U.S. Sens. Todd
Young, R-Ind., and Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., have introduced legislation which
would empower the Department of Justice to investigate the dissemination of
propaganda in the U.S. by foreign agents, in violation of the Foreign Agents
Registration Act.
The bill: the
Foreign Agents Registration Modernization and Enforcement Act (FARA).
“When foreign
governments attempt to surreptitiously disseminate propaganda in the United
States, deliberately evading our laws, the American people have a right to
know,” Young and Shaheen said in a joint statement released on Tuesday. “In
order to ensure compliance with the law and maximum transparency for the
American people, we are proud to introduce this bipartisan legislation that
would provide the Department of Justice authority that the DOJ Inspector
General and GAO have said is necessary.”
The Foreign Agents
Modernization and Enforcement Act would specifically strengthen FARA by
giving DOJ the authority to compel organizations like RT America to produce
documentation to confirm funding sources and foreign connections, the
statement said.
“The authorities
this bill would provide currently exist in other areas of the law, and the
bill would simply provide those authorities to DOJ in instances involving
potential foreign agents,” the statement added. “The bill would also
streamline and update information disclosure and user fee requirements.”