GOP Rep. Gooden to introduce bill requiring think tanks, nonprofits to disclose foreign donations

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FIRST ON FOX: Rep. Lance Gooden, R-Texas, will introduce legislation on Thursday which would require nonprofits and think tanks to disclose all foreign donations.

The measure, dubbed the Think Tank and Nonprofit Foreign Influence Disclosure Act, will require tax-exempt organizations to disclose in annual reports all contributions and gifts that exceed $50,000 and were received from foreign governments or foreign political parties, according to Gooden's office.

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Rep. Lance Gooden, R-Texas, walks down the House steps at the Capitol on Friday, Sept. 24, 2021. ( Photo by Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

The legislation also requires that the reports disclose the names of the governments and political parties that made the donations, as well as the aggregate amounts of contributions and gifts from foreign adversarial nations.

"It is time to investigate the Russian-funded environmental groups who have convinced President Biden not to unleash America’s full energy potential," Gooden told Fox News Digital. "Russia will use every tool at their disposal to undermine our national security, and by listening to these radical groups, the Biden Administration has allowed them to succeed."

Gooden's measure would also require the Treasury Department to release a report on foreign funding and the influence of tax-exempt organizations onthe U.S. energy sector, which includes the funding of environmental groups in America that have made it a goal to disrupt the U.S. energy industry and influence public opinion of the oil and gas industry.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin (Photo by Li Xueren/Xinhua via Getty Images | Photo by Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images)

In addition, the Treasury Department would be required to provide a report on foreign funding and influence of tax-exempt organizations that, according to Gooden's office, "directly or indirectly route to terrorist groups, and where a charitable organization knowingly or intentionally provided logistical services, recruitment, or otherwise facilitated support to a terrorist group in a conflict zone."

Last week, in a letter sent to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, the Texas congressman demanded an investigation into Russian interference through climate and environmental groups in America.

"President Biden is beholden to a cabal of radical environmental groups who are preventing his administration from unleashing America’s full energy potential," Gooden said in a statement at the time. "We must investigate whether these groups are undermining our national security because they are funded or supported by the Russian government or Russian controlled entities."

Representative Lance Gooden, a Republican from Texas, speaks during the Conservative Political Action Conference in Dallas, Texas, on Sunday, July 11, 2021. (Dylan Hollingsworth/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Gooden's letter to Yellen is not the first time he raised concerns over the issue. In a 2020 letter sent to then-Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler, Gooden requested an investigation into whether Russia and the Chinese Communist Party were interfering in U.S. politics through certain environmental activist groups.

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In late 2020, former President Trump's administration also demanded that U.S. think tanks and academic institutions disclose the funding that they receive from foreign governments in an effort to "protect the integrity of civil society institution".