Retroactive Foreign Agents Registration Act

[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4545 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 4545

  To amend the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, as amended to 
clarify the obligation of individuals who formerly served as agents of 
 foreign principals to register retroactively as foreign agents under 
the Act with respect to activities carried out previously on behalf of 
            such foreign principals, and for other purposes.


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                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 11, 2023

 Mr. Gallagher (for himself, Mr. Krishnamoorthi, Mr. Roy, Mr. Raskin, 
 Mr. Wittman, Ms. Sherrill, Mr. Banks, Ms. Spanberger, Mr. Johnson of 
  South Dakota, Mr. Moulton, and Ms. Brown) introduced the following 
       bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, as amended to 
clarify the obligation of individuals who formerly served as agents of 
 foreign principals to register retroactively as foreign agents under 
the Act with respect to activities carried out previously on behalf of 
            such foreign principals, 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 ``Retroactive Foreign Agents 
Registration Act''.

SEC. 2. CLARIFYING OBLIGATION TO REGISTER RETROACTIVELY AS AGENTS OF 
              FOREIGN PRINCIPALS.

    (a) Obligation.--The third sentence of section 2(a) of the Foreign 
Agents Registration Act of 1938, as amended (22 U.S.C. 612(a)) is 
amended by striking ``for the period'' and inserting ``covering the 
period''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall 
apply with respect to any individual who serves as the agent of a 
foreign principal under the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, as 
amended, at any time before, on, or after the date of the enactment of 
this Act.

SEC. 3. PERMITTING ORDER REQUIRING COMPLIANCE TO APPLY RETROACTIVELY.

    (a) Retroactive Compliance.--Section 8(f) of the Foreign Agents 
Registration Act of 1938, as amended (22 U.S.C. 618(f)) is amended--
            (1) by inserting after the first sentence the following: 
        ``The Attorney General may make application for an order 
        requiring a person to comply with any appropriate provision of 
        this Act or any regulation thereunder while the person acts as 
        an agent of a foreign principal or at any time thereafter.''; 
        and
            (2) by striking the period at the end and inserting the 
        following: ``, including an order requiring a person to comply 
        with section 2 with respect to any period during which the 
        person acts as the agent of a foreign principal notwithstanding 
        that the person does not act as the agent of a foreign 
        principal at the time the court issues the order.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall 
apply with respect to any individual who serves as the agent of a 
foreign principal under the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, as 
amended, at any time before, on, or after the date of the enactment of 
this Act.
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