Bipartisan legislation closes a loophole that allows the Chinese government and other foreign adversaries to secretly lobby U.S. policy
WASHINGTON – Arizona senior Senator Kyrsten Sinema and a bipartisan group of senators introduced the Disclosing Foreign Influence in Lobbying Act—bipartisan legislation aimed at cracking down on foreign adversaries’ efforts to secretly influence U.S. policy.
“Our commonsense, bipartisan bill will keep America safe and secure by closing loopholes used by foreign adversaries like China and Russia to attempt to influence American policy,” said Sinema.
Federal lobbying law requires both lobbyists and the organizations that retain them to register their activities with any foreign entity to ensure transparency. However, foreign governments, including the Chinese Communist Party, have been exploiting a loophole in federal lobbying law by forcing organizations and businesses to lobby for them without paying them. These businesses and organizations, which may be registered under the law, effectively become proxies for foreign governments, which avoid registering as lobbyists. Sinema’s Disclosing Foreign Influence in Lobbying Act closes this loophole, ensuring that when foreign governments and political parties participate in the planning, supervision, direction, or control of a lobbying effort, the lobbyist must disclose their participation, regardless of any financial contribution to the lobbying effort.