| 1 | 1 | | I |
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| 2 | 2 | | 119THCONGRESS |
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| 3 | 3 | | 1 |
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| 4 | 4 | | STSESSION H. R. 2675 |
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| 5 | 5 | | To amend chapter 111 of title 28, United States Code, to increase trans- |
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| 6 | 6 | | parency and oversight of third-party funding by foreign persons, to |
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| 7 | 7 | | prohibit third-party funding by foreign states and sovereign wealth funds, |
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| 8 | 8 | | and for other purposes. |
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| 9 | 9 | | IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
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| 10 | 10 | | APRIL7, 2025 |
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| 11 | 11 | | Mr. C |
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| 12 | 12 | | LINEintroduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee |
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| 13 | 13 | | on the Judiciary |
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| 14 | 14 | | A BILL |
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| 15 | 15 | | To amend chapter 111 of title 28, United States Code, |
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| 16 | 16 | | to increase transparency and oversight of third-party |
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| 17 | 17 | | funding by foreign persons, to prohibit third-party fund- |
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| 18 | 18 | | ing by foreign states and sovereign wealth funds, and |
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| 19 | 19 | | for other purposes. |
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| 20 | 20 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 |
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| 21 | 21 | | tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 |
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| 22 | 22 | | SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 |
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| 23 | 23 | | This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protecting Our Courts 4 |
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| 24 | 24 | | from Foreign Manipulation Act of 2025’’. 5 |
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| 26 | 26 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 2 |
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| 27 | 27 | | •HR 2675 IH |
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| 28 | 28 | | SEC. 2. TRANSPARENCY AND LIMITATIONS ON FOREIGN 1 |
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| 29 | 29 | | THIRD-PARTY LITIGATION FUNDING. 2 |
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| 30 | 30 | | (a) I |
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| 31 | 31 | | NGENERAL.—Chapter 111 of title 28, United 3 |
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| 32 | 32 | | States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol-4 |
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| 33 | 33 | | lowing: 5 |
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| 34 | 34 | | ‘‘§ 1660. Transparency and limitations on foreign 6 |
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| 35 | 35 | | third-party litigation funding 7 |
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| 36 | 36 | | ‘‘(a) D |
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| 37 | 37 | | EFINITIONS.—In this section— 8 |
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| 38 | 38 | | ‘‘(1) the term ‘foreign person’— 9 |
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| 39 | 39 | | ‘‘(A) means any person or entity that is 10 |
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| 40 | 40 | | not a United States person, as defined in sec-11 |
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| 41 | 41 | | tion 101 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveil-12 |
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| 42 | 42 | | lance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1801); and 13 |
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| 43 | 43 | | ‘‘(B) does not include a foreign state or a 14 |
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| 44 | 44 | | sovereign wealth fund; 15 |
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| 45 | 45 | | ‘‘(2) the term ‘foreign state’ has the meaning 16 |
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| 46 | 46 | | given that term in section 1603; and 17 |
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| 47 | 47 | | ‘‘(3) the term ‘sovereign wealth fund’ means an 18 |
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| 48 | 48 | | investment fund owned or controlled by a foreign 19 |
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| 49 | 49 | | state, an agency or instrumentality of a foreign state 20 |
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| 50 | 50 | | (as defined in section 1603), or an agent of a for-21 |
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| 51 | 51 | | eign principal (as defined in section 1 of the Foreign 22 |
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| 52 | 52 | | Agents Registration Act of 1938, as amended (22 23 |
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| 53 | 53 | | U.S.C. 611)). 24 |
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| 54 | 54 | | ‘‘(b) D |
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| 55 | 55 | | ISCLOSURE OF THIRD-PARTYLITIGATION 25 |
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| 56 | 56 | | F |
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| 57 | 57 | | UNDING AND FOREIGNSOURCECERTIFICATION BY 26 |
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| 59 | 59 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 3 |
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| 60 | 60 | | •HR 2675 IH |
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| 61 | 61 | | FOREIGNPERSONS, FOREIGNSTATES, ANDSOVEREIGN 1 |
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| 62 | 62 | | W |
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| 63 | 63 | | EALTHFUNDS.— 2 |
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| 64 | 64 | | ‘‘(1) I |
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| 65 | 65 | | N GENERAL.—In any civil action, each 3 |
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| 66 | 66 | | party or the counsel of record for the party shall— 4 |
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| 67 | 67 | | ‘‘(A) disclose in writing to the court, to all 5 |
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| 68 | 68 | | other named parties to the civil action, to the 6 |
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| 69 | 69 | | Attorney General, and to the Principal Deputy 7 |
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| 70 | 70 | | Assistant Attorney General for National Secu-8 |
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| 71 | 71 | | rity— 9 |
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| 72 | 72 | | ‘‘(i) the name, the address, and, if ap-10 |
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| 73 | 73 | | plicable, the citizenship or the country of 11 |
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| 74 | 74 | | incorporation or registration of any foreign 12 |
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| 75 | 75 | | person, foreign state, or sovereign wealth 13 |
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| 76 | 76 | | fund, other than the named parties or 14 |
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| 77 | 77 | | counsel of record, that has a right to re-15 |
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| 78 | 78 | | ceive any payment that is contingent in 16 |
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| 79 | 79 | | any respect on the outcome of the civil ac-17 |
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| 80 | 80 | | tion by settlement, judgment, or otherwise; 18 |
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| 81 | 81 | | ‘‘(ii) the name, the address, and, if 19 |
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| 82 | 82 | | applicable, the citizenship or the country of 20 |
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| 83 | 83 | | incorporation or registration of any foreign 21 |
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| 84 | 84 | | person, foreign state, or sovereign wealth 22 |
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| 85 | 85 | | fund, other than the named parties or 23 |
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| 86 | 86 | | counsel of record, that has a right to re-24 |
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| 87 | 87 | | ceive any payment that is contingent in 25 |
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| 89 | 89 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 4 |
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| 90 | 90 | | •HR 2675 IH |
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| 91 | 91 | | any respect on the outcome of any matter 1 |
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| 92 | 92 | | within a portfolio that includes the civil ac-2 |
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| 93 | 93 | | tion and involves the same counsel of 3 |
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| 94 | 94 | | record or affiliated counsel; and 4 |
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| 95 | 95 | | ‘‘(iii) if the party or the counsel of 5 |
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| 96 | 96 | | record for the party submits a certification 6 |
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| 97 | 97 | | described in subparagraph (C)(i), the 7 |
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| 98 | 98 | | name, the address, and, if applicable, the 8 |
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| 99 | 99 | | citizenship or the country of incorporation 9 |
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| 100 | 100 | | or registration of the foreign person, for-10 |
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| 101 | 101 | | eign state, or sovereign wealth fund that is 11 |
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| 102 | 102 | | the source of the money; 12 |
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| 103 | 103 | | ‘‘(B) produce to the court, to all other 13 |
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| 104 | 104 | | named parties to the civil action, to the Attor-14 |
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| 105 | 105 | | ney General, and to the Principal Deputy As-15 |
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| 106 | 106 | | sistant Attorney General for National Security, 16 |
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| 107 | 107 | | except as otherwise stipulated or ordered by the 17 |
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| 108 | 108 | | court, a copy of any agreement creating a con-18 |
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| 109 | 109 | | tingent right described in subparagraph (A); 19 |
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| 110 | 110 | | and 20 |
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| 111 | 111 | | ‘‘(C) for a civil action involving an agree-21 |
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| 112 | 112 | | ment creating a right to receive any payment by 22 |
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| 113 | 113 | | anyone, other than the named parties or coun-23 |
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| 114 | 114 | | sel of record, that is contingent in any respect 24 |
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| 115 | 115 | | on the outcome of the civil action by settlement, 25 |
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| 117 | 117 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 5 |
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| 118 | 118 | | •HR 2675 IH |
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| 119 | 119 | | judgment, or otherwise, or on the outcome of 1 |
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| 120 | 120 | | any matter within a portfolio that includes the 2 |
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| 121 | 121 | | civil action and involves the same counsel or af-3 |
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| 122 | 122 | | filiated counsel, submit to the court a certifi-4 |
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| 123 | 123 | | cation that— 5 |
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| 124 | 124 | | ‘‘(i) the money that has been or will 6 |
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| 125 | 125 | | be used to satisfy any term of the agree-7 |
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| 126 | 126 | | ment has been or will be directly or indi-8 |
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| 127 | 127 | | rectly sourced, in whole or in part, from a 9 |
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| 128 | 128 | | foreign person, foreign state, or sovereign 10 |
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| 129 | 129 | | wealth fund, including the monetary 11 |
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| 130 | 130 | | amounts that have been or will be used to 12 |
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| 131 | 131 | | satisfy the agreement; or 13 |
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| 132 | 132 | | ‘‘(ii) that the disclosure and certifi-14 |
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| 133 | 133 | | cation criteria set forth in subparagraph 15 |
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| 134 | 134 | | (A)(iii) and clause (i) of this subparagraph 16 |
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| 135 | 135 | | do not apply to the civil action. 17 |
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| 136 | 136 | | ‘‘(2) T |
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| 137 | 137 | | IMING.— 18 |
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| 138 | 138 | | ‘‘(A) I |
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| 139 | 139 | | N GENERAL.—The disclosure and 19 |
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| 140 | 140 | | certification required by paragraph (1) shall be 20 |
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| 141 | 141 | | made not later than the later of— 21 |
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| 142 | 142 | | ‘‘(i) 30 days after execution of any 22 |
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| 143 | 143 | | agreement described in paragraph (1); or 23 |
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| 144 | 144 | | ‘‘(ii) the date on which the civil action 24 |
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| 145 | 145 | | is filed. 25 |
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| 148 | 148 | | •HR 2675 IH |
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| 149 | 149 | | ‘‘(B) PARTIES SERVED OR JOINED 1 |
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| 150 | 150 | | LATER.—A party that enters into an agreement 2 |
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| 151 | 151 | | described in paragraph (1) that is first served 3 |
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| 152 | 152 | | or joined after the date on which the civil action 4 |
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| 153 | 153 | | is filed shall make the disclosure and certifi-5 |
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| 154 | 154 | | cation required by paragraph (1) not later than 6 |
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| 155 | 155 | | 30 days after being served or joined, unless a 7 |
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| 156 | 156 | | different time is set by stipulation or court 8 |
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| 157 | 157 | | order. 9 |
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| 158 | 158 | | ‘‘(3) F |
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| 159 | 159 | | OREIGN SOURCE DISCLOSURE AND CER -10 |
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| 160 | 160 | | TIFICATION FORMAT.— 11 |
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| 161 | 161 | | ‘‘(A) I |
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| 162 | 162 | | N GENERAL.—A disclosure required 12 |
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| 163 | 163 | | under paragraph (1)(A) and a certification re-13 |
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| 164 | 164 | | quired under paragraph (1)(C) shall— 14 |
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| 165 | 165 | | ‘‘(i) be made in the form of a declara-15 |
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| 166 | 166 | | tion under penalty of perjury pursuant to 16 |
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| 167 | 167 | | section 1746 and shall be made to the best 17 |
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| 168 | 168 | | knowledge, information, and belief of the 18 |
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| 169 | 169 | | declarant formed after reasonable inquiry; 19 |
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| 170 | 170 | | and 20 |
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| 171 | 171 | | ‘‘(ii) be provided to all other named 21 |
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| 172 | 172 | | parties to the civil action, to the Attorney 22 |
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| 173 | 173 | | General, and to the Principal Deputy As-23 |
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| 174 | 174 | | sistant Attorney General for National Se-24 |
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| 175 | 175 | | curity by the party or counsel of record for 25 |
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| 177 | 177 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 7 |
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| 178 | 178 | | •HR 2675 IH |
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| 179 | 179 | | the party making the disclosure and cer-1 |
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| 180 | 180 | | tification, except as otherwise stipulated or 2 |
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| 181 | 181 | | ordered by the court. 3 |
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| 182 | 182 | | ‘‘(B) S |
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| 183 | 183 | | UPPLEMENTATION AND CORREC -4 |
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| 184 | 184 | | TION.—Not later than 30 days after the date 5 |
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| 185 | 185 | | on which a party or counsel of record for the 6 |
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| 186 | 186 | | party knew or should have known that the dis-7 |
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| 187 | 187 | | closure required under paragraph (1)(A) or a 8 |
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| 188 | 188 | | certification required under paragraph (1)(C) is 9 |
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| 189 | 189 | | incomplete or inaccurate in any material re-10 |
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| 190 | 190 | | spect, the party or counsel of record shall sup-11 |
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| 191 | 191 | | plement or correct the disclosure or certifi-12 |
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| 192 | 192 | | cation. 13 |
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| 193 | 193 | | ‘‘(c) P |
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| 194 | 194 | | ROHIBITION ONTHIRD-PARTYFUNDINGLITI-14 |
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| 195 | 195 | | GATION BYFOREIGNSTATES ANDSOVEREIGNWEALTH 15 |
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| 196 | 196 | | F |
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| 197 | 197 | | UNDS.— 16 |
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| 198 | 198 | | ‘‘(1) I |
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| 199 | 199 | | N GENERAL.—It shall be unlawful for any 17 |
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| 200 | 200 | | party to or counsel of record for a civil action to 18 |
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| 201 | 201 | | enter into an agreement creating a right for anyone, 19 |
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| 202 | 202 | | other than the named parties or counsel of record, 20 |
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| 203 | 203 | | to receive any payment that is contingent in any re-21 |
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| 204 | 204 | | spect on the outcome of a civil action or any matter 22 |
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| 205 | 205 | | within a portfolio that includes the civil action and 23 |
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| 206 | 206 | | involves the same counsel of record or affiliated 24 |
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| 207 | 207 | | counsel, the terms of which are to be satisfied by 25 |
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| 209 | 209 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 8 |
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| 210 | 210 | | •HR 2675 IH |
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| 211 | 211 | | money that has been or will be directly or indirectly 1 |
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| 212 | 212 | | sourced, in whole or in part, from a foreign state or 2 |
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| 213 | 213 | | a sovereign wealth fund. 3 |
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| 214 | 214 | | ‘‘(2) E |
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| 215 | 215 | | NFORCEMENT.—Any agreement entered 4 |
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| 216 | 216 | | in violation of paragraph (1) shall be null and void. 5 |
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| 217 | 217 | | ‘‘(d) F |
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| 218 | 218 | | AILURETODISCLOSE, TOSUPPLEMENT; 6 |
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| 219 | 219 | | S |
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| 220 | 220 | | ANCTIONS.—A disclosure, production, or certification 7 |
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| 221 | 221 | | under subsection (b) is deemed to be information required 8 |
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| 222 | 222 | | by rule 26(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and 9 |
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| 223 | 223 | | subject to the sanctions provisions of rule 37 of the Fed-10 |
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| 224 | 224 | | eral Rules of Civil Procedure.’’. 11 |
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| 225 | 225 | | (b) T |
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| 226 | 226 | | ECHNICAL AND CONFORMINGAMENDMENT.— 12 |
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| 227 | 227 | | The table of sections chapter 111 of title 28, United 13 |
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| 228 | 228 | | States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol-14 |
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| 229 | 229 | | lowing: 15 |
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| 230 | 230 | | ‘‘1660. Transparency and limitations on foreign third-party litigation funding.’’. |
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| 231 | 231 | | SEC. 3. REPORT TO CONGRESS. |
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| 232 | 232 | | 16 |
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| 233 | 233 | | Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 17 |
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| 234 | 234 | | of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Attorney General 18 |
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| 235 | 235 | | shall submit to the Committee on the Judiciary of the Sen-19 |
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| 236 | 236 | | ate and the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of 20 |
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| 237 | 237 | | Representatives a report on the activities involving foreign 21 |
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| 238 | 238 | | third-party litigation funding in Federal courts, including, 22 |
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| 239 | 239 | | if applicable— 23 |
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| 240 | 240 | | (1) the identities of foreign third-party litiga-24 |
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| 241 | 241 | | tion funders in Federal courts, including names, ad-25 |
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| 243 | 243 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 9 |
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| 244 | 244 | | •HR 2675 IH |
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| 245 | 245 | | dresses, and citizenship or country of incorporation 1 |
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| 246 | 246 | | or registration; 2 |
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| 247 | 247 | | (2) the identities of foreign persons, foreign 3 |
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| 248 | 248 | | states, or sovereign wealth funds (as such terms are 4 |
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| 249 | 249 | | defined in section 1660 of title 28, United States 5 |
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| 250 | 250 | | Code, as added by section 2 of this Act) that have 6 |
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| 251 | 251 | | been the sources of money for third-party litigation 7 |
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| 252 | 252 | | funding in Federal courts; 8 |
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| 253 | 253 | | (3) the judicial districts in which foreign third- 9 |
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| 254 | 254 | | party litigation funding has occurred; 10 |
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| 255 | 255 | | (4) an estimate of the total amount of foreign- 11 |
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| 256 | 256 | | sourced money used for third-party litigation fund-12 |
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| 257 | 257 | | ing in Federal courts, including an estimate of the 13 |
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| 258 | 258 | | amount of such money sourced from each country; 14 |
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| 259 | 259 | | and 15 |
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| 260 | 260 | | (5) a summary of the subject matters of the 16 |
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| 261 | 261 | | civil actions in Federal courts for which foreign 17 |
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| 262 | 262 | | sourced money has been used for third-party litiga-18 |
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| 263 | 263 | | tion funding. 19 |
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| 264 | 264 | | SEC. 4. APPLICABILITY. 20 |
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| 265 | 265 | | The amendments made by this Act shall apply to any 21 |
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| 266 | 266 | | civil action pending on or commenced on or after the date 22 |
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| 267 | 267 | | of enactment of this Act. 23 |
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| 268 | 268 | | Æ |
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