I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2307

To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to further restrict

contributions to candidates by multicandidate political committees, limit

and require full disclosure of attempts to influence Federal elections

through ‘‘soft money’’ and independent expenditures, correct inequities

resulting from personal financing of campaigns, strengthen the role of

political parties, and contain the cost of political campaigns.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

SEPTEMBER 12, 1995

Mr. ROBERTS 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

further restrict contributions to candidates by

multicandidate political committees, limit and require full

disclosure of attempts to influence Federal elections

through ‘‘soft money’’ and independent expenditures, correct inequities resulting from personal financing of campaigns, strengthen the role of political parties, and contain the cost of political campaigns.

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

3 That this Act may be cited as the ‘‘Congressional Cam4 paign Reform Act of 1995’’.
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1 RESTRICTIONS ON POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEES

2 SEC. 2. (a) Section 315(a)(1)(C), section

3 315(a)(2)(A), and section 315(a)(2)(C) of the Federal

4 Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a(a)(1)(C),

5 441a(a)(2)(A), and 441a(a)(2)(C)) are each amended by

6 striking out ‘‘$5,000’’ and inserting in lieu thereof

7 ‘‘$2,000’’.

8 (b) Section 315 of the Federal Election Campaign

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

10 the end thereof the following:

11 ‘‘(i) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act,

12 each multicandidate political committee and separate reg13 ulated funds established pursuant to the provisions of this

14 Act shall—

15 ‘‘(1) provide a method so that each person con16 tributing to such committee or fund may specify to

17 which Federal candidate or candidates or which na18 tional political party organization or organizations

19 such contribution is being made; and

20 ‘‘(2) provide each contributor with a list of the

21 names and addresses of the authorized committee of

22 every candidate for Federal office and for each na23 tional political party organization.’’.

24 LIMITATIONS ON INDIVIDUAL CONTRIBUTIONS

25 SEC. 3. Section 315(a)(1)(A) of the Federal Election

26 Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a(a)(1)(A)) is
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1 amended by striking out ‘‘$1,000’’ and inserting in lieu

2 thereof ‘‘$2,000’’.

3 LIMITATION AND FULL DISCLOSURE OF ELECTION4 RELATED EXPENDITURES

5 SEC. 4. Section 301(9)(B) of the Federal Election

6 Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431(9)(B)) is amend7 ed—

8 (1) in clause (ii) by inserting before the semi9 colon at the end thereof the following: ‘‘, except that

10 payments, services, and other benefits that are fur11 nished or otherwise made available by a corporation

12 or a labor organization and are directly attributable

13 to a registration or get-out-the-vote campaign shall

14 be limited to a total of $1,000 with respect to an

15 election and if they total more than $100 in value

16 shall be reported to the Commission in accordance

17 with section 304(a)(4)(A)(i), and in accordance with

18 section 304(a)(4)(A)(ii) with respect to any general

19 election’’; and

20 (2) in clause (iii) by striking out ‘‘(other than

21 a communication primarily devoted to subjects other

22 than the express advocacy of the election or defeat

23 of a clearly identified candidate)’’.

24 DISCLOSURE OF INDEPENDENT EXPENDITURES

25 SEC. 5. Section 318(a)(3) of the Federal Election

26 Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441d(a)(3)) is amended
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1 by striking out the period at the end thereof and inserting

2 in lieu thereof the following:

3 ‘‘, except that whenever any person makes an inde4 pendent expenditure through (A) a broadcast com5 munication on any radio or television station, the

6 broadcast communication shall include a state7 ment—

8 ‘‘(i) in such television broadcast, that is

9 clearly readable to the viewer and appears con10 tinuously during the entire length of such com11 munication; or

12 ‘‘(ii) in such radio broadcast, that is clear13 ly audible to the viewer and is aired at the be14 ginning and ending of such broadcast;

15 setting forth the name of such person and in the

16 case of a political committee, the name of any con17 nected or affiliated organization, or (B) a news18 paper, magazine, outdoor advertising facility, direct

19 mailing or other type of general public political ad20 vertising, the communication shall include, in addi21 tion to the other information required by this sub22 section, the following sentence: ‘The cost of present23 ing this communication is not subject to any cam24 paign contribution limits.’, and a statement setting

25 forth the name of the person who paid for the com-
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1 munication and, in the case of a political committee,

2 the name of any connected or affiliated organization

3 and the name of the president or treasurer of such

4 organization.

5 ‘‘(4) The person making an independent ex6 penditure described in paragraph (3) shall furnish,

7 by certified mail, return receipt requested, the fol8 lowing information, to each candidate and to the

9 Commission, not later than the date and time of

10 the first public transmission (e.g. first aired,

11 mailed, published, or displayed):

12 ‘‘(A) effective notice that the person plans

13 to make an independent expenditure for the

14 purpose of financing a communication which ex15 pressly advocates the election or defeat of a

16 clearly identified candidate;

17 ‘‘(B) an exact copy of the intended com18 munication, or a complete description of the

19 contents of the intended communication, includ20 ing the entirety of any texts to be used in con21 junction with such communication, and a com22 plete description of any photographs, films, or

23 any other visual devices to be used in conjunc24 tion with such communication;
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1 ‘‘(C) all approximate dates and times when

2 such communication will be publicly transmit3 ted; and

4 ‘‘(D) each specific location, media channel,

5 and publication through which the communica6 tion will be publicly transmitted.’’.

7 INDEPENDENT EXPENDITURES

8 SEC. 6. (a) Section 301(17) of the Federal Election

9 Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431(17)) is amended by

10 adding the following: ‘‘An expenditure shall constitute an

11 expenditure in coordination, consultation, or concert with

12 a candidate and shall not constitute an ‘independent ex13 penditure’ where—

14 ‘‘(A) there is any arrangement, coordination, or

15 direction with respect to the expenditure between the

16 candidate or the candidate’s agent and the person

17 (including any officer, director, employee or agent of

18 such person) making the expenditure;

19 ‘‘(B) in the same election cycle, the person

20 making the expenditure (including any officer, direc21 tor, employee or agent of such person) is or has

22 been—

23 ‘‘(i) authorized to raise or expend funds on

24 behalf of the candidate or the candidate’s au25 thorized committees;
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1 ‘‘(ii) serving as an officer of the can2 didate’s authorized committees; or

3 ‘‘(iii) receiving any form of compensation

4 or reimbursement from the candidate, the can5 didate’s authorized committees, or the can6 didate’s agent;

7 ‘‘(C) the person making the expenditure (in8 cluding any officer, director, employee or agent of

9 such person) has communicated with, advised, or

10 counseled the candidate or the candidate’s agents at

11 any time on the candidate’s plans, projects, or needs

12 relating to the candidate’s pursuit of nomination for

13 election, or election to Federal office, in the same

14 election cycle, including any advice relating to the

15 candidate’s decision to seek Federal office;

16 ‘‘(D) the person making the expenditure retains

17 the professional services of any individual or other

18 person also providing those services to the candidate

19 in connection with the candidate’s pursuit of nomi20 nation for election, or election to Federal office, in

21 the same election cycle, including any services relat22 ing to the candidate’s decision to seek Federal office;

23 ‘‘(E) the person making the expenditure (in24 cluding any officer, director, employee or agent of

25 such person) has communicated or consulted at any
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1 time during the same election cycle about the can2 didate’s plans, projects, or needs relating to the can3 didate’s pursuit of election to Federal office, with:

4 (i) any officer, director, employee or agent of a party

5 committee that has made or intends to make ex6 penditures or contributions, pursuant to subsection

7 (a), (d), or (h) of section 315 in connection with the

8 candidate’s campaign; or (ii) any person whose pro9 fessional services have been retained by a political

10 party committee that has made or intends to make

11 expenditures or contributions pursuant to subsection

12 (a), (d), or (h) of section 315 in connection with the

13 candidate’s campaign; and

14 ‘‘(F) the expenditure is based on information

15 provided to the person making the expenditure di16 rectly or indirectly by the candidate or the can17 didate’s agents about the candidate’s plans, projects,

18 or needs, provided that the candidate or the can19 didate’s agent is aware that the other person has

20 made or is planning to make expenditures expressly

21 advocating the candidate’s election.’’.

22 (b) Section 309(a) of the Federal Election Campaign

23 Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 437g(a)) is amended by adding at

24 the end thereof the following:
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1 ‘‘(13) Within 3 days after the Commission receives

2 a complaint, filed pursuant to this section, which alleges

3 that an independent expenditure was made with the co4 operation or consultation of a candidate, or an authorized

5 committee or agent of such candidate, or was made in con6 cert with or at the request or suggestion of an authorized

7 committee or agent of such candidate, the Commission

8 shall provide for a hearing to determine such matter.’’.

9 CANDIDATE EXPENDITURES FROM PERSONAL FUNDS

10 SEC. 7. (a) Section 315 of the Federal Election Cam11 paign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a), as amended by section

12 2(b) of this Act, is further amended by adding at the end

13 thereof the following:

14 ‘‘(j)(1)(A) Within 15 days after a candidate qualifies

15 for the primary election ballot, under applicable State law,

16 such candidate shall file with the Commission and each

17 other candidate who has qualified for such ballot, a dec18 laration stating whether or not such candidate intends to

19 expend funds and incur personal loans for the primary and

20 general election a total amount, in the aggregate of

21 $100,000 or more from the following sources: (i) his per22 sonal funds, (ii) the funds of his immediate family, and

23 (iii) personal loans incurred in connection with his cam24 paign for such office.
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1 ‘‘(B) The statement required by this subsection shall

2 be in such form, and contain such information, as the

3 Commission may, by regulation, require.

4 ‘‘(2) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, in

5 any election in which a candidate declares that he intends

6 to expend or incur, in the aggregate, $100,000 or more

7 by expending from personal funds and funds of his imme8 diate family and incurring personal loans for his cam9 paign, or does expend funds and incur loans in a total

10 in excess of such amount, or fails to file the declarations

11 required by this subsection, the limitations on contribu12 tions in subsection (a) of this section, as they apply to

13 all other individuals running for such office, shall be in14 creased for such election as follows:

15 ‘‘(A) The limitations provided in subsection

16 (a)(1)(A) shall be increased to $10,000.

17 ‘‘(B) The limitations provided in subsection

18 (a)(3) shall be increased to an amount equal to 150

19 percent of such limitation, but only to the extent

20 that contributions above such limitation are made to

21 candidates affected by the increased level provided

22 in subparagraph (A).

23 ‘‘(3) If the limitations in this section are increased

24 pursuant to paragraph (2) for a convention or a primary

25 election as they relate to an individual candidate, and if
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1 such individual candidate is not a candidate in any subse2 quent election in such campaign, including the general

3 election, the provisions of subparagraph (A) of paragraph

4 (2) shall cease to apply.

5 ‘‘(4) Any candidate who—

6 ‘‘(A) declares, pursuant to paragraph (1) that

7 he does not intend to expend and incur, by expend8 ing from his personal funds and the funds of his im9 mediate family and incurring personal loans in con10 nection with his campaign an amount which in the

11 aggregate totals $100,000 or more; and

12 ‘‘(B) subsequently does spend funds or incur

13 loans in excess of such amount, or intends to spend

14 funds or incur loans in excess of such amount;

15 shall notify and file an amended declaration with the Com16 mission and shall notify all other candidates for such office

17 within 24 hours after changing such declaration or exceed18 ing such limits, whichever first occurs, by sending such

19 notice by certified mail, return receipt requested.

20 ‘‘(5) Any candidate who makes expenditures from his

21 personal funds or the personal funds of his immediate

22 family, or incurs personal loans in connection with his

23 campaign for election to office may repay such loan for

24 such expenditures, to himself or to his immediate family,

25 from contributions made to such candidate or any author-
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1 ized committee of such candidate, except that such loan

2 shall be repaid only to the extent of the actual amount

3 of the loan. Notwithstanding any other provision of law,

4 repayment of any such loan shall not include any interest

5 on the principal amount of such loan.

6 ‘‘(6) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no

7 candidate may make expenditures from his personal funds

8 or the personal funds of his immediate family, or incur

9 personal loans in connection with his campaign for election

10 to such office at any time after 60 days before the date

11 of such election. The provisions of this paragraph shall

12 apply to all candidates regardless of whether such can13 didate has reached the limits provided in this subsection.

14 ‘‘(7) The Commission shall take such action as it

15 deems necessary under the enforcement provisions of this

16 Act to assure compliance with the provisions of this sub17 section.

18 ‘‘(k) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act,

19 no candidate who, in connection with his campaign for

20 election to Federal office, makes expenditures from his

21 personal funds or the personal funds of his immediate

22 family to his campaign committee, or makes a loan from

23 such funds to such committee, shall use any other con24 tributions which are made by any other person, after the

25 election, to such candidate or the principal campaign com-
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1 mittee of such candidate to repay any such expenditure

2 or loan.

3 ‘‘(l) For purposes of this section, ‘immediate family’

4 means a candidate’s spouse, and any child, stepchild, par5 ent, grandparent, brother, half-brother, sister or half-sis6 ter of the candidate, and the spouse of any such person

7 and any child, stepchild, parent, grandparent, brother,

8 half-brother, sister or half-sister of the candidate’s spouse,

9 and any spouse of any such person.’’.

10 (b) Section 313 of the Federal Election Campaign

11 Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 439a) is amended by inserting be12 fore the period the following: ‘‘, and except that no can13 didate for the office of President or Vice President may

14 use any contributions in a manner prohibited by section

15 315(k)’’.

16 DEFINITION OF NATIONAL COMMITTEE

17 SEC. 8. Section 301(14) of the Federal Election Cam18 paign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431(14)) is amended to read

19 as follows:

20 ‘‘(14) The term ‘national committee’ means the orga21 nization or organizations which, by virtue of the bylaws

22 of a political party, are responsible for the day-to-day op23 eration of such political party at the national level, includ24 ing the Democratic National Committee, the Democratic

25 Senatorial Campaign Committee, the Democratic Con26 gressional Campaign Committee, the Republican National
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1 Committee, the National Republican Senatorial Commit2 tee, and the National Republican Congressional Commit3 tee, and any other such committees as determined by the

4 Commission.’’.

5 REPORTING BY POLITICAL PARTY COMMITTEES

6 SEC. 9. (a) Section 304(b)(2) of the Federal Election

7 Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 434(b)(2)) is amended—

8 (1) in subparagraph (J), by striking out ‘‘and’’

9 after the semicolon;

10 (2) in subparagraph (K), by inserting ‘‘and’’

11 after the semicolon; and

12 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub13 paragraph:

14 ‘‘(L) for a national committee of a political

15 party, all contributions, loans, transfers, and

16 other receipts from any source to the committee

17 and to any account financed, established, main18 tained, or controlled by such national commit19 tee, regardless of whether such account is a po20 litical committee;’’.

21 (b) Section 304(b)(3) of the Federal Election Cam22 paign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 434(b)(3)) is amended—

23 (1) in subparagraph (F), by striking out ‘‘and’’

24 after the semicolon;

25 (2) in subparagraph (G), by inserting ‘‘and’’

26 after the semicolon; and
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1 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub2 paragraph:

3 ‘‘(H) person who provides any contribu4 tion, loan, transfer, service, or any other benefit

5 or thing of value to a national committee of a

6 political party or to any account financed, es7 tablished, maintained, or controlled by such na8 tional committee, regardless of whether such ac9 count is a political committee, in an aggregate

10 amount or value in excess of $200 within the

11 calendar year, together with the date and

12 amount or value of such contribution, loan,

13 transfer, service, or other benefit or thing of

14 value;’’.

15 (c) Section 304(b)(4) of the Federal Election Cam16 paign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 434(b)(4)) is amended—

17 (1) in subparagraph (H), by striking out ‘‘and’’

18 after the semicolon at the end thereof;

19 (2) in subparagraph (I), by inserting ‘‘and’’

20 after the semicolon; and

21 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub22 paragraph:

23 ‘‘(J) for a national committee of a political

24 party, all disbursements made by the committee

25 or from any account financed, established,
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1 maintained, or controlled by such national com2 mittee, regardless of whether such account is a

3 political committee;’’.

4 INTERMEDIARY OR CONDUIT

5 SEC. 10. (a) Section 315(a)(8) of the Federal Elec6 tion Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a(a)(8)) is

7 amended to read as follows:

8 ‘‘(8) For purposes of this subsection—

9 ‘‘(A) contributions made by a person, either di10 rectly or indirectly, to or on behalf of a particular

11 candidate, including contributions which are in any

12 way earmarked or otherwise directed through an

13 intermediary or conduit to such candidate, shall be

14 treated as contributions from such person to such

15 candidate; and

16 ‘‘(B) contributions made by a person either di17 rectly or indirectly, to or on behalf of a particular

18 candidate, through an intermediary or conduit, in19 cluding all contributions delivered or arranged to be

20 delivered by such intermediary or conduit, shall also

21 be treated as contributions from the intermediary or

22 conduit, if—

23 ‘‘(i) the contributions made through the

24 intermediary or conduit are in the form of a

25 check or other negotiable instrument made pay-
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1 able to the conduit or intermediary rather than

2 the intended recipient; or

3 ‘‘(ii) the conduit or intermediary is (I) a

4 political committee, other than an authorized

5 committee of a candidate, within the meaning

6 of section 301(4), or an officer, employee or

7 other agent of such a political committee or

8 candidate, or a national political party commit9 tee, or (II) an officer, employee or other agent

10 of a connected organization, within the meaning

11 of section 301(7), acting in its behalf.

12 In all cases where contributions are made by a person ei13 ther directly or indirectly to or on behalf of a particular

14 candidate through an intermediary or conduit, the

15 intermediary or conduit shall report the original source

16 and the intended recipient of such contribution to the

17 Commission and to the intended recipient.’’.

18 (b) Section 315(a) of the Federal Election Campaign

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

20 the end thereof the following:

21 ‘‘(9) When any person, political committee, or na22 tional committee of a political party—

23 ‘‘(A) solicits or accepts contributions in the

24 form of a check or money order from any source,

25 and
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1 ‘‘(B) combines the amount of any such con2 tributions and contributes such combined amount

3 (or any portion of any such amount or contribution)

4 to a candidate for Federal office, or to the author5 ized agent or authorized political committee of such

6 candidate,

7 then all such solicited or accepted contributions made

8 through a check or money order shall be made payable

9 to a specific payee by the original drawer of the check or

10 money order.’’.

11 SEVERABILITY

12 SEC. 11. If any provision of this Act or any amend13 ment made by this Act, or the application of any such

14 provision to any person or circumstance is held invalid,

15 the validity of any other such provision, and the applica16 tion of such provision to other persons and cir17 cumstances shall not be affected thereby.

18 EFFECTIVE DATE

19 SEC. 12. This Act and the amendments made by this

20 Act shall become effective on January 1, 1996, and shall

21 apply to all contributions and expenditures made on or

22 after such date.

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