4. Registration of Foreign Agents

a. The Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, as amended 1

PART I-REGISTRATION OF FOREIGN PROPAGANDISTS

Public Law 75-583 [H.R. 1591], 52 Stat. 631; 22 U.S.C. 611-621, approved June 8, 1938, as amended by Public Law 76-319 [H.R. 5988], 53 Stat. 1244, approved August 7, 1939; Public Law 77-532 [S. 2399], 56 Stat. 248, approved April 29, 1942; Public Law 81-642 [H.R. 4386], 64 Stat. 399, approved August 3, 1950; Public Law 82-414 [H.R. 5678], 66 Stat. 163 at 276, approved June 27, 1952; Public Law 87-366 [H.R. 470], 75 Stat. 784, approved October 4 1961; Public Law 89486 [S. 693], 80 Stat. 244, approved July 4, 1966; and by Public Law 91-375 [H.R. 17070], 84 Stat. 719 at 782, approved August 12, 1970

AN ACT To require the registration of certain persons employed by agencies to disseminate propaganda in the United States and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That it is hereby declared to be the policy and purpose of this Act to protect the national defense, internal security, and foreign relations of the United States. by requiring public disclosure by persons engaging in propaganda activities and other activities for or on behalf of foreign governments. foreign political parties, and other foreign principals so that the gov ernment and the people of the United States may be informed of the identity of such persons and may appraise their statements and actions in light of their associations and activities."

Section 1. Definitions.3-As used in and for the purposes of this Act

(a) The term "person" includes an individual, partnership, associa tion, corporation, organization, or any other combination of individuals;

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(b) The term "foreign principal" includes

(1) a government of a foreign country and a foreign political party;

(2) a person outside of the United States, unless it is estab lished that such person is an individual and a citizen of and domiciled within the United States, or that such person is not an individual and is organized under or created by the laws of the United States or of any State or other place subject to the jurisdiction of the United States and has its principal place of business within the United States; and

(3) a partnership, association, corporation, organization or other combination of persons organized under the laws of or having its principal place of business in a foreign country.

122 U.S.C. 611-621. The Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, as amended, will be referred to as the FAR Act and "this Act" in footnotes.

2 Declaration of policy and purpose added by the Act of April 29, 1942 (56 Stat. 248).

3 The Act of August 7. 1939 (53 Stat. 1244); the Act of January 24, 1942 (56 Stat. 248), and the Act of July 4. 1966 (80 Stat. 244), generally redefined the terms of the Act. This term was reduced by Public Law 89-486 (80 Stat. 244).

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(c) Except as provided in subsection (d) hereof, the term "agent of a foreign principal" means

(1) any person who acts as an agent, representative, employee, or servant, or any person who acts in any other capacity at the order, request, or under the direction or control, of a foreign principal or of a person any of whose activities are directly or indirectly supervised, directed, controlled, financed, or subsidized in whole or in major part by a foreign principal, and who directly or through any other person

(i) engages with the United States in political activities for or in the interests of such foreign principal;

(ii) acts within the United States as a public relations counsel, publicity agent, information-service employee or political consultant for or in the interests of such foreign principal;

(iii) within the United States solicits, collects, disburses, or dispenses contributions, loans, money, or other things of value for or in the interest of such foreign principal; or

(iv) within the United States represents the interests of such foreign principal before any agency or official of the Government of the United States; and

(2) any person who agrees, consents, assumes or purports to act as, or who is or holds himself out to be, whether or not pursuant to contractual relationship, an agent of a foreign principal as defined in clause (1) of this subsection.

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(d) The term "agent of a foreign principal" does not include any news or press service or association organized under the laws of the United States or of any State or other place subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, or any newspaper, magazine, periodical, or other publication for which there is on file with the United States Postal Service information in compliance with section 3611 of title 39 published in the United States, solely by virtue of any bona fide news or journalistic activities, including the solicitation or acceptance of advertisements, subscriptions, or other compensation therefor, so long as it is at least 80 per centum beneficially owned by, and its officers and directors, if any, are citizens of the United States, and such news or press service or association, newspaper, magazine, periodical, or other publication, is not owned, directed, supervised, controlled, subsidized, or financed, and none of its policies are determined by any foreign principal defined in section 1(b) hereof, or by any agent of a foreign principal required to register under this Act;

(e) 7 The term "government of a foreign country" includes any person or group of persons exercising sovereign de facto or de jure political jurisdiction over any country, other than the United States, or over any part of such country, and includes any subdivision of any such group and any group or agency to which such sovereign de facto or de jure authority or functions are directly or indirectly delegated. Such

As amended and restated by Public Law 89-486 (80 Stat. 244), with former sections (c) (3) and (c) (4) deleted. Former section (c) (5) inserted by the Act of September 23, 1950 (64 Stat. 1005), was deleted by the Act of August 1, 1956 (70 Stat. 899), and is now covered by 50 U.S.C. 851-858 (1964).

Added by the Act of April 29, 1942 (56 Stat. 248), and as amended by Public Law 89486 (80 Stat. 244).

Added by the Act of April 29. 1942 (56 Stat. 248).

term shall include any faction or body of insurgents within a country assuming to exercise governmental authority whether such faction or body of insurgents has or has not been recognized by the United States;

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(f) The term "foreign political party" includes any organization or any other combination of individuals in a country other than the United States, or any unit or branch thereof, having for an aim or purpose, or which is engaged in any activity devoted in whole or in part to, the establishment, administration, control, or acquisition of administration or control, of a government of a foreign country or a subdivision thereof, or the furtherance or influencing of the political or public interests, policies, or relations of a government of a foreign country or a subdivision thereof;

(g) The term "public-relations counsel" includes any person who engages directly or indirectly in informing, advising, or in any way representing a principal in any public relations matter pertaining to political or public interests, policies, or relations of such principal;

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(h) The term "publicity agent" includes any person who engages directly or indirectly in the publication or dissemination of oral, visual, graphic, written, or pictorial information or matter of any kind, including publication by means of advertising, books, periodicals, newspapers, lectures, broadcasts, motion pictures, or otherwise;

(i) The term "information-service employee" includes any person who is engaged in furnishing, disseminating, or publishing accounts, descriptions, information, or data with respect to the political, industrial, employment, economic, social, cultural, or other benefits, advantages, facts, or conditions of any country other than the United States or of any government of a foreign country or of a foreign political party or of a partnership, association, corporation, organization, or other combination of individuals organized under the laws of, or having its principal place of business in, a foreign country;

(j) The term "political propaganda" includes any oral, visual, graphic, written, pictorial, or other communication or expression by any person (1) which is reasonably adapted to, or which the person disseminating the same believes will, or which he intends to, prevail upon, indoctrinate, convert, induce, or in any other way influence a recipient or any section of the public within the United States with reference to the political or public interests, policies, or relations of a government of a foreign country or a foreign political party or with reference to the foreign policies of the United States or promote in the United States racial, religious, or social dissensions, or (2) which advocates, advises, instigates, or promotes any racial, social, political. or religious disorder, civil riot, or other conflict involving the use of force or violence in any other American republic or the overthrow of any government or political subdivision of any other American republic by any means involving the use of force or violence. As used in this section 1(j) the term "disseminating" includes transmitting or causing to be transmitted in the United States mails or by any means or instrumentality of interstate or foreign commerce or offering or causing to be offered in the United States mails:

(k) The term "registration statement" means the registration statement required to be filed with the Attorney General under section 2(a)

hereof, and any supplements thereto required to be filed under section 2(b) hereof, and includes all documents and papers required to be filed therewith or amendatory thereof or supplemental thereto, whether attached thereto or incorporated therein by reference;

(1) The term "American republic" includes any of the States which were signatory to the Final Act of the Second Meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the American Republics at Habana, Cuba, July 30, 1940; 8

(m) The term "United States," when used in a geographical sense includes the several States, the District of Columbia, the Territories, the Canal Zone, the insular possessions, and all other places now or hereafter subject to the civil or military jurisdiction of the United States;

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(n) The term "prints" means newspapers and periodicals, books, pamphlets, sheet music, visiting cards, address cards, printing proofs, engravings, photographs, pictures, drawings, plans, maps, patterns to be cut out, catalogs, prospectuses, advertisements, and printed, engraved, lithographed, or autographed notices of various kinds, and, in general, all impressions or reproductions obtained on paper or other material assimilable to paper, on parchment or on cardboard, by means of printing, engraving, lithography, autography, or any other easily recognizable mechanical process, with the exception of the copying press, stamps with movable or immovable type, and the typewriter. (0) 10 The term "political activities" means the dissemination of political propaganda and any other activity which the person engaging therein believes will, or which he intends to, prevail upon, indoctrinate, convert, induce, persuade, or in any other way influence any agency or official of the Government of the United States or any section of the public within the United States with reference to formulating, adopting, or changing the domestic or foreign policies of the United States or with reference to the political or public interests, policies, or relations of a government of a foreign country or a foreign political party;

(p) 10 The term "political consultant" means any person who engages in informing or advising any other person with reference to the domestic or foreign policies of the United States or the political or public interest, policies, or relations of a foreign country or of a foreign political party;

(q) 10 For the purpose of section (3) (d) hereof, activities in furtherance of the bona fide commercial, industrial or financial interests of a domestic person engaged in substantial commercial, industrial or financial operations in the United States shall not be deemed to serve predominantly a foreign interest because such activities also benefit the interests of a foreign person engaged in bona fide trade or commerce which is owned or controlled by, or which owns or controls, such domestic person: Provided, That (i) such foreign person is not, and

The Act of Habana, E.A.S. Doc. No. 199 is found in 54 Stat. 2491. The 21 signatories thereto were: Honduras. Haiti. Costa Rica, Mexico, Argentina. Uruguay, Ecuador, Bolivia, Chile. Brazil, Cuba. Paraguay, Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, El Salvador, Dominican Republic, Peru, Nicaragua. Guatemala. United States of America.

Pursuant to Proc. No. 2695. 11 F.R. 7517. 60 Stat. 1352, granting independence to the Philippines, words "including the Philippine Islands" were deleted from the definition of the United States.

10 The Act of July 4, 1966, 80 Stat. 244, added secs. (o) through (q).

such activities are not directly or indirectly supervised, directed, controlled, financed or subsidized in whole or in substantial part by, a government of a foreign country or a foreign political party, (ii) the identity of such foreign person is disclosed to the agency or official of the United States with whom such activities are conducted, and (iii) whenever such foreign person owns or controls such domestic person, such activities are substantially in furtherance of the bona fide commercial, industrial or financial interests of such domestic person.

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Sec. 2. Registration.-(a)" No person shall act as an agent of a foreign principal unless he has filed with the Attorney General 12 a true and complete registration statement and supplements thereto as required by this section 2(a) and section 2(b) hereof or unless he is exempt from registration under the provisions of this Act. Except as hereinafter provided, every person who becomes an agent of a foreign principal shall, within ten days thereafter, file with the Attorney General, in duplicate, a registration statement, under oath on a form prescribed by the Attorney General. The obligation of an agent of a foreign principal to file a registration statement shall, after the tenth day of his becoming such agent, continue from day to day, and termination of such status shall not relieve such agent from his obligation to file a registration statement for the period during which he was an agent of a foreign principal. The registration statement shall include the following which shall be regarded as material for the purposes of this Act:

(1) 13 Registrant's name, principal business address, and all other business addresses in the United States or elsewhere, and all residence addresses, if any;

(2) Status of the registrant; if an individual, nationality; if a partnership, name, residence addresses, and nationality of each partner and a true and complete copy of its articles of copartnership; if an association, corporation, organization, or any other combination of individuals, the name, residence addresses, and nationality of each director and officer and of each person performing the functions of a director or officer and a true and complete copy of its charter, articles of incorporation, association, contitution, and bylaws, and amendments thereto; a copy of every other instrument or document and a statement of the terms and conditions of every oral agreement relating to its organization, powers, and purposes; and a statement of its ownership and control;

(3) A comprehensive statement of the nature of registrant's business; a complete list of registrant's employees and a statement of the nature of the work of each; unless, and to the extent, this requirement is waived in writing by the Attorney General;

11 This section was reworded by the Act of July 4, 1966 (80 Stat. 244 at 245). It was previously amended and restated by Public Law 81-642 (64 Stat. 400). 12 Pursuant to sec. 2 of the Act of April 29, 1942 (56 Stat. 251), and by virtue of Executive Order 9176, effective June 1, 1942, registration functions under this Act were transferred from the Secretary of State to the Attorney General. Under 18 U.S.C. 951 it is a criminal offense for one, other than a diplomatic or consular officer, to act as a foreign agent without prior notification to the Secretary of State.

13 Sections 1-11 of subsection (a) were added by the Act of April 29, 1942 (56 Stat. 249), in order to provide detailed appraisal as to the comprehensive information required in the registration statement. The latter Act also extended the registration provisions so as to require disclosure of all gotivities of the registrant, that "as agent" and those "for himself".