I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1694

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

voluntary limitation on contributions from other than individual district

residents in House of Representatives elections.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 24, 1995

Mr. CLINGER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on House Oversight

A BILL

To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to

provide for a voluntary limitation on contributions from

other than individual district residents in House of Representatives elections.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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1 SECTION 1. VOLUNTARY PROVISION FOR LIMITATION OF

2 CONTRIBUTIONS FROM OUTSIDE THE DIS3 TRICT AND FROM OTHER THAN INDIVIDUALS

4 IN THE DISTRICT TO 45 PERCENT OF TOTAL

5 CONTRIBUTIONS TO A CANDIDATE IN A

6 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CAMPAIGN.

7 Section 315 of the Federal Election Campaign Act

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

9 the following new subsections:

10 ‘‘(i)(1) Not later than 30 days after an individual be11 comes a candidate for the office of Representative in, or

12 Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, the Congress, that

13 individual shall file with the Commission a declaration of

14 whether or not the individual will comply with paragraph

15 (2) and paragraph (3). If a candidate in an election for

16 such office chooses not to comply with both such para17 graphs, only paragraph (2) shall apply to such candidate

18 and neither paragraph (2) nor paragraph (3) shall apply

19 to the other candidates in the election.

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

21 or Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, the Congress

22 who agrees to be subject to this section may not accept

23 a contribution with respect to an election if—

24 ‘‘(A) the contribution is from a person other

25 than an individual resident of the district; and
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1 ‘‘(B) the sum of the contribution and the total

2 of contributions previously accepted from such per3 sons exceeds the amount equal to 45 percent of the

4 total of contributions accepted from all sources.

5 ‘‘(3) For purposes of paragraph (1), in determining

6 the total amount of contributions from individuals resident

7 in a district, not more than $1,000 in contributions from

8 the personal funds of the candidate may be taken into ac9 count.

10 ‘‘(4) In each report of contributions under this Act,

11 a candidate referred to in paragraph (1) shall certify com12 pliance with this subsection.

13 ‘‘(j)(1) If a candidate accepts contributions with re14 spect to a reporting period that exceed a limitation under

15 subsection (i), the candidate, at the time of filing the re16 port involved, shall pay to the Commission, for deposit in

17 the general fund of the Treasury as miscellaneous receipts,

18 a civil fine.

19 ‘‘(2) In the case of reporting periods under section

20 304(a)(2)(A), the civil fines shall be as follows: (A) 1st

21 quarter report, 2 times the excess amount; (B) 2d quarter

22 report, 3 times the excess amount; (C) pre-primary report,

23 3 times the excess amount; (D) 3d quarter report, 3 times

24 the excess amount; (E) pregeneral election report, 5 times

25 the excess amount; (F) postgeneral election report, 5 times
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1 the excess amount; and (G) 4th quarter report, 5 times

2 the excess amount.

3 ‘‘(3) In the case of reporting periods under section

4 304(a)(2)(B), the civil fine shall be an amount equal to

5 the excess amount.’’.

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