I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2566

To reform the financing of Federal elections, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

OCTOBER 31, 1995

Mrs. SMITH of Washington (for herself, Mr. MEEHAN, Mr. SHAYS, Mr.

MINGE, Mrs. ROUKEMA, Mr. BEREUTER, Mr. POSHARD, Mr. CARDIN,

Mr. LEACH, Mr. HORN, Mr. INGLIS of South Carolina, and Mr. FORBES)

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on

House Oversight

A BILL

To reform the financing of Federal 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,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Bipartisan Clean Con5 gress Act of 1995’’.

6 SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS.

7 The table of contents of this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title.

Sec. 2. Table of contents.

TITLE I—HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ELECTION SPENDING

LIMITS AND BENEFITS
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Sec. 101. House of Representatives election spending limits and benefits.

Sec. 102. Broadcast rates and preemption.

Sec. 103. Reduced postage rates.

Sec. 104. Contribution limit for eligible House of Representatives candidates.

Sec. 105. Reporting requirements.

TITLE II—REDUCTION OF SPECIAL INTEREST INFLUENCE

Subtitle A—Elimination of Political Action Committees From Federal

Election Activities

Sec. 201. Ban on activities of political action committees in Federal elections.

Sec. 202. Aggregate limit on large contributions.

Sec. 203. Contributions by lobbyists.

Subtitle B—Provisions Relating to Soft Money of Political Parties

Sec. 211. Soft money of political parties.

Sec. 212. Reporting requirements.

Sec. 213. Building fund exception to the definition of the term ‘‘contribution’’.

Subtitle C—Soft Money of Persons Other Than Political Parties

Sec. 221. Soft money of persons other than political parties.

Subtitle D—Contributions

Sec. 231. Contributions through intermediaries and conduits.

Subtitle E—Additional Prohibitions on Contributions

Sec. 241. Allowable contributions for candidates.

Subtitle F—Independent Expenditures

Sec. 251. Provisions relating to independent expenditures.

Sec. 252. Reporting requirements for certain independent expenditures.

TITLE III—MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS

Sec. 301. Restrictions on use of campaign funds for personal purposes.

Sec. 302. Campaign advertising amendments.

Sec. 303. Filing of reports using computers and facsimile machines.

Sec. 304. Audits.

Sec. 305. Change in certain reporting from a calendar year basis to an election

cycle basis.

Sec. 306. Disclosure of personal and consulting services.

Sec. 307. Use of candidates’ names.

Sec. 308. Reporting requirements.

Sec. 309. Simultaneous registration of candidate and candidate’s principal campaign committee.

Sec. 310. Independent litigation authority.

Sec. 311. Insolvent political committees.

Sec. 312. Regulations relating to use of non-Federal money.

Sec. 313. Term limits for Federal Election Commission.

Sec. 314. Authority to seek injunction.

Sec. 315. Expedited procedures.

Sec. 316. Official mass mailing allowance.

Sec. 317. Provisions relating to members’ official mail allowance.
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Sec. 318. Intent of Congress.

Sec. 319. Severability.

Sec. 320. Expedited review of constitutional issues.

Sec. 321. Effective date.

Sec. 322. Regulations.

1 TITLE I—HOUSE OF REPRESENT2 ATIVES ELECTION SPENDING

3 LIMITS AND BENEFITS

4 SEC. 101. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ELECTION SPEND5 ING LIMITS AND BENEFITS.

6 The Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 is

7 amended by adding at the end the following new title:

8 ‘‘TITLE V—SPENDING LIMITS

9 AND BENEFITS FOR HOUSE

10 OF REPRESENTATIVES ELEC11 TION CAMPAIGNS

12 ‘‘SEC. 501. CANDIDATES ELIGIBLE TO RECEIVE BENEFITS.

13 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this title, a can14 didate is an eligible House of Representatives candidate

15 if the Commission has certified, pursuant to section 504,

16 that the candidate—

17 ‘‘(1) meets the election cycle filing requirements

18 of subsection (b); and

19 ‘‘(2) meets the threshold contribution require20 ments of subsection (c).

21 ‘‘(b) FILING REQUIREMENTS.—

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The requirements of this

23 subsection are met if the candidate files with the
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1 Commission under penalty of perjury a declaration

2 that—

3 ‘‘(A) the candidate and the candidate’s au4 thorized committees—

5 ‘‘(i) will not exceed the expenditure

6 limits under section 502(a), (b), and (c);

7 ‘‘(ii) will not accept contributions in

8 excess of the election cycle expenditure

9 limit, reduced by any amounts transferred

10 to this election cycle from a preceding elec11 tion cycle;

12 ‘‘(iii) will not, in the event of a runoff

13 election, accept contributions in excess of

14 the runoff expenditure limit, reduced by

15 any amounts transferred to this election

16 cycle from a preceding election cycle; and

17 ‘‘(iv) will not accept any contributions

18 in violation of section 315; and

19 ‘‘(B) the candidate intends to make use of

20 the benefits provided under section 503.

21 ‘‘(2) DEADLINE FOR FILING DECLARATION.—

22 The declaration under paragraph (1) shall be filed

23 the date the candidate files as a candidate for the

24 primary election. In the case of a candidate who is

25 not eligible to participate in a primary election but
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1 qualifies for the general election ballot under State

2 law, the declaration under paragraph (1) shall be

3 filed not later than the date the candidate qualifies

4 for the general election ballot under State law.’’.

5 ‘‘(3) NOTIFICATION.—A candidate who—

6 ‘‘(A) files a declaration pursuant to sub7 section (b)(1) of this Act; and

8 ‘‘(B) subsequently acts in a manner incon9 sistent with any of the limitations or require10 ments of the declaration filed under subsection

11 (b)(1) shall file a notification regarding such

12 acts with the Commission not later than 24

13 hours after the first such act inconsistent with

14 any of the limitations or requirements and shall

15 at the same time notify all other candidates for

16 the same office by sending a copy of the notifi17 cation filed with the Commission by certified

18 mail, return receipt requested.

19 ‘‘(c) THRESHOLD CONTRIBUTION REQUIREMENTS.—

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The requirements of this

21 subsection are met if the candidate and the can22 didate’s authorized committees have received allow23 able contributions during the applicable period in an

24 amount equal to 10 percent of the election cycle ex25 penditure limit under section 502(b), and file with
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1 the Commission under penalty of perjury a state2 ment with supporting materials demonstrating that

3 this requirement has been met.

4 ‘‘(2) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this

5 Act—

6 ‘‘(A) the term ‘allowable contributions’

7 means contributions that are made as gifts of

8 money by an individual pursuant to a written

9 instrument identifying such individual as the

10 contributor, except that such term shall not in11 clude contributions from individuals residing

12 outside the candidate’s State to the extent such

13 contributions exceed 40 percent of the amount

14 set forth in paragraph (1), provided that—

15 ‘‘(i) no more than $200 of any con16 tribution from an individual shall be taken

17 in account;

18 ‘‘(ii) at least 50 percent of the

19 amount required to be raised in the can20 didate’s State comes from contributions

21 from individuals residing in the congres22 sional district of such candidate; and

23 ‘‘(iii) such term shall not include any

24 contribution within the meaning of section

25 315(a)(8), as amended by section 231; and
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1 ‘‘(B) the term ‘applicable period’ means—

2 ‘‘(i) the period beginning on January

3 1 of the calendar year preceding the cal4 endar year of the general election involved

5 and ending on the date of the general elec6 tion; or

7 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a special election

8 for the office of Representative in, or Dele9 gate or Resident Commissioner to, the

10 Congress, the period beginning on the date

11 the vacancy in such office occurs and end12 ing on the date of the general election.

13 ‘‘SEC. 502. LIMITATION ON EXPENDITURES.

14 ‘‘(a) LIMITATION ON USE OF PERSONAL FUNDS.—

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The aggregate amount of

16 expenditures that may be made during an election

17 cycle by an eligible House of Representatives can18 didate or such candidate’s authorized committees

19 from the sources described in paragraph (2) shall

20 not exceed 10 percent of the election cycle expendi21 ture limit under subsection (b).

22 ‘‘(2) SOURCES.—A source is described in this

23 subsection if it is—
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1 ‘‘(A) personal funds of the candidate and

2 members of the candidate’s immediate family;

3 or

4 ‘‘(B) personal loans incurred by the can5 didate and members of the candidate’s imme6 diate family.

7 ‘‘(b) ELECTION CYCLE EXPENDITURE LIMIT.—

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise pro9 vided in this title, the aggregate amount of expendi10 tures for an election cycle by an eligible House of

11 Representatives candidate and the candidate’s au12 thorized committees shall not exceed $600,000.

13 ‘‘(2) INDEXING.—The amount under paragraph

14 (1) shall be increased as of the beginning of each

15 calendar year based on the increase in the price

16 index determined under section 315(c), except that

17 the base period shall be calendar year 1996.

18 ‘‘(c) RUNOFF EXPENDITURE LIMITS.—The aggre19 gate amount of expenditures for a runoff election by an

20 eligible House of Representatives candidate and the can21 didate’s authorized committees shall not exceed 20 percent

22 of the election cycle expenditure limit under subsection

23 (b).

24 ‘‘(d) PAYMENT OF TAXES.—The limitation under

25 subsection (b) shall not apply to any expenditure for Fed-
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1 eral, State, or local taxes with respect to earnings on con2 tributions raised.

3 ‘‘(e) CONTESTED PRIMARY.—If, as determined by the

4 Commission, an eligible House of Representatives can5 didate in a contested primary wins that primary election

6 by a margin of 10 percent or less, the limitation contained

7 in subsection (b)(1) shall be increased by 30 percent for

8 such candidate, and such candidate shall be entitled to

9 raise additional contributions not to exceed this amount.

10 ‘‘(f) COMPLYING CANDIDATES RUNNING AGAINST

11 NONCOMPLYING CANDIDATES.—

12 ‘‘(1) If in the case of an election with more

13 than one candidate where any candidate either—

14 ‘‘(A) fails to be certified as an eligible can15 didate by the Commission and has expended

16 personal funds in excess of 10 percent of the

17 election cycle limits contained in subsection (b)

18 or has received contributions or expended per19 sonal funds which in the aggregate exceed 70

20 percent of the election cycle limits contained in

21 subsection (b), or

22 ‘‘(B) violates the limitations on expendi23 tures of this Act, any eligible House of Rep24 resentatives candidate in that election shall be

25 permitted to raise additional contributions up to
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1 an amount equal to 50 percent of the election

2 cycle limit contained in subsection (b).

3 ‘‘(2) If the candidate who has failed to be cer4 tified as an eligible candidate or who has violated

5 the limitations on expenditures of this Act has re6 ceived contributions or expended personal funds

7 which, in the aggregate, exceed 120 percent of the

8 election cycle limits contained in this section, any eli9 gible House of Representatives candidate in that

10 election shall be permitted to raise additional con11 tributions up to an amount equal to 100 percent of

12 the election cycle limit contained in subsection (b).

13 ‘‘(3) In the event a noncomplying candidate as

14 defined in subparagraphs (A) or (B) of paragraph

15 (1) spends an amount equal to 105 percent of the

16 election cycle limit contained in subsection (b), the

17 election cycle limit contained in subsection (b) for an

18 eligible House of Representatives candidate in such

19 election shall be increased by 50 percent. In the

20 event a noncomplying candidate spends an amount

21 equal to 155 percent of the election cycle limit con22 tained in subsection (b), the election cycle limit in

23 subsection (b) for an eligible House of Representa24 tives candidate in such election shall be increased by

25 100 percent.
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1 ‘‘(g) RESPONDING TO INDEPENDENT EXPENDI2 TURES.—In the event an eligible House of Representatives

3 candidate is notified pursuant to section 304(c)(4) by the

4 Commission that independent expenditures totaling in the

5 aggregate $25,000 or more have been made in the same

6 election in favor of another candidate or against such eligi7 ble candidate, such eligible candidate shall be permitted

8 to spend an amount equal to the amount of such independ9 ent expenditures, without such expenditures being subject

10 to such eligible candidates’s election cycle expenditure

11 limit in subsection (b), as may be modified by subsection

12 (c), (e), or (f).

13 ‘‘SEC. 503. BENEFITS ELIGIBLE CANDIDATES ENTITLED TO

14 RECEIVE.

15 ‘‘For any election in which an eligible House of Rep16 resentatives candidate has at least one opponent who has

17 qualified for the ballot and who has raised in contributions

18 or expended in personal funds an amount equal to 10 per19 cent of the election cycle limit in section 502(b), such eligi20 ble candidate shall be entitled to receive—

21 ‘‘(1) the broadcast media rates provided under

22 section 315(b) of the Communications Act of 1934;

23 and

24 ‘‘(2) the reduced postage rates provided in sec25 tion 3626(e) of title 30, United States Code.
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1 ‘‘SEC. 504. CERTIFICATION BY COMMISSION.

2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall determine

3 whether a candidate has met the requirements of this title

4 and, based upon that determination, shall issue a certifi5 cation stating whether or not such candidate is eligible to

6 receive benefits under this title.

7 ‘‘(b) CERTIFICATION.—Upon receipt of the declara8 tion required under section 501(b) and the statement re9 quired under section 501(c), and such other information

10 as the Commission may by regulation require, the Com11 mission shall determine if such candidate meets the eligi12 bility requirements in section 501 and, if so, shall certify

13 the candidate’s eligibility for the benefits referred to in

14 section 503. The Commission shall revoke such certifi15 cation if, based on relevant information submitted in such

16 form and manner as the Commission may require or based

17 on relevant information that otherwise comes to its atten18 tion, it determines a candidate fails to continue to meet

19 any of the requirements of this title, including the limita20 tions on expenditures set forth in section 502(a), (b) and

21 (c).

22 ‘‘(c) DETERMINATION BY COMMISSION.—All deter23 minations (including certifications under this section)

24 made by the Commission under this title shall be final,

25 except to the extent that they are subject to examination
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1 and audit by the Commission under section 505 and sub2 ject to judicial review.

3 ‘‘SEC. 505. REPAYMENTS; ADDITIONAL CIVIL PENALTIES.

4 ‘‘(a) MISUSE OF BENEFITS.—If the Commission de5 termines that any benefit made available to an eligible

6 House of Representatives candidate under this title was

7 not used as provided for in this title, or that an eligible

8 candidate has violated any of the spending limits con9 tained in this Act or otherwise revokes the certification

10 of a candidate as an eligible House of Representatives can11 didate, the Commission shall so notify the candidate and

12 the candidate shall pay to the provider of such benefits

13 received an amount equal to the value of the benefits re14 ceived under this title.

15 ‘‘(b) CIVIL PENALTIES.—

16 ‘‘(1) LOW AMOUNT OF EXCESS EXPENDI17 TURES.—Any eligible House of Representatives can18 didate who makes expenditures that exceed a limita19 tion under this title by 2.5 percent or less shall pay

20 to the Commission an amount equal to the amount

21 of the excess expenditures.

22 ‘‘(2) MEDIUM AMOUNT OF EXCESS EXPENDI23 TURES.—Any eligible House of Representatives can24 didate who makes expenditures that exceed a limita25 tion under this title by more than 2.5 percent and
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1 less than 5 percent shall pay to the Commission an

2 amount equal to 3 times the amount of the excess

3 expenditures.

4 ‘‘(3) LARGE AMOUNT OF EXCESS EXPENDI5 TURES.—Any eligible House of Representatives can6 didate who makes expenditures that exceed a limita7 tion under this title by 5 percent or more shall pay

8 to the Commission an amount equal to 3 times the

9 amount of the excess expenditures plus a civil pen10 alty to be imposed pursuant to the procedures of

11 section 309 of this Act (2 U.S.C. 437(g)).’’.

12 SEC. 102. BROADCAST RATES AND PREEMPTION.

13 (a) BROADCAST RATES.—Section 315(b) of the Com14 munications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 315(b)) is amended—

15 (1) by striking ‘‘(b) The charges’’ and inserting

16 ‘‘(b)(1) The charges’’;

17 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and (2) as

18 subparagraphs (A) and (B), respectively;

19 (3) in paragraph (1)(A), as redesignated—

20 (A) by striking ‘‘forty-five’’ and inserting

21 ‘‘30’’; and

22 (B) by striking ‘‘lowest unit charge of the

23 station for the same class and amount of time

24 for the same period’’ and inserting ‘‘lowest

25 charge of the station for the same amount of
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1 time for the same period on the same date’’;

2 and

3 (4) by adding at the end the following new

4 paragraph:

5 ‘‘(2) In the case of an eligible House of Representa6 tives candidate (as described in section 501(a) of the Fed7 eral Election Campaign Act of 1971), the charges for the

8 use of a television or radio broadcasting station during

9 the 30-day period and 60-day period referred to in para10 graph (1)(A) shall not exceed 50 percent of the lowest

11 charge described in paragraph (1)(A).’’.

12 (b) PREEMPTION; ACCESS.—Section 315 of such Act

13 (47 U.S.C. 315) is amended—

14 (1) by redesignating subsections (c) and (d) as

15 subsections (d) and (e), respectively; and

16 (2) by inserting immediately after subsection

17 (b) the following subsection:

18 ‘‘(c)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), a li19 censee shall not preempt the use, during any period speci20 fied in subsection (b)(1)(A), of a broadcasting station by

21 an eligible House of Representatives candidate who has

22 purchased and paid for such use pursuant to subsection

23 (b)(2).

24 ‘‘(2) If a program to be broadcast by a broadcasting

25 station is preempted because of circumstances beyond the
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1 control of the broadcasting station, any candidate adver2 tising spot scheduled to be broadcast during that program

3 may also be preempted.’’.

4 (c) REVOCATION OF LICENSE FOR FAILURE TO PER5 MIT ACCESS.—Section 312(a)(7) of the Communications

6 Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 312(a)(7)) is amended—

7 (1) by striking ‘‘or repeated’’;

8 (2) by inserting ‘‘or cable system’’ after ‘‘broad9 casting station’’; and

10 (3) by striking ‘‘his candidacy’’ and inserting

11 ‘‘the candidacy of such person, under the same

12 terms, conditions, and business practices as apply to

13 its most favored advertiser’’.

14 (d) JURISDICTION OVER TAKINGS CHALLENGE TO

15 BROADCAST RATES.—The United States Court of Federal

16 Claims shall have exclusive jurisdiction over any action

17 challenging the constitutionality of the broadcast media

18 rates required to be offered to political candidates under

19 section 503(1) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of

20 1971 and section 315(b) of the Communications Act of

21 1934. Money damages shall be the sole and exclusive rem22 edy in such cases, and only individuals or entities suffering

23 actual financial injury shall have standing to maintain

24 such an action.
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1 (e) CONDITION OF RENEWAL OR NEW LICENSE.—

2 Section 307 of the Communications Act of 1934 is amend3 ed by adding the following: ‘‘The continuation of an exist4 ing license, the renewal of an expiring license, and the is5 suance of a new license shall be expressly conditioned on

6 the agreement by the licensee to abide by the provisions

7 of section 503(1) of the Federal Election Campaign Act

8 of 1971 and section 315(b) of this Act. The Commission

9 shall take such action as it deems appropriate to assure

10 compliance with this requirement.’’.

11 (f) REGULATIONS.—The Commission, in consultation

12 with the Federal Communications Commission, shall issue

13 regulations to modify the requirements of this section in

14 any cases where a licensee establishes that such require15 ments would impose significant economic hardship.

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

17 this section shall apply to the general elections occurring

18 after December 31, 1996 (and the election cycles relating

19 thereto).

20 SEC. 103. REDUCED POSTAGE RATES.

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 3626(e) of title 39, Unit22 ed States Code, is amended—

23 (1) in paragraph (2)—

24 (A) in subparagraph (A)—
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1 (i) by striking ‘‘and the National’’ and

2 inserting ‘‘the National’’; and

3 (ii) by inserting before the semicolon

4 the following: ‘‘, and, subject to paragraph

5 (3), the principal campaign committee of

6 an eligible House of Representatives can7 didate;’’;

8 (B) in subparagraph (B), by striking

9 ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon;

10 (C) in subparagraph (C), by striking the

11 period and inserting a semicolon; and

12 (D) by adding after subparagraph (C) the

13 following new subparagraphs:

14 ‘‘(D) the term ‘principal campaign committee’

15 has the meaning given such term in section 301 of

16 the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971; and

17 ‘‘(E) the term ‘eligible House of Representa18 tives candidate’ has the meaning given such term in

19 section 501(a) of the Federal Election Campaign

20 Act of 1971.’’; and

21 (2) by adding after paragraph (2) the following

22 new paragraph:

23 ‘‘(3) The rate made available under this subsection

24 with respect to an eligible House of Representatives can25 didate shall apply only to that number of pieces of mail
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1 equal to 3 times the number of individuals in the voting

2 age population (as certified under section 315(e) of such

3 Act) of the congressional district.’’.

4 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

5 this section shall apply to the general elections occurring

6 after December 31, 1996 (and the election cycles relating

7 thereto).

8 SEC. 104. CONTRIBUTION LIMIT FOR ELIGIBLE HOUSE OF

9 REPRESENTATIVES CANDIDATES.

10 Section 315(a)(1) of the Federal Election Campaign

11 Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a(a)(1)) is amended—

12 (1) by inserting ‘‘except as provided in subpara13 graph (B),’’ before ‘‘to’’ in subparagraph (A);

14 (2) by redesignating subparagraphs (B) and

15 (C) as subparagraphs (C) and (D), respectively; and

16 (3) by inserting immediately after subpara17 graph (A) the following new subparagraph:

18 ‘‘(B) to any eligible House of Representa19 tives candidate and the authorized political

20 committees of such candidate with respect to

21 any election for the office of Representative in,

22 or Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, the

23 Congress, which, in the aggregate, exceed

24 $2,000, provided that such candidate is in a
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1 general election where one or more candidates

2 either:

3 ‘‘(i) fail to be certified as an eligible

4 candidate by the Commission and have re5 ceived contributions or expended personal

6 funds, which in the aggregate, are in ex7 cess of 50 percent, or have expended per8 sonal funds in excess of 25 percent, of the

9 election cycle limits contained in section

10 502(b); or

11 ‘‘(ii) violate the limitations on expend12 itures contained in this Act.’’.

13 SEC. 105. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.

14 (a) Any candidate for the House of Representatives

15 who during the election cycle expends more than the limi16 tation under section 502(a) during the election cycle from

17 his personal funds, the funds of his immediate family, and

18 personal loans incurred by the candidate and the can19 didate’s immediate family shall report such expenditures

20 to the Commission within 48 hours after such expendi21 tures have been made or loans incurred. An additional re22 port shall be filed within 48 hours of the date such can23 didate makes expenditures of such personal funds aggre24 gating 25 percent of the election cycle limit under section

25 502(b).
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1 (b) Any candidate for the House of Representatives

2 who has failed to be certified as an eligible candidate by

3 the Commission and who during the election cycle has re4 ceived contributions or expended personal funds which, in

5 the aggregate, exceed 50 percent of the election cycle lim6 its contained in section 502(b), shall file a report with the

7 Commission within 48 hours after such contributions have

8 been received or such expenditures have been made. Addi9 tional reports shall be filed within 48 hours after such can10 didate has received contributions or expended personal

11 funds which, in the aggregate, exceed 70 percent and 120

12 percent of the election cycle limit. Additional reports shall

13 be filed within 48 hours after the candidate spends an

14 amount equal to 105 percent and 155 percent of the elec15 tion cycle limit contained in section 502(b).

16 (c) The Commission within 48 hours after any report

17 has been filed under subsections (a) and (b) shall notify

18 each eligible House of Representatives candidate in the

19 election about each such report.

20 (d) If any act which requires the filing of any report

21 under subsection (a) or (b) occurs after the 20th day, but

22 more than 24 hours before an election, such report shall

23 be filed by the candidate within 24 hours of the occurrence

24 of such act. For any such report filed pursuant to this

25 subsection, the Commission shall notify the appropriate el-
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1 igible House of Representatives candidate within 24 hours

2 after the filing of such report.

3 TITLE II—REDUCTION OF

4 SPECIAL INTEREST INFLUENCE

5 Subtitle A—Elimination of Political

6 Action Committees From Fed7 eral Election Activities

8 SEC. 201. BAN ON ACTIVITIES OF POLITICAL ACTION COM9 MITTEES IN FEDERAL ELECTIONS.

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

11 Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 301 et seq.) is amended

12 by adding at the end the following new section:

13 ‘‘BAN ON FEDERAL ELECTION ACTIVITIES BY POLITICAL

14 ACTION COMMITTEES

15 ‘‘SEC. 324. Notwithstanding any other provision of

16 this Act, no person other than an individual or a political

17 committee may make contributions, solicit or receive con18 tributions, or make expenditures for the purpose of influ19 encing an election for Federal office.’’.

20 (b) DEFINITION OF POLITICAL COMMITTEE.—(1)

21 Section 301(4) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of

22 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431(4)) is amended to read as follows:

23 ‘‘(4) The term ‘political committee’ means—

24 ‘‘(A) the principal campaign committee of

25 a candidate;
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1 ‘‘(B) any national, State, or district com2 mittee of a political party, including any subor3 dinate committee thereof;

4 ‘‘(C) any local committee of a political

5 party that—

6 ‘‘(i) receives contributions aggregating

7 in excess of $5,000 during a calendar year;

8 ‘‘(ii) makes payments exempted from

9 the definition of contribution or expendi10 ture under paragraph (8) or (9) aggregat11 ing in excess of $5,000 during a calendar

12 year; or

13 ‘‘(iii) makes contributions or expendi14 tures aggregating in excess of $1,000 dur15 ing a calendar year; and

16 ‘‘(D) any committee jointly established by

17 a principal campaign committee and any com18 mittee described in subparagraph (B) or (C) for

19 the purpose of conducting joint fundraising ac20 tivities.’’.

21 (2) Section 316(b)(2) of the Federal Election Cam22 paign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441b(b)(2)) is amended—

23 (A) by inserting ‘‘or’’ after ‘‘subject;’’;

24 (B) by striking ‘‘and their families; and’’ and

25 inserting ‘‘and their families.’’; and
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1 (C) by striking subparagraph (C).

2 (c) PROHIBITION OF LEADERSHIP COMMITTEES.—

3 Section 302(e) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of

4 1971 (2 U.S.C. 432(e)) is amended—

5 (1) by amending paragraph (3) to read as fol6 lows:

7 ‘‘(3) No political committee that supports or has sup8 ported more than one candidate may be designated as an

9 authorized committee, except that—

10 ‘‘(A) a candidate for the office of President

11 nominated by a political party may designate the na12 tional committee of such political party as the can13 didate’s principal campaign committee, but only if

14 that national committee maintains separate books of

15 account with respect to its functions as a principal

16 campaign committee; and

17 ‘‘(B) a candidate may designate a political com18 mittee established solely for the purpose of joint

19 fundraising by such candidates as an authorized

20 committee.’’; and

21 (2) by adding at the end the following new

22 paragraph:

23 ‘‘(6)(A) A candidate for Federal office or any individ24 ual holding Federal office may not directly or indirectly

25 establish, finance, maintain, or control any Federal or
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1 non-Federal political committee other than a principal

2 campaign committee of the candidate, authorized commit3 tee, party committee, or other political committee des4 ignated in accordance with paragraph (3). A candidate for

5 more than one Federal office may designate a separate

6 principal campaign committee for each Federal office.

7 This paragraph shall not preclude a Federal officeholder

8 who is a candidate for State or local office from establish9 ing, financing, maintaining, or controlling a political com10 mittee for election of the individual to such State or local

11 office.

12 ‘‘(B) For one year after the effective date of this

13 paragraph, any political committee established before such

14 date but which is prohibited under subparagraph (A) may

15 continue to make contributions. At the end of that period

16 such political committee shall disburse all funds by one

17 or more of the following means: making contributions to

18 an entity qualified under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal

19 Revenue Code of 1986 that is not established, maintained,

20 financed, or controlled directly or indirectly by any can21 didate for Federal office or any individual holding Federal

22 office; making a contribution to the treasury of the United

23 States; contributing to the national, State, or local com24 mittees of a political party; or making contributions not

25 to exceed $1,000 to candidates for elective office.’’.
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1 (d) RULES APPLICABLE WHEN BAN NOT IN EF2 FECT.—For purposes of the Federal Election Campaign

3 Act of 1971, during any period beginning after the effec4 tive date in which the limitation under section 324 of that

5 Act (as added by subsection (a)) is not in effect—

6 (1) the amendments made by subsections (a)

7 and (b), shall not be in effect;

8 (2) it shall be unlawful for a multicandidate po9 litical committee to make a contribution to a can10 didate for election, or nomination for election, to

11 Federal office (or to an authorized committee of

12 such candidate) to the extent that the making or ac13 cepting of the contribution will cause the amount of

14 contributions in aggregate received by the candidate

15 and the candidate’s authorized committees from

16 multicandidate political committees to exceed an

17 amount equal to 25 percent of the election cycle

18 spending limits set forth in section 502(b), as may

19 be modified by section 502(c), (e) and (f), regardless

20 of whether the candidate is an eligible House of

21 Representatives candidate; and

22 (3) notwithstanding any other provision of this

23 Act, it shall be unlawful for a multicandidate politi24 cal committee to make any contribution to a can25 didate and his authorized political committees with
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1 respect to any election for Federal office which, in

2 the aggregate, exceed the amount that an individual

3 is allowed to contribute directly to such candidate or

4 to such candidate’s authorized committees.

5 (e) EXCESS CONTRIBUTIONS.—A candidate (or au6 thorized committees of such candidate) who receives a con7 tribution from a multicandidate political committee in ex8 cess of the amount allowed under subsection (d)(1) shall

9 return the amount of such excess contribution to the con10 tributor.

11 (f) REPEAL OF MULTICANDIDATE CONTRIBUTION

12 LIMIT.—Section 315(a)(2)(A) (2 U.S.C. 441a(a)(2)(A)) is

13 hereby repealed: Provided, That any of the provisions in

14 subsections (a), (b), and (d) are in effect.

15 SEC. 202. AGGREGATE LIMIT ON LARGE CONTRIBUTIONS.

16 (a) Title III of the Federal Election Campaign Act

17 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431 et seq.) is amended by adding at

18 the end the following new section:

19 ‘‘SEC. 327. (a) For purposes of the Federal Election

20 Campaign Act of 1971, during any period beginning after

21 the effective date of this Act, it shall be unlawful for a

22 candidate for election for the office of Representative in,

23 or Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, the Congress

24 (or the authorized committees of such candidate) to accept

25 any contribution from an individual in excess of $250 to
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1 the extent that the acceptance of such contribution will

2 cause the aggregate amount of contributions from individ3 uals in excess of $250 received by the candidate and the

4 candidate’s authorized committees to exceed an amount

5 equal to 25 percent of the election cycle spending limits

6 set forth in section 502(b), as may be modified by section

7 502(c), (e), or (f), regardless of whether the candidate is

8 an eligible House of Representatives candidate.

9 ‘‘(b) The restrictions of subsection (a) shall not apply

10 to an eligible House of Representatives candidate if such

11 candidate is entitled to the contribution limit provided in

12 section 104.’’.

13 (b) For purposes of the Federal Election Campaign

14 Act of 1971, during any period beginning after the effec15 tive date in which the limitations of section 327 (as added

16 by subsection (a)) are not in effect, a new clause (vi) shall

17 be inserted in section 501(b)(1) as follows:

18 ‘‘(vi) will not accept any contributions

19 from an individual in excess of $250 to the

20 extent that the acceptance of such con21 tribution will cause the aggregate amount

22 of contributions from individuals in excess

23 of $250 received by the candidate and the

24 candidate’s authorized committees to ex25 ceed an amount equal to 25 percent of the
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1 election cycle spending limits set forth in

2 section 502(b), as may be modified by sec3 tion 502(c), (e), or (f): Provided, however,

4 That this clause shall not apply to an eligi5 ble House of Representatives candidate if

6 such candidate is entitled to the contribu7 tion limit provided in section 104.’’.

8 SEC. 203. CONTRIBUTIONS BY LOBBYISTS.

9 Section 315(a) of the Federal Election Campaign Act

10 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a(a)) is amended by adding at the

11 end the following new subsection:

12 ‘‘(9) Notwithstanding 2 U.S.C. 441a(a)(1)(A),

13 any person required to register under section 308 of

14 the Federal Regulation of Lobbying Act (2 U.S.C.

15 267) or the Foreign Agents Registration Act of

16 1938 (22 U.S.C. 611 et seq.) or any person whose

17 activities are required to be reported pursuant to

18 any successor Federal law which requires reporting

19 on the activities of a person who is a lobbyist or for20 eign agent, or any political committee controlled by

21 such person, shall not make contributions to, or so22 licit contributions for, any candidate and his author23 ized political committees with respect to any election

24 for Federal office which, in the aggregate, exceed

25 $100.’’.
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1 Subtitle B—Provisions Relating to

2 Soft Money of Political Parties

3 SEC. 211. SOFT MONEY OF POLITICAL PARTIES.

4 Title III of the Federal Election Campaign Act of

5 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431 et seq.) is amended by adding at the

6 end the following new section:

7 ‘‘SOFT MONEY OF POLITICAL PARTIES

8 ‘‘SEC. 325. (a) A national committee of a political

9 party, including the national congressional campaign com10 mittees of a political party, and any officers or agents of

11 such party committees, shall not solicit or receive any con12 tributions, donations, or transfers of funds, or spend any

13 funds, not subject to the limitations, prohibitions, and re14 porting requirements of this Act. This subsection shall

15 apply to any entity that is established, financed, main16 tained, or controlled by a national committee of a political

17 party, including the national congressional campaign com18 mittees of a political party, and any officers or agents of

19 such party committees.

20 ‘‘(b)(1) Any amount expended or disbursed by a

21 State, district, or local committee of a political party, dur22 ing a calendar year in which a Federal election is held,

23 for any activity which might affect the outcome of a Fed24 eral election, including but not limited to any voter reg25 istration and get-out-the-vote activity, any generic cam-
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1 paign activity, and any communication that identifies a

2 Federal candidate (regardless of whether a State or local

3 candidate is also mentioned or identified) shall be made

4 from funds subject to the limitations, prohibitions and re5 porting requirements of this Act.

6 ‘‘(2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to expenditures

7 or disbursements made by a State, district or local com8 mittee of a political party for—

9 ‘‘(A) a contribution to a candidate other than

10 for Federal office, provided that such contribution is

11 not designated or otherwise earmarked to pay for ac12 tivities described in paragraph (1);

13 ‘‘(B) the costs of a State or district/local politi14 cal convention;

15 ‘‘(C) the non-Federal share of a State, district

16 or local party committee’s administrative and over17 head expenses (but not including the compensation

18 in any month of any individual who spends more

19 than 20 percent of his or her time on activity during

20 such month which may affect the outcome of a Fed21 eral election). For purposes of this provision, the

22 non-Federal share of a party committee’s adminis23 trative and overhead expenses shall be determined by

24 applying the ratio of the non-Federal disbursements

25 to the total Federal expenditures and non-Federal
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1 disbursements made by the committee during the

2 previous presidential election year to the committee’s

3 administrative and overhead expenses in the election

4 year in question;

5 ‘‘(D) the costs of grassroots campaign mate6 rials, including buttons, bumper stickers, and yard

7 signs, which materials solely name or depict a State

8 or local candidate; or

9 ‘‘(E) the cost of any campaign activity con10 ducted solely on behalf of a clearly identified State

11 or local candidate, provided that such activity is not

12 a get out the vote activity or any other activity cov13 ered by paragraph (1).

14 ‘‘(3) Any amount spent by a national, State, district

15 or local committee or entity of a political party to raise

16 funds that are used, in whole or in part, to pay the costs

17 of any activity covered by paragraph (1) shall be made

18 from funds subject to the limitations, prohibitions, and re19 porting requirements of this Act. This paragraph shall

20 apply to any entity that is established, financed, main21 tained, or controlled by a State, district or local committee

22 of a political party or any agent or officer of such party

23 committee in the same manner as it applies to that com24 mittee.
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1 ‘‘(c) No national, State, district or local committee

2 of a political party shall solicit any funds for or make any

3 donations to any organization that is exempt from Federal

4 taxation under section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue

5 Code of 1986.

6 ‘‘(d)(1) No candidate for Federal office, individual

7 holding Federal office, or any agent of such candidate or

8 officeholder, may solicit or receive (A) any funds in con9 nection with any Federal election unless such funds are

10 subject to the limitations, prohibitions and reporting re11 quirements of this Act; (B) any funds that are to be ex12 pended in connection with any election for other than a

13 Federal election unless such funds are not in excess of

14 the amounts permitted with respect to contributions to

15 Federal candidates and political committees under section

16 315(a)(1) and (2), and are not from sources prohibited

17 from making contributions by this Act with respect to elec18 tion for Federal office. This paragraph shall not apply to

19 the solicitation or receipt of funds by an individual who

20 is a candidate for a non-Federal office if such activity is

21 permitted under State law for such individual’s non-Fed22 eral campaign committee.

23 ‘‘(2)(A) No candidate for Federal office or individual

24 holding Federal office may directly or indirectly establish,

25 maintain, finance or control any organization described in
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1 section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 if

2 such organization raises funds from the public.

3 ‘‘(B) No candidate for Federal office or individual

4 holding Federal office may raise funds for any organiza5 tion described in section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue

6 Code of 1986 if the activities of the organization include

7 voter registration or get-out-the-vote campaigns.

8 ‘‘(C) For purposes of this paragraph, an individual

9 shall be treated as holding Federal office if such individ10 ual—

11 ‘‘(i) holds a Federal office; or

12 ‘‘(ii) holds a position described in level I of the

13 Executive Schedule under 5312 of title 5, United

14 States Code.’’.

15 SEC. 212. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.

16 (a) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—Section 304 of the

17 Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 434)

18 is amended by adding at the end the following new sub19 section:

20 ‘‘(d) POLITICAL COMMITTEES.—(1) A political com21 mittee other than a national committee of a political party,

22 any congressional campaign committee of a political party,

23 and any subordinate committee of either, to which section

24 325(b)(1) applies shall report all receipts and disburse25 ments.
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1 ‘‘(2) Any political committee other than the commit2 tees of a political party shall report any receipts or dis3 bursements that are used in connection with a Federal

4 election.

5 ‘‘(3) If a political committee has receipts or disburse6 ments to which this subsection applies from any person

7 aggregating in excess of $200 for any calendar year, the

8 political committee shall separately itemize its reporting

9 for such person in the same manner as required in sub10 section (b)(3)(A), (5), or (6).

11 ‘‘(4) Reports required to be filed under this sub12 section shall be filed for the same time periods required

13 for political committees under subsection (a).’’.

14 (b) REPORTS BY STATE COMMITTEES.—Section 304

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

16 434), as amended by subsection (a), is further amended

17 by adding at the end the following new subsection:

18 ‘‘(e) FILING OF STATE REPORTS.—In lieu of any re19 port required to be filed by this Act, the Commission may

20 allow a State committee of a political party to file with

21 the Commission a report required to be filed under State

22 law if the Commission determines such reports contain

23 substantially the same information.’’.

24 (c) OTHER REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—
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1 (1) AUTHORIZED COMMITTEES.—Section

2 304(b)(4) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of

3 1971 (2 U.S.C. 434(b)(4)) is amended—

4 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub5 paragraph (H);

6 (B) by inserting ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub7 paragraph (I); and

8 (C) by adding at the end the following new

9 subparagraph:

10 ‘‘(J) in the case of an authorized commit11 tee, disbursements for the primary election, the

12 general election, and any other election in which

13 the candidate participates;’’.

14 (2) NAMES AND ADDRESSES.—Section

15 304(b)(5)(A) of the Federal Election Campaign Act

16 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 434(b)(5)(A)) is amended—

17 (A) by striking ‘‘within the calendar year’’;

18 and

19 (B) by inserting ‘‘, and the election to

20 which the operating expenditure relates’’ after

21 ‘‘operating expenditure’’.

22 SEC. 213. BUILDING FUND EXCEPTION TO THE DEFINITION

23 OF THE TERM ‘‘CONTRIBUTION’’.

24 Section 301(8)(B) of the Federal Election Campaign

25 Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431(8)(B)) is amended—
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1 (1) by striking out clause (viii); and

2 (2) by redesignating clauses (ix) through (xiv)

3 as clauses (viii) through (xiii), respectively.

4 Subtitle C—Soft Money of Persons

5 Other Than Political Parties

6 SEC. 221. SOFT MONEY OF PERSONS OTHER THAN POLITI7 CAL PARTIES.

8 Section 304 of the Federal Election Campaign Act

9 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 434), as amended by section 212(a)

10 and (c), is further amended by adding at the end the fol11 lowing new subsection:

12 ‘‘(f) ELECTION ACTIVITY OF PERSONS OTHER THAN

13 POLITICAL PARTIES.—(1)(A)(i) If any person to which

14 section 325 does not apply makes (or obligates to make)

15 disbursements for activities described in section 325(b)(1)

16 in excess of $2,000, such person shall file a statement—

17 ‘‘(I) within 48 hours after the disbursements

18 (or obligations) are made; or

19 ‘‘(II) in the case of disbursements (or obliga20 tions) that are required to be made within 20 days

21 of the election, within 24 hours after such disburse22 ment (or obligations) are made.

23 ‘‘(ii) An additional statement shall be filed each time

24 additional disbursements aggregating $2,000 are made (or

25 obligated to be made) by a person described in clause (i).
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1 ‘‘(B) This paragraph shall not apply to—

2 ‘‘(i) a candidate or a candidate’s authorized

3 committees; or

4 ‘‘(ii) an independent expenditure (as defined in

5 section 301(17)).

6 ‘‘(2) Any statement under this section shall be filed

7 with the Commission and shall contain such information

8 as the Commission shall prescribe, including whether the

9 disbursement is in support of, or in opposition to, 1 or

10 more candidates or any political party.’’.

11 Subtitle D—Contributions

12 SEC. 231. CONTRIBUTIONS THROUGH INTERMEDIARIES

13 AND CONDUITS.

14 Section 315(a)(8) of the Federal Election Campaign

15 Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a(a)(8)) is amended to read

16 as follows:

17 ‘‘(8) For the purposes of this subsection:

18 ‘‘(A) Contributions made by a person, ei19 ther directly or indirectly, to or on behalf of a

20 particular candidate, including contributions

21 that are in any way earmarked or otherwise di22 rected through an intermediary or conduit to a

23 candidate, shall be treated as contributions

24 from the person to the candidate. If a contribu25 tion is made to a candidate through an
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1 intermediary or conduit, the intermediary or

2 conduit shall report the original source and the

3 intended recipient of the contribution to the

4 Commission and the intended recipient.

5 ‘‘(B) Contributions made directly or indi6 rectly by a person to or on behalf of a particu7 lar candidate through an intermediary or con8 duit, including contributions arranged to be

9 made by an intermediary or conduit, shall be

10 treated as contributions from the intermediary

11 or conduit to the candidate if—

12 ‘‘(i) the contributions made through

13 the intermediary or conduit are in the form

14 of a check or other negotiable instrument

15 made payable to the intermediary or con16 duit rather than the intended recipient; or

17 ‘‘(ii) the intermediary or conduit is—

18 ‘‘(I) a political committee, a po19 litical party, or an officer, employee,

20 or agent of either;

21 ‘‘(II) a person whose activities

22 are required to be reported under sec23 tion 308 of the Federal Regulation of

24 Lobbying Act (2 U.S.C. 267), the

25 Foreign Agents Registration Act of
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1 1938 (22 U.S.C. 611 et seq.), or a

2 person whose activities are required to

3 be reported pursuant to any successor

4 Federal law which requires reporting

5 on the activities of person who is a

6 lobbyist or foreign agent;

7 ‘‘(III) a person who is prohibited

8 from making contributions under sec9 tion 316 or a partnership; or

10 ‘‘(IV) an officer, employee, or

11 agent of a person described in

12 subclause (II) or (III) acting on be13 half of such person.

14 ‘‘(C) The term ‘contributions arranged to

15 be made’ includes—

16 ‘‘(i)(I) contributions delivered directly

17 or indirectly to a particular candidate or

18 the candidate’s authorized committee or

19 agent by the person who facilitated the

20 contribution; and

21 ‘‘(II) contributions made directly or

22 indirectly to a particular candidate or the

23 candidate’s authorized committee or agent

24 that are provided at an event sponsored by
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1 an intermediary or conduit described in

2 subparagraph (B).

3 ‘‘(ii) The term ‘acting on behalf of

4 such person’ includes the following activi5 ties by an officer, employee, or agent of a

6 person described in subparagraph (B)(ii)

7 (II) or (III):

8 ‘‘(I) Soliciting the making of a

9 contribution to a particular candidate

10 in the name of such a person;

11 ‘‘(II) Soliciting the making of a

12 contribution to a particular candidate

13 using other than incidental resources

14 of such a person; and

15 ‘‘(III) Soliciting contributions for

16 a particular candidate by directing a

17 significant portion of the solicitations

18 to other officers, employees, or agents

19 of such a person.

20 ‘‘(D) This subsection shall not prohibit—

21 ‘‘(i) fundraising efforts for the benefit

22 of a candidate that are conducted by an23 other candidate or Federal officeholder; or

24 ‘‘(ii) the solicitation by an individual

25 using the individual’s resources and acting
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1 in the individual’s own name of contribu2 tions from other persons in a manner not

3 described in subparagraphs (B) and (C).’’.

4 Subtitle E—Additional Prohibitions

5 on Contributions

6 SEC. 241. ALLOWABLE CONTRIBUTIONS FOR CANDIDATES.

7 (a) IN STATE REQUIREMENT.—Title III of the Fed8 eral Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431, et

9 seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following new

10 section:

11 ‘‘SEC. 326. With regard to any candidate for election

12 for the office of Representative in, or Delegate or Resident

13 Commissioner to, the Congress, by the end of the election

14 cycle not less than 60 percent of the total dollar amount

15 of all contributions from individuals to a candidate or a

16 candidate’s authorized committees, not including any ex17 penditures, contributions or loans made by the candidate,

18 shall come from individuals legally residing in the can19 didate’s State.’’.

20 (b) RULES APPLICABLE WHEN IN STATE REQUIRE21 MENT NOT IN EFFECT.—For purposes of the Federal

22 Election Campaign Act of 1971, during any period begin23 ning after the effective date on which the requirement of

24 section 326 of the Act (as added by subsection (a)) is not
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1 in effect, a new clause (v) shall be inserted in section

2 501(b)(1) as follows:

3 ‘‘(v) will comply with the requirement

4 that, by the end of the election cycle, not

5 less than 60 percent of the total dollar

6 amount of all contributions from individ7 uals to a candidate or a candidate’s au8 thorized committees, including any expend9 itures, contributions, or loans made by a

10 candidate shall come from individuals le11 gally residing in the candidate’s State.’’.

12 Subtitle F—Independent

13 Expenditures

14 SEC. 251. PROVISIONS RELATING TO INDEPENDENT EX15 PENDITURES.

16 (a) INDEPENDENT EXPENDITURE DEFINITION

17 AMENDMENT.—Section 301 of the Federal Election Cam18 paign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431) is amended by striking

19 out paragraphs (17) and (18) and inserting in lieu thereof

20 the following:

21 ‘‘(17)(A) The term ‘independent expenditure’ means

22 an expenditure that—

23 ‘‘(i) contains express advocacy; and
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1 ‘‘(ii) is made without the participation or co2 operation of, or without the consultation of, a can3 didate or a candidate’s representative.

4 ‘‘(B) The following shall not be considered an inde5 pendent expenditure:

6 ‘‘(i) An expenditure made by—

7 ‘‘(I) an authorized committee of a can8 didate for Federal office, or

9 ‘‘(II) a political committee of a political

10 party.

11 ‘‘(ii) An expenditure if there is any arrange12 ment, coordination, or direction with respect to the

13 expenditure between the candidate or the candidate’s

14 agent and the person making the expenditure.

15 ‘‘(iii) An expenditure if, in the same election

16 cycle, the person making the expenditure is or has

17 been—

18 ‘‘(I) authorized to raise or expend funds on

19 behalf of the candidate or the candidate’s au20 thorized committees; or

21 ‘‘(II) serving as a member, employee, or

22 agent of the candidate’s authorized committees

23 in an executive or policymaking position.

24 ‘‘(iv) An expenditure if the person making the

25 expenditure has advised or counseled the candidate
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1 or the candidate’s agents at any time on the can2 didate’s plans, projects, or needs relating to the can3 didate’s pursuit of nomination for election, or elec4 tion, to Federal office, in the same election cycle, in5 cluding any advice relating to the candidate’s deci6 sion to seek Federal office.

7 ‘‘(v) An expenditure if the person making the

8 expenditure retains the professional services of any

9 individual or other person also providing services in

10 the same election cycle to the candidate in connec11 tion with the candidate’s pursuit of nomination for

12 election, or election, to Federal office, including any

13 services relating to the candidate’s decision to seek

14 Federal office. For purposes of this clause, the term

15 ‘professional services’ shall include any services

16 (other than legal and accounting services solely for

17 purposes of ensuring compliance with any Federal

18 law) in support of any candidate’s or candidates’

19 pursuit of nomination for election, or election, to

20 Federal office.

21 For purposes of this subparagraph, the person making the

22 expenditure shall include any officer, director, employee,

23 or agent of such person.

24 ‘‘(18)(A) The term ‘express advocacy’ means, when

25 a communication is taken as a whole and with limited ref-
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1 erence to external events, an expression of support for or

2 opposition to a specific candidate, to a specific group of

3 candidates, or to candidates of a particular political party.

4 ‘‘(B) The term ‘expression of support for or opposi5 tion to’ includes a suggestion to take action with respect

6 to an election, such as to vote for or against, make con7 tributions to, or participate in campaign activity, or to re8 frain from taking action.’’.

9 (b) CONTRIBUTION DEFINITION AMENDMENT.—Sec10 tion 301(8)(A) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of

11 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431(8)(A)) is amended—

12 (1) in clause (i), by striking out ‘‘or’’ after the

13 semicolon at the end;

14 (2) in clause (ii), by striking out the period at

15 the end and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘; or’’; and

16 (3) by adding at the end the following new

17 clause:

18 ‘‘(iii) any payment or other transaction referred

19 to in paragraph (17)(A)(i) that is not an independ20 ent expenditure under paragraph (17).’’.

21 SEC. 252. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS FOR CERTAIN INDE22 PENDENT EXPENDITURES.

23 Section 304(c) of the Federal Election Campaign Act

24 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 434(c)) is amended—
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1 (1) in paragraph (2), by striking the undesig2 nated matter after subparagraph (C);

3 (2) by redesignating paragraph (3) as para4 graph (7); and

5 (3) by inserting after paragraph (2), as amend6 ed by paragraph (1), the following new paragraphs:

7 ‘‘(3)(A) Any person (including a political com8 mittee) making independent expenditures as defined

9 in section 301(17) and (18) with respect to a can10 didate in an election aggregating $1,000 or more

11 made after the 20th day, but more than 24 hours,

12 before the election shall file a report within 24 hours

13 after such independent expenditures are made. An

14 additional report shall be filed each time independ15 ent expenditures aggregating $1,000 are made with

16 respect to the same candidate after the latest report

17 filed under this subparagraph.

18 ‘‘(B) Any person (including a political commit19 tee) making independent expenditures with respect

20 to a candidate in an election aggregating $10,000 or

21 more made at any time up to and including the 20th

22 day before the election shall file a report within 48

23 hours after such independent expenditures are made.

24 An additional report shall be filed each time inde25 pendent expenditures aggregating $10,000 are made
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1 with respect to the same candidate after the latest

2 report filed under this paragraph.

3 ‘‘(C) A report under subparagraph (A) or (B)

4 shall be filed with the Commission and shall identify

5 each candidate whom the expenditure is actually in6 tended to support or to oppose. Not later than 2

7 business days after the Commission receives a re8 port, the Commission shall transmit a copy of the

9 report to each candidate seeking nomination or elec10 tion to that office.

11 ‘‘(D) For purposes of this section, an independ12 ent expenditure shall be considered to have been

13 made upon the making of any payment or the taking

14 of any action to incur an obligation for payment.

15 ‘‘(4) The Commission may, upon a request of a

16 candidate or on its own initiative, make its own de17 termination that a person, including a political com18 mittee, has made, or has incurred obligations to

19 make, independent expenditures with respect to any

20 candidate in any election which in the aggregate ex21 ceed the applicable amounts under paragraph (3).

22 The Commission shall notify each candidate in such

23 election of such determination made within 2 busi24 ness days after making it. Any determination made
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1 at the request of a candidate shall be made within

2 48 hours of the request.

3 ‘‘(5) In the event that independent expenditures

4 totaling in the aggregate $25,000 have been made in

5 the same election in favor of another candidate or

6 against an eligible House of Representatives can7 didate, the Commission shall, within 2 business

8 days, notify the eligible candidate that such can9 didate is entitled under section 502(g) to raise addi10 tional contributions equaling the amount of such

11 independent expenditures. At such time as the ag12 gregate amount the independent expenditures re13 ferred to in the preceding sentence, combined with

14 the expenditures of all other candidates in such elec15 tion equals 100 percent of the election cycle limit set

16 forth in section 502(b), the Commission shall, within

17 2 business days, notify the eligible candidate that

18 such candidate is entitled under section 502(g) to

19 make the expenditures provided for in section

20 502(g).

21 ‘‘(6)(A) A person who reserves broadcast time

22 the payment for which would constitute an inde23 pendent expenditure within the meaning of section

24 301(17) of this Act (2 U.S.C. 431(17), shall at the

25 time of the reservation—
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1 ‘‘(i) inform the broadcast licensee that pay2 ment for the broadcast time will constitute an

3 independent expenditure;

4 ‘‘(ii) inform the broadcast licensee of the

5 names of all candidates for the office to which

6 the proposed broadcast relates and state wheth7 er the message to be broadcast is intended to

8 be made in support of or in opposition to each

9 such candidate; and

10 ‘‘(iii) provide the broadcast licensee a copy

11 of the report described in paragraph (3).

12 ‘‘(B) For purposes of this paragraph, the term

13 ‘broadcast’ includes any cablecast.

14 ‘‘(C) A licensee who is informed as described in

15 subparagraph (A) shall—

16 ‘‘(i) notify each such candidate described

17 in subparagraph (A)(ii) of the proposed making

18 of the independent expenditure; and

19 ‘‘(ii) allow any such candidate (other than

20 a candidate for whose benefit the independent

21 expenditure is made) to purchase the same

22 amount of broadcast time immediately after the

23 broadcast time paid for by the independent ex24 penditure, at the cost specified in section
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1 315(b) of title 47, as amended by section 102

2 of this Act.’’.

3 TITLE III—MISCELLANEOUS

4 PROVISIONS

5 SEC. 301. RESTRICTIONS ON USE OF CAMPAIGN FUNDS FOR

6 PERSONAL PURPOSES.

7 (a) RESTRICTIONS ON USE OF CAMPAIGN FUNDS.—

8 Title III of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971

9 (2 U.S.C. 431 et seq.), as amended by section 211, is fur10 ther amended by adding at the end the following new sec11 tion:

12 ‘‘RESTRICTIONS ON USE OF CAMPAIGN FUNDS FOR

13 PERSONAL PURPOSES

14 ‘‘SEC. 325. (a) An individual who receives contribu15 tions as a candidate for Federal office—

16 ‘‘(1) shall use such contributions only for legiti17 mate and verifiable campaign expenses; and

18 ‘‘(2) shall not use such contributions for any in19 herently personal purpose.

20 ‘‘(b) As used in this subsection—

21 ‘‘(1) the term ‘campaign expenses’ means ex22 penses attributable solely to bona fide campaign pur23 poses; and

24 ‘‘(2) the term ‘inherently personal purpose’

25 means a purpose that, by its nature, confers a per26 sonal benefit, including a home mortgage, rent, or
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1 utility payment, clothing purchase, noncampaign

2 automobile expense, country club membership, vaca3 tion, or trip of a noncampaign nature, household

4 food items, tuition payments, admission to a sport5 ing event, concert, theater, or other form of enter6 tainment not associated with a campaign, dues, fees,

7 or contributions to a health club or recreational fa8 cility, and any other inherently personal living ex9 pense as determined under the regulations promul10 gated pursuant to section 301(b) of the Bipartisan

11 Clean Congress Act of 1995.’’.

12 (b) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 90 days after the

13 date of enactment of this Act, the Federal Election Com14 mission shall promulgate regulations consistent with this

15 Act to implement subsection (a). Such regulations shall

16 apply to all contributions possessed by an individual on

17 the date of enactment of this Act.

18 SEC. 302. CAMPAIGN ADVERTISING AMENDMENTS.

19 Section 318 of the Federal Election Campaign Act

20 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441d) is amended—

21 (1) in subsection (a)—

22 (A) in the matter preceding paragraph

23 (1)—

24 (i) by striking ‘‘Whenever’’ and insert25 ing ‘‘Whenever a political committee makes
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1 a disbursement for the purpose of financ2 ing any communication through any broad3 casting station, newspaper, magazine, out4 door advertising facility, mailing, phone

5 bank or any other type of general public

6 political advertising, or whenever’’;

7 (ii) by striking ‘‘an expenditure’’ and

8 inserting ‘‘a disbursement’’; and

9 (iii) by striking ‘‘direct’’; and

10 (B) in paragraph (3), by inserting ‘‘and

11 permanent street address’’ after ‘‘name’’; and

12 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub13 sections:

14 ‘‘(c) Any printed communication described in sub15 section (a) shall be—

16 ‘‘(1) of sufficient type size to be clearly read17 able by the recipient of the communication;

18 ‘‘(2) contained in a printed box set apart from

19 the other contents of the communication; and

20 ‘‘(3) consist of a reasonable degree of color con21 trast between the background and the printed state22 ment.

23 ‘‘(d)(1) Any broadcast or cablecast communication

24 described in subsection (a)(1) or subsection (a)(2) shall

25 include, in addition to the requirements of those sub-
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1 sections, an audio statement by the candidate that identi2 fies the candidate and states that the candidate is respon3 sible for the content of the advertisement.

4 ‘‘(2) If a broadcast or cablecast communication de5 scribed in paragraph (1) is broadcast or cablecast by

6 means of television, the communication shall include, in

7 addition to the audio statement under paragraph (1), a

8 written statement which—

9 ‘‘(A) appears at the end of the communication

10 in a clearly readable manner with a reasonable de11 gree of color contrast between the background and

12 the printed statement, for a period of at least 4 sec13 onds; and

14 ‘‘(B) is accompanied by a clearly identifiable

15 photographic or similar image of the candidate.

16 ‘‘(e) Any broadcast or cablecast communication de17 scribed in subsection (a)(3) shall include, in addition to

18 the requirements of those subsections, in a clearly spoken

19 manner, the following statement: ‘llllllll is

20 responsible for the content of this advertisement.’ (with

21 the blank to be filled in with the name of the political

22 committee or other person paying for the communication

23 and the name of any connected organization of the payor).

24 If broadcast or cablecast by means of television, the state25 ment shall also appear in a clearly readable manner with
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1 a reasonable degree of color contrast between the back2 ground and the printed statement, for a period of at least

3 4 seconds.’’.

4 SEC. 303. FILING OF REPORTS USING COMPUTERS AND

5 FACSIMILE MACHINES.

6 Section 302(g) of the Federal Election Campaign Act

7 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 432(g)) is amended by adding at the

8 end the following new paragraph:

9 ‘‘(6)(A) The Commission, in consultation with

10 the Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the

11 House of Representatives, may prescribe regulations

12 under which persons required to file designations,

13 statements, and reports under this Act—

14 ‘‘(i) are required to maintain and file them

15 for any calendar year in electronic form acces16 sible by computers if the person has, or has

17 reason to expect to have, aggregate contribu18 tions or expenditures in excess of a threshold

19 amount determined by the Commission; and

20 ‘‘(ii) may maintain and file them in that

21 manner if not required to do so under regula22 tions prescribed under clause (i).

23 ‘‘(B) The Commission, in consultation with the

24 Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the House

25 of Representatives, shall prescribe regulations which
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1 allow persons to file designations, statements, and

2 reports required by this Act through the use of fac3 simile machines.

4 ‘‘(C) In prescribing regulations under this para5 graph, the Commission shall provide methods (other

6 than requiring a signature on the document being

7 filed) for verifying designations, statements, and re8 ports covered by the regulations. Any document veri9 fied under any of the methods shall be treated for

10 all purposes (including penalties for perjury) in the

11 same manner as a document verified by signature.

12 ‘‘(D) The Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk

13 of the House of Representatives shall ensure that

14 any computer or other system that they may develop

15 and maintain to receive designations, statements,

16 and reports in the forms required or permitted

17 under this paragraph is compatible with any such

18 system that the Commission may develop and main19 tain.’’.

20 SEC. 304. AUDITS.

21 (a) RANDOM AUDITS.—Section 311(b) of the Federal

22 Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 438(b)) is

23 amended—

24 (1) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ before ‘‘The Commis25 sion’’; and
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1 (2) by adding at the end the following new

2 paragraph:

3 ‘‘(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), the Com4 mission may conduct random audits and investiga5 tions to ensure voluntary compliance with this Act.

6 The subjects of such audits and investigations shall

7 be selected on the basis of criteria established by

8 vote of at least 4 members of the Commission to en9 sure impartiality in the selection process. This para10 graph does not apply to an authorized committee of

11 a candidate for President or Vice President subject

12 to audit under chapter 95 or 96 of the Internal Rev13 enue Code of 1986.’’.

14 (b) EXTENSION OF PERIOD DURING WHICH CAM15 PAIGN AUDITS MAY BE BEGUN.—Section 311(b) of the

16 Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 438(b))

17 is amended by striking out ‘‘6 months’’ and inserting in

18 lieu thereof ‘‘12 months’’.

19 SEC. 305. CHANGE IN CERTAIN REPORTING FROM A CAL20 ENDAR YEAR BASIS TO AN ELECTION CYCLE

21 BASIS.

22 Paragraphs (2), (3), (4), (6), and (7) of section

23 304(b) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2

24 U.S.C. 434(b)(2)–(7)) are amended by inserting ‘‘(election

25 cycle, in the case of an authorized committee of a can-
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1 didate for Federal office)’’ after ‘‘calendar year’’ each

2 place it appears.

3 SEC. 306. DISCLOSURE OF PERSONAL AND CONSULTING

4 SERVICES.

5 (a) REPORTING BY POLITICAL COMMITTEES.—Sec6 tion 304(b)(5)(A) of the Federal Election Campaign Act

7 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 434(b)(5)(A)) is amended by adding

8 before the semicolon at the end the following: ‘‘, except

9 that if a person to whom an expenditure is made by a

10 candidate or the candidate’s authorized committees is

11 merely providing personal or consulting services and is in

12 turn making expenditures to other persons (not including

13 its owners or employees) who provide goods or services to

14 the candidate or the candidate’s authorized committees,

15 the name and address of such other person, together with

16 the date, amount, and purpose of such expenditure shall

17 also be disclosed’’.

18 (b) RECORDKEEPING AND REPORTING BY PERSONS

19 TO WHOM EXPENDITURES ARE PASSED THROUGH.—Sec20 tion 302 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971

21 (2 U.S.C. 432) is amended by adding at the end the fol22 lowing new subsection:

23 ‘‘(j) The person described in section 304(b)(5)(A)

24 who is providing personal or consulting services and who

25 is in turn making expenditures to other persons (not in-
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1 cluding employees) for goods or services provided to a can2 didate shall maintain records of and shall provide to a po3 litical committee the information necessary to enable the

4 political committee to report the information described in

5 section 304(b)(5)(A).’’.

6 SEC. 307. USE OF CANDIDATES’ NAMES.

7 Section 302(e)(4) of the Federal Election Campaign

8 Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 432(e)(4)) is amended to read as

9 follows:

10 ‘‘(4)(A) The name of each authorized commit11 tee shall include the name of the candidate who au12 thorized the committee under paragraph (1).

13 ‘‘(B) a political committee that is not an au14 thorized committee shall not—

15 ‘‘(i) include the name of any candidate in

16 its name, or

17 ‘‘(ii) except in the case of a national,

18 State, or local party committee, use the name

19 of any candidate in any activity on behalf of

20 such committee in such a context as to suggest

21 that the committee is an authorized committee

22 of the candidate or that the use of the can23 didate’s name has been authorized by the can24 didate.’’.
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1 SEC. 308. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.

2 (a) OPTION TO FILE MONTHLY REPORTS.—Section

3 304(a)(2) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971

4 (2 U.S.C. 434(a)(2)) is amended—

5 (1) in subparagraph (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at

6 the end;

7 (2) in subparagraph (B) by striking the period

8 at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

9 (3) by inserting the following new subparagraph

10 at the end:

11 ‘‘(C) in lieu of the reports required by sub12 paragraphs (A) and (B), the treasurer may file

13 monthly reports in all calendar years, which

14 shall be filed no later than the 20th day after

15 the last day of the month and shall be complete

16 as of the last day of the month, except that, in

17 lieu of filing the reports otherwise due in No18 vember and December of any year in which a

19 regularly scheduled general election is held, a

20 pre-primary election report and a pre-general

21 election report shall be filed in accordance with

22 subparagraph (A)(i), a post-general election re23 port shall be filed in accordance with subpara24 graph (A)(ii), and a year end report shall be

25 filed no later than January 31 of the following

26 calendar year.’’.
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1 (b) POLITICAL COMMITTEES.—Section 304(a)(4) of

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

3 434(a)(4)) is amended in subparagraph (A)(i) by inserting

4 ‘‘, and except that if at any time during the election year

5 a committee receives contributions in excess of $100,000

6 or makes disbursements in excess of $100,000, monthly

7 reports on the 20th day of each month after the month

8 in which that amount of contributions is first received or

9 that amount of disbursements is first anticipated to be

10 made during that year’’ before the semicolon.

11 (c) INCOMPLETE OR FALSE CONTRIBUTOR INFORMA12 TION.—Section 302(i) of the Federal Election Campaign

13 Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 432(i)) is amended—

14 (1) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ after ‘‘(i)’’;

15 (2) by striking ‘‘submit’’ and inserting ‘‘re16 port’’; and

17 (3) by adding at the end the following new

18 paragraph:

19 ‘‘(2) A treasurer shall be considered to have

20 used best efforts under this section only if—

21 ‘‘(A) all written solicitations include a clear

22 and conspicuous request for the contributor’s

23 identification and inform the contributor of the

24 committee’s obligation to report the identifica-
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1 tion in a statement prescribed by the Commis2 sion;

3 ‘‘(B) the treasurer makes at least 1 addi4 tional request for the contributor’s identifica5 tion for each contribution received that aggre6 gates in excess of $200 per calendar year and

7 which does not contain all of the information

8 required by this Act; and

9 ‘‘(C) the treasurer reports all information

10 in the committee’s possession regarding contrib11 utor identifications.’’.

12 (d) WAIVER.—Section 304 of the Federal Election

13 Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 434), is amended by add14 ing at the end the following subsection:

15 ‘‘(g) WAIVER.—The Commission may relieve any cat16 egory of political committees of the obligation to file 1 or

17 more reports required by this section, or may change the

18 due dates of such reports, if it determines that such action

19 is consistent with the purposes of this Act. The Commis20 sion may waive requirements to file reports in accordance

21 with this subsection through a rule of general applicability

22 or, in a specific case, may waive or extend the due date

23 of a report by notifying all political committees affected.’’.
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1 SEC. 309. SIMULTANEOUS REGISTRATION OF CANDIDATE

2 AND CANDIDATE’S PRINCIPAL CAMPAIGN

3 COMMITTEE.

4 Section 303(a) of the Federal Election Campaign Act

5 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 433(a)) is amended in the first sentence

6 by striking ‘‘no later than 10 days after designation’’ and

7 inserting ‘‘on the date of its designation’’.

8 SEC. 310. INDEPENDENT LITIGATION AUTHORITY.

9 Section 306(f) of the Federal Election Campaign Act

10 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 437c(f)) is amended by striking para11 graph (4) and inserting the following new paragraph:

12 ‘‘(4)(A) Notwithstanding the provisions of para13 graph (2), or of any other provision of law, the Com14 mission is authorized to appear on its own behalf in

15 any action related to the exercise of its statutory du16 ties or powers in any court as either a party or as

17 amicus curiae, either—

18 ‘‘(i) by attorneys employed in its office, or

19 ‘‘(ii) by counsel whom it may appoint, on

20 a temporary basis as may be necessary for such

21 purpose, without regard to the provisions of

22 title 5, United States Code, governing appoint23 ments in the competitive service, and whose

24 compensation it may fix without regard to the

25 provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter III of

26 chapter 53 of such title. The compensation of
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1 counsel so appointed on a temporary basis shall

2 be paid out of any funds otherwise available to

3 pay the compensation of employees of the Com4 mission.

5 ‘‘(B) The authority granted under subpara6 graph (A) includes the power to appeal from, and

7 petition the Supreme Court for certiorari to review,

8 judgments or decrees entered with respect to actions

9 in which the Commission appears pursuant to the

10 authority provided in this section.’’.

11 SEC. 311. INSOLVENT POLITICAL COMMITTEES.

12 Section 303(d) of the Federal Election Campaign Act

13 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 433(d)) is amended by adding at the

14 end the following paragraph:

15 ‘‘(3) Proceedings by the Commission under

16 paragraph (2) constitute the sole means, to the ex17 clusion of proceeding under title 11, United States

18 Code, by which a political committee that is deter19 mined by the Commission to be insolvent may com20 promise its debts, liquidate its assets, and terminate

21 its existence.’’.
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1 SEC. 312. REGULATIONS RELATING TO USE OF NON-FED2 ERAL MONEY.

3 Section 306 of the Federal Election Campaign Act

4 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 437c) is amended by adding at the end

5 the following new subsection:

6 ‘‘(g) The Commission shall promulgate regulations to

7 prohibit devices or arrangements which have the purpose

8 or effect of undermining or evading the provisions of this

9 Act restricting the use of non-Federal money to affect

10 Federal elections.’’.

11 SEC. 313. TERM LIMITS FOR FEDERAL ELECTION COMMIS12 SION.

13 Section 306 of the Federal Election Campaign Act

14 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 437c(a)(2)(A)) is amended by striking

15 ‘‘terms’’ and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘no more than one

16 term’’.

17 SEC. 314. AUTHORITY TO SEEK INJUNCTION.

18 Section 309(a) of the Federal Election Campaign Act

19 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 437g(a)) is amended—

20 (1) by adding at the end the following new

21 paragraph:

22 ‘‘(13)(A) If, at any time in a proceeding de23 scribed in paragraph (1), (2), (3), or (4), the Com24 mission believes that—
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1 ‘‘(i) there is a substantial likelihood that a

2 violation of this Act is occurring or is about to

3 occur;

4 ‘‘(ii) the failure to act expeditiously will re5 sult in irreparable harm to a party affected by

6 the potential violation;

7 ‘‘(iii) expeditious action will not cause

8 undue harm or prejudice to the interests of oth9 ers; and

10 ‘‘(iv) the public interest would be best

11 served by the issuance of an injunction, the

12 Commission may initiate a civil action for a

13 temporary restraining order or a temporary in14 junction pending the outcome of the proceed15 ings described in paragraphs (1), (2), (3), and

16 (4).

17 ‘‘(B) An action under subparagraph (A) shall

18 be brought in the United States district court for

19 the district in which the defendant resides, transacts

20 business, or may be found, or in which the violation

21 is occurring, has occurred, or is about to occur.’’;

22 (2) in paragraph (7), by striking ‘‘(5) or (6)’’

23 and inserting ‘‘(5), (6), or (13)’’; and

24 (3) in paragraph (11), by striking ‘‘(6)’’ and in25 serting ‘‘(6) or (13)’’.
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1 SEC. 315. EXPEDITED PROCEDURES.

2 Section 309(a) of Federal Election Campaign Act of

3 1971 (2 U.S.C. 437g(a)) is amended by adding at the end

4 the following new paragraph:

5 ‘‘(14)(A) If the complaint in a proceeding was

6 filed within 60 days immediately preceding a general

7 election, the Commission may take action described

8 in this subparagraph.

9 ‘‘(B) If the Commission determines, on the

10 basis of facts alleged in the complaint and other

11 facts available to it, that there is clear and convinc12 ing evidence that a violation of this Act has oc13 curred, is occurring, or is about to occur and it ap14 pears that the requirements for relief stated in para15 graph (13)(A) (ii), (iii), and (iv) are met, the Com16 mission may—

17 ‘‘(i) order expedited proceedings, shorten18 ing the time periods for proceedings under

19 paragraphs (1), (2), (3), and (4) as necessary

20 to allow the matter to be resolved in sufficient

21 time before the election to avoid harm or preju22 dice to the interests of the parties; or

23 ‘‘(ii) if the Commission determines that

24 there is insufficient time to conduct proceedings

25 before the election, immediately seek relief

26 under paragraph (13)(A).
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1 ‘‘(C) If the Commission determines, on the

2 basis of facts alleged in the complaint and other

3 facts available to it, that the complaint is clearly

4 without merit, the Commission may—

5 ‘‘(i) order expedited proceedings, shorten6 ing the time periods for proceedings under

7 paragraphs (1), (2), (3), and (4) as necessary

8 to allow the matter to be resolved in sufficient

9 time before the election to avoid harm or preju10 dice to the interests of the parties; or

11 ‘‘(ii) if the Commission determines that

12 there is insufficient time to conduct proceedings

13 before the election, summarily dismiss the com14 plaint.’’.

15 SEC. 316. OFFICIAL MASS MAILING ALLOWANCE.

16 Section 311(f) of the Legislative Branch Appropria17 tions Act, 1991 (2 U.S.C. 59e(f)) is amended to read as

18 follows:

19 ‘‘(f)(1) There is established in the House of Rep20 resentatives an Official Mass Mailing Allowance for Mem21 bers of the House of Representatives.

22 ‘‘(2) The Official Mass Mailing Allowance of a Mem23 ber of the House of Representatives—

24 ‘‘(A) shall be available only for postage for any

25 mass mailing sent by such Member as franked mail;
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1 ‘‘(B) shall be the sole source of funding for any

2 such postage; and

3 ‘‘(C) shall be available, in a session of Congress

4 (subject to paragraph (5)(A)(ii)), in an amount not

5 to exceed the total amount allocated to the Official

6 Mail Allowance of such Member in such session.

7 ‘‘(3) No amount may be transferred to or from the

8 Official Mass Mailing Allowance of a Member of the

9 House of Representatives (including as described in the

10 parenthetical matter in subsection (a)(2)(A)), except as

11 provided in subsection (e)(3)(B).

12 ‘‘(4) For purposes of subsection (b), the Official Mass

13 Mailing Allowance of (and any mass mailing sent by) a

14 Member of the House of Representatives shall be treated

15 separately from the Official Mail Allowance of (and any

16 other official mail sent by) such Member.

17 ‘‘(5)(A) Otherwise applicable provisions of law relat18 ing to mass mailings sent by a Member of (or Member19 elect to) the House of Representatives shall continue to

20 govern such mass mailings—

21 ‘‘(i) except that—

22 ‘‘(I) for purposes of carrying out those

23 other provisions of law, the term ‘mass mailing’

24 shall have the meaning given it under para25 graph (8); and
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1 ‘‘(II) a mass mailing may not be sent if it

2 would be postmarked during any session that

3 begins in an even-numbered calendar year, sub4 ject to subparagraph (B); and

5 ‘‘(ii) except as otherwise provided in this sub6 section.

7 ‘‘(B) Nothing in subclause (II) of subparagraph

8 (A)(i) shall be considered to preclude the mailing of any

9 mail matter—

10 ‘‘(i) sent after the Tuesday next after the 1st

11 Monday in November of such year, and any mass

12 mailing described in section 3210(a)(6)(B) of title

13 39, United States Code; or

14 ‘‘(ii) which relates to an emergency or disaster

15 declared by the President, if—

16 ‘‘(I) the mailing is sent within 60 days

17 after the emergency or disaster is declared;

18 ‘‘(II) the recipients of the mailing are lo19 cated in a congressional district any portion of

20 which is within (or adjacent to) an area in21 cluded in the President’s declaration;

22 ‘‘(III) the mailing complies with clauses

23 (iii) and (iv) of paragraph (8)(C);
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1 ‘‘(IV) the mailing complies with clauses (i)

2 and (ii)(II) of section 3210(a)(6)(A) of title 39,

3 United States Code; and

4 ‘‘(V) the mailing relates solely to the emer5 gency or disaster.

6 ‘‘(6) A Member of the House of Representatives

7 shall—

8 ‘‘(A) before making any mass mailing, submit a

9 sample of the mail matter involved to the House

10 Commission on Congressional Mailing Standards for

11 an advisory opinion as to whether such proposed

12 mailing is in compliance with applicable provisions of

13 law, rule, or regulation;

14 ‘‘(B) before making any mailing of substantially

15 identical mail which totals 250 pieces or less (but

16 more than 50) in the same session, and which in

17 every other respect meets the definition of a mass

18 mailing (determined disregarding the exclusion

19 under subclause (II) of paragraph (8)(A)(i)), submit

20 a sample of the mail matter involved to such Com21 mission; and

22 ‘‘(C) before making any mailing of substantially

23 identical mail, in the nature of a town meeting no24 tice, which totals more than 50 pieces in the same

25 session, and which in every other respect (aside from
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1 such nature and number) meets the definition of a

2 mass mailing, submit a sample of the mail matter

3 involved to such Commission.

4 ‘‘(7)(A) The regulations prescribed in connection with

5 subsection (a)(3) shall be amended to require, in addition

6 to the information otherwise required to be included in the

7 quarterly report referred to therein, a statement of—

8 ‘‘(i) costs charged against the Official Mass

9 Mailing Allowance of each Member; and

10 ‘‘(ii) the number of pieces of mail in any mass

11 mailing sent by a Member.

12 ‘‘(B)(i) The House Commission on Congressional

13 Mailing Standards shall by regulation establish procedures

14 under which there shall be made available to the public

15 for review and copying any matter submitted to the Com16 mission under paragraph (6). Any copying under the pre17 ceding sentence shall be at the expense of the person who

18 requests the copying.

19 ‘‘(ii) Under the regulations, mail matter shall be

20 made available within 2 weeks after the date on which it

21 is requested in accordance with applicable procedures.

22 ‘‘(8) For the purpose of this subsection—

23 ‘‘(A) the term ‘mass mailing’ means, with re24 spect to a session of Congress, any mailing of news25 letters or other pieces of mail with substantially
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1 identical content (whether such mail is deposited sin2 gly or in bulk, or at the same time or different

3 times), totaling more than 250 pieces in that ses4 sion, except that such term does not include—

5 ‘‘(i)(I) any mailing of matter in direct re6 sponse to a communication from a person to

7 whom the matter is mailed; or

8 ‘‘(II) a single follow-up to any such direct

9 response, if it is made before the end of the

10 Congress in which the direct response was

11 made, it occurs within 6 weeks after any signifi12 cant congressional action (as defined by the

13 House Commission on Congressional Mailing

14 Standards) on the subject matter involved, and

15 it complies with any requirements which would

16 be applicable to it under clause (i) or (ii)(II) of

17 section 3210(a)(6)(A) of title 39, United States

18 Code, if it were a mass mailing;

19 ‘‘(ii) any mailing from a Member of Con20 gress to other Members of Congress, or to Fed21 eral, State, or local government officials;

22 ‘‘(iii) any mailing of a news release to the

23 communications media; or

24 ‘‘(iv) any mailing described in clause (iv)

25 or (v) of section 6(b)(1)(B) of the Legislative
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1 Branch Appropriations Act, 1995 (39 U.S.C.

2 3210 note), subject to the same restriction as

3 specified in such clause (iv) with respect to a

4 Member of the Senate;

5 ‘‘(B) the term ‘franked mail’ has the meaning

6 given such term by section 3201(4) of title 39,

7 United States Code; and

8 ‘‘(C) the term ‘town meeting notice’ means (in9 cluding for purposes of subparagraph (A)(iv)) any

10 mailing which—

11 ‘‘(i) relates solely to a notice of the time

12 and place at which a Member of the House of

13 Representatives or 1 or more members of the

14 Member’s staff will be available to meet con15 stituents regarding legislative issues or prob16 lems with Federal programs;

‘‘(ii) appears on a mailing 51 17 ⁄2′′ x 8′′ or

18 smaller;

19 ‘‘(iii) includes not more than 3 references

20 to the Member (excluding any reference appear21 ing as the frank, consisting of the signature

22 and name at the end of the mailing, or other23 wise specified in regulations of the House Com24 mission on Congressional Mailing Standards);

25 and
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1 ‘‘(iv) does not include any picture, sketch,

2 or other likeness of the Member.’’.

3 SEC. 317. PROVISIONS RELATING TO MEMBERS’ OFFICIAL

4 MAIL ALLOWANCE.

5 (a) REDUCTION IN MAXIMUM ALLOCATION.—Section

6 311(e)(2)(B)(i) of the Legislative Branch Appropriations

7 Act, 1991 (2 U.S.C. 59e(e)(2)(B)(i)) is amended by strik8 ing ‘‘3’’ and inserting ‘‘0.5’’.

9 (b) LIMITATION ON TRANSFERS.—Paragraph (3) of

10 section 311(e) of such Act is amended to read as follows:

11 ‘‘(3)(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), no

12 amount may be transferred to or from the Official Mail

13 Allowance of a Member of the House of Representatives.

14 ‘‘(B) A Member of the House of Representatives may

15 transfer amounts from the Official Mass Mailing Allow16 ance of the Member to the Official Mail Allowance of the

17 Member.’’.

18 SEC. 318. INTENT OF CONGRESS.

19 It is the intent of Congress that any funds realized

20 by section 316 of the Bipartisan Clean Congress Act of

21 1995 shall be designated to pay for the benefits provided

22 in section 103.

23 SEC. 319. SEVERABILITY.

24 If any provision of this Act, an amendment made by

25 this Act, or the application of such provision or amend-
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1 ment to any other person or circumstance is held to be

2 unconstitutional, the remainder of this Act, the amend3 ments made by this Act, and the application of the provi4 sions of such to any other person or circumstance shall

5 not be affected thereby.

6 SEC. 320. EXPEDITED REVIEW OF CONSTITUTIONAL ISSUES.

7 (a) DIRECT APPEAL TO SUPREME COURT.—An ap8 peal may be taken directly to the Supreme Court of the

9 United States from any interlocutory order or final judg10 ment, decree, or order issued by any court ruling on the

11 constitutionality of any provision of this Act or amend12 ment made by this Act.

13 (b) ACCEPTANCE AND EXPEDITION.—The Supreme

14 Court shall, if it has not previously ruled on the question

15 addressed in the ruling below, accept jurisdiction over, ad16 vance on the docket, and expedite the appeal to the great17 est extent possible.

18 SEC. 321. EFFECTIVE DATE.

19 Except as otherwise provided in this Act, the amend20 ments made by, and the provisions of, this Act shall take

21 effect on January 1, 1997.
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1 SEC. 322. REGULATIONS.

2 The Federal Election Commission shall prescribe any

3 regulations required to carry out this Act not later than

4 9 months after the effective date of this Act.

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