I

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 3053

To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to provide for a

voluntary system of spending limits and benefits for congressional election campaigns, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 7, 1996

Mr. MARKEY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House Oversight, and in addition to the Committees on Commerce,

the Judiciary, Ways and Means, and Government Reform and Oversight,

for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case

for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the

committee concerned

A BILL

To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to

provide for a voluntary system of spending limits and

benefits for congressional election campaigns, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the

5 ‘‘Citizen Representative Act of 1996’’.

6 (c) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—
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Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.

TITLE I—CONTROL OF CONGRESSIONAL CAMPAIGN SPENDING

Subtitle A—[Reserved]

Subtitle B—Expenditure Limitations, Contribution Limitations, and Voter

Communication Vouchers for Eligible House of Representatives Candidates

Sec. 121. Provisions applicable to eligible House of Representatives candidates.

Sec. 122. Registration as eligible House of Representatives candidate.

Sec. 123. Definitions.

TITLE II—LIMITATIONS ON POLITICAL COMMITTEE AND LARGE

DONOR CONTRIBUTIONS THAT MAY BE ACCEPTED BY HOUSE

OF REPRESENTATIVES CANDIDATES

Sec. 201. Limitations on political committee and large donor contributions that

may be accepted by House of Representatives candidates.

TITLE III—INDEPENDENT EXPENDITURES

Sec. 301. Clarification of definitions relating to independent expenditures.

Sec. 302. Reporting requirements for certain independent expenditures.

Sec. 303. Broadcast and cable independent expenditure communications against

eligible House of Representatives candidates.

Sec. 304. Additional expenditures by eligible House of Representatives candidate faced with large amount of independent expenditures.

TITLE IV—CONTRIBUTIONS AND EXPENDITURES BY POLITICAL

PARTY COMMITTEES

Sec. 401. Soft money of political parties.

Sec. 402. Reporting requirements.

Sec. 403. Soft money of persons other than political parties.

Sec. 404. Reporting requirements.

Sec. 405. Restrictions on fundraising by candidates and officeholders.

Sec. 406. Increased limitation amount for certain contributions to political committees of State political parties.

Sec. 407. Building fund exception to the definition of the term ‘‘contribution’’.

TITLE V—CONTRIBUTIONS

Sec. 501. Restrictions on bundling.

Sec. 502. Contributions by dependents not of voting age.

Sec. 503. Prohibition of acceptance by a candidate of cash contributions from

any one person aggregating more than $100.

Sec. 504. Contributions to candidates from State and local committees of political parties to be aggregated.

Sec. 505. Prohibition of false representation to solicit contributions.

Sec. 506. Limited exclusion of advances by campaign workers from the definition of the term ‘‘contribution’’.

Sec. 507. Amendment to section 316 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of

1971.

Sec. 508. Prohibition of certain election-related activities of foreign nationals.

TITLE VI—REPORTING REQUIREMENTS
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Sec. 601. Change in certain reporting from a calendar year basis to an election

cycle basis.

Sec. 602. Personal and consulting services.

Sec. 603. Reduction in threshold for reporting of certain information by persons other than political committees.

Sec. 604. Computerized indices of contributions.

Sec. 605. Identification.

Sec. 606. Political committees.

Sec. 607. Use of candidates’ names.

Sec. 608. Reporting requirements.

Sec. 609. Simultaneous registration of candidate and candidate’s principal campaign committee.

Sec. 610. Disclosures by organizations that engage in lobbying.

TITLE VII—FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION

Sec. 701. Appearance as amici curiae.

Sec. 702. Federal Election Commission public service announcements.

Sec. 703. Authority to seek injunction.

Sec. 704. Expedited procedures.

Sec. 705. Insolvent political committees.

TITLE VIII—MISCELLANEOUS

Sec. 801. Broadcast rates and preemption.

Sec. 802. Campaign advertising amendments.

Sec. 803. Telephone voting by persons with disabilities.

Sec. 804. Transfer of presidential election financing provisions to Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971.

TITLE IX—HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CAMPAIGN ELECTION

FUNDING AND RELATED MATTERS

Sec. 901. Citizen Representative Fund.

Sec. 902. Designation of overpayments and contributions for the Citizen Representative Fund as specified by the taxpayer.

Sec. 903. Funding.

Sec. 904. Affinity cards.

TITLE X—EFFECTIVE DATES; SEVERABILITY

Sec. 1001. Effective date.

Sec. 1002. Severability.

Sec. 1003. Expedited review of constitutional issues.

Sec. 1004. Regulations.
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1 TITLE I—CONTROL OF CON2 GRESSIONAL CAMPAIGN

3 SPENDING

4 Subtitle A—[Reserved]

5 Subtitle B—Expenditure Limita6 tions, Contribution Limitations,

7 and Voter Communication

8 Vouchers for Eligible House of

9 Representatives Candidates

10 SEC. 121. PROVISIONS APPLICABLE TO ELIGIBLE HOUSE

11 OF REPRESENTATIVES CANDIDATES.

12 The Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 is

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

14 ‘‘TITLE VI—EXPENDITURE LIMI15 TATIONS, CONTRIBUTION

16 LIMITATIONS, AND VOTER

17 COMMUNICATION VOUCHERS

18 FOR ELIGIBLE HOUSE OF

19 REPRESENTATIVES CAN20 DIDATES

21 ‘‘SEC. 601. EXPENDITURE LIMITATIONS.

22 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—An eligible House of Representa23 tives candidate may not, in an election cycle, make expend24 itures aggregating more than $600,000.
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1 ‘‘(b) RUNOFF ELECTION AND SPECIAL ELECTION

2 AMOUNTS.—

3 ‘‘(1) RUNOFF ELECTION AMOUNT.—If an eligi4 ble House of Representatives candidate is a can5 didate in a runoff election, the candidate may make

6 additional expenditures aggregating not more than

7 $120,000 in the election cycle.

8 ‘‘(2) SPECIAL ELECTION AMOUNT.—An eligible

9 House of Representatives candidate who is a can10 didate in a special election may make expenditures

11 aggregating not more than $600,000 with respect to

12 the special election.

13 ‘‘(c) CLOSELY CONTESTED PRIMARY.—If, as deter14 mined by the Commission, an eligible House of Represent15 atives candidate in a contested primary election wins that

16 primary election by a margin of 10 percentage points or

17 less, the candidate may make additional expenditures ag18 gregating not more than $180,000 in the election cycle.

19 ‘‘(d) NONPARTICIPATING OPPONENT PROVISIONS.—

20 ‘‘(1) LIMITATION EXCEPTION.—The limitations

21 imposed by subsections (a) and (b) do not apply in

22 the case of an eligible House of Representatives can23 didate if any other general election candidate seek24 ing nomination or election to that office—
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1 ‘‘(A) is not an eligible House of Represent2 atives candidate; and

3 ‘‘(B) receives contributions or makes ex4 penditures in excess of 25 percent of the limita5 tion under subsection (a).

6 ‘‘(2) CONTINUED ELIGIBILITY AND ADDITIONAL

7 MATCHING FUNDS.—An eligible House of Represent8 atives candidate referred to in paragraph (1)—

9 ‘‘(A) shall continue to be eligible for all

10 benefits under this title; and

11 ‘‘(B) shall receive voter communication

12 vouchers under section 604.

13 ‘‘(3) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.—A candidate

14 for the office of Representative in, or Delegate or

15 Resident Commissioner to, the Congress—

16 ‘‘(A) who is not an eligible House of Rep17 resentatives candidate; and

18 ‘‘(B) who makes contributions in excess of

19 $50,000 of personal funds of the candidate and

20 members of the candidate’s immediate family to

21 the authorized committee of the candidate or

22 receives contributions or makes expenditures in

23 excess of 25 percent of the limitation under

24 subsection (a);
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1 shall report that the threshold has been reached to

2 the Commission who shall then transmit a copy to

3 each other candidate for election to the same office

4 within 48 hours of receipt.

5 ‘‘(e) EXEMPTION FOR LEGAL COSTS AND TAXES.—

6 Any costs incurred by an eligible House of Representatives

7 candidate or his or her authorized committee, or a Federal

8 officeholder, for legal services or Federal, State, or for

9 local income and payroll taxes with respect to a can10 didate’s authorized committees, or to comply with section

11 606, shall not be considered in the computation of

12 amounts subject to limitation under this section.

13 ‘‘(f) EXEMPTION FOR ACCOUNTING OR FUNDRAISING

14 COSTS.—

15 ‘‘(1) Any costs incurred by an eligible House of

16 Representatives candidate or his or her authorized

17 committee in connection with the solicitation of con18 tributions on behalf of such candidate or for ac19 counting services to ensure compliance with this Act

20 shall not be considered in the computation of

21 amounts subject to limitation under subsection (a)

22 to the extent that the aggregate of such costs does

23 not exceed 10 percent of the limitation under sub24 section (a).
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1 ‘‘(2) An amount equal to 10 percent of salaries

2 and overhead expenditures of an eligible House of

3 Representatives candidate’s campaign headquarters

4 and offices shall not be considered in the computa5 tion of amounts subject to limitation under this sec6 tion. Any amount excluded under this paragraph

7 shall be applied against the accounting or fundrais8 ing expenditure exemption under paragraph (1).

9 ‘‘(g) CIVIL PENALTIES.—

10 ‘‘(1) LOW AMOUNT OF EXCESS EXPENDI11 TURES.—Any eligible House of Representatives can12 didate who makes expenditures that exceed a limita13 tion under subsection (a) or subsection (b) by 2.5

14 percent or less shall pay to the Commission an

15 amount equal to the amount of the excess expendi16 tures.

17 ‘‘(2) MEDIUM AMOUNT OF EXCESS EXPENDI18 TURES.—Any eligible House of Representatives can19 didate who makes expenditures that exceed a limita20 tion under subsection (a) or subsection (b) by more

21 than 2.5 percent and less than 5 percent shall pay

22 to the Commission an amount equal to three times

23 the amount of the excess expenditures.

24 ‘‘(3) LARGE AMOUNT OF EXCESS EXPENDI25 TURES.—Any eligible House of Representatives can-
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1 didate who makes expenditures that exceed a limita2 tion under subsection (a) or subsection (b) by 5 per3 cent or more shall pay to the Commission an

4 amount equal to three times the amount of the ex5 cess expenditures plus a civil penalty in an amount

6 determined by the Commission.

7 ‘‘(h) INDEXING.—The dollar amounts specified in

8 subsections (a), (b), and (c) shall be adjusted at the begin9 ning of each calendar year based on the increase in the

10 price index determined under section 315(c), except that,

11 for the purposes of such adjustment, the base period shall

12 be calendar year 1995.

13 ‘‘(i) The limitations of this section do not apply in

14 the case of any recall action held pursuant to State law.

15 ‘‘SEC. 602. CONTRIBUTION LIMITATIONS.

16 ‘‘(a) PERSONAL CONTRIBUTIONS.—An eligible House

17 of Representatives candidate may not, with respect to an

18 election cycle, make contributions or loans to his or her

19 own campaign totaling more than $25,000 from the per20 sonal funds of the candidate. The amount that the can21 didate may accept from persons referred to in section

22 315(i)(2) shall be reduced by the amount of contributions

23 made under the preceding sentence. Contributions from

24 the personal funds of a candidate may not be matched

25 under section 604.
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1 ‘‘(b) LIMITATION EXCEPTION.—The limitation im2 posed by subsection (a) does not apply in the case of an

3 eligible House of Representatives candidate if any other

4 candidate for that office—

5 ‘‘(1) is not an eligible House of Representatives

6 general election candidate; and

7 ‘‘(2) makes contributions or loans to his or her

8 own campaign totaling more than $25,000 from his

9 or her own personal funds.

10 ‘‘SEC. 603. DECLARATION OF PARTICIPATION; CONTINUING

11 ELIGIBILITY.

12 ‘‘The Commission shall determine whether a can13 didate is eligible under this title and, by reason of such

14 eligibility may receive benefits under this title. Such deter15 mination shall—

16 ‘‘(1) in the case of an initial determination, be

17 based on a declaration of participation submitted by

18 the candidate; and

19 ‘‘(2) in the case of a determination of continu20 ing eligibility, be based on relevant additional infor21 mation submitted in such form and manner as the

22 Commission may require.

23 ‘‘SEC. 604. VOTER COMMUNICATION VOUCHERS.

24 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—An eligible House of Representa25 tives candidate shall be entitled to receive, with respect
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1 to the general election, an amount of voter communication

2 vouchers equal to the amount of contributions from indi3 viduals received by the candidate, but not more than

4 $200,000, with not more than $250 to be taken into ac5 count per individual.

6 ‘‘(b) SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS.—A candidate for the

7 office of Representative in, or Delegate or Resident Com8 missioner to, the Congress may receive voter communica9 tion vouchers under subsection (a) only if the candidate—

10 ‘‘(1) in an election cycle, has received 10 per11 cent of the limit specified in section 601(a) in con12 tributions from individuals, with not more than $250

13 to be taken into account per individual;

14 ‘‘(2) qualifies for the general election ballot;

15 ‘‘(3) has an opponent on the general election

16 ballot; and

17 ‘‘(4) files a declaration of participation in which

18 the candidate agrees to—

19 ‘‘(A) comply with the limitations under

20 sections 601 and 315(i);

21 ‘‘(B) cooperate in the case of any audit by

22 the Commission by furnishing such campaign

23 records and other information as the Commis24 sion may require;
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1 ‘‘(C) comply with any repayment require2 ment under section 606; and

3 ‘‘(D) participate in at least 2 debates,

4 sponsored by a nonpartisan or bipartisan orga5 nization, with all other general election can6 didates for that office who are eligible under

7 this section.

8 ‘‘(c) WRITTEN INSTRUMENT REQUIREMENT.—No

9 contribution in any form other than a gift of money made

10 by a written instrument or a certification by the committee

11 making the request that identifies the individual making

12 the contribution by full name and address may be used

13 as a basis for any matching payment under this section.

14 ‘‘(d) CERTIFICATION AND PAYMENT.—

15 ‘‘(1) CERTIFICATION.—Except as provided in

16 paragraphs (2), (3), and (4) not later than 5 days

17 after receiving a request for payment, the Commis18 sion shall certify for payment the amount requested

19 under this section. The request by an eligible can20 didate to receive voter communications vouchers

21 under this section shall contain—

22 ‘‘(A) such information and be made in ac23 cordance with such procedures as the Commis24 sion may provide by regulation; and
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1 ‘‘(B) a verification signed by the candidate

2 and the treasurer of the principal campaign

3 committee of such candidate stating that the in4 formation furnished in support of the request,

5 to the best of their knowledge, is correct and

6 fully satisfies the requirements of this title.

7 ‘‘(2) PAYMENTS.—The initial payment of voter

8 communication vouchers under subsection (a) to an

9 eligible candidate shall be an amount equal to at

10 least 10 percent of the limit specified in section

11 601(a). All payments shall be—

12 ‘‘(A) made not later than 48 hours after

13 certification under paragraph (1); and

14 ‘‘(B) subject to proportional reduction in

15 the case of insufficient funds.

16 ‘‘(3) PARTIAL CERTIFICATION.—If the Commis17 sion determines that any portion of a request does

18 not meet the requirements for certification, the

19 Commission shall withhold the certification for that

20 portion only and inform the candidate as to how the

21 candidate may correct the request.

22 ‘‘(4) CERTIFICATION WITHHELD.—The Com23 mission may withhold certification if it determines

24 that a candidate who is otherwise eligible has en25 gaged in a pattern of activity indicating that the
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1 promises in the candidate’s statement of participa2 tion cannot be relied upon.

3 ‘‘(e) CLOSELY CONTESTED PRIMARY.—If, as deter4 mined by the Commission, an eligible House of Represent5 atives candidate in a contested primary election wins that

6 primary election by a margin of 10 percentage points or

7 less, the candidate shall be eligible to receive matching

8 vouchers totaling not more than $66,600, in addition to

9 any other amount received under this section. The amount

10 available under the preceding sentence is subject to the

11 matching requirements of this section.

12 ‘‘(f) INDEPENDENT EXPENDITURE PROVISION.—If,

13 with respect to a general election involving an eligible

14 House of Representatives candidate, any person makes

15 independent expenditures totaling $10,000 against the eli16 gible House of Representatives candidate or in favor of

17 another candidate, the eligible House of Representatives

18 candidate shall be entitled, in addition to any amount re19 ceived under subsection (a), to voter communication

20 vouchers equal to the amount of such independent expend21 itures, and expenditures may be made from such vouchers

22 without regard to the limitations in section 601.

23 ‘‘(g) PROHIBITION OF CONVERSION TO PERSONAL

24 USE.—An eligible candidate who receives voter commu25 nication vouchers under this section may not convert any
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1 amount to personal use or make any payments, directly

2 or indirectly, to such candidate or to any members of the

3 immediate family of the candidate.

4 ‘‘(h) INDEXING.—The dollar amount specified in sub5 sections (a) and (e) (other than the amount taken into

6 account per individual) shall be adjusted at the beginning

7 of the calendar year based on the increase in the price

8 index determined under section 315(c), except that, for

9 the purposes of such adjustment, the base period shall be

10 calendar year 1995.

11 ‘‘(i) USE OF VOTER COMMUNICATION VOUCHERS.—

12 Voter communication vouchers shall be used by an eligible

13 House of Representatives candidate—

14 ‘‘(1) to purchase broadcast time during the gen15 eral election period in the same manner as other

16 broadcast time may be purchased by the candidate;

17 ‘‘(2) to purchase print advertisements during

18 the general election period;

19 ‘‘(3) to purchase voter contact campaign mate20 rials (brochures, bumper stickers, handbills, pins,

21 posters, and yard signs) used during the general

22 election period; or

23 ‘‘(4) to pay for postage expenses incurred dur24 ing the general election period.
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1 ‘‘(j) UNEXPENDED VOUCHERS.—Any amount of

2 voter communication vouchers received by an eligible

3 House candidate under this title and not expended on or

4 before the date of the general election shall be repaid with5 in 60 days of the election, except that a reasonable amount

6 may be retained for a period not exceeding 120 days after

7 the date of the general election for the liquidation of obli8 gations to pay expenditures for the general election in9 curred during the general election period. At the end of

10 the 120-day period, any unexpended vouchers received

11 under this title shall be promptly repaid.

12 ‘‘SEC. 605. CLOSED CAPTIONING REQUIREMENT FOR TELE13 VISION COMMERCIALS OF ELIGIBLE HOUSE

14 OF REPRESENTATIVES CANDIDATES.

15 ‘‘No eligible House of Representatives candidate may

16 receive amounts under section 604 unless such candidate

17 has certified to the Federal Election Commission that any

18 television commercial prepared or distributed by the can19 didate will be prepared in a manner that contains, is ac20 companied by, or otherwise readily permits closed caption21 ing of the oral content of the commercial to be broadcast

22 by way of line 21 of the vertical blanking interval, or by

23 way of comparable successor technologies.
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1 ‘‘SEC. 606. EXAMINATION AND AUDITS; REPAYMENTS.

2 ‘‘(a) GENERAL ELECTION.—After each general elec3 tion, the Commission shall conduct an examination and

4 audit of the campaign accounts of 5 percent of the eligible

5 House of Representatives candidates, as designated by the

6 Commission through the use of an appropriate statistical

7 method of random selection, to determine whether such

8 candidates have complied with the conditions of eligibility

9 and other requirements of this title. No other factors shall

10 be considered in carrying out such an examination and

11 audit. The Commission shall conduct an examination and

12 audit of the accounts of all candidates from a congres13 sional district where any eligible candidate is selected for

14 examination and audit.

15 ‘‘(b) SPECIAL ELECTION.—After each special elec16 tion, the Commission shall conduct an examination and

17 audit of the campaign accounts of all eligible candidates

18 in the election to determine whether the candidates have

19 complied with the conditions of eligibility and other re20 quirements of this title.

21 ‘‘(c) AFFIRMATIVE VOTE.—The Commission may

22 conduct an examination and audit of the campaign ac23 counts of any eligible House of Representatives candidate

24 in a general election if the Commission, by an affirmative

25 vote of 4 members, determines that there exists reason
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1 to believe whether such candidate may have violated any

2 provision of this title.

3 ‘‘(d) PAYMENTS.—If the Commission determines that

4 any amount of a payment to a candidate under this title

5 was in excess of the aggregate payments to which such

6 candidate was entitled, the Commission shall so notify the

7 candidate, and the candidate shall pay an amount equal

8 to the excess.

9 ‘‘SEC. 607. JUDICIAL REVIEW.

10 ‘‘(a) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—Any agency action by the

11 Commission made under the provisions of this title shall

12 be subject to review by the United States Court of Appeals

13 for the District of Columbia Circuit upon petition filed in

14 such court within 30 days after the agency action by the

15 Commission for which review is sought. It shall be the

16 duty of the Court of Appeals, ahead of all matters not

17 filed under this title, to advance on the docket and expedi18 tiously take action on all petitions filed pursuant to this

19 title.

20 ‘‘(b) APPLICATION OF TITLE 5.—The provisions of

21 chapter 7 of title 5, United States Code, shall apply to

22 judicial review of any agency action by the Commission.

23 ‘‘(c) AGENCY ACTION.—For purposes of this section,

24 the term ‘agency action’ has the meaning given such term

25 by section 551(13) of title 5, United States Code.
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1 ‘‘SEC. 608. PARTICIPATION BY COMMISSION IN JUDICIAL

2 PROCEEDINGS.

3 ‘‘(a) APPEARANCES.—The Commission is authorized

4 to appear in and defend against any action instituted

5 under this section and under section 607 either by attor6 neys employed in its office or by counsel whom it may ap7 point without regard to the provisions of title 5, United

8 States Code, governing appointments in the competitive

9 service, and whose compensation it may fix without regard

10 to the provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter III of chap11 ter 53 of such title.

12 ‘‘(b) INSTITUTION OF ACTIONS.—The Commission is

13 authorized, through attorneys and counsel described in

14 subsection (a), to institute actions in the district courts

15 of the United States to seek recovery of any amounts de16 termined under this title to be payable to the Secretary.

17 ‘‘(c) INJUNCTIVE RELIEF.—The Commission is au18 thorized, through attorneys and counsel described in sub19 section (a), to petition the courts of the United States for

20 such injunctive relief as is appropriate in order to imple21 ment any provision of this title.

22 ‘‘(d) APPEALS.—The Commission is authorized on

23 behalf of the United States to appeal from, and to petition

24 the Supreme Court for certiorari to review, judgments or

25 decrees entered with respect to actions in which it appears

26 pursuant to the authority provided in this section.
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1 ‘‘SEC. 609. REPORTS TO CONGRESS; CERTIFICATIONS; REG2 ULATIONS.

3 ‘‘(a) REPORTS.—The Commission shall, as soon as

4 practicable after each election, submit a full report to the

5 House of Representatives setting forth—

6 ‘‘(1) the expenditures (shown in such detail as

7 the Commission determines appropriate) made by

8 each eligible candidate and the authorized commit9 tees of such candidate;

10 ‘‘(2) the aggregate amount of voter communica11 tion vouchers certified by the Commission under sec12 tion 604 for each eligible candidate; and

13 ‘‘(3) the amount of repayments, if any, required

14 under section 606, and the reasons for each repay15 ment required.

16 Each report submitted pursuant to this section shall be

17 printed as a House document.

18 ‘‘(b) DETERMINATIONS BY COMMISSION.—All deter19 minations (including certifications under section 604)

20 made by the Commission under this title shall be final and

21 conclusive, except to the extent that they are subject to

22 examination and audit by the Commission under section

23 606 or judicial review under section 607.

24 ‘‘(c) RULES AND REGULATIONS.—The Commission is

25 authorized to prescribe such rules and regulations, in ac26 cordance with the provisions of subsection (d), to conduct
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1 such audits, examinations and investigations, and to re2 quire the keeping and submission of such books, records,

3 and information, as it deems necessary to carry out the

4 functions and duties imposed on it by this title.

5 ‘‘(d) REPORT OF PROPOSED REGULATIONS.—The

6 Commission shall submit to the House of Representatives

7 a report containing a detailed explanation and justification

8 of each rule, regulation, and form of the Commission

9 under this title. No such rule, regulation, or form may

10 take effect until a period of 30 legislative days has elapsed

11 after the report is received. As used in this subsection—

12 ‘‘(1) the term ‘legislative day’ means any cal13 endar day on which the House of Representatives is

14 in session; and

15 ‘‘(2) the terms ‘rule’ and ‘regulation’ mean a

16 provision or series of interrelated provisions stating

17 a single, separable rule of law.’’.

18 SEC. 122. REGISTRATION AS ELIGIBLE HOUSE OF REP19 RESENTATIVES CANDIDATE.

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 302(e) of the Federal

21 Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 432(e)) is

22 amended by adding at the end the following new para23 graph:

24 ‘‘(6)(A) In the case of a candidate for the office of

25 Representative in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner
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1 to, the Congress, who desires to be an eligible House of

2 Representatives candidate, a declaration of participation

3 of the candidate to abide by the limits specified in sections

4 601 and 315(i) and provide the information required

5 under section 604(b)(4) shall be included in the designa6 tion required to be filed under paragraph (1).

7 ‘‘(B)(i) In the case of a candidate referred to in sub8 paragraph (A), if the statement of candidacy does not in9 clude a declaration referred to in that paragraph, the can10 didate may amend the statement to include such declara11 tion, if such amendment is filed under subsection (g) not

12 later than 7 days after the earlier of—

13 ‘‘(I) the date the candidate qualifies for the

14 general election ballot under State law; or

15 ‘‘(II) if, under State law, a primary or runoff

16 election to qualify for the general election ballot oc17 curs after September 1, the date the candidate wins

18 the primary or runoff election.

19 ‘‘(ii) A declaration of participation that is included

20 in a statement of candidacy or has been added by amend21 ment under subparagraph (B) may not thereafter be re22 voked.’’.
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1 SEC. 123. DEFINITIONS.

2 Section 301 of the Federal Election Campaign Act

3 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431) is amended by striking paragraph

4 (19) and inserting the following new paragraphs:

5 ‘‘(19) The term ‘general election’ means any election

6 which will directly result in the election of a person to a

7 Federal office, but does not include an open primary elec8 tion.

9 ‘‘(20) The term ‘general election period’ means, with

10 respect to any candidate, the period beginning on the day

11 after the date of the primary or runoff election for the

12 specific office the candidate is seeking, whichever is later,

13 and ending on the earlier of—

14 ‘‘(A) the date of such general election; or

15 ‘‘(B) the date on which the candidate withdraws

16 from the campaign or otherwise ceases actively to

17 seek election.

18 ‘‘(21) The term ‘immediate family’ means—

19 ‘‘(A) a candidate’s spouse;

20 ‘‘(B) a child, stepchild, parent, grandparent,

21 brother, step-brother, sister or step-sister of the can22 didate or the candidate’s spouse; and

23 ‘‘(C) the spouse of any person described in sub24 paragraph (B).
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1 ‘‘(22) The term ‘primary election’ means an election

2 which may result in the selection of a candidate for the

3 ballot in a general election for a Federal office.

4 ‘‘(23) The term ‘primary election period’ means, with

5 respect to any candidate, the period beginning on the day

6 following the date of the last election for the specific office

7 the candidate is seeking and ending on the earlier of—

8 ‘‘(A) the date of the first primary election for

9 that office following the last general election for that

10 office; or

11 ‘‘(B) the date on which the candidate withdraws

12 from the election or otherwise ceases actively to seek

13 election.

14 ‘‘(24) The term ‘runoff election’ means an election

15 held after a primary election which is prescribed by appli16 cable State law as the means for deciding which candidate

17 will be on the ballot in the general election for a Federal

18 office.

19 ‘‘(25) The term ‘runoff election period’ means, with

20 respect to any candidate, the period beginning on the day

21 following the date of the last primary election for the spe22 cific office such candidate is seeking and ending on the

23 date of the runoff election for such office.
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1 ‘‘(26) The term ‘voting age population’ means the

2 resident population, 18 years of age or older, as certified

3 pursuant to section 315(e).

4 ‘‘(27) The term ‘eligible House of Representatives

5 candidate’ means a candidate for election to the office of

6 Representative in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner

7 to, the Congress, who, as determined by the Commission

8 under section 603, is eligible to receive matching vouchers

9 and other benefits under title VI by reason of filing a dec10 laration of participation under section 302(e) and comply11 ing with the continuing eligibility requirements under sec12 tion 603.

13 ‘‘(28) The term ‘election cycle’ means—

14 ‘‘(A) in the case of a candidate or the author15 ized committees of a candidate, the term beginning

16 on the day after the date of the most recent general

17 election for the specific office or seat which such

18 candidate seeks and ending on the date of the next

19 general election for such office or seat; or

20 ‘‘(B) for all other persons, the term beginning

21 on the first day following the date of the last general

22 election and ending on the date of the next general

23 election.’’.
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1 TITLE II—LIMITATIONS ON PO2 LITICAL COMMITTEE AND

3 LARGE DONOR CONTRIBU4 TIONS THAT MAY BE ACCEPT5 ED BY HOUSE OF REP6 RESENTATIVES CANDIDATES

7 SEC. 201. LIMITATIONS ON POLITICAL COMMITTEE AND

8 LARGE DONOR CONTRIBUTIONS THAT MAY

9 BE ACCEPTED BY HOUSE OF REPRESENTA10 TIVES CANDIDATES.

11 Section 315 of the Federal Election Campaign Act

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

13 the following new subsections:

14 ‘‘(i)(1) A candidate for the office of Representative

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

16 may not, with respect to an election cycle, accept contribu17 tions from political committees aggregating in excess of

18 $90,000.

19 ‘‘(2) A candidate for the office of Representative in,

20 or Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, the Congress

21 may not, with respect to an election cycle, accept contribu22 tions aggregating in excess of $120,000 from persons

23 other than political committees whose contributions total

24 more than $250.
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1 ‘‘(3) In addition to the contributions under para2 graphs (1) and (2), if an eligible House of Representatives

3 candidate in a contested primary election wins that pri4 mary election by a margin of 10 percentage points or less,

5 the candidate may accept contributions of not more than

6 $180,000, $27,000 from persons identified in paragraph

7 (1) and $36,000 from persons identified in paragraph (2).

8 ‘‘(4) In addition to the contributions under para9 graphs (1) and (2), a House of Representatives candidate

10 who is a candidate in a runoff election may accept con11 tributions of not more than $120,000, $18,000 from per12 sons identified in paragraph (1) and $24,000 from persons

13 identified in paragraph (2).

14 ‘‘(j) NONPARTICIPATING OPPONENT PROVISIONS.—

15 The limitations imposed by section 315(i) do not apply

16 in the case of an eligible House of Representatives can17 didate if any other candidate seeking nomination or elec18 tion to that office—

19 ‘‘(1) is not an eligible House of Representatives

20 general election candidate;

21 ‘‘(2) makes contributions or loans to his or her

22 own campaign totaling more than $25,000 from his

23 or her own personal funds; and

24 ‘‘(3) makes expenditures in excess of 100 per25 cent of the limitations specified in section 601.
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•HR 3053 IH

1 ‘‘(k) CIVIL PENALTIES.—

2 ‘‘(1) LOW AMOUNT OF EXCESS CONTRIBU3 TIONS.—Any eligible House of Representatives can4 didate who accepts contributions that exceed the lim5 itations under this section by 2.5 percent or less

6 shall refund the excess contributions to the persons

7 who made the contributions.

8 ‘‘(2) MEDIUM AMOUNT OF EXCESS CONTRIBU9 TIONS.—Any eligible House of Representatives can10 didate who accepts contributions that exceed the lim11 itations under this section by more than 2.5 percent

12 and less than 5 percent shall pay to the Commission

13 an amount equal to three times the amount of the

14 excess contributions.

15 ‘‘(3) LARGE AMOUNT OF EXCESS CONTRIBU16 TIONS.—Any eligible House of Representatives can17 didate who accepts contributions that exceed the lim18 itations under this section by 5 percent or more

19 shall pay to the Commission an amount equal to

20 three times the amount of the excess contributions

21 plus a civil penalty in an amount determined by the

22 Commission.

23 ‘‘(l) EXEMPTION FOR CERTAIN COSTS.—Any

24 amount—
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•HR 3053 IH

1 ‘‘(1) accepted by a House of Representatives

2 candidate; and

3 ‘‘(2) used for costs incurred under section

4 601(e) and (f) shall not be considered in the com5 putation of amounts subject to limitation.

6 ‘‘(m) INDEXING.—The dollar amounts specified in

7 section 315(i) shall be adjusted at the beginning of the

8 calendar year based on the increase in the price index de9 termined under section 315(c), except that, for the pur10 poses of such adjustment, the base period shall be cal11 endar year 1995.

12 ‘‘(n) TRANSFER PROVISION.—The limitations im13 posed by section 315(i) apply without regard to amounts

14 transferred from previous election cycles or other author15 ized committees of the same candidate. Candidates shall

16 not be required to seek the redesignation of contributions

17 in order to transfer such contributions to a later election

18 cycle.’’.

19 TITLE III—INDEPENDENT

20 EXPENDITURES

21 SEC. 301. CLARIFICATION OF DEFINITIONS RELATING TO

22 INDEPENDENT EXPENDITURES.

23 (a) INDEPENDENT EXPENDITURE DEFINITION

24 AMENDMENT.—Section 301 of the Federal Election Cam-
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•HR 3053 IH

1 paign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431) is amended by striking

2 paragraphs (17) and (18) and inserting the following:

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

4 an expenditure for an advertisement or other communica5 tion that—

6 ‘‘(i) contains express advocacy; and

7 ‘‘(ii) is made without the participation or co8 operation of, or consultation with, a candidate or a

9 candidate’s representative.

10 ‘‘(B) The following shall not be considered an inde11 pendent expenditure:

12 ‘‘(i) An expenditure made by an authorized

13 committee of a candidate for Federal office or a po14 litical committee of a political party.

15 ‘‘(ii) An expenditure made on behalf of a can16 didate by a person who, during the election cycle,

17 has made a contribution to that candidate, where

18 the expenditure is in support of that candidate or in

19 opposition to another candidate for the same office.

20 ‘‘(iii) An expenditure made by a person, or a

21 political committee established, maintained or con22 trolled by such person, who is required to register,

23 under section 308 of the Federal Regulation of Lob24 bying Act (2 U.S.C. 267) or the Foreign Agents

25 Registration Act (22 U.S.C. 611) or any successor
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•HR 3053 IH

1 Federal law requiring a person who is a lobbyist or

2 foreign agent to register.

3 ‘‘(iv) An expenditure made by a person who,

4 during the election cycle, has communicated with or

5 received information from a candidate or a rep6 resentative of that candidate regarding activities

7 that have the purpose of influencing that candidate’s

8 election to Federal office, where the expenditure is

9 in support of that candidate or in opposition to an10 other candidate for that office.

11 ‘‘(v) An expenditure if, in the same election

12 cycle, the person making the expenditure is or has

13 been—

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

15 behalf of the candidate or the candidate’s au16 thorized committees; or

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

18 agent of the candidate’s authorized committees

19 in an executive or policymaking position.

20 ‘‘(18) The term ‘express advocacy’ means, when a

21 communication is taken as a whole and with limited ref22 erence to external events, an expression of support for or

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

24 candidates, or to candidates of a particular political party,

25 or a suggestion to take action with respect to an election,
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•HR 3053 IH

1 such as to vote for or against, make contributions to, or

2 participate in campaign activity or refrain from taking ac3 tion.’’.

4 (b) CONTRIBUTION DEFINITION AMENDMENT.—Sec5 tion 301(8)(A) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of

6 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431(8)(A)) is amended—

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

8 semicolon at the end;

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

10 end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and

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

12 clause:

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

14 to in paragraph (17)(A)(i) that does not qualify as

15 an independent expenditure under paragraph

16 (17)(A)(ii).’’.

17 SEC. 302. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS FOR CERTAIN INDE18 PENDENT EXPENDITURES.

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

20 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 434(c)) is amended—

21 (1) in paragraph (2), by striking out the undes22 ignated matter after subparagraph (C);

23 (2) by redesignating paragraph (3) as para24 graph (8); and
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•HR 3053 IH

1 (3) by inserting after paragraph (2), as amend2 ed by paragraph (1), the following new paragraphs:

3 ‘‘(3)(A) Any person (including a political committee)

4 making an independent expenditure (including those de5 scribed in subsection (b)(6)(B)(iii) of this section) aggre6 gating $1,000 or more made after the 20th day, but more

7 than 24 hours, before any election shall file a report within

8 24 hours after such independent expenditure is made.

9 ‘‘(B) Any person (including a political committee)

10 making an independent expenditure aggregating $5,000 or

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

12 before any election shall file a report within 48 hours after

13 such independent expenditure is made. An additional re14 port shall be filed each time independent expenditures ag15 gregating $5,000 are made with respect to the same elec16 tion as the initial report filed under this section.

17 ‘‘(C) Such report shall be filed with the Commission

18 and the Secretary of State of the State involved and shall

19 contain the information required by subsection

20 (b)(6)(B)(iii) of this section, including whether the inde21 pendent expenditure is in support of, or in opposition to,

22 the candidate involved. Not later than 48 hours after the

23 Commission receives a report, the Commission shall trans24 mit a copy of the report to each candidate seeking nomina25 tion or election to that office.
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•HR 3053 IH

1 ‘‘(D) For purposes of this section, the term ‘made’

2 includes any payment and any action taken to incur an

3 obligation for payment.

4 ‘‘(4)(A) If any person (including a political commit5 tee) intends to make independent expenditures aggregat6 ing $5,000 or more during the 20 days before an election,

7 such person shall file a report no later than the 20th day

8 before the election.

9 ‘‘(B) Such report shall be filed with the Commission

10 and the Secretary of State of the State involved, and shall

11 identify each candidate whom the expenditure is actually

12 intended to support or to oppose. The Clerk of the House

13 of Representatives and the Secretary of the Senate shall

14 as soon as possible (but not later than 4 working hours

15 of the Commission) after receipt of a report transmit it

16 to the Commission. Not later than 48 hours after the

17 Commission receives a report under this paragraph, the

18 Commission shall transmit a copy of the statement to each

19 candidate identified.

20 ‘‘(5) The Commission may make its own determina21 tion that a person has made, or has incurred obligations

22 to make, independent expenditures with respect to any

23 Federal election which in the aggregate exceed the applica24 ble amounts under paragraph (3) or (4). The Commission
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•HR 3053 IH

1 shall notify each candidate in such election of such deter2 mination within 24 hours of making it.

3 ‘‘(6) At the same time as an eligible candidate who

4 has qualified under section 604(b) is notified under para5 graph (3), (4), or (5) with respect to expenditures during

6 a general election period, the Commission shall certify eli7 gibility to receive benefits under section 604(b).’’.

8 SEC. 303. BROADCAST AND CABLE INDEPENDENT EXPENDI9 TURE COMMUNICATIONS AGAINST ELIGIBLE

10 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CANDIDATES.

11 Section 315 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47

12 U.S.C. 315) is amended—

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

14 subsections (e) and (f), respectively; and

15 (2) by inserting immediately before subsection

16 (e) as redesignated the following new subsection:

17 ‘‘(d) If any person makes an independent expenditure

18 through a communication on a broadcasting station or a

19 cable system (as defined in section 602 of this Act) that

20 expressly advocates the defeat of an eligible House of Rep21 resentatives candidate, or the election of the opponent of

22 an eligible House of Representatives candidate (regardless

23 of whether such opponent is an eligible candidate), the li24 censee or cable operator, as applicable, shall, not later

25 than one week after the communication (or not later than
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•HR 3053 IH

1 24 hours after the communication, if the communication

2 occurs not more than one week before the election) trans3 mit to such candidate—

4 ‘‘(1) a statement of the date and time of the

5 communication;

6 ‘‘(2) a script or tape recording of the commu7 nication, or an accurate summary of the communica8 tion if a script or tape recording is not available;

9 and

10 ‘‘(3) an offer of an equal opportunity for such

11 candidate to use the broadcasting station or cable

12 system to respond to the communication at a charge

13 determined in accordance with subsection (b).’’.

14 SEC. 304. ADDITIONAL EXPENDITURES BY ELIGIBLE HOUSE

15 OF REPRESENTATIVES CANDIDATE FACED

16 WITH LARGE AMOUNT OF INDEPENDENT EX17 PENDITURES.

18 Section 315 of the Federal Election Campaign Act

19 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a), as amended by section 201, is

20 further amended by adding at the end the following new

21 subsection:

22 ‘‘(o) ELIGIBLE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CAN23 DIDATE INDEPENDENT EXPENDITURE PROVISION.—If,

24 with respect to an election involving an eligible House of

25 Representatives candidate, independent expenditures to-
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•HR 3053 IH

1 taling $25,000 are made against the eligible House of

2 Representatives candidate or in favor of another can3 didate, the eligible House of Representatives candidate

4 shall be entitled, in addition to any amount permitted

5 under this Act, to make expenditures in an amount equal

6 to the amount of such independent expenditures.

7 TITLE IV—CONTRIBUTIONS AND

8 EXPENDITURES BY POLITI9 CAL PARTY COMMITTEES

10 SEC. 401. SOFT MONEY OF POLITICAL PARTIES.

11 Title III of the Federal Election Campaign Act of

12 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431 et seq.) is amended by adding at the

13 end the following new section:

14 ‘‘SOFT MONEY OF POLITICAL PARTIES

15 ‘‘SEC. 323. (a) A national committee of a political

16 party, including the national congressional campaign com17 mittees of a political party, and any officers or agents of

18 such party committees, shall not solicit or receive any con19 tributions, donations, or transfers of funds, or spend any

20 funds, not subject to the limitations, prohibitions, and re21 porting requirements of this Act. This subsection shall

22 apply to any entity that is established, financed, main23 tained, or controlled by a national committee of a political

24 party, including the national congressional campaign com25 mittees of a political party, and any officers or agents of

26 such party committees.
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1 ‘‘(b)(1) Any amount expended or disbursed by a

2 State, district, or local committee of a political party, dur3 ing a calendar year in which a Federal election is held,

4 for any activity which might affect the outcome of a Fed5 eral election, including but not limited to any voter reg6 istration and get-out-the-vote activity, any generic cam7 paign activity, and any communication that identifies a

8 Federal candidate (regardless of whether a State or local

9 candidate is also mentioned or identified) shall be made

10 from funds subject to the limitations, prohibitions and re11 porting requirements of this Act.

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

13 or disbursements made by a State, district or local com14 mittee of a political party for—

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

16 for Federal office, provided that such contribution is

17 not designated or otherwise earmarked to pay for ac18 tivities described in paragraph (1);

19 ‘‘(B) the costs of a State or district/local politi20 cal convention;

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

22 or local party committee’s administrative and over23 head expenses (but not including the compensation

24 in any month of any individual who spends more

25 than 20 percent of his or her time on activity during
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•HR 3053 IH

1 such month which may affect the outcome of a Fed2 eral election). For purposes of this provision, the

3 non-Federal share of a party committee’s adminis4 trative and overhead expenses shall be determined

5 by applying the ratio of the non-Federal disburse6 ments to the total Federal expenditures and non7 Federal disbursements made by the committee dur8 ing the previous presidential election year to the

9 committee’s administrative and overhead expenses in

10 the election year in question;

11 ‘‘(D) the costs of grassroots campaign mate12 rials, including buttons, bumper stickers, and yard

13 signs, which materials solely name or depict a State

14 or local candidate; or

15 ‘‘(E) the cost of any campaign activity con16 ducted solely on behalf of a clearly identified State

17 or local candidate, provided that such activity is not

18 a get out the vote activity or any other activity cov19 ered by paragraph (1).

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

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

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

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

24 from funds subject to the limitations, prohibitions, and re25 porting requirements of this Act. This paragraph shall
40

•HR 3053 IH

1 apply to any entity that is established, financed, main2 tained, or controlled by a State, district or local committee

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

4 committee in the same manner as it applies to that com5 mittee.

6 ‘‘(c) No national, State, district or local committee

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

8 donations to any organization that is exempt from Federal

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

10 Code of 1986.

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

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

13 officeholder, may solicit or receive (A) any funds in con14 nection with any Federal election unless such funds are

15 subject to the limitations, prohibitions and reporting re16 quirements of this Act; (B) any funds that are to be ex17 pended in connection with any election for other than a

18 Federal office unless such funds are not in excess of the

19 amounts permitted with respect to contributions to Fed20 eral candidates and political committees under section

21 315(a) (1) and (2), and are not from sources prohibited

22 from making contributions by this Act with respect to elec23 tion for Federal office. This paragraph shall not apply to

24 the solicitation or receipt of funds by an individual who

25 is a candidate for a non-Federal office if such activity is
41

•HR 3053 IH

1 permitted under State law for such individual’s non-Fed2 eral campaign committee.

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

4 holding Federal office may directly or indirectly establish,

5 maintain, finance or control any organization described in

6 section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 if

7 such organization raises funds from the public.

8 ‘‘(B) No national committee of a political party may

9 directly or indirectly establish, maintain, finance, or con10 trol any organization described in section 501(c) of the

11 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 if such organization raises

12 funds from the public.

13 ‘‘(C) No candidate for Federal office or individual

14 holding Federal office may raise funds for any organiza15 tion described in section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue

16 Code of 1986 if the activities of the organization include

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

18 ‘‘(D) For purposes of this paragraph, an individual

19 shall be treated as holding Federal office if such individ20 ual—

21 ‘‘(i) holds a Federal office; or

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

23 Executive Schedule under 5312 of title 5, United

24 States Code.’’.
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1 SEC. 402. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.

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

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

4 is amended by adding at the end the following new sub5 section:

6 ‘‘(d) POLITICAL COMMITTEES.—(1) The national

7 committee of a political party and any congressional cam8 paign committee of a political party, and any subordinate

9 committee of either, shall report all receipts and disburse10 ments during the reporting period, whether or not in con11 nection with an election for Federal office.

12 ‘‘(2) A political committee (not described in para13 graph (1)) to which section 323 applies shall report all

14 receipts and disbursements.

15 ‘‘(3) Any political committee to which section 323 ap16 plies shall include in its report under paragraph (1) or

17 (2) the amount of any transfer described in section

18 323(d)(2) and shall itemize such amounts to the extent

19 required by section 304(b)(3)(A).

20 ‘‘(4) Any political committee to which paragraph (1)

21 or (2) does not apply shall report any receipts or disburse22 ments which are used in connection with a Federal elec23 tion.

24 ‘‘(5) If a political committee has receipts or disburse25 ments to which this subsection applies from any person

26 aggregating in excess of $200 for any calendar year, the
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1 political committee shall separately itemize its reporting

2 for such person in the same manner as subsection (b)

3 (3)(A), (5), or (6).

4 ‘‘(5) Reports required to be filed by this subsection

5 shall be filed for the same time periods required for politi6 cal committees under subsection (a).’’.

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

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

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

10 by adding at the end the following new subsection:

11 ‘‘(e) FILING OF STATE REPORTS.—In lieu of any re12 port required to be filed by this Act, the Commission may

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

14 the Commission a report required to be filed under State

15 law if the Commission determines such reports contain

16 substantially the same information.’’.

17 (c) OTHER REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—

18 (1) AUTHORIZED COMMITTEES.—Section

19 304(b)(4) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of

20 1971 (2 U.S.C. 434(b)(4)) is amended—

21 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub22 paragraph (H);

23 (B) by inserting ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub24 paragraph (I); and
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1 (C) by adding at the end the following new

2 subparagraph:

3 ‘‘(J) in the case of an authorized commit4 tee, disbursements for the primary election, the

5 general election, and any other election in which

6 the candidate participates;’’.

7 (2) NAMES AND ADDRESSES.—Section

8 304(b)(5)(A) of the Federal Election Campaign Act

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

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

11 and

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

13 which the operating expenditure relates’’ after

14 ‘‘operating expenditure’’.

15 SEC. 403. SOFT MONEY OF PERSONS OTHER THAN POLITI16 CAL PARTIES.

17 Section 304 of the Federal Election Campaign Act

18 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 434), as amended by section 402, is

19 further amended by adding at the end the following new

20 subsection:

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

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

23 section 323 does not apply makes (or obligates to make)

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

25 in excess of $2,000, such person shall file a statement—
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1 ‘‘(I) within 48 hours after the disbursements

2 (or obligations) are made; or

3 ‘‘(II) in the case of disbursements (or obliga4 tions) that are required to be made within 20 days

5 of the election, within 24 hours after such disburse6 ment (or obligations) are made.

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

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

9 obligated to be made) by a person described in clause (i).

10 ‘‘(B) This paragraph shall not apply to—

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

12 committees; or

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

14 section 301(17)).

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

16 with the Commission and shall contain such information

17 as the Commission shall prescribe, including whether the

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

19 more candidates or any political party.’’.

20 SEC. 404. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.

21 (a) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—Section 304 of

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

23 as amended by sections 402 and 403, is further amended

24 by adding at the end the following new subsection:
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1 ‘‘(g) POLITICAL COMMITTEES.—(1) The national

2 committee of a political party and any congressional cam3 paign committee of a political party, and any subordinate

4 committee of either, shall report all receipts and disburse5 ments during the reporting period, whether or not in con6 nection with an election for Federal office.

7 ‘‘(2) Any political committee to which section 323 ap8 plies shall include in its report under paragraph (1) the

9 amount of any transfer described in section 323(d)(2) and

10 shall itemize such amounts to the extent required by sec11 tion 304(b)(3)(A).

12 ‘‘(3) Any political committee to which paragraph (1)

13 does not apply shall report any receipts or disbursements

14 which are used in connection with a Federal election.

15 ‘‘(4) If a political committee has receipts or disburse16 ments to which this subsection applies from any person

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

18 political committee shall separately itemize its reporting

19 for such person in the same manner as subsection (b)

20 (3)(A), (5), or (6).

21 ‘‘(6) Reports required to be filed by this subsection

22 shall be filed for the same time periods required for politi23 cal committees under subsection (a).’’.

24 (b) REPORT OF EXEMPT CONTRIBUTIONS.—Section

25 301(8) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2
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1 U.S.C. 431(8)) is amended by adding at the end the fol2 lowing:

3 ‘‘(C) The exclusion provided in clause (viii) of sub4 paragraph (B) shall not apply for purposes of any require5 ment to report contributions under this Act, and all such

6 contributions aggregating in excess of $200 shall be re7 ported.’’.

8 (c) OTHER REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—

9 (1) AUTHORIZED COMMITTEES.—Paragraph (4)

10 of section 304(b) of Federal Election Campaign Act

11 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 434(b)(4)) is amended by striking

12 ‘‘and’’ at the end of subparagraph (H), by inserting

13 ‘‘and’’ at the end of subparagraph (I), and by add14 ing at the end the following new subparagraph:

15 ‘‘(J) in the case of an authorized commit16 tee, disbursements for the primary election, the

17 general election, and any other election in which

18 the candidate participates;’’.

19 (2) NAMES AND ADDRESSES.—Subparagraph

20 (A) of section 304(b)(5) of Federal Election Cam21 paign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 434(b)(5)(A)) is

22 amended—

23 (A) by striking ‘‘within the calendar year’’,

24 and
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1 (B) by inserting ‘‘, and the election to

2 which the operating expenditure relates’’ after

3 ‘‘operating expenditure’’.

4 SEC. 405. RESTRICTIONS ON FUNDRAISING BY CANDIDATES

5 AND OFFICEHOLDERS.

6 Section 315 of Federal Election Campaign Act of

7 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a), as amended by sections 201 and

8 304, is further amended by adding at the end the following

9 new subsection:

10 ‘‘(p) LIMITATIONS ON FUNDRAISING ACTIVITIES OF

11 FEDERAL CANDIDATES AND OFFICEHOLDERS AND CER12 TAIN POLITICAL COMMITTEES.—(1) For purposes of this

13 Act, a candidate for Federal office, an individual holding

14 Federal office, or any agent of the candidate or individual

15 may not solicit funds to, or receive funds on behalf of,

16 any Federal candidate or political committee, or any party

17 or other multicandidate committee organized under State

18 law to support more than one candidate for non-Federal

19 office—

20 ‘‘(A) which are to be expended in connection

21 with any election for Federal office unless such

22 funds are subject to the limitations, prohibitions,

23 and requirements of this Act; or

24 ‘‘(B) which are to be expended in connection

25 with any election for other than Federal office unless
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1 such funds are not in excess of amounts permitted

2 with respect to Federal candidates and political com3 mittees under subsections (a) (1) and (2), and are

4 not from sources prohibited by such subsections with

5 respect to elections to Federal office.

6 The limitations of this subsection do not apply to the solic7 itation or receipt of funds by a Federal candidate on be8 half of any committee or organization organized primarily

9 for purposes other than the election of particular can10 didates for public office.

11 ‘‘(2)(A) The aggregate amount which a person de12 scribed in subparagraph (B) may solicit from a

13 multicandidate political committee for State committees

14 described in subsection (a)(1)(C) (including subordinate

15 committees) for any calendar year shall not exceed the dol16 lar amount in effect under subsection (a)(2)(B) for the

17 calendar year.

18 ‘‘(B) A person is described in this subparagraph if

19 such person is a candidate for Federal office, an individual

20 holding Federal office, an agent of such a candidate or

21 individual, or any national, State, district, or local commit22 tee of a political party (including a subordinate committee)

23 and any agent of such a committee.

24 ‘‘(3) The personal appearance or participation by a

25 candidate for Federal office or individual holding Federal
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1 office in any fundraising event conducted by a committee

2 of a political party or a candidate for other than Federal

3 office shall not be treated as a solicitation for purposes

4 of paragraph (1) if such candidate or individual does not

5 receive, or make disbursements from, any funds resulting

6 from such activity.

7 ‘‘(4) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to the solicitation

8 or receipt of funds, or disbursements, by an individual who

9 is a candidate for other than Federal office if such activity

10 is permitted under State law.

11 ‘‘(5) For purposes of this subsection, an individual

12 shall be treated as holding Federal office if such individ13 ual—

14 ‘‘(A) holds a Federal office; or

15 ‘‘(B) holds a position described in level I of the

16 Executive Schedule under section 5312 of title 5,

17 United States Code.’’.

18 SEC. 406. INCREASED LIMITATION AMOUNT FOR CERTAIN

19 CONTRIBUTIONS TO POLITICAL COMMITTEES

20 OF STATE POLITICAL PARTIES.

21 Section 315(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Election Cam22 paign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a(a)(1)(B)) is amended—

23 (1) by inserting after ‘‘(B)’’ the following: ‘‘not24 withstanding any other provision of law,’’; and
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•HR 3053 IH

1 (2) by inserting after ‘‘national’’ the following:

2 ‘‘or State’’.

3 SEC. 407. BUILDING FUND EXCEPTION TO THE DEFINITION

4 OF THE TERM ‘‘CONTRIBUTION’’.

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

6 Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431(8)(B)) is amended—

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

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

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

10 TITLE V—CONTRIBUTIONS

11 SEC. 501. RESTRICTIONS ON BUNDLING.

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

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

14 as follows:

15 ‘‘(8)(A) No person, either directly or indirectly, may

16 act as a conduit or intermediary for any contribution to

17 a candidate.

18 ‘‘(B)(i) Nothing in this section shall prohibit—

19 ‘‘(I) joint fundraising conducted in accordance

20 with rules prescribed by the Commission by 2 or

21 more candidates; or

22 ‘‘(II) fundraising for the benefit of a candidate

23 that is conducted by another candidate.
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1 ‘‘(ii) No other person may conduct or otherwise par2 ticipate in joint fundraising activities with or on behalf

3 of any candidate.

4 ‘‘(C) The term ‘conduit or intermediary’ means a per5 son who transmits a contribution to a candidate or can6 didate’s committee or representative from another person,

7 except that—

8 ‘‘(i) a House of Representatives candidate or

9 representative of a House of Representatives can10 didate is not a conduit or intermediary for the pur11 pose of transmitting contributions to the candidate’s

12 principal campaign committee or authorized commit13 tee;

14 ‘‘(ii) a professional fundraiser is not a conduit

15 or intermediary, if the fundraiser is compensated for

16 fundraising services at the usual and customary

17 rate;

18 ‘‘(iii) a volunteer hosting a fundraising event at

19 the volunteer’s home, in accordance with section

20 301(8)(b), is not a conduit or intermediary for the

21 purposes of that event; and

22 ‘‘(iv) an individual is not a conduit or

23 intermediary for the purpose of transmitting a con24 tribution from the individual’s spouse.
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•HR 3053 IH

1 For purposes of this section a conduit or intermediary

2 transmits a contribution when receiving or otherwise tak3 ing possession of the contribution and forwarding it di4 rectly to the candidate or the candidate’s committee or

5 representative.

6 ‘‘(D) For purposes of this section, the term ‘rep7 resentative’—

8 ‘‘(i) shall mean a person who is expressly au9 thorized by the candidate to engage in fundraising,

10 and who, in the case of an individual, is not acting

11 as an officer, employee, or agent of any other per12 son;

13 ‘‘(ii) shall not include—

14 ‘‘(I) a political committee with a connected

15 organization;

16 ‘‘(II) a political party;

17 ‘‘(III) a partnership or sole proprietorship;

18 ‘‘(IV) an organization prohibited from

19 making contributions under section 316; or

20 ‘‘(V) a person required to register under

21 section 308 of the Federal Regulation of Lobby22 ing Act (2 U.S.C. 267) or the Foreign Agents

23 Registration Act (22 U.S.C. 611) or any suc24 cessor Federal law requiring a person who is a

25 lobbyist or a foreign agent to register.
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•HR 3053 IH

1 ‘‘(E) For purposes of this section, the term ‘acting

2 as an officer, employee, or agent of any other person’ in3 cludes the following activities by a salaried officer, em4 ployee, or paid agent of a person described in subpara5 graph (D)(ii)(IV):

6 ‘‘(i) Soliciting contributions to a particular can7 didate in the name of, or by using the name of, such

8 a person.

9 ‘‘(ii) Soliciting contributions to a particular

10 candidate using other than the incidental resources

11 of such a person.

12 ‘‘(iii) Soliciting contributions to a particular

13 candidate under the direction or control of other sal14 aried officers, employees, or paid agents of such a

15 person.

16 For purposes of this subparagraph, the term ‘agent’ shall

17 include any person (other than individual members of an

18 organization described in subparagraph (b)(4)(C) of sec19 tion 316) acting on authority or under the direction of

20 such organization.’’.

21 SEC. 502. CONTRIBUTIONS BY DEPENDENTS NOT OF VOT22 ING AGE.

23 Section 315 of the Federal Election Campaign Act

24 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a), as amended by sections 201,
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1 304, 405, and 406, is further amended by adding at the

2 end the following new subsection:

3 ‘‘(r) For purposes of this section, any contribution

4 by an individual who—

5 ‘‘(1) is a dependent of another individual; and

6 ‘‘(2) has not, as of the time of such contribu7 tion, attained the legal age for voting for elections

8 to Federal office in the State in which such individ9 ual resides,

10 shall be treated as having been made by such other indi11 vidual. If such individual is the dependent of another indi12 vidual and such other individual’s spouse, the contribution

13 shall be allocated among such individuals in the manner

14 determined by them.’’.

15 SEC. 503. PROHIBITION OF ACCEPTANCE BY A CANDIDATE

16 OF CASH CONTRIBUTIONS FROM ANY ONE

17 PERSON AGGREGATING MORE THAN $100.

18 Section 321 of the Federal Election Campaign Act

19 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441g) is amended by inserting ‘‘, and

20 no candidate or authorized committee of a candidate shall

21 accept from any one person,’’ after ‘‘make’’.
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1 SEC. 504. CONTRIBUTIONS TO CANDIDATES FROM STATE

2 AND LOCAL COMMITTEES OF POLITICAL PAR3 TIES TO BE AGGREGATED.

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

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

6 end the following new paragraph:

7 ‘‘(9) Notwithstanding paragraph (5)(B), a candidate

8 for Federal office may not accept, with respect to an elec9 tion, any contribution from a State or local committee of

10 a political party (including any subordinate committee of

11 such committee), if such contribution, when added to the

12 total of contributions previously accepted from all such

13 committees of that political party, exceeds the limitation

14 on contributions to a candidate under paragraph (2)(A).’’.

15 SEC. 505. PROHIBITION OF FALSE REPRESENTATION TO

16 SOLICIT CONTRIBUTIONS.

17 Section 322 of the Federal Election Campaign Act

18 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441h) is amended—

19 (1) by inserting after ‘‘SEC. 322.’’ the follow20 ing: ‘‘(a)’’; and

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

22 ‘‘(b) No person shall solicit contributions by falsely

23 representing himself as a candidate or as a representative

24 of a candidate, a political committee, or a political party.’’.
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1 SEC. 506. LIMITED EXCLUSION OF ADVANCES BY CAM2 PAIGN WORKERS FROM THE DEFINITION OF

3 THE TERM ‘‘CONTRIBUTION’’.

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

5 Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431(8)(B)), as amended by section

6 403, is further amended—

7 (1) in clause (xix), by striking ‘‘and’’ after the

8 semicolon at the end;

9 (2) in clause (xx), by striking the period at the

10 end and inserting: ‘‘; and’’; and

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

12 clause:

13 ‘‘(xxi) any advance voluntarily made on behalf

14 of an authorized committee of a candidate by an in15 dividual in the normal course of such individual’s re16 sponsibilities as a volunteer for, or employee of, the

17 committee, if the advance is reimbursed by the com18 mittee within 10 days after the date on which the

19 advance is made, and the value of advances on be20 half of a committee does not exceed $500 with re21 spect to an election.’’.

22 SEC. 507. AMENDMENT TO SECTION 316 OF THE FEDERAL

23 ELECTION CAMPAIGN ACT OF 1971.

24 Section 316(b)(2) of the Federal Election Campaign

25 Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441b(b)(2)) is amended—
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1 (1) by striking ‘‘(2) For’’ and inserting ‘‘(2)(A)

2 Except as provided in subparagraph (B), for’’;

3 (2) by redesignating subparagraphs (A), (B),

4 and (C) as clauses (i), (ii), and (iii), respectively;

5 and

6 (3) by adding at the end the following:

7 ‘‘(B) Payments by a corporation or labor organization

8 for candidate appearances, candidate debates, voter

9 guides, or voting records directed to the general public

10 shall be considered contributions unless—

11 ‘‘(i) in the case of a candidate appearance, the

12 appearance takes place on corporate or labor organi13 zation premises or at a meeting or convention of the

14 corporation or labor organization, and all candidates

15 for election to that office are notified that they may

16 make an appearance under the same or similar con17 ditions;

18 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a candidate debate, the or19 ganization staging the debate is either an organiza20 tion described in section 301 whose broadcasts or

21 publications are supported by commercial advertis22 ing, subscriptions or sales to the public, including a

23 noncommercial educational broadcaster, or a non24 profit organization exempt from Federal taxation

25 under section 501(c)(3) or 501(c)(4) of the Internal
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1 Revenue Code of 1986 that does not endorse, sup2 port, oppose candidates or political parties and any

3 such debate features at least 2 candidates competing

4 for election to that office;

5 ‘‘(iii) in the case of a voter guide, the guide is pre6 pared and distributed by a corporation or labor or7 ganization and consists of questions posed to at least

8 two candidates for election to that office; and

9 ‘‘(iv) in the case of a voting record, the record

10 is prepared and distributed by a corporation or labor

11 organization and such preparation and distribution

12 occurs either without consultation with any can13 didate whose record is included or in consultation

14 with all such candidates;

15 for purposes of subsection (i)(4) such payments shall be

16 treated as contributions if any communication made by a

17 corporation or labor organization in connection with the

18 candidate appearance, candidate debate, voter guide, or

19 voting record contains express advocacy, or that no struc20 ture or format of the candidate appearance, candidate de21 bate, voter guide, or voting record, nor any preparation

22 or distribution of any such guide or record, reflects a pur23 pose of influencing the election of a particular candidate.’’.
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1 SEC. 508. PROHIBITION OF CERTAIN ELECTION-RELATED

2 ACTIVITIES OF FOREIGN NATIONALS.

3 Section 319 of the Federal Election Campaign Act

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

5 the following new subsections:

6 ‘‘(c) A foreign national shall not directly or indirectly

7 direct, control, influence or participate in any person’s

8 election-related activities, such as the making of contribu9 tions or expenditures in connection with elections for any

10 local, State, or Federal office or the administration of a

11 political committee.

12 ‘‘(d) A separate segregated fund established in ac13 cordance with section 316(b)(2)(C) involved in the making

14 of contributions or expenditures in connection with elec15 tions for any Federal, State, or local office shall include

16 the following statement on all printed materials produced

17 for the purpose of soliciting contributions:

18 ‘‘ ‘It is unlawful for a foreign national to make

19 any contribution of money or other thing of value to

20 a political committee.’.’’.
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1 TITLE VI—REPORTING

2 REQUIREMENTS

3 SEC. 601. CHANGE IN CERTAIN REPORTING FROM A CAL4 ENDAR YEAR BASIS TO AN ELECTION CYCLE

5 BASIS.

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

7 304(b) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2

8 U.S.C. 434(b) (2), (3), (4), (6), and (7)), are amended

9 by inserting after ‘‘calendar year’’ each place it appears

10 the following: ‘‘(election cycle, in the case of an authorized

11 committee of a candidate for Federal office)’’.

12 SEC. 602. PERSONAL AND CONSULTING SERVICES.

13 (a) REPORTING BY POLITICAL COMMITTEES.—Sec14 tion 304(b)(5)(A) of the Federal Election Campaign Act

15 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 434(b)(5)(A)), as amended by section

16 405, is further amended by inserting before the semicolon

17 at the end the following: ‘‘, except that if a person to

18 whom an expenditure is made is merely providing personal

19 or consulting services and is in turn making expenditures

20 to other persons (not including employees) who provide

21 goods or services to the candidate or his or her authorized

22 committees, the name and address of such other person,

23 together with the date, amount and purpose of such ex24 penditure shall also be disclosed’’.
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1 (b) RECORDKEEPING AND REPORTING BY PERSONS

2 TO WHOM EXPENDITURES ARE PASSED THROUGH.—Sec3 tion 302 of Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2

4 U.S.C. 432) is amended by adding at the end the following

5 new subsection:

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

7 who is providing personal or consulting services and who

8 is in turn making expenditures to other persons (not in9 cluding employees) for goods or services provided to a can10 didate shall maintain records of and shall provide to a po11 litical committee the information necessary to enable the

12 political committee to report the information described in

13 section 304(b)(5)(A).’’.

14 SEC. 603. REDUCTION IN THRESHOLD FOR REPORTING OF

15 CERTAIN INFORMATION BY PERSONS OTHER

16 THAN POLITICAL COMMITTEES.

17 Section 304(b)(3)(A) of the Federal Election Cam18 paign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 434(b)(3)(A)) is amended

19 by striking ‘‘$200’’ and inserting ‘‘$100’’.

20 SEC. 604. COMPUTERIZED INDICES OF CONTRIBUTIONS.

21 Section 311(a) of the Federal Election Campaign Act

22 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 438(a)) is amended—

23 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph

24 (9);
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1 (2) by striking the period at the end of para2 graph (10) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

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

4 paragraph:

5 ‘‘(11) maintain computerized indices of con6 tributions of $200 or more.’’.

7 SEC. 605. IDENTIFICATION.

8 Section 301(13)(A) of the Federal Election Cam9 paign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431(13)(A)) is amended by

10 striking ‘‘mailing address’’ and inserting ‘‘permanent resi11 dence address’’.

12 SEC. 606. POLITICAL COMMITTEES.

13 Section 303(b) of the Federal Election Campaign Act

14 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 433(b)) is amended—

15 (1) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘, and if the

16 organization or committee is incorporated, the State

17 of incorporation’’ after ‘‘committee’’; and

18 (2) by striking the ‘‘name and address of the

19 treasurer’’ in paragraph (4) and inserting ‘‘the

20 names and addresses of the officers, including the

21 treasurer’’.

22 SEC. 607. USE OF CANDIDATES’ NAMES.

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

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

25 follows:
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1 ‘‘(4)(A) The name of each authorized committee shall

2 include the name of the candidate who authorized the com3 mittee under paragraph (1).

4 ‘‘(B) A political committee that is not an authorized

5 committee shall not—

6 ‘‘(i) include the name of any candidate in its

7 name, or

8 ‘‘(ii) except in the case of a national, State, or

9 local party committee, use the name of any can10 didate in any activity on behalf of such committee

11 in such a context as to suggest that the committee

12 is an authorized committee of the candidate or that

13 the use of the candidate’s name has been authorized

14 by the candidate.’’.

15 SEC. 608. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.

16 Section 304 of the Federal Election Campaign Act

17 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 434), as amended by sections 402, 403,

18 and 404, is further amended by adding at the end the

19 following new subsection:

20 ‘‘(h) WAIVER.—The Commission may relieve any cat21 egory of political committees of the obligation to file 1 or

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

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

24 is consistent with the purposes of this Act. The Commis25 sion may waive requirements to file reports in accordance
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1 with this subsection through a rule of general applicability

2 or, in a specific case, may waive or change the due date

3 of a report by notifying all political committees affected.’’.

4 SEC. 609. SIMULTANEOUS REGISTRATION OF CANDIDATE

5 AND CANDIDATE’S PRINCIPAL CAMPAIGN

6 COMMITTEE.

7 Section 303(a) of Federal Election Campaign Act of

8 1971 (2 U.S.C. 433(a)) is amended in the first sentence

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

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

11 SEC. 610. DISCLOSURES BY ORGANIZATIONS THAT ENGAGE

12 IN LOBBYING.

13 (a) DISCLOSURES REQUIRED.—Title III of the Fed14 eral Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431 et

15 seq.), as amended by section 403, is further amended by

16 adding after section 323 the following new section:

17 ‘‘SEC. 324. DISCLOSURES BY ORGANIZATIONS THAT EN18 GAGE IN LOBBYING.

19 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Any organization that—

20 ‘‘(1) is described in paragraph (4) or (6) of sec21 tion 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986

22 and is exempt from tax under section 501(a) of such

23 Code, and
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1 ‘‘(2) conducts lobbying activities or pays an2 other person compensation to conduct lobbying ac3 tivities on its behalf,

4 shall provide the same information with respect to con5 tributions made to such organization, in the same manner

6 and to the same extent as is required for political commit7 tees under this Act.

8 ‘‘(b) DEFINITION.— As used in this section—

9 ‘‘(1) the term ‘lobbying activities’ means lobby10 ing contacts and efforts in support of such contacts,

11 including—

12 ‘‘(A) preparation and planning activities;

13 ‘‘(B) research and other background work

14 that is intended for use in lobbying contacts;

15 ‘‘(C) coordination with the lobbying activi16 ties of others; and

17 ‘‘(D) grass roots lobbying communications

18 (as defined in regulations implementing section

19 4911(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of

20 1986) to the extent that such communications

21 are made in direct support of lobbying contacts;

22 ‘‘(2) the term ‘lobbying contact’—

23 ‘‘(A) means any oral or written commu24 nication with a Member of Congress, an officer

25 or employee of the House of Representatives or
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1 the Senate, or an officer or employee of the ex2 ecutive branch that is made with regard to—

3 ‘‘(i) the formulation, modification, or

4 adoption of Federal legislation (including

5 legislative proposals); or

6 ‘‘(ii) the formulation, modification, or

7 adoption of a Federal rule, regulation, Ex8 ecutive order, or any other program, policy,

9 or position of the United States Govern10 ment; and

11 ‘‘(B) does not include any communication

12 that—

13 ‘‘(i) is made by public officials acting

14 in their official capacity;

15 ‘‘(ii) is made by representatives of a

16 media organization if the purpose of the

17 communication is gathering and dissemi18 nating news and information to the public;

19 or

20 ‘‘(iii) consists of testimony given be21 fore a committee or subcommittee of the

22 Congress, or submitted for inclusion in the

23 public record of a hearing conducted by

24 any such committee or subcommittee or by

25 a Federal agency; and
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1 ‘‘(3) the term ‘Member of Congress’ means a

2 Senator or a Representative in, or Delegate or Resi3 dent Commissioner to, the Congress.’’.

4 (b) DEFINITION.—Section 301(8)(A) of Federal

5 Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431(8)(A)), as

6 amended by section 301, is further amended—

7 (1) in clause (ii) by striking ‘‘or’’ after the

8 semicolon;

9 (2) in clause (iii) by striking the period and in10 serting ‘‘; or’’; and

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

12 clause:

13 ‘‘(iv) any gift, subscription, loan, advance, or

14 deposit of money or anything of value made by any

15 person to an organization to which section 323 ap16 plies.’’.

17 TITLE VII—FEDERAL ELECTION

18 COMMISSION

19 SEC. 701. APPEARANCE AS AMICI CURIAE.

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

21 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 437c(f)) is amended by striking out

22 paragraph (4) and inserting in lieu thereof the following

23 new paragraph:

24 ‘‘(4)(A) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph

25 (2), or of any other provision of law, the Commission is
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1 authorized to appear on its own behalf in any action relat2 ed to the exercise of its statutory duties or powers in any

3 court as either a party or as amicus curiae, either—

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

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

6 temporary basis as may be necessary for such pur7 pose, without regard to the provisions of title 5,

8 United States Code, governing appointments in the

9 competitive service, and whose compensation it may

10 fix without regard to the provisions of chapter 51

11 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of such title. The

12 compensation of counsel so appointed on a tem13 porary basis shall be paid out of any funds otherwise

14 available to pay the compensation of employees of

15 the Commission.

16 ‘‘(B) The authority granted under subparagraph (A)

17 includes the power to appeal from, and petition the Su18 preme Court for certiorari to review, judgments or decrees

19 entered with respect to actions in which the Commission

20 appears pursuant to the authority provided in this sec21 tion.’’.

22 SEC. 702. FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION PUBLIC SERV23 ICE ANNOUNCEMENTS.

24 Title III of Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971

25 (2 U.S.C. 431 et seq.), as amended by sections 403 and
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1 610, is further amended by inserting after section 324 the

2 following new section:

3 ‘‘SEC. 325. PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENTS.

4 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Beginning on January 15, and

5 continuing through April 15 of each year, the Federal

6 Election Commission shall carry out a program, utilizing

7 broadcast announcements and other appropriate means, to

8 inform the public of the existence and purpose of the Citi9 zen Representative Fund and the role that individual citi10 zens can play in the election process by voluntarily contrib11 uting to the Fund. The Commission shall seek to broad12 cast such announcements during prime time viewing hours

13 in 30-second advertising segments equivalent to 200 gross

14 rating points per network per week. The Commission shall

15 attempt to ensure that the maximum number of taxpayers

16 shall be exposed to these announcements. The Federal

17 Election Commission shall attempt to utilize a variety of

18 communications media, including television, cable, and

19 radio networks, and individual television, cable, and radio

20 stations, to provide similar announcements.

21 ‘‘(b) GROSS RATING POINT.—The term ‘gross rating

22 point’ is a measure of the total gross weight delivered. It

23 is the sum of the ratings for individual programs. Since

24 a household rating period is 1 percent of the coverage
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1 base, 200 gross rating points means 2 messages a week

2 per average household.’’.

3 SEC. 703. AUTHORITY TO SEEK INJUNCTION.

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

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

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

7 paragraph:

8 ‘‘(13)(A) If, at any time in a proceeding described

9 in paragraph (1), (2), (3), or (4), the Commission believes

10 that—

11 ‘‘(i) there is a substantial likelihood that a vio12 lation of this Act or of chapter 95 or chapter 96 of

13 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is occurring or

14 is about to occur;

15 ‘‘(ii) the failure to act expeditiously will result

16 in irreparable harm to a party affected by the poten17 tial violation;

18 ‘‘(iii) expeditious action will not cause undue

19 harm or prejudice to the interests of others; and

20 ‘‘(iv) the public interest would be best served by

21 the issuance of an injunction,

22 the Commission may initiate a civil action for a temporary

23 restraining order or a temporary injunction pending the

24 outcome of the proceedings described in paragraphs (1),

25 (2), (3), and (4).
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1 ‘‘(B) An action under subparagraph (A) shall be

2 brought in the United States district court for the district

3 in which the defendant resides, transacts business, or may

4 be found or in which the violation is occurring, has oc5 curred, or is about to occur.’’;

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

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

8 (3) in paragraph (11), by striking ‘‘(6)’’ and in9 serting ‘‘(6) or (13)’’.

10 SEC. 704. EXPEDITED PROCEDURES.

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

12 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 437g(a)), as amended by section 703,

13 is further amended by adding at the end the following new

14 paragraph:

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

16 within 60 days immediately preceding a general election,

17 the Commission may take action described in this sub18 paragraph.

19 ‘‘(B) If the Commission determines, on the basis of

20 facts alleged in the complaint and other facts available to

21 it, that there is clear and convincing evidence that a viola22 tion of this Act or of chapter 95 or 96 of the Internal

23 Revenue Code of 1986 has occurred, is occurring, or is

24 about to occur and it appears that the requirements for
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1 relief stated in paragraph (13)(A) (ii), (iii), and (iv) are

2 met, the Commission may—

3 ‘‘(i) order expedited proceedings, shortening the

4 time periods for proceedings under paragraphs (1),

5 (2), (3), and (4) as necessary to allow the matter to

6 be resolved in sufficient time before the election to

7 avoid harm or prejudice to the interests of the par8 ties; or

9 ‘‘(ii) if the Commission determines that there is

10 insufficient time to conduct proceedings before the

11 election, immediately seek relief under paragraph

12 (13)(A).

13 ‘‘(C) If the Commission determines, on the basis of

14 facts alleged in the complaint and other facts available to

15 it, that the complaint is clearly without merit, the Com16 mission may—

17 ‘‘(i) order expedited proceedings, shortening the

18 time periods for proceedings under paragraphs (1),

19 (2), (3), and (4) as necessary to allow the matter to

20 be resolved in sufficient time before the election to

21 avoid harm or prejudice to the interests of the par22 ties; or

23 ‘‘(ii) if the Commission determines that there is

24 insufficient time to conduct proceedings before the

25 election, summarily dismiss the complaint.’’.
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1 SEC. 705. INSOLVENT POLITICAL COMMITTEES.

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 303(d) of the Federal

3 Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 433(d)) is

4 amended by adding at the end the following new para5 graph:

6 ‘‘(3) Proceedings by the Commission under para7 graph (2) constitute the sole means, to the exclusion of

8 proceedings under title 11, United States Code, by which

9 a political committee that is determined by the Commis10 sion to be insolvent may compromise its debts, liquidate

11 its assets, and terminate its existence.’’.

12 (b) PROCEDURES.—Section 303(d)(2) of the Federal

13 Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 433(d)(2)) is

14 amended by striking out ‘‘Nothing’’ and all that follows

15 through ‘‘procedures’’ and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘The

16 Commission shall establish procedures to allow’’.

17 TITLE VIII—MISCELLANEOUS

18 SEC. 801. BROADCAST RATES AND PREEMPTION.

19 Section 315 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47

20 U.S.C. 315) is amended—

21 (1) in subsection (b)(1)—

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

23 ‘‘30’’;

24 (B) by striking ‘‘sixty’’ and inserting ‘‘45’’;

25 and
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1 (C) by striking ‘‘lowest unit charge of the

2 station for the same class and amount of time

3 for the same period’’ and insert ‘‘lowest charge

4 of the station for the same amount of time for

5 the same period’’; and

6 (2) by inserting after subsection (b) the follow7 ing new subsection:

8 ‘‘(c)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), a li9 censee shall not preempt the use, during any period speci10 fied in subsection (b)(1), of a broadcasting station by a

11 legally qualified candidate for public office who has pur12 chased and paid for such use pursuant to the provisions

13 of subsection (b)(1).

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

15 station is preempted because of circumstances beyond the

16 control of the broadcasting station, any candidate adver17 tising spot scheduled to be broadcast during that program

18 may also be preempted.’’.

19 SEC. 802. CAMPAIGN ADVERTISING AMENDMENTS.

20 Section 318 of the Federal Election Campaign Act

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

22 (1) in the matter before paragraph (1) of sub23 section (a), by striking ‘‘Whenever’’ and inserting

24 ‘‘Whenever a political committee makes a disburse25 ment for the purpose of financing any communica-
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1 tion through any broadcasting station, newspaper,

2 magazine, outdoor advertising facility, mailing, or

3 any other type of general public political advertising,

4 or whenever’’;

5 (2) in the matter before paragraph (1) of sub6 section (a), by striking ‘‘an expenditure’’ and insert7 ing ‘‘a disbursement’’;

8 (3) in the matter before paragraph (1) of sub9 section (a), by striking ‘‘direct’’;

10 (4) in paragraph (3) of subsection (a), by in11 serting after ‘‘name’’ the following ‘‘and permanent

12 street address’’; and

13 (5) by adding at the end the following new sub14 sections:

15 ‘‘(c) Any printed communication described in sub16 section (a) shall be—

17 ‘‘(1) of sufficient type size to be clearly read18 able by the recipient of the communication;

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

20 the other contents of the communication; and

21 ‘‘(3) consist of a reasonable degree of color con22 trast between the background and the printed state23 ment.

24 ‘‘(d)(1) Any communication described in subsection

25 (a)(1) or subsection (a)(2) that is provided to and distrib-
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1 uted by any broadcasting station or cable system (as such

2 terms are defined in sections 315 and 602 (respectively)

3 of the Communications Act of 1934) shall include, in addi4 tion to the requirements of subsections (a)(1) and (a)(2),

5 an audio statement by the candidate that identifies the

6 candidate and states that the candidate has approved the

7 communication.

8 ‘‘(2) If a communication described in paragraph (1)

9 contains any visual images, the statement required by

10 paragraph (1) shall—

11 ‘‘(A) appear in a clearly readable manner with

12 a reasonable degree of color contrast between the

13 background and the printed statement, for a period

14 of at least 4 seconds at the end of the communica15 tion; and

16 ‘‘(B) be accompanied by a clearly identifiable

17 photographic or similar image of the candidate.

18 ‘‘(e) Any communication described in subsection

19 (a)(3) that is provided to and distributed by any broad20 casting station or cable system (as such terms are defined

21 in sections 315 and 602 (respectively) of the Communica22 tions Act of 1934) shall include, in addition to the require23 ments of those subsections, in a clearly spoken manner,

24 the following statement—
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1 ‘ is responsible for the content of

2 this advertisement.’

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

4 committee or other person paying for the communication

5 and the name of any connected organization of the payor;

6 and, if such communication contains visual images, shall

7 also appear in a clearly readable manner with a reasonable

8 degree of color contrast between the background and the

9 printed statement, for a period of at least 4 seconds.

10 ‘‘(f) In the case of an election for the office of Rep11 resentative in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner to,

12 the Congress, any communication described in subsection

13 (a)(1) or subsection (a)(2) on behalf of a candidate who

14 is not an eligible House of Representatives candidate shall

15 disclose the noneligible status of the candidate.’’.

16 SEC. 803. TELEPHONE VOTING BY PERSONS WITH DISABIL17 ITIES.

18 (a) STUDY OF SYSTEMS TO PERMIT PERSONS WITH

19 DISABILITIES TO VOTE BY TELEPHONE.—

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Federal Election Com21 mission shall conduct a study to determine the fea22 sibility of developing a system or systems by which

23 persons with disabilities may be permitted to vote by

24 telephone.
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1 (2) CONSULTATION.—The Federal Election

2 Commission shall conduct the study described in

3 paragraph (1) in consultation with State and local

4 election officials, representatives of the telecommuni5 cations industry, representatives of persons with dis6 abilities, and other concerned members of the public.

7 (3) CRITERIA.—The system or systems devel8 oped pursuant to paragraph (1) shall—

9 (A) propose a description of the kinds of

10 disabilities that impose such difficulty in travel

11 to polling places that a person with a disability

12 who may desire to vote is discouraged from un13 dertaking such travel;

14 (B) propose procedures to identify persons

15 who are so disabled; and

16 (C) describe procedures and equipment

17 that may be used to ensure that—

18 (i) only those persons who are entitled

19 to use the system are permitted to use it;

20 (ii) the votes of persons who use the

21 system are recorded accurately and remain

22 secret;

23 (iii) the system minimizes the possibil24 ity of vote fraud; and
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1 (iv) the system minimizes the finan2 cial costs that State and local governments

3 would incur in establishing and operating

4 the system.

5 (4) REQUESTS FOR PROPOSALS.—In developing

6 a system described in paragraph (1), the Federal

7 Election Commission may request proposals from

8 private contractors for the design of procedures and

9 equipment to be used in the system.

10 (5) PHYSICAL ACCESS.—Nothing in this section

11 is intended to supersede or supplant efforts by State

12 and local governments to make polling places phys13 ically accessible to persons with disabilities.

14 (6) DEADLINE.—The Federal Election Commis15 sion shall submit to Congress the study required by

16 this section not later than 1 year after the date of

17 enactment of this Act.

18 SEC. 804. TRANSFER OF PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION FINANC19 ING PROVISIONS TO FEDERAL ELECTION

20 CAMPAIGN ACT OF 1971.

21 (a) GENERAL RULE.—The Federal Election Cam22 paign Act of 1971 is amended by adding at the end the

23 following:
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1 ‘‘TITLE VIII—FINANCING OF

2 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

3 CAMPAIGNS

4 ‘‘Subtitle A—Presidential Election

5 Campaign Fund

6 ‘‘Subtitle B—Presidential Primary

7 Matching Payment Account’’.

8 (b) TRANSFER OF PROVISIONS FROM INTERNAL

9 REVENUE CODE.—

10 (1) Sections 9001 through 9012 of the Internal

11 Revenue Code of 1986 are hereby transferred to the

12 Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, inserted

13 after the heading for subtitle A of title VIII of such

14 Act (as added by subsection (a)), and redesignated

15 as sections 801 through 812, respectively.

16 (2) Sections 9031 through 9042 of the Internal

17 Revenue Code of 1986 are hereby transferred to the

18 Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, inserted

19 after the heading for subtitle B of title VIII of such

20 Act, and redesignated as sections 831 through 842,

21 respectively.

22 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS TO INTERNAL REVE23 NUE CODE.—The Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is

24 amended—
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1 (1) by striking ‘‘section 9006(a)’’ in section

2 6096(a) and inserting ‘‘section 806(a) of the Fed3 eral Election Campaign Act of 1971’’,

4 (2) by striking subtitle H, and

5 (3) by striking the item relating to subtitle H

6 in the table of subtitles.

7 (d) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS TO TRANSFERRED

8 SECTIONS.—

9 (1) Each section transferred under subsection

10 (b) is amended by striking each reference contained

11 therein to another provision transferred and redesig12 nated by subsection (b) and inserting a reference to

13 the redesignated provision.

14 (2) Title VIII of the Federal Election Cam15 paign Act of 1971 (as amended by the foregoing

16 provisions of this section) is amended—

17 (A) by striking ‘‘This chapter’’ each place

18 it appears and inserting ‘‘This subtitle’’,

19 (B) by striking ‘‘this chapter’’ each place

20 it appears and inserting ‘‘this subtitle’’,

21 (C) by striking ‘‘of the Federal Election

22 Campaign Act of 1971’’ each place it appears,

23 (D) by striking ‘‘chapter 96’’ in section

24 803(e) and inserting ‘‘subtitle B’’,
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1 (E) by striking ‘‘section 6096’’ in sections

2 806(a), 808(a), and 810(c) and inserting ‘‘sec3 tion 6096 of the Internal Revenue Code of

4 1986’’, and

5 (F) by striking ‘‘this subtitle’’ in section

6 810(c) and inserting ‘‘this title’’.

7 (e) SAVINGS PROVISIONS.—

8 (1) CONTINUATION OF FUNDS.—The fund es9 tablished under section 806(a) of the Federal Elec10 tion Campaign Act of 1971 (as amended by this sec11 tion) shall be treated for all purposes of law as a

12 continuation of the fund established by section

13 9006(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (as

14 in effect on the day before the date of the enactment

15 of this Act). A similar rule shall apply to the ac16 counts required under sections 808 and 837 of the

17 Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (as so

18 amended).

19 (2) REFERENCES TO TRANSFERRED PROVI20 SIONS.—Any reference in any law, rule, regulation,

21 or other official paper to a provision of the Internal

22 Revenue Code of 1986 which was transferred under

23 subsection (b) shall be treated as reference to the

24 appropriate provision of the Federal Election Cam25 paign Act of 1971.
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1 TITLE IX—HOUSE OF REP2 RESENTATIVES CAMPAIGN

3 ELECTION FUNDING AND RE4 LATED MATTERS

5 SEC. 901. CITIZEN REPRESENTATIVE FUND.

6 The Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2

7 U.S.C. 431 et seq.), as amended by section 121, is further

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

9 ‘‘TITLE VII—CITIZEN

10 REPRESENTATIVE FUND

11 ‘‘SEC. 701. ESTABLISHMENT AND OPERATION OF THE FUND.

12 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There is hereby established on

13 the books of the Treasury of the United States a special

14 fund to be known as the Citizen Representative Fund

15 (hereinafter in this title referred to as the ‘fund’). The

16 amounts designated for the fund shall remain available

17 without fiscal limitation for purposes of providing benefits

18 under title VI and making expenditures for the adminis19 tration of the fund. The Secretary shall maintain such ac20 counts in the fund as may be required by this title or

21 which the Secretary determines to be necessary to carry

22 out the provisions of this title.

23 ‘‘(b) PAYMENTS UPON CERTIFICATION.—Upon re24 ceipt of a certification from the Commission under section

25 604, except as provided in subsection (c), the Secretary
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1 shall issue within 48 hours to an eligible candidate the

2 amount of voter communication vouchers certified by the

3 Commission to the eligible candidate out of the fund.

4 ‘‘(c) REDUCTIONS IN PAYMENTS IF FUNDS INSUFFI5 CIENT.—If on June 1, 1998, or on June 1 of a Federal

6 election year thereafter, the Secretary determines that the

7 moneys in the fund are not, or may not be, sufficient to

8 satisfy the full entitlement of all eligible candidates, the

9 Secretary shall withhold from such payment the amount

10 necessary to assure that each eligible candidate will receive

11 a pro rata share of the candidate’s full entitlement.

12 Amounts so withheld shall be paid when the Secretary de13 termines that there are sufficient moneys in the fund to

14 pay such amounts, or portions thereof, to all eligible can15 didates from whom amounts have been withheld, but, if

16 there are not sufficient moneys in the fund to satisfy the

17 full entitlement of an eligible candidate, the amounts so

18 withheld shall be paid in such manner that each eligible

19 candidate receives a pro rata share of the full entitlement,

20 except that—

21 ‘‘(1) in special elections, a candidate shall re22 ceive the full entitlement not a pro rata share; and

23 ‘‘(2) a candidate who receives vouchers from

24 the fund in response to an independent expenditure
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1 as provided in section 604(f) shall receive the full

2 entitlement not a pro rata share.

3 ‘‘(d) NOTIFICATION.—The Secretary shall notify the

4 Commission and each eligible candidate by registered mail

5 of any reduction of any payment by reason of subsection

6 (c).

7 ‘‘(e) REDEEMABILITY OF VOUCHERS.—Voter com8 munication vouchers issued and used as provided in this

9 section shall be redeemable at face value by the Secretary

10 through the facilities of the Treasury of the United States.

11 The Secretary shall issue regulations providing for the re12 demption of voter communication vouchers through finan13 cial institutions which are insured by the Federal Deposit

14 Insurance Corporation or the Federal Savings and Loan

15 Insurance Corporation. No financial institution may im16 pose a fee or other charge for the redemption of voter com17 munication vouchers.’’.

18 SEC. 902. DESIGNATION OF OVERPAYMENTS AND CON19 TRIBUTIONS FOR THE CITIZEN REPRESENTA20 TIVE FUND AS SPECIFIED BY THE TAXPAYER.

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter A of chapter 61 of the

22 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to returns and

23 records) is amended by adding at the end the following:
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1 ‘‘PART IX—DESIGNATION OF

2 OVERPAYMENTS AND CON3 TRIBUTIONS FOR THE CITI4 ZEN REPRESENTATIVE FUND

5 AS SPECIFIED BY THE TAX6 PAYER

‘‘Sec. 6097. Designation.

7 ‘‘SEC. 6097. DESIGNATION.

8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—With respect to each taxpayer’s

9 return for the taxable year of the tax imposed by chapter

10 1, such taxpayer may designate that—

11 ‘‘(1) a specified portion (not less than $1 or

12 more than $5,000, and not less than $1 or more

13 than $10,000 in the case of a joint return) of any

14 overpayment of tax for such taxable year, and

15 ‘‘(2) any contribution which the taxpayer in16 cludes with such return,

17 shall be used for the Citizen Representative Fund.

18 ‘‘(b) MANNER AND TIME OF DESIGNATION.—A des19 ignation under subsection (a) may be made with respect

20 to any taxable year only at the time of filing the return

21 of tax imposed by chapter 1 for such taxable year. Such

22 designation shall be made on the 1st page of the return.

23 ‘‘(c) OVERPAYMENTS TREATED AS REFUNDED.—For

24 purposes of this title, any portion of an overpayment of
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1 tax designated under subsection (a) shall be treated as

2 being refunded to the taxpayer as of the last date pre3 scribed for filing the return of tax imposed by chapter 1

4 (determined without regard to extensions) or, if later, the

5 date the return is filed.’’

6 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of parts for

7 such subchapter A is amended by adding at the end there8 of the following new item:

‘‘Part IX. Designation of overpayments and contributions for the

Citizen Representative Fund as specified by the

taxpayer.’’

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

10 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after

11 December 31, 1995.

12 SEC. 903. FUNDING.

13 The Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act

14 of 1990 (28 U.S.C. 2461 note) is amended—

15 (1) by amending section 4 to read as follows:

16 ‘‘ADJUSTMENT OF PENALTIES BY REGULATION

17 ‘‘SEC. 4. The head of each Federal department or

18 agency shall—

19 ‘‘(1) by regulation, not later than the date of

20 enactment of this Act, and every year thereafter, ad21 just each civil monetary penalty provided by law

22 within the jurisdiction of the department or agency,

23 except any penalty under the Internal Revenue Code
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1 of 1986, by the inflation adjustment described in

2 section 5;

3 ‘‘(2) publish each such adjustment in the Fed4 eral Register; and

5 ‘‘(3) submit to the Secretary of the Treasury by

6 November 15 of each year a statement of—

7 ‘‘(A) the amount of such penalties collected

8 during the preceding fiscal year; and

9 ‘‘(B) the portion of that amount that is at10 tributable to inflation adjustments, determined

11 under section 8.’’;

12 (2) in section 5(a) by striking ‘‘The adjustment

13 described under paragraphs (4) and (5)(A) of sec14 tion 4’’ and inserting ‘‘The inflation adjustment’’;

15 and

16 (3) adding at the end the following new sec17 tions:

18 ‘‘APPLICATION OF PENALTY ADJUSTMENTS

19 ‘‘SEC. 7. Any adjustment to a civil monetary penalty

20 made under section 4 shall apply to violations that occur

21 after the date on which the adjustment is made.

22 ‘‘DEPOSIT OF INCREASED COLLECTIONS IN THE CITIZEN

23 REPRESENTATIVE FUND

24 ‘‘SEC. 8. (a) On the first November 15 following the

25 date of enactment of this Act, and on November 15 of

26 each year thereafter, the Secretary of the Treasury shall
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1 transfer to the Citizen Representative Fund the portion

2 of the amount of civil penalties collected by each Federal

3 department or agency during the preceding year that is

4 attributable to inflation adjustments made under section

5 4.

6 ‘‘(b) For the purposes of subsection (a), each amount

7 of a civil penalty collected for a violation that occurs after

8 the date of enactment shall be considered to include a por9 tion attributable to the inflation adjustment that is equal

10 to the amount collected multiplied by the fraction obtained

11 by dividing—

12 ‘‘(1) the amount by which the maximum au13 thorized amount of the penalty had been adjusted

14 under section 4 after the date of enactment, and be15 fore the penalty was imposed, by

16 ‘‘(2) the maximum authorized penalty as of the

17 date of enactment of this section.’’.

18 SEC. 904. AFFINITY CARDS.

19 Section 316 of the Federal Election Campaign Act

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

21 the following new subsection:

22 ‘‘(c) Notwithstanding the provisions of this section or

23 any other provision of this Act to the contrary, an amount

24 received from a corporation (including a State-chartered

25 or national bank) by the Citizen Representative Fund
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1 (other than a separate segregated fund established under

2 section 316(b)(2)(C)) shall be deemed to meet the limita3 tions and prohibitions of this Act if such amount rep4 resents a commission or royalty on the issuance or use

5 of credit cards, by such corporation and if—

6 ‘‘(1) such credit cards are promoted in the

7 name of the Citizen Representative Fund as a means

8 of contributing to or supporting the Fund;

9 ‘‘(2) consumers are informed by the corporation

10 concerning the percentage of commission or royalty

11 that will go directly to the Citizen Representative

12 Fund;

13 ‘‘(3) the corporation is in the business of issu14 ing such credit cards;

15 ‘‘(4) the royalty or commission has been offered

16 by the corporation to the Fund in the ordinary

17 course of the corporation’s business and on the same

18 terms and conditions as those on which such cor19 poration offers royalties or commissions to nonpoliti20 cal entities;

21 ‘‘(5) all revenue on which the commission or

22 royalty is based represents, or results from, sales to

23 or fees paid by individual consumers in the ordinary

24 course of retail transactions; and
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1 ‘‘(6) except for any royalty or commission per2 mitted to be paid by this subsection, no goods, serv3 ices, or anything else of value is provided by such

4 corporation to the Fund, except that such corpora5 tion may advance or finance costs or extend credit

6 in connection with the issuance of credit cards pur7 suant to this subsection if and to the extent such ad8 vance, financing, or extension is undertaken in the

9 ordinary course of the corporation’s business and is

10 undertaken on similar terms by such corporation in

11 its transactions with nonpolitical entities in like cir12 cumstances.’’.

13 TITLE X—EFFECTIVE DATES;

14 SEVERABILITY

15 SEC. 1001. EFFECTIVE DATE.

16 Except as otherwise provided in this Act, the amend17 ments made by, and the provisions of, this Act shall take

18 effect on the date of the enactment of this Act but shall

19 not apply with respect to activities in connection with any

20 election occurring before January 1, 1997.

21 SEC. 1002. SEVERABILITY.

22 (a) Except as provided in subsection (b), if any provi23 sion of this Act (including any amendment made by this

24 Act), or the application of any such provision to any per25 son or circumstance, is held invalid, the validity of any
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1 other provision of this Act, or the application of such pro2 vision to other persons and circumstances, shall not be af3 fected thereby.

4 (b) If title VI of the Federal Election Campaign Act

5 of 1971, section 315 (i) through (j) (as added by this Act),

6 or section 701 (as added by this Act), or any part thereof,

7 is held to be invalid, all provisions of, and amendments

8 made by title VI, section 315 (i) through (j) of this Act,

9 or section 701 of this Act shall be treated as invalid.

10 SEC. 1003. EXPEDITED REVIEW OF CONSTITUTIONAL IS11 SUES.

12 (a) DIRECT APPEAL TO SUPREME COURT.—An ap13 peal may be taken directly to the Supreme Court of the

14 United States from any final judgment, decree, or order

15 issued by any court finding any provision of this Act, or

16 amendment made by this Act to be unconstitutional.

17 (b) ACCEPTANCE AND EXPEDITION.—The Supreme

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

19 addressed in the ruling below, accept jurisdiction over, ad20 vance on the docket, and expedite the appeal to the great21 est extent possible.
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1 SEC. 1004. REGULATIONS.

2 The Federal Election Commission shall prescribe any

3 regulations required to carry out the provisions of this Act

4 within 12 months after the effective date of this Act.

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