A group of House Democrats has proposed legislation that would impose a series of penalties against foreigners who try to interfere in U.S. federal elections, the latest shot fired in the fight over whether Russia improperly tried to tip the election to President-elect Trump.
Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., and more than a dozen Democrats proposed the Protect American Democracy Act on Tuesday. The aim of the bill is to “expose and deter unlawful and subversive foreign interference in elections for Federal office.”
Under their bill, the State Department would have to submit a report to Congress listing every foreign national who tried to “unlawfully access, disrupt, influence, or in any way alter information or information systems” related to U.S. political parties and federal elections.
That report would be due after 120 days, and updates would have to be provided as available.
It would also impose several penalties to people on the list. For example, it would prohibit them from getting U.S. visas, and would require any existing visas to be revoked if they were held by any of the foreign nationals listed. However, this section of the bill could be waived for national security reasons.
Assets would also be frozen for people on the list, although this also would be subject to a national security waiver.
According to the bill text, people on the list could also be fined as much as $250,000 or more for violating the law.
It’s too late for Engel’s bill to become law, since Congress is out for the year, and the Republican-led House and Senate would prevent it from moving. However, the bill is a likely sign that Democrats are looking for legislative changes in the wake of charges that Russia was working against their candidate, Hillary Clinton, and was pushing for Trump to win.
Read Engel’s bill here:
