Sen. Bill Hagerty on Foreign Nationals Funding American Elections

Hagerty, Colleagues Reintroduce Legislation to Prohibit Foreign Nationals From Funding American Elections
United States Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN), a member of the Senate Rules Committee, recently led his colleagues in reintroducing the Preventing Foreign Interference in American Elections Act, legislation to prevent foreign nationals from improperly influencing American elections.
The enormous efforts of a foreign billionaires to influence American elections—often indirectly through a web of intermediaries and with a stated goal of “interpret[ing] the American Constitution in the light of progressive politics”—illustrate the need to modernize and close loopholes in the current ban on foreign-national involvement in American elections.
The legislation is co-sponsored by Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Ted Budd (R-NC), Ted Cruz (R-TX), John Kennedy (R-LA), Mike Lee (R-UT), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), and Roger Marshall (R-KS).
“After years of hysteria over Russiagate and alleged foreign influence in American elections, it turns out Democrats have recently benefited from hundreds of millions of dollars in election-related contributions from a shadowy foreign billionaire, sidestepping the federal ban on foreign-national contributions in U.S. elections,” said Senator Hagerty. “This type of influence undermines democracy and self-government here in America, and its staggering scope should be alarming. I’m pleased to reintroduce this commonsense and critical legislation that will put an end to covert foreign influence on our elections and protect Americans’ voice in electing their leaders.”
“Americans deserve to participate in elections that are free from foreign influence,” said Senator Blackburn. “We must ensure that foreign entities or adversaries are not able to interfere in American elections by funneling money and ballot harvesting through shadow networks. Foreign interference in the country’s elections process threatens the democracy at the heart of our nation.”
“Foreign nationals should not meddle in American elections,” said Senator Budd. “I am proud to stand with Senator Hagerty in introducing commonsense legislation to ensure free and fair elections by eliminating foreign influences that seek to undermine our electoral process.”
“Combating foreign interference in our elections is essential to preserving the integrity of our electoral process and upholding free and fair elections,” said Senator Cruz. “American citizens should be choosing their representatives without undue influence. I’m proud to join Senator Hagerty in introducing this legislation and look forward to it advancing.”
“American voters should determine election outcomes, not foreign adversaries who want to put their finger on the scale,” said Senator Lummis. “This legislation prevents foreign nationals from influencing our democratic process through financial contributions or organized ballot collection schemes. I'm pleased to support this straightforward measure that protects electoral integrity and ensures Americans remain in control of their own elections.”
“There is no place for foreign influence in American elections,” said Chairman Bryan Steil. “By eliminating the potential for foreign nationals to fund elections operations we are one step closer to securing our democratic process. I am grateful to be working with Senator Hagerty on this issue and look forward to introducing the companion legislation in the House.”
The Preventing Foreign Interference in American Elections Act:
• Prevents circumvention of the ban on “indirect” election-related contributions by foreign nationals by expressly covering any donation with an express or implied instruction (including involving intermediaries or conduits) that results in the donation being used for prohibited U.S. election-related activity;
• Prohibits foreign-national contributions for ballot harvesting, get-out-the-vote activity, and public communications that promote a political party;
• Bars foreign nationals from donating in connection with state ballot initiatives; and
• Prohibits overbroad investigations or pretextual government collection or disclosure of Americans’ nonprofit donor information for the purpose of intimidation or chilling Americans’ free-speech rights.