Sec. 501. Committee to counter active measures by the Russian Federation to exert covert influence over peoples and governments

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In this section: The term active measures by Russia to exert covert influence means activities intended to influence a person or government that are carried out in coordination with, or at the behest of, political leaders or the security services of the Russian Federation and the role of the Russian Federation has been hidden or not acknowledged publicly, including the following: Establishment or funding of a front group. Covert broadcasting. Media manipulation. Disinformation and forgeries.

Funding agents of influence. Incitement and offensive counterintelligence. Assassinations. Terrorist acts. The term appropriate committees of Congress means— the congressional intelligence committees; the Committee on Armed Services and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate; and the Committee on Armed Services and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives. There is established within the executive branch an interagency committee to counter active measures by the Russian Federation to exert covert influence.

Each head of an agency or department of the Government set out under paragraph

(2)shall appoint one member of the committee established by subsection

(b)from among officials of such agency or department who occupy a position that is required to be appointed by the President, with the advice and consent of the Senate. The head of an agency or department of the Government set out under this paragraph are the following: The Director of National Intelligence. The Secretary of State. The Secretary of Defense. The Secretary of the Treasury. The Attorney General. The Secretary of Energy. The Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The head of any other agency or department of the United States Government designated by the President for purposes of this section. The committee shall meet on a regular basis. The duties of the committee established by subsection

(b)shall be as follows: To counter active measures by Russia to exert covert influence, including by exposing falsehoods, agents of influence, corruption, human rights abuses, terrorism, and assassinations carried out by the security services or political elites of the Russian Federation or their proxies. Such other duties as the President may designate for purposes of this section. The committee established by subsection

(b)may employ such staff as the members of such committee consider appropriate. A request for funds required for the functioning of the committee established by subsection

(b)may be included in each budget for a fiscal year submitted by the President pursuant to section 1105(a) of title 31, United States Code. Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, and consistent with the protection of intelligence sources and methods, the committee established by subsection

(b)shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a report describing steps being taken by the committee to counter active measures by Russia to exert covert influence. Each report required by paragraph

(1)shall include the following: A summary of the active measures by the Russian Federation to exert covert influence during the previous year, including significant incidents and notable trends. A description of the key initiatives of the committee. A description of the implementation of the committee’s initiatives by the head of an agency or department of the Government set out under subsection (c)(2). An analysis of the impact of the committee’s initiatives. Recommendations for changes to the committee’s initiatives from the previous year. The requirement to submit an annual report under paragraph

(1)is in addition to any other reporting requirements with respect to Russia.