Text of Senate Amendment 4409

Text of Senate Amendment 4409

Congressional Record, Volume 172 Issue 48 (Tuesday, March 17, 2026) [Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 48 (Tuesday, March 17, 2026)] [Senate] [Pages S1103-S1108] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] SA 4409. Mr. WHITEHOUSE submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by him to the bill S. 1383, to establish the Veterans Advisory Committee on Equal Access, and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows: Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the following: SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Democracy Is Strengthened by Casting Light On Spending in Elections Act of 2026'' or the ``DISCLOSE Act of 2026''. (b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents of this Act is as follows: Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. Sec. 2. Findings. TITLE I--CLOSING LOOPHOLES ALLOWING SPENDING BY FOREIGN NATIONALS IN ELECTIONS Sec. 101. Clarification of application of foreign money ban to certain disbursements and activities. Sec. 102. Study and report on illicit foreign money in Federal elections. Sec. 103. Prohibition on contributions and donations by foreign nationals in connection with ballot initiatives and referenda. Sec. 104. Disbursements and activities subject to foreign money ban. Sec. 105. Prohibiting establishment of corporation to conceal election contributions and donations by foreign nationals. TITLE II--REPORTING OF CAMPAIGN-RELATED DISBURSEMENTS Sec. 201. Reporting of campaign-related disbursements. Sec. 202. Reporting of Federal judicial nomination disbursements. Sec. 203. Coordination with FinCEN. Sec. 204. Application of foreign money ban to disbursements for campaign-related disbursements consisting of covered transfers. Sec. 205. Sense of Congress regarding implementation. Sec. 206. Effective date. TITLE III--OTHER ADMINISTRATIVE REFORMS Sec. 301. Petition for certiorari. Sec. 302. Judicial review of actions related to campaign finance laws. Sec. 303. Effective date. TITLE IV--STAND BY EVERY AD Sec. 401. Short title. Sec. 402. Stand by every ad. Sec. 403. Disclaimer requirements for communications made through prerecorded telephone calls. Sec. 404. No expansion of persons subject to disclaimer requirements on internet communications. Sec. 405. Effective date. TITLE V--SEVERABILITY Sec. 501. Severability. SEC. 2. FINDINGS. Congress finds the following: (1) Campaign finance disclosure is a narrowly tailored and minimally restrictive means to advance substantial government interests, including fostering an informed electorate capable of engaging in self-government and holding their elected officials accountable, detecting and deterring quid pro quo corruption, and identifying information necessary to enforce other campaign finance laws, including campaign contribution limits and the prohibition on foreign money in U.S. campaigns. To further these substantial interests, campaign finance disclosure must be timely and complete, and must disclose the true and original source of money given, transferred, and spent to influence Federal elections. Current law does not meet this objective because corporations and other entities that the Supreme Court has permitted to spend money to influence Federal elections are subject to few if any transparency requirements. (2) As the Supreme Court recognized in its per curiam opinion in Buckley v. Valeo, 424 U.S. 1, (1976), ``disclosure requirements certainly in most applications appear to be the least restrictive means of curbing the evils of campaign ignorance and corruption that Congress found to exist.'' Buckley, 424 U.S. at 68. In Citizens United v. FEC, the Court reiterated that ``disclosure is a less restrictive alternative to more comprehensive regulations of speech.'' 558 U.S. 310, 369 (2010). (3) No subsequent decision has called these holdings into question, including the Court's decision in Americans for Prosperity Foundation v. Bonta, 141 S. Ct. 2373 (2021). That case did not involve campaign finance disclosure, and the Court did not overturn its longstanding recognition of the substantial interests furthered by such disclosure. (4) Campaign finance disclosure is also essential to enforce the Federal Election Campaign Act's prohibition on contributions by and solicitations of foreign nationals. See section 319 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30121). (5) Congress should close loopholes allowing spending by foreign nationals in domestic elections. For example, in 2021, the Federal Election Commission, the independent Federal agency charged with protecting the integrity of the Federal campaign finance process, found reason to believe and conciliated a matter where an experienced political consultant knowingly and willfully violated Federal law by soliciting a contribution from a foreign national by offering to transmit a $2,000,000 contribution to a super PAC through his company and two 501(c)(4) organizations, to conceal the origin of the funds. This scheme was only unveiled after appearing in a The Telegraph UK article and video capturing the solicitation. See Conciliation Agreement, MURs 7165 & 7196 (Great America PAC, et al.), date June 28, 2021; Factual and Legal Analysis, MURs 7165 & 7196 (Jesse Benton), dated Mar. 2, 2021. TITLE I--CLOSING LOOPHOLES ALLOWING SPENDING BY FOREIGN NATIONALS IN ELECTIONS SEC. 101. CLARIFICATION OF APPLICATION OF FOREIGN MONEY BAN TO CERTAIN DISBURSEMENTS AND ACTIVITIES. Section 319(b) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30121(b)) is amended-- (1) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and (2) as subparagraphs (A) and (B), respectively, and by moving such subparagraphs 2 ems to the right; (2) by striking ``As used in this section, the term'' and inserting the following: ``Definitions.--For purposes of this section-- ``(1) Foreign national.--The term''; and (3) by adding at the end the following new paragraph: ``(2) Contribution and donation.--For purposes of paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection (a), the term `contribution or donation' includes any disbursement to a political committee which accepts donations or contributions that do not comply with any of the limitations, prohibitions, and reporting requirements of this Act (or any disbursement to or on behalf of any account of a political committee which is established for the purpose of accepting such donations or contributions), or to any other person for the purpose of funding an expenditure, independent expenditure, or electioneering communication (as defined in section 304(f)(3)).''. SEC. 102. STUDY AND REPORT ON ILLICIT FOREIGN MONEY IN FEDERAL ELECTIONS. (a) Study.--For each 4-year election cycle (beginning with the 4-year election cycle ending in 2024), the Comptroller General shall conduct a study on the incidence of illicit foreign money in all elections for Federal office held during the preceding 4-year election cycle, including what information is known about the presence of such money in elections for Federal office. (b) Report.-- (1) In general.--Not later than the applicable date with respect to any 4-year election cycle, the Comptroller General shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report on the study conducted under subsection (a). (2) Matters included.--The report submitted under paragraph (1) shall include a description of the extent to which illicit foreign money was used to target particular groups, including rural communities, African-American and other minority communities, and military and veteran communities, based on such targeting information as is available and accessible to the Comptroller General. (3) Applicable date.--For purposes of paragraph (1), the term ``applicable date'' means-- [[Page S1104]] (A) in the case of the 4-year election cycle ending in 2024, the date that is 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act; and (B) in the case of any other 4-year election cycle, the date that is 1 year after the date on which such 4-year election cycle ends. (c) Definitions.--As used in this section: (1) 4-year election cycle.--The term ``4-year election cycle'' means the 4-year period ending on the date of the general election for the offices of President and Vice President. (2) Illicit foreign money.--The term ``illicit foreign money'' means any contribution, donation, expenditure, or disbursement by a foreign national (as defined in section 319(b) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C.30121(b))) prohibited under such section. (3) Election; federal office.--The terms ``election'' and ``Federal office'' have the meanings given such terms under section 301 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30101). (4) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term ``appropriate congressional committees'' means-- (A) the Committee on House Administration of the House of Representatives; (B) the Committee on Rules and Administration of the Senate; (C) the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives; and (D) the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate. (d) Sunset.--This section shall not apply to any 4-year election cycle beginning after the election for the offices of President and Vice President in 2036. SEC. 103. PROHIBITION ON CONTRIBUTIONS AND DONATIONS BY FOREIGN NATIONALS IN CONNECTION WITH BALLOT INITIATIVES AND REFERENDA. (a) In General.--Section 319(b) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30121(b)), as amended by section 101, is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraphs: ``(3) Federal, state, or local election.--The term `Federal, State, or local election' includes a State or local ballot initiative or referendum, but only in the case of-- ``(A) a covered foreign national as defined in paragraph (4); or ``(B) a foreign principal described in section 1(b)(2) or 1(b)(3) of the Foreign Agent Registration Act of 1938, as amended (22 U.S.C. 611(b)(2), (b)(3)) or