I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2072

To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to ban contributions

to candidates in elections for Federal office by persons other than individuals and political party committees, to amend the Rules of the House

of Representatives to ban gifts, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JULY 19, 1995

Mrs. SMITH of Washington (for herself, Mr. BROWNBACK, Mr. FOX, Mr.

METCALF, and Mr. TATE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House Oversight, and in addition to the Committees on Rules, Government Reform and Oversight, and Standards of

Official Conduct, 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

ban contributions to candidates in elections for Federal

office by persons other than individuals and political

party committees, to amend the Rules of the House

of Representatives to ban gifts, 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 ‘‘Clean Congress Act

5 of 1995’’.
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1 SEC. 2. BAN ON CONTRIBUTIONS TO CANDIDATES IN ELEC2 TIONS FOR FEDERAL OFFICE BY PERSONS

3 OTHER THAN INDIVIDUALS AND POLITICAL

4 PARTY COMMITTEES.

5 Title III of the Federal Election Campaign Act of

6 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431 et seq.) is amended by adding at the

7 end the following new section:

8 ‘‘BAN ON CONTRIBUTIONS TO CANDIDATES BY PERSONS

9 OTHER THAN INDIVIDUALS AND POLITICAL PARTY

10 COMMITTEES

11 ‘‘SEC. 323. Notwithstanding any other provision of

12 this Act, no person other than an individual or a political

13 committee of a political party may make contributions to

14 any candidate and the authorized political committees of

15 such candidate with respect to any election for Federal

16 office.’’.

17 SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL ELECTION BAN ON CONTRIBU18 TIONS FROM PERSONS OTHER THAN POLITI19 CAL PARTY COMMITTEES AND IN-STATE INDI20 VIDUAL RESIDENTS.

21 Section 315 of the Federal Election Campaign Act

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

23 end the following new subsection:

24 ‘‘(i)(1) A candidate for the office of Senator or Rep25 resentative in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner to,

26 the Congress may not accept contributions from persons
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1 other than political committees of political parties and in2 State individual residents.

3 ‘‘(2) As used in this subsection, the term ‘in-State

4 individual resident’ means an individual who resides in the

5 State in which the election is held.’’.

6 SEC. 4. ELIMINATION OF MULTICANDIDATE POLITICAL

7 COMMITTEES AS A SEPARATE CATEGORY OF

8 POLITICAL COMMITTEE FOR CONTRIBUTION

9 LIMITATION PURPOSES.

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

11 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a(a)) is amended—

12 (1) by striking out paragraph (2);

13 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (3) through

14 (8) as paragraphs (2) through (7), respectively;

15 (3) in the first sentence of paragraph (3), as so

16 redesignated by paragraph (2) of this section, by

17 striking out ‘‘paragraphs (1) and (2)’’ and inserting

18 in lieu thereof ‘‘paragraph (1)’’;

19 (4) by striking out the second sentence of para20 graph (3), as so redesignated by paragraph (2) of

21 this section;

22 (5) in paragraph (4), as so redesignated by

23 paragraph (2) of this section, by striking out ‘‘para24 graph (2)’’ each place it appears; and
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1 (6) in paragraph (5), as so redesignated by

2 paragraph (2) of this section, by striking out ‘‘para3 graphs (1) and (2)’’ and inserting in lieu thereof

4 ‘‘paragraph (1)’’.

5 SEC. 5. LIMITATION ON PERSONAL LOANS BY CANDIDATES

6 FOR FEDERAL OFFICE TO THEIR CAMPAIGNS.

7 Section 315 of the Federal Election Campaign Act

8 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a), as amended by section 2, is fur9 ther amended by adding at the end the following new sub10 section:

11 ‘‘(j) A candidate for Federal office may not, with re12 spect to an election, make personal loans to the authorized

13 committees of the candidate that total more than

14 $5,000.’’.

15 SEC. 6. EXTENSION OF BAN ON FRANKED MASS MAILINGS

16 BY MEMBERS OF CONGRESS FROM 60 DAYS

17 TO 90 DAYS BEFORE AN ELECTION.

18 Section 3210(a)(6)(A) and section 3210(a)(6)(C) of

19 title 39, United States Code, are each amended by striking

20 out ‘‘60 days’’ each place it appears and inserting in lieu

21 thereof ‘‘90 days’’.
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1 SEC. 7. EXTENSION OF ANNUAL LIMITATION ON CONTRIBU2 TIONS TO ALL PERSONS OTHER THAN POLIT3 ICAL PARTY COMMITTEES.

4 The first sentence of section 315(a)(3) of the Federal

5 Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a(a)(3)) is

6 amended by striking out ‘‘individual’’ and inserting in lieu

7 thereof ‘‘person, other than a political committee of a po8 litical party,’’.

9 SEC. 8. BAN ON GIFTS TO MEMBERS, OFFICERS, AND EM10 PLOYEES OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTA11 TIVES.

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Clause 4 of rule XLIII of the

13 Rules of the House of Representatives is amended to read

14 as follows:

15 ‘‘4. (a)(1) No Member, officer, or employee may ac16 cept a gift, whether made directly or indirectly, from any17 one.

18 ‘‘(2) For purposes of this rule, the following are not

19 defined gifts subject to the prohibition in subparagraph

20 (1):

21 ‘‘(A) Gifts from a relative, including a fiancee.

22 ‘‘(B) A gift given by an individual which is mo23 tivated by a personal friendship rather than the po24 sition of the Member, officer, or employee. In deter25 mining if a gift is motivated by a personal friend26 ship, the history of the relationship shall be consid-
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1 ered and whether the gift giver personally paid for

2 the gift. If the gift exceeds $250, the Committee on

3 Standards of Official Conduct must grant a waiver.

4 ‘‘(C) Gifts of personal hospitality from an indi5 vidual, not a corporation or organization, for a non6 business purpose on facilities owned by that individ7 ual or the individual’s family.

8 ‘‘(D) Anything for which the recipient pays the

9 market value or does not use and promptly returns

10 to the donor.

11 ‘‘(E) Items of little intrinsic value.

12 ‘‘(F) Bequests, inheritances, and other trans13 fers at death.

14 ‘‘(G) Political contributions as defined by the

15 Federal Election Commission and otherwise reported

16 as required by law.

17 ‘‘(H) Food, lodging, transportation, and enter18 tainment provided on an official basis by Federal,

19 State, and local governments or political subdivisions

20 thereof.

21 ‘‘(I) Informational materials sent to a Member’s

22 office, including newspapers, magazines and other

23 periodicals, books, audio tapes, videotapes, and other

24 forms of communication.
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1 ‘‘(J) Nonmonetary awards, trophies, mementos,

2 or honorary degrees presented to a Member, officer,

3 or employee.

4 ‘‘(K) Consumable products provided to a Mem5 ber’s office by a home-State business which are pri6 marily intended for consumption by persons other

7 than the Member or staff.

8 ‘‘(L) Awards and prizes given to competitors in

9 contests or events open to the public, including ran10 dom drawings.

11 ‘‘(M) Opportunities and benefits which are

12 available to the public or to Federal employees.

13 ‘‘(N) Opportunities and benefits offered to

14 members of a group or class in which membership

15 is unrelated to congressional employment.

16 ‘‘(O) Opportunities and benefits based on out17 side business or employment activities which it is

18 clear that such opportunities and benefits have not

19 been offered or enhanced because of a Member’s, of20 ficer’s, or employee’s official status.

21 ‘‘(b)(1) No Member, officer, or employee may accept

22 payment or reimbursement for meals or entertainment.

23 ‘‘(2) For purposes of this rule, the following are not

24 meals or entertainment subject to the prohibition in sub25 paragraph (1):
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1 ‘‘(A) Meals and entertainment provided by a

2 relative, including a fiancee.

3 ‘‘(B) Meals or entertainment or both from a

4 friend, given under circumstances which make it

5 clear that the meal or entertainment is provided

6 based on a personal friendship rather than the posi7 tion of the Member, officer, or employee. Relevant

8 factors in making such a determination include the

9 history of the relationship and whether the friend

10 personally pays for the meal or entertainment.

11 ‘‘(C) Meals, food, and entertainment provided

12 at widely attended gatherings, including conventions,

13 charity events, conferences, symposiums, retreats,

14 dinners, receptions, viewings, or similar events if the

15 meals, food, and entertainment are not solicited by

16 the Member, officer, or employee.

17 ‘‘(c) No Member, officer, or employee may accept

18 payment or reimbursement for travel expenses (including

19 associated transportation, lodging, or entertainment) from

20 anyone (including a foreign government in a foreign coun21 try) unless such travel expenses were paid by a relative

22 or personal friend.’’.

23 (b) SANCTION.—Clause 4(e)(1)(B) of rule X of the

24 Rules of the House of Representatives is amended by in25 serting before the semicolon the following: ‘‘except that if
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1 a Member, officer, or employee violated clause 4 of rule

2 XLIII, such Member, officer, or employee shall be subject

3 to disciplinary action by the committee, including a fine

4 of a value not less than the value of the gift, meals, food,

5 and entertainment, or travel expenses received in violation

6 of such clause and of a value not to exceed three times

7 the value of such gift, meals, food, and entertainment, or

8 travel expenses’’.

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