Speech Privacy Act of 2023

[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4471 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 4471

  To prohibit an entity of the Federal Government from collecting or 
 requiring the submission of information on the identification of any 
      donor to a tax-exempt organization, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              July 6, 2023

Mr. Armstrong introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
               Committee on Oversight and Accountability

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To prohibit an entity of the Federal Government from collecting or 
 requiring the submission of information on the identification of any 
      donor to a tax-exempt organization, 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 ``Speech Privacy Act of 2023''.

SEC. 2. PROTECTING PRIVACY OF DONORS TO TAX-EXEMPT ORGANIZATIONS.

    (a) Restrictions on Collection of Donor Information.--
            (1) Restrictions.--An entity of the Federal Government may 
        not collect or require the submission of information on the 
        identification of any donor to a tax-exempt organization.
            (2) Exceptions.--Paragraph (1) does not apply to the 
        following:
                    (A) The Internal Revenue Service, acting lawfully 
                pursuant to section 6033 of the Internal Revenue Code 
                of 1986 or any successor provision.
                    (B) The Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of 
                the House of Representatives, acting lawfully pursuant 
                to section 3 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 
                U.S.C. 1604).
                    (C) The Federal Election Commission, acting 
                lawfully pursuant to section 510 of title 36, United 
                States Code.
                    (D) An entity acting pursuant to a lawful order of 
                a court or administrative body which has the authority 
                under law to direct the entity to collect or require 
                the submission of the information, but only to the 
                extent permitted by the lawful order of such court or 
                administrative body.
    (b) Restrictions on Release of Donor Information.--
            (1) Restrictions.--An entity of the Federal Government may 
        not disclose to the public information revealing the 
        identification of any donor to a tax-exempt organization.
            (2) Exceptions.--Paragraph (1) does not apply to the 
        following:
                    (A) The Internal Revenue Service, acting lawfully 
                pursuant to section 6104 of the Internal Revenue Code 
                of 1986 or any successor provision.
                    (B) The Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of 
                the House of Representatives, acting lawfully pursuant 
                to section 3 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 
                U.S.C. 1604).
                    (C) The Federal Election Commission, acting 
                lawfully pursuant to section 510 of title 36, United 
                States Code.
                    (D) An entity acting pursuant to a lawful order of 
                a court or administrative body which has the authority 
                under law to direct the entity to disclose the 
                information, but only to the extent permitted by the 
                lawful order of such court or administrative body.
                    (E) An entity which discloses the information as 
                authorized by the organization.
    (c) Tax-Exempt Organization Defined.--In this section, a ``tax-
exempt organization'' means an organization which is described in 
section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and is exempt from 
taxation under section 501(a) of such Code. Nothing in this subsection 
may be construed to treat a political organization under section 527 of 
such Code as a tax-exempt organization for purposes of this section.
    (d) Penalties.--It shall be unlawful for any officer or employee of 
the United States, or any former officer or employee, willfully to 
disclose to any person, except as authorized in this section, any 
information revealing the identification of any donor to a tax-exempt 
organization. Any violation of this section shall be a felony 
punishable upon conviction by a fine in any amount not exceeding 
$250,000, or imprisonment of not more than 5 years, or both, together 
with the costs of prosecution, and if such offense is committed by any 
officer or employee of the United States, he shall, in addition to any 
other punishment, be dismissed from office or discharged from 
employment upon conviction for such offense.
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