Fair Elections Act

Summary: Fair Elections Act - Establishes the Fair Elections Commission to study and recommend reforms in the laws relating to elections for Congress. 
Sets forth as the primary objectives of the Commission:  (1) encouraging fair and open congressional elections that provide voters with meaningful information about candidates and issues; (2) eliminating the disproportionate influence of special interest financing of congressional elections; and (3) creating a system in which incumbent Members of Congress do not possess an inherent advantage over challengers. 
Sets forth fast-track procedures for consideration of such reform legislation. 
Authorizes appropriations.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Fair Elections Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds that--
            (1) for Congress to address the existing problems in the 
        Federal election laws, Congress must act in a nonpartisan 
        manner and engage in a debate based on academic studies and 
        empirical findings instead of partisan rhetoric;
            (2) when addressing Federal election laws, Congress must be 
        cognizant of the freedoms of speech and association protected 
        under the Constitution; and
            (3) the current Federal election laws unduly favor 
        incumbent Members of Congress, and, in previous years, Congress 
        has not been able to eliminate this bias when addressing the 
        reform of the Federal election laws.

SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT AND PURPOSE OF COMMISSION.

    There is established a commission to be known as the ``Fair 
Elections Commission'' (hereinafter in this Act referred to as the 
``Commission''). The purposes of the Commission are to study the laws 
relating to elections for Congress and to report and recommend 
legislation to reform those laws.

SEC. 4. MEMBERSHIP OF COMMISSION.

    (a) Appointment.--The Commission shall be composed of 12 members 
appointed within 15 days after the date of the enactment of this Act by 
the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, from 
among individuals who are not incumbent Members of Congress and who are 
specially qualified to serve on the Commission by reason of education, 
training, or experience. In making appointments, the President shall 
consult--
            (1) the Speaker of the House of Representatives with 
        respect to the appointment of 3 members, one of whom is not 
        affiliated with either the Republican Party or the Democratic 
        Party;
            (2) the majority leader of the Senate with respect to the 
        appointment of 3 members, one of whom is not affiliated with 
        either the Republican Party or the Democratic Party;
            (3) the minority leader of the House of Representatives 
        with respect to the appointment of 2 members, one of whom is 
        not affiliated with either the Republican Party or the 
        Democratic Party; and
            (4) the minority leader of the Senate with respect to the 
        appointment of 2 members, one of whom is not affiliated with 
        either the Republican Party or the Democratic Party.
    (b) Chairman.--At the time of the appointment, the President shall 
designate one member of the Commission as Chairman of the Commission. 
The Chairman may not be affiliated with either the Republican Party or 
the Democratic Party.
    (c) Terms.--The members of the Commission shall serve for the life 
of the Commission.
    (d) Vacancies.--A vacancy in the Commission shall be filled in the 
manner in which the original appointment was made.
    (e) Political Affiliation.--Not more than 4 members of the 
Commission may be of the same political party.

SEC. 5. POWERS OF COMMISSION.

    (a) Hearings.--The Commission may, for the purpose of carrying out 
this Act, hold hearings, sit and act at times and places, take 
testimony, and receive evidence as the Commission considers 
appropriate.
    (b) Quorum.--Seven members of the Commission shall constitute a 
quorum, but a lesser number may hold hearings. A majority of the full 
Commission is required when approving all or a portion of the 
recommended legislation. Any member of the Commission may, if 
authorized by the Commission, take any action which the Commission is 
authorized to take under this section.

SEC. 6. REPORT AND RECOMMENDED LEGISLATION.

    Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 
the Commission shall submit to the Congress a report of the activities 
of the Commission, together with a draft of legislation (including 
technical and conforming provisions) recommended by the Commission to 
reform the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431 et seq.) 
and any other laws relating to elections for Congress.

SEC. 7. PRIMARY OBJECTIVES OF THE COMMISSION.

    In formulating its draft of legislation under section 6, the 
Commission shall consider the following to be its primary objectives:
            (1) Encouraging fair and open Congressional elections that 
        provide voters with meaningful information about candidates and 
        issues.
            (2) Eliminating the disproportionate influence of special 
        interest financing of Congressional elections.
            (3) Creating a system in which incumbent Members of 
        Congress do not possess an inherent advantage over challengers.

SEC. 8. FAST-TRACK PROCEDURES.

    (a) Rules of House of Representatives and Senate.--This section is 
enacted by the Congress--
            (1) as an exercise of the rulemaking power of the House of 
        Representatives and the Senate, respectively, and as such they 
        shall be considered as part of the rules of each House, 
        respectively, or of that House to which they specifically 
        apply, and such rules shall supersede other rules only to the 
        extent that they are inconsistent therewith; and
            (2) with full recognition of the constitutional right of 
        either House to change the rules (so far as relating to such 
        House) at any time, in the same manner and to the same extent 
        as in the case of any other rule of that House.
    (b) Definitions.--As used in this section, the term ``Federal 
election bill'' means only a bill of either House of Congress which is 
introduced as provided in subsection (c) to carry out the 
recommendations of the Commission as set forth in the draft of 
legislation referred to in section 6.
    (c) Introduction and Referral.--Within 3 days after the Commission 
submits its draft legislation under section 6, a Federal election bill 
shall be introduced (by request) in the House by the majority leader of 
the House and shall be introduced (by request) in the Senate by the 
majority leader of the Senate. Such bills shall be referred to the 
appropriate committees.
    (d) Amendments Prohibited.--No amendment to a Federal election bill 
shall be in order in either the House of Representatives or the Senate; 
and no motion to suspend the application of this subsection shall be in 
order in either House; nor shall it be in order in either House to 
entertain a request to suspend the application of this subsection by 
unanimous consent.
    (e) Period for Committee and Floor Consideration.--
            (1) If the committee of either House to which a Federal 
        election bill has been referred has not reported it at the 
        close of the 20th day after its introduction, such committee 
        shall be automatically discharged from further consideration of 
        the bill and it shall be placed on the appropriate calendar. If 
        prior to the passage by one House of a Federal election bill of 
        that House, that House receives the same Federal election bill 
        from the other House, then--
                    (A) the procedure in that House shall be the same 
                as if no Federal election bill had been received from 
                the other House; but
                    (B) the vote on final passage shall be on the 
                Federal election bill of the other House.
            (2) For purposes of paragraph (1), in computing a number of 
        days in either House, there shall be excluded the days on which 
        that House is not in session because of an adjournment of more 
        than 3 days to a day certain or an adjournment of the Congress 
        sine die.
    (f) Floor Consideration in the House.--
            (1) A motion in the House of Representatives to proceed to 
        the consideration of a Federal election bill shall be highly 
        privileged except that a motion to proceed to consider may only 
        be made on the second legislative day after the calendar day on 
        which the Member making the motion announces to the House his 
        intention to do so. The motion to proceed to consider is not 
        debatable. An amendment to the motion shall not be in order, 
        nor shall it be in order to move to reconsider the vote by 
        which the motion is agreed to or disagreed to.
            (2) Consideration of a Federal election bill in the House 
        of Representatives shall be in the House with debate limited to 
        not more than 10 hours, which shall be divided equally between 
        those favoring and those opposing the bill. The previous 
        question on the Federal election bill shall be considered as 
        ordered to final passage without intervening motion. It shall 
        not be in order to move to reconsider the vote by which a 
        Federal election bill is agreed to or disagreed to.
            (3) All appeals from the decisions of the Chair relating to 
        the application of the Rules of the House of Representatives to 
        the procedure relating to a Federal election bill shall be 
        decided without debate.
    (g) Floor Consideration in the Senate.--
            (1) A motion in the Senate to proceed to the consideration 
        of a Federal election bill shall be privileged and not 
        debatable. An amendment to the motion shall not be in order, 
        nor shall it be in order to move to reconsider the vote by 
        which the motion is agreed to or disagreed to.
            (2) Debate in the Senate on a Federal election bill, and 
        all debatable motions and appeals in connection therewith, 
        shall be limited to not more than 10 hours. The time shall be 
        equally divided between, and controlled by, the majority leader 
        and the minority leader or their designees.
            (3) Debate in the Senate on any debatable motion or appeal 
        in connection with a Federal election bill shall be limited to 
        not more than 1 hour, to be equally divided between, and 
        controlled by, the mover and the manager of the bill, except 
        that in the event the manager of the bill is in favor of any 
        such motion or appeal, the time in opposition thereto, shall be 
        controlled by the minority leader or his designee. Such 
        leaders, or either of them, may, from time under their control 
        on the passage of a Federal election bill, allot additional 
        time to any Senator during the consideration of any debatable 
        motion or appeal.
            (4) A motion in the Senate to further limit debate is not 
        debatable. A motion to recommit a Federal election bill is not 
        in order.

SEC. 9. ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS.

    (a) Pay and Travel Expenses of Members.--(1) Each member of the 
Commission, other than the Chairman, shall be paid at a rate equal to 
the daily equivalent of the annual rate of basic pay payable for level 
IV of the Executive Schedule under section 5315 of title 5, United 
States Code, for each day (including travel time) during which the 
member is engaged in the actual performance of duties vested in the 
Commission. The Chairman shall be paid for each day referred to in the 
preceding sentence at a rate equal to the daily equivalent of the 
annual rate of basic pay payable for level III of the Executive 
Schedule under section 5314 of title 5, United States Code.
    (2) Members of the Commission shall receive travel expenses, 
including per diem in lieu of subsistence, in accordance with sections 
5702 and 5703 of title 5, United States Code.
    (b) Staff Director.--The Commission shall, without regard to 
section 5311(b) of title 5, United States Code, appoint a staff 
director, who shall be paid at the rate of basic pay payable for level 
IV of the Executive Schedule under section 5315 of title 5, United 
States Code.
    (c) Staff.--(1) Subject to paragraph (2), the Director, with the 
approval of the Commission, may appoint and fix the pay of additional 
personnel.
    (2) The Director may make such appointments without regard to the 
provisions of title 5, United States Code, governing appointments in 
the competitive service, and any personnel so appointed may be paid 
without regard to the provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter III of 
chapter 53 of that title relating to classification and General 
Schedule pay rates, except that an individual so appointed may not 
receive pay in excess of the maximum annual rate of basic pay payable 
for grade GS-15 of the General Schedule under section 5332 of title 5, 
United States Code.
    (d) Details.--Upon request of the Director, the head of any Federal 
department or agency may detail, on a reimbursable basis, any of the 
personnel of that department or agency to the Commission to assist the 
Commission in carrying out its duties under this Act.
    (e) Experts and Consultants.--The Commission may procure by 
contract the temporary or intermittent services of experts or 
consultants pursuant to section 3109 of title 5, United States Code.

SEC. 10. TERMINATION.

    The Commission shall cease to exist 90 days after the date of the 
submission of its report under section 6.

SEC. 11. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There are authorized to be appropriated to the Commission such sums 
as are necessary to carry out its duties under this Act.