[Senate Report 118-13]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


                                                      Calendar No. 37
118th Congress    }                                     {      Report
                                 SENATE
 1st Session      }                                     {      118-13
_______________________________________________________________________

                                     



              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. 829

              TO AMEND THE LOBBYING DISCLOSURE ACT OF 1995
               TO CLARIFY A PROVISION RELATING TO CERTAIN
                CONTENTS OF REGISTRATIONS UNDER THAT ACT






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                 April 25, 2023.--Ordered to be printed 

                             _________
                              
                 U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
                 
39-010                   WASHINGTON : 2023
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
        COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS

                   GARY C. PETERS, Michigan, Chairman
THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware           RAND PAUL, Kentucky
MAGGIE HASSAN, New Hampshire         RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin
KYRSTEN SINEMA, Arizona              JAMES LANKFORD, Oklahoma
JACKY ROSEN, Nevada                  MITT ROMNEY, Utah
ALEX PADILLA, California             RICK SCOTT, Florida
JON OSSOFF, Georgia                  JOSH HAWLEY, Missouri
RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, Connecticut      ROGER MARSHALL, Kansas

                   David M. Weinberg, Staff Director
                    Zachary I. Schram, Chief Counsel
            Lena C. Chang, Director of Governmental Affairs
               Emily I. Manna, Professional Staff Member
           William E. Henderson III, Minority Staff Director
              Christina N. Salazar, Minority Chief Counsel
       L. Margaret Harker, Minority Senior Investigative Counsel
                     Laura W. Kilbride, Chief Clerk

















                                                      Calendar No. 37
118th Congress    }                                     {      Report
                                 SENATE
 1st Session      }                                     {      118-13

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



 
              DISCLOSING FOREIGN INFLUENCE IN LOBBYING ACT

                                _______
                                

                 April 25, 2023.--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. 829]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 
Affairs, to which was referred the bill (S. 829) 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 with an 
amendment and recommends that the bill, as amended, 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...................................... 3
  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. 829, 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.\1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\On May 25, 2022, the Committee approved S. 4254, the Disclosing 
Foreign Influence in Lobbying Act. That bill is substantially similar 
to S. 829. Accordingly, this committee report is, in many respects, 
similar to the committee report for S. 4254. See S. Rept. 117-150.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

              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 additional disclosure requirements when any ``foreign 
entity'' 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, there are 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.\2\ 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.\3\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \2\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).
    \3\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 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. 829, Disclosing 
Foreign Influence in Lobbying Act, on March 16, 2023, with 
Chairman Gary Peters (D-MI), Senator John Cornyn (R-TX), 
Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL), Senator Margaret Wood Hassan (D-
NH), Senator Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ), Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-
MI), and Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO). The bill was referred to 
the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
    The Committee considered S. 829 at a business meeting on 
March 29, 2023. During the business meeting, S. 933 was ordered 
reported favorably by a roll call vote of 11 yeas and 0 nays 
with Senators Peters, Hassan, Rosen, Padilla, Ossoff, 
Blumenthal, Paul, Lankford, Romney, Scott, and Hawley voting in 
the affirmative, and with Senators Carper, Sinema, Johnson, and 
Marshall voting yea by proxy, for the record only.

        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

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    S. 829 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 2023-2028 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 2023-2033 period 
because of the relatively small number of cases likely to be 
affected.
    S. 829 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 ($198 million in 2023, adjusted annually 
for inflation).
    S. 829 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.
                                         Phillip L. Swagel,
                             Director, Congressional Budget Office.

       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.

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


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