I 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 3898 

To amend the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 and the Rules of the 

House of Representatives to strengthen financial disclosures by Members, 

officers, and employees of Congress, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 3, 2012 

Mr. KING of Iowa introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on House Administration, and in addition to the Committee 

on Rules, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 

each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 and the 

Rules of the House of Representatives to strengthen 

financial disclosures by Members, officers, and employees 

of Congress, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Sunlight Act of 2012’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DOLLAR AMOUNTS REQUIRED FOR ANNUAL FINAN2 CIAL DISCLOSURE STATEMENTS. 

3 (a) FINANCIAL DISCLOSURES.—Section 102(d) of the 

4 Ethics in Government Act of 1978 is amended by adding 

5 at the end the following new paragraph: 

6 ‘‘(3) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, 

7 in the case of reports of Members of Congress and officers 

8 and employees of Congress filed pursuant to sections 

9 101(d) and (e), references to the categories for reporting 

10 the amount or value of the items covered in paragraphs 

11 (3), (4), (5), and (8) of subsection (a) shall be deemed 

12 to be exact dollar amounts.’’. 

13 (b) AVAILABILITY OF REPORTS ON THE INTER14 NET.—Section 103 of the Ethics in Government Act of 

15 1978 is amended by adding at the end the following new 

16 subsection: 

17 ‘‘(l) A copy of each report filed under this title with 

18 the Clerk of the House of Representatives or the Secretary 

19 of the Senate shall be made available as soon as prac20 ticable to the general public on the Internet in a format 

21 that is searchable and sortable.’’. 

22 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

23 subsection (a) shall apply to reports filed for calendar 

24 years beginning after the date of enactment of this Act. 


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1 SEC. 3. PUBLIC DISPLAY OF THE SUBJECT MATTER OF DE2 BATES. 

3 Clause 2 of rule II of the Rules of the House of Rep4 resentatives is amended by adding at the end the following 

5 new paragraph: 

6 ‘‘(l) During general debate on any measure, the Clerk 

7 shall project on a wall of the Hall of the House the subject 

8 matter of that debate so that it is visible to Members and 

9 to visitors in the gallery.’’. 

10 SEC. 4. AVAILABILITY OF BILLS, CONFERENCE REPORTS, 

11 AND AMENDMENTS ON THE INTERNET BE12 FORE VOTING. 

13 Clause 11 of rule XXI of the Rules of the House of 

14 Representatives is amended to read as follows: 

15 ‘‘11. It shall not be in order to consider any bill or 

16 joint resolution, or conference report thereon, or amend17 ment thereto, unless— 

18 ‘‘(1) in the case of a bill, joint resolution, or 

19 conference report, such measure is made available to 

20 Members and the general public on the Internet for 

21 at least 48 hours before its consideration; or 

22 ‘‘(2)(A) in the case of an amendment made in 

23 order by a rule, it is made available to Members and 

24 the general public on the Internet within one hour 

25 after the rule is filed; or 


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1 ‘‘(B) in the case of an amendment under an 

2 open rule, it is made available to Members and the 

3 general public on the Internet immediately after 

4 being offered; 

5 in a format that is searchable and sortable.’’. 

6 SEC. 5. PROMOTING EXPEDITED AVAILABILITY OF FEC RE7 PORTS. 

8 (a) MANDATORY ELECTRONIC FILING FOR ALL RE9 PORTS.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 304(a)(11) of the 

11 Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 

12 434(a)(11)) is amended— 

13 (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘a 

14 person required to file—’’ and all that follows 

15 and inserting the following: ‘‘each person re16 quired to file a report under this Act shall be 

17 required to maintain and file such report in 

18 electronic form accessible by computers.’’; 

19 (B) in subparagraph (C), by striking ‘‘des20 ignations, statements, and reports’’ and insert21 ing ‘‘documents’’; and 

22 (C) in subparagraph (D), by striking 

23 ‘‘means, with respect to’’ and all that follows 

24 and inserting the following: ‘‘means any report, 

25 designation, statement, or notification required 


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1 by this Act to be filed with the Commission or 

2 the Secretary of the Senate.’’. 

3 (2) PLACEMENT OF ALL REPORTS ON INTER4 NET.—Section 304(a)(11)(B) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 

5 434(a)(11)(B)) is amended— 

6 (A) by striking ‘‘a designation, statement, 

7 report, or notification’’ and inserting ‘‘each re8 port’’; and 

9 (B) by striking ‘‘the designation, state10 ment, report, or notification’’ and inserting 

11 ‘‘the report’’. 

12 (3) SEARCHABLE AND SORTABLE MANNER OF

13 INFORMATION.—Section 304(a)(11)(B) of such Act 

14 (2 U.S.C. 434(a)(11)(B)) is amended by inserting 

15 ‘‘in a format that is searchable and sortable’’ after 

16 ‘‘Internet’’. 

17 (4) SOFTWARE FOR FILING OF ALL REPORTS.— 

18 Section 304(a)(12) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 

19 434a(a)(12)) is amended— 

20 (A) in subparagraph (A)(ii), by striking 

21 ‘‘each person required to file a designation, 

22 statement, or report in electronic form’’ and in23 serting ‘‘each person required to file a report 

24 (as defined in paragraph (11)(D))’’; and 


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1 (B) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘any 

2 designation, statement, or report’’ and inserting 

3 ‘‘any report (as defined in paragraph 

4 (11)(D))’’. 

5 (b) REQUIRING REPORTS FOR ALL CONTRIBUTIONS

6 MADE TO ANY POLITICAL COMMITTEE WITHIN 30 DAYS

7 OF ELECTION; REQUIRING REPORTS TO BE MADE WITH8 IN 24 HOURS.—Section 304(a)(6)(A) of such Act (2 

9 U.S.C. 434(a)(6)(A)) is amended to read as follows: 

10 ‘‘(A) Each political committee shall notify the Sec11 retary or the Commission, and the Secretary of State, as 

12 appropriate, in writing, of any contribution received by the 

13 committee during the period which begins on the 30th day 

14 before an election and ends at the time the polls close for 

15 such election. This notification shall be made within 24 

16 hours (or, if earlier, by midnight of the day on which the 

17 contribution is deposited) after the receipt of such con18 tribution and shall include the name of the candidate in19 volved (as appropriate) and the office sought by the can20 didate, the identification of the contributor, and the date 

21 of receipt and amount of the contribution.’’. 

22 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

23 this section shall apply with respect to reports for periods 

24 beginning on or after January 1, 2013. 

Æ 


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