[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
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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.
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\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.
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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
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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)).
* * * * * * *
[all]