Bill Summary
The Intelligence Directors Lobbying Prevention Act of 2019 is a bill that aims to amend the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938. This amendment would prohibit any individual who has served as the head of any element of the intelligence community from acting as an agent for a foreign principal. This means that these individuals would not be allowed to engage in any lobbying activities on behalf of a foreign government or political party, in accordance with an Executive Order issued by President Donald Trump in 2017. The bill also includes a provision for the Director of National Intelligence to submit an annual report on the compliance of former heads of intelligence agencies with this prohibition. The definition of "element of the intelligence community" is also expanded to include additional agencies. The bill would go into effect immediately after it is enacted.
Possible Impacts
1) This legislation could affect former heads of intelligence agencies who may have been considering lobbying for foreign governments after leaving their position. It would now prohibit them from doing so.
2) The annual report required in section 3 could affect the reputation and future career prospects of former heads of intelligence agencies, as it would publicly disclose their compliance with the prohibition on lobbying for foreign principals.
3) The definition of "element of the intelligence community" in section 3 could affect which agencies and individuals are subject to the prohibition on lobbying for foreign principals.
[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 867 Introduced in House (IH)]
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116th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 867
To amend the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938 to prohibit any
individual who served as the head of any element of the intelligence
community from acting as the agent of a foreign principal, and for
other purposes.
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IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 30, 2019
Mr. Castro of Texas (for himself, Mr. Carson of Indiana, Mr. McGovern,
and Ms. Wilson of Florida) introduced the following bill; which was
referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the
Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (Permanent Select), for a
period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the
committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938 to prohibit any
individual who served as the head of any element of the intelligence
community from acting as the agent of a foreign principal, and for
other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Intelligence Directors Lobbying
Prevention Act of 2019''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS.
(a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
(1) President Donald J. Trump issued an Executive Order on
January 28, 2017, entitled ``Ethics Commitments by Executive
Branch Appointees'', paragraph (4) of which requires Executive
Branch appointees to contractually commit to the following: ``I
will not, at any time after the termination of my employment in
the United States Government, engage in any activity on behalf
of any foreign government or foreign political party which,
were it undertaken on January 20, 2017, would require me to
register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, as
amended.''.
(2) To the extent that paragraph (4) of this Executive
Order has no time restriction, the Executive Order amounts to a
lifetime ban on lobbying on behalf of a foreign principal by
employees of the executive branch.
(b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) the United States intelligence community provides the
backbone of security for the United States, and its members
contribute daily to the safety, security, and well-being of
Americans worldwide;
(2) leaders of the intelligence community, whether
political or civilian appointees, should be held to the highest
of ethical standards; and
(3) given recent revelations regarding previous heads of
elements of the intelligence community lobbying on behalf of
foreign principals, Congress should codify and expand the
Executive Order signed by President Trump on January 28, 2017,
so that it applies to the heads of elements of the intelligence
community.
SEC. 3. PROHIBITING HEADS OF ELEMENTS OF INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY FROM
ACTING AS AGENTS OF FOREIGN PRINCIPALS.
(a) Prohibition.--The Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, as
amended (22 U.S.C. 611 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the
following new section:
``SEC. 12. PROHIBITING REGISTRATION BY FORMER HEADS OF ELEMENTS OF
INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY.
``(a) Prohibition.--No individual may register under this Act or
otherwise serve as the agent of a foreign principal, including by
engaging in lobbying activity on behalf of a foreign entity under the
Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), if the
individual at any time served as the head of an element of the
intelligence community.
``(b) Annual Report.--On an annual basis, the Director of National
Intelligence, in coordination with the head of each element of the
intelligence community, shall submit to Congress a report on the
compliance of former heads of such elements with respect to the
prohibition under subsection (a).
``(c) Definition.--In this section, the term `element of the
intelligence community' means each agency included in paragraph (4) of
section 3 of the National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3003(4)), and
includes the National Counterterrorism Center and the National
Counterproliferation Center.''.
(b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall
apply with respect to any individual who, on or after the date of the
enactment of this Act, serves as the head of an element of the
intelligence community as described in section 12 of the Foreign Agents
Registration Act of 1938, as amended, as added by subsection (a).
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