Stop Foreign Funds in Elections Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. STEIL. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3535) to amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to apply the prohibition against contributions and donations by foreign nationals in connection with elections to contributions or donations in connection with ballot initiatives and referenda.

The Clerk read the title of the bill.

The text of the bill is as follows: H.R. 3535

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 ``Stop Foreign Funds in Elections Act''. SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON CONTRIBUTIONS AND DONATIONS BY FOREIGN NATIONALS IN CONNECTION WITH BALLOT INITIATIVES AND REFERENDA AND RECALL ELECTIONS.

(a) Prohibition.--Section 319(a)(1)(A) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30121(a)(1)(A)) is amended by inserting ``, including a State or local ballot initiative or referendum or recall election'' after ``State, or local election''.

(b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by this section shall apply with respect to contributions and donations made on or after the date of the enactment of this Act.
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Mr. STEIL. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 3535, the Stop Foreign Funds in Elections Act, introduced by my friend, Representative Brian Fitzpatrick.

U.S. elections should be for U.S. citizens only, and only U.S. citizens should be participating in and donating in political causes.

Today, gaps in our existing laws undermine this principle and actually permit foreign actors to fund U.S. political activities. It is true. Current law allows foreign funding to infiltrate State and local ballot initiatives, referenda, and recall elections.

As we have seen in recent history, those races can attract millions of dollars in outside spending. Some of that has been foreign money, and right now that is completely legal.

Shadowy groups, like Sixteen Thirty Fund, funneled millions of foreign-linked dollars into ballot initiatives and campaigns in States, including Arizona, Nevada, and Ohio.

It sounds crazy, but it is true, Madam Speaker.

We should all be able to agree that foreign funds should not be influencing or financing ballot measures, referenda, or recall elections. Current law, as we know, already prohibits foreign money in Federal elections, and this bill broadens that nonpartisan, commonsense prohibition to similar State and local elections.

Madam Speaker, elections should be decided by Americans, and they should not be influenced or funded by foreign nationals.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, this bill is broadly about making sure that American elections are for American citizens only.

As my colleague Mr. Morelle noted, there is a significant, gaping hole in U.S. campaign finance laws, and, in particular, that is in relation to the measures that we have spoken about, about ballot initiatives, other essential pieces of American democracy that currently allow for foreign funding to come in and influence those campaigns.

While that is not an office seeker for elected office, I think it is without a doubt that those elections and those ballot initiatives are in many ways equally essential to American democracy. Closing out this gap and making sure that foreign funds are not finding their way into U.S. elections is absolutely essential.

I thank my colleague, Mr. Fitzpatrick, for authoring this legislation, understanding the importance of making sure that we are rooting out foreign funds inside U.S. elections. There is a basic premise and a basic principle, and in a particular period of time when it is so simple and so easy for funds to be transmitted into these political activities here in the United States of America, an individual outside of the United States could easily move funds in to influence a U.S. election.

Of course, it is illegal for a donation to be made to an individual seeking Federal elected office, but right now the underlying law does not ban that for purposes of ballot initiatives, local ballot initiatives, referenda, or recall elections.

This legislation fixes that very important point.

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Mr. STEIL. Madam Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Fitzpatrick), the author of this bill who is not only a colleague but also a friend.

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Mr. STEIL. Madam Speaker, I will close by saying I thank my colleague Brian Fitzpatrick from Pennsylvania and Ranking Member Morelle for their work on closing this gap in Federal law.

I encourage all of my colleagues to vote in favor of H.R. 3535, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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