No official summary available for this bill.
[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4696 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
118th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 4696
To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit a foreign official
from demanding a bribe, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 18, 2023
Ms. Jackson Lee (for herself, Mr. Wilson of South Carolina, Mr. Cohen,
Mr. Fitzpatrick, Mr. Keating, Mr. Curtis, Mr. Phillips, Ms. Salazar,
Ms. Kamlager-Dove, Mr. Cuellar, Mr. Evans, Mr. Ivey, and Mr. Cleaver)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit a foreign official
from demanding a bribe, 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 ``Foreign Extortion Prevention Act''.
SEC. 2. PROHIBITION OF DEMAND FOR BRIBE.
Section 201 of title 18, United States Code, is amended--
(1) in subsection (a)--
(A) in paragraph (2), by striking ``and'' at the
end;
(B) in paragraph (3), by striking the period at the
end and inserting a semicolon; and
(C) by adding at the end the following:
``(4) the term `foreign official' means--
``(A)(i) any official or employee of a foreign
government or any department, agency, or
instrumentality thereof; or
``(ii) any senior foreign political figure, as
defined in section 1010.605 of title 31, Code of
Federal Regulations, or any successor regulation;
``(B) any official or employee of a public
international organization;
``(C) any person acting in an official capacity for
or on behalf of--
``(i) a government, department, agency, or
instrumentality described in subparagraph
(A)(i); or
``(ii) a public international organization;
or
``(D) any person acting in an unofficial capacity
for or on behalf of--
``(i) a government, department, agency, or
instrumentality described in subparagraph
(A)(i); or
``(ii) a public international organization;
and
``(5) the term `public international organization' means--
``(A) an organization that is designated by
Executive order pursuant to section 1 of the
International Organizations Immunities Act (22 U.S.C.
288); or
``(B) any other international organization that is
designated by the President by Executive order for the
purposes of this section, effective as of the date of
publication of such order in the Federal Register.'';
and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(f) Prohibition of Demand for a Bribe.--
``(1) Offense.--It shall be unlawful for any foreign
official or person selected to be a foreign official to
corruptly demand, seek, receive, accept, or agree to receive or
accept, directly or indirectly, anything of value personally or
for any other person or nongovernmental entity, by making use
of the mails or any means or instrumentality of interstate
commerce, from any person (as defined in section 104A of the
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 (15 U.S.C. 78dd-3),
except that that definition shall be applied without regard to
whether the person is an offender) while in the territory of
the United States, from an issuer (as defined in section 3(a)
of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78c(a)), or
from a domestic concern (as defined in section 104 of the
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 (15 U.S.C. 78dd-2)), in
return for--
``(A) being influenced in the performance of any
official act;
``(B) being induced to do or omit to do any act in
violation of the official duty of such foreign official
or person; or
``(C) conferring any improper advantage,
in connection with obtaining or retaining business for or with,
or directing business to, any person.
``(2) Penalties.--Any person who violates paragraph (1)
shall be fined not more than $250,000 or 3 times the monetary
equivalent of the thing of value, imprisoned for not more than
15 years, or both.
``(3) Jurisdiction.--An offense under paragraph (1) shall
be subject to extraterritorial Federal jurisdiction.
``(4) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of
enactment of the Foreign Extortion Prevention Act, and annually
thereafter, the Attorney General shall submit to the Committee
on the Judiciary of the Senate and the Committee on the
Judiciary of the House of Representatives, and post on the
publicly available website of the Department of Justice, a
report--
``(A) focusing, in part, on demands by foreign
officials for bribes from entities domiciled or
incorporated in the United States, and the efforts of
foreign governments to prosecute such cases;
``(B) addressing United States diplomatic efforts
to protect entities domiciled or incorporated in the
United States from foreign bribery, and the
effectiveness of those efforts in protecting such
entities;
``(C) summarizing major actions taken under this
section in the previous year, including enforcement
actions taken and penalties imposed;
``(D) evaluating the effectiveness of the
Department of Justice in enforcing this section; and
``(E) detailing what resources or legislative
action the Department of Justice needs to ensure
adequate enforcement of this section.
``(5) Rule of construction.--This subsection shall not be
construed as encompassing conduct that would violate section
30A of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78dd-1)
or section 104 or 104A of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of
1977 (15 U.S.C. 78dd-2; 15 U.S.C. 78dd-3) whether pursuant to a
theory of direct liability, conspiracy, complicity, or
otherwise.''.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
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