For the People Act of 2021 (H.R. 1; 117th Congress)/Division C/Title VII/Subtitle B

by John Sarbanes

SEC. 7101. ESTABLISHMENT OF FARA INVESTIGATION AND ENFORCEMENT UNIT WITHIN DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE.

Section 8 of the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, as amended (22 U.S.C. 618) is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:

“(i) Dedicated Enforcement Unit.—

“(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this subsection, the Attorney General shall establish a unit within the counterespionage section of the National Security Division of the Department of Justice with responsibility for the enforcement of this Act.

“(2) POWERS.—The unit established under this subsection is authorized to—

“(A) take appropriate legal action against individuals suspected of violating this Act; and

“(B) coordinate any such legal action with the United States Attorney for the relevant jurisdiction.

“(3) CONSULTATION.—In operating the unit established under this subsection, the Attorney General shall, as appropriate, consult with the Director of National Intelligence, the Secretary of Homeland Security, and the Secretary of State.

“(4) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out the activities of the unit established under this subsection $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2021 and each succeeding fiscal year.”.

SEC. 7102. AUTHORITY TO IMPOSE CIVIL MONEY PENALTIES.

(a) Establishing Authority.—Section 8 of the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, as amended (22 U.S.C. 618) is amended by inserting after subsection (c) the following new subsection:

“(d) Civil Money Penalties.—

“(1) REGISTRATION STATEMENTS.—Whoever fails to file timely or complete a registration statement as provided under section 2(a) shall be subject to a civil money penalty of not more than $10,000 per violation.

“(2) SUPPLEMENTS.—Whoever fails to file timely or complete supplements as provided under section 2(b) shall be subject to a civil money penalty of not more than $1,000 per violation.

“(3) OTHER VIOLATIONS.—Whoever knowingly fails to—

“(A) remedy a defective filing within 60 days after notice of such defect by the Attorney General; or

“(B) comply with any other provision of this Act,

shall upon proof of such knowing violation by a preponderance of the evidence, be subject to a civil money penalty of not more than $200,000, depending on the extent and gravity of the violation.

“(4) NO FINES PAID BY FOREIGN PRINCIPALS.—A civil money penalty paid under paragraph (1) may not be paid, directly or indirectly, by a foreign principal.

“(5) USE OF FINES.—All civil money penalties collected under this subsection shall be used to defray the cost of the enforcement unit established under subsection (i).”.

(b) Effective Date.—The amendment made by subsection (a) shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act.

SEC. 7103. DISCLOSURE OF TRANSACTIONS INVOLVING THINGS OF FINANCIAL VALUE CONFERRED ON OFFICEHOLDERS.

(a) Requiring Agents To Disclose Known Transactions.—

(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 2(a) of the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, as amended (22 U.S.C. 612(a)) is amended—

(A) by redesignating paragraphs (10) and (11) as paragraphs (11) and (12); and

(B) by inserting after paragraph (9) the following new paragraph:

“(10) To the extent that the registrant has knowledge of any transaction which occurred in the preceding 60 days and in which the foreign principal for whom the registrant is acting as an agent conferred on a Federal or State officeholder any thing of financial value, including a gift, profit, salary, favorable regulatory treatment, or any other direct or indirect economic or financial benefit, a detailed statement describing each such transaction.”.

(2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by paragraph (1) shall apply with respect to statements filed on or after the expiration of the 90-day period which begins on the date of the enactment of this Act.

(b) Supplemental Disclosure For Current Registrants.—Not later than the expiration of the 90-day period which begins on the date of the enactment of this Act, each registrant who (prior to the expiration of such period) filed a registration statement with the Attorney General under section 2(a) of the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, as amended (22 U.S.C. 612(a)) and who has knowledge of any transaction described in paragraph (10) of section 2(a) of such Act (as added by subsection (a)(1)) which occurred at any time during which the registrant was an agent of the foreign principal involved, shall file with the Attorney General a supplement to such statement under oath, on a form prescribed by the Attorney General, containing a detailed statement describing each such transaction.

SEC. 7104. ENSURING ONLINE ACCESS TO REGISTRATION STATEMENTS.

(a) Requiring Statements Filed By Registrants To Be In Digitized Format.—Section 2(g) of the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, as amended (22 U.S.C. 612(g)) is amended by striking “in electronic form” and inserting “in a digitized format which will enable the Attorney General to meet the requirements of section 6(d)(1) (relating to public access to an electronic database of statements and updates)”.

(b) Requirements For Electronic Database Of Registration Statements And Updates.—Section 6(d)(1) of such Act (22 U.S.C. 616(d)(1)) is amended—

(1) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by striking “to the extent technically practicable,”; and

(2) in subparagraph (A), by striking “includes the information” and inserting “includes in a digitized format the information”.

(c) Effective Date.—The amendments made by this section shall apply with respect to statements filed on or after the expiration of the 180-day period which begins on the date of the enactment of this Act.

SEC. 7105. DISCLAIMER REQUIREMENTS FOR MATERIALS POSTED ON ONLINE PLATFORMS BY AGENTS OF FOREIGN PRINCIPALS ON BEHALF OF CLIENTS.

(a) Method And Form Of Disclaimer; Preservation Of Disclaimers By Certain Social Media Platforms.—

(1) REQUIREMENTS DESCRIBED.—Section 4(b) of the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, as amended (22 U.S.C. 614(b)) is amended—

(A) by striking “(b) It shall be unlawful” and inserting “(b)(1) It shall be unlawful”; and

(B) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:

“(2) In the case of informational materials for or in the interests of a foreign principal which are transmitted or caused to be transmitted by an agent of a foreign principal by posting on an online platform, the agent shall ensure that the conspicuous statement required to be placed in such materials under this subsection is placed directly with the material posted on the platform and is not accessible only through a hyperlink or other reference to another source.

“(3) If the Attorney General determines that the application of paragraph (2) to materials posted on an online platform is not feasible because the length of the conspicuous statement required to be placed in materials under this subsection makes the inclusion of the entire statement incompatible with the posting of the materials on that platform, an agent may meet the requirements of paragraph (2) by ensuring that an abbreviated version of the statement, stating that the materials are distributed by a foreign agent on behalf of a clearly identified foreign principal, is placed directly with the material posted on the platform.

“(4) An online platform on which informational materials described in paragraph (2) are posted shall ensure that the conspicuous statement described in such paragraph (or, if applicable, the abbreviated statement described in paragraph (3)) is maintained with such materials at all times, including after the material is shared in a social media post on the platform, but only if the platform has 50,000,000 or more unique monthly United States visitors or users for a majority of months during the 12 months preceding the dissemination of the materials.”.

(2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by paragraph (1) shall apply with respect to materials disseminated on or after the expiration of the 60-day period which begins on the date of the enactment of this Act, without regard to whether or not the Attorney General has promulgated regulations to carry out such amendments prior to the expiration of such period.

(b) Application Of Requirements To Persons Outside The United States.—

(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 4(b)(1) of such Act (22 U.S.C. 614(b)(1)), as amended by subsection (a), is amended by striking “any person within the United States” and inserting “any person”.

(2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by paragraph (1) shall apply with respect to materials disseminated on or after the expiration of the 60-day period which begins on the date of the enactment of this Act, without regard to whether or not the Attorney General has promulgated regulations to carry out such amendments prior to the expiration of such period.

(c) Requirements For Online Platforms Disseminating Informational Materials Transmitted By Agents Of Foreign Principals.—

(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 4 of such Act (22 U.S.C. 614) is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:

“(g) If the Attorney General determines that an agent of a foreign principal transmitted or caused to be transmitted informational materials on an online platform for or in the interests of the foreign principal and did not meet the requirements of subsection (b)(2) (relating to the conspicuous statement required to be placed in such materials)—

“(1) the Attorney General shall notify the online platform; and

“(2) the online platform shall remove such materials and use reasonable efforts to inform recipients of such materials that the materials were disseminated by a foreign agent on behalf of a foreign principal.”.

(2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by paragraph (1) shall apply with respect to materials disseminated on or after the expiration of the 60-day period which begins on the date of the enactment of this Act.

(d) Definition.—Section 1 of such Act (22 U.S.C. 611) is amended by inserting after subsection (i) the following new subsection:

“(j) The term ‘online platform’ means any public-facing website, web application, or digital application (including a social network, ad network, or search engine).”.

SEC. 7106. CLARIFICATION OF TREATMENT OF INDIVIDUALS WHO ENGAGE WITH THE UNITED STATES IN POLITICAL ACTIVITIES FOR A FOREIGN PRINCIPAL IN ANY PLACE AS AGENTS OF FOREIGN PRINCIPALS.

Section 1(c)(1)(i) of the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, as amended (22 U.S.C. 611(c)(1)(i)) is amended by inserting after “United States” the following: “(whether within or outside of the United States)”.

SEC. 7107. ANALYSIS AND REPORT ON CHALLENGES TO ENFORCEMENT OF FOREIGN AGENTS REGISTRATION ACT OF 1938.

(a) Analysis.—The Attorney General shall conduct an analysis of the legal, policy, and procedural challenges to the effective enforcement of the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, as amended (22 U.S.C. 611 et seq.).

(b) Report.—Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall submit to Congress a report on the analysis conducted under subsection (a), and shall include in the report such recommendations, including recommendations for revisions to the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, as the Attorney General considers appropriate to promote the effective enforcement of such Act.