{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.budd.senate.gov/2025/07/16/sens-budd-justice-hawley-ricketts-introduce-bill-to-increase-transparency-of-foreign-funds-fueling-left-wing-agitators/", "Sens. Budd, Justice, Hawley, Ricketts Introduce Bill to Increase Transparency of Foreign Funds Fueling Left-Wing Agitators", "2025-07-16", "2025", "2025-07", "Republican", "Senate", "NC", "Ted Budd", "B001305", "www.budd.senate.gov", "budd", "https://www.budd.senate.gov/category/news/press-releases/page/", "scraper", "FRONT Act would require U.S. nonprofits to register under FARA if they accept funds from hostile nations\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2014 U.S. Senator Ted Budd (R-N.C.) led his colleagues in introducing the Foreign Registration Obligations for Nonprofit Transparency (FRONT) Act today, which would require nonprofits in the United States that receive funding from foreign principals in countries of concern, such as China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Venezuela, and Cuba, to register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). The bill would also require nonprofits to disclose the activities they use foreign funds to engage in to mitigate future unrest.\n\n\u201cThere are serious indicators recent left-wing riots, protests, and rallies resulting in violence and political unrest are funded by foreign agitators. It\u2019s time for American nonprofit organizations to be transparent about where they are getting their funding from. No foreign country with hostile intentions should be meddling in our democratic process. I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting the FRONT Act to increase transparency and help put a stop to this,\u201d said Senator Budd.\n\n\u201cLet me just say this and be clear: foreign influence in our country\u2019s nonprofits ends now. The FRONT Act ensures that any money coming from our adversaries, like China, will be fully disclosed. This bill is common-sense, provides much needed transparency, and I\u2019m proud to join Senator Budd in this effort,\u201d said Senator Justice.\n\n\u201cI am concerned that U.S. non-profits are receiving foreign funding from our adversaries and countries of concern. Senator Budd\u2019s FRONT Act hardens the United States\u2019 ability to monitor potentially malign influence of non-profits from foreign adversaries. In order to stop adversaries such as Communist China, Russia, and Iran, we must have the tools to better understand their efforts to infiltrate our American system and influence our institutions,\u201d said Senator Ricketts.\n\nSenators Jim Justice (R-W.Va.), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), and Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.) joined Senator Budd in introducing the bill.\n\nRead the full bill text HERE.\n\nBackground\n\nRecent civil unrest has raised alarms about possible foreign influence impacting U.S. nonprofits that organize and provide material support for protests.\n\nFor example, when it comes to riots against ICE enforcement operations, FBI Director Kash Patel has publicly stated, \u201cThe FBI is investigating any and all monetary connections responsible for these riots.\u201d Reports have also indicated that \u201c[the] socialist group [which] promoted the chaotic anti-deportation protests in Los Angeles\u2026is tied to a network of groups bankrolled by a pro-China millionaire.\u201d\n\nBut this is just the surface of a deeply troubling trend of foreign interference in our political processes. As former Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines claimed, \u201cWe have observed actors tied to Iran\u2019s government posing as activists online, seeking to encourage protests, and even providing financial support to protesters,\u201d following the October 7 attacks.\n\nWhat we\u2019re witnessing is not isolated. Safeguarding our political system from continued foreign interference must be a top national security priority to protect the integrity of our democracy.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:48:13Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.budd.senate.gov/2025/07/16/sens-budd-justice-hawley-ricketts-introduce-bill-to-increase-transparency-of-foreign-funds-fueling-left-wing-agitators/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9431871585547924, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}