PAID OFF Act of 2025

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3050 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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119th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 3050

 To amend the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, as amended, to
  modify requirements under that Act relating to exemptions, and for
                            other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            October 23, 2025

 Mr. Cornyn (for himself, Mr. Whitehouse, Mr. Risch, Mrs. Fischer, Mr.
    Hagerty, Mr. Tillis, Mr. Welch, Mr. Grassley, and Mr. Kennedy)
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the
                     Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 To amend the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, as amended, to
  modify requirements under that Act relating to exemptions, and for
                            other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. TREATMENT OF EXEMPTIONS UNDER THE FOREIGN AGENTS
              REGISTRATION ACT OF 1938.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Preventing Adversary Influence,
Disinformation, and Obscured Foreign Financing Act of 2025'' or the
``PAID OFF Act of 2025''.

SEC. 2. TREATMENT OF EXEMPTIONS UNDER THE FOREIGN AGENTS REGISTRATION
              ACT OF 1938.

    Section 3 of the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, as
amended (22 U.S.C. 613), is amended--
            (1) in the matter preceding subsection (a), by inserting
        ``, except as provided in subsection (i)'' after
        ``principals''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(i) Limitations.--The exemptions under subsections (d)(1),
(d)(2), and (h) shall not apply to any agent of a foreign principal
that is a corporate or government entity that is owned or controlled by
1 or more of the identified countries listed in clauses (i) through (v)
of section 1(m)(1)(A) of the State Department Basic Authorities Act of
1956 (22 U.S.C. 2651a(m)(1)(A)).''.

SEC. 3. MECHANISM TO AMEND DEFINITION OF ``COUNTRY OF CONCERN''.

    Section 1(m) of the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956
(22 U.S.C. 2651a(m)) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating paragraphs (6) and (7) as paragraphs
        (7) and (8), respectively; and
            (2) by inserting after paragraph (5) the following:
            ``(6) Modification to definition of `country of concern'.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The Secretary of State may, in
                consultation with the Attorney General, propose the
                addition or deletion of countries described in
                paragraph (1)(A).
                    ``(B) Submission.--Any proposal described in
                subparagraph (A) shall--
                            ``(i) be submitted to the Chairman and
                        Ranking Member of the Committee on Foreign
                        Relations of the Senate and the Chairman and
                        Ranking Member of the Committee on the
                        Judiciary of the House of Representatives; and
                            ``(ii) become effective upon enactment of a
                        joint resolution of approval as described in
                        subparagraph (C).
                    ``(C) Joint resolution of approval.--
                            ``(i) In general.--For purposes of
                        subparagraph (B)(ii), the term `joint
                        resolution of approval' means only a joint
                        resolution--
                                    ``(I) that does not have a
                                preamble;
                                    ``(II) that includes in the matter
                                after the resolving clause the
                                following: `That Congress approves the
                                modification of the definition of
                                ``country of concern'' under section
                                1(m) of the State Department Basic
                                Authorities Act of 1956, as submitted
                                by the Secretary of State on ____; and
                                section 1(m)(1)(A) of the State
                                Department Basic Authorities Act of
                                1956 (22 U.S.C. 2651a(m)(1)(A)) is
                                amended by ______.', the blank spaces
                                being appropriately filled in with the
                                appropriate date and the amendatory
                                language required to modify the list of
                                countries in paragraph (1)(A) of this
                                subsection by adding or deleting 1 or
                                more countries; and
                                    ``(III) the title of which is as
                                follows: `Joint resolution approving
                                modifications to definition of
                                ``country of concern'' under section
                                1(m) of the State Department Basic
                                Authorities Act of 1956.'.
                            ``(ii) Referral.--
                                    ``(I) Senate.--A resolution
                                described in clause (i) that is
                                introduced in the Senate shall be
                                referred to the Committee on Foreign
                                Relations of the Senate.
                                    ``(II) House of representatives.--A
                                resolution described in clause (i) that
                                is introduced in the House of
                                Representatives shall be referred to
                                the Committee on the Judiciary of the
                                House of Representatives.''.

SEC. 4. SUNSET.

    The amendments made by this Act shall terminate on the date that is
5 years after the date of enactment of this Act.
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