I

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 5507

To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to promote the disclosure of information on the financing of campaigns for Federal elections,

and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

OCTOBER 19, 2000

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

on House Administration, and in addition to the Committee on Commerce, 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

promote the disclosure of information on the financing

of campaigns for Federal elections, and for other purposes.

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Informed Voter Act

5 of 2000’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSE.

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds as follows:
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1 (1) No aspect of the regulation of the financing

2 of political campaigns has engendered such wide3 spread support as the public disclosure of the money

4 raised and spent to influence Federal elections.

5 (2) The timely disclosure of all monies raised

6 and spent to influence Federal elections is the least

7 restrictive means of furthering the substantial gov8 ernment interest of informing the electorate and pre9 venting corruption and the appearance of corruption.

10 (3) During 1996 and subsequent election years,

11 hundreds of millions of dollars which were never re12 quired to be disclosed are estimated to have been

13 spent to influence Federal elections.

14 (4) The growing popularity of methods to influ15 ence Federal elections outside of the framework of

16 the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 has in17 creasingly threatened to undermine the Act’s pre18 eminent goal of ensuring that the public is able to

19 track the flow of money raised and spent in the po20 litical process.

21 (b) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this Act to bring

22 into the openness of public visibility in a full and timely

23 manner all financial activities carried out by interest

24 groups, political parties, candidates, and elected officials
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1 which are aimed at directly or indirectly influencing Fed2 eral elections.

3 SEC. 3. DISCLOSURE OF ELECTIONEERING COMMUNICA4 TIONS.

5 Section 304 of the Federal Election Campaign Act

6 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 434) is amended by adding at the end

7 the following new subsection:

8 ‘‘(d) ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS ON ELECTION9 EERING COMMUNICATIONS.—

10 ‘‘(1) STATEMENT REQUIRED.—Each person

11 who makes a disbursement for electioneering com12 munications in an aggregate amount in excess of

13 $10,000 during any calendar year shall, within 24

14 hours of each disclosure date, file with the Commis15 sion a statement containing the information de16 scribed in paragraph (2).

17 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS OF STATEMENT.—Each state18 ment required to be filed under this subsection shall

19 be made under penalty of perjury and shall contain

20 the following information:

21 ‘‘(A) The identification of the person mak22 ing the disbursement, of any entity sharing or

23 exercising direction or control over the activities

24 of such person, and of the custodian of the
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1 books and accounts of the person making the

2 disbursement.

3 ‘‘(B) The State of incorporation and the

4 principal place of business of the person making

5 the disbursement.

6 ‘‘(C) The elections to which the election7 eering communications pertain and the names

8 (if known) of the candidates identified or to be

9 identified.

10 ‘‘(D) The amount of each disbursement

11 equal to or greater than $500 made during the

12 period covered by the statement and the identi13 fication of the person to whom the disburse14 ment was made.

15 ‘‘(E) If the disbursements were paid out of

16 a segregated account to which only individuals

17 could contribute, the names and addresses of all

18 contributors who contributed an aggregate

19 amount of $500 or more to that account during

20 the period beginning on the first day of the pre21 ceding calendar year and ending on the disclo22 sure date.

23 ‘‘(F) If the disbursements were paid out of

24 funds not described in subparagraph (E), the

25 names and addresses of all contributors who
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1 contributed an aggregate amount of $1,000 or

2 more to the organization or any related entity

3 (other than any amount paid for bona fide dues

4 charged for membership with the organization

5 or entity) during the period beginning on the

6 first day of the preceding calendar year and

7 ending on the disclosure date.

8 ‘‘(G) Whether or not any of the election9 eering communications involved is made in co10 ordination, cooperation, consultation, or concert

11 with, or at the request or suggestion of, any

12 candidate or any authorized committee, any po13 litical party or committee, or any agent of the

14 candidate, political party, or committee and if

15 so, the identification of any candidate, party,

16 committee, or agent involved.

17 ‘‘(H) The text of each of the electioneering

18 communications involved.

19 ‘‘(3) ELECTIONEERING COMMUNICATION.—For

20 purposes of this subsection—

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘election22 eering communication’ means any public com23 munication disseminated through mass media

24 which—
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1 ‘‘(i) refers to a clearly identified can2 didate for Federal office (including an indi3 vidual who has formed an exploratory com4 mittee for such an election) by name,

5 image, or likeness, or which refers to the

6 political party of such candidate or indi7 vidual;

8 ‘‘(ii) is made (or scheduled to be

9 made) within—

10 ‘‘(I) 90 days before a general,

11 special, or runoff election for such

12 Federal office, or

13 ‘‘(II) 60 days before a primary or

14 preference election, or a convention or

15 caucus of a political party that has

16 authority to nominate a candidate, for

17 such Federal office, and

18 ‘‘(iii) is disseminated to an audience

19 which includes the electorate for such elec20 tion, convention, or caucus (or any portion

21 thereof).

22 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTIONS.—Such term does not

23 include any of the following communications:

24 ‘‘(i) Any communication appearing in

25 a news story, commentary, or editorial dis-
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1 tributed through the facilities of any

2 broadcasting station, newspaper, magazine,

3 or other periodical publication, unless such

4 facilities are owned or controlled by any

5 political party, political committee, or can6 didate.

7 ‘‘(ii) Any communication designed to

8 encourage individuals to register to vote.

9 ‘‘(iii) Any voter guide presenting the

10 views or voting record of a candidate in a

11 manner which does not refer to or provide

12 any linkage with the sponsor’s views.

13 ‘‘(C) MASS MEDIA DEFINED.—In this

14 paragraph, the term ‘mass media’ means radio,

15 television, newspapers or other periodicals of

16 general circulation, billboards or other general

17 public advertisements, direct mailing or phone

18 bank to an audience of 500 or more, or the

19 Internet.

20 ‘‘(4) DISCLOSURE DATE.—For purposes of this

21 subsection, the term ‘disclosure date’ means—

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

23 year by which a person has made disbursements

24 for electioneering communications aggregating

25 in excess of $10,000; and
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1 ‘‘(B) any other date during such calendar

2 year by which a person has made disbursements

3 for electioneering communications aggregating

4 in excess of $10,000 since the most recent dis5 closure date for such calendar year.

6 ‘‘(5) CONTRACTS TO DISBURSE.—For purposes

7 of this subsection, a person shall be treated as hav8 ing made a disbursement if the person has con9 tracted to make the disbursement.

10 ‘‘(6) COORDINATION WITH OTHER REQUIRE11 MENTS.—Any requirement to report under this sub12 section shall be in addition to any other reporting

13 requirement under this Act.’’

14 SEC. 4. REQUIRING BROADCASTERS TO RETAIN AND MAKE

15 AVAILABLE INFORMATION ON SPONSORS OF

16 CERTAIN POLITICAL COMMUNICATIONS.

17 Section 317 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47

18 U.S.C. 317) is amended—

19 (1) by striking ‘‘radio station’’ each place it ap20 pears and inserting ‘‘broadcast station’’; and

21 (2) by adding at the end of subsection (a) the

22 following new paragraph:

23 ‘‘(3)(A) Each person who provides a broadcast sta24 tion with any communication described in subparagraph
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1 (E) for broadcast shall provide the station with the fol2 lowing information:

3 ‘‘(i) If the person is an entity with officers or

4 directors, the name, address, and daytime telephone

5 number of such officers or directors.

6 ‘‘(ii) If the person is an entity without officers

7 or directors, the name, address, and daytime tele8 phone number of any person responsible for the

9 communication involved.

10 ‘‘(iii) The identification of each person who pro11 vided funds to the person during the calendar year

12 in an amount equal to or greater than $1,000, to13 gether with the amount the person provided.

14 ‘‘(B) In addition to any other records required to be

15 kept under this subsection, each broadcast station which

16 broadcasts any communication described in subparagraph

17 (E) shall—

18 ‘‘(i) retain the information provided to the sta19 tion pursuant to subparagraph (A);

20 ‘‘(ii) if the station has a site on the Internet,

21 post such information on the site;

22 ‘‘(iii) provide the information described in

23 clause (i) or clause (ii) of subparagraph (A) upon re24 quest to any person by telephone, electronic mail, or

25 facsimile device; and
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1 ‘‘(iv) in addition to the methods described in

2 clauses (ii) and (iii), make the information provided

3 to the station pursuant to subparagraph (A) avail4 able for public inspection through such other meth5 ods as the station considers appropriate.

6 ‘‘(C)(i) In addition to any other announcements re7 quired to be made under this subsection, each communica8 tion described in subparagraph (E) shall include, in a

9 clearly spoken manner, the following statement:

10 ‘llllllll is responsible for the content of this

11 advertisement.’ (with the blank to be filled in with the

12 name of each person responsible for the communication).

13 If transmitted through television, the statement shall also

14 appear in a clearly readable manner with a reasonable de15 gree of color contrast between the background and the

16 printed statement, for a period of at least 4 seconds.

17 ‘‘(ii) For purposes of clause (i)—

18 ‘‘(I) the person who provides the broadcast sta19 tion with the communication shall be deemed to be

20 a person responsible for the communication; and

21 ‘‘(II) if 3 or fewer persons provided a portion

22 of the funds used for the communication equal to or

23 greater than 90 percent of the total amount used,

24 each such person shall be deemed to be a person re25 sponsible for the communication.
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1 ‘‘(D)(i) Any person who violates subparagraph (A) or

2 subparagraph (C) shall be subject to a civil money penalty

3 of not more than $5,000 or the aggregate amount spent

4 on the communication involved (whichever is greater) for

5 each such violation.

6 ‘‘(ii) Any person who knowingly and willfully violates

7 subparagraph (A) or subparagraph (C) shall be subject

8 to a civil money penalty of not more than $10,000 or 200

9 percent of the aggregate amount spent on the communica10 tion involved (whichever is greater) for each such violation.

11 ‘‘(iii) The Commission may refer a knowing and will12 ful violation of subparagraph (A) or subparagraph (C) to

13 the Attorney General, who may bring a criminal action

14 against the person involved. If the person is convicted in

15 any such action, the person shall be fined not more than

16 $25,000 or 300 percent of the aggregate amount spent

17 on the communication involved (whichever is greater) for

18 each such violation, imprisoned for not more than one

19 year, or both.

20 ‘‘(E)(i) A communication described in this subpara21 graph is any communication which mentions a clearly

22 identified candidate for election for Federal office (includ23 ing any individual who has formed an exploratory com24 mittee for such election) or the political party of such a

25 candidate, or which contains the likeness of such a can-
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1 didate, (other than a payment which would be described

2 in clause (i), (iii), or (v) of section 301(9)(B) of the Fed3 eral Election Campaign Act of 1971 if the payment were

4 an expenditure under such section).

5 ‘‘(ii) In clause (i), the term ‘Federal office’ has the

6 meaning given such term in section 301(3) of the Federal

7 Election Campaign Act of 1971.

8 ‘‘(F) This paragraph does not apply with respect to

9 a communication if (prior to spending funds on the com10 munication) the person providing the communication to

11 the broadcast station has not spent an aggregate amount

12 or value of $10,000 or more on all such communications

13 during the calendar year involved.

14 ‘‘(G) This paragraph shall apply with respect to a

15 video programmer and a multi-channel video program dis16 tributor in the same manner as it applies to a broadcast

17 station.’’.

18 SEC. 5. DISCLOSURE OF CERTAIN EXEMPT ACTIVITY BY

19 CORPORATIONS AND LABOR ORGANIZA20 TIONS.

21 (a) STATEMENTS OF DISBURSEMENTS FOR EXEMPT

22 ACTIVITIES.—

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 316 of the Federal

24 Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441b) is
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1 amended by adding at the end the following new

2 subsection:

3 ‘‘(c)(1) Each corporation and labor organization

4 which makes an aggregate amount of disbursements in ex5 cess of $50,000 during a calendar year for activities de6 scribed in subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C) of subsection

7 (b)(2) (except as provided in paragraph (3)) shall file a

8 statement with the Commission containing the following

9 information with respect to the reporting period involved:

10 ‘‘(A) The aggregate amount of disburse11 ments made.

12 ‘‘(B) The name and address of the person

13 or entity to whom a disbursement is made in an

14 aggregate amount in excess of $200.

15 ‘‘(C) The date made, amount, and purpose

16 of the disbursement.

17 ‘‘(D) If applicable, whether the disburse18 ment was in support of, or in opposition to, a

19 candidate or a political party, and the name of

20 the candidate or the political party.

21 ‘‘(E) Such other information regarding the

22 disbursements as the Commission may pre23 scribe.

24 ‘‘(2) The statements required to be filed under this

25 subsection shall be filed—
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1 ‘‘(A) on a monthly basis as described in

2 section 304(a)(4)(B); or

3 ‘‘(B) in the case of disbursements which

4 are made within 20 days of an election, within

5 48 hours after the disbursements are made.

6 ‘‘(3) For purposes of this subsection, the activities

7 described in subparagraph (A) do not include any activity

8 with respect to a communication which does not contain

9 an expression of support for or opposition to a candidate

10 for Federal office or a political party.’’.

11 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section

12 301(9)(B)(iii) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 431(9)(B)(iii))

13 is amended by striking ‘‘, except that’’ and all that

14 follows through ‘‘general election’’.

15 (b) DISCLOSURE OF FEDERAL POLITICAL ACTIVITY

16 TO MEMBERS AND SHAREHOLDERS.—Section 316 of such

17 Act (2 U.S.C. 441b), as amended by subsection (a), is fur18 ther amended by adding at the end the following new sub19 section:

20 ‘‘(d)(1) Not later than 60 days after the end of each

21 calendar year, each labor organization described in this

22 section shall provide each of its members and each other

23 person who pays dues to the organization with a notice

24 containing the aggregate amount of disbursements made
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1 by the organization for Federal political activities during

2 the year.

3 ‘‘(2) Not later than 60 days after the end of each

4 calendar year, each corporation described in this section

5 shall provide each of its shareholders with a notice con6 taining the aggregate amount of disbursements made by

7 the corporation for Federal political activities during the

8 year.

9 ‘‘(3) In this subsection, the term ‘Federal political ac10 tivity’ means any activity carried out for the purpose of

11 influencing (in whole or in part) any election for Federal

12 office, influencing the consideration or outcome of any

13 Federal legislation or the issuance or outcome of any Fed14 eral regulations, or educating individuals about candidates

15 for election for Federal office or any Federal legislation,

16 law, or regulations.’’.

17 SEC. 6. DISCLOSURE BY STATE PARTIES OF INFORMATION

18 REPORTED UNDER STATE OR LOCAL LAW.

19 Section 304 of the Federal Election Campaign Act

20 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 434), as amended by section 3, is fur21 ther amended by adding at the end the following new sub22 section:

23 ‘‘(e) If a political committee of a State political party

24 is required under a State or local law, rule, or regulation

25 to submit a report on its disbursements to an entity of
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1 the State or local government, the committee shall file a

2 copy of the report with the Commission at the time it sub3 mits the report to such an entity.’’.

4 SEC. 7. DISCLOSURE OF RECEIPTS AND DISBURSEMENTS

5 FROM NONFEDERAL ACCOUNTS OF FEDERAL

6 COMMITTEES AND CANDIDATES.

7 (a) REPORTING OF RECEIPTS AND DISBURSEMENTS

8 FOR NONFEDERAL ACTIVITIES.—Section 304(b) of the

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

10 is amended—

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

12 (7);

13 (2) by striking the period at the end of para14 graph (8) and inserting a semicolon; and

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

16 paragraphs:

17 ‘‘(9) in the case of a political committee other

18 than an authorized committee, for both the reporting

19 period and the calendar year, the receipts and dis20 bursements of any account of the committee whose

21 funds are used for purposes which are not otherwise

22 subject to the limitations, prohibitions, and reporting

23 requirements of this Act; and
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1 ‘‘(10) in the case of an authorized committee of

2 a candidate for Federal office, for both the reporting

3 period and the election cycle—

4 ‘‘(A) the receipts and disbursements of any

5 accounts of the committee whose funds are used

6 for purposes which are not otherwise subject to

7 the limitations, prohibitions, and reporting re8 quirements of this Act, and

9 ‘‘(B) the receipts and disbursements of any

10 organization under the direction or control of

11 the committee or of the candidate or office12 holder the committee supports which provides

13 financial or other support for any Federal,

14 State, or local political party, for any candidate

15 for election for State or local office, or for the

16 dissemination of any electioneering communica17 tion (as defined in section 304(d)(3)).’’.

18 (b) INFORMATION ON STATEMENT OF ORGANIZA19 TION.—Section 303(b) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 433(b)) is

20 amended—

21 (1) in paragraph (2), by striking the semicolon

22 at the end and inserting the following: ‘‘, including

23 any organization under the direction or control of

24 the committee or of the candidate or officeholder the

25 committee supports which provides financial or other
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1 support for any Federal, State, or local political

2 party, for any candidate for election for State or

3 local office, or for the dissemination of any election4 eering communication (as defined in section

5 304(d)(3));’’; and

6 (2) in paragraph (3), by striking the semicolon

7 at the end and inserting the following: ‘‘, together

8 with a description (including the name, address, and

9 position of the custodian) of any accounts of the

10 committee whose funds are not otherwise subject to

11 the limitations, prohibitions, and reporting require12 ments of this Act;’’.

13 SEC. 8. DISCLOSURE AND REPORTS OF PUSH POLLS AND

14 PHONE BANKS.

15 Title III of the Federal Election Campaign Act of

16 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431 et seq.) is amended by adding at the

17 end the following new section:

18 ‘‘DISCLOSURE AND REPORTS RELATING TO POLLING BY

19 TELEPHONE OR ELECTRONIC DEVICE

20 ‘‘SEC. 323. (a) IN GENERAL.—Any person who con21 ducts a Federal election poll by telephone or electronic de22 vice shall disclose to each respondent the identity of the

23 person paying the expenses of the poll. The disclosure

24 shall be made at the end of the interview involved.

25 ‘‘(b) REPORTS.—In the case of any Federal election

26 poll by telephone or electronic device—
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1 ‘‘(1) if the results are not to be made public,

2 the person who conducts the poll shall report to the

3 Commission the total cost of the poll and all sources

4 of funds for the poll; and

5 ‘‘(2) the person who conducts the poll shall re6 port to the Commission the total number of house7 holds contacted and include with such report a copy

8 of the poll questions.

9 ‘‘(c) DEFINITION.—As used in this section, the term

10 ‘Federal election poll’ means a survey—

11 ‘‘(1) in which the respondent is asked to state

12 a preference in a future election for Federal office;

13 and

14 ‘‘(2) in which more than 500 households are

15 surveyed.’’.

16 SEC. 9. RECORD KEEPING AND REPORTING OF SECONDARY

17 PAYMENTS.

18 (a) REPORTING.—Section 304(b)(5)(A) of the Fed19 eral Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C.

20 434(b)(5)(A)) is amended by striking the semicolon at the

21 end and inserting the following: ‘‘, and, if such person in

22 turn makes expenditures which aggregate $5,000 or more

23 in an election cycle to other persons (not including employ24 ees) who provide goods or services to the candidate or the

25 candidate’s authorized committees, the name and address
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1 of such other persons, together with the date, amount, and

2 purpose of such expenditures;’’.

3 (b) RECORD KEEPING.—Section 302 of such Act (2

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

5 new subsection:

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

7 makes expenditures which aggregate $5,000 or more in

8 an election cycle to other persons (not including employ9 ees) who provide goods or services to a candidate or a can10 didate’s authorized committees shall provide to a political

11 committee the information necessary to enable the com12 mittee to report the information described in such sec13 tion.’’.

14 (c) NO EFFECT ON OTHER REPORTS.—Nothing in

15 the amendments made by this section may be construed

16 to affect the terms of any other recordkeeping or reporting

17 requirements applicable to candidates or political commit18 tees under title III of the Federal Election Campaign Act

19 of 1971.

20 SEC. 10. 48-HOUR DEADLINE FOR DISCLOSURE OF CON21 TRIBUTIONS RECEIVED DURING 90-DAY PE22 RIOD PRECEDING GENERAL ELECTION.

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

24 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 434(a)) is amended by adding at the

25 end the following new paragraph:
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1 ‘‘(12)(A) Notwithstanding any other provision of this

2 Act, each political committee which receives a contribution

3 in an amount equal to or greater than $500 during the

4 period which begins on the 90th day before a general elec5 tion for Federal office and ends at the time the polls close

6 for such election (determined without regard to any day

7 preceding the primary election, convention, or caucus for

8 the selection of the candidates for such general election)

9 shall, with respect to any information required to be filed

10 with the Commission under this section with respect to

11 such contribution, file and preserve the information using

12 electronic mail, the Internet, or such other method of in13 stantaneous transmission as the Commission may permit,

14 and shall file the information within 48 hours after the

15 receipt of the contribution.

16 ‘‘(B) The Commission shall make the information

17 filed under this paragraph available on the Internet imme18 diately upon receipt.’’.

19 SEC. 11. IDENTIFICATION OF REGISTERED LOBBYISTS AND

20 FOREIGN AGENTS.

21 Section 301(13)(A) of the Federal Election Cam22 paign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431(13)(A)) is amended by

23 inserting after ‘‘employer’’ the following: ‘‘and a statement

24 as to whether the individual is registered as a lobbyist

25 under the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 or registered
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1 as the agent of a foreign principal under the Foreign

2 Agents Registration Act of 1938’’.

3 SEC. 12. EFFECTIVE DATE.

4 The amendments made by this Act shall apply with

5 respect to elections occurring after December 31, 2000.

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