A bipartisan group of House lawmakers on July 11 announced a proposal that would compel individuals who have worked for foreign governments, particularly the Chinese communist regime, to retroactively register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA).
Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.), who chairs the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), along with Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), the ranking Democrat on the committee, introduced the bill, which is aimed at strengthening the enforcement of FARA to counter the CCP’s influence on U.S. soil.
The measure, named the Retroactive Foreign Agents Registration Act, seeks to ensure that the obligation to register wouldn’t expire even after those unregistered foreign agents are no longer performing that work.
The introduction of the new legislation came after a federal judge in Washington last year dismissed the Justice Department’s (DOJ) attempt to compel an individual to register under the FARA as an agent of the Chinese regime.
In the ruling, the U.S. district judge said that because any ties between the individual with the Chinese regime had terminated before the lawsuit, the DOJ was barred from requiring the person to register as a foreign agent.
“Congress needs to restore FARA to its original, critical function after the D.C. District Court’s absurd ruling last October defanged the statute,” he said in the statement.
Mr. Krishnamoorthi highlighted the role of FARA in clamping down on undisclosed CCP influence on U.S. soil.
“FARA is one of our best tools to shine a light on CCP influence and the real harms it can have on our economy and national security,” he said. “I’m eager to work with Chairman Gallagher and my bipartisan colleagues to introduce this bill and ensure that the American people have the transparency they deserve and the protections they need.”
The bill is co-sponsored by Reps. Chip Roy (R-Texas), Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), Rob Wittman (R-Va.), Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), Jim Banks (R-Ind.), Mikie Sherrill (D-N.J.), Dusty Johnson, (R-S.D.), Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.), and Shontel Brown (D-Ohio).
“If an individual works to influence policy on behalf of foreign interests, there should be no loophole that allows them to avoid disclosing their efforts,” Mr. Grassley said. “Foreign agents who fail to register during their service must come clean and wash the grease off their hands even after they’ve left the job.”