HR 4617 · 116th Congress 2019–2021, ended

Stopping Harmful Interference in Elections for a Lasting Democracy Act

Introduced Oct 8, 2019 Originated House Sponsor Zoe Lofgren D-CA

Fact sheet

Latest action · Oct 28, 2019 Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration.

Progress

Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.

  1. IntroducedOct 8, 2019
  2. Passed HouseOct 23, 2019
  3. Passed SenateNot reached
  4. To the PresidentNot reached
  5. Became lawNot reached

Summary

Stopping Harmful Interference in Elections for a Lasting Democracy Act or the SHIELD Act

This bill establishes a duty to report election interference from foreign entities, applies existing campaign advertising requirements to online advertisements, and generally limits political spending and election interference by foreign entities.

Specifically, a political committee must report certain foreign contacts involving an offer of unlawful election assistance to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Federal Election Commission. The bill establishes criminal penalties for violations of these requirements.

This bill establishes that an alien engaging in improper election interference shall be deportable and inadmissible into the United States.

Existing requirements for political advertisements and electioneering communications apply to internet and digital advertisements, including requirements related to disclosures and contributions. Additionally, large online platforms must maintain a public database of certain political advertisements.

The bill prohibits the distribution of certain deceptive audio or visual media within 60 days of an election.

The bill places limitations on political spending by foreign entities. Specifically, foreign entities may not (1) contribute to campaigns related to ballot initiatives and referenda, or (2) make disbursements for certain internet activity referring to a candidate or a political issue.

A candidate is prohibited from offering to share nonpublic campaign information with certain foreign entities.

Recorded votes 3

Newest first. Open one to see how every member voted.

Roll callQuestionResultDate
House 583Passed227–181Oct 23, 2019
House 582Failed182–225Oct 23, 2019
House 581Failed180–231Oct 23, 2019

Cosponsors 137

Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Oct 8, 2019 to Oct 21, 2019, with 11 there on the day it was introduced.

SeatCosponsorSigned on
D-VAA. Donald McEachinOriginalOct 8, 2019
D-WADerek KilmerOriginalOct 8, 2019
D-NCG. K. ButterfieldOriginalOct 8, 2019
D-MDJamie RaskinOriginalOct 8, 2019
D-NYJerrold NadlerOriginalOct 8, 2019
D-MDJohn P. SarbanesOriginalOct 8, 2019
D-OHMarcia L. FudgeOriginalOct 8, 2019
D-CAPete AguilarOriginalOct 8, 2019
D-FLStephanie N. MurphyOriginalOct 8, 2019
D-CASusan A. DavisOriginalOct 8, 2019
D-NJTom MalinowskiOriginalOct 8, 2019
D-NYAdriano EspaillatOct 11, 2019
D-MNAngie CraigOct 11, 2019
D-AZAnn KirkpatrickOct 11, 2019
D-CABarbara LeeOct 11, 2019
Show all 137 cosponsors

Actions 41

Everything that happened, newest first.

  1. Oct 28, 2019Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration.
  2. Oct 23, 2019Considered under the provisions of rule H. Res. 650. (consideration: CR H8410-8442)
  3. Oct 23, 2019DEBATE - Pursuant to the provisions of H. Res. 650, the Committee of the Whole proceeded with 10 minutes of debate on the Brown (MD) amendment No. 7.
  4. Oct 23, 2019DEBATE - Pursuant to the provisions of H. Res. 650, the Committee of the Whole proceeded with 10 minutes of debate on the Cunningham amendment No. 12.
  5. Oct 23, 2019DEBATE - Pursuant to the provisions of H. Res. 650, the Committee of the Whole proceeded with 10 minutes of debate on the Cunningham amendment No. 13.
Show all 41 actions

Amendments 14

Amendments offered to this bill.

AmendmentDescriptionOffered byStatus
HAmdt 638An amendment numbered 1 printed in Part B of House Report 116-253 to require the FEC to notify states within 30 days of making a determination that a foreign national has initiated or attempted to initiate a disinformation campaign targeted at an election in a state.Mark DeSaulnier D-CAOn agreeing to the DeSaulnier amendment (A001) Agreed to by voice vote.
HAmdt 639Amendment sought to remove the requirement that the Attorney General communicate corrective actions to the public.Debbie Lesko R-AZOn agreeing to the Lesko amendment (A002) Failed by recorded vote: 180 - 231 (Roll no. 581).
HAmdt 640An amendment numbered 3 printed in Part B of House Report 116-253 to generally prohibit the use of deepfakes within 60 days of a federal election and establish corresponding criminal and civil penalties.Stephen F. Lynch D-MAOn agreeing to the Lynch amendment (A003) Agreed to by voice vote.
HAmdt 641An amendment numbered 4 printed in Part B of House Report 116-253 to prohibit foreign nationals from influencing American elections by setting up shell companies.Andy Levin D-MIOn agreeing to the Levin (MI) amendment (A004) Agreed to by voice vote.
HAmdt 642An amendment numbered 5 printed in Part B of House Report 116-253 to direct the Federal Elections Commission to commission an independent study and report on media literacy with respect to online political content consumption among voting-age Americans.James R. Langevin D-RIOn agreeing to the Langevin amendment Agreed to by voice vote.
Show all 14 amendments

Related bills 12

Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.

BillTitleRelationshipLatest action
HRES 650Providing for consideration of the bill (H.R. 4617) to amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to clarify the obligation to report acts of foreign election influence and require implementation of compliance and reporting systems by Federal campaigProcedurally relatedOct 23, 2019
S 1834Deceptive Practices and Voter Intimidation Prevention Act of 2019Related billJun 13, 2019
S 2242Foreign Influence Reporting in Elections ActRelated billJul 23, 2019
S 2669SHIELD ActRelated billOct 23, 2019
HR 3281Deceptive Practices and Voter Intimidation Prevention Act of 2019Related billJun 28, 2019
Show all 12 related bills

Subjects

Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Government Operations and Politics.

Text 4

Each version as it was printed, newest first.

  1. Oct 28, 2019Referred in Senate
  2. Oct 23, 2019Engrossed in House
  3. Oct 21, 2019Reported in House
  4. Oct 8, 2019Introduced in House

Support LegiList

This page is free, carries no paywall, and is built and maintained by one person. If the record here is useful to you, a few dollars keeps it going.

$1 $5 $10

Processed by Stripe in a separate window. LegiList never sees card details.

Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov.