II 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2219 

To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to provide for additional disclosure requirements for corporations, labor organizations, 

Super PACs and other entities, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 21, 2012 

Mr. WHITEHOUSE (for himself, Mr. FRANKEN, Mr. SCHUMER, Mr. BENNET, 

Mr. MERKLEY, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Mr. UDALL of New Mexico, Mr. WYDEN, 

Mr. SANDERS, Mr. BEGICH, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. LEVIN, 

Mr. KERRY, Mr. BINGAMAN, Mrs. BOXER, Mr. HARKIN, Mr. LEAHY, Ms. 

STABENOW, Mr. ROCKEFELLER, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Mr. REED, Mr. 

BLUMENTHAL, Mr. DURBIN, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. COONS, Mr. CARDIN, 

Mr. UDALL of Colorado, Mr. BROWN of Ohio, Mr. WEBB, Mr. CONRAD, 

Mrs. MCCASKILL, Mr. CASEY, Mr. AKAKA, Mr. LAUTENBERG, Mrs. 

FEINSTEIN, and Ms. LANDRIEU) introduced the following bill; which was 

read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration 

A BILL 

To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to 

provide for additional disclosure requirements for corporations, labor organizations, Super PACs and other 

entities, 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, 

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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Democracy Is 

3 Strengthened by Casting Light On Spending in Elections 

4 Act of 2012’’ or the ‘‘DISCLOSE Act of 2012’’. 

5 SEC. 2. CAMPAIGN DISBURSEMENT REPORTING. 

6 (a) INFORMATION REQUIRED TO BE REPORTED.— 

7 (1) TREATMENT OF FUNCTIONAL EQUIVALENT

8 OF EXPRESS ADVOCACY AS INDEPENDENT EXPENDI9 TURE.—Subparagraph (A) of section 301(17) of the 

10 Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 

11 431(17)) is amended to read as follows: 

12 ‘‘(A) that expressly advocates the election 

13 or defeat of a clearly identified candidate, or is 

14 the functional equivalent of express advocacy 

15 because, when taken as a whole, it can be inter16 preted by a reasonable person only as advo17 cating the election or defeat of a candidate, tak18 ing into account whether the communication in19 volved mentions a candidacy, a political party, 

20 or a challenger to a candidate, or takes a posi21 tion on a candidate’s character, qualifications, 

22 or fitness for office; and’’. 

23 (2) EXPANSION OF PERIOD DURING WHICH

24 COMMUNICATIONS ARE TREATED AS ELECTION25 EERING COMMUNICATIONS.—Section 304(f)(3)(A)(i) 

26 of such Act (2 U.S.C. 434(f)(3)(A)(i)) is amended— 

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1 (A) by redesignating subclause (III) as 

2 subclause (IV); and 

3 (B) by striking subclause (II) and insert4 ing the following: 

5 ‘‘(II) in the case of a communica6 tion which refers to a candidate for an 

7 office other than the President or Vice 

8 President, is made during the period 

9 beginning on January 1 of the cal10 endar year in which a general or run11 off election is held and ending on the 

12 date of the general or runoff election 

13 (or in the case of a special election, 

14 during the period beginning on the 

15 date on which the announcement with 

16 respect to such election is made and 

17 ending on the date of the special elec18 tion); 

19 ‘‘(III) in the case of a commu20 nication which refers to a candidate 

21 for the office of President or Vice 

22 President, is made in any State dur23 ing the period beginning 120 days be24 fore the first primary election, caucus, 

25 or preference election held for the semstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

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1 lection of delegates to a national 

2 nominating convention of a political 

3 party is held in any State (or, if no 

4 such election or caucus is held in any 

5 State, the first convention or caucus 

6 of a political party which has the au7 thority to nominate a candidate for 

8 the office of President or Vice Presi9 dent) and ending on the date of the 

10 general election; and’’. 

11 (3) EFFECTIVE DATE; TRANSITION FOR ELEC12 TIONEERING COMMUNICATIONS MADE PRIOR TO EN13 ACTMENT.—The amendment made by paragraph (2) 

14 shall apply with respect to communications made on 

15 or after July 1, 2012, except that no communication 

16 which is made prior to such date shall be treated as 

17 an electioneering communication under subclause 

18 (II) or (III) of section 304(f)(3)(A)(i) of the Federal 

19 Election Campaign Act of 1971 (as amended by 

20 paragraph (2)) unless the communication would be 

21 treated as an electioneering communication under 

22 such section if the amendment made by paragraph 

23 (2) did not apply. 

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1 (b) DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS FOR CORPORA2 TIONS, LABOR ORGANIZATIONS, AND CERTAIN OTHER

3 ENTITIES.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 324 of the Federal 

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

6 amended to read as follows: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 324. DISCLOSURE OF CAMPAIGN-RELATED DISBURSE8 MENTS BY COVERED ORGANIZATIONS. 

9 ‘‘(a) DISCLOSURE STATEMENT.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any covered organization 

11 that makes campaign-related disbursements aggre12 gating more than $10,000 in an election reporting 

13 cycle shall, not later than 24 hours after each disclo14 sure date, file a statement with the Commission 

15 made under penalty of perjury that contains the in16 formation described in paragraph (2)— 

17 ‘‘(A) in the case of the first statement filed 

18 under this subsection, for the period beginning 

19 on the first day of the election reporting cycle 

20 and ending on the first such disclosure date; 

21 and 

22 ‘‘(B) in the case of any subsequent state23 ment filed under this subsection, for the period 

24 beginning on the previous disclosure date and 

25 ending on such disclosure date. 

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1 ‘‘(2) INFORMATION DESCRIBED.—The informa2 tion described in this paragraph is as follows: 

3 ‘‘(A) The name of the covered organization 

4 and the principal place of business of such or5 ganization. 

6 ‘‘(B) The amount of each campaign-related 

7 disbursement made by such organization during 

8 the period covered by the statement of more 

9 than $1,000, and the name and address of the 

10 person to whom the disbursement was made. 

11 ‘‘(C) In the case of a campaign-related dis12 bursement that is not a covered transfer, the 

13 election to which the campaign-related disburse14 ment pertains and if the disbursement is made 

15 for a public communication, the name of any 

16 candidate identified in such communication and 

17 whether such communication is in support of or 

18 in opposition to a candidate. 

19 ‘‘(D) A certification by the chief executive 

20 officer or person who is the head of the covered 

21 organization that the campaign-related dis22 bursement is not made in cooperation, consulta23 tion, or concert with or at the request or sug24 gestion of a candidate, authorized committee, or 

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1 agent of a candidate, political party, or agent of 

2 a political party. 

3 ‘‘(E) If the covered organization makes 

4 campaign-related disbursements using exclu5 sively funds in a segregated bank account con6 sisting of funds that were paid directly to such 

7 account by persons other than the covered orga8 nization that controls the account, for each 

9 such payment to the account— 

10 ‘‘(i) the name and address of each 

11 person who made such payment during the 

12 period covered by the statement; 

13 ‘‘(ii) the date and amount of such 

14 payment; and 

15 ‘‘(iii) the aggregate amount of all such 

16 payments made by the person during the 

17 period beginning on the first day of the 

18 election reporting cycle and ending on the 

19 disclosure date; 

20 but only if such payment was made by a person 

21 who made payments to the account in an aggre22 gate amount of $10,000 or more during the pe23 riod beginning on the first day of the election 

24 reporting cycle and ending on the disclosure 

25 date. 

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1 ‘‘(F) If the covered organization makes 

2 campaign-related disbursements using funds 

3 other than funds in a segregated bank account 

4 described in subparagraph (E), for each pay5 ment to the covered organization— 

6 ‘‘(i) the name and address of each 

7 person who made such payment during the 

8 period covered by the statement; 

9 ‘‘(ii) the date and amount of such 

10 payment; and 

11 ‘‘(iii) the aggregate amount of all such 

12 payments made by the person during the 

13 period beginning on the first day of the 

14 election reporting cycle and ending on the 

15 disclosure date; 

16 but only if such payment was made by a person 

17 who made payments to the covered organization 

18 in an aggregate amount of $10,000 or more 

19 during the period beginning on the first day of 

20 the election reporting cycle and ending on the 

21 disclosure date. 

22 ‘‘(G) Such other information as required in 

23 rules established by the Commission to promote 

24 the purposes of this section. 

25 ‘‘(3) EXCEPTIONS.— 

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1 ‘‘(A) AMOUNTS RECEIVED IN ORDINARY

2 COURSE OF BUSINESS.—The requirement to in3 clude in a statement filed under paragraph (1) 

4 the information described in paragraph (2) 

5 shall not apply to amounts received by the cov6 ered organization in commercial transactions in 

7 the ordinary course of any trade or business 

8 conducted by the covered organization or in the 

9 form of investments (other than investments by 

10 the principal shareholder in a limited liability 

11 corporation) in the covered organization. 

12 ‘‘(B) DONOR RESTRICTION ON USE OF

13 FUNDS.—The requirement to include in a state14 ment submitted under paragraph (1) the infor15 mation described in subparagraph (F) of para16 graph (2) shall not apply if— 

17 ‘‘(i) the person described in such sub18 paragraph prohibited, in writing, the use of 

19 the payment made by such person for cam20 paign-related disbursements; and 

21 ‘‘(ii) the covered organization agreed 

22 to follow the prohibition and deposited the 

23 payment in an account which is segregated 

24 from any account used to make campaign25 related disbursements. 

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1 ‘‘(C) AMOUNTS RECEIVED FROM AFFILI2 ATES.—The requirement to include in a state3 ment submitted under paragraph (1) the infor4 mation described in subparagraph (F) of para5 graph (2) shall not apply to any amount which 

6 is described in subsection (f)(3)(A)(i). 

7 ‘‘(4) OTHER DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of 

8 this section: 

9 ‘‘(A) DISCLOSURE DATE.—The term ‘dis10 closure date’ means— 

11 ‘‘(i) the first date during any election 

12 reporting cycle by which a person has 

13 made campaign-related disbursements ag14 gregating more than $10,000; and 

15 ‘‘(ii) any other date during such elec16 tion reporting cycle by which a person has 

17 made campaign-related disbursements ag18 gregating more than $10,000 since the 

19 most recent disclosure date for such elec20 tion reporting cycle. 

21 ‘‘(B) ELECTION REPORTING CYCLE.—The 

22 term ‘election reporting cycle’ means the 2-year 

23 period beginning on the date of the most recent 

24 general election for Federal office. 

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1 ‘‘(C) PAYMENT.—The term ‘payment’ in2 cludes any contribution, donation, transfer, pay3 ment of dues, or other payment. 

4 ‘‘(b) COORDINATION WITH OTHER PROVISIONS.— 

5 ‘‘(1) OTHER REPORTS FILED WITH THE COM6 MISSION.—Information included in a statement filed 

7 under this section may be excluded from statements 

8 and reports filed under section 304. 

9 ‘‘(2) TREATMENT AS SEPARATE SEGREGATED

10 FUND.—A segregated bank account referred to in 

11 subsection (a)(2)(E) may be treated as a separate 

12 segregated fund for purposes of section 527(f)(3) of 

13 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. 

14 ‘‘(c) FILING.—Statements required to be filed under 

15 subsection (a) shall be subject to the requirements of sec16 tion 304(d) to the same extent and in the same manner 

17 as if such reports had been required under subsection (c) 

18 or (g) of section 304. 

19 ‘‘(d) CAMPAIGN-RELATED DISBURSEMENT DE20 FINED.—In this section, the term ‘campaign-related dis21 bursement’ means a disbursement by a covered organiza22 tion for any of the following: 

23 ‘‘(1) An independent expenditure consisting of a 

24 public communication. 

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1 ‘‘(2) An electioneering communication, as de2 fined in section 304(f)(3). 

3 ‘‘(3) A covered transfer. 

4 ‘‘(e) COVERED ORGANIZATION DEFINED.—In this 

5 section, the term ‘covered organization’ means any of the 

6 following: 

7 ‘‘(1) A corporation (other than an organization 

8 described in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Rev9 enue Code of 1986). 

10 ‘‘(2) An organization described in section 

11 501(c) of such Code and exempt from taxation 

12 under section 501(a) of such Code (other than an 

13 organization described in section 501(c)(3) of such 

14 Code). 

15 ‘‘(3) A labor organization (as defined in section 

16 316(b)). 

17 ‘‘(4) Any political organization under section 

18 527 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, other 

19 than a political committee under this Act. 

20 ‘‘(f) COVERED TRANSFER DEFINED.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In this section, the term 

22 ‘covered transfer’ means any transfer or payment of 

23 funds by a covered organization to another person if 

24 the covered organization— 

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1 ‘‘(A) designates, requests, or suggests that 

2 the amounts be used for— 

3 ‘‘(i) campaign-related disbursements 

4 (other than covered transfers); or 

5 ‘‘(ii) making a transfer to another 

6 person for the purpose of making or pay7 ing for such campaign-related disburse8 ments; 

9 ‘‘(B) made such transfer or payment in re10 sponse to a solicitation or other request for a 

11 donation or payment for— 

12 ‘‘(i) the making of or paying for cam13 paign-related disbursements (other than 

14 covered transfers); or 

15 ‘‘(ii) making a transfer to another 

16 person for the purpose of making or pay17 ing for such campaign-related disburse18 ments; 

19 ‘‘(C) engaged in discussions with the re20 cipient of the transfer or payment regarding— 

21 ‘‘(i) the making of or paying for cam22 paign-related disbursements (other than 

23 covered transfers); or 

24 ‘‘(ii) donating or transferring any 

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1 other person for the purpose of making or 

2 paying for such campaign-related disburse3 ments; 

4 ‘‘(D) made campaign-related disburse5 ments (other than a covered transfer) in an ag6 gregate amount of $50,000 or more during the 

7 2-year period ending on the date of the transfer 

8 or payment, or knew or had reason to know 

9 that the person receiving the transfer or pay10 ment made such disbursements in such an ag11 gregate amount during that 2-year period; or 

12 ‘‘(E) knew or had reason to know that the 

13 person receiving the transfer or payment would 

14 make campaign-related disbursements in an ag15 gregate amount of $50,000 or more during the 

16 2-year period beginning on the date of the 

17 transfer or payment. 

18 ‘‘(2) EXCLUSIONS.—The term ‘covered transfer’ 

19 does not include any of the following: 

20 ‘‘(A) A disbursement made by a covered 

21 organization in a commercial transaction in the 

22 ordinary course of any trade or business con23 ducted by the covered organization or in the 

24 form of investments made by the covered orga25 nization. 

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1 ‘‘(B) A disbursement made by a covered 

2 organization if— 

3 ‘‘(i) the covered organization prohib4 ited, in writing, the use of such disburse5 ment for campaign-related disbursements; 

6 and 

7 ‘‘(ii) the recipient of the disbursement 

8 agreed to follow the prohibition and depos9 ited the disbursement in an account which 

10 is segregated from any account used to 

11 make campaign-related disbursements. 

12 ‘‘(3) EXCEPTION FOR CERTAIN TRANSFERS

13 AMONG AFFILIATES.— 

14 ‘‘(A) EXCEPTION FOR CERTAIN TRANS15 FERS AMONG AFFILIATES.— 

16 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘covered 

17 transfer’ does not include an amount 

18 transferred by one covered organization to 

19 another covered organization if such trans20 fer— 

21 ‘‘(I) is not made directly into a 

22 separate segregated bank account de23 scribed in subsection (a)(2)(E), and 

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1 ‘‘(II) is treated as a transfer be2 tween affiliates under subparagraph 

3 (B). 

4 ‘‘(ii) SPECIAL RULE.—If the aggre5 gate amount of transfers described in 

6 clause (i) exceeds $50,000 in any election 

7 reporting cycle— 

8 ‘‘(I) the covered organization 

9 which makes such transfers shall pro10 vide to the covered organization re11 ceiving such transfers the information 

12 required under subsection (a)(2)(F) 

13 (applied by substituting ‘the period 

14 beginning on the first day of the elec15 tion reporting cycle and ending on the 

16 date of the most recent transfer de17 scribed in subsection (f)(3)(A)(i)’ for 

18 ‘the period covered by the statement’ 

19 in clause (i) thereof); and 

20 ‘‘(II) the covered organization re21 ceiving such transfers shall report the 

22 information described in subclause (I) 

23 on any statement filed under sub24 section (a)(1) as if any contribution, 

25 donation, or transfer to which such 

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1 information relates was made directly 

2 to the covered organization receiving 

3 the transfer. 

4 ‘‘(B) DESCRIPTION OF TRANSFERS BE5 TWEEN AFFILIATES.—A transfer of amounts 

6 from one covered organization to another cov7 ered organization shall be treated as a transfer 

8 between affiliates if— 

9 ‘‘(i) one of the organizations is an af10 filiate of the other organization; or 

11 ‘‘(ii) each of the organizations is an 

12 affiliate of the same organization; 

13 except that the transfer shall not be treated as 

14 a transfer between affiliates if one of the orga15 nizations is established for the purpose of mak16 ing campaign-related disbursements. 

17 ‘‘(C) DETERMINATION OF AFFILIATE STA18 TUS.—For purposes of this paragraph, the fol19 lowing organizations shall be considered to be 

20 affiliated with each other: 

21 ‘‘(i) A membership organization, in22 cluding a trade or professional association, 

23 and the related State and local entities of 

24 that organization. 

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1 ‘‘(ii) A national or international labor 

2 organization and its State or local unions, 

3 or an organization of national or inter4 national unions and its State and local en5 tities. 

6 ‘‘(iii) A corporation and its wholly 

7 owned subsidiaries. 

8 ‘‘(D) COVERAGE OF TRANSFERS TO AF9 FILIATED SECTION 501(c)(3) ORGANIZA10 TIONS.—This paragraph shall apply with re11 spect to an amount transferred by a covered or12 ganization to an organization described in para13 graph (3) of section 501(c) of the Internal Rev14 enue Code of 1986 and exempt from tax under 

15 section 501(a) of such Code in the same man16 ner as this paragraph applies to an amount 

17 transferred by a covered organization to an18 other covered organization.’’. 

19 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 

20 304(f)(6) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 434) is amended by 

21 striking ‘‘Any requirement’’ and inserting ‘‘Except 

22 as provided in section 324(b), any requirement’’. 

23 SEC. 3. STAND BY YOUR AD. 

24 (a) DISCLAIMER REQUIREMENTS TO INCLUDE

25 FUNCTIONAL EQUIVALENT OF EXPRESS ADVOCACY.— 

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1 Section 318(a) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 

2 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441d(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘for the 

3 purpose of financing communications expressly advocating 

4 the election or defeat of a clearly identified candidate’’ and 

5 inserting ‘‘for the purpose of financing public communica6 tions which are described in section 301(17)(A)’’. 

7 (b) STAND BY YOUR AD REQUIREMENTS.— 

8 (1) MAINTENANCE OF REQUIREMENTS FOR PO9 LITICAL PARTIES AND CERTAIN POLITICAL COMMIT10 TEES.—Section 318(d)(2) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 

11 441d(d)(2)) is amended— 

12 (A) in the heading, by striking ‘‘OTHERS’’ 

13 and inserting ‘‘CERTAIN POLITICAL COMMIT14 TEES’’; 

15 (B) by inserting ‘‘which (except to the ex16 tent provided in the last sentence of this para17 graph) is paid for by a political committee (in18 cluding a political committee of a political 

19 party) and’’ after ‘‘subsection (a)’’; 

20 (C) by striking ‘‘or other person’’ each 

21 place it appears; and 

22 (D) by adding at the end the following: 

23 ‘‘This paragraph does not apply to a commu24 nication paid for in whole or in part with a pay25 ment which is treated as a campaign-related 

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1 disbursement under section 324 and with re2 spect to which a covered organization is re3 quired to file a statement under such section.’’. 

4 (2) SPECIAL DISCLAIMER REQUIREMENTS FOR

5 CERTAIN COMMUNICATIONS.—Section 318 of such 

6 Act (2 U.S.C. 441d) is amended by adding at the 

7 end the following new subsection: 

8 ‘‘(e) COMMUNICATIONS BY OTHERS.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any communication de10 scribed in paragraph (3) of subsection (a) which is 

11 transmitted through radio or television (other than 

12 a communication to which subsection (d)(2) applies) 

13 shall include, in addition to the requirements of such 

14 paragraph, the following: 

15 ‘‘(A) The individual disclosure statement 

16 described in paragraph (2)(A) (if the person 

17 paying for the communication is an individual) 

18 or the organizational disclosure statement de19 scribed in paragraph (2)(B) (if the person pay20 ing for the communication is not an individual). 

21 ‘‘(B) If the communication is transmitted 

22 through television and is paid for in whole or in 

23 part with a payment which is treated as a cam24 paign-related disbursement under section 324, 

25 the Top Five Funders list (if applicable). 

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1 ‘‘(C) If the communication is transmitted 

2 through radio and is paid for in whole or in 

3 part with a payment which is treated as a cam4 paign-related disbursement under section 324, 

5 the Top Two Funders list (if applicable), un6 less, on the basis of criteria established in regu7 lations issued by the Commission, the commu8 nication is of such short duration that including 

9 the Top Two Funders list in the communication 

10 would constitute a hardship to the person pay11 ing for the communication by requiring a dis12 proportionate amount of the content of the 

13 communication to consist of the Top Two 

14 Funders list. 

15 ‘‘(2) DISCLOSURE STATEMENTS DESCRIBED.— 

16 ‘‘(A) INDIVIDUAL DISCLOSURE STATE17 MENTS.—The individual disclosure statement 

18 described in this subparagraph is the following: 

19 ‘I am llllllll, and I approve this 

20 message.’, with the blank filled in with the 

21 name of the applicable individual. 

22 ‘‘(B) ORGANIZATIONAL DISCLOSURE

23 STATEMENTS.—The organizational disclosure 

24 statement described in this subparagraph is the 

25 following: ‘I am llllllll, the 

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1 llllllll of llllllll, and 

2 llllllll approves this message.’, 

3 with— 

4 ‘‘(i) the first blank to be filled in with 

5 the name of the applicable individual; 

6 ‘‘(ii) the second blank to be filled in 

7 with the title of the applicable individual; 

8 and 

9 ‘‘(iii) the third and fourth blank each 

10 to be filled in with the name of the organi11 zation or other person paying for the com12 munication. 

13 ‘‘(3) METHOD OF CONVEYANCE OF STATE14 MENT.— 

15 ‘‘(A) COMMUNICATIONS TRANSMITTED

16 THROUGH RADIO.—In the case of a communica17 tion to which this subsection applies which is 

18 transmitted through radio, the disclosure state19 ments required under paragraph (1) shall be 

20 made by audio by the applicable individual in a 

21 clearly spoken manner. 

22 ‘‘(B) COMMUNICATIONS TRANSMITTED

23 THROUGH TELEVISION.—In the case of a com24 munication to which this subsection applies 

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1 which is transmitted through television, the in2 formation required under paragraph (1)— 

3 ‘‘(i) shall appear in writing at the end 

4 of the communication or in a crawl along 

5 the bottom of the communication in a 

6 clearly readable manner, with a reasonable 

7 degree of color contrast between the back8 ground and the printed statement, for a 

9 period of at least 6 seconds; and 

10 ‘‘(ii) shall also be conveyed by an 

11 unobscured, full-screen view of the applica12 ble individual or by the applicable indi13 vidual making the statement in voice-over 

14 accompanied by a clearly identifiable pho15 tograph or similar image of the individual, 

16 except in the case of a Top Five Funders 

17 list. 

18 ‘‘(4) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

19 ‘‘(A) APPLICABLE INDIVIDUAL.—The term 

20 ‘applicable individual’ means, with respect to a 

21 communication to which this subsection ap22 plies— 

23 ‘‘(i) if the communication is paid for 

24 by an individual, the individual involved; 

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1 ‘‘(ii) if the communication is paid for 

2 by a corporation, the chief executive officer 

3 of the corporation (or, if the corporation 

4 does not have a chief executive officer, the 

5 highest ranking official of the corporation); 

6 ‘‘(iii) if the communication is paid for 

7 by a labor organization, the highest rank8 ing officer of the labor organization; and 

9 ‘‘(iv) if the communication is paid for 

10 by any other person, the highest ranking 

11 official of such person. 

12 ‘‘(B) COVERED ORGANIZATION AND CAM13 PAIGN-RELATED DISBURSEMENT.—The terms 

14 ‘campaign-related disbursement’ and ‘covered 

15 organization’ have the meaning given such 

16 terms in section 324. 

17 ‘‘(C) TOP FIVE FUNDERS LIST.—The term 

18 ‘Top Five Funders list’ means, with respect to 

19 a communication paid for in whole or in part 

20 with a payment which is treated as a campaign21 related disbursement under section 324, a list 

22 of the 5 persons who provided the largest pay23 ments of any type which— 

24 ‘‘(i) are in an aggregate amount equal 

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1 ginning on the first day of the election re2 porting cycle (as defined in section 324) 

3 and ending on the date of such commu4 nication, and 

5 ‘‘(ii) are required to be included in the 

6 reports filed by a covered organization 

7 under section 324(a). 

8 If 2 or more people provided the fifth largest of 

9 such payments, the covered organization in10 volved shall select one of those persons to be in11 cluded on the Top Five Funders list. 

12 ‘‘(D) TOP TWO FUNDERS LIST.—The term 

13 ‘Top Two Funders list’ means, with respect to 

14 a communication paid for in whole or in part 

15 with a payment which is treated as a campaign16 related disbursement under section 324, a list 

17 of the persons who provided the largest and the 

18 second largest payments of any type which— 

19 ‘‘(i) are in an aggregate amount equal 

20 to or exceeding $10,000 for the period be21 ginning on the first day of the election re22 porting cycle (as defined in section 324) 

23 and ending on the date of such commu24 nication, and 

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1 ‘‘(ii) are required to be included in the 

2 reports filed by a covered organization 

3 under section 324(a). 

4 If 2 or more persons provided the second larg5 est of such payments, the covered organization 

6 involved shall select one of those persons to be 

7 included on the Top Two Funders list.’’. 

8 SEC. 4. APPLICATION OF DISCLOSURE AND DISCLAIMER 

9 RULES TO SUPER PACS. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (e) of section 324 of 

11 the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 

12 441k), as amended by section 2, is amended by adding 

13 at the end the following new paragraph: 

14 ‘‘(5) A political committee with an account es15 tablished for the purpose of accepting donations or 

16 contributions that do not comply with the contribu17 tion limits or source prohibitions under this Act, but 

18 only with respect to the accounts established for 

19 such purpose.’’. 

20 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Paragraph (4) of 

21 section 324(e) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 441k), as amended 

22 by section 2, is amended by inserting ‘‘(except as provided 

23 in paragraph (5))’’ before the period at the end. 

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1 SEC. 5. SEVERABILITY. 

2 If any provision of this Act or amendment made by 

3 this Act, or the application of a provision or amendment 

4 to any person or circumstance, is held to be unconstitu5 tional, the remainder of this Act and amendments made 

6 by this Act, and the application of the provisions and 

7 amendment to any person or circumstance, shall not be 

8 affected by the holding. 

9 SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

10 Except as provided in section 2(a)(3), the amend11 ments made by this Act shall apply with respects to dis12 bursements made on or after July 1, 2012, and shall take 

13 effect without regard to whether or not the Federal Elec14 tion Commission has promulgated regulations to carry out 

15 such amendments. 

Æ 

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