Senate Passes Peters and Grassley’s Bipartisan Bills to Help Prevent Foreign Influence in U.S. Policy

Senate Passes Peters and Grassley's Bipartisan Bills to Help Prevent Foreign Influence in U.S. Policy

WASHINGTON - The Senate unanimously approved two bipartisan bills authored by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Ranking Member Gary Peters (D-Mich) to improve America's ability to prevent foreign governments from attempting to influence U.S. policy without making appropriate disclosures. The bills will close loopholes that foreign governments could exploit to conceal their roles in lobbying efforts.

"Americans ought to know if a foreign government is trying to sway policy here in the United States," Grassley said. "Our bills finally close a loophole that's allowed individuals to conceal their lobbying efforts, and they make sure all foreign actors are disclosed to the American people. By passing our bipartisan bills with broad support, the Senate demonstrated our commitment to getting these vital reforms to President Trump's desk."

"The American people should know when foreign governments try to influence our political process," Peters said. "These bipartisan bills will let us take commonsense steps to protect our national security by ensuring foreign actors can't exploit loopholes to hide their activities when attempting to shape policy in the United States. We must ensure that our government is working in the best interests of the American people, not those of our adversaries."

The Lobbying Disclosure Improvement Act would improve transparency around the activities of lobbyists who represent foreign persons or organizations by requiring them to indicate whether they are taking advantage of an exemption under the Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA) when they register under the Lobbying Disclosure Act. This will help the government ensure no lobbyists representing foreign governments are using the exemption inappropriately.

The Disclosing Foreign Influence in Lobbying Act closes a loophole in the Lobbying Disclosure Act that foreign adversaries - including the Russian and Chinese governments - can exploit to conceal their roles in lobbying efforts. Think tanks and law enforcement agencies have identified instances in which foreign adversaries exploited this loophole by using closely connected organizations and businesses to push their interests when lobbying the U.S. government. The bill makes clear that lobbying organizations must disclose when foreign governments and political parties participate in their lobbying efforts, regardless of any financial contribution to the lobbying effort.

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