1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Foreign Influence Registration Modernization Act” or the “FIRM Act”.
Foreign Influence Registration Modernization Act
A BILL
To amend the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, as amended to waive the application of the Act to agents representing foreign enterprises which are not under the control or direction of foreign governments or foreign political parties, to exclude agents who represent foreign governments which engage in a pattern of gross violations of human rights from the exemption provided under the Act for agents engaged in scholastic and certain other pursuits, and for other purposes.
2. Waiving application of Foreign Agents Registration Act to agents representing foreign enterprises not under control or direction of foreign governments and foreign political parties
Section 1(b)(3) of the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, as amended (22 U.S.C. 611(b)(3)) is amended—
by striking “a partnership” and inserting “an enterprise consisting of a partnership”; and
by striking the period at the end and inserting the following: “, but only if the enterprise is under the control or direction of a government of a foreign country or a foreign political party.”:
3. Excluding agents representing governments which violate human rights from exemption for agents engaged in religious, scholastic, academic, or scientific pursuits or fine arts
Section 3(e) of the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, as amended (22 U.S.C. 613(e)) is amended by striking the semicolon at the end and inserting the following: “, except that this subsection does not apply in the case of an agent who represents a foreign principal that is prohibited from receiving assistance under part I of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 by reason of the application of section 116 of such Act (22 U.S.C. 2151n) or part II of such Act by reason of the application of section 502B of such Act (22 U.S.C. 2304).”.
4. Requiring statements to be filed in digitized format
Requirement— Section 2(g) of the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, as amended (22 U.S.C. 612(g)) is amended by striking the period at the end and inserting the following: “, in a manner which enables the statements and supplements to be filed in a digitized format and which incorporates the statements and supplements in a database which is fully searchable, sortable and downloadable.”.
Effective date— The amendment made by subsection (a) shall apply with respect to statements and supplements filed after the expiration of the 1-year period which begins on the date of the enactment of this Act.
5. Availability of civil money penalty for violation
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) Whoever knowingly violates any 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 severity of the violation.”
6. Transfer of responsibility for administration of Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 to Attorney General
Requiring lobbyists To register with Attorney General—
Registration— Section 4(a)(1) of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1603(a)(1)) is amended by striking “the Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the House of Representatives” and inserting “the Attorney General”.
Notice of termination of registration— Section 4(d) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 1603(d)) is amended by striking “the Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the House of Representatives” and inserting “the Attorney General”.
Requiring lobbyists To file reports with Attorney General—
Quarterly reports by lobbyists— Section 5(a) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 1604(a)) is amended by striking “the Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the House of Representatives” and inserting “the Attorney General”.
Semiannual reports on certain contributions— Section 5(d)(1) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 1604(d)(1)) is amended by striking “the Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the House of Representatives” and inserting “the Attorney General”.
by striking “the Secretary of the Senate or the Clerk of the House of Representatives” and inserting “the Attorney General”; and
by striking the second sentence.
Disclosure and enforcement— Section 6(a) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 1605(a)) is amended in the matter preceding paragraph (1) by striking “The Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the House of Representatives” and inserting “The Attorney General”.
Penalties— Section 7(a)(1) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 1606(a)(1)) is amended by striking “the Secretary of the Senate or the Clerk of the House of Representatives” and inserting “the Attorney General”.
Conforming amendment relating to lack of general audit or investigative authority of Secretary and Clerk— Section 8 of such Act (2 U.S.C. 1607) is amended by striking subsection (c).
Permitting use of good faith estimates based on tax return information— Section 15(c)(1) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 1610(c)(1)) is amended by striking “the Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the House of Representatives” and inserting “the Attorney General”.
Effective date; transition—
In general— The amendments made by this section shall apply with respect to statements and reports filed after the expiration of the 1-year period which begins on the date of the enactment of this Act.
Transition— Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the House of Representatives shall transfer to the Attorney General information on the statements and reports filed prior to the effective date described in paragraph (1) with the Secretary and the Clerk under the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.).