; Whereas the State of Qatar’s state-sponsored media company, Al Jazeera, reportedly also was deployed to carry out surveillance operations targeting young pro-Israel activists at several nonprofit organizations based in Washington, DC; Whereas despite the State of Qatar’s and Al Jazeera’s extensive surveillance operations targeting Americans, at least 136 Al Jazeera journalists received credentials from the House and Senate Media Galleries in the 118th Congress, dramatically more than the 82 New York Times journalists who had received such credentials; Whereas Al Jazeera journalists were afforded the privilege of credentials, even though the Department of Justice had determined since at least 2018 that Al Jazeera’s parent entity, the Al Jazeera Media Network (AJMN), and its various subsidiaries qualify as foreign agents of Qatar under FARA, and in a September 14, 2020, letter, the Department of Justice stated, AJMN is an agent of the Government of Qatar under FARA , and also stated, AJMN and its affiliates are controlled and funded by the Government of Qatar and that the Government of Qatar has ultimate authority through its control of AJMN’s Board of Directors and AJMN’s budget [and] exercises ultimate control of AJMN. ; Whereas in order to preserve the extraordinary access provided to credentialed journalists in the Congressional Media Galleries, it is imperative to limit the number of credentials available to reporters affiliated with any given foreign state-sponsored media outlet; Whereas journalists with foreign state-sponsored media outlets should only be eligible to apply for credentials to the Congressional Media Galleries after they have undergone background checks performed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)