118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 9488 

AN ACT 

To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to 

require the disclosure of the card verification value as 

a condition of the acceptance of online contributions 

made through the use of credit or debit cards in elections 

for Federal office and to prohibit the acceptance of contributions made through the use of gift cards in such 

elections, 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, 
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Secure Handling of 

3 Internet Electronic Donations Act’’ or the ‘‘SHIELD 

4 Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. REQUIRING DISCLOSURE OF CARD VERIFICATION 

6 VALUE AS CONDITION OF ACCEPTANCE OF 

7 ONLINE CONTRIBUTIONS MADE USING CRED8 IT OR DEBIT CARDS IN FEDERAL ELECTIONS. 

9 Section 302 of the Federal Election Campaign Act 

10 of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30102) is amended by adding at the 

11 end the following: 

12 ‘‘(j)(1) No political committee shall accept any Inter13 net credit or debit card contribution unless— 

14 ‘‘(A) the individual or entity making such con15 tribution is required, at the time such individual 

16 makes such contribution, to disclose the card 

17 verification value of such credit or debit card; and 

18 ‘‘(B)(i) the mailing address of the individual or 

19 entity is located in the United States; or 

20 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a contribution made by an 

21 individual whose mailing address is located outside 

22 of the United States, the individual provides the 

23 committee with the applicable information described 

24 in paragraph (2). 

25 ‘‘(2) The applicable information described in this 

26 paragraph is as follows: 
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1 ‘‘(A) In the case of an individual who is a cit2 izen or national of the United States— 

3 ‘‘(i) the United States mailing address the 

4 individual uses for voter registration purposes; 

5 ‘‘(ii) a copy of the individual’s United 

6 States passport; or 

7 ‘‘(iii) a copy of a comparable acceptable 

8 identification document, or the unique identi9 fying number from such a document, for the in10 dividual. 

11 ‘‘(B) In the case of a contribution made by an 

12 individual who is lawfully admitted for permanent 

13 residence, as defined by section 101(a)(20) of the 

14 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

15 1101(a)(20)— 

16 ‘‘(i) a copy of the individual’s permanent 

17 resident card; or 

18 ‘‘(ii) or a copy of a comparable acceptable 

19 identification document issued by the Depart20 ment of Homeland Security. 

21 ‘‘(3) A political committee that accepts any Internet 

22 credit or debit card contribution as a recurring contribu23 tion shall require the individual or entity making such con24 tribution to comply with the requirements of this sub25 section for the first such contribution, but shall not re-
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1 quire the individual or entity to provide the information 

2 identified in paragraphs (1) and (2) for subsequent recur3 ring contributions made using the same credit or debit 

4 card as the initial contribution. 

5 ‘‘(4) A political committee that stores or saves, or ar6 ranges to store or save, any credit or debit card informa7 tion shall require the individual or entity making such con8 tribution to comply with the requirements of this sub9 section for the first such contribution or at the time of 

10 storing or saving such information, but shall not require 

11 the individual or entity to provide the information identi12 fied in paragraphs (1) and (2) for subsequent contribu13 tions made using the same credit or debit card as the ini14 tial contribution. 

15 ‘‘(5) An Internet credit or debit card contribution re16 ceived by a political committee made through the use of 

17 a digital wallet shall be treated as complying with the re18 quirements of this subsection. 

19 ‘‘(6) Notwithstanding subsection (b) or (c), in the 

20 case of an Internet credit or debit card contribution— 

21 ‘‘(A) no later than 10 days after receiving the 

22 contribution, the person who receives the contribu23 tion shall forward to the treasurer such contribution, 

24 the name and address of the person making the con25 tribution, and the date of receipt; and 
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1 ‘‘(B) the treasurer of a political committee shall 

2 keep an account of the name and address of any 

3 person making any such contribution, together with 

4 the date and amount of such contribution by any 

5 person consistent with applicable regulations of the 

6 Commission, including regulations relating to the pe7 riod for which contribution records must be pre8 served and the anonymity of certain contributors. 

9 ‘‘(7)(A) A treasurer of a political committee shall de10 termine whether a contribution is in compliance with this 

11 subsection. If the treasurer is unable to verify that the 

12 acceptance of the contribution was not in violation of this 

13 subsection, the treasurer shall, not later than 30 days 

14 after the receipt of the contribution, refund the contribu15 tion to the individual or entity making the contribution. 

16 ‘‘(B) If the treasurer of a political committee shows 

17 that best efforts have been used to comply with the re18 quirements of this paragraph, the committee shall be con19 sidered in compliance with this subsection. 

20 ‘‘(8) In this subsection— 

21 ‘‘(A) the term ‘Internet credit or debit card 

22 contribution’ means a contribution that— 

23 ‘‘(i) is made using a credit or debit card; 

24 and 
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1 ‘‘(ii) is received through an Internet 

2 website or application; and 

3 ‘‘(B) the term ‘digital wallet’ means a software 

4 application that stores payment or account informa5 tion to facilitate traditional payments that use bank 

6 and credit card information.’’. 

7 SEC. 3. PROHIBITING ACCEPTANCE OF CONTRIBUTIONS 

8 MADE USING GIFT CARDS IN FEDERAL ELEC9 TIONS. 

10 Section 302 of the Federal Election Campaign Act 

11 of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30102), as amended by section 2(a), 

12 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(k)(1) No political committee shall knowingly accept 

14 a contribution made through the use of a gift certificate 

15 or store gift card, as such terms are defined, respectively, 

16 under section 915(a) of the Electronic Fund Transfer Act. 

17 ‘‘(2)(A) A treasurer of a political committee shall de18 termine whether a contribution is in compliance with this 

19 subsection. If the treasurer is unable to verify that the 

20 acceptance of the contribution was not in violation of this 

21 subsection, the treasurer shall, not later than 30 days 

22 after the receipt of the contribution, refund the contribu23 tion to the individual or entity making the contribution. 

24 ‘‘(B) If the treasurer of a political committee shows 

25 that best efforts have been used to comply with the re-
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1 quirements of this subsection, the committee shall be con2 sidered in compliance with this subsection.’’. 

3 SEC. 4. PROHIBITING AIDING OR ABETTING MAKING OF 

4 CONTRIBUTION IN THE NAME OF ANOTHER. 

5 Section 320 of the Federal Election Campaign Act 

6 of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30122) is amended by adding at the 

7 end the following new sentence: ‘‘No person shall know8 ingly direct, help, or assist any person in making a con9 tribution in the name of another person.’’. 

10 SEC. 5. REGULATIONS. 

11 (a) DEADLINE.—Not later than 90 days after the 

12 date of the enactment of this Act, the Federal Election 

13 Commission shall promulgate regulations to carry out the 

14 amendments made by this Act. 

15 (b) CONSULTATION WITH CREDIT CARD PAYMENT

16 NETWORKS.—In promulgating regulations under sub17 section (a) to carry out the amendments made by this Act, 

18 the Commission shall consult with representatives of pay19 ment card networks, as defined under section 921(c) of 

20 the Electronic Fund Transfer Act (15 U.S.C. 1693o– 

21 2(c)), and other relevant stakeholders. 

22 SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

23 The amendments made by this Act shall apply with 

24 respect to contributions made after the expiration of the 
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1 90-day period which begins on the date the Commission 

2 promulgates regulations under section 5. 

Passed the House of Representatives December 16, 

2024. 

Attest: 

Clerk. 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 9488 

AN ACT 

To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 

elections, and for other purposes. tions made through the use of gift cards in such fice and to prohibit the acceptance of contribucredit or debit cards in elections for Federal ofof online contributions made through the use of verification value as a condition of the acceptance 1971 to require the disclosure of the card