[Senate Report 117-150]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
Calendar No. 491
117th Congress } { Report
SENATE
2d Session } { 117-150
_______________________________________________________________________
DISCLOSING FOREIGN INFLUENCE IN
LOBBYING ACT
__________
R E P O R T
of the
COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND
GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS
UNITED STATES SENATE
to accompany
S. 4254
TO AMEND THE LOBBYING DISCLOSURE ACT OF 1995 TO
CLARIFY A PROVISION RELATING TO CERTAIN CONTENTS OF REGISTRATIONS UNDER
THE ACT
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
September 20, 2022.--Ordered to be printed
_________
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
29-010 WASHINGTON : 2022
COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS
GARY C. PETERS, Michigan, Chairman
THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware ROB PORTMAN, Ohio
MAGGIE HASSAN, New Hampshire RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin
KYRSTEN SINEMA, Arizona RAND PAUL, Kentucky
JACKY ROSEN, Nevada JAMES LANKFORD, Oklahoma
ALEX PADILLA, California MITT ROMNEY, Utah
JON OSSOFF, Georgia RICK SCOTT, Florida
JOSH HAWLEY, Missouri
David M. Weinberg, Staff Director
Zachary I. Schram, Chief Counsel
Lena C. Chang, Director of Governmental Affairs
Emily I. Manna, Professional Staff Member
Pamela Thiessen, Minority Staff Director
Sam J. Mulopulos, Minority Deputy Staff Director
Cara G. Mumford, Minority Director of Governmental Affairs
Allen L. Huang, Minority Counsel
Laura W. Kilbride, Chief Clerk
Calendar No. 491
117th Congress } { Report
SENATE
2d Session } { 117-150
======================================================================
DISCLOSING FOREIGN INFLUENCE IN LOBBYING ACT
_______
September 20, 2022.--Ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Peters, from the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental
Affairs, submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany S. 4254]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental
Affairs, to which was referred the bill (S. 4254) to amend the
Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 to clarify a provision relating
to certain contents of registrations under that Act, having
considered the same, reports favorably thereon without
amendment and recommends that the bill do pass.
CONTENTS
Page
I. Purpose and Summary.............................................. 1
II. Background and Need for the Legislation.......................... 1
III. Legislative History.............................................. 2
IV. Section-by-Section Analysis...................................... 2
V. Evaluation of Regulatory Impact.................................. 3
VI. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate........................ 3
VII. Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported............ 4
I. Purpose and Summary
S. 4254, the Disclosing Foreign Influence in Lobbying Act,
requires disclosure of foreign governments and political
parties that exert control or influence over lobbying
activities, regardless of whether they are funding the lobbying
activities.
II. Background and the Need for Legislation
The Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (LDA) imposes
comprehensive disclosure and registration requirements on
lobbyists who contact covered legislative and executive branch
officials. Under Section 4(b)(3) of the LDA (2 U.S.C.
Sec. 1603(b)(3)), a registrant must disclose any organization,
other than the client, that ``actively participates'' in
lobbying and contributes over $5,000 to the registrant or the
client. Section 4(b)(4) of the LDA (2 U.S.C. Sec. 1603(b)(4)),
imposes alternative tests for disclosure for any ``foreign
entity'' that owns 20% of a client or an organization
contributing to lobbying activities, in whole or in major part
directs or finances a client or organization contributing to
lobbying activities, or is an affiliate of a client or
organization and has a direct interest in the outcome of the
lobbying activities.
However, experts have identified instances in which, due to
political climate, government structure, or other factors, some
foreign governments and political parties are able to exert
significant control over lobbying organizations without having
a direct financial stake in lobbying activities. According to a
January 2021 report from the Center for Strategic and
International Studies, since 2012, the Chinese Communist Party
(CCP) in particular is promoting a new form of corporate
governance that calls for inserting provisions directly into
corporate charters that give the company's internal CCP
organization a voice in management decisions.\1\ Reports by law
enforcement organizations to Congress establish that the CCP is
able to use its role in private companies to advocate for CCP
interests and that other foreign governments or political
parties would be able to engage similarly.\2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\Center for Strategic and International Studies, The New
Challenge of Communist Corporate Governance (Jan. 2021) (https://csis-
website-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/publication/
210114_Livingston_New_Challenge.pdf).
\2\Federal Bureau of Investigation, Briefing with Senate Judiciary
Committee Staff (Feb. 4, 2022).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The ``Disclosing Foreign Influence in Lobbying Act'' closes
the LDA loophole that allows such foreign governments and
political parties to escape disclosure by establishing a new
test requiring disclosure of any participation by a foreign
government or political party in the direction, planning,
supervision, or control of lobbying activities, regardless of
financial contribution, ownership of the client, or other
financial incentive.
III. Legislative History
Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) introduced S. 4254,
Disclosing Foreign Influence in Lobbying Act, on May 18, 2022,
with Chairman Gary Peters (D-MI), Senator Ben Sasse (R-NE),
Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL), Senator John Cornyn (R-TX),
Senator Margaret Wood Hassan (D-NH), and Senator Kyrsten Sinema
(D-AZ). The bill was referred to the Committee on Homeland
Security and Governmental Affairs.
The Committee considered S. 4254 at a business meeting on
May 25, 2022. The bill was ordered reported favorably by voice
en bloc. Senators Peters, Hassan, Sinema, Rosen, Padilla,
Ossoff, Portman, Lankford, Romney, Scott, and Hawley were
present.
IV. Section-by-Section Analysis of the Bill, as Reported
Section 1. Short title
This section establishes the short title of the bill as the
``Disclosing Foreign Influence in Lobbying Act.''
Section 2. Clarification of contents of registration
This section adds a provision to the Lobbying Disclosure
Act of 1995 requiring registrants to disclose foreign
governments and political parties that exert control or
influence over lobbying activities, regardless of whether they
are funding the lobbying activities.
V. Evaluation of Regulatory Impact
Pursuant to the requirements of paragraph 11(b) of rule
XXVI of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee has
considered the regulatory impact of this bill and determined
that the bill will have no regulatory impact within the meaning
of the rules. The Committee agrees with the Congressional
Budget Office's statement that the bill contains no
intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) and would impose no costs
on state, local, or tribal governments.
VI. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate
U.S. Congress,
Congressional Budget Office,
Washington, DC, August 23, 2022.
Hon. Gary Peters,
Chairman, Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, U.S.
Senate, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for S. 4254, the Disclosing
Foreign Influence in Lobbying Act.
If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Matthew
Pickford.
Sincerely,
Phillip L. Swagel,
Director.
Enclosure.
S. 4254 would amend the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 to
require lobbyists to identify any connection with a foreign
government or political party that plans, supervises, directs,
or controls any effort of that lobbyist, regardless of those
entities' financial contributions to the lobbying effort. CBO
estimates that implementing the bill would not significantly
increase the administrative costs of the House of
Representatives or the Senate over the 2022-2027 period. Any
spending would be subject to the availability of appropriated
funds.
Failure to disclose the newly required information could
increase collections of civil fines, which are recorded in the
budget as revenues. CBO estimates that those collections would
not be significant in any year or over the 2022-2032 period
because of the relatively small number of cases likely to be
affected.
S. 4254 would impose a private-sector mandate as defined in
the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) by requiring lobbyists
to disclose information on foreign governments and foreign
political parties that participate in or supervise their
lobbying activities. CBO estimates that the cost of the mandate
would not exceed the annual private-sector threshold
established in UMRA ($184 million in 2022, adjusted annually
for inflation).
S. 4254 contains no intergovernmental mandates as defined
in UMRA.
The CBO staff contacts for this estimate are Matthew
Pickford (for federal costs) and Andrew Laughlin (for
mandates). The estimate was reviewed by H. Samuel Papenfuss,
Deputy Director of Budget Analysis.
VII. Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported
In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the
Standing Rules of the Senate, changes in existing law made by
the bill, as reported, are shown as follows: (existing law
proposed to be omitted is enclosed in brackets, new matter is
printed in italic, and existing law in which no change is
proposed is shown in roman):
UNITED STATES CODE
* * * * * * *
TITLE 2--ORGANIZATION OF CONGRESS
* * * * * * *
CHAPTER 26--DISCLOSURE OF LOBBYING ACTIVITIES
* * * * * * *
SEC. 1603. REGISTRATION OF LOBBYISTS
(a) * * *
(b) * * *
(1) * * *
* * * * * * *
(6) the name of each employee of the registrant who
has acted or whom the registrant expects to act as a
lobbyist on behalf of the client and, if any such
employee has served as a covered executive branch
official or a covered legislative branch official in
the 20 years before the date on which the employee
first acted as a lobbyist on behalf of the client, the
position in which such employee served; [and]
(7) for any listed lobbyist who was convicted in a
Federal or State court of an offense involving bribery,
extortion, embezzlement, an illegal kickback, tax
evasion, fraud, a conflict of interest, making a false
statement, perjury, or money laundering, the date of
the conviction and a description of the offense [.];
and
(8) notwithstanding paragraph (4), the name and
address of each government of a foreign country
(including any agency or subdivision of a foreign
government, such as a regional or municipal unit of
government) and foreign political party, other than the
client, that participates in the direction, planning,
supervision, or control of any lobbying activities of
the registrant.
* * * * * * *
[all]