I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2038 

To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to prohibit an authorized committee of a candidate who is a Member of Congress from 

accepting contributions from any entity for which the candidate sought 

a Congressional earmark. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 22, 2009 

Mr. HODES (for himself, Ms. GIFFORDS, and Mr. PERRIELLO) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House Administration 

A BILL 

To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to 

prohibit an authorized committee of a candidate who 

is a Member of Congress from accepting contributions 

from any entity for which the candidate sought a Congressional earmark. 

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 ‘‘Clean Law for Ear5 mark Accountability Reform Act’’ or the ‘‘CLEAR Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PROHIBITING CANDIDATES FROM ACCEPTING CON2 TRIBUTIONS FROM ENTITIES FOR WHICH 

3 CANDIDATES SEEK CONGRESSIONAL EAR4 MARKS. 

5 (a) PROHIBITING ACCEPTANCE OF CONTRIBU6 TIONS.—Section 315 of the Federal Election Campaign 

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

8 the end the following new subsection: 

9 ‘‘(k) PROHIBITING ACCEPTANCE OF CONTRIBUTIONS

10 FROM ENTITIES FOR WHICH CANDIDATES SEEK CON11 GRESSIONAL EARMARKS.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An authorized committee of 

13 a candidate for election for Federal office who is a 

14 Member of Congress (including a Delegate or Resi15 dent Commissioner to the Congress) may not accept 

16 any contribution— 

17 ‘‘(A) from any entity for which the Mem18 ber sought a Congressional earmark during the 

19 election cycle, or from any senior executive of 

20 such an entity or any person who is registered 

21 as a lobbyist under the Lobbying Disclosure Act 

22 of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) for whom the 

23 entity was a client for purposes of such Act; or 

24 ‘‘(B) if the Member sought a Congres25 sional earmark for a corporation during the 

26 election cycle, from a separate segregated fund 


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1 established and administered by the corporation 

2 or labor organization under section 

3 316(b)(2)(C). 

4 ‘‘(2) CONGRESSIONAL EARMARK DEFINED.—In 

5 this subsection, the term ‘Congressional earmark’ 

6 means a provision or report language which— 

7 ‘‘(A) is included in a bill or joint resolu8 tion, a committee report to accompany a bill or 

9 joint resolution, or a conference report to ac10 company a bill or joint resolution (including a 

11 joint explanatory statement prepared by the 

12 managers of the conference) primarily at the re13 quest of a Member of Congress; and 

14 ‘‘(B) provides, authorizes, or recommends 

15 a specific amount of discretionary budget au16 thority, credit authority, or other spending au17 thority for a contract, loan, loan guarantee, 

18 grant, loan authority, or other expenditure with 

19 or to an entity, other than through a statutory 

20 or administrative formula-driven or competitive 

21 award process. 

22 ‘‘(3) ELECTION CYCLE DEFINED.—In this sub23 section, the term ‘election cycle’ has the meaning 

24 given such term in section 301(25), without regard 

25 to the second sentence of such section. 


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1 ‘‘(4) SENIOR EXECUTIVE DEFINED.—In this 

2 subsection, the term ‘senior executive’ means, with 

3 respect to an entity, the President, Chief Executive 

4 Officer, Chief Operating Officer, or Chief Financial 

5 Officer of the entity.’’. 

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

7 subsection (a) shall apply with respect to contributions 

8 made on or after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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