I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1171 

To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to require the sponsors 

of certain general public political advertisements to include in the advertisements information on the persons who provided the funding for such 

advertisements, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 18, 2021 

Mr. PRICE of North Carolina 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 

require the sponsors of certain general public political 

advertisements to include in the advertisements information on the persons who provided the funding for such 

advertisements, 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 ‘‘Stand By Every Ad 

5 Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. APPLICATION OF DISCLAIMER STATEMENTS TO ON2 LINE COMMUNICATIONS. 

3 (a) APPLICATION TO ONLINE PUBLIC COMMUNICA4 TIONS.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (a) of section 

6 318 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 

7 (52 U.S.C. 30120) is amended— 

8 (A) by striking ‘‘financing any communica9 tion through any broadcasting station, news10 paper, magazine, outdoor advertising facility, 

11 mailing, or any other type of general public po12 litical advertising’’ and inserting ‘‘financing any 

13 public communication’’; and 

14 (B) by striking ‘‘solicits any contribution 

15 through any broadcasting station, newspaper, 

16 magazine, outdoor advertising facility, mailing, 

17 or any other type of general public political ad18 vertising’’ and inserting ‘‘solicits any contribu19 tion through any public communication’’. 

20 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO

21 DEFINITION OF PUBLIC COMMUNICATION.—Para22 graph (22) of section 301 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 

23 30101(22)) is amended by striking ‘‘or satellite com24 munication’’ and inserting ‘‘satellite, paid internet, 

25 or paid digital communication’’. 


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1 (b) CLEAR AND CONSPICUOUS MANNER REQUIRE2 MENT.—Subsection (a) of section 318 of such Act (52 

3 U.S.C. 30120(a)) is amended— 

4 (1) by striking ‘‘shall clearly state’’ each place 

5 it appears in paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) and in6 serting ‘‘shall state in a clear and conspicuous man7 ner’’; and 

8 (2) by adding at the end the following flush 

9 sentence: ‘‘For purposes of this section, a commu10 nication does not make a statement in a clear and 

11 conspicuous manner if it is difficult to read or hear 

12 or if the placement is easily overlooked.’’. 

13 (c) SPECIAL RULES FOR QUALIFIED INTERNET OR

14 DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 318 of such Act (52 

16 U.S.C. 30120) is amended by adding at the end the 

17 following new subsection: 

18 ‘‘(e) SPECIAL RULES FOR QUALIFIED INTERNET OR

19 DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS.— 

20 ‘‘(1) SPECIAL RULES WITH RESPECT TO STATE21 MENTS.—In the case of any qualified internet or 

22 digital communication which is disseminated through 

23 a medium in which the provision of all of the infor24 mation specified in this section is not possible, the 


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1 communication shall, in a clear and conspicuous 

2 manner— 

3 ‘‘(A) state the name of the person who 

4 paid for the communication; and 

5 ‘‘(B) provide a means for the recipient of 

6 the communication to obtain the remainder of 

7 the information required under this section with 

8 minimal effort and without receiving or viewing 

9 any additional material other than such re10 quired information. 

11 ‘‘(2) SAFE HARBOR FOR DETERMINING CLEAR

12 AND CONSPICUOUS MANNER.—A statement in a 

13 qualified internet or digital communication shall be 

14 considered to be made in a clear and conspicuous 

15 manner as provided in subsection (a) if the commu16 nication meets the following requirements: 

17 ‘‘(A) TEXT OR GRAPHIC COMMUNICA18 TIONS.—In the case of a text or graphic com19 munication, the statement— 

20 ‘‘(i) appears in letters at least as large 

21 as the majority of the text in the commu22 nication; and 

23 ‘‘(ii) meets the requirements of para24 graphs (2) and (3) of subsection (c). 


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1 ‘‘(B) AUDIO COMMUNICATIONS.—In the 

2 case of an audio communication, the statement 

3 is spoken in a clearly audible and intelligible 

4 manner at the beginning or end of the commu5 nication and lasts at least 3 seconds. 

6 ‘‘(C) VIDEO COMMUNICATIONS.—In the 

7 case of a video communication which also in8 cludes audio, the statement— 

9 ‘‘(i) is included at either the beginning 

10 or the end of the communication; and 

11 ‘‘(ii) is made both in— 

12 ‘‘(I) a written format that meets 

13 the requirements of subparagraph (A) 

14 and appears for at least 4 seconds; 

15 and 

16 ‘‘(II) an audible format that 

17 meets the requirements of subpara18 graph (B). 

19 ‘‘(D) OTHER COMMUNICATIONS.—In the 

20 case of any other type of communication, the 

21 statement is at least as clear and conspicuous 

22 as the statement specified in subparagraph (A), 

23 (B), or (C). 

24 ‘‘(3) QUALIFIED INTERNET OR DIGITAL COM25 MUNICATION DEFINED.— 


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

2 term ‘qualified internet or digital communica3 tion’ means any communication to which this 

4 section applies which is placed or promoted for 

5 a fee on an online platform. 

6 ‘‘(B) ONLINE PLATFORM.—For purposes 

7 of this paragraph, the term ‘online platform’ 

8 means any public-facing website, web applica9 tion, or digital application (including a social 

10 network, ad network, or search engine) which— 

11 ‘‘(i) sells qualified political advertise12 ments; and 

13 ‘‘(ii) has 50,000,000 or more unique 

14 monthly United States visitors or users for 

15 a majority of months during the preceding 

16 12 months. 

17 ‘‘(C) QUALIFIED POLITICAL ADVERTISE18 MENT.—For purposes of this paragraph, the 

19 term ‘qualified political advertisement’ means 

20 any advertisement (including search engine 

21 marketing, display advertisements, video adver22 tisements, native advertisements, and sponsor23 ships) that— 

24 ‘‘(i) is made by or on behalf of a can25 didate; or 


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1 ‘‘(ii) communicates a message relating 

2 to any political matter of national impor3 tance, including— 

4 ‘‘(I) a candidate; 

5 ‘‘(II) any election to Federal of6 fice; or 

7 ‘‘(III) a national legislative issue 

8 of public importance.’’. 

9 (2) NONAPPLICATION OF CERTAIN EXCEP10 TIONS.—The exceptions provided in section 

11 110.11(f)(1)(i) and (ii) of title 11, Code of Federal 

12 Regulations, or any successor to such rules, shall 

13 have no application to qualified internet or digital 

14 communications (as defined in section 318(e)(3) of 

15 the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as 

16 added by paragraph (1)). 

17 (d) MODIFICATION OF ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS

18 FOR CERTAIN COMMUNICATIONS.—Section 318(d) of such 

19 Act (52 U.S.C. 30120(d)) is amended— 

20 (1) in paragraph (1)(A)— 

21 (A) by striking ‘‘which is transmitted 

22 through radio’’ and inserting ‘‘which is in an 

23 audio format’’; and 

24 (B) by striking ‘‘BY RADIO’’ in the heading 

25 and inserting ‘‘AUDIO FORMAT’’; 


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1 (2) in paragraph (1)(B)— 

2 (A) by striking ‘‘which is transmitted 

3 through television’’ and inserting ‘‘which is in 

4 video format’’; and 

5 (B) by striking ‘‘BY TELEVISION’’ in the 

6 heading and inserting ‘‘VIDEO FORMAT’’; and 

7 (3) in paragraph (2)— 

8 (A) by striking ‘‘transmitted through radio 

9 or television’’ and inserting ‘‘made in audio or 

10 video format’’; and 

11 (B) by striking ‘‘through television’’ in the 

12 second sentence and inserting ‘‘in video for13 mat’’. 

14 SEC. 3. DISCLAIMER REQUIREMENTS FOR COMMUNICA15 TIONS CONSISTING OF CAMPAIGN-RELATED 

16 DISBURSEMENTS. 

17 (a) DISCLAIMER REQUIREMENTS FOR CAMPAIGN-RE18 LATED DISBURSEMENTS.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 318(a) of the Fed20 eral Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 

21 30120(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘for the purpose 

22 of financing communications expressly advocating 

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1 bursement, as defined in subsection (f), consisting of 

2 a public communication’’. 

3 (2) CLARIFICATION OF EXEMPTION FROM IN4 CLUSION OF CANDIDATE DISCLAIMER STATEMENT IN

5 FEDERAL JUDICIAL NOMINATION COMMUNICA6 TIONS.—Section 318(a)(3) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 

7 30120(a)(3)) is amended by striking ‘‘shall state’’ 

8 and inserting ‘‘shall (except in the case of a Federal 

9 judicial nomination communication, as defined in 

10 subsection (f)(4)) state’’. 

11 (b) CAMPAIGN-RELATED DISBURSEMENTS DE12 FINED.—Section 318 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 30120), as 

13 amended by section 2(c)(1), is further amended by adding 

14 at the end the following new subsection: 

15 ‘‘(f) CAMPAIGN-RELATED DISBURSEMENT DE16 FINED.— 

17 ‘‘(1) DEFINITION.— 

18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In this section, the 

19 term ‘campaign-related disbursement’ means a 

20 disbursement by a covered organization for any 

21 of the following: 

22 ‘‘(i) An independent expenditure 

23 which expressly advocates the election or 

24 defeat of a clearly identified candidate for 

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1 tional equivalent of express advocacy be2 cause, when taken as a whole, it can be in3 terpreted by a reasonable person only as 

4 advocating the election or defeat of a can5 didate for election for Federal office. 

6 ‘‘(ii) Any public communication which 

7 refers to a clearly identified candidate for 

8 election for Federal office and which pro9 motes or supports the election of a can10 didate for that office, or attacks or opposes 

11 the election of a candidate for that office, 

12 without regard to whether the communica13 tion expressly advocates a vote for or 

14 against a candidate for that office. 

15 ‘‘(iii) An electioneering communica16 tion, as defined in section 304(f)(3). 

17 ‘‘(iv) A Federal judicial nomination 

18 communication. 

19 ‘‘(v) A covered transfer. 

20 ‘‘(B) INTENT NOT REQUIRED.—A dis21 bursement for an item described in clause (i), 

22 (ii), (iii), (iv), or (v) of subparagraph (A) shall 

23 be treated as a campaign-related disbursement 

24 regardless of the intent of the person making 

25 the disbursement. 


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1 ‘‘(2) COVERED ORGANIZATION DEFINED.—In 

2 this subsection, the term ‘covered organization’ 

3 means any of the following: 

4 ‘‘(A) A corporation (other than an organi5 zation described in section 501(c)(3) of the In6 ternal Revenue Code of 1986). 

7 ‘‘(B) A limited liability corporation that is 

8 not otherwise treated as a corporation for pur9 poses of this Act (other than an organization 

10 described in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal 

11 Revenue Code of 1986). 

12 ‘‘(C) An organization described in section 

13 501(c) of such Code and exempt from taxation 

14 under section 501(a) of such Code (other than 

15 an organization described in section 501(c)(3) 

16 of such Code). 

17 ‘‘(D) A labor organization (as defined in 

18 section 316(b)). 

19 ‘‘(E) Any political organization under sec20 tion 527 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, 

21 other than a political committee under this Act 

22 (except as provided in paragraph (6)). 

23 ‘‘(F) A political committee with an account 

24 that accepts donations or contributions that do 

25 not comply with the contribution limits or 


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1 source prohibitions under this Act, but only 

2 with respect to such accounts. 

3 ‘‘(3) COVERED TRANSFER DEFINED.— 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In this subsection, the 

5 term ‘covered transfer’ means any transfer or 

6 payment of funds by a covered organization to 

7 another person if the covered organization— 

8 ‘‘(i) designates, requests, or suggests 

9 that the amounts be used for— 

10 ‘‘(I) campaign-related disburse11 ments (other than covered transfers); 

12 or 

13 ‘‘(II) making a transfer to an14 other person for the purpose of mak15 ing or paying for such campaign-re16 lated disbursements; 

17 ‘‘(ii) made such transfer or payment 

18 in response to a solicitation or other re19 quest for a donation or payment for— 

20 ‘‘(I) the making of or paying for 

21 campaign-related disbursements 

22 (other than covered transfers); or 

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1 ing or paying for such campaign-re2 lated disbursements; 

3 ‘‘(iii) engaged in discussions with the 

4 recipient of the transfer or payment re5 garding— 

6 ‘‘(I) the making of or paying for 

7 campaign-related disbursements 

8 (other than covered transfers); or 

9 ‘‘(II) donating or transferring 

10 any amount of such transfer or pay11 ment to another person for the pur12 pose of making or paying for such 

13 campaign-related disbursements; 

14 ‘‘(iv) made campaign-related disburse15 ments (other than a covered transfer) in 

16 an aggregate amount of $50,000 or more 

17 during the 2-year period ending on the 

18 date of the transfer or payment, or knew 

19 or had reason to know that the person re20 ceiving the transfer or payment made such 

21 disbursements in such an aggregate 

22 amount during that 2-year period; or 

23 ‘‘(v) knew or had reason to know that 

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1 bursements in an aggregate amount of 

2 $50,000 or more during the 2-year period 

3 beginning on the date of the transfer or 

4 payment. 

5 ‘‘(B) EXCLUSIONS.—The term ‘covered 

6 transfer’ does not include any of the following: 

7 ‘‘(i) A disbursement made by a cov8 ered organization in a commercial trans9 action in the ordinary course of any trade 

10 or business conducted by the covered orga11 nization or in the form of investments 

12 made by the covered organization. 

13 ‘‘(ii) A disbursement made by a cov14 ered organization if— 

15 ‘‘(I) the covered organization 

16 prohibited, in writing, the use of such 

17 disbursement for campaign-related 

18 disbursements; and 

19 ‘‘(II) the recipient of the dis20 bursement agreed to follow the prohi21 bition and deposited the disbursement 

22 in an account which is segregated 

23 from any account used to make cam24 paign-related disbursements. 


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1 ‘‘(C) SPECIAL RULE REGARDING TRANS2 FERS AMONG AFFILIATES.— 

3 ‘‘(i) SPECIAL RULE.—A transfer of an 

4 amount by one covered organization to an5 other covered organization which is treated 

6 as a transfer between affiliates under sub7 paragraph (C) shall be considered a cov8 ered transfer by the covered organization 

9 which transfers the amount only if the ag10 gregate amount transferred during the 

11 year by such covered organization to that 

12 same covered organization is equal to or 

13 greater than $50,000. 

14 ‘‘(ii) DETERMINATION OF AMOUNT OF

15 CERTAIN PAYMENTS AMONG AFFILIATES.— 

16 In determining the amount of a transfer 

17 between affiliates for purposes of subpara18 graph (A), to the extent that the transfer 

19 consists of funds attributable to dues, fees, 

20 or assessments which are paid by individ21 uals on a regular, periodic basis in accord22 ance with a per-individual calculation 

23 which is made on a regular basis, the 

24 transfer shall be attributed to the individ25 uals paying the dues, fees, or assessments 


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1 and shall not be attributed to the covered 

2 organization. 

3 ‘‘(iii) DESCRIPTION OF TRANSFERS

4 BETWEEN AFFILIATES.—A transfer of 

5 amounts from one covered organization to 

6 another covered organization shall be 

7 treated as a transfer between affiliates if— 

8 ‘‘(I) one of the organizations is 

9 an affiliate of the other organization; 

10 or 

11 ‘‘(II) each of the organizations is 

12 an affiliate of the same organization, 

13 except that the transfer shall not be treat14 ed as a transfer between affiliates if one of 

15 the organizations is established for the 

16 purpose of making campaign-related dis17 bursements. 

18 ‘‘(iv) DETERMINATION OF AFFILIATE

19 STATUS.—For purposes of subparagraph 

20 (C), a covered organization is an affiliate 

21 of another covered organization if— 

22 ‘‘(I) the governing instrument of 

23 the organization requires it to be 

24 bound by decisions of the other orga25 nization; 


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1 ‘‘(II) the governing board of the 

2 organization includes persons who are 

3 specifically designated representatives 

4 of the other organization or are mem5 bers of the governing board, officers, 

6 or paid executive staff members of the 

7 other organization, or whose service 

8 on the governing board is contingent 

9 upon the approval of the other organi10 zation; or 

11 ‘‘(III) the organization is char12 tered by the other organization. 

13 ‘‘(v) COVERAGE OF TRANSFERS TO

14 AFFILIATED SECTION 501(c)(3) ORGANIZA15 TIONS.—This paragraph shall apply with 

16 respect to an amount transferred by a cov17 ered organization to an organization de18 scribed in paragraph (3) of section 501(c) 

19 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and 

20 exempt from tax under section 501(a) of 

21 such Code in the same manner as this 

22 paragraph applies to an amount trans23 ferred by a covered organization to another 

24 covered organization. 


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1 ‘‘(4) FEDERAL JUDICIAL NOMINATION COMMU2 NICATION.— 

3 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘Federal ju4 dicial nomination communication’ means any 

5 communication— 

6 ‘‘(i) that is by means of any paid 

7 broadcast, cable, or satellite, paid internet, 

8 or paid digital communication, paid pro9 motion, newspaper, magazine, outdoor ad10 vertising facility, mass mailing, telephone 

11 bank, telephone messaging effort of more 

12 than 500 substantially similar calls or elec13 tronic messages within a 30-day period, or 

14 any other form of general public political 

15 advertising; and 

16 ‘‘(ii) that is susceptible to no reason17 able interpretation other than promoting, 

18 supporting, attacking, or opposing the 

19 nomination or Senate confirmation of an 

20 individual as a Federal judge or justice. 

21 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—Such term shall not in22 clude any news story, commentary, or editorial 

23 distributed through the facilities of any broad24 casting station or any print, online, or digital 

25 newspaper, magazine, publication, or periodical, 


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1 unless such facilities are owned or controlled by 

2 any political party, political committee, or can3 didate.’’. 

4 SEC. 4. STAND BY EVERY AD. 

5 (a) EXPANDED DISCLAIMER REQUIREMENTS FOR

6 CERTAIN COMMUNICATIONS.—Section 318 of the Federal 

7 Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30120), as 

8 amended by section 2(c)(1) and section 3(b), is further 

9 amended by adding at the end the following new sub10 section: 

11 ‘‘(g) EXPANDED DISCLAIMER REQUIREMENTS FOR

12 COMMUNICATIONS NOT AUTHORIZED BY CANDIDATES OR

13 COMMITTEES.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para15 graph (6), any communication described in para16 graph (3) of subsection (a) which is transmitted in 

17 an audio or video format (including an Internet or 

18 digital communication), or which is an Internet or 

19 digital communication transmitted in a text or 

20 graphic format, shall include, in addition to the re21 quirements of paragraph (3) of subsection (a), the 

22 following: 

23 ‘‘(A) The individual disclosure statement 

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

25 paying for the communication is an individual) 


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1 or the organizational disclosure statement de2 scribed in paragraph (2)(B) (if the person pay3 ing for the communication is not an individual). 

4 ‘‘(B) If the communication is transmitted 

5 in a video format, or is an Internet or digital 

6 communication which is transmitted in a text or 

7 graphic format, and is paid for in whole or in 

8 part with a payment which is treated as a cam9 paign-related disbursement under subsection 

10 (f)— 

11 ‘‘(i) the Top Five Funders list (if ap12 plicable); or 

13 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a communication 

14 which, as determined on the basis of cri15 teria established in regulations issued by 

16 the Commission, is of such short duration 

17 that including the Top Five Funders list in 

18 the communication would constitute a 

19 hardship to the person paying for the com20 munication by requiring a disproportionate 

21 amount of the content of the communica22 tion to consist of the Top Five Funders 

23 list, the name of a website which contains 

24 the Top Five Funders list (if applicable) 

25 or, in the case of an Internet or digital 


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1 communication, a hyperlink to such 

2 website. 

3 ‘‘(C) If the communication is transmitted 

4 in an audio format and is paid for in whole or 

5 in part with a payment which is treated as a 

6 campaign-related disbursement under sub7 section (f)— 

8 ‘‘(i) the Top Two Funders list (if ap9 plicable); or 

10 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a communication 

11 which, as determined on the basis of cri12 teria established in regulations issued by 

13 the Commission, is of such short duration 

14 that including the Top Two Funders list in 

15 the communication would constitute a 

16 hardship to the person paying for the com17 munication by requiring a disproportionate 

18 amount of the content of the communica19 tion to consist of the Top Two Funders 

20 list, the name of a website which contains 

21 the Top Two Funders list (if applicable). 

22 ‘‘(2) DISCLOSURE STATEMENTS DESCRIBED.— 

23 ‘‘(A) INDIVIDUAL DISCLOSURE STATE24 MENTS.—The individual disclosure statement 

25 described in this subparagraph is the following: 


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1 ‘I am llllllll, and I approve this 

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

3 name of the applicable individual. 

4 ‘‘(B) ORGANIZATIONAL DISCLOSURE

5 STATEMENTS.—The organizational disclosure 

6 statement described in this subparagraph is the 

7 following: ‘I am llllllll, the 

8 llllllll of llllllll, and 

9 llllllll approves this message.’, 

10 with— 

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

12 the name of the applicable individual; 

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

14 with the title of the applicable individual; 

15 and 

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

17 to be filled in with the name of the organi18 zation or other person paying for the com19 munication. 

20 ‘‘(3) METHOD OF CONVEYANCE OF STATE21 MENT.— 

22 ‘‘(A) COMMUNICATIONS IN TEXT OR

23 GRAPHIC FORMAT.—In the case of a commu24 nication to which this subsection applies which 

25 is transmitted in a text or graphic format, the 


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1 disclosure statements required under paragraph 

2 (1) shall appear in letters at least as large as 

3 the majority of the text in the communication. 

4 ‘‘(B) COMMUNICATIONS TRANSMITTED IN

5 AUDIO FORMAT.—In the case of a communica6 tion to which this subsection applies which is 

7 transmitted in an audio format, the disclosure 

8 statements required under paragraph (1) shall 

9 be made by audio by the applicable individual 

10 in a clear and conspicuous manner. 

11 ‘‘(C) COMMUNICATIONS TRANSMITTED IN

12 VIDEO FORMAT.—In the case of a communica13 tion to which this subsection applies which is 

14 transmitted in a video format, the information 

15 required under paragraph (1)— 

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

17 of the communication or in a crawl along 

18 the bottom of the communication in a clear 

19 and conspicuous manner, with a reasonable 

20 degree of color contrast between the back21 ground and the printed statement, for a 

22 period of at least 6 seconds; and 

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

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1 vidual making the statement in voice-over 

2 accompanied by a clearly identifiable pho3 tograph or similar image of the individual, 

4 except in the case of a Top Five Funders 

5 list. 

6 ‘‘(4) APPLICABLE INDIVIDUAL DEFINED.—The 

7 term ‘applicable individual’ means, with respect to a 

8 communication to which this subsection applies— 

9 ‘‘(A) if the communication is paid for by 

10 an individual, the individual involved; 

11 ‘‘(B) if the communication is paid for by a 

12 corporation, the chief executive officer of the 

13 corporation (or, if the corporation does not have 

14 a chief executive officer, the highest ranking of15 ficial of the corporation); 

16 ‘‘(C) if the communication is paid for by a 

17 labor organization, the highest ranking officer 

18 of the labor organization; and 

19 ‘‘(D) if the communication is paid for by 

20 any other person, the highest ranking official of 

21 such person. 

22 ‘‘(5) TOP FIVE FUNDERS LIST AND TOP TWO

23 FUNDERS LIST DEFINED.— 

24 ‘‘(A) TOP FIVE FUNDERS LIST.—The term 

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


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1 a communication which is paid for in whole or 

2 in part with a campaign-related disbursement 

3 (as defined in subsection (f)), a list of the five 

4 persons who, during the 12-month period end5 ing on the date of the disbursement, provided 

6 the largest payments of any type in an aggre7 gate amount equal to or exceeding $10,000 to 

8 the person who is paying for the communication 

9 and the amount of the payments each such per10 son provided. If two or more people provided 

11 the fifth largest of such payments, the person 

12 paying for the communication shall select one of 

13 those persons to be included on the Top Five 

14 Funders list. 

15 ‘‘(B) TOP TWO FUNDERS LIST.—The term 

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

17 a communication which is paid for in whole or 

18 in part with a campaign-related disbursement 

19 (as defined in subsection (f)), a list of the per20 sons who, during the 12-month period ending 

21 on the date of the disbursement, provided the 

22 largest and the second largest payments of any 

23 type in an aggregate amount equal to or ex24 ceeding $10,000 to the person who is paying for 

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1 ments each such person provided. If two or 

2 more persons provided the second largest of 

3 such payments, the person paying for the com4 munication shall select one of those persons to 

5 be included on the Top Two Funders list. 

6 ‘‘(C) EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN PAY7 MENTS.—For purposes of subparagraphs (A) 

8 and (B), in determining the amount of pay9 ments made by a person to a person paying for 

10 a communication, there shall be excluded the 

11 following: 

12 ‘‘(i) Any amounts provided in the or13 dinary course of any trade or business con14 ducted by the person paying for the com15 munication or in the form of investments 

16 in the person paying for the communica17 tion. 

18 ‘‘(ii) Any payment which the person 

19 prohibited, in writing, from being used for 

20 campaign-related disbursements, but only 

21 if the person paying for the communication 

22 agreed to follow the prohibition and depos23 ited the payment in an account which is 

24 segregated from any account used to make 

25 campaign-related disbursements. 


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1 ‘‘(6) SPECIAL RULES FOR CERTAIN COMMU2 NICATIONS.— 

3 ‘‘(A) EXCEPTION FOR COMMUNICATIONS

4 PAID FOR BY POLITICAL PARTIES AND CERTAIN

5 POLITICAL COMMITTEES.—This subsection does 

6 not apply to any communication to which sub7 section (d)(2) applies. 

8 ‘‘(B) TREATMENT OF VIDEO COMMUNICA9 TIONS LASTING 10 SECONDS OR LESS.—In the 

10 case of a communication to which this sub11 section applies which is transmitted in a video 

12 format, or is an Internet or digital communica13 tion which is transmitted in a text or graphic 

14 format, the communication shall meet the fol15 lowing requirements: 

16 ‘‘(i) The communication shall include 

17 the individual disclosure statement de18 scribed in paragraph (2)(A) (if the person 

19 paying for the communication is an indi20 vidual) or the organizational disclosure 

21 statement described in paragraph (2)(B) 

22 (if the person paying for the communica23 tion is not an individual). 

24 ‘‘(ii) The statement described in 

25 clause (i) shall appear in writing at the 


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1 end of the communication, or in a crawl 

2 along the bottom of the communication, in 

3 a clear and conspicuous manner, with a 

4 reasonable degree of color contrast between 

5 the background and the printed statement, 

6 for a period of at least 4 seconds. 

7 ‘‘(iii) The communication shall in8 clude, in a clear and conspicuous manner, 

9 a website address with a landing page 

10 which will provide all of the information 

11 described in paragraph (1) with respect to 

12 the communication. Such address shall ap13 pear for the full duration of the commu14 nication. 

15 ‘‘(iv) To the extent that the format in 

16 which the communication is made permits 

17 the use of a hyperlink, the communication 

18 shall include a hyperlink to the website ad19 dress described in clause (iii).’’. 

20 (b) EXCEPTION FOR COMMUNICATIONS PAID FOR BY

21 POLITICAL PARTIES AND CERTAIN POLITICAL COMMIT22 TEES.—Section 318(d)(2) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 

23 30120(d)(2)) is amended— 

24 (1) in the heading, by striking ‘‘OTHERS’’ and 

25 inserting ‘‘CERTAIN POLITICAL COMMITTEES’’; 


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1 (2) by striking ‘‘Any communication’’ and in2 serting ‘‘(A) Any communication’’; 

3 (3) by inserting ‘‘which (except to the extent 

4 provided in subparagraph (B)) is paid for by a polit5 ical committee (including a political committee of a 

6 political party) and’’ after ‘‘subsection (a)’’; 

7 (4) by striking ‘‘or other person’’ each place it 

8 appears; and 

9 (5) by adding at the end the following new sub10 paragraph: 

11 ‘‘(B)(i) This paragraph does not apply to a 

12 communication paid for in whole or in part during 

13 a calendar year with a campaign-related disburse14 ment, but only if the covered organization making 

15 the campaign-related disbursement made campaign16 related disbursements (as defined in subsection (f)) 

17 aggregating more than $10,000 during such cal18 endar year. 

19 ‘‘(ii) For purposes of clause (i), in determining 

20 the amount of campaign-related disbursements made 

21 by a covered organization during a year, there shall 

22 be excluded the following: 

23 ‘‘(I) Any amounts received by the covered 

24 organization in the ordinary course of any trade 

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1 tion or in the form of investments in the cov2 ered organization. 

3 ‘‘(II) Any amounts received by the covered 

4 organization from a person who prohibited, in 

5 writing, the organization from using such 

6 amounts for campaign-related disbursements, 

7 but only if the covered organization agreed to 

8 follow the prohibition and deposited the 

9 amounts in an account which is segregated 

10 from any account used to make campaign-re11 lated disbursements.’’. 

12 SEC. 5. DISCLAIMER REQUIREMENTS FOR COMMUNICA13 TIONS MADE THROUGH PRERECORDED TELE14 PHONE CALLS. 

15 (a) APPLICATION OF REQUIREMENTS.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 318(a) of the Fed17 eral Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 

18 30120(a)), as amended by section 2(a)(1), is further 

19 amended by striking ‘‘public communication’’ each 

20 place it appears and inserting the following: ‘‘public 

21 communication (including a telephone call consisting 

22 in substantial part of a prerecorded audio message)’’ 

23 (2) APPLICATION TO COMMUNICATIONS SUB24 JECT TO EXPANDED DISCLAIMER REQUIREMENTS.— 

25 Section 318(g)(1) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 


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1 30120(e)(1)), as added by section 4(a), is amended 

2 in the matter preceding subparagraph (A) by strik3 ing ‘‘which is transmitted in an audio or video for4 mat’’ and inserting ‘‘which is transmitted in an 

5 audio or video format or which consists of a tele6 phone call consisting in substantial part of a 

7 prerecorded audio message’’. 

8 (b) TREATMENT AS COMMUNICATION TRANSMITTED

9 IN AUDIO FORMAT.— 

10 (1) COMMUNICATIONS BY CANDIDATES OR AU11 THORIZED PERSONS.—Section 318(d) of such Act 

12 (52 U.S.C. 30120(d)) is amended by adding at the 

13 end the following new paragraph: 

14 ‘‘(3) PRERECORDED TELEPHONE CALLS.—Any 

15 communication described in paragraph (1), (2), or 

16 (3) of subsection (a) (other than a communication 

17 which is subject to subsection (e)) which is a tele18 phone call consisting in substantial part of a 

19 prerecorded audio message shall include, in addition 

20 to the requirements of such paragraph, the audio 

21 statement required under subparagraph (A) of para22 graph (1) or the audio statement required under 

23 paragraph (2) (whichever is applicable), except that 

24 the statement shall be made at the beginning of the 

25 telephone call.’’. 


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1 (2) COMMUNICATIONS SUBJECT TO EXPANDED

2 DISCLAIMER REQUIREMENTS.—Section 318(g)(3) of 

3 such Act (52 U.S.C. 30120(e)(3)), as added by sec4 tion 4(a), is amended by adding at the end the fol5 lowing new subparagraph: 

6 ‘‘(D) PRERECORDED TELEPHONE

7 CALLS.—In the case of a communication to 

8 which this subsection applies which is a tele9 phone call consisting in substantial part of a 

10 prerecorded audio message, the communication 

11 shall be considered to be transmitted in an 

12 audio format.’’. 

13 SEC. 6. NO EXPANSION OF PERSONS SUBJECT TO DIS14 CLAIMER REQUIREMENTS ON INTERNET 

15 COMMUNICATIONS. 

16 Nothing in this Act or the amendments made by this 

17 Act may be construed to require any person who is not 

18 required under section 318 of the Federal Election Cam19 paign Act of 1971 (as provided under section 110.11 of 

20 title 11 of the Code of Federal Regulations) to include 

21 a disclaimer on communications made by the person 

22 through the internet to include any disclaimer on any such 

23 communications. 


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1 SEC. 7. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

2 The amendments made by this Act shall apply with 

3 respect to communications made on or after January 1, 

4 2022, and shall take effect without regard to whether or 

5 not the Federal Election Commission has promulgated 

6 regulations to carry out such amendments. 

Æ 


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