Political Quotes

“Mr. President, the Foreign Agents Registration Act is a law that I have spoken about on this floor many times. At its core, the Foreign Agents Registration Act brings transparency and accountability to foreign influences in our politics. I want to make very clear, this act doesn't prohibit anybody from doing anything they want to do. It only requires those who lobby on behalf of foreign governments and their interests to register their affiliations and activities with the Justice Department. This fits in with a law that I tried to surely describe as bringing transparency, and when you bring transparency, you have accountability. While it requires lobbyists on K Street to disclose if they are lobbying on behalf of foreign governments and their interests, it lacks the teeth necessary to enforce the intent of the law and its other requirements. That is very much a weakness in a law that goes back to the 1930s, and it hasn't been updated in the last 55 years. Today, I seek to change, once again, that environment I just told you about by introducing the Foreign Agents Disclosure and Registration Enhancement Act. If enacted, this legislation would grant the Justice Department new investigative powers. The bill would increase criminal and civil penalties for violations. It does this in order to deter abuse of the law; in other words, people not registering when they should register.…”