[Senate Report 117-212]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


                                                      Calendar No. 564
117th Congress     }                                    {       Report
                                 SENATE
 2d Session        }                                    {      117-212
_______________________________________________________________________

                                     



                  LOBBYING DISCLOSURE IMPROVEMENT ACT

                               __________

                              R E P O R T

                                 of the

                   COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND

                          GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS

                          UNITED STATES SENATE

                              to accompany

                                S. 4893

            TO AMEND THE LOBBYING DISCLOSURE ACT OF 1995 TO
               REQUIRE CERTAIN DISCLOSURES BY REGISTRANTS
             REGARDING EXEMPTIONS UNDER THE FOREIGN AGENTS
                  REGISTRATION ACT OF 1938, AS AMENDED






[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]







               November 17, 2022.--Ordered to be printed  
               
                             _________
                              
                 U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
                 
39-010                   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
              Chelsea A. Davis, Professional Staff Member
                Pamela Thiessen, Minority Staff Director
            Sam J. Mulopulos, Minority Deputy Staff Director
              William H.W. McKenna, Minority Chief Counsel
                     Laura W. Kilbride, Chief Clerk






















                                                      Calendar No. 564
117th Congress     }                                    {       Report
                                 SENATE
 2d Session        }                                    {      117-212

======================================================================



 
                  LOBBYING DISCLOSURE IMPROVEMENT ACT

                                _______
                                

               November 17, 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. 4893]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 
Affairs, to which was referred the bill (S. 4893) to amend the 
Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 to require certain disclosures 
by registrants regarding exemptions under the Foreign Agents 
Registration Act of 1938, as amended, 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.......................... 2
III. Legislative History.............................................. 2
 IV. Section-by-Section Analysis of the Bill, as Reported............. 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............ 5

                         I. Purpose and Summary

    S. 4893, the Lobbying Disclosure Improvement Act, amends 
the Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA) of 1995. It would improve 
oversight of lobbyists for foreign entities by requiring LDA 
registrants to indicate whether they are taking advantage of a 
Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) provision that exempts 
them from registering under FARA.

              II. Background and the Need for Legislation

    FARA exempts lobbyists who are agents of foreign persons or 
organizations (but not foreign governments or political 
parties) from registering under that law if they are properly 
registered under the LDA.\1\ However, the standard by which the 
Department of Justice (DOJ) applies the exemption has often 
lacked clarity, particularly the threshold by which it is 
determined whether lobbying activities primarily benefit a 
foreign government as opposed to a foreign individual or 
organization.\2\ Additionally, some lobbyists for whom the 
exemption should not apply are incentivized to improperly take 
advantage of the exemption because the requirements for LDA 
registration are much less stringent than those for FARA.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\22 U.S.C. Sec.  613(h).
    \2\Enhancing the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938: Hearing 
before the House Committee on the Judiciary Subcommittee on the 
Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties, 117th Cong. (April 5, 
2022) (Testimony of Dylan Hedtler-Gaudette, Government Affairs Manager, 
Project On Government Oversight), available at https://docs.house.gov/
meetings/JU/JU10/20220405/114580/HHRG-117-JU10-Wstate-Hedtler-
GaudetteD-20220405.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    FARA enforcement at DOJ is chronically under-resourced, and 
currently there is no way for enforcement officials to easily 
identify LDA registrants who use this exemption.\3\ The bill 
would simply require LDA registrants to indicate, as part of 
their registration, whether they are taking advantage of the 
FARA exemption. This would help DOJ officials narrow the pool 
of LDA registrants they examine for potential violations, while 
not imposing any meaningful additional burden on registrants.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \3\Project on Government Oversight, Loopholes, Filing Failures, and 
Lax Enforcement: How the Foreign Agents Registration Act Falls Short. 
(Dec. 16, 2014) available at https://docs.pogo.org/report/2014/pogo-
fara-report-20141216.pdf?_ga=2.243251271.49320974.1668452543-
1746055107.166845254.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

                        III. Legislative History

    Chairman Gary Peters (D-MI) introduced S. 4893, the 
Lobbying Disclosure Improvement Act, on September 20, 2022, 
with Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA). The bill was referred to 
the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
    The Committee considered S. 4893 at a business meeting on 
September 28, 2022. The bill was approved by voice vote en bloc 
with Peters, Carper, Hassan, Sinema, Rosen, Padilla, Ossoff, 
Portman, Johnson, Paul, Lankford, Romney, Scott, and Hawley 
present.

        IV. Section-by-Section Analysis of the Bill, as Reported


Section 1. Short title

    This section provides that the Act may be cited as the 
``Lobbying Disclosure Improvement Act.''

Section 2. Registrant disclosure regarding foreign agent registration 
        exemption

    This section amends the LDA by adding a new requirement 
that LDA registrants indicate whether they are taking advantage 
of a FARA provision that exempts them from registering under 
section 3(h) of FARA.

                   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, November 9, 2022.
Hon. Gary C. 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 table summarizing estimated budgetary 
effects and mandates information for some of the legislation 
that has been ordered reported by the Senate Committee on 
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs during the 117th 
Congress.
    If you wish further details, we will be pleased to provide 
them. The CBO staff contact for each estimate is listed on the 
enclosed table.
            Sincerely,
                                         Phillip L. Swagel,
                                                          Director.
    Enclosure.

           SUMMARY ESTIMATES OF LEGISLATION ORDERED REPORTED

    The Congressional Budget Act of 1974 requires the 
Congressional Budget Office, to the extent practicable, to 
prepare estimates of the budgetary effects of legislation 
ordered reported by Congressional authorizing committees. In 
order to provide the Congress with as much information as 
possible, the attached table summarizes information about the 
estimated direct spending and revenue effects of some of the 
legislation that has been ordered reported by the Senate 
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs during 
the 117th Congress. The legislation listed in this table 
generally would have small effects, if any, on direct spending 
or revenues, CBO estimates. Where possible, the table also 
provides information about the legislations estimated effects 
on spending subject to appropriation and on intergovernmental 
and private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates 
Reform Act.

                                                  ESTIMATED BUDGETARY EFFECTS AND MANDATES INFORMATION
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                                       Increases
                                                               Direct                 Spending Subject   Pay-As-You-   On-Budget
   Bill        Title        Status      Last      Budget     Spending,    Revenues,          to              Go         Deficits    Mandates    Contact
  Number                               Action    Function    2023-2032    2023-2032    Appropriation,    Procedures    Beginning
                                                                                          2023-2027        Apply?       in 2033?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
S. 4893    Lobbying       Ordered     09/28/22  800         Between      Between      Not estimated     Yes           No           Yes         Matthew
            Disclosure     reported                          zero and     zero and                                                              Pickford
            Improvement                                      $500,000     $500,000
            Act
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
S. 4893 would amend the Lobbying Disclosure Act to require anyone registering as a lobbyist to disclose any claimed exemption from the Foreign Agents
  Registration Act. CBO estimates that enacting S. 4893 would have an insignificant effect on direct spending and revenues over the 2023-2032 period.
  CBO has not estimated the discretionary costs of implementing the bill. The bill would impose a private-sector mandate as defined in the Unfunded
  Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) that would not exceed the annual threshold of $184 million in 2022 (adjusted annually for inflation). The bill contains no
  intergovernmental mandates as defined in UUMRA.

       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) Contents of registration
    Each registration under this section shall contain--
    (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.
    No disclosure is required under paragraph (3)(B) if the 
organization that would be identified as affiliated with the 
client is listed on the client's publicly accessible Internet 
website as being a member of or contributor to the client, 
unless the organization in whole or in major part plans, 
supervises, or controls such lobbying activities. If a 
registrant relies upon the preceding sentence, the registrant 
must disclose the specific Internet address of the web page 
containing the information relied upon. Nothing in paragraph 
(3)(B) shall be construed to require the disclosure of any 
information about individuals who are members of, or donors to, 
an entity treated as a client by this chapter or an 
organization identified under that paragraph[.]; and
    (8) a statement as to whether the registrant is exempt 
under section 3(h) of the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 
1938, as amended (22 U.S.C. 613(h)).

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


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