I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2638

To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to lower the maximum

amount of contributions a multicandidate political committee may make

to a House of Representatives candidate, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

NOVEMBER 15, 1995

Mr. BLUTE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee

on House Oversight

A BILL

To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to

lower the maximum amount of contributions a

multicandidate political committee may make to a House

of Representatives candidate, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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1 SECTION 1. REDUCTION IN LIMITATION AMOUNT APPLICA2 BLE TO CONTRIBUTIONS BY A

3 MULTICANDIDATE POLITICAL COMMITTEE

4 TO A HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CAN5 DIDATE.

6 Section 315(a)(2)(A) of the Federal Election Cam7 paign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a(a)(2)(A)) is amended

8 by inserting after ‘‘$5,000’’ the following: ‘‘, except that

9 in the case of an election for the office of Representative

10 in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, the Con11 gress, the limitation shall be $1,000.’’.

12 SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

13 GENERAL ELECTION CONTRIBUTIONS IN

14 NONELECTION YEARS.

15 Section 315 of the Federal Election Campaign Act

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

17 the following new subsection:

18 ‘‘(i) A candidate for the office of Representative in,

19 or Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, the Congress

20 may not solicit or accept any contribution in an odd-num21 bered year with respect to a general election for such office

22 or any primary election relating to the general election.’’.

23 SEC. 3. BAN ON SOFT MONEY.

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

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

26 by adding at the end the following new section:
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1 ‘‘LIMITATIONS AND REPORTING REQUIREMENTS FOR

2 AMOUNTS PAID FOR MIXED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES

3 ‘‘SEC. 323. (a) Any payment by the national commit4 tee of a political party or a State committee of a political

5 party for a mixed political activity—

6 ‘‘(1) shall be subject to limitation and reporting

7 under this Act as if such payment were an expendi8 ture; and

9 ‘‘(2) may be paid only from an account that is

10 subject to the requirements of this Act.

11 ‘‘(b) As used in this section, the term ‘mixed political

12 activity’ means, with respect to a payment by the national

13 committee of a political party or a State committee of a

14 political party, an activity, such as a voter registration

15 program, a get-out-the-vote drive, or general political ad16 vertising, that is both (1) for the purpose of influencing

17 an election for Federal office, and (2) for any purpose un18 related to influencing an election for Federal office.’’.

19 (b) REPEAL OF BUILDING FUND EXCEPTION TO THE

20 DEFINITION OF THE TERM ‘‘CONTRIBUTION’’.—Section

21 301(8)(B) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971

22 (2 U.S.C. 431(8)(B)) is amended—

23 (1) by striking out clause (viii); and

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

25 as clauses (viii) through (xiii), respectively.
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1 SEC. 4. VOLUNTARY EXPENDITURE LIMITATION FOR

2 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ELECTIONS.

3 Section 315 of the Federal Election Campaign Act

4 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a), as amended by section 2, is fur5 ther amended by adding at the end the following new sub6 section:

7 ‘‘(j) In such form and manner as the Commission

8 may prescribe, each candidate for the office of Representa9 tive in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, the Con10 gress in a general election or a primary election for such

11 office shall be given the opportunity to comply with a vol12 untary expenditure limitation of $600,000 with respect to

13 the general election and any primary election relating to

14 the general election. In the case of a candidate who de15 clines to comply with the voluntary limitation, the limita16 tion under subsection (a)(1)(A) shall be $250.’’.

17 SEC. 5. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ELECTION LIMITA18 TION ON CONTRIBUTIONS FROM PERSONS

19 OTHER THAN IN-STATE RESIDENTS.

20 Section 315 of the Federal Election Campaign Act

21 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a), as amended by sections 2 and

22 4, is further amended by adding at the end the following

23 new subsection:

24 ‘‘(k)(1) A candidate for the office of Representative

25 in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, the Congress

26 may not, with respect to a reporting period for an election,
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1 accept contributions from persons other than in-State resi2 dents totaling in excess of one-half of the total of contribu3 tions accepted with respect to the reporting period.

4 ‘‘(2) As used in this subsection, the term ‘in-State

5 resident’ means an individual who resides in the State in

6 which the congressional district involved is located.’’.

7 SEC. 6. PROHIBITION OF FRANKED MASS MAILINGS BY

8 MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTA9 TIVES IN ELECTION YEARS.

10 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, or any

11 rule or other authority, a Member of the House of Rep12 resentatives may not make any franked mass mailing in

13 an even-numbered year. As used in this section—

14 (1) the term ‘‘mass mailing’’ has the meaning

15 given that term in section 3210 of title 39, United

16 States Code; and

17 (2) the term ‘‘Member of the House of Rep18 resentatives’’ means a Representative in, or a Dele19 gate or Resident Commissioner to, the Congress.

20 SEC. 7. ELIMINATION OF CARRY-OVER OF CAMPAIGN

21 FUNDS BETWEEN HOUSE OF REPRESENTA22 TIVES ELECTIONS.

23 Section 315 of the Federal Election Campaign Act

24 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a), as amended by sections 2, 4,
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1 and 5, is further amended by adding at the end the follow2 ing new subsection:

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

4 if after satisfying all financial obligations with respect to

5 a general election and any primary election relating to the

6 general election, a candidate for the office of Representa7 tive in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, the Con8 gress has a campaign account balance, the candidate shall,

9 at the option of the candidate, return the excess funds

10 to contributors, donate the excess funds to charity, or de11 posit the excess funds in the Treasury for reduction of

12 the national debt. No excess funds may be carried forward

13 or used for any other purpose.’’.

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