II 

Calendar No. 107 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1053 

To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to clarify when 

organizations described in section 527 of the Internal Revenue Code 

of 1986 must register as political committees, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 17, 2005 

Mr. LOTT, from the Committee on Rules and Administration, reported the 

following original bill; which was read twice and placed on the calendar 

A BILL 

To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to 

clarify when organizations described in section 527 of 

the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 must register as 

political committees, 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 ‘‘527 Reform Act of 

5 2005’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. TREATMENT OF SECTION 527 ORGANIZATIONS. 

2 (a) DEFINITION OF POLITICAL COMMITTEE.—Sec3 tion 301(4) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 

4 (2 U.S.C. 431(4)) is amended by striking the period at 

5 the end of subparagraph (C) and inserting ‘‘; or’’ and by 

6 adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(D) any applicable 527 organization.’’. 

8 (b) DEFINITION OF APPLICABLE 527 ORGANIZA9 TION.—Section 301 of the Federal Election Campaign Act 

10 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431) is amended by adding at the end 

11 the following new paragraph: 

12 ‘‘(27) APPLICABLE 527 ORGANIZATION.—For 

13 purposes of paragraph (4)(D)— 

14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘applicable 

15 527 organization’ means a committee, club, as16 sociation, or group of persons that— 

17 ‘‘(i) has given notice to the Secretary 

18 of the Treasury under section 527(i) of the 

19 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 that it is 

20 to be treated as an organization described 

21 in section 527 of such Code, and 

22 ‘‘(ii) is not described in subparagraph 

23 (B). 

24 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTED ORGANIZATIONS.—A com25 mittee, club, association, or other group of per26 sons described in this subparagraph is— 
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1 ‘‘(i) an organization described in sec2 tion 527(i)(5) of the Internal Revenue 

3 Code of 1986, 

4 ‘‘(ii) an organization which is a com5 mittee, club, association or other group of 

6 persons that is organized, operated, and 

7 makes disbursements exclusively for paying 

8 expenses described in the last sentence of 

9 section 527(e)(2) of the Internal Revenue 

10 Code of 1986 or expenses of a newsletter 

11 fund described in section 527(g) of such 

12 Code, 

13 ‘‘(iii) an organization which is a com14 mittee, club, association, or other group 

15 that consists solely of candidates for State 

16 or local office, individuals holding State or 

17 local office, or any combination of either, 

18 but only if the organization refers only to 

19 one or more non-Federal candidates or ap20 plicable State or local issues in all of its 

21 voter drive activities and does not refer to 

22 a Federal candidate or a political party in 

23 any of its voter drive activities, 
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1 ‘‘(iv) an organization which is a com2 mittee, club, association, or other group of 

3 persons— 

4 ‘‘(I) the election or nomination 

5 activities of which relate exclusively to 

6 any voter drive activity described in 

7 subparagraphs (A) through (D) of 

8 section 325(d)(1), 

9 ‘‘(II) the public communications 

10 of which relate exclusively to activities 

11 described in subparagraphs (A) 

12 through (D) of section 325(d)(1), and 

13 ‘‘(III) which does not engage in 

14 any broadcast, cable, or satellite com15 munications, or 

16 ‘‘(v) an organization described in sub17 paragraph (C). 

18 ‘‘(C) APPLICABLE ORGANIZATION.—For 

19 purposes of subparagraph (B)(v), an organiza20 tion described in this subparagraph is a com21 mittee, club, association, or other group of per22 sons whose election or nomination activities re23 late exclusively to— 

24 ‘‘(i) elections where no candidate for 

25 Federal office appears on the ballot; or 
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1 ‘‘(ii) one or more of the following pur2 poses: 

3 ‘‘(I) Influencing the selection, 

4 nomination, election, or appointment 

5 of one or more candidates to non-Fed6 eral offices. 

7 ‘‘(II) Influencing one or more ap8 plicable State or local issues. 

9 ‘‘(III) Influencing the selection, 

10 appointment, nomination, or con11 firmation of one or more individuals 

12 to non-elected offices. 

13 ‘‘(D) EXCLUSIVITY TEST.—A committee, 

14 club, association, or other group of persons 

15 shall not be treated as meeting the exclusivity 

16 requirement of subparagraphs (B)(iv) and (C) 

17 if it makes disbursements aggregating more 

18 than $1,000 for any of the following: 

19 ‘‘(i) A public communication that pro20 motes, supports, attacks, or opposes a 

21 clearly identified candidate for Federal of22 fice during the 1-year period ending on the 

23 date of the general election for the office 

24 sought by the clearly identified candidate 

25 (but if a run-off election is held for that 
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1 office, the 1-year period shall be extended 

2 and shall end on the date of the run-off 

3 election). 

4 ‘‘(ii) Any voter drive activity during a 

5 calendar year, except that no disburse6 ments for any voter drive activity shall be 

7 taken into account under this subpara8 graph if the committee, club, association, 

9 or other group of persons during such cal10 endar year— 

11 ‘‘(I) makes disbursements for 

12 voter drive activities with respect to 

13 elections in only 1 State and complies 

14 with all applicable election laws of 

15 that State, including laws related to 

16 registration and reporting require17 ments and contribution limitations; 

18 ‘‘(II) refers to one or more non19 Federal candidates or applicable State 

20 or local issues in all of its voter drive 

21 activities and does not refer to a Fed22 eral candidate or a political party; 

23 ‘‘(III) does not have a candidate 

24 for Federal office, an individual who 

25 holds any Federal office, a national 
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1 political party, or an agent of any of 

2 the foregoing, control or materially 

3 participate in the direction of the or4 ganization, solicit contributions to the 

5 organization (other than funds which 

6 are described under clauses (i) and 

7 (ii) of section 323(e)(1)(B)), or direct 

8 disbursements, in whole or in part, by 

9 the organization; and 

10 ‘‘(IV) makes no contributions to 

11 Federal candidates. 

12 Clause (ii) shall not apply to disbursements by 

13 any committee, club, or association, or other 

14 group of persons described in subparagraph 

15 (B)(iv). 

16 ‘‘(E) VOTER DRIVE ACTIVITY.—For pur17 poses of this paragraph, the term ‘voter drive 

18 activity’ has the meaning given such term by 

19 section 325(d)(1). 

20 ‘‘(F) APPLICABLE STATE OR LOCAL

21 ISSUE.—For purposes of this paragraph, the 

22 term ‘applicable State or local issue’ means any 

23 State or local ballot initiative, State or local ref24 erendum, State or local constitutional amend-
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1 ment, State or local bond issue, or other State 

2 or local ballot issue. 

3 ‘‘(G) REFERENCE TO FEDERAL CAN4 DIDATES.—For purposes of this paragraph, any 

5 prohibition on a reference to a Federal can6 didate shall not include any reference described 

7 in section 325(d)(4). 

8 ‘‘(H) REFERENCE TO POLITICAL PAR9 TIES.—For purposes of this paragraph, any 

10 prohibition on a reference to a political party 

11 shall not include any reference described in sec12 tion 325(d)(5).’’. 

13 (c) REGULATIONS.—The Federal Election Commis14 sion shall promulgate regulations to implement this sec15 tion not later than 60 days after the date of enactment 

16 of this Act. 

17 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

18 this section shall take effect on the date which is 60 days 

19 after the date of enactment of this Act. 

20 SEC. 3. RULES FOR ALLOCATION OF EXPENSES BETWEEN 

21 FEDERAL AND NON-FEDERAL ACTIVITIES. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title III of the Federal Election 

23 Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431 et seq.) is amended 

24 by adding at the end the following: 
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1 ‘‘SEC. 325. ALLOCATION AND FUNDING RULES FOR CER2 TAIN EXPENSES RELATING TO FEDERAL AND 

3 NON-FEDERAL ACTIVITIES. 

4 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of any disbursements 

5 by any political committee that is a separate segregated 

6 fund or nonconnected committee for which allocation rules 

7 are provided under subsection (b)— 

8 ‘‘(1) the disbursements shall be allocated be9 tween Federal and non-Federal accounts in accord10 ance with this section and regulations prescribed by 

11 the Commission, and 

12 ‘‘(2) in the case of disbursements allocated to 

13 non-Federal accounts, may be paid only from a 

14 qualified non-Federal account. 

15 ‘‘(b) COSTS TO BE ALLOCATED AND ALLOCATION

16 RULES.—Disbursements by any separate segregated fund 

17 or nonconnected committee, other than an organization 

18 described in section 323(b)(1), for any of the following 

19 categories of activity shall be allocated as follows: 

20 ‘‘(1) 100 percent of the expenses for public 

21 communications or voter drive activities that refer to 

22 one or more clearly identified Federal candidates, 

23 but do not refer to any clearly identified non-Federal 

24 candidates, shall be paid with funds from a Federal 

25 account, without regard to whether the communica26 tion refers to a political party. 
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1 ‘‘(2) At least 50 percent, or a greater percent2 age if the Commission so determines by regulation, 

3 of the expenses for public communications and voter 

4 drive activities that refer to one or more clearly 

5 identified candidates for Federal office and one or 

6 more clearly identified non-Federal candidates shall 

7 be paid with funds from a Federal account, without 

8 regard to whether the communication refers to a po9 litical party. 

10 ‘‘(3) At least 50 percent, or a greater percent11 age if the Commission so determines by regulation, 

12 of the expenses for public communications or voter 

13 drive activities that refer to a political party, but do 

14 not refer to any clearly identified Federal or non15 Federal candidate, shall be paid with funds from a 

16 Federal account, except that this paragraph shall 

17 not apply to communications or activities that relate 

18 exclusively to elections where no candidate for Fed19 eral office appears on the ballot. 

20 ‘‘(4) At least 50 percent, or a greater percent21 age if the Commission so determines by regulation, 

22 of the expenses for public communications or voter 

23 drive activities that refer to a political party and 

24 refer to one or more clearly identified non-Federal 

25 candidates, but do not refer to any clearly identified 
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1 Federal candidates, shall be paid with funds from a 

2 Federal account, except that this paragraph shall 

3 not apply to communications or activities that relate 

4 exclusively to elections where no candidate for Fed5 eral office appears on the ballot. 

6 ‘‘(5) Unless otherwise determined by the Com7 mission in its regulations, at least 50 percent of any 

8 administrative expenses, including rent, utilities, of9 fice supplies, and salaries not attributable to a clear10 ly identified candidate, shall be paid with funds from 

11 a Federal account, except that for a separate seg12 regated fund such expenses may be paid instead by 

13 its connected organization. 

14 ‘‘(6) At least 50 percent, or a greater percent15 age if the Commission so determines by regulation, 

16 of the direct costs of a fundraising program or 

17 event, including disbursements for solicitation of 

18 funds and for planning and administration of actual 

19 fundraising events, where Federal and non-Federal 

20 funds are collected through such program or event 

21 shall be paid with funds from a Federal account, ex22 cept that for a separate segregated fund such costs 

23 may be paid instead by its connected organization. 

24 This paragraph shall not apply to any fundraising 
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1 solicitations or any other activity that constitutes a 

2 public communication. 

3 ‘‘(c) QUALIFIED NON-FEDERAL ACCOUNT.—For 

4 purposes of this section— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘qualified non6 Federal account’ means an account which consists 

7 solely of amounts— 

8 ‘‘(A) that, subject to the limitations of 

9 paragraphs (2) and (3), are raised by the sepa10 rate segregated fund or nonconnected com11 mittee only from individuals, and 

12 ‘‘(B) with respect to which all require13 ments of Federal, State, or local law (including 

14 any law relating to contribution limits) are met. 

15 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION ON INDIVIDUAL DONA16 TIONS.— 

17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A separate segregated 

18 fund or nonconnected committee may not ac19 cept more than $25,000 in funds for its quali20 fied non-Federal account from any one indi21 vidual in any calendar year. 

22 ‘‘(B) AFFILIATION.—For purposes of this 

23 paragraph, all qualified non-Federal accounts of 

24 separate segregated funds or nonconnected 

25 committees which are directly or indirectly es-
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1 tablished, financed, maintained, or controlled by 

2 the same person or persons shall be treated as 

3 one account. 

4 ‘‘(3) FUNDRAISING LIMITATION.— 

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—No donation to a 

6 qualified non-Federal account may be solicited, 

7 received, directed, transferred, or spent by or in 

8 the name of any person described in subsection 

9 (a) or (e) of section 323. 

10 ‘‘(B) FUNDS NOT TREATED AS SUBJECT

11 TO ACT.—Except as provided in subsection 

12 (a)(2) and this subsection, any funds raised for 

13 a qualified non-Federal account in accordance 

14 with the requirements of this section shall not 

15 be considered funds subject to the limitations, 

16 prohibitions, and reporting requirements of this 

17 Act for any purpose (including for purposes of 

18 subsection (a) or (e) of section 323 or sub19 section (d)(2) of this section). 

20 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS AND SPECIAL RULES.—For pur21 poses of this section— 

22 ‘‘(1) VOTER DRIVE ACTIVITY.—The term ‘voter 

23 drive activity’ means any of the following activities 

24 conducted in connection with an election in which a 

25 candidate for Federal office appears on the ballot 
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1 (regardless of whether a candidate for State or local 

2 office also appears on the ballot): 

3 ‘‘(A) Voter registration activity. 

4 ‘‘(B) Voter identification. 

5 ‘‘(C) Get-out-the-vote activity. 

6 ‘‘(D) Generic campaign activity. 

7 ‘‘(E) Any public communication related to 

8 activities described in subparagraphs (A) 

9 through (D). 

10 Such term shall not include any activity described in 

11 subparagraph (A) or (B) of section 316(b)(2). 

12 ‘‘(2) FEDERAL ACCOUNT.—The term ‘Federal 

13 account’ means an account which consists solely of 

14 contributions subject to the limitations, prohibitions, 

15 and reporting requirements of this Act. Nothing in 

16 this section or in section 323(b)(2)(B)(iii) shall be 

17 construed to infer that a limit other than the limit 

18 under section 315(a)(1)(C) applies to contributions 

19 to the account. 

20 ‘‘(3) NONCONNECTED COMMITTEE.—The term 

21 ‘nonconnected committee’ shall not include a polit22 ical committee of a political party. 

23 ‘‘(4) CERTAIN REFERENCES TO FEDERAL CAN24 DIDATES NOT TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT.—A public 

25 communication or voter drive activity shall not be 
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1 treated as referring to any clearly identified Federal 

2 candidate if the only reference is— 

3 ‘‘(A) a reference, in connection with an 

4 election for a non-Federal office, to a Federal 

5 candidate who is also a candidate for such non6 Federal office; or 

7 ‘‘(B) a reference to the fact that a Federal 

8 candidate has endorsed a non-Federal candidate 

9 or an applicable State or local issue (as defined 

10 in section 301(27)(F)), including a reference 

11 that constitutes the endorsement itself. 

12 ‘‘(5) CERTAIN REFERENCES TO POLITICAL PAR13 TIES NOT TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT.—A public commu14 nication or voter drive activity shall not be treated 

15 as referring to a political party if the only reference 

16 is— 

17 ‘‘(A) a reference to a political party for the 

18 purpose of identifying a non-Federal candidate; 

19 ‘‘(B) a reference to a political party for the 

20 purpose of identifying the entity making the 

21 public communication or carrying out the voter 

22 drive activity; or 

23 ‘‘(C) a reference to a political party in a 

24 manner or context that does not reflect support 

25 for or opposition to a Federal candidate or can-
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1 didates and does reflect support for or opposi2 tion to a State or local candidate or candidates 

3 or an applicable State or local issue.’’. 

4 (b) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—Section 304(e) of 

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

6 434(e)) is amended by redesignating paragraphs (3) and 

7 (4) as paragraphs (4) and (5), respectively, and by insert8 ing after paragraph (2) the following new paragraph: 

9 ‘‘(3) RECEIPTS AND DISBURSEMENTS FROM

10 QUALIFIED NON-FEDERAL ACCOUNTS.—In addition 

11 to any other reporting requirement applicable under 

12 this Act, a political committee to which section 

13 325(a) applies shall report all receipts and disburse14 ments from a qualified non-Federal account (as de15 fined in section 325(c)).’’. 

16 (c) REGULATIONS.—The Federal Election Commis17 sion shall promulgate regulations to implement the amend18 ments made by this section not later than 180 days after 

19 the date of enactment of this Act. 

20 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

21 this section shall take effect on the date which is 180 days 

22 after the date of enactment of this Act. 
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1 SEC. 4. TELEVISION MEDIA RATES. 

2 (a) LOWEST UNIT CHARGE.—Section 315 of the 

3 Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 315) is amended 

4 by adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘(f) TELEVISION MEDIA RATES.— 

6 ‘‘(1) LOWEST UNIT CHARGE.—Notwithstanding 

7 any other provision of law, the charges made for the 

8 use of any television broadcast station, or by a pro9 vider of cable or satellite television service, to any 

10 person who is a legally qualified candidate for any 

11 public office in connection with the campaign of such 

12 candidate for nomination for election, or election, to 

13 such office or by a national committee of a political 

14 party on behalf of such candidate in connection with 

15 such campaign, shall not exceed the lowest charge of 

16 the station (at any time during the 365-day period 

17 preceding the date of the use) for pre-emptible use 

18 thereof for the same amount of time for the same 

19 period. 

20 ‘‘(2) PREEMPTION.— 

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

22 subparagraph (B), and notwithstanding the re23 quirements of paragraph (1), a licensee shall 

24 not preempt the use of a broadcasting station 

25 by an eligible candidate or political committee 
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1 of a political party who has purchased and paid 

2 for such use. 

3 ‘‘(B) CIRCUMSTANCES BEYOND CONTROL

4 OF LICENSEE.—If a program to be broadcast 

5 by a broadcasting station is preempted because 

6 of circumstances beyond the control of the sta7 tion, any candidate or party advertising spot 

8 scheduled to be broadcast during that program 

9 shall be treated in the same fashion as a com10 parable commercial advertising spot. 

11 ‘‘(3) AUDITS.— 

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—During the 45-day pe13 riod preceding a primary election and the 60- 

14 day period preceding a general election, the 

15 Commission shall conduct such audits as it 

16 deems necessary to ensure that each broad17 caster to which this subsection applies is allo18 cating television broadcast advertising time in 

19 accordance with this subsection and section 

20 312. 

21 ‘‘(B) MARKETS.—Each audit conducted 

22 under subparagraph (A) shall cover the fol23 lowing markets: 

24 ‘‘(i) At least 6 of the top 50 largest 

25 designated market areas (as defined in sec-
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1 tion 122(j)(2)(C) of title 17, United States 

2 Code). 

3 ‘‘(ii) At least 3 of the 51–100 largest 

4 designated market areas (as so defined). 

5 ‘‘(iii) At least 3 of the 101–150 larg6 est designated market areas (as so de7 fined). 

8 ‘‘(iv) At least 3 of the 151–210 larg9 est designated market areas (as so de10 fined). 

11 ‘‘(C) BROADCAST STATIONS.—Each audit 

12 conducted under subparagraph (A) shall include 

13 each of the 3 largest television broadcast net14 works, 1 independent network, and 1 cable net15 work.’’. 

16 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 504 of the 

17 Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (Public Law 

18 107-155) is amended by striking ‘‘315), as amended by 

19 this Act, is amended by redesignating subsections (e) and 

20 (f) as subsections (f) and (g), respectively, and’’ and in21 serting ‘‘315) is amended by’’. 

22 (c) STYLISTIC AMENDMENTS.—Section 315(c) the 

23 Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 315(c)) is 

24 amended— 
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1 (1) by striking ‘‘For purposes of this section— 

2 ’’ and inserting ‘‘In this section:’’; 

3 (2) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘the’’ and in4 serting ‘‘BROADCASTING STATION.—The’’; and 

5 (3) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘the’’ and in6 serting ‘‘LICENSEE; STATION LICENSEE.—The’’. 

7 SEC. 5. MODIFICATION OF DEFINITION OF PUBLIC COMMU8 NICATION. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (22) of section 301 of 

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

11 431(22)) is amended by adding at the end the following 

12 new sentence: ‘‘Such term shall not include communica13 tions over the Internet.’’. 

14 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

15 this section shall take effect on the date of the enactment 

16 of this Act. 

17 SEC. 6. INCREASE IN CONTRIBUTION LIMITS FOR POLIT18 ICAL COMMITTEES. 

19 (a) INCREASE IN POLITICAL COMMITTEE CONTRIBU20 TION LIMITS.—Section 315(a)(1)(C) of the Federal Elec21 tion Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a(a)(1)(C)) is 

22 amended by striking ‘‘$5,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$7,500’’. 

23 (b) INCREASE IN MULTICANDIDATE LIMITS.—Sec24 tion 315(a)(2) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 

25 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a(a)(2)) is amended— 
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1 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘$5,000’’ 

2 and inserting ‘‘$7,500’’; 

3 (2) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘$15,000’’ 

4 and inserting ‘‘$25,000’’; and 

5 (3) in subparagraph (C), by striking ‘‘$5,000’’ 

6 and inserting ‘‘$7,500’’. 

7 (c) INDEXING.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 315(c)(1)(B) of the 

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

10 441a(c)(1)(B)) is amended to read as follows: 

11 ‘‘(B) Except as provided in subparagraph 

12 (C)— 

13 ‘‘(i) in any calendar year after 2002— 

14 ‘‘(I) a limitation established by 

15 subsection (a)(1)(A), (a)(1)(B), 

16 (a)(3), (b), (d), or (h) shall be in17 creased by the percent difference de18 termined under subparagraph (A); 

19 ‘‘(II) each amount so increased 

20 shall remain in effect for the calendar 

21 year; and 

22 ‘‘(III) if any amount after the 

23 adjustment under subclause (I) is not 

24 a multiple of $100, such amount shall 
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1 be rounded to the nearest multiple of 

2 $100; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) in any calendar year after 

4 2006— 

5 ‘‘(I) a limitation established by 

6 subsection (a)(1)(C), (a)(1)(D), or 

7 (a)(2) shall be increased by the per8 cent difference determined under sub9 paragraph (A); 

10 ‘‘(II) each amount so increased 

11 shall remain in effect for the calendar 

12 year; and 

13 ‘‘(III) if any amount after the 

14 adjustment under subclause (I) is not 

15 a multiple of $100, such amount shall 

16 be rounded to the nearest multiple of 

17 $100.’’. 

18 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 

19 315(c) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 

20 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a(c)) is amended— 

21 (A) in paragraph (1)(C), by striking ‘‘sub22 sections (a)(1)(A), (a)(1)(B), (a)(3),’’ and in23 serting ‘‘subsections (a)’’; and 

24 (B) in paragraph (2)(B)— 
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1 (i) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of 

2 clause (i); 

3 (ii) by striking the period at the end 

4 of clause (ii) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

5 (iii) by adding at the end the fol6 lowing new clause: 

7 ‘‘(iii) for purposes of subsections 

8 (a)(1)(C), (a)(1)(D) and (a)(2), calendar 

9 year 2005.’’. 

10 (d) SPECIAL RULE FOR TRANSFERS FROM LEADER11 SHIP PACS TO NATIONAL PARTY COMMITTEES.—Para12 graph (4) of section 315(a) of the Federal Election Cam13 paign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a(a)(4)) is amended— 

14 (1) by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ before ‘‘The limitations’’; 

15 and 

16 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(B) The limitations on contributions con18 tained in paragraphs (1) and (2) do not apply 

19 to transfers between any committee (other than 

20 an authorized committee) established, financed, 

21 maintained, or controlled by a candidate or an 

22 individual holding a Federal office and political 

23 committees established and maintained by a na24 tional political party.’’. 
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1 (e) ELIMINATION OF CERTAIN RESTRICTIONS ON SO2 LICITATIONS BY CORPORATIONS AND LABOR ORGANIZA3 TIONS.— 

4 (1) WRITTEN SOLICITATIONS.—Subparagraph 

5 (B) of section 316(b)(4) of the Federal Election 

6 Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441b(b)(4)(B)) is 

7 amended— 

8 (A) by striking ‘‘2’’; and 

9 (B) by striking ‘‘during the calendar 

10 year’’. 

11 (2) PRIOR APPROVAL OF SOLICITATION FOR

12 TRADE ASSOCIATIONS.—Subparagraph (D) of sec13 tion 316(b)(4) of the Federal Election Campaign 

14 Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441b(b)(4)(D)) is amended 

15 by striking ‘‘to the extent that such solicitation’’ and 

16 all that follows and inserting a period. 

17 (f) INCREASE IN THRESHOLD FOR POLITICAL COM18 MITTEES.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 301(4)(A) of the 

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

21 431(4)(A)) is amended by striking ‘‘$1,000’’ each 

22 place it appears and inserting ‘‘$10,000’’. 

23 (2) LOCAL COMMITTEES.— 

24 (A) CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED.—Section 

25 301(4)(C) of the Federal Election Campaign 
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1 Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431(4)(C)) is amended 

2 by striking ‘‘$5,000’’ each place it appears and 

3 inserting ‘‘$10,000’’. 

4 (B) CONTRIBUTIONS MADE.—Section 

5 301(4)(C) of the Federal Election Campaign 

6 Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431(4)(C)) is amended 

7 by striking ‘‘$1,000’’ each place it appears and 

8 inserting ‘‘$10,000’’. 

9 (g) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

10 this section shall apply to calendar years beginning after 

11 December 31, 2005. 

12 SEC. 7. SEVERABILITY. 

13 If any provision of this Act or amendment made by 

14 this Act, or the application of a provision or amendment 

15 to any person or circumstance, is held to be unconstitu16 tional, the remainder of this Act and amendments made 

17 by this Act, and the application of the provisions and 

18 amendment to any person or circumstance, shall not be 

19 affected by the holding. 

20 SEC. 8. CONSTRUCTION. 

21 No provision of this Act, or amendment made by this 

22 Act, shall be construed— 

23 (1) as approving, ratifying, or endorsing a regu24 lation promulgated by the Federal Election Commis25 sion, 
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1 (2) as establishing, modifying, or otherwise af2 fecting the definition of political organization for 

3 purposes of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, or 

4 (3) as affecting the determination of whether a 

5 group organized under section 501(c) of the Internal 

6 Revenue Code of 1986 is a political committee under 

7 section 301(4) of the Federal Election Campaign 

8 Act of 1971. 

9 SEC. 9. JUDICIAL REVIEW. 

10 (a) SPECIAL RULES FOR ACTIONS BROUGHT ON

11 CONSTITUTIONAL GROUNDS.—If any action is brought for 

12 declaratory or injunctive relief to challenge the constitu13 tionality of any provision of this Act or any amendment 

14 made by this Act, the following rules shall apply: 

15 (1) The action shall be filed in the United 

16 States District Court for the District of Columbia 

17 and shall be heard by a 3-judge court convened pur18 suant to section 2284 of title 28, United States 

19 Code. 

20 (2) A copy of the complaint shall be delivered 

21 promptly to the Clerk of the House of Representa22 tives and the Secretary of the Senate. 

23 (3) A final decision in the action shall be re24 viewable only by appeal directly to the Supreme 

25 Court of the United States. Such appeal shall be 
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1 taken by the filing of a notice of appeal within 10 

2 days, and the filing of a jurisdictional statement 

3 within 30 days, of the entry of the final decision. 

4 (4) It shall be the duty of the United States 

5 District Court for the District of Columbia and the 

6 Supreme Court of the United States to advance on 

7 the docket and to expedite to the greatest possible 

8 extent the disposition of the action and appeal. 

9 (b) INTERVENTION BY MEMBERS OF CONGRESS.—In 

10 any action in which the constitutionality of any provision 

11 of this Act or any amendment made by this Act is raised 

12 (including but not limited to an action described in sub13 section (a)), any Member of the House of Representatives 

14 (including a Delegate or Resident Commissioner to Con15 gress) or Senate shall have the right to intervene either 

16 in support of or opposition to the position of a party to 

17 the case regarding the constitutionality of the provision 

18 or amendment. To avoid duplication of efforts and reduce 

19 the burdens placed on the parties to the action, the court 

20 in any such action may make such orders as it considers 

21 necessary, including orders to require intervenors taking 

22 similar positions to file joint papers or to be represented 

23 by a single attorney at oral argument. 

24 (c) CHALLENGE BY MEMBERS OF CONGRESS.—Any 

25 Member of Congress may bring an action, subject to the 
28 

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1 special rules described in subsection (a), for declaratory 

2 or injunctive relief to challenge the constitutionality of any 

3 provision of this Act or any amendment made by this Act. 

4 (d) APPLICABILITY.— 

5 (1) INITIAL CLAIMS.—With respect to any ac6 tion initially filed on or before December 31, 2008, 

7 the provisions of subsection (a) shall apply with re8 spect to each action described in such subsection. 

9 (2) SUBSEQUENT ACTIONS.—With respect to 

10 any action initially filed after December 31, 2008, 

11 the provisions of subsection (a) shall not apply to 

12 any action described in such subsection unless the 

13 person filing such action elects such provisions to 

14 apply to the action. 

Calendar No. 107 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1053 

A BILL 

To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 

for other purposes. 1986 must register as political committees, and section 527 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1971 to clarify when organizations described in 

MAY 17, 2005 

Read twice and placed on the calendar