II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4183 

To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to require organizations that spend more than $50,000 on Federal judicial nomination 

communications to file statements disclosing donors and certain other 

information with the Federal Election Commission. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 2, 2020 

Mrs. FEINSTEIN (for herself, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mr. LEAHY, Mr. DURBIN, 

Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. COONS, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. 

MENENDEZ, Mr. MERKLEY, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Mr. KING, Mr. MARKEY, 

and Mr. VAN HOLLEN) introduced the following bill; which was read 

twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to 

require organizations that spend more than $50,000 on 

Federal judicial nomination communications to file statements disclosing donors and certain other information 

with the Federal Election Commission. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Judicial Ads Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. STATEMENTS OF SPENDING ON FEDERAL JUDICIAL 

2 NOMINATION COMMUNICATIONS. 

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

4 Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30101) is amended by 

5 adding at the end the following new subtitle: 

6 ‘‘Subtitle B—Federal Judicial 

7 Nomination Communications 

8 ‘‘SEC. 351. STATEMENTS OF SPENDING ON FEDERAL JUDI9 CIAL NOMINATION COMMUNICATIONS. 

10 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.— 

11 ‘‘(1) STATEMENT REQUIRED.—Any covered or12 ganization that spends or contracts to spend a total 

13 of more than $50,000 on Federal judicial nomina14 tion communications during any calendar year shall 

15 file a statement with the Commission at the times 

16 described in paragraph (2) and containing the infor17 mation described in paragraph (3). 

18 ‘‘(2) TIME FOR FILING STATEMENT.—A state19 ment shall be required to be filed under this sub20 section not later than 48 hours after each of the fol21 lowing: 

22 ‘‘(A) The first date during any calendar 

23 year by which the covered organization has 

24 spent or contracted to spend a total of more 

25 than $50,000 on Federal judicial nomination 

26 communications. 


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1 ‘‘(B) Any date during such calendar year 

2 after the date described in subparagraph (A) by 

3 which the covered organization has spent or 

4 contracted to spend a total of more than 

5 $50,000 on Federal judicial nomination commu6 nications since the most recent date on which a 

7 statement was required to be filed under this 

8 subsection for such calendar year. 

9 ‘‘(C) The last day of any calendar year in 

10 which a covered organization has filed a state11 ment under subparagraph (A). 

12 ‘‘(3) CONTENTS OF STATEMENT.—Each state13 ment required to be filed under this subsection shall 

14 be made under penalty of perjury and shall contain 

15 the following information: 

16 ‘‘(A) The name of the covered organiza17 tion. 

18 ‘‘(B) The principal place of business of the 

19 covered organization. 

20 ‘‘(C) If the covered organization is a cor21 poration (other than a business concern that is 

22 an issuer of a class of securities registered 

23 under section 12 of the Securities Exchange 

24 Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78l) or that is required 

25 to file reports under section 15(d) of that Act 


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1 (15 U.S.C. 78o(d))) or an entity described in 

2 subsection (d)(2)(B), a list of the beneficial 

3 owners of the covered organization that in4 cludes, for each beneficial owner— 

5 ‘‘(i) the name; 

6 ‘‘(ii) the current residential or busi7 ness street address; and 

8 ‘‘(iii) if the beneficial owner exercises 

9 control over the covered organization 

10 through another legal entity, such as a cor11 poration, partnership, limited liability com12 pany, or trust, for the other legal entity— 

13 ‘‘(I) the name; 

14 ‘‘(II) the current residential or 

15 business street address; and 

16 ‘‘(III) each beneficial owner who 

17 is authorized to use that other legal 

18 entity to exercise control over the cov19 ered organization. 

20 ‘‘(D)(i) If the covered organization makes 

21 disbursements for Federal judicial nomination 

22 communications using exclusively funds in a 

23 segregated bank account consisting of funds 

24 paid directly to such account by persons other 


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1 than the covered organization that controls the 

2 account— 

3 ‘‘(I) the names and addresses of all 

4 persons who donated an aggregate amount 

5 of $5,000 or more to that account during 

6 the period beginning on the first day of the 

7 preceding calendar year and ending on the 

8 date described in paragraph (2) with re9 spect to such statement; and 

10 ‘‘(II) the information described in 

11 subparagraph (C) with respect to each 

12 beneficial owner of any donor described in 

13 subclause (I) that is not an individual. 

14 Nothing in this clause is to be construed as a 

15 prohibition on the use of funds in such a seg16 regated account for a purpose other than Fed17 eral judicial nomination communications. 

18 ‘‘(ii) If the covered organization makes dis19 bursements for Federal judicial nomination 

20 communications using funds other than funds 

21 in a segregated bank account described in 

22 clause (i)— 

23 ‘‘(I) the names and addresses of all 

24 persons who donated an aggregate amount 

25 of $5,000 or more to the covered organizaVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:03 Jul 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4183.IS S4183

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1 tion making the disbursement during the 

2 period beginning on the first day of the 

3 preceding calendar year and ending on the 

4 date described in paragraph (2) with re5 spect to such statement; and 

6 ‘‘(II) the information described in 

7 subparagraph (C) with respect to each 

8 beneficial owner of any donor described in 

9 subclause (I) that is not an individual. 

10 ‘‘(E) For each Federal judicial nomination 

11 communication during the reporting period— 

12 ‘‘(i) the name of the nominee; 

13 ‘‘(ii) the date of the communication; 

14 ‘‘(iii) the amount spent or contracted 

15 to be spent; 

16 ‘‘(iv) the name and address of the 

17 person receiving payment for the commu18 nication; and 

19 ‘‘(v) the platform through which the 

20 Federal judicial nomination communication 

21 was made. 

22 ‘‘(F) A certification signed by the covered 

23 organization’s chief executive officer under pen24 alty of perjury, avowing that— 


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1 ‘‘(i) the covered organization is not a 

2 foreign national or foreign-influenced cor3 poration; and 

4 ‘‘(ii) after due inquiry, no amounts 

5 spent on a Federal judicial nomination 

6 communication were from an account that 

7 includes funds received from a foreign na8 tional or a foreign-influenced corporation. 

9 ‘‘(b) FILING.—Statements required to be filed under 

10 subsection (a) shall be subject to the requirements of sec11 tion 304(d) to the same extent and in the same manner 

12 as if such statements had been required under subsection 

13 (c) or (g) of section 304. 

14 ‘‘(c) ANTI-EVASION RULE.—For purposes of section 

15 309, it shall be a violation of this section to structure or 

16 attempt to structure any solicitation, donation, contribu17 tion, expenditure, disbursement, transfer, or other trans18 action in a manner intended to evade the reporting re19 quirements of this section. 

20 ‘‘SEC. 352. DISCLAIMERS RELATING TO FEDERAL JUDICIAL 

21 NOMINATION COMMUNICATIONS. 

22 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Whenever any person makes a 

23 disbursement for the purpose of financing a Federal judi24 cial nomination communication, such communication shall 


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1 clearly state the name and permanent street address, tele2 phone number, or World Wide Web address of the person. 

3 ‘‘(b) SPECIFICATIONS.—Except as provided in regu4 lations, any Federal judicial nomination communication 

5 described in subsection (a) shall be subject to the same 

6 specifications and additional requirements that apply to 

7 communications described in section 318(a)(3). 

8 ‘‘SEC. 353. PROHIBITIONS WITH RESPECT TO FOREIGN NA9 TIONALS AND FOREIGN-INFLUENCED COR10 PORATIONS. 

11 ‘‘It shall be unlawful for— 

12 ‘‘(1) a foreign national or foreign-influenced 

13 corporation, directly or indirectly, to spend or make 

14 an express or implied promise to spend money or 

15 other thing of value in connection with a Federal ju16 dicial nomination communication; or 

17 ‘‘(2) a person to solicit, accept, or receive 

18 money or any other thing of value from a foreign na19 tional or a foreign-influenced corporation in connec20 tion with a Federal judicial nomination communica21 tion. 

22 ‘‘SEC. 354. DEFINITIONS. 

23 ‘‘When used in this subtitle: 

24 ‘‘(1) FEDERAL JUDICIAL NOMINATION COMMU25 NICATION.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘Federal ju2 dicial nomination communication’ means any 

3 communication— 

4 ‘‘(i) that is by means of any broad5 cast, cable, or satellite, paid internet, or 

6 paid digital communication, paid pro7 motion, newspaper, magazine, outdoor ad8 vertising facility, mass mailing, telephone 

9 bank, telephone messaging effort of more 

10 than 500 substantially similar calls or elec11 tronic messages within a 30-day period, or 

12 any other form of general public political 

13 advertising; and 

14 ‘‘(ii) that is susceptible to no reason15 able interpretation other than promoting, 

16 supporting, attacking, or opposing the 

17 nomination or Senate confirmation of an 

18 individual as a Federal judge or justice. 

19 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—Such term shall not in20 clude any news story, commentary, or editorial 

21 distributed through the facilities of any broad22 casting station or any print, online, or digital 

23 newspaper, magazine, publication, or periodical, 

24 unless such facilities are owned or controlled by 


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1 any political party, political committee, or can2 didate. 

3 ‘‘(2) COVERED ORGANIZATION.—The term ‘cov4 ered organization’ means any of the following: 

5 ‘‘(A) A corporation. 

6 ‘‘(B) A partnership. 

7 ‘‘(C) An organization described in section 

8 501(c) of such Code and exempt from taxation 

9 under section 501(a) of such Code. 

10 ‘‘(D) A labor organization (as defined in 

11 section 316(b)). 

12 ‘‘(E) A political organization (as defined in 

13 section 527(e)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code 

14 of 1986). 

15 ‘‘(F) A political committee under this Act. 

16 ‘‘(3) BENEFICIAL OWNER.—Except as provided 

17 in subparagraph (B), the term ‘beneficial owner’ 

18 means, with respect to any entity, a natural person 

19 who, directly or indirectly through any contract, ar20 rangement, understanding, relationship, or other21 wise— 

22 ‘‘(A) exercises substantial control over an 

23 entity; 

24 ‘‘(B) owns 25 percent or more of an entity; 

25 or 


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1 ‘‘(C) receives substantial economic benefits 

2 from the assets of an entity. 

3 ‘‘(4) FOREIGN NATIONAL.—The term ‘foreign 

4 national’ has the meaning given such term under 

5 section 319(b). 

6 ‘‘(5) FOREIGN-INFLUENCED CORPORATION.— 

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘foreign-in8 fluenced corporation’ means a corporation for 

9 which at least one of the following conditions is 

10 met: 

11 ‘‘(i) Any single foreign owner holds, 

12 owns, controls, or otherwise has direct or 

13 indirect beneficial ownership of 5 percent 

14 or more of the total equity, outstanding 

15 voting shares, membership units, or other 

16 applicable ownership interests of the cor17 poration. 

18 ‘‘(ii) Foreign owners, in aggregate, 

19 hold, own, control, or otherwise have direct 

20 or indirect beneficial ownership of 20 per21 cent or more of the total equity, out22 standing voting shares, membership units, 

23 or other applicable ownership interests of 

24 the corporation. 


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1 ‘‘(iii) A foreign owner participates di2 rectly or indirectly in the corporation’s de3 cision-making process with respect to the 

4 corporation’s activities related to Federal 

5 judicial nomination communications. 

6 ‘‘(B) FOREIGN OWNER.— 

7 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘foreign 

8 owner’ means— 

9 ‘‘(I) a foreign investor; or 

10 ‘‘(II) a corporation wherein a for11 eign investor holds, owns, controls, or 

12 otherwise has directly or indirectly ac13 quired beneficial ownership of equity 

14 or voting shares in an amount that is 

15 equal to or greater than 50 percent of 

16 the total equity or outstanding voting 

17 shares. 

18 ‘‘(ii) FOREIGN INVESTOR.—The term 

19 ‘foreign investor’ means a person that— 

20 ‘‘(I) holds, owns, controls, or oth21 erwise has direct or indirect beneficial 

22 ownership of equity, outstanding vot23 ing shares, membership units, or 

24 other applicable ownership interests of 

25 a corporation; and 


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1 ‘‘(II) is— 

2 ‘‘(aa) a government of a for3 eign country; 

4 ‘‘(bb) a foreign political 

5 party; 

6 ‘‘(cc) a partnership, associa7 tion, corporation, organization, or 

8 other combination of persons or9 ganized under the laws of or hav10 ing its principal place of business 

11 in a foreign country; or 

12 ‘‘(dd) an individual who is 

13 not a citizen of the United States 

14 or a national of the United 

15 States and who is not lawfully 

16 admitted for permanent resi17 dence.’’. 

18 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Such title is fur19 ther amended by inserting before section 301 the fol20 lowing: 

21 ‘‘Subtitle A—Federal Campaign 

22 Funds’’. 

Æ 


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