was immeasurable, and she was the champion 
of so many issues from criminal justice to voting rights to civil 
rights and civil liberties and so much more.
  She was also passionate about fighting against corruption, both at 
home and abroad, and passage of today's bill would be a small tribute 
to the mark that she has left on this country and on all of us.

  This legislation simply makes technical corrections to the Foreign 
Extortion Prevention Act, important bipartisan anticorruption 
legislation, which was enacted last year. This bill has already passed 
the Senate.
  I urge all Members to support the bill and send it to the President's 
desk, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
  Mr. Speaker, the bill before us isn't just another example of the 
hardworking Sheila Jackson Lee that both of us served with for more 
than two decades.
  In closing, I take a moment to pay tribute to the gentlewoman, not on 
my side of the aisle, not always on my side of a vote, but never has 
our committee had a harder working, more dedicated Member, a Member who 
I had the honor of traveling with to many places, including the Middle 
East, Africa, and elsewhere.
  She would get up early. She would work late. She would add meetings 
on top of meetings, even on congressional delegations that seemed to be 
filled beyond the possibility of doing it all.
  I don't remember a piece of legislation on which she wasn't prepared 
to opine with accuracy and proper briefing, and I don't remember an 
opportunity missed to offer an amendment or a need for greater 
transparency.
  I join my colleague, Mr. Nadler, in saying she will be missed. She 
will be missed because nobody could have had somebody more interested 
in transparency, in proper reporting, and quite frankly, the importance 
of this body. She was a person of the House, and she will be missed.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge support and yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Issa) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, S. 4548.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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