I 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5494 

To reform our government, reduce the grip of special interests, and return 

our democracy to the American people through increased transparency 

and oversight of our elections and government. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 16, 2016 

Mr. PRICE of North Carolina introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on House Administration, and in addition to the Committees on the Judiciary, Oversight and Government Reform, Financial 

Services, and Ways and Means, 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 reform our government, reduce the grip of special interests, and return our democracy to the American people 

through increased transparency and oversight of our elections and government. 

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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘We the People Act of 2016’’. 


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1 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 

2 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

TITLE I—CAMPAIGN DISCLOSURE AND TRANSPARENCY REFORM 

Subtitle A—Disclosure 

Sec. 1001. Short title. 

Sec. 1002. Campaign disbursement reporting. 

Sec. 1003. Stand by your ad. 

Sec. 1004. Shareholders’ and members’ right to know. 

Sec. 1005. Lobbyists’ campaign funding disclosure. 

Sec. 1006. Effective date. 

Subtitle B—Candidate-Super PAC Coordination 

Sec. 1101. Short title. 

Sec. 1102. Clarification of treatment of coordinated expenditures as contributions to candidates. 

Sec. 1103. Clarification of ban on fundraising for Super PACs by Federal candidates and officeholders. 

Subtitle C—Real-Time Transparency 

Sec. 1201. Short title. 

Sec. 1202. 48-hour notification required for all political committees receiving 

cumulative contributions of $1,000 or more during a year from 

any contributor. 

Sec. 1203. Filing by Senate candidates with Federal Election Commission. 

Subtitle D—Establishment of Federal Election Administration 

Sec. 1301. Short title. 

PART 1—FEDERAL ELECTION ADMINISTRATION

Sec. 1311. Establishment of the Federal Election Administration. 

‘‘Subtitle B—Administrative Provisions 

‘‘CHAPTER 1—ESTABLISHMENT OF THE FEDERAL ELECTION

ADMINISTRATION

‘‘Sec. 351. Establishment of the Federal Election Administration. 

‘‘Sec. 352. Composition of the Federal Election Administration. 

‘‘Sec. 353. Staff director. 

‘‘Sec. 354. General counsel. 

‘‘Sec. 355. Inspector general. 

‘‘CHAPTER 2—OPERATION OF THE FEDERAL ELECTION ADMINISTRATION

‘‘Sec. 361. Powers of the Chair and Administration. 

‘‘Sec. 362. Independent budget requests and legislative proposals. 

‘‘Sec. 363. Advisory opinions. 

‘‘Sec. 364. Issuance and enforcement of subpoenas. 


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‘‘Sec. 365. Rulemaking authority. 

‘‘Sec. 366. Litigation authority. 

‘‘Sec. 367. Availability of reports. 

‘‘Sec. 368. Audits and field examinations. 

‘‘Sec. 369. Congressional oversight. 

‘‘CHAPTER 3—ENFORCEMENT

‘‘Sec. 371. Initiation of enforcement actions by Administration. 

‘‘Sec. 372. Complaint to initiate enforcement action. 

‘‘Sec. 373. Civil enforcement actions. 

‘‘Sec. 374. Notification of nonfilers. 

‘‘Sec. 375. Civil monetary penalties. 

‘‘Sec. 376. Cease-and-desist orders. 

‘‘Sec. 377. Collection. 

‘‘Sec. 378. Confidentiality. 

‘‘Sec. 379. Criminal penalties. 

‘‘Sec. 380. Period of limitations. 

‘‘Sec. 381. Authorization of appropriations. 

Sec. 1312. Executive schedule positions. 

Sec. 1313. GAO examination of enforcement of campaign finance laws by the 

Department of Justice. 

Sec. 1314. GAO study and report on appropriate funding levels. 

Sec. 1315. Conforming amendments. 

‘‘Subtitle A—General Provisions 

PART 2—TRANSITION PROVISIONS

Sec. 1321. Transfer of functions of Federal Election Commission. 

Sec. 1322. Transfer of property, records, and personnel. 

Sec. 1323. Repeals. 

Sec. 1324. Conforming amendments. 

Sec. 1325. Treatment of certain regulations. 

Sec. 1326. Effective date. 

TITLE II—CLOSE THE 20-PERCENT LOBBYING LOOPHOLE 

Sec. 2001. Lobbyist registration reforms. 

TITLE III—REVOLVING DOOR REFORM 

Sec. 3001. Short title. 

Sec. 3002. Restrictions on private sector payment for Government service. 

Sec. 3003. Requirements relating to slowing the revolving door among financial 

services regulators. 

‘‘TITLE VI—SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS FOR FINANCIAL SERVICES 

REGULATORS 

‘‘Sec. 601. Definitions. 

‘‘Sec. 602. Conflict of interest and eligibility standards for financial services regulators. 

‘‘Sec. 603. Negotiating future private sector employment. 

‘‘Sec. 604. Recordkeeping. 

‘‘Sec. 605. Penalties and injunctions. 

Sec. 3004. Prohibition of procurement officers accepting employment from Government contractors. 


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Sec. 3005. Revolving door restrictions on financial services regulators moving 

into the private sector. 

Sec. 3006. Restrictions on Federal examiners and supervisors of financial institutions. 

TITLE IV—SEVERABILITY 

Sec. 4001. Severability. 

1 TITLE I—CAMPAIGN DISCLO2 SURE AND TRANSPARENCY 

3 REFORM 

4 Subtitle A—Disclosure 

5 SEC. 1001. SHORT TITLE. 

6 This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘Democracy Is 

7 Strengthened by Casting Light On Spending in Elections 

8 Act of 2016’’ or the ‘‘DISCLOSE Act of 2016’’. 

9 SEC. 1002. CAMPAIGN DISBURSEMENT REPORTING. 

10 (a) INFORMATION REQUIRED TO BE REPORTED.— 

11 (1) TREATMENT OF FUNCTIONAL EQUIVALENT

12 OF EXPRESS ADVOCACY AS INDEPENDENT EXPENDI13 TURE.—Subparagraph (A) of section 301(17) of the 

14 Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 

15 30101(17)) is amended to read as follows: 

16 ‘‘(A) that, when taken as a whole, ex17 pressly advocates the election or defeat of a 

18 clearly identified candidate, or is the functional 

19 equivalent of express advocacy because it can be 

20 interpreted by a reasonable person only as ad21 vocating the election or defeat of a candidate, 

22 taking into account whether the communication 


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1 involved mentions a candidacy, a political party, 

2 or a challenger to a candidate, or takes a posi3 tion on a candidate’s character, qualifications, 

4 or fitness for office; and’’. 

5 (2) EXPANSION OF PERIOD DURING WHICH

6 COMMUNICATIONS ARE TREATED AS ELECTION7 EERING COMMUNICATIONS.—Section 304(f)(3)(A)(i) 

8 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 30104(f)(3)(A)(i)) is amend9 ed— 

10 (A) by redesignating subclause (III) as 

11 subclause (IV); and 

12 (B) by striking subclause (II) and insert13 ing the following: 

14 ‘‘(II) in the case of a communica15 tion which refers to a candidate for an 

16 office other than the President or Vice 

17 President, is made during the period 

18 beginning on January 1 of the cal19 endar year in which a general or run20 off election is held and ending on the 

21 date of the general or runoff election 

22 (or in the case of a special election, 

23 during the period beginning on the 

24 date on which the announcement with 

25 respect to such election is made and 


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1 ending on the date of the special elec2 tion); 

3 ‘‘(III) in the case of a commu4 nication which refers to a candidate 

5 for the office of President or Vice 

6 President, is made in any State dur7 ing the period beginning 120 days be8 fore the first primary or preference 

9 election or a convention or caucus of 

10 a political party which has the author11 ity to nominate a candidate for the of12 fice of President or Vice President is 

13 held in any State and ending on the 

14 date of the general election; and’’. 

15 (3) EFFECTIVE DATE; TRANSITION FOR ELEC16 TIONEERING COMMUNICATIONS MADE PRIOR TO EN17 ACTMENT.—The amendment made by paragraph (2) 

18 shall apply with respect to communications made on 

19 or after July 1, 2015, except that no communication 

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

21 an electioneering communication under section 

22 304(f)(3)(A)(i)(II) or (III) of the Federal Election 

23 Campaign Act of 1971 (as amended by paragraph 

24 (2)) unless the communication would be treated as 

25 an electioneering communication under such section 


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1 if the amendment made by paragraph (2) did not 

2 apply. 

3 (b) DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS FOR CORPORA4 TIONS, LABOR ORGANIZATIONS, AND CERTAIN OTHER

5 ENTITIES.— 

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

7 Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30126) 

8 is amended to read as follows: 

9 ‘‘SEC. 324. DISCLOSURE OF CAMPAIGN-RELATED DISBURSE10 MENTS BY COVERED ORGANIZATIONS. 

11 ‘‘(a) DISCLOSURE STATEMENT.— 

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

13 that makes campaign-related disbursements aggre14 gating more than $10,000 in a calendar year shall, 

15 not later than 24 hours after each disclosure date, 

16 file a statement with the Commission made under 

17 penalty of perjury that contains the information de18 scribed in paragraph (2)— 

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

20 under this subsection, for the period beginning 

21 on the first day of the preceding calendar year 

22 and ending on the first such disclosure date; 

23 and 

24 ‘‘(B) in the case of any subsequent state25 ment filed under this subsection, for the period 


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1 beginning on the previous disclosure date and 

2 ending on such disclosure date. 

3 ‘‘(2) INFORMATION DESCRIBED.—The informa4 tion described in this paragraph is as follows: 

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

6 and the principal place of business of such or7 ganization. 

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

9 disbursement made by such organization during 

10 the period covered by the statement of more 

11 than $1,000. 

12 ‘‘(C) In the case of a campaign-related dis13 bursement that is not a covered transfer, the 

14 election to which the campaign-related disburse15 ment pertains and if the disbursement is made 

16 for a public communication, the name of any 

17 candidate identified in such communication and 

18 whether such communication is in support of or 

19 in opposition to a candidate. 

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

21 officer or person who is the head of the covered 

22 organization that the campaign-related dis23 bursement is not made in cooperation, consulta24 tion, or concert with or at the request or sug25 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 contributed, donated, 

7 transferred, or paid directly to such account by 

8 persons other than the covered organization 

9 that controls the account, for each contribution, 

10 donation, transfer, payment of dues, or other 

11 payment to the account— 

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

13 person who made such contribution, dona14 tion, transfer, payment of dues, or other 

15 payment during the period covered by the 

16 statement; 

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

18 contribution, donation, transfer, payment 

19 of dues, or other payment; and 

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

21 contributions, donations, transfers, pay22 ments of dues, and other payments made 

23 by the person during the period beginning 

24 on the first day of the preceding calendar 

25 year and ending on the disclosure date, 


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1 but only if such contribution, donation, trans2 fer, payment of dues, or other payment was 

3 made by a person who made contributions, do4 nations, transfers, payments of dues, or pay5 ments to the account in an aggregate amount 

6 of $10,000 or more during the period beginning 

7 on the first day of the preceding calendar year 

8 and ending on the disclosure date. 

9 ‘‘(F) Subject to paragraph (4), if the cov10 ered organization makes campaign-related dis11 bursements using funds other than funds in a 

12 segregated bank account described in subpara13 graph (E), for each contribution, donation, 

14 transfer, or payment of dues to the covered or15 ganization— 

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

17 person who made such contribution, dona18 tion, transfer, or payment of dues during 

19 the period covered by the statement; 

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

21 contribution, donation, transfer, or pay22 ment of dues; and 

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

24 contributions, donations, transfers, and 

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1 ing the period beginning on the first day of 

2 the preceding calendar year and ending on 

3 the disclosure date, 

4 but only if such contribution, donation, trans5 fer, or payment of dues was made by a person 

6 who made contributions, donations, transfers, 

7 or payments of dues to the covered organization 

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

9 during the period beginning on the first day of 

10 the preceding calendar year and ending on the 

11 disclosure date. 

12 ‘‘(3) EXCEPTIONS.— 

13 ‘‘(A) AMOUNTS RECEIVED IN ORDINARY

14 COURSE OF BUSINESS.—The requirement to in15 clude in a statement filed under paragraph (1) 

16 the information described in paragraph (2) 

17 shall not apply to amounts received by the cov18 ered organization in the ordinary course of any 

19 trade or business conducted by the covered or20 ganization or in the form of investments in the 

21 covered organization. 

22 ‘‘(B) DONOR RESTRICTION ON USE OF

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1 mation described in subparagraph (F) of para2 graph (2) shall not apply if— 

3 ‘‘(i) the person described in such sub4 paragraph prohibited, in writing, the use of 

5 the contribution, donation, transfer, pay6 ment of dues, or other payment made by 

7 such person for campaign-related disburse8 ments; and 

9 ‘‘(ii) the covered organization agreed 

10 to follow the prohibition and deposited the 

11 contribution, donation, transfer, payment 

12 of dues, or other payment in an account 

13 which is segregated from any account used 

14 to make campaign-related disbursements. 

15 ‘‘(4) DISCLOSURE DATE.— 

16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

17 subparagraph (B), the term ‘disclosure date’ 

18 means— 

19 ‘‘(i) the first date during any calendar 

20 year by which a person has made cam21 paign-related disbursements aggregating 

22 more than $10,000; and 

23 ‘‘(ii) each date following the date de24 scribed in clause (i) during such calendar 

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1 paign-related disbursements aggregating 

2 more than $10,000. 

3 ‘‘(B) DISCLOSURE DATE FOR CERTAIN

4 TRANSFERS.—In the case of a statement filed 

5 with respect to a campaign-related disburse6 ment which is a covered transfer described in 

7 subsection (f)(1)(E), the term ‘disclosure date’ 

8 means the date on which the covered organiza9 tion making such transfer knew or should have 

10 known that the recipient of such transfer made 

11 campaign-related disbursements in an aggre12 gate amount of $50,000 or more during the 2- 

13 year period beginning on the date of the trans14 fer. 

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

16 ‘‘(1) OTHER REPORTS FILED WITH THE COM17 MISSION.—Information included in a statement filed 

18 under this section may be excluded from statements 

19 and reports filed under section 304. 

20 ‘‘(2) TREATMENT AS SEPARATE SEGREGATED

21 FUND.—A segregated bank account referred to in 

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

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

24 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. 


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

2 subsection (a) shall be subject to the requirements of sec3 tion 304(d) to the same extent and in the same manner 

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

5 or (g) of section 304. 

6 ‘‘(d) CAMPAIGN-RELATED DISBURSEMENT DE7 FINED.—In this section, the term ‘campaign-related dis8 bursement’ means a disbursement by a covered organiza9 tion for any of the following: 

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

11 public communication, as defined in section 301(22). 

12 ‘‘(2) An electioneering communication, as de13 fined in section 304(f)(3). 

14 ‘‘(3) A covered transfer. 

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

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

17 following: 

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

19 described in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Rev20 enue Code of 1986). 

21 ‘‘(2) An organization described in section 

22 501(c) of such Code and exempt from taxation 

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

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

25 Code). 


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

2 316(b)). 

3 ‘‘(4) Any political organization under section 

4 527 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, other 

5 than a political committee under this Act (except as 

6 provided in paragraph (5)). 

7 ‘‘(5) A political committee with an account es8 tablished for the purpose of accepting donations or 

9 contributions that do not comply with the contribu10 tion limits or source prohibitions under this Act, but 

11 only with respect to the accounts established for 

12 such purpose. 

13 ‘‘(f) COVERED TRANSFER DEFINED.— 

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

15 ‘covered transfer’ means any transfer or payment of 

16 funds by a covered organization to another person if 

17 the covered organization— 

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

19 the amounts be used for— 

20 ‘‘(i) campaign-related disbursements 

21 (other than covered transfers); or 

22 ‘‘(ii) making a transfer to another 

23 person for the purpose of making or pay24 ing for such campaign-related disburse25 ments; 


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1 ‘‘(B) made such transfer or payment in re2 sponse to a solicitation or other request for a 

3 donation or payment for— 

4 ‘‘(i) the making of or paying for cam5 paign-related disbursements (other than 

6 covered transfers); or 

7 ‘‘(ii) making a transfer to another 

8 person for the purpose of making or pay9 ing for such campaign-related disburse10 ments; 

11 ‘‘(C) engaged in discussions with the re12 cipient of the transfer or payment regarding— 

13 ‘‘(i) the making of or paying for cam14 paign-related disbursements (other than 

15 covered transfers); or 

16 ‘‘(ii) donating or transferring any 

17 amount of such transfer or payment to an18 other person for the purpose of making or 

19 paying for such campaign-related disburse20 ments; 

21 ‘‘(D) made campaign-related disburse22 ments (other than a covered transfer) in an ag23 gregate amount of $50,000 or more during the 

24 2-year period ending on the date of the transfer 

25 or payment, or knew or had reason to know 


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1 that the person receiving the transfer or pay2 ment made such disbursements in such an ag3 gregate amount during that 2-year period; or 

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

5 person receiving the transfer or payment would 

6 make campaign-related disbursements in an ag7 gregate amount of $50,000 or more during the 

8 2-year period beginning on the date of the 

9 transfer or payment. 

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

11 does not include any of the following: 

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

13 organization in the ordinary course of any trade 

14 or business conducted by the covered organiza15 tion or in the form of investments made by the 

16 covered organization. 

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

18 organization if— 

19 ‘‘(i) the covered organization prohib20 ited, in writing, the use of such disburse21 ment for campaign-related disbursements; 

22 and 

23 ‘‘(ii) the recipient of the disbursement 

24 agreed to follow the prohibition and depos25 ited the disbursement in an account which 


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1 is segregated from any account used to 

2 make campaign-related disbursements. 

3 ‘‘(3) EXCEPTION FOR CERTAIN TRANSFERS

4 AMONG AFFILIATES.— 

5 ‘‘(A) EXCEPTION FOR CERTAIN TRANS6 FERS AMONG AFFILIATES.—The term ‘covered 

7 transfer’ does not include an amount trans8 ferred by one covered organization to another 

9 covered organization which is treated as a 

10 transfer between affiliates under subparagraph 

11 (B) if the aggregate amount transferred during 

12 the year by such covered organization to that 

13 same covered organization is equal to or less 

14 than $50,000. 

15 ‘‘(B) DESCRIPTION OF TRANSFERS BE16 TWEEN AFFILIATES.—A transfer of amounts 

17 from one covered organization to another cov18 ered organization shall be treated as a transfer 

19 between affiliates if— 

20 ‘‘(i) one of the organizations is an af21 filiate of the other organization; or 

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

23 affiliate of the same organization, 

24 except that the transfer shall not be treated as 

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1 nizations is established for the purpose of mak2 ing campaign-related disbursements. 

3 ‘‘(C) DETERMINATION OF AFFILIATE STA4 TUS.—For purposes of subparagraph (B), a 

5 covered organization is an affiliate of another 

6 covered organization if— 

7 ‘‘(i) the governing instrument of the 

8 organization requires it to be bound by de9 cisions of the other organization; 

10 ‘‘(ii) the governing board of the orga11 nization includes persons who are specifi12 cally designated representatives of the 

13 other organization or are members of the 

14 governing board, officers, or paid executive 

15 staff members of the other organization, or 

16 whose service on the governing board is 

17 contingent upon the approval of the other 

18 organization; or 

19 ‘‘(iii) the organization is chartered by 

20 the other organization. 

21 ‘‘(D) COVERAGE OF TRANSFERS TO AF22 FILIATED SECTION 501(c)(3) ORGANIZA23 TIONS.—This paragraph shall apply with re24 spect to an amount transferred by a covered or25 ganization to an organization described in paraVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:06 Jun 21, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00019 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5494.IH H5494

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1 graph (3) of section 501(c) of the Internal Rev2 enue Code of 1986 and exempt from tax under 

3 section 501(a) of such Code in the same man4 ner as this paragraph applies to an amount 

5 transferred by a covered organization to an6 other covered organization.’’. 

7 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 

8 304(f)(6) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 30104) is amended 

9 by striking ‘‘Any requirement’’ and inserting ‘‘Ex10 cept as provided in section 324(b), any require11 ment’’. 

12 SEC. 1003. STAND BY YOUR AD. 

13 (a) DISCLAIMER REQUIREMENTS FOR CAMPAIGN-RE14 LATED DISBURSEMENTS.—Section 318(a) of the Federal 

15 Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30120(a)) is 

16 amended by striking ‘‘for the purpose of financing commu17 nications expressly advocating the election or defeat of a 

18 clearly identified candidate’’ and inserting ‘‘for a cam19 paign-related disbursement, as defined in section 324, con20 sisting of a public communication’’. 

21 (b) STAND BY YOUR AD REQUIREMENTS.— 

22 (1) MAINTENANCE OF REQUIREMENTS FOR PO23 LITICAL PARTIES AND CERTAIN POLITICAL COMMIT24 TEES.—Section 318(d)(2) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 

25 30120(d)(2)) is amended— 


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

2 and inserting ‘‘CERTAIN POLITICAL COMMIT3 TEES’’; 

4 (B) by striking ‘‘Any communication’’ and 

5 inserting ‘‘(A) Any communication’’; 

6 (C) by inserting ‘‘which (except to the ex7 tent provided in the last sentence of this para8 graph) is paid for by a political committee (in9 cluding a political committee of a political 

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

11 (D) by striking ‘‘or other person’’ each 

12 place it appears; and 

13 (E) by adding at the end the following new 

14 subparagraph: 

15 ‘‘(B) This paragraph does not apply to a com16 munication paid for in whole or in part with a pay17 ment which is treated as a campaign-related dis18 bursement under section 324 and with respect to 

19 which a covered organization files a statement under 

20 such section.’’. 

21 (2) SPECIAL DISCLAIMER REQUIREMENTS FOR

22 CERTAIN COMMUNICATIONS.—Section 318 of such 

23 Act (52 U.S.C. 30120) is amended by adding at the 

24 end the following new subsection: 

25 ‘‘(e) COMMUNICATIONS BY OTHERS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any communication de2 scribed in paragraph (3) of subsection (a) which is 

3 transmitted through radio or television (other than 

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

5 shall include, in addition to the requirements of such 

6 paragraph, the following: 

7 ‘‘(A) The individual disclosure statement 

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

9 paying for the communication is an individual) 

10 or the organizational disclosure statement de11 scribed in paragraph (2)(B) (if the person pay12 ing for the communication is not an individual). 

13 ‘‘(B) If the communication is transmitted 

14 through television and is paid for in whole or in 

15 part with a payment which is treated as a cam16 paign-related disbursement under section 324, 

17 the Top Five Funders list (if applicable), un18 less, on the basis of criteria established in regu19 lations issued by the Commission, the commu20 nication is of such short duration that including 

21 the Top Five Funders list in the communication 

22 would constitute a hardship to the person pay23 ing for the communication by requiring a dis24 proportionate amount of the content of the 


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1 communication to consist of the Top Five 

2 Funders list. 

3 ‘‘(C) If the communication is transmitted 

4 through radio and is paid for in whole or in 

5 part with a payment which is treated as a cam6 paign-related disbursement under section 324, 

7 the Top Two Funders list (if applicable), un8 less, on the basis of criteria established in regu9 lations issued by the Commission, the commu10 nication is of such short duration that including 

11 the Top Two Funders list in the communication 

12 would constitute a hardship to the person pay13 ing for the communication by requiring a dis14 proportionate amount of the content of the 

15 communication to consist of the Top Two 

16 Funders list. 

17 ‘‘(2) DISCLOSURE STATEMENTS DESCRIBED.— 

18 ‘‘(A) INDIVIDUAL DISCLOSURE STATE19 MENTS.—The individual disclosure statement 

20 described in this subparagraph is the following: 

21 ‘I am llllllll, and I approve this 

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

23 name of the applicable individual. 

24 ‘‘(B) ORGANIZATIONAL DISCLOSURE

25 STATEMENTS.—The organizational disclosure 


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1 statement described in this subparagraph is the 

2 following: ‘I am llllllll, the 

3 llllllll of llllllll, and 

4 llllllll approves this message.’, 

5 with— 

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

7 the name of the applicable individual; 

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

9 with the title of the applicable individual; 

10 and 

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

12 to be filled in with the name of the organi13 zation or other person paying for the com14 munication. 

15 ‘‘(3) METHOD OF CONVEYANCE OF STATE16 MENT.— 

17 ‘‘(A) COMMUNICATIONS TRANSMITTED

18 THROUGH RADIO.—In the case of a communica19 tion to which this subsection applies which is 

20 transmitted through radio, the disclosure state21 ments required under paragraph (1) shall be 

22 made by audio by the applicable individual in a 

23 clearly spoken manner. 

24 ‘‘(B) COMMUNICATIONS TRANSMITTED

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1 munication to which this subsection applies 

2 which is transmitted through television, the in3 formation required under paragraph (1)— 

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

5 of the communication or in a crawl along 

6 the bottom of the communication in a 

7 clearly readable manner, with a reasonable 

8 degree of color contrast between the back9 ground and the printed statement, for a 

10 period of at least 6 seconds; and 

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

12 unobscured, full-screen view of the applica13 ble individual or by the applicable indi14 vidual making the statement in voice-over 

15 accompanied by a clearly identifiable pho16 tograph or similar image of the individual, 

17 except in the case of a Top Five Funders 

18 list. 

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

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

21 ‘applicable individual’ means, with respect to a 

22 communication to which this subsection ap23 plies— 

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

25 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 five persons who provided the largest 

23 payments of any type in an aggregate amount 

24 equal to or exceeding $10,000 which are re25 quired under section 324(a) to be included in 


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1 the reports filed by a covered organization with 

2 respect to such communication during the 12- 

3 month period ending on the date of the dis4 bursement and the amount of the payments 

5 each such person provided. If two or more peo6 ple provided the fifth largest of such payments, 

7 the covered organization involved shall select 

8 one of those persons to be included on the Top 

9 Five Funders list. 

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

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

12 a communication paid for in whole or in part 

13 with a payment which is treated as a campaign14 related disbursement under section 324, a list 

15 of the persons who provided the largest and the 

16 second largest payments of any type in an ag17 gregate amount equal to or exceeding $10,000 

18 which are required under section 324(a) to be 

19 included in the reports filed by a covered orga20 nization with respect to such communication 

21 during the 12-month period ending on the date 

22 of the disbursement and the amount of the pay23 ments each such person provided. If two or 

24 more persons provided the second largest of 

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1 volved shall select one of those persons to be in2 cluded on the Top Two Funders list.’’. 

3 (c) APPLICATION OF DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS

4 FOR AUDIO AND VIDEO COMMUNICATIONS TO AUDIO AND

5 VIDEO PORTIONS OF COMMUNICATIONS TRANSMITTED

6 THROUGH INTERNET OR ELECTRONIC MAIL.— 

7 (1) COMMUNICATIONS BY CANDIDATES OR AU8 THORIZED PERSONS.—Section 318(d)(1) of the Fed9 eral Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 

10 30120(d)(1)) is amended by adding at the end the 

11 following new subparagraph: 

12 ‘‘(C) AUDIO AND VIDEO PORTIONS OF

13 COMMUNICATIONS TRANSMITTED THROUGH

14 INTERNET OR ELECTRONIC MAIL.—In the case 

15 of a communication described in paragraph (1) 

16 or (2) of subsection (a) which is transmitted 

17 through the Internet or through any form of 

18 electronic mail— 

19 ‘‘(i) any audio portion of the commu20 nication shall meet the requirements appli21 cable under subparagraph (A) to commu22 nications transmitted through radio; and 

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1 cable under subparagraph (B) to commu2 nications transmitted through television.’’. 

3 (2) COMMUNICATIONS BY OTHERS.— 

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—Section 318(d)(2) of 

5 such Act (52 U.S.C. 30120(d)(2)), as amended 

6 by subsection (b)(1), is further amended— 

7 (i) by redesignating subparagraph (B) 

8 as subparagraph (C); and 

9 (ii) by inserting after subparagraph 

10 (A) the following new subparagraph: 

11 ‘‘(B) In the case of a communication described 

12 in paragraph (3) of subsection (a) which is trans13 mitted through the Internet or through any form of 

14 electronic mail, any audio portion of the communica15 tion shall meet the requirements applicable under 

16 this paragraph to communications transmitted 

17 through radio and any video portion of the commu18 nication shall meet the requirements applicable 

19 under this paragraph to communications transmitted 

20 through television.’’. 

21 (B) APPLICATION OF SPECIAL PERSONAL

22 DISCLOSURE RULES FOR CERTAIN COMMUNICA23 TIONS.—Section 318(e) of such Act, as added 

24 by subsection (b)(2), is amended— 


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1 (i) in paragraph (1) in the matter pre2 ceding subparagraph (A), by striking 

3 ‘‘radio or television’’ and inserting ‘‘radio 

4 or television, through the Internet, or 

5 through any form of electronic mail’’; and 

6 (ii) in paragraph (3), by adding at the 

7 end the following new subparagraph: 

8 ‘‘(C) COMMUNICATIONS TRANSMITTED

9 THROUGH INTERNET OR ELECTRONIC MAIL.— 

10 In the case of a communication to which this 

11 paragraph applies which is transmitted through 

12 the Internet or through any form of electronic 

13 mail, any audio portion of the communication 

14 shall meet the requirements applicable under 

15 this paragraph to communications transmitted 

16 through radio and any video portion of the com17 munication shall meet the requirements applica18 ble under this paragraph to communications 

19 transmitted through television.’’. 

20 (d) DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS FOR CAMPAIGN

21 COMMUNICATIONS MADE THROUGH PRERECORDED

22 TELEPHONE CALLS.— 

23 (1) APPLICATION OF REQUIREMENTS.—Section 

24 318(a) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 

25 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30120(a)) is amended by inserting 


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1 after ‘‘mailing,’’ each place it appears the following: 

2 ‘‘telephone call which consists in substantial part of 

3 a prerecorded audio message,’’. 

4 (2) TREATMENT AS AUDIO COMMUNICATION.— 

5 (A) COMMUNICATIONS BY CANDIDATES OR

6 AUTHORIZED PERSONS.—Section 318(d)(1) of 

7 such Act (52 U.S.C. 30120(d)(1)), as amended 

8 by subsection (c)(1), is further amended by 

9 adding at the end the following new subpara10 graph: 

11 ‘‘(D) PRERECORDED TELEPHONE

12 CALLS.—Any communication described in para13 graph (1) or (2) of subsection (a) which is a 

14 telephone call which consists in substantial part 

15 of a prerecorded audio message shall meet the 

16 requirements applicable under subparagraph 

17 (A) to communications transmitted through 

18 radio, except that the statement required under 

19 such subparagraph shall be made at the begin20 ning of the telephone call.’’. 

21 (B) COMMUNICATIONS BY OTHERS.— 

22 (i) IN GENERAL.—Section 318(d)(2) 

23 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 30120(d)(2)), as 

24 amended by subsection (b)(1) and sub25 section (c)(2)(A), is further amended— 


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1 (I) by redesignating subpara2 graph (C) as subparagraph (D); and 

3 (II) by inserting after subpara4 graph (B) the following new subpara5 graph: 

6 ‘‘(C) Any communication described in para7 graph (3) of subsection (a) which is a telephone call 

8 which consists in substantial part of a prerecorded 

9 audio message shall meet the requirements applica10 ble under this paragraph to communications trans11 mitted through radio, except that the statement re12 quired shall be made at the beginning of the tele13 phone call.’’. 

14 (ii) APPLICATION OF SPECIAL PER15 SONAL DISCLOSURE RULES FOR CERTAIN

16 COMMUNICATIONS.—Section 318(e) of such 

17 Act, as added by subsection (b)(2) and as 

18 amended by subsection (c)(2)(b), is further 

19 amended— 

20 (I) in paragraph (1) in the mat21 ter preceding subparagraph (A), by 

22 striking ‘‘electronic mail’’ and insert23 ing ‘‘electronic mail, or which is a 

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1 stantial part of a prerecorded audio 

2 message,’’; and 

3 (II) in paragraph (3), by adding 

4 at the end the following new subpara5 graph: 

6 ‘‘(D) COMMUNICATIONS MADE THROUGH

7 PRERECORDED TELEPHONE CALLS.—Any com8 munication to which this paragraph applies 

9 which is a telephone call which consists in sub10 stantial part of a prerecorded audio message 

11 shall meet the requirements applicable under 

12 this paragraph to communications transmitted 

13 through radio.’’. 

14 (e) NO EXPANSION OF PERSONS SUBJECT TO DIS15 CLAIMER REQUIREMENTS ON INTERNET COMMUNICA16 TIONS.—Nothing in this section or the amendments made 

17 by this section may be construed to require any person 

18 who is not required under section 318 of the Federal Elec19 tion Campaign Act of 1971 (as provided under section 

20 110.11 of title 11 of the Code of Federal Regulations) to 

21 include a disclaimer on communications made by the per22 son through the Internet to include any disclaimer on any 

23 such communications. 


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1 SEC. 1004. SHAREHOLDERS’ AND MEMBERS’ RIGHT TO 

2 KNOW. 

3 Title III of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 

4 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30101 et seq.) is amended by adding at 

5 the end the following new section: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 325. DISCLOSURES BY COVERED ORGANIZATIONS TO 

7 SHAREHOLDERS, MEMBERS, AND DONORS OF 

8 INFORMATION ON CAMPAIGN-RELATED DIS9 BURSEMENTS. 

10 ‘‘(a) INFORMATION ON CAMPAIGN-RELATED DIS11 BURSEMENTS TO BE INCLUDED IN PERIODIC RE12 PORTS.—A covered organization which submits regular, 

13 periodic reports to its shareholders, members, or donors 

14 on its finances or activities shall include in each such re15 port, in a clear and conspicuous manner, the information 

16 included in the statements filed by the organization under 

17 section 324 with respect to the campaign-related disburse18 ments made by the organization during the period covered 

19 by the report. 

20 ‘‘(b) HYPERLINK TO INFORMATION INCLUDED IN

21 REPORTS FILED WITH COMMISSION.— 

22 ‘‘(1) REQUIRED POSTING OF HYPERLINK.—If a 

23 covered organization maintains an Internet site, the 

24 organization shall post on such Internet site a 

25 hyperlink from its homepage to the location on the 

26 Internet site of the Commission which contains the 


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1 information included in the statements filed by the 

2 organization under section 324 with respect to cam3 paign-related disbursements. 

4 ‘‘(2) DEADLINE; DURATION OF POSTING.—The 

5 covered organization shall post the hyperlink de6 scribed in paragraph (1) not later than 24 hours 

7 after the Commission posts the information de8 scribed in such paragraph on the Internet site of the 

9 Commission, and shall ensure that the hyperlink re10 mains on the Internet site of the covered organiza11 tion until the expiration of the 1-year period which 

12 begins on the date of the election with respect to 

13 which the campaign-related disbursements are made. 

14 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—The terms ‘campaign-related 

15 disbursement’ and ‘covered organization’ have the mean16 ings given such terms in section 324.’’. 

17 SEC. 1005. LOBBYISTS’ CAMPAIGN FUNDING DISCLOSURE. 

18 (a) DISCLOSURE OF INDEPENDENT EXPENDITURES

19 AND ELECTIONEERING COMMUNICATIONS.—Section 

20 5(d)(1) of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 

21 1604(d)(1)) is amended— 

22 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara23 graph (F); 

24 (2) by redesignating subparagraph (G) as sub25 paragraph (I); and 


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1 (3) by inserting after subparagraph (F) the fol2 lowing new subparagraphs: 

3 ‘‘(G) the amount of any independent ex4 penditure (as defined in section 301(17) of the 

5 Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 

6 U.S.C. 30101(17))) equal to or greater than 

7 $1,000 made by such person or organization, 

8 and for each such expenditure the name of each 

9 candidate being supported or opposed and the 

10 amount spent supporting or opposing each such 

11 candidate; 

12 ‘‘(H) the amount of any electioneering 

13 communication (as defined in section 304(f)(3) 

14 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 30104(f)(3))) equal to 

15 or greater than $1,000 made by such person or 

16 organization, and for each such communication 

17 the name of the candidate referred to in the 

18 communication and whether the communication 

19 involved was in support of or in opposition to 

20 the candidate; and’’. 

21 (b) DISCLOSURE OF AMOUNTS PROVIDED TO CER22 TAIN POLITICAL COMMITTEES.—Section 5(d)(1)(D) of 

23 such Act (2 U.S.C. 1605(d)(1)(D)) is amended by striking 

24 ‘‘or political party committee,’’ and inserting the following: 

25 ‘‘political party committee, or political committee which is 


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1 treated as a covered organization under section 

2 324(f)(1)(D) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 

3 1971,’’. 

4 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

5 this section shall apply with respect to reports for semi6 annual periods described in section 5(d)(1) of the Lob7 bying Disclosure Act of 1995 that begin after the date 

8 of the enactment of this Act. 

9 SEC. 1006. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

10 Except as provided in section 1005, the amendments 

11 made by this title shall apply with respects to disburse12 ments made on or after January 1, 2017. 

13 Subtitle B—Candidate-Super PAC 

14 Coordination 

15 SEC. 1101. SHORT TITLE. 

16 This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘Stop Super PAC– 

17 Candidate Coordination Act’’. 

18 SEC. 1102. CLARIFICATION OF TREATMENT OF COORDI19 NATED EXPENDITURES AS CONTRIBUTIONS 

20 TO CANDIDATES. 

21 (a) TREATMENT AS CONTRIBUTION TO CAN22 DIDATE.—Section 301(8)(A) of the Federal Election Cam23 paign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30101(8)(A)) is amended— 

24 (1) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of clause (i); 


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1 (2) by striking the period at the end of clause 

2 (ii) and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

3 (3) by adding at the end the following new 

4 clause: 

5 ‘‘(iii) any payment made by any person 

6 (other than a candidate, an authorized com7 mittee of a candidate, or a political committee 

8 of a political party) for a coordinated expendi9 ture (as such term is defined in section 326) 

10 which is not otherwise treated as a contribution 

11 under clause (i) or clause (ii).’’. 

12 (b) DEFINITIONS.—Title III of such Act (52 U.S.C. 

13 30101 et seq.), as amended by section 1004, is amended 

14 to by adding at the end the following new section: 

15 ‘‘SEC. 326. PAYMENTS FOR COORDINATED EXPENDITURES. 

16 ‘‘(a) COORDINATED EXPENDITURES.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of section 

18 301(8)(A)(iii), the term ‘coordinated expenditure’ 

19 means— 

20 ‘‘(A) any expenditure, or any payment for 

21 a covered communication described in sub22 section (d), which is made in cooperation, con23 sultation, or concert with, or at the request or 

24 suggestion of, a candidate, an authorized com25 mittee of a candidate, a political committee of 


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1 a political party, or agents of the candidate or 

2 committee, as defined in subsection (b); or 

3 ‘‘(B) any payment for any communication 

4 which republishes, disseminates, or distributes, 

5 in whole or in part, any video or broadcast or 

6 any written, graphic, or other form of campaign 

7 material prepared by the candidate or com8 mittee or by agents of the candidate or com9 mittee (including any excerpt or use of any 

10 video from any such broadcast or written, 

11 graphic, or other form of campaign material). 

12 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION FOR PAYMENTS FOR CERTAIN

13 COMMUNICATIONS.—A payment for a communication 

14 (including a covered communication described in 

15 subsection (d) shall not be treated as a coordinated 

16 expenditure under this subsection if— 

17 ‘‘(A) the communication appears in a news 

18 story, commentary, or editorial distributed 

19 through the facilities of any broadcasting sta20 tion, newspaper, magazine, or other periodical 

21 publication, unless such facilities are owned or 

22 controlled by any political party, political com23 mittee, or candidate; or 

24 ‘‘(B) the communication constitutes a can25 didate debate or forum conducted pursuant to 


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1 regulations adopted by the Commission pursu2 ant to section 304(f)(3)(B)(iii), or which solely 

3 promotes such a debate or forum and is made 

4 by or on behalf of the person sponsoring the de5 bate or forum. 

6 ‘‘(b) COORDINATION DESCRIBED.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this sec8 tion, a payment is made ‘in cooperation, consulta9 tion, or concert with, or at the request or suggestion 

10 of,’ a candidate, an authorized committee of a can11 didate, a political committee of a political party, or 

12 agents of the candidate or committee, if the pay13 ment, or any communication for which the payment 

14 is made, is not made entirely independently of the 

15 candidate, committee, or agents. For purposes of the 

16 previous sentence, a payment or communication not 

17 made entirely independently of the candidate or 

18 committee includes any payment or communication 

19 made pursuant to any general or particular under20 standing with, or pursuant to any communication 

21 with, the candidate, committee, or agents about the 

22 payment or communication. 

23 ‘‘(2) NO FINDING OF COORDINATION BASED

24 SOLELY ON SHARING OF INFORMATION REGARDING

25 LEGISLATIVE OR POLICY POSITION.—For purposes 


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1 of this section, a payment shall not be considered to 

2 be made by a person in cooperation, consultation, or 

3 concert with, or at the request or suggestion of, a 

4 candidate or committee, solely on the grounds that 

5 the person or the person’s agent engaged in discus6 sions with the candidate or committee, or with any 

7 agent of the candidate or committee, regarding that 

8 person’s position on a legislative or policy matter 

9 (including urging the candidate or committee to 

10 adopt that person’s position), so long as there is no 

11 communication between the person and the can12 didate or committee, or any agent of the candidate 

13 or committee, regarding the candidate’s or commit14 tee’s campaign advertising, message, strategy, pol15 icy, polling, allocation of resources, fundraising, or 

16 other campaign activities. 

17 ‘‘(3) NO EFFECT ON PARTY COORDINATION

18 STANDARD.—Nothing in this section shall be con19 strued to affect the determination of coordination 

20 between a candidate and a political committee of a 

21 political party for purposes of section 315(d). 

22 ‘‘(4) NO SAFE HARBOR FOR USE OF FIRE23 WALL.—A person shall be determined to have made 

24 a payment in cooperation, consultation, or concert 

25 with, or at the request or suggestion of, a candidate 


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1 or committee, in accordance with this section with2 out regard to whether or not the person established 

3 and used a firewall or similar procedures to restrict 

4 the sharing of information between individuals who 

5 are employed by or who are serving as agents for the 

6 person making the payment. 

7 ‘‘(c) PAYMENTS BY COORDINATED SPENDERS FOR

8 COVERED COMMUNICATIONS.— 

9 ‘‘(1) PAYMENTS MADE IN COOPERATION, CON10 SULTATION, OR CONCERT WITH CANDIDATES.—For 

11 purposes of subsection (a)(1)(A), if the person who 

12 makes a payment for a covered communication, as 

13 defined in subsection (d), is a coordinated spender 

14 under paragraph (2) with respect to the candidate 

15 as described in subsection (d)(1), the payment for 

16 the covered communication is made in cooperation, 

17 consultation, or concert with the candidate. 

18 ‘‘(2) COORDINATED SPENDER DEFINED.—For 

19 purposes of this subsection, the term ‘coordinated 

20 spender’ means, with respect to a candidate or an 

21 authorized committee of a candidate, a person (other 

22 than a political committee of a political party) for 

23 which any of the following applies: 

24 ‘‘(A) During the 4-year period ending on 

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1 ment, the person was directly or indirectly 

2 formed or established by or at the request or 

3 suggestion of, or with the encouragement of, 

4 the candidate (including an individual who later 

5 becomes a candidate) or committee or agents of 

6 the candidate or committee, including with the 

7 approval of the candidate or committee or 

8 agents of the candidate or committee. 

9 ‘‘(B) The candidate or committee or any 

10 agent of the candidate or committee solicits 

11 funds, appears at a fundraising event, or en12 gages in other fundraising activity on the per13 son’s behalf during the election cycle involved, 

14 including by providing the person with names of 

15 potential donors or other lists to be used by the 

16 person in engaging in fundraising activity, re17 gardless of whether the person pays fair market 

18 value for the names or lists provided. For pur19 poses of this subparagraph, the term ‘election 

20 cycle’ means, with respect to an election for 

21 Federal office, the period beginning on the day 

22 after the date of the most recent general elec23 tion for that office (or, if the general election 

24 resulted in a runoff election, the date of the 

25 runoff election) and ending on the date of the 


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1 next general election for that office (or, if the 

2 general election resulted in a runoff election, 

3 the date of the runoff election). 

4 ‘‘(C) The person is established, directed, or 

5 managed by the candidate or committee or by 

6 any person who, during the 4-year period end7 ing on the date on which the person makes the 

8 payment, has been employed or retained as a 

9 political, campaign media, or fundraising ad10 viser or consultant for the candidate or com11 mittee or for any other entity directly or indi12 rectly controlled by the candidate or committee, 

13 or has held a formal position with the candidate 

14 or committee. 

15 ‘‘(D) The person has retained the profes16 sional services of any person who, during the 2- 

17 year period ending on the date on which the 

18 person makes the payment, has provided or is 

19 providing professional services relating to the 

20 campaign to the candidate or committee. For 

21 purposes of this subparagraph, the term ‘pro22 fessional services’ includes any services in sup23 port of the candidate’s or committee’s campaign 

24 activities, including advertising, message, strat25 egy, policy, polling, allocation of resources, 


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1 fundraising, and campaign operations, but does 

2 not include accounting or legal services. 

3 ‘‘(E) The person is established, directed, or 

4 managed by a member of the immediate family 

5 of the candidate, or the person or any officer or 

6 agent of the person has had more than inci7 dental discussions about the candidate’s cam8 paign with a member of the immediate family 

9 of the candidate. For purposes of this subpara10 graph, the term ‘immediate family’ has the 

11 meaning given such term in section 9004(e) of 

12 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. 

13 ‘‘(d) COVERED COMMUNICATION DEFINED.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this sec15 tion, the term ‘covered communication’ means, with 

16 respect to a candidate or an authorized committee of 

17 a candidate, a public communication (as defined in 

18 section 301(22)) which— 

19 ‘‘(A) expressly advocates the election of the 

20 candidate or the defeat of an opponent of the 

21 candidate (or contains the functional equivalent 

22 of express advocacy); 

23 ‘‘(B) promotes or supports the candidate, 

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1 tion expressly advocates the election or defeat 

2 of a candidate or contains the functional equiv3 alent of express advocacy); or 

4 ‘‘(C) refers to the candidate or an oppo5 nent of the candidate but is not described in 

6 subparagraph (A) or subparagraph (B), but 

7 only if the communication is disseminated dur8 ing the applicable election period. 

9 ‘‘(2) APPLICABLE ELECTION PERIOD.—In para10 graph (1)(B), the ‘applicable election period’ with re11 spect to a communication means— 

12 ‘‘(A) in the case of a communication which 

13 refers to a candidate in a general, special, or 

14 runoff election, the 120-day period which ends 

15 on the date of the election; or 

16 ‘‘(B) in the case of a communication which 

17 refers to a candidate in a primary or preference 

18 election, or convention or caucus of a political 

19 party that has authority to nominate a can20 didate, the 60-day period which ends on the 

21 date of the election or convention or caucus. 

22 ‘‘(3) SPECIAL RULES FOR COMMUNICATIONS IN23 VOLVING CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATES.—For pur24 poses of this subsection, a public communication 

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1 tion with respect to a candidate for election for an 

2 office other than the office of President or Vice 

3 President unless it is publicly disseminated or dis4 tributed in the jurisdiction of the office the can5 didate is seeking. 

6 ‘‘(e) PENALTY.— 

7 ‘‘(1) DETERMINATION OF AMOUNT.—Any per8 son who knowingly and willfully commits a violation 

9 of this Act by making a contribution which consists 

10 of a payment for a coordinated expenditure shall be 

11 fined an amount equal to the greater of— 

12 ‘‘(A) in the case of a person who makes a 

13 contribution which consists of a payment for a 

14 coordinated expenditure in an amount exceeding 

15 the applicable contribution limit under this Act, 

16 300 percent of the amount by which the 

17 amount of the payment made by the person ex18 ceeds such applicable contribution limit; or 

19 ‘‘(B) in the case of a person who is prohib20 ited under this Act from making a contribution 

21 in any amount, 300 percent of the amount of 

22 the payment made by the person for the coordi23 nated expenditure. 

24 ‘‘(2) JOINT AND SEVERAL LIABILITY.—Any di25 rector, manager or officer of a person who is subject 


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1 to a penalty under paragraph (1) shall be jointly and 

2 severally liable for any amount of such penalty that 

3 is not paid by the person prior to the expiration of 

4 the 1-year period which begins on the date the Com5 mission imposes the penalty or the 1-year period 

6 which begins on the date of the final judgment fol7 lowing any judicial review of the Commission’s ac8 tion, whichever is later.’’. 

9 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 

10 (1) REPEAL OF EXISTING REGULATIONS ON CO11 ORDINATION.—Effective upon the expiration of the 

12 90-day period which begins on the date of the enact13 ment of this Act— 

14 (A) the regulations on coordinated commu15 nications adopted by the Federal Election Com16 mission which are in effect on the date of the 

17 enactment of this Act (as set forth in 11 C.F.R. 

18 Part 109, Subpart C, under the heading ‘‘Co19 ordination’’) are repealed; and 

20 (B) the Federal Election Commission shall 

21 promulgate new regulations on coordinated 

22 communications which reflect the amendments 

23 made by this title. 

24 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 

25 by this section shall apply with respect to payments 


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1 made on or after the expiration of the 120-day pe2 riod which begins on the date of the enactment of 

3 this Act, without regard to whether or not the Fed4 eral Election Commission has promulgated regula5 tions in accordance with paragraph (1)(B) as of the 

6 expiration of such period. 

7 SEC. 1103. CLARIFICATION OF BAN ON FUNDRAISING FOR 

8 SUPER PACS BY FEDERAL CANDIDATES AND 

9 OFFICEHOLDERS. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 323(e)(1) of the Federal 

11 Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30125(e)(1)) 

12 is amended— 

13 (1) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of subparagraph 

14 (A); 

15 (2) by striking the period at the end of sub16 paragraph (B) and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

17 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub18 paragraph: 

19 ‘‘(C) solicit, receive, direct, or transfer 

20 funds to or on behalf of any political committee 

21 which accepts donations or contributions that 

22 do not comply with the limitations, prohibitions, 

23 and reporting requirements of this Act (or to or 

24 on behalf of any account of a political com25 mittee which is established for the purpose of 


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1 accepting such donations or contributions), or 

2 to or on behalf of any political organization 

3 under section 527 of the Internal Revenue Code 

4 of 1986 which accepts such donations or con5 tributions (other than a committee of a State or 

6 local political party or a candidate for election 

7 for State or local office).’’. 

8 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

9 subsection (a) shall apply with respect to elections occur10 ring after January 1, 2017. 

11 Subtitle C—Real-Time 

12 Transparency 

13 SEC. 1201. SHORT TITLE. 

14 This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘Real Time Trans15 parency Act’’. 

16 SEC. 1202. 48-HOUR NOTIFICATION REQUIRED FOR ALL PO17 LITICAL COMMITTEES RECEIVING CUMU18 LATIVE CONTRIBUTIONS OF $1,000 OR MORE 

19 DURING A YEAR FROM ANY CONTRIBUTOR. 

20 (a) NOTIFICATION.—Section 304(a)(6)(A) of the 

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

22 434(a)(6)(A)) is amended to read as follows: 

23 ‘‘(A)(i) If a political committee receives an aggregate 

24 amount of contributions equal to or greater than $1,000 

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1 mittee shall submit a notification to the Commission con2 taining the name of the committee (and, in the case of 

3 an authorized committee of a candidate, the name of the 

4 candidate and the office sought by the candidate), the 

5 identification of the contributor, and the date of receipt 

6 and amount of the contributions involved. 

7 ‘‘(ii) If, at any time after a political committee is re8 quired to submit a notification under this subparagraph 

9 with respect to a contributor during a calendar year, the 

10 political committee receives additional contributions from 

11 that contributor during that year, the committee shall sub12 mit an additional notification under clause (i) with respect 

13 to such contributor each time the aggregate amount of the 

14 additional contributions received from the contributor dur15 ing the year equals or exceeds $1,000 (excluding the 

16 amount of any contribution for which information is re17 quired to be included in a previous notification under this 

18 subparagraph). 

19 ‘‘(iii) The political committee shall submit the notifi20 cation required under this subparagraph with respect to 

21 a contributor— 

22 ‘‘(I) in the case of a notification described in 

23 clause (i), not later than 48 hours after the date on 

24 which the aggregate amount of contributions reVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:13 Jun 18, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00051 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5494.IH H5494

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1 ceived from the contributor during the calendar year 

2 first equals or exceeds $1,000; or 

3 ‘‘(II) in the case of an additional notification 

4 described in clause (ii), not later than 48 hours after 

5 the date on which the aggregate amount of contribu6 tions received from the contributor during the cal7 endar year for which information was not already in8 cluded in a notification under this subparagraph 

9 first equals or exceeds $1,000. 

10 ‘‘(iv) For purposes of this subparagraph, any amount 

11 transferred by a joint fundraising committee which is es12 tablished by an authorized committee of a candidate to 

13 any other authorized committee of that candidate shall be 

14 treated as a contribution by the joint fundraising com15 mittee to such authorized committee.’’. 

16 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

17 subsection (a) shall apply with respect to contributions re18 ceived by a political committee under the Federal Election 

19 Campaign Act of 1971 during 2016 or any succeeding 

20 year, except that nothing in such amendment may be con21 strued to require a political committee which does not re22 ceive contributions during the portion of 2016 which oc23 curs after the date of the enactment of this Act to meet 

24 the requirements of section 304(a)(6)(A) of the Federal 


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1 Election Campaign Act of 1971, as amended by subsection 

2 (a). 

3 SEC. 1203. FILING BY SENATE CANDIDATES WITH FEDERAL 

4 ELECTION COMMISSION. 

5 (a) MANDATORY FILING WITH FEC.—Section 

6 302(g) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 

7 U.S.C. 432(g)) is amended to read as follows: 

8 ‘‘(g) FILING WITH THE COMMISSION.—All designa9 tions, statements, and reports required to be filed under 

10 this Act shall be filed with the Commission.’’. 

11 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

12 subsection (a) shall apply with respect to materials filed 

13 on or after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

14 Subtitle D—Establishment of 

15 Federal Election Administration 

16 SEC. 1301. SHORT TITLE. 

17 This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘Federal Election 

18 Administration Act of 2016’’. 

19 PART 1—FEDERAL ELECTION ADMINISTRATION 

20 SEC. 1311. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE FEDERAL ELECTION 

21 ADMINISTRATION. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title III of the Federal Election 

23 Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30101 et seq.) is 

24 amended by adding at the end the following new subtitle: 


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1 ‘‘Subtitle B—Administrative 

2 Provisions 

3 ‘‘CHAPTER 1—ESTABLISHMENT OF THE 

4 FEDERAL ELECTION ADMINISTRATION 

5 ‘‘SEC. 351. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE FEDERAL ELECTION 

6 ADMINISTRATION. 

7 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There is established the Federal 

8 Election Administration (in this Act referred to as the 

9 ‘Administration’). 

10 ‘‘(b) INDEPENDENT ESTABLISHMENT.—The Admin11 istration shall be an independent establishment (as defined 

12 in section 104 of title 5, United States Code). 

13 ‘‘(c) PURPOSE.—The Administration shall admin14 ister, seek to obtain compliance with, enforce, and formu15 late policy in a manner that is consistent with the lan16 guage and intent of Congress with respect to the following 

17 statutes: 

18 ‘‘(1) This Act. 

19 ‘‘(2) The Presidential Election Campaign Fund 

20 Act under chapter 95 of the Internal Revenue Code 

21 of 1986. 

22 ‘‘(3) The Presidential Primary Matching Pay23 ment Account Act under chapter 96 of the Internal 

24 Revenue Code of 1986. 


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1 ‘‘(d) EXCLUSIVE CIVIL JURISDICTION.—The Admin2 istration shall have exclusive jurisdiction with respect to 

3 the civil enforcement of the statutes identified in sub4 section (c). 

5 ‘‘(e) VOTING REQUIREMENT.—All decisions of the 

6 Administration with respect to the exercise of its duties 

7 and powers under this Act, except those expressly reserved 

8 for decision by the Chair, shall be made by a majority vote 

9 of its members. 

10 ‘‘(f) MEETINGS AND QUORUM.— 

11 ‘‘(1) MEETINGS.—The Administration shall 

12 meet— 

13 ‘‘(A) at least once each month; and 

14 ‘‘(B) at the call of the Chair. 

15 ‘‘(2) QUORUM.—A majority of the members of 

16 the Administration shall constitute a quorum. 

17 ‘‘(g) SEAL.—The Administration shall procure a 

18 proper seal, with such suitable inscriptions and devices as 

19 the President shall approve. This seal, to be known as the 

20 official seal of the Federal Election Administration, shall 

21 be kept and used to verify official documents, under such 

22 rules and regulations as the Administration may prescribe. 

23 Judicial notice shall be taken of the seal. 

24 ‘‘(h) PRINCIPAL OFFICE.—The principal office of the 

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1 bia, but the Administration may meet or exercise any of 

2 its powers anywhere in the United States. 

3 ‘‘SEC. 352. COMPOSITION OF THE FEDERAL ELECTION AD4 MINISTRATION. 

5 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Administration shall be 

6 composed of 5 members, 1 of whom shall serve as the 

7 Chair of the Administration. Not more than 2 members 

8 of the Administration shall be affiliated with the same po9 litical party while serving as a member of the Administra10 tion. For purposes of the preceding sentence, a member 

11 shall be treated as affiliated with a political party if such 

12 member was affiliated with such political party at any time 

13 during the 5-year period ending on the date on which such 

14 individual is nominated to be a member of the Administra15 tion. 

16 ‘‘(b) APPOINTMENT.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each member of the Ad18 ministration shall be appointed by the President, by 

19 and with the advice and consent of the Senate. 

20 ‘‘(2) CHAIR.—The President shall, at the time 

21 of nomination of the first 5 members of the Admin22 istration, designate 1 of the 5 to serve as the Chair. 

23 Any individual appointed to succeed, or to fill the 

24 unexpired term of, that member (or any member 

25 succeeding that member) shall serve as the Chair. 


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1 ‘‘(3) QUALIFICATIONS.— 

2 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The President may 

3 select an individual for service as a Member of 

4 the Commission if the individual has experience 

5 in election law and has a demonstrated record 

6 of integrity, impartiality, and good judgment. 

7 ‘‘(B) ASSISTANCE OF BLUE RIBBON ADVI8 SORY PANEL.— 

9 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Prior to the regu10 larly scheduled expiration of the term of a 

11 member of the Commission and upon the 

12 occurrence of a vacancy in the membership 

13 of the Commission prior to the expiration 

14 of a term, the President shall convene a 

15 Blue Ribbon Advisory Panel, that includes 

16 individuals representing each major polit17 ical party and individuals who are inde18 pendent of a political party and that con19 sists of an odd number of individuals se20 lected by the President from retired Fed21 eral judges, former law enforcement offi22 cials, or individuals with experience in elec23 tion law, except that the President may not 

24 select any individual to serve on the panel 


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1 who holds any public office at the time of 

2 selection. 

3 ‘‘(ii) RECOMMENDATIONS.—With re4 spect to each member of the Commission 

5 whose term is expiring or each vacancy in 

6 the membership of the Commission (as the 

7 case may be), the Blue Ribbon Advisory 

8 Panel shall recommend to the President at 

9 least one but not more than 3 individuals 

10 for nomination for appointment as a mem11 ber of the Commission. 

12 ‘‘(iii) PUBLICATION.—At the time the 

13 President submits to the Senate the nomi14 nations for individuals to be appointed as 

15 members of the Commission, the President 

16 shall publish the Blue Ribbon Advisory 

17 Panel’s recommendations for such nomina18 tions. 

19 ‘‘(iv) EXEMPTION FROM FEDERAL AD20 VISORY COMMITTEE ACT.—The Federal 

21 Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) 

22 shall not apply to a Blue Ribbon Advisory 

23 Panel convened under this subparagraph. 

24 ‘‘(c) TERM OF OFFICE.— 

25 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) CHAIR.—The Chair of the Adminis2 tration shall be appointed for a term of 10 

3 years. 

4 ‘‘(B) OTHER MEMBERS.—Subject to sub5 paragraph (C), the 4 members of the Adminis6 tration other than the Chair shall be appointed 

7 for a term of 6 years. 

8 ‘‘(C) INITIAL APPOINTMENTS.—Of the 

9 members initially appointed under subpara10 graph (B), 2 members shall be appointed for a 

11 term of 3 years. 

12 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION TO ONE TERM.—A member of 

13 the Administration may only serve 1 term, except 

14 that— 

15 ‘‘(A) an individual appointed under sub16 paragraph (B) of paragraph (1) who is ap17 pointed for the term described in subparagraph 

18 (C) of such paragraph may be appointed to a 

19 6-year term in addition to the term described in 

20 such subparagraph; and 

21 ‘‘(B) an individual appointed under para22 graph (4) to fill the remainder of an unexpired 

term that has less than 1 23 ⁄2 of the term remain24 ing may be appointed to serve another term. 


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1 ‘‘(3) EXPIRED TERMS.—An individual may con2 tinue to serve as a member of the Administration 

3 after the expiration of such individual’s term until 

4 the earlier of— 

5 ‘‘(A) the date on which such individual’s 

6 successor has taken office; or 

7 ‘‘(B) 1 year following the date on which 

8 the term of such member expired. 

9 ‘‘(4) VACANCIES.—An individual appointed 

10 upon a vacancy occurring before the expiration of 

11 the term for which the individual’s predecessor was 

12 appointed shall be appointed only for the unexpired 

13 term of the predecessor. Such vacancy shall be filled 

14 in the same manner as the original appointment. 

15 ‘‘(5) PROHIBITING ENGAGEMENT WITH OTHER

16 BUSINESS OR EMPLOYMENT DURING SERVICE.—A 

17 member of the Commission shall not engage in any 

18 other business, vocation, or employment. Any indi19 vidual who is engaging in any other business, voca20 tion, or employment at the time of his or her ap21 pointment to the Commission shall terminate or liq22 uidate such activity not later than 90 days after 

23 such appointment. 


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1 ‘‘(d) REMOVAL.—A member of the Administration 

2 may be removed by the President only for inefficiency, ne3 glect of duty, or malfeasance in office. 

4 ‘‘SEC. 353. STAFF DIRECTOR. 

5 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There shall be in the Adminis6 tration a staff director. 

7 ‘‘(b) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The staff director— 

8 ‘‘(1) shall assist the Administration in its ad9 ministration and operations; 

10 ‘‘(2) shall perform such responsibilities as the 

11 Administration shall prescribe; and 

12 ‘‘(3) may, with the approval of the Chair— 

13 ‘‘(A) appoint and fix the pay of such addi14 tional personnel as the staff director considers 

15 appropriate without regard to the provisions of 

16 title 5, United States Code, governing appoint17 ments in the competitive service; and 

18 ‘‘(B) procure temporary and intermittent 

19 services to the same extent as is authorized by 

20 section 3109(b) of title 5, United States Code, 

21 but at rates for individuals not to exceed the 

22 daily equivalent of the annual rate of basic pay 

23 in effect for grade GS–15 of the General Sched24 ule (5 U.S.C. 5332). 


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1 ‘‘(c) APPOINTMENT.—The staff director shall be ap2 pointed by the Chair, after consultation with the other 

3 members of the Administration. 

4 ‘‘(d) OTHER ACTIVITIES.—An individual may not en5 gage in any other business, vocation, or employment while 

6 serving as the staff director. 

7 ‘‘SEC. 354. GENERAL COUNSEL. 

8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There shall be in the Adminis9 tration a general counsel. 

10 ‘‘(b) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The general counsel 

11 shall— 

12 ‘‘(1) serve as the chief legal officer of the Ad13 ministration; 

14 ‘‘(2) provide legal assistance to the Administra15 tion concerning its programs and policies; 

16 ‘‘(3) advise and assist the Administration in 

17 carrying out its responsibilities under section 361; 

18 and 

19 ‘‘(4) represent the Administration in any pro20 ceeding in court or before an administrative law 

21 judge. 

22 ‘‘(c) APPOINTMENT.—The general counsel shall be 

23 appointed by the Chair, subject to approval by majority 

24 vote of the members of the Administration. 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 355. INSPECTOR GENERAL. 

2 ‘‘There shall be in the Administration an inspector 

3 general. The inspector general and the office of inspector 

4 general shall be subject to the Inspector General Act of 

5 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.). 

6 ‘‘CHAPTER 2—OPERATION OF THE 

7 FEDERAL ELECTION ADMINISTRATION 

8 ‘‘SEC. 361. POWERS OF THE CHAIR AND ADMINISTRATION. 

9 ‘‘(a) CHAIR.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Chair shall be the 

11 chief administrative officer of the Administration 

12 with the authority to administer the Administration 

13 and shall, after consultation with the other members 

14 of the Administration, have the power to appoint or 

15 remove the staff director and to establish the budget 

16 of the Administration. 

17 ‘‘(2) OTHER POWERS.—The Chair has the 

18 power— 

19 ‘‘(A) to the fullest extent practicable, to re20 quest the assistance of other agencies and de21 partments of the United States, including the 

22 personnel and facilities of such agencies and de23 partments and the heads of such agencies and 

24 departments may make available to the Chair 

25 such personnel, facilities, and other assistance, 

26 with or without reimbursement; 


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1 ‘‘(B) to appoint, assign, remove, and com2 pensate administrative law judges in accordance 

3 with title 5, United States Code; 

4 ‘‘(C) to require, by special or general or5 ders, any person to submit, under oath, such 

6 written reports and answers to questions as the 

7 Chair may prescribe; 

8 ‘‘(D) to administer oaths or affirmations; 

9 ‘‘(E) to issue and enforce subpoenas in ac10 cordance with section 364; 

11 ‘‘(F) in any proceeding or investigation, to 

12 order testimony to be taken by deposition be13 fore any person who is designated by the Chair 

14 and has the power to administer oaths and, in 

15 such instances, to compel testimony and the 

16 production of evidence in the same manner as 

17 authorized under subparagraph (E); 

18 ‘‘(G) to pay witnesses fees and mileage in 

19 accordance with section 364(d); and 

20 ‘‘(H) to make independent budget requests 

21 to Congress in accordance with section 362. 

22 ‘‘(b) ADMINISTRATION.—The Administration shall 

23 have the power— 

24 ‘‘(1) to initiate, defend, or appeal, through the 

25 general counsel, any civil action in the name of the 


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1 Administration to enforce the provisions of this Act 

2 and chapters 95 and 96 of the Internal Revenue 

3 Code of 1986; 

4 ‘‘(2) to assess civil penalties for violations of 

5 this Act and chapters 95 and 96 of the Internal 

6 Revenue Code of 1986; 

7 ‘‘(3) to issue cease-and-desist orders to prevent 

8 violations of this Act and chapters 95 and 96 of the 

9 Internal Revenue Code of 1986; 

10 ‘‘(4) to establish procedures and schedules for 

11 agency adjudication that ensure timely enforcement 

12 of this Act and chapters 95 and 96 of the Internal 

13 Revenue Code of 1986; 

14 ‘‘(5) to render advisory opinions under section 

15 363; 

16 ‘‘(6) to develop prescribed forms, and to make, 

17 amend, and repeal rules, pursuant to section 365; 

18 ‘‘(7) to establish procedures for alternative dis19 pute resolution of violations of this Act or of chap20 ters 95 or 96 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986; 

21 ‘‘(8) to conduct investigations and hearings ex22 peditiously, to encourage voluntary compliance, and 

23 to report apparent violations to the appropriate law 

24 enforcement authorities; and 


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1 ‘‘(9) to transmit to the President and to Con2 gress not later than June 1 of each year, a report 

3 which states in detail the activities of the Adminis4 tration in carrying out its duties under this Act, and 

5 which includes any recommendations for any legisla6 tive or other action the Administration considers ap7 propriate. 

8 ‘‘SEC. 362. INDEPENDENT BUDGET REQUESTS AND LEGIS9 LATIVE PROPOSALS. 

10 ‘‘(a) EXEMPTION FROM OMB OVERSIGHT.—When11 ever the Chair submits any budget estimate or request to 

12 the President or the Office of Management and Budget, 

13 the Chair shall concurrently transmit a copy of such esti14 mate or request to Congress. 

15 ‘‘(b) AUTHORITY TO MAKE INDEPENDENT LEGISLA16 TIVE RECOMMENDATIONS.—Whenever the Administration 

17 submits any legislative recommendation, testimony, or 

18 comments on legislation requested by Congress or by any 

19 Member of Congress, to the President or the Office of 

20 Management and Budget, the Administration shall con21 currently transmit a copy thereof to Congress or to the 

22 Member requesting the same. No officer or agency of the 

23 United States shall have any authority to require the Ad24 ministration to submit its legislative recommendations, 

25 testimony, or comments on legislation, to any office or 


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1 agency of the United States for approval, comments, or 

2 review, prior to the submission of such recommendations, 

3 testimony, or comments to Congress. 

4 ‘‘SEC. 363. ADVISORY OPINIONS. 

5 ‘‘(a) REQUESTS FOR ADVISORY OPINIONS.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days 

7 after the Administration receives from a person a 

8 complete written request concerning the application 

9 of this Act, chapter 95 or 96 of the Internal Rev10 enue Code of 1986, or a rule or regulation pre11 scribed by the Administration, with respect to a spe12 cific transaction or activity by the person, the Ad13 ministration shall render a written advisory opinion 

14 relating to such transaction or activity to the person. 

15 ‘‘(2) REQUESTS BY CANDIDATES.—If an advi16 sory opinion is requested by a candidate, or any au17 thorized committee of such candidate, during the 60- 

18 day period before any election for Federal office in19 volving the requesting party, the Administration 

20 shall render a written advisory opinion relating to 

21 such request not later than 20 days after the Ad22 ministration receives a complete written request. 

23 ‘‘(b) RULEMAKING REQUIRED.—Any rule of law 

24 which is not stated in this Act or in chapter 95 or 96 

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1 posed by the Administration only as a rule or regulation 

2 pursuant to procedures established in section 365. No 

3 opinion of an advisory nature may be issued by the Admin4 istration or any other officer or employee of the Adminis5 tration except in accordance with the provisions of this 

6 section. 

7 ‘‘(c) RELIANCE ON ADVISORY OPINIONS.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any advisory opinion ren9 dered by the Administration under subsection (a) 

10 may be relied upon by— 

11 ‘‘(A) any person involved in the specific 

12 transaction or activity with respect to which 

13 such advisory opinion is rendered; and 

14 ‘‘(B) any person involved in any specific 

15 transaction or activity which is indistinguish16 able in all its material aspects from the trans17 action or activity with respect to which such ad18 visory opinion is rendered. 

19 ‘‘(2) PROTECTION FROM LIABILITY.—Notwith20 standing any other provisions of law, any person 

21 who relies upon any provision or finding of an advi22 sory opinion in accordance with the provisions of 

23 paragraph (1) and who acts in good faith in accord24 ance with the provisions and findings of such advi25 sory opinion shall not, as a result of any such act, 


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1 be subject to any sanction provided by this Act or 

2 by chapter 95 or 96 of the Internal Revenue Code 

3 of 1986. 

4 ‘‘(d) NOTICE AND COMMENT.— 

5 ‘‘(1) PUBLICATION OF REQUESTS.—The Admin6 istration shall make public any request made under 

7 subsection (a) for an advisory opinion. 

8 ‘‘(2) OPPORTUNITY TO COMMENT.— 

9 ‘‘(A) WRITTEN COMMENTS.—Before ren10 dering an advisory opinion, the Administration 

11 shall accept written comments submitted by any 

12 interested party within the 10-day period fol13 lowing the date on which the request is made 

14 public. 

15 ‘‘(B) TESTIMONY.—To the extent that the 

16 Commission provides an opportunity for a per17 son requesting an advisory opinion under this 

18 section (or counsel for such person) to appear 

19 before the Commission to present testimony in 

20 support of the request, and the person (or coun21 sel) accepts such opportunity, the Commission 

22 shall provide a reasonable opportunity for an 

23 interested party who submitted written com24 ments under subparagraph (A) in response to 

25 the request (or counsel for such interested 


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1 party) to appear before the Commission to 

2 present testimony in response to the request. 

3 ‘‘(e) JUDICIAL REVIEW.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any person adversely af5 fected by an advisory opinion rendered by the Ad6 ministration may obtain judicial review of such advi7 sory opinion by filing a petition in the United States 

8 Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Cir9 cuit. 

10 ‘‘(2) SCOPE OF REVIEW.—For purposes of con11 ducting the judicial review described in paragraph 

12 (1), the provisions of section 706 of title 5, United 

13 States Code, shall apply. 

14 ‘‘SEC. 364. ISSUANCE AND ENFORCEMENT OF SUBPOENAS. 

15 ‘‘(a) ISSUANCE BY THE CHAIR.—If the Administra16 tion is conducting an investigation pursuant to section 371 

17 or 372, the Chair shall, on behalf of the Administration, 

18 have the power to require by subpoena the attendance and 

19 testimony of witnesses and the production of all documen20 tary evidence relating to the execution of the Administra21 tion’s duties. 

22 ‘‘(b) ISSUANCE BY AN ADMINISTRATIVE LAW

23 JUDGE.—Any administrative law judge presiding over an 

24 enforcement action pursuant to section 373 shall have the 

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1 mony of witnesses and the production of all documentary 

2 evidence relating to the administrative law judge’s duties. 

3 ‘‘(c) ISSUANCE AND ENFORCEMENT OF SUB4 POENAS.— 

5 ‘‘(1) ISSUANCE.—Subpoenas issued under sub6 section (a) or (b) shall bear the signature of the 

7 Chair or an administrative law judge, respectively, 

8 and shall be served by any person or class of persons 

9 designated by the Chair or administrative law judge 

10 for that purpose. 

11 ‘‘(2) ENFORCEMENT.—In the case of contu12 macy or failure to obey a subpoena issued under 

13 subsection (a) or (b), the Federal district court for 

14 the judicial district in which the subpoenaed person 

15 resides, is served, or may be found may issue an 

16 order requiring such person to appear at any des17 ignated place to testify or to produce documentary 

18 or other evidence. Any failure to obey the order of 

19 the court may be punished by the court as a con20 tempt of that court. 

21 ‘‘(d) WITNESS ALLOWANCES AND FEES.—Section 

22 1821 of title 28, United States Code, shall apply to wit23 nesses requested or subpoenaed to appear at any hearing 

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1 ances for witnesses shall be paid from funds available to 

2 pay the expenses of the Administration. 

3 ‘‘(e) JURISDICTION.—Subpoenas for witnesses who 

4 are required to attend a Federal district court may run 

5 into any other district. 

6 ‘‘SEC. 365. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY. 

7 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Administration may, pursu8 ant to the provisions of chapter 5 of title 5, United States 

9 Code, prescribe such rules and regulations as the Adminis10 tration deems necessary to carry out the provisions of this 

11 Act and chapters 95 and 96 of the Internal Revenue Code 

12 of 1986, including the authority to promulgate rules of 

13 practice and procedure for agency adjudications. 

14 ‘‘(b) AUTHORITY TO PROMULGATE INDEPENDENT

15 REGULATIONS.—Whenever the Administration promul16 gates any regulation, it shall not be required to submit 

17 such regulation for review or approval to the President 

18 or the Office of Management and Budget. 

19 ‘‘(c) CONDUCT OF ACTIVITIES.—The Administration 

20 shall prepare written rules for the conduct of its activities, 

21 including procedures for the conduct of enforcement ac22 tions under sections 371, 372, and 373. 

23 ‘‘(d) FORMS.— 

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administration shall 

25 prescribe forms necessary to implement this Act and 


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1 chapters 95 and 96 of the Internal Revenue Code of 

2 1986. 

3 ‘‘(2) PUBLIC PROTECTION.—Any forms pre4 scribed by the Administration under paragraph (1), 

5 and any information-gathering activities of the Ad6 ministration under this Act, shall not be subject to 

7 the provisions of section 3512 of title 44, United 

8 States Code. 

9 ‘‘(e) RELIANCE UPON RULES AND REGULATIONS.— 

10 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any person 

11 who relies upon any rule or regulation prescribed by the 

12 Administration in accordance with the provisions of this 

13 section and who acts in good faith in accordance with such 

14 rule or regulation shall not, as a result of such act, be 

15 subject to any sanction provided by this Act or by chapter 

16 95 or 96 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. 

17 ‘‘(f) CONSULTATION WITH IRS.—In prescribing 

18 rules, regulations, and forms under this section, the Ad19 ministration and the Secretary of the Treasury shall con20 sult and work together to promulgate rules, regulations, 

21 and forms which are mutually consistent. The Administra22 tion shall report to Congress annually on the steps it has 

23 taken to comply with this subsection. 

24 ‘‘(g) JUDICIAL REVIEW.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any person adversely af2 fected by a rule, regulation, or form promulgated by 

3 the Administration may obtain judicial review of 

4 such rule, regulation, or form by filing a petition in 

5 the United States Court of Appeals for the District 

6 of Columbia Circuit. 

7 ‘‘(2) SCOPE OF REVIEW.—For purposes of con8 ducting the judicial review described in paragraph 

9 (1), the provisions of section 706 of title 5, United 

10 States Code, shall apply. 

11 ‘‘(h) RULE AND REGULATION DEFINED.—In this 

12 Act, the terms ‘rule’ and ‘regulation’ mean a provision or 

13 series of interrelated provisions stating a single, separable 

14 rule of law. 

15 ‘‘SEC. 366. LITIGATION AUTHORITY. 

16 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding sections 516 

17 and 518 of title 28, United States Code, and section 3106 

18 of title 5, United States Code, the Administration is au19 thorized to bring, appear in, defend against, and appeal 

20 any action instituted under this Act or chapter 95 or 96 

21 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, in any court ei22 ther— 

23 ‘‘(1) by attorneys employed by the Administra24 tion; or 


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1 ‘‘(2) by counsel whom it may appoint, on a tem2 porary basis as may be necessary for such purpose, 

3 without regard to the provisions of title 5, United 

4 States Code, governing appointments in the competi5 tive service, and whose compensation it may fix 

6 without regard to the provisions of chapter 51 and 

7 subchapter III of chapter 53 of such title. 

8 ‘‘(b) COMPENSATION OF APPOINTED COUNSEL.— 

9 The compensation of counsel appointed on a temporary 

10 basis under subsection (a)(2) shall be paid out of any 

11 funds otherwise available to pay the compensation of em12 ployees of the Administration. 

13 ‘‘(c) INDEPENDENCE FROM ATTORNEY GENERAL.— 

14 In pursuing an action under this section, the Administra15 tion may act independently of the Attorney General. 

16 ‘‘SEC. 367. AVAILABILITY OF REPORTS. 

17 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Administration shall— 

18 ‘‘(1) prepare, publish, and furnish to all persons 

19 required to file reports and statements under this 

20 Act a manual recommending uniform methods of 

21 bookkeeping and reporting; 

22 ‘‘(2) develop a filing, coding, and cross-indexing 

23 system consistent with the purposes of this Act; 

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1 ments filed with the Administration, make them 

2 available for public inspection, and copying, at the 

3 expense of the person requesting such copying, ex4 cept that any information copied from such reports 

5 or statements may not be sold or used by any person 

6 for the purpose of soliciting contributions or for 

7 commercial purposes, other than using the name and 

8 address of any political committee to solicit contribu9 tions from such committee; 

10 ‘‘(4) keep such designations, reports, and state11 ments for a period of 10 years from the date of re12 ceipt and maintain computerized records of such 

13 designations, reports, and statements thereafter; 

14 ‘‘(5)(A) compile and maintain a cumulative 

15 index of designations, reports, and statements filed 

16 under this Act, publish the index at regular inter17 vals, and make the index available for purchase di18 rectly or by mail; 

19 ‘‘(B) compile, maintain, and revise a separate 

20 cumulative index of reports and statements filed by 

21 multicandidate committees, including in such index a 

22 list of multicandidate committees; and 

23 ‘‘(C) compile and maintain a list of multi24 candidate committees, which shall be revised and 

25 made available monthly; 


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1 ‘‘(6) prepare and publish periodically lists of 

2 authorized committees which fail to file reports as 

3 required by this Act; and 

4 ‘‘(7) serve as a national clearinghouse for the 

5 compilation of information and review of procedures 

6 with respect to the administration of Federal elec7 tions. 

8 ‘‘(b) PSEUDONYMS.—For purposes of subsection 

9 (a)(3), a political committee may submit 10 pseudonyms 

10 on each report filed in order to protect against the illegal 

11 use of names and addresses of contributors, but only if 

12 such committee attaches a list of such pseudonyms to the 

13 appropriate report. The Administration shall exclude these 

14 lists from the public record. 

15 ‘‘(c) CONTRACTS.—The Administration may enter 

16 into contracts for the purpose of performing the duties 

17 described in subsection (a). 

18 ‘‘(d) AVAILABILITY OF REPORTS.—Reports or other 

19 information described in subsection (a) shall be available 

20 to the public, except that— 

21 ‘‘(1) copies shall be made available without cost, 

22 upon request, to agencies and branches of the Fed23 eral Government; and 

24 ‘‘(2) information made available as a result of 

25 the application of paragraph (7) of such subsection 


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1 shall be made available to the public only upon the 

2 payment of the cost thereof. 

3 ‘‘SEC. 368. AUDITS AND FIELD EXAMINATIONS. 

4 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Administration may, in ac5 cordance with the provisions of this section, conduct audits 

6 and field investigations of any political committee required 

7 to file a report under section 304. 

8 ‘‘(b) PRIORITY.—All audits and field investigations 

9 concerning the verification for, and receipt and use of, any 

10 payments received by a candidate or committee under 

11 chapter 95 or 96 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 

12 shall be given priority. 

13 ‘‘(c) AUDITS AND FIELD EXAMINATIONS WHERE

14 THRESHOLDS NOT MET.— 

15 ‘‘(1) INTERNAL REVIEW.—The Administration 

16 shall conduct an internal review of reports filed by 

17 selected committees to determine if the reports filed 

18 by a particular committee meet the threshold re19 quirements for substantial compliance with the Act. 

20 Such thresholds for compliance shall be established 

21 by the Administration. 

22 ‘‘(2) AUDITS AND FIELD EXAMINATIONS.—The 

23 Administration may vote to conduct an audit and 

24 field investigation of any committee which it deter25 mines under paragraph (1) does not meet the 


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1 threshold requirements established by the Adminis2 tration. Such audits shall be commenced within 30 

3 days of such vote, except that any audit under the 

4 provisions of this subsection of an authorized com5 mittee of a candidate shall be commenced within 6 

6 months of the election for which such committee is 

7 authorized. 

8 ‘‘(d) RANDOM AUDITS.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In addition to any audits 

10 conducted under subsection (c), the Administration 

11 may, subject to paragraph (2), conduct audits of any 

12 committee selected at random to ensure compliance 

13 with this Act. The selection of any committee under 

14 this paragraph shall be based on standards and pro15 cedures adopted by the Administration, except that 

16 in any calendar year such audits may be initiated 

17 against no more than 3 percent of all authorized 

18 candidate campaign committees. 

19 ‘‘(2) APPLICABLE RULES.— 

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If the Administration 

21 selects a committee for audit under paragraph 

22 (1), the Administration shall promptly notify 

23 the committee of the selection and commence 

24 the audit within 30 days of the selection. 


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1 ‘‘(B) SPECIAL RULES FOR AUTHORIZED

2 COMMITTEES.—If the committee selected under 

3 paragraph (1) is an authorized committee of a 

4 candidate, the audit— 

5 ‘‘(i) shall be commenced and actively 

6 undertaken within 6 months of the election 

7 for which the committee is authorized; and 

8 ‘‘(ii) may examine compliance with 

9 this Act only with respect to that election. 

10 ‘‘(3) EXCEPTION.—This subsection shall not 

11 apply to an authorized committee of a candidate for 

12 President or Vice President subject to audit under 

13 section 9007 or 9038 of the Internal Revenue Code 

14 of 1986. 

15 ‘‘SEC. 369. CONGRESSIONAL OVERSIGHT. 

16 ‘‘Nothing in this Act shall be construed to limit, re17 strict, or diminish any investigatory, informational, over18 sight, supervisory, or disciplinary authority or function of 

19 Congress or any committee of Congress with respect to 

20 elections for Federal office. 

21 ‘‘CHAPTER 3—ENFORCEMENT 

22 ‘‘SEC. 371. INITIATION OF ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS BY AD23 MINISTRATION. 

24 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Administration may initiate 

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1 ducting an investigation, the Administration finds reason2 able grounds to believe that a violation of this Act or of 

3 chapter 95 or 96 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 

4 has occurred or is about to occur. 

5 ‘‘(b) BASIS FOR FINDINGS.—The Administration 

6 may make a finding under subsection (a) based on any 

7 information available to the Administration, including the 

8 filing of a complaint under section 372. 

9 ‘‘(c) NOTICE AND OPPORTUNITY TO DEMONSTRATE

10 NO VIOLATION.—Prior to initiating an enforcement action 

11 under subsection (a), the Administration shall give any 

12 person under investigation notice and the opportunity to 

13 demonstrate that there are no reasonable grounds to be14 lieve a violation has occurred or is about to occur, but the 

15 Administration’s decision on such matter shall not be sub16 ject to judicial review. 

17 ‘‘SEC. 372. COMPLAINT TO INITIATE ENFORCEMENT AC18 TION. 

19 ‘‘(a) FILING OF COMPLAINT.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any person may file a com21 plaint with the Administration alleging a violation of 

22 this Act or of chapter 95 or 96 of the Internal Rev23 enue Code of 1986. 

24 ‘‘(2) TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS.—A complaint 

25 filed under paragraph (1) shall be— 


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1 ‘‘(A) in writing, signed, and sworn to by 

2 the person filing such complaint; 

3 ‘‘(B) notarized; and 

4 ‘‘(C) made under penalty of perjury and 

5 subject to the provisions of section 1001 of title 

6 18, United States Code. 

7 ‘‘(3) ACTION BY THE ADMINISTRATION.—Sub8 ject to paragraph (4), based on the allegations in a 

9 complaint filed under paragraph (1), and such inves10 tigations the Administration deems necessary and 

11 appropriate, the Administration may— 

12 ‘‘(A) initiate a civil enforcement action 

13 under section 373 if the Administration finds 

14 reasonable grounds to believe a violation has oc15 curred or is about to occur; or 

16 ‘‘(B) dismiss the complaint. 

17 ‘‘(4) PROHIBITION OF ANONYMOUS COM18 PLAINTS.—The Commission may not conduct any 

19 investigation or take any other action under this sec20 tion solely on the basis of a complaint of a person 

21 whose identity is not disclosed to the Administration. 

22 ‘‘(5) RECOVERY OF COSTS.—Any person who 

23 has filed a complaint under paragraph (1) shall be 

24 entitled to recover from the Administration up to 

25 $1,000 of the costs incurred in preparing and filing 


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1 the complaint if, based on the complaint, the Admin2 istration— 

3 ‘‘(A) makes a finding under section 373(a) 

4 that a person has violated (or is about to vio5 late) the Act; or 

6 ‘‘(B) enters into a conciliation agreement 

7 with a person under section 373(c). 

8 ‘‘(b) NOTICE AND OPPORTUNITY TO DEMONSTRATE

9 NO VIOLATION.—Prior to initiating an enforcement action 

10 under subsection (a)(3)(A), the Administration shall give 

11 any person named in a complaint notice and an oppor12 tunity to demonstrate that there are no reasonable 

13 grounds to believe a violation described in such subsection 

14 has occurred or is about to occur, but the Administration’s 

15 determination under subsection (a)(3) shall not be subject 

16 to judicial review in an action brought by such person. 

17 ‘‘(c) FAILURE BY THE ADMINISTRATION TO TAKE

18 TIMELY ACTION.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If the Administration— 

20 ‘‘(A) dismisses a complaint filed under 

21 subsection (a); or 

22 ‘‘(B) fails to initiate a civil enforcement ac23 tion under section 373 within 180 days of the 

24 filing of such a complaint, 


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1 the person filing the complaint under subsection (a) 

2 may seek judicial review of the Administration’s dis3 missal, or failure to act, in Federal district court in 

4 the District of Columbia or in the district in which 

5 such person resides. 

6 ‘‘(2) SCOPE OF REVIEW.—The court shall re7 view the Administration’s dismissal of the complaint 

8 or failure to act in accordance with the provisions of 

9 section 706 of title 5, United States Code. 

10 ‘‘(3) COURT ORDERS.—The court may order 

11 the Administration to initiate an enforcement action 

12 or to conduct a further investigation of the com13 plaint within a time set by the court. 

14 ‘‘SEC. 373. CIVIL ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS. 

15 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Administration shall have 

16 the authority to impose a civil monetary penalty under sec17 tion 375, issue a cease-and-desist order under section 376, 

18 or do both, if the Administration finds, by an order made 

19 on the record after notice and an opportunity for hearing 

20 before an administrative law judge pursuant to subchapter 

21 II of chapter 5 of title 5, United States Code, that a per22 son has violated (or, in the case of a cease-and-desist 

23 order, has violated or is about to violate) this Act or chap24 ter 95 or 96 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. The 


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1 general counsel shall represent the Administration in any 

2 proceeding before an administrative law judge. 

3 ‘‘(b) NOTICE AND REQUEST FOR HEARING.— 

4 ‘‘(1) NOTICE.—If the Administration finds 

5 under section 371 or 372 that there are reasonable 

6 grounds to believe a violation has occurred or is 

7 about to occur, the Administration shall serve writ8 ten notice of the charges on each respondent, and 

9 shall conduct such further investigation as the Ad10 ministration deems necessary and appropriate. 

11 ‘‘(2) REQUEST FOR HEARING.—Each respond12 ent shall have an opportunity to request, prior to the 

13 date that is 30 days after the date on which the no14 tice is received, a hearing on the charges before an 

15 administrative law judge. 

16 ‘‘(3) EFFECT OF FAILURE TO REQUEST A

17 HEARING.—If no hearing is requested, the Adminis18 tration shall make a finding on the charges, and 

19 shall issue whatever relief the Administration deems 

20 appropriate under sections 375 and 376. 

21 ‘‘(c) CONCILIATION.— 

22 ‘‘(1) PROCEDURES FOR ENTERING INTO CON23 CILIATION AGREEMENTS.— 

24 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If the respondent re25 quests a hearing under subsection (b)(2), the 


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1 Administration shall attempt, for a period that 

2 does not exceed 60 days (or 15 days if the hear3 ing is requested within 60 days of an election), 

4 to correct or prevent such violation by informal 

5 methods of conference, conciliation, and persua6 sion, and to enter into a conciliation agreement 

7 with the respondent. In the case of a hearing 

8 that is requested at a time other than within 60 

9 days of an election, the period for conciliation 

10 shall not be less than 30 days unless an agree11 ment is reached before then. 

12 ‘‘(B) INCLUSION OF CIVIL MONETARY PEN13 ALTIES.—A conciliation agreement may include 

14 a requirement that the person involved in such 

15 conciliation shall pay a civil monetary penalty 

16 that does not exceed the amounts set forth in 

17 subsection (a) of section 375 or, in the case of 

18 a knowing and willful violation, the amounts set 

19 forth in subsection (b) of such section. The con20 ciliation agreement may also include the re21 quirement that the person involved consent to 

22 the terms of a cease-and-desist order, as pro23 vided in section 376. 

24 ‘‘(C) REPRESENTATION BY GENERAL

25 COUNSEL.—The general counsel shall represent 


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1 the Administration in any negotiations for a 

2 conciliation agreement and any such concilia3 tion agreement shall be subject to the approval 

4 of the Administration. 

5 ‘‘(D) BAR TO FURTHER ACTION.—A con6 ciliation agreement, unless violated, is a com7 plete bar to any further action by the Adminis8 tration. 

9 ‘‘(2) CONFIDENTIALITY.—No action by the Ad10 ministration or any other person, and no informa11 tion derived in connection with any conciliation at12 tempt by the Administration may be made public by 

13 the Administration, without the written consent of 

14 the respondent, except that if a conciliation agree15 ment is agreed upon and signed by the Administra16 tion and the respondent, the Administration shall 

17 make such agreement public. 

18 ‘‘(3) VIOLATION OF CONCILIATION AGREE19 MENT.—In any case in which a person has entered 

20 into a conciliation agreement with the Administra21 tion under paragraph (1), the Administration may 

22 institute a civil action for relief if the Administration 

23 believes the person has violated any provision of 

24 such conciliation agreement. Such civil action shall 

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1 trict in which the respondent resides or has its prin2 cipal place of business, or for the District of Colum3 bia. Such court shall have jurisdiction to issue any 

4 relief appropriate under sections 375 and 376. For 

5 the Administration to obtain relief in any such ac6 tion, the Administration need only establish that the 

7 person has violated, in whole or in part, any require8 ment of such conciliation agreement. 

9 ‘‘(d) HEARING.—At the request of any respondent, 

10 a hearing on the charges served under subsection (b)(1) 

11 shall be conducted before an administrative law judge, who 

12 shall make such findings of fact and conclusions of law 

13 as the administrative law judge deems appropriate. The 

14 administrative law judge shall also have the authority to 

15 impose a civil monetary penalty on the respondent, issue 

16 a cease-and-desist order, or both. The decision of the ad17 ministrative law judge shall constitute final agency action 

18 unless an appeal is taken under subsection (e). 

19 ‘‘(e) APPEAL TO ADMINISTRATION.— 

20 ‘‘(1) RIGHT TO APPEAL.—The general counsel 

21 and each respondent shall each have a right to ap22 peal to the Administration from any final determina23 tion made by an administrative law judge. 

24 ‘‘(2) REVIEW OF ALJ DETERMINATIONS.—In 

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1 ministration shall review the determination of the 

2 administrative law judge to determine whether— 

3 ‘‘(A) a finding of material fact is not sup4 ported by substantial evidence; 

5 ‘‘(B) a conclusion of law is erroneous; 

6 ‘‘(C) the determination of the administra7 tive law judge is contrary to law or to the duly 

8 promulgated rules or decisions of the Adminis9 tration; 

10 ‘‘(D) a prejudicial error of procedure was 

11 committed; or 

12 ‘‘(E) the decision or the relief ordered is 

13 otherwise arbitrary, capricious, or an abuse of 

14 discretion. 

15 ‘‘(3) FINAL AGENCY ACTION.—The decision of 

16 the Administration shall constitute final agency ac17 tion. 

18 ‘‘(f) JUDICIAL REVIEW.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any party aggrieved by a 

20 final agency action and who has exhausted all ad21 ministrative remedies, including requesting a hearing 

22 before an administrative law judge and appealing an 

23 adverse decision of an administrative law judge to 

24 the Administration, may obtain judicial review of 

25 such action in the United States Court of Appeals 


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1 for any circuit wherein such person resides or has its 

2 principal place of business, or in the United States 

3 Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Cir4 cuit. 

5 ‘‘(2) SCOPE OF REVIEW.—For purposes of con6 ducting the judicial review described in paragraph 

7 (1), the provisions of section 706 of title 5, United 

8 States Code, shall apply. 

9 ‘‘(3) PETITION FOR JUDICIAL REVIEW.—To ob10 tain judicial review under paragraph (1), an ag11 grieved party described in such paragraph shall file 

12 a petition with the court during the 30-day period 

13 beginning on the date on which the order was 

14 issued. A copy of such petition shall be transmitted 

15 forthwith by the clerk of the court to the Adminis16 tration, and thereupon the Administration shall file 

17 in the court the record upon which the order com18 plained of was entered, as provided in section 2112 

19 of title 28, United States Code. 

20 ‘‘SEC. 374. NOTIFICATION OF NONFILERS. 

21 ‘‘(a) NOTIFICATION.—Before taking any action under 

22 section 373 against any person who has failed to file a 

23 report required under section 304(a)(2)(A)(iii) for the cal24 endar quarter immediately preceding the election involved, 

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1 istration shall notify the person of such failure to file the 

2 required reports. 

3 ‘‘(b) OPPORTUNITY FOR RESPONSE.—If a satisfac4 tory response is not received within 4 business days after 

5 the date of notification, the Administration shall, pursuant 

6 to section 367(a)(6), publish before the election the name 

7 of the person and the report or reports such person has 

8 failed to file. 

9 ‘‘SEC. 375. CIVIL MONETARY PENALTIES. 

10 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Any person who violates this 

11 Act, or chapter 95 or 96 of the Internal Revenue Code 

12 of 1986, shall be liable to the United States for a civil 

13 monetary penalty for each violation which does not exceed 

14 the greater of $5,000 or an amount equal to any contribu15 tion or expenditure involved in such violation. Such pen16 alty shall be imposed by the Administration pursuant to 

17 section 373. 

18 ‘‘(b) KNOWING AND WILLFUL VIOLATIONS.—Any 

19 person who commits a knowing and willful violation of this 

20 Act, or of chapter 95 or 96 of the Internal Revenue Code 

21 of 1986, shall be liable to the United States for a civil 

22 monetary penalty for each violation which does not exceed 

23 the greater of $10,000 or an amount equal to 200 percent 

24 of any contribution or expenditure involved in such viola25 tion (or, in the case of a violation of section 320, which 


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1 is not less than 300 percent of the amount involved in 

2 the violation and is not more than the greater of $50,000 

3 or 1,000 percent of the amount involved in the violation). 

4 Such penalty shall be imposed by the Administration pur5 suant to section 373. 

6 ‘‘(c) DETERMINATION OF CIVIL MONETARY PEN7 ALTY.—In determining the amount of a civil monetary 

8 penalty under this section with respect to a violation de9 scribed in this section, the Administration or an adminis10 trative law judge shall take into account the nature, cir11 cumstances, extent, and gravity of the violation and, with 

12 respect to the violator, any prior violation, the degree of 

13 culpability, and such other matters as justice may require. 

14 ‘‘(d) REFERRAL TO ATTORNEY GENERAL.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If the Administration de16 termines that a knowing and willful violation of this 

17 Act which is subject to section 379, or a knowing 

18 and willful violation of chapter 95 or 96 of the Inter19 nal Revenue Code of 1986, has occurred or is about 

20 to occur, the Administration may refer such appar21 ent violation to the Attorney General without regard 

22 to any limitations set forth under section 373. 

23 ‘‘(2) REPORTING BY THE ATTORNEY GEN24 ERAL.—Whenever the Administration refers an ap25 parent violation to the Attorney General, the AttorVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:13 Jun 18, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00092 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5494.IH H5494

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1 ney General shall report to the Administration any 

2 action taken by the Attorney General regarding the 

3 apparent violation. Each report shall be transmitted 

4 within 60 days after the date the Administration re5 fers an apparent violation, and every 30 days there6 after until the final disposition of the apparent viola7 tion. 

8 ‘‘SEC. 376. CEASE-AND-DESIST ORDERS. 

9 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—If the Administration finds, 

10 after notice and opportunity for hearing under section 

11 373, that any person is violating, has violated, or is about 

12 to violate any provision of this Act, or chapter 95 or 96 

13 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, or any rule or regu14 lation thereunder, the Administration may publish any 

15 findings and enter an order requiring such person, or any 

16 other person that is, was, or would be a cause of the viola17 tion due to an act or omission the person knew or should 

18 have known would contribute to such violation, to cease 

19 and desist from committing or causing such violation and 

20 any future violation of the same provision, rule, or regula21 tion. Such order may, in addition to requiring a person 

22 to cease and desist from committing or causing a violation, 

23 require such person to comply (or to take steps to effect 

24 compliance) with such provision, rule, or regulation, upon 


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1 such terms and conditions and within such time as the 

2 Administration may specify in such order. 

3 ‘‘(b) TEMPORARY ORDER.—Whenever the Adminis4 tration determines that an alleged violation or threatened 

5 violation specified in the notice initiating a civil enforce6 ment action under section 373, or the continuation there7 of, is likely to result in violation of this Act, or of chapter 

8 95 or 96 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, and sub9 stantial harm to the public interest, the Administration 

10 may apply to the Federal district court for the district in 

11 which the respondent resides or has its principal place of 

12 business, in which the alleged or threatened violation oc13 curred or is about to occur, or for the District of Colum14 bia, for a temporary restraining order or a preliminary 

15 injunction requiring the respondent to cease and desist 

16 from the violation or threatened violation and to take such 

17 action to prevent the violation or threatened violation. The 

18 Administration may apply for such order without regard 

19 to any limitation under section 373. 

20 ‘‘SEC. 377. COLLECTION. 

21 ‘‘If any person fails to pay an assessment of a civil 

22 penalty— 

23 ‘‘(1) after the order making the assessment has 

24 become a final order and such person has not timely 

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1 cordance with section 373(f)(3) or if the order of the 

2 Administration is upheld after judicial review; or 

3 ‘‘(2) after a court in an action brought under 

4 section 373(c)(3) has entered a final judgment no 

5 longer subject to appeal in favor of the Administra6 tion, 

7 the Attorney General shall recover the amount assessed 

8 (plus interest at currently prevailing rates from the date 

9 of the expiration of the 30-day period referred to in section 

10 373(f)(3) or the date of such final judgment, as the case 

11 may be) in an action brought in any appropriate district 

12 court of the United States. In such an action, the validity, 

13 amount, and appropriateness of such penalty shall not be 

14 subject to review. 

15 ‘‘SEC. 378. CONFIDENTIALITY. 

16 ‘‘(a) PRIOR TO A FINDING OF REASONABLE

17 GROUNDS.—Any proceedings conducted by the Adminis18 tration prior to a finding that there are reasonable 

19 grounds to believe a violation of the law has occurred or 

20 is about to occur, including any investigation pursuant to 

21 section 371 or pursuant to a complaint filed under section 

22 372, shall be confidential and none of the Administration’s 

23 records concerning the complaint shall be made public, ex24 cept that the person filing a complaint pursuant to section 

25 372 is permitted to make such complaint public. 


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1 ‘‘(b) AFTER A FINDING OF REASONABLE

2 GROUNDS.—Except as provided in subsection (d), if the 

3 Administration makes a finding pursuant to section 371 

4 or 372 that there are reasonable grounds to believe that 

5 a violation of law has occurred or is about to occur— 

6 ‘‘(1) the finding of the Administration as well 

7 as any complaint filed under section 372, any notice 

8 of charges, and any answer or similar documents 

9 filed with the Administration shall be made public; 

10 and 

11 ‘‘(2) all proceedings conducted before an admin12 istrative law judge under section 373, and all docu13 ments used during such proceedings, shall be made 

14 public. 

15 ‘‘(c) AFTER DISMISSAL OF A COMPLAINT OR CON16 CLUSION OF PROCEEDINGS FOLLOWING A FINDING OF

17 REASONABLE GROUNDS.—Subject to subsection (d), fol18 lowing the Administration’s dismissal of a complaint filed 

19 under section 372 or the termination of proceedings fol20 lowing a finding of reasonable grounds under section 371 

21 or 372, the Administration shall, not later than the date 

22 that is 30 days after such dismissal or termination, make 

23 public— 

24 ‘‘(1) the complaint, any notice of charges, and 

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1 ministration (unless such information has already 

2 been made public under subsection (b)(1)); 

3 ‘‘(2) any order setting forth the Administra4 tion’s final action on the complaint; 

5 ‘‘(3) any findings made by the Administration 

6 in relation to the action; and 

7 ‘‘(4) all documentary materials and testimony 

8 constituting the record on which the Administration 

9 relied in taking its actions. 

10 Subject to subsection (d), the affirmative disclosure re11 quirement of this subsection is without prejudice to the 

12 right of any person to request and obtain records relating 

13 to an investigation under section 552 of title 5, United 

14 States Code. 

15 ‘‘(d) CONFIDENTIALITY OF RECORDS AND PRO16 CEEDINGS OTHERWISE SUBJECT TO DISCLOSURE.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administration shall 

18 issue regulations providing for the protection of in19 formation the disclosure of which under subsection 

20 (b) or (c) would impair any person’s constitutionally 

21 protected right of privacy, freedom of speech, or 

22 freedom of association. The Administration shall 

23 also issue regulations addressing the application of 

24 exemptions from disclosure contained in section 552 

25 of title 5, United States Code, to records comprising 


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1 the Administration’s investigative files. Such regula2 tions shall consider the need to protect any person’s 

3 constitutionally protected rights to privacy, freedom 

4 of speech, and freedom of association, as well as the 

5 need to make information about the Administra6 tion’s activities and decisions widely accessible to the 

7 public. 

8 ‘‘(2) PETITION TO MAINTAIN CONFIDEN9 TIALITY.— 

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Any person who would 

11 be adversely affected by any disclosure of infor12 mation about the person made pursuant to sub13 section (b) or (c), or by the conduct in public 

14 of a hearing or other proceeding conducted pur15 suant to section 373, shall have the right to pe16 tition the Administration to maintain the con17 fidentiality of such information or such pro18 ceeding on the ground that such information 

19 falls within the scope of any exemption from 

20 disclosure contained in section 552 of title 5, 

21 United States Code, or is prohibited from dis22 closure under the Administration’s regulations, 

23 the Constitution, or any other provision of law. 

24 Upon the receipt of such petition, the Adminis25 tration shall make a prompt determination 


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1 whether the information should be kept con2 fidential, and shall withhold such information 

3 from disclosure pending this determination. The 

4 Administration shall notify the petitioner in 

5 writing of the determination. 

6 ‘‘(B) REGULATIONS.—The Administration 

7 shall prescribe regulations governing the consid8 eration of petitions under this paragraph. Such 

9 regulations shall provide for public notice of the 

10 pendancy of any petition filed under subpara11 graph (A) and the right of any interested party 

12 to respond to or comment on such petition. 

13 ‘‘(e) PENALTIES.—Any member or employee of the 

14 Administration, or any other person, who violates the pro15 visions of this section shall be fined not more than $2,000. 

16 Any such member, employee, or other person who know17 ingly and willfully violates the provisions of this section 

18 shall be fined not more than $5,000. 

19 ‘‘SEC. 379. CRIMINAL PENALTIES. 

20 ‘‘(a) KNOWING AND WILLFUL VIOLATIONS.—Any 

21 person who knowingly and willfully commits a violation of 

22 any provision of this Act that involves the making, receiv23 ing, or reporting of any contribution, donation, or expendi24 ture— 


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1 ‘‘(1) aggregating $25,000 or more during a cal2 endar year shall be fined under title 18, United 

3 States Code, or imprisoned for not more than 5 

4 years, or both; or 

5 ‘‘(2) aggregating $2,000 or more (but less than 

6 $25,000) during a calendar year shall be fined under 

7 such title, or imprisoned for not more than 1 year, 

8 or both. 

9 ‘‘(b) CONTRIBUTIONS OR EXPENDITURES BY NA10 TIONAL BANKS, CORPORATIONS, OR LABOR ORGANIZA11 TIONS.—In the case of a knowing and willful violation of 

12 section 316(b)(3), the penalties set forth in subsection (a) 

13 shall apply to each violation involving an amount aggre14 gating $250 or more during a calendar year. Such a viola15 tion of section 316(b)(3) may incorporate a violation of 

16 section 317(a), 320, or 321. 

17 ‘‘(c) FRAUDULENT MISREPRESENTATION OF CAM18 PAIGN AUTHORITY.—In the case of a knowing and willful 

19 violation of section 322, the penalties set forth in sub20 section (a) shall apply without regard to whether the mak21 ing, receiving, or reporting of a contribution or expendi22 ture of $1,000 or more is involved. 

23 ‘‘(d) PROHIBITION OF CONTRIBUTIONS IN NAME OF

24 ANOTHER.—Any person who knowingly and willfully com25 mits a violation of section 320 involving an amount aggreVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:13 Jun 18, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00100 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5494.IH H5494

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1 gating more than $10,000 during a calendar year shall 

2 be— 

3 ‘‘(1) imprisoned for not more than 2 years if 

4 the amount is less than $25,000 and subject to im5 prisonment under subsection (a) if the amount is 

6 $25,000 or more; 

7 ‘‘(2) fined not less than 300 percent of the 

8 amount involved in the violation and not more than 

9 the greater of— 

10 ‘‘(A) $50,000; or 

11 ‘‘(B) 1,000 percent of the amount involved 

12 in the violation; or 

13 ‘‘(3) both imprisoned as provided under para14 graph (1) and fined as provided under paragraph 

15 (2). 

16 ‘‘(e) EFFECT OF CONCILIATION AGREEMENTS.— 

17 ‘‘(1) EVIDENCE OF LACK OF KNOWLEDGE AND

18 INTENT.—In any criminal action brought for a viola19 tion of any provision of this Act or of chapter 95 or 

20 96 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, any de21 fendant may evidence their lack of knowledge or in22 tent to commit the alleged violation by introducing 

23 as evidence a conciliation agreement entered into be24 tween the defendant and the Administration under 

25 section 373(c)(1) which specifically deals with the 


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1 act or failure to act constituting such violation and 

2 which is still in effect. 

3 ‘‘(2) CONSIDERATION BY COURTS.—In any 

4 criminal action brought for a violation of any provi5 sion of this Act or of chapter 95 or 96 of the Inter6 nal Revenue Code of 1986, the court before which 

7 such action is brought shall take into account, in 

8 weighing the seriousness of the violation and in con9 sidering the appropriateness of the penalty to be im10 posed if the defendant is found guilty, whether— 

11 ‘‘(A) the specific act or failure to act which 

12 constitutes the violation for which the action 

13 was brought is the subject of a conciliation 

14 agreement entered into between the defendant 

15 and the Administration under section 373(c)(1); 

16 ‘‘(B) the conciliation agreement is in ef17 fect; and 

18 ‘‘(C) the defendant is, with respect to the 

19 violation involved, in compliance with the concil20 iation agreement. 

21 ‘‘SEC. 380. PERIOD OF LIMITATIONS. 

22 ‘‘No person shall be prosecuted, tried, or punished 

23 for any violation of this Act, unless the indictment is found 

24 or the information is instituted within 5 years after the 

25 date of the violation. 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 381. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

2 ‘‘For each fiscal year, there are authorized to be ap3 propriated to the Administration such sums as may be 

4 necessary for the purpose of carrying out its functions 

5 under this Act and under chapters 95 and 96 of the Inter6 nal Revenue Code of 1986.’’. 

7 SEC. 1312. EXECUTIVE SCHEDULE POSITIONS. 

8 (a) EXECUTIVE SCHEDULE LEVEL III POSITION.— 

9 Section 5314 of title 5, United States Code, is amended 

10 by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘Chair, Federal Election Administration.’’. 

12 (b) EXECUTIVE SCHEDULE LEVEL IV POSITIONS.— 

13 Section 5315 of title 5, United States Code, is amended 

14 by adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘Members (other than the Chair), Federal Elec16 tion Administration. 

17 ‘‘Inspector General, Federal Election Adminis18 tration.’’. 

19 SEC. 1313. GAO EXAMINATION OF ENFORCEMENT OF CAM20 PAIGN FINANCE LAWS BY THE DEPARTMENT 

21 OF JUSTICE. 

22 (a) EXAMINATION.—The Comptroller General of the 

23 United States shall conduct a thorough examination of the 

24 enforcement of the criminal provisions of the Federal 

25 Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30101 et seq.) 


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1 and chapters 95 and 96 of the Internal Revenue Code of 

2 1986 by the Attorney General. 

3 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

4 of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall 

5 submit to the Attorney General and Congress a report on 

6 the examination conducted under subsection (a) together 

7 with recommendations on how the Attorney General may 

8 improve the enforcement of the criminal provisions of the 

9 Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30101 

10 et seq.) and chapters 95 and 96 of the Internal Revenue 

11 Code of 1986, including recommendations on the re12 sources that the Attorney General would require to effec13 tively enforce such criminal provisions. 

14 SEC. 1314. GAO STUDY AND REPORT ON APPROPRIATE 

15 FUNDING LEVELS. 

16 (a) STUDY.—The Comptroller General of the United 

17 States shall conduct an ongoing study on the level of fund18 ing that constitutes an adequate level of resources for the 

19 Federal Election Administration to competently execute 

20 the responsibilities imposed on the Administration by this 

21 Act and the amendments made by this Act. 

22 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

23 of enactment of this Act, and once every 2 years there24 after, the Comptroller General shall submit to the Director 

25 of the Office of Management and Budget and Congress 


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1 a report on the study conducted under subsection (a) to2 gether with recommendations for such legislation and ad3 ministrative action as the Comptroller General determines 

4 to be appropriate. 

5 SEC. 1315. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS. 

6 (a) INDEPENDENT AGENCY.—Section 104 of title 5, 

7 United States Code, is amended— 

8 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘and’’ after 

9 the semicolon; 

10 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking the period and 

11 inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

12 (3) by adding at the end the following new 

13 paragraph: 

14 ‘‘(3) the Federal Election Administration.’’. 

15 (b) COVERAGE UNDER INSPECTOR GENERAL ACT.— 

16 Section 8G(a)(2) of the Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 

17 U.S.C. App.) is amended by striking ‘‘Federal Election 

18 Commission’’ and inserting ‘‘Federal Election Administra19 tion’’. 

20 (c) COVERAGE OF PERSONNEL UNDER HATCH

21 ACT.—Section 7323(b) of title 5, United States Code, is 

22 amended— 

23 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘Federal Elec24 tion Commission’’ and inserting ‘‘Federal Election 

25 Administration’’; and 


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1 (2) in paragraph (2)(B)(i)(I), by striking ‘‘Fed2 eral Election Commission’’ and inserting ‘‘Federal 

3 Election Administration’’. 

4 (d) REMOVAL OF EXCLUSION FROM SENIOR EXECU5 TIVE SERVICE.—Section 3132(a)(1) of title 5, United 

6 States Code, is amended by striking subparagraph (C) and 

7 by redesignating subparagraphs (D), (E), and (F) as sub8 paragraphs (C), (D), and (E), respectively. 

9 (e) SUBTITLE A.—Title III of the Federal Election 

10 Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30101 et seq.) is 

11 amended by inserting before section 301 the following: 

12 ‘‘Subtitle A—General Provisions’’. 

13 PART 2—TRANSITION PROVISIONS 

14 SEC. 1321. TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS OF FEDERAL ELEC15 TION COMMISSION. 

16 There are transferred to the Federal Election Admin17 istration established under section 351 of the Federal 

18 Election Campaign Act of 1971 (as added by section 

19 1311) all functions that the Federal Election Commission 

20 exercised before the date described in section 1326(a). 

21 SEC. 1322. TRANSFER OF PROPERTY, RECORDS, AND PER22 SONNEL. 

23 (a) PROPERTY AND RECORDS.—The contracts, liabil24 ities, records, property, and other assets and interests of, 

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1 tions of the Federal Election Commission which are trans2 ferred by this title are transferred to the Federal Election 

3 Administration. 

4 (b) PERSONNEL.—The personnel employed in con5 nection with the offices and functions of the Federal Elec6 tion Commission which are transferred by this title are 

7 transferred to the Federal Election Administration. 

8 SEC. 1323. REPEALS. 

9 (a) PROVISIONS OF THE FEDERAL ELECTION CAM10 PAIGN ACT OF 1971.—The following provisions of the 

11 Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 are repealed: 

12 (1) Section 306 (52 U.S.C. 30106). 

13 (2) Section 307 (52 U.S.C. 30107). 

14 (3) Section 308 (52 U.S.C. 30108). 

15 (4) Section 309 (52 U.S.C. 30109). 

16 (5) Section 310 (52 U.S.C. 30110). 

17 (6) Section 311 (52 U.S.C. 30111). 

18 (7) Section 314 (52 U.S.C. 30115). 

19 (8) Section 406 (52 U.S.C. 30145). 

20 (b) OTHER PROVISIONS.—Section 403 of the Bipar21 tisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 30110 

22 note) is repealed. 

23 SEC. 1324. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS. 

24 (a) Title III of the Federal Election Campaign Act 

25 of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30101 et seq.) is amended— 


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1 (1) in section 301, by striking paragraph (10) 

2 and inserting the following: 

3 ‘‘(10) The term ‘Administration’ means the Federal 

4 Election Administration.’’; 

5 (2) by striking ‘‘Federal Election Commission’’ 

6 and inserting ‘‘Administration’’ each place it ap7 pears; and 

8 (3) by striking ‘‘Commission’’ and inserting 

9 ‘‘Administration’’ each place it appears. 

10 (b) Section 3502(1)(B) of title 44, United States 

11 Code, is amended by striking ‘‘Federal Election Commis12 sion’’ and inserting ‘‘Federal Election Administration’’. 

13 (c) Section 207(j)(7)(B)(i) of title 18, United States 

14 Code, is amended by striking ‘‘the Federal Election Com15 mission by a former officer or employee of the Federal 

16 Election Commission’’ and inserting ‘‘the Federal Election 

17 Administration by a former officer or employee of the Fed18 eral Election Commission or the Federal Election Admin19 istration’’. 

20 (d) Section 103 of the Ethics in Government Act of 

21 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended— 

22 (1) in subsection (e), by striking ‘‘the Federal 

23 Election Commission’’ and inserting ‘‘the Federal 

24 Election Administration’’; and 


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1 (2) in subsection (k), by striking ‘‘the Federal 

2 Election Commission’’ and inserting ‘‘the Federal 

3 Election Administration’’. 

4 (e)(1) Section 9002(3) of the Internal Revenue Code 

5 of 1986 is amended to read as follows: 

6 ‘‘(3) The term ‘Administration’ means the Fed7 eral Election Administration established under sec8 tion 351 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 

9 1971.’’. 

10 (2) Chapter 95 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 

11 is amended by striking ‘‘Commission’’ and inserting ‘‘Ad12 ministration’’ each place it appears. 

13 (f)(1) Section 9032(3) of the Internal Revenue Code 

14 of 1986 is amended to read as follows: 

15 ‘‘(3) The term ‘Administration’ means the Fed16 eral Election Administration established under sec17 tion 351 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 

18 1971.’’. 

19 (2) Chapter 96 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 

20 is amended by striking ‘‘Commission’’ and inserting ‘‘Ad21 ministration’’ each place it appears. 

22 (g) Section 3(c) of the Voting Accessibility for the 

23 Elderly and Handicapped Act (52 U.S.C. 20102(c)) is 

24 amended— 

25 (1) in paragraph (1)— 


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1 (A) by striking ‘‘Federal Election Commis2 sion’’ and inserting ‘‘Federal Election Adminis3 tration’’; and 

4 (B) by striking ‘‘Commission’’ and insert5 ing ‘‘Administration’’; and 

6 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘Federal Elec7 tion Commission’’ and inserting ‘‘Federal Election 

8 Administration’’. 

9 (h) Section 6(a)(9) of the Lobbying Disclosure Act 

10 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1605(a)(9)) is amended by striking ‘‘the 

11 Federal Election Commission’’ and inserting ‘‘the Federal 

12 Election Administration’’. 

13 SEC. 1325. TREATMENT OF CERTAIN REGULATIONS. 

14 (a) REGULATIONS ON DISCLOSURE OF ELECTION15 EERING COMMUNICATIONS.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Effective on the date that is 

17 90 days after enactment of this Act, the regulations 

18 on disclosure of electioneering communications 

19 adopted by the Federal Election Commission and 

20 published in the Federal Register at page 419 of vol21 ume 68 on January 3, 2003, and at page 5057 of 

22 volume 68 on January 31, 2003, as amended at 

23 page 72913 of volume 72 on December 26, 2007, 

24 are repealed. 


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1 (2) NEW REGULATIONS.—Not later than 90 

2 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

3 Federal Election Commission shall promulgate new 

4 regulations on disclosure of electioneering commu5 nications under section 304(f) of the Federal Elec6 tion Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30104(f)). 

7 The regulations promulgated under this paragraph 

8 shall require the disclosure of the identification of all 

9 persons who make a contribution to a person who 

10 makes an electioneering communication and shall 

11 not limit such disclosure to only to persons who 

12 make contributions for the purpose of furthering 

13 electioneering communications, or any similar limita14 tion on the scope of such disclosure. 

15 (b) REGULATIONS ON SOLICITATIONS AT NON-FED16 ERAL FUNDRAISING EVENTS.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Effective on the date that is 

18 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

19 the regulations on participation by Federal can20 didates and officeholders at non-Federal fundraising 

21 events adopted by the Federal Election Commission 

22 and published in the Federal Register at page 24383 

23 of volume 75 on May 5, 2010, are repealed. 

24 (2) NEW REGULATIONS.—Not later than 90 

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1 tion Commission shall promulgate new regulations 

2 on participation by Federal candidates and office3 holders in non-Federal fundraising events. The regu4 lations shall limit the participation by Federal can5 didates and officeholders in such events to attend6 ing, speaking, or being a featured guest at a fund7 raising event for a State, district, or local committee 

8 of a political party, and shall not allow Federal can9 didates and officeholders to participate in or solicit 

10 funds at any other fundraising event where non-Fed11 eral funds are raised. 

12 SEC. 1326. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in section 

14 1325, this subtitle and the amendments made by this sub15 title shall take effect on the date that is 6 months after 

16 the date of enactment of this Act. 

17 (b) TERMINATION OF THE FEDERAL ELECTION COM18 MISSION.—Notwithstanding any other provision of, or 

19 amendment made by, this Act, the members of the Federal 

20 Election Commission shall be removed from office on the 

21 date described in subsection (a). 


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1 TITLE II—CLOSE THE 20- 

2 PERCENT LOBBYING LOOPHOLE 

3 SEC. 2001. LOBBYIST REGISTRATION REFORMS. 

4 Section 3(10) of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 

5 (2 U.S.C. 1602(10)) is amended by striking ‘‘contact, 

6 other than’’ and all that follows through ‘‘3-month pe7 riod.’’ and inserting ‘‘contact over a 2-year period.’’. 

8 TITLE III—REVOLVING DOOR 

9 REFORM 

10 SEC. 3001. SHORT TITLE. 

11 This title may be cited as the ‘‘Financial Services 

12 Conflict of Interest Act’’. 

13 SEC. 3002. RESTRICTIONS ON PRIVATE SECTOR PAYMENT 

14 FOR GOVERNMENT SERVICE. 

15 Section 209 of title 18, United States Code, is 

16 amended— 

17 (1) in subsection (a)— 

18 (A) by striking ‘‘any salary’’ and inserting 

19 ‘‘any bonus, salary’’; and 

20 (B) by striking ‘‘his services’’ and inserting 

21 ‘‘services rendered or to be rendered’’; and 

22 (2) in subsection (b)— 

23 (A) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ after ‘‘(b)’’; and 

24 (B) by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(2) For purposes of paragraph (1), a pension, retire2 ment, group life, health or accident insurance, profit-shar3 ing, stock bonus, or other employee welfare or benefit plan 

4 that makes payment of compensation contingent on ac5 cepting a position in the Federal Government shall not 

6 be considered bona fide. 

7 ‘‘(3) For purposes of paragraph (2), compensation in8 cludes a retention award or bonus, severance pay, and any 

9 other payment linked to future service in the Federal Gov10 ernment in any way.’’. 

11 SEC. 3003. REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO SLOWING THE RE12 VOLVING DOOR AMONG FINANCIAL SERVICES 

13 REGULATORS. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Ethics in Government Act of 

15 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended by adding at the end 

16 the following: 

17 ‘‘TITLE VI—SPECIAL REQUIRE18 MENTS FOR FINANCIAL SERV19 ICES REGULATORS 

20 ‘‘SEC. 601. DEFINITIONS. 

21 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In this title, the terms ‘des22 ignated agency ethics official’ and ‘executive branch’ have 

23 the meanings given such terms under section 109. 

24 ‘‘(b) OTHER DEFINITIONS.—In this title: 


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1 ‘‘(1) COVERED FINANCIAL SERVICES AGENCY.— 

2 The term ‘covered financial services agency’— 

3 ‘‘(A) means a primary financial regulatory 

4 agency (as defined in section 2 of the Dodd5 Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Pro6 tection Act (12 U.S.C. 5301)); and 

7 ‘‘(B) includes— 

8 ‘‘(i) the Board of Governors of the 

9 Federal Reserve System; 

10 ‘‘(ii) the Office of the Comptroller of 

11 the Currency; 

12 ‘‘(iii) the Federal Deposit Insurance 

13 Corporation; 

14 ‘‘(iv) the National Credit Union Ad15 ministration; 

16 ‘‘(v) the Securities and Exchange 

17 Commission; 

18 ‘‘(vi) the Federal Housing Finance 

19 Agency; 

20 ‘‘(vii) the Bureau of Consumer Finan21 cial Protection; 

22 ‘‘(viii) the Commodity Futures Trad23 ing Commission; and 

24 ‘‘(ix) the Department of the Treasury. 


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1 ‘‘(2) COVERED FINANCIAL SERVICES REGU2 LATOR.—The term ‘covered financial services regu3 lator’ means an officer or employee of a covered fi4 nancial services agency who occupies— 

5 ‘‘(A) a supervisory position classified above 

6 GS–15 of the General Schedule; 

7 ‘‘(B) in the case of a position not under 

8 the General Schedule, a supervisory position for 

9 which the rate of basic pay is not less than 120 

10 percent of the minimum rate of basic pay for 

11 GS–15 of the General Schedule; or 

12 ‘‘(C) any other supervisory position deter13 mined to be of equal classification by the Direc14 tor of the Office of Government Ethics. 

15 ‘‘(3) FORMER CLIENT.—The term ‘former cli16 ent’— 

17 ‘‘(A) means a person for whom a covered 

18 financial services regulator served personally as 

19 an agent, attorney, or consultant during the 2- 

20 year period ending on the date (after such serv21 ice) on which the covered financial services reg22 ulator begins service in the Federal Govern23 ment; and 

24 ‘‘(B) does not include— 


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1 ‘‘(i) instances in which the service 

2 provided was limited to a speech or similar 

3 appearance; or 

4 ‘‘(ii) a client of the former employer 

5 of the covered financial services regulator 

6 to whom the covered financial services reg7 ulator did not personally provide such serv8 ices. 

9 ‘‘(4) FORMER EMPLOYER.—The term ‘former 

10 employer’— 

11 ‘‘(A) means a person for whom a covered 

12 financial services regulator served as an em13 ployee, officer, director, trustee, or general part14 ner during the 2-year period ending on the date 

15 (after such service) on which the covered finan16 cial services regulator begins service in the Fed17 eral Government; and 

18 ‘‘(B) does not include— 

19 ‘‘(i) an entity in the Federal Govern20 ment, including an executive branch agen21 cy; 

22 ‘‘(ii) a State or local government; 

23 ‘‘(iii) the District of Columbia; 

24 ‘‘(iv) an Indian tribe, as defined in 

25 section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination 


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1 and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 

2 450b); or 

3 ‘‘(v) the government of a territory or 

4 possession of the United States. 

5 ‘‘SEC. 602. CONFLICT OF INTEREST AND ELIGIBILITY 

6 STANDARDS FOR FINANCIAL SERVICES REG7 ULATORS. 

8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A covered financial services reg9 ulator shall not make, participate in making, or in any 

10 way attempt to use the official position of the covered fi11 nancial services regulator to influence a particular matter 

12 that provides a direct and substantial pecuniary benefit 

13 for a former employer or former client of the covered fi14 nancial services regulator. 

15 ‘‘(b) RECUSAL.—A covered financial services regu16 lator shall recuse himself or herself from any official ac17 tion that would violate subsection (a). 

18 ‘‘(c) WAIVER.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The head of the covered fi20 nancial services agency employing a covered financial 

21 services regulator, in consultation with the Director 

22 of the Office of Government Ethics, may grant a 

23 written waiver of the restrictions under subsection 

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1 ered financial services agency certifies in writing 

2 that— 

3 ‘‘(A) the application of the restriction to 

4 the particular matter is inconsistent with the 

5 purposes of the restriction; or 

6 ‘‘(B) it is in the public interest to grant 

7 the waiver. 

8 ‘‘(2) PUBLICATION.—The Director of the Office 

9 of Government Ethics shall make each waiver under 

10 paragraph (1) publicly available on the Web site of 

11 the Office of Government Ethics. 

12 ‘‘SEC. 603. NEGOTIATING FUTURE PRIVATE SECTOR EM13 PLOYMENT. 

14 ‘‘(a) PROHIBITION.—Except as provided in sub15 section (c), and notwithstanding any other provision of 

16 law, a covered financial services regulator may not partici17 pate in any particular matter which involves, to the knowl18 edge of the covered financial services regulator, an indi19 vidual or entity with whom the covered financial services 

20 regulator is in negotiations of future employment or has 

21 an arrangement concerning prospective employment. 

22 ‘‘(b) DISCLOSURE OF EMPLOYMENT NEGOTIA23 TIONS.— 

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If a covered financial serv25 ices regulator begins any negotiations of future emVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:13 Jun 18, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00119 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5494.IH H5494

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1 ployment with another person, or an agent or inter2 mediary of another person, or other discussion or 

3 communication with another person, or an agent or 

4 intermediary of another person, mutually conducted 

5 with a view toward reaching an agreement regarding 

6 possible employment of the covered financial services 

7 regulator, the covered financial services regulator 

8 shall notify the designated agency ethics official of 

9 the covered financial services agency employing the 

10 covered financial services regulator regarding the ne11 gotiations, discussions, or communications. 

12 ‘‘(2) INFORMATION.—A designated agency eth13 ics official receiving notice under paragraph (1), 

14 after consultation with the Director of the Office of 

15 Government Ethics, shall inform the covered finan16 cial services regulator of any potential conflicts of 

17 interest involved in any negotiations, discussions, or 

18 communications with the other person and the pro19 hibitions applicable. 

20 ‘‘(c) WAIVERS ONLY WHEN EXCEPTIONAL CIR21 CUMSTANCES EXIST.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The head of a covered fi23 nancial services agency may only grant a waiver of 

24 subsection (a) if the head determines that excep25 tional circumstances exist. 


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1 ‘‘(2) REVIEW AND PUBLICATION.—For any 

2 waiver granted under paragraph (1), the Director of 

3 the Office of Government Ethics shall— 

4 ‘‘(A) review the circumstances relating to 

5 the waiver and the determination that excep6 tional circumstances exist; and 

7 ‘‘(B) make the waiver publicly available on 

8 the Web site of the Office of Government Eth9 ics, which shall include— 

10 ‘‘(i) the name of the private person or 

11 persons involved in the negotiations or ar12 rangement concerning prospective employ13 ment; and 

14 ‘‘(ii) the date on which the negotia15 tions or arrangements commenced. 

16 ‘‘(d) SCOPE.—For purposes of this section, the term 

17 ‘negotiations of future employment’ is not limited to dis18 cussions of specific terms or conditions of employment in 

19 a specific position. 

20 ‘‘SEC. 604. RECORDKEEPING. 

21 ‘‘The Director of the Office of Government Ethics 

22 shall— 

23 ‘‘(1) receive all employment histories, recusal 

24 and waiver records, and other disclosure records for 


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1 covered executive branch officials necessary for mon2 itoring compliance to this title; 

3 ‘‘(2) promulgate rules and regulations, in con4 sultation with the Director of the Office of Per5 sonnel Management and the Attorney General, for 

6 implementation of this title; 

7 ‘‘(3) provide guidance and assistance where ap8 propriate to facilitate compliance with this title; 

9 ‘‘(4) review and, where necessary, assist des10 ignated agency ethics officers in providing advice to 

11 covered financial services regulators regarding com12 pliance with this title; and 

13 ‘‘(5) if the Director determines that a violation 

14 of this title may have occurred, and in consultation 

15 with the designated agency ethics officer and the 

16 Counsel to the President, refer the compliance case 

17 to the United States Attorney for the District of Co18 lumbia for enforcement action. 

19 ‘‘SEC. 605. PENALTIES AND INJUNCTIONS. 

20 ‘‘(a) CRIMINAL PENALTIES.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any person who violates 

22 section 602 or 603 shall be fined under title 18, 

23 United States Code, imprisoned for not more than 

24 1 year, or both. 


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1 ‘‘(2) WILLFUL VIOLATIONS.—Any person who 

2 willfully violates section 602 or 603 shall be fined 

3 under title 18, United States Code, imprisoned for 

4 not more than 5 years, or both. 

5 ‘‘(b) CIVIL ENFORCEMENT.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General may 

7 bring a civil action in the appropriate United States 

8 district court against any person who violates, or 

9 who the Attorney General has reason to believe is 

10 engaging in conduct that violates, section 602 or 

11 603. 

12 ‘‘(2) CIVIL PENALTY.— 

13 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Upon proof by a pre14 ponderance of the evidence that a person vio15 lated section 602 or 603, the court shall impose 

16 a civil penalty of not more than the greater 

17 of— 

18 ‘‘(i) $100,000 for each violation; or 

19 ‘‘(ii) the amount of compensation the 

20 person received or was offered for the con21 duct constituting the violation. 

22 ‘‘(B) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—A civil 

23 penalty under this subsection shall be in addi24 tion to any other criminal or civil statutory, 


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1 common law, or administrative remedy, avail2 able to the United States or any other person. 

3 ‘‘(3) INJUNCTIVE RELIEF.— 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In a civil action 

5 brought under paragraph (1) against a person, 

6 the Attorney General may petition the court for 

7 an order prohibiting the person from engaging 

8 in conduct that violates section 602 or 603. The 

9 court may issue such an order if the court finds 

10 by a preponderance of the evidence that the 

11 conduct of the person violates section 602 or 

12 603. 

13 ‘‘(B) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—The filing 

14 of a petition seeking injunctive relief under this 

15 paragraph shall not preclude any other remedy 

16 which is available by law to the United States 

17 or any other person.’’. 

18 SEC. 3004. PROHIBITION OF PROCUREMENT OFFICERS AC19 CEPTING EMPLOYMENT FROM GOVERNMENT 

20 CONTRACTORS. 

21 (a) EXPANSION OF PROHIBITION ON ACCEPTANCE

22 BY FORMER OFFICIALS OF COMPENSATION FROM CON23 TRACTORS.—Section 2104 of title 41, United States Code, 

24 is amended— 

25 (1) in subsection (a)— 


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1 (A) in the matter preceding paragraph 

2 (1)— 

3 (i) by striking ‘‘or consultant’’ and in4 serting ‘‘consultant, lawyer, or lobbyist’’; 

5 and 

6 (ii) by striking ‘‘one year’’ and insert7 ing ‘‘2 years’’; and 

8 (B) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘person9 ally made for the Federal agency’’ and inserting 

10 ‘‘participated personally and substantially in’’; 

11 and 

12 (2) by amending subsection (b) to read as fol13 lows: 

14 ‘‘(b) PROHIBITION ON COMPENSATION FROM AFFILI15 ATES AND SUBCONTRACTORS.—A former official respon16 sible for a Government contract referred to in paragraph 

17 (1), (2), or (3) of subsection (a) shall be prohibited from 

18 accepting compensation for two years after awarding such 

19 contract from any division, affiliate, or subcontractor of 

20 the contractor.’’. 

21 (b) REQUIREMENT FOR PROCUREMENT OFFICERS

22 TO DISCLOSE JOB OFFERS MADE ON BEHALF OF REL23 ATIVES.—Section 2103(a) of title 41, United States Code, 

24 is amended in the matter preceding paragraph (1) by in25 serting after ‘‘that official’’ the following: ‘‘, or for a relVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:13 Jun 18, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00125 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5494.IH H5494

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1 ative (as defined in section 3110 of title 5) of that offi2 cial,’’. 

3 (c) REQUIREMENT ON AWARD OF GOVERNMENT

4 CONTRACTS TO FORMER EMPLOYERS.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 21 of title 41, 

6 United States Code, is amended by adding at the 

7 end the following: 

8 ‘‘§ 2108. Prohibition on involvement by certain 

9 former contractor employees in procure10 ments 

11 ‘‘An employee of the Federal Government may not 

12 be personally and substantially involved with any award 

13 of a contract to, or the administration of a contract award14 ed to, a contractor that is a former employer of the em15 ployee during the 2-year period beginning on the date on 

16 which the employee leaves the employment of the con17 tractor.’’. 

18 (2) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMEND19 MENT.—The table of sections for chapter 21 of title 

20 41, United States Code, is amended by adding at 

21 the end the following: 

‘‘2108. Prohibition on involvement by certain former contractor employees in 

procurements.’’. 

22 (d) REGULATIONS.—The Administrator for Federal 

23 Procurement Policy and the Director of the Office of Man24 agement and Budget shall— 


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1 (1) in consultation with the Director of the Of2 fice of Personnel Management and the Counsel to 

3 the President, promulgate regulations to carry out 

4 and ensure the enforcement of chapter 21 of title 

5 41, United States Code, as amended by this section; 

6 and 

7 (2) in consultation with designated agency eth8 ics officers (as defined under section 601 of the Eth9 ics in Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.)), 

10 monitor compliance with such chapter by individuals 

11 and agencies. 

12 SEC. 3005. REVOLVING DOOR RESTRICTIONS ON FINANCIAL 

13 SERVICES REGULATORS MOVING INTO THE 

14 PRIVATE SECTOR. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 207 of title 18, United 

16 States Code, is amended— 

17 (1) by redesignating subsections (e) through (l) 

18 as subsections (f) through (m), respectively; and 

19 (2) by inserting after subsection (d) the fol20 lowing: 

21 ‘‘(e) RESTRICTIONS ON EMPLOYMENT FOR FINAN22 CIAL SERVICES REGULATORS.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In addition to the restric24 tions set forth in subsections (a), (b), (c), and (d), 

25 a covered financial services regulator shall not— 


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1 ‘‘(A) during the 2-year period beginning on 

2 the date his or her employment as a covered fi3 nancial services regulator ceases— 

4 ‘‘(i) knowingly act as agent or attor5 ney for, or otherwise represent, any other 

6 person for compensation (except the 

7 United States) in any formal or informal 

8 appearance before; 

9 ‘‘(ii) with the intent to influence, 

10 make any oral or written communication 

11 on behalf of any other person (except the 

12 United States) to; or 

13 ‘‘(iii) knowingly aid, advise, or assist 

14 in— 

15 ‘‘(I) representing any other per16 son (except the United States) in any 

17 formal or informal appearance before; 

18 or 

19 ‘‘(II) making, with the intent to 

20 influence, any oral or written commu21 nication on behalf of any other person 

22 (except the United States) to, 

23 any court of the United States, or any officer 

24 or employee thereof, in connection with any ju25 dicial or other proceeding, which was actually 


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1 pending under his or her official responsibility 

2 as a covered financial services regulator during 

3 the 1-year period ending on the date his or her 

4 employment as a covered financial services reg5 ulator ceases or in which he or she participated 

6 personally and substantially as a covered finan7 cial services regulator; or 

8 ‘‘(B) during the 2-year period beginning on 

9 the date his or her employment as a covered fi10 nancial services regulator ceases— 

11 ‘‘(i) knowingly act as a lobbyist or 

12 agent for, or otherwise represent, any 

13 other person for compensation (except the 

14 United States) in any formal or informal 

15 appearance before; 

16 ‘‘(ii) with the intent to influence, 

17 make any oral or written communication 

18 or conduct any lobbying activities on behalf 

19 of any other person (except the United 

20 States) to; or 

21 ‘‘(iii) knowingly aid, advise, or assist 

22 in— 

23 ‘‘(I) representing any other per24 son (except the United States) in any 


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1 formal or informal appearance before; 

2 or 

3 ‘‘(II) making, with the intent to 

4 influence, any oral or written commu5 nication or conduct any lobbying ac6 tivities on behalf of any other person 

7 (except the United States) to, 

8 any department or agency of the executive 

9 branch or Congress (including any committee of 

10 Congress), or any officer or employee thereof, 

11 in connection with any matter which is pending 

12 before the department, agency, or Congress. 

13 ‘‘(2) PENALTY.—Any person who violates para14 graph (1) shall be punished as provided in section 

15 216. 

16 ‘‘(3) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection— 

17 ‘‘(A) the term ‘covered financial services 

18 regulator’ has the meaning given that term 

19 under section 601 of the Ethics in Government 

20 Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.); and 

21 ‘‘(B) the terms ‘lobbyist’ and ‘lobbying ac22 tivities’ have the meanings given such terms in 

23 section 3 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 

24 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1602).’’. 

25 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 


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1 (1) Section 103(a) of the Honest Leadership 

2 and Open Government Act of 2007 (2 U.S.C. 

3 4702(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘section 207(e)’’ 

4 each place it appears and inserting ‘‘section 207(f)’’. 

5 (2) Section 207 of title 18, United States Code, 

6 as amended by subsection (a), is amended— 

7 (A) in subsection (g), as so redesignated, 

8 by striking ‘‘or (e)’’ and inserting ‘‘or (f)’’; 

9 (B) in subsection (j)(1)(B), as so redesig10 nated, by striking ‘‘subsection (f)’’ and insert11 ing ‘‘subsection (g)’’; and 

12 (C) in subsection (k), as so redesignated— 

13 (i) in paragraph (2), in the matter 

14 preceding subparagraph (A), by striking 

15 ‘‘and (e)’’ and inserting ‘‘(e), and (f)’’; 

16 (ii) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘and 

17 (e)’’ and inserting ‘‘(e), and (f)’’; and 

18 (iii) in paragraph (7)— 

19 (I) in subparagraph (A), by strik20 ing ‘‘and (e)’’ and inserting ‘‘(e), and 

21 (f)’’; and 

22 (II) in subparagraph (B)(ii), in 

23 the matter preceding subclause (I), by 

24 striking ‘‘subsections (c), (d), or (e)’’ 


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1 and inserting ‘‘subsection (c), (d), (e), 

2 or (f)’’. 

3 (3) Section 141(b)(3) of the Trade Act of 1974 

4 (19 U.S.C. 2171(b)(3)) is amended by striking ‘‘sec5 tion 207(f)(3)’’ and inserting ‘‘207(g)(3)’’. 

6 (4) Section 7802(b)(3)(B) of the Internal Rev7 enue Code of 1986 is amended by striking ‘‘and (f) 

8 of section 207’’ and inserting ‘‘and (g) of section 

9 207’’. 

10 (5) Section 106(p)(6)(I)(ii) of title 49, United 

11 States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘and (f) of sec12 tion 207’’ and inserting ‘‘and (g) of section 207’’. 

13 SEC. 3006. RESTRICTIONS ON FEDERAL EXAMINERS AND 

14 SUPERVISORS OF FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 10(k) of the Federal De16 posit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1820(k)) is amended— 

17 (1) in the subsection heading— 

18 (A) by striking ‘‘One-Year’’ and inserting 

19 ‘‘Two-Year’’; and 

20 (B) by striking ‘‘Examiners’’ and inserting 

21 ‘‘Examiners and Supervisors’’; 

22 (2) in paragraph (1)— 

23 (A) by striking subparagraph (B) and in24 serting the following: 

25 ‘‘(B) served— 


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1 ‘‘(i) not less than 2 months during the 

2 final 12 months of the employment of the 

3 person with such agency or entity as the 

4 senior examiner (or a functionally equiva5 lent position) of a depository institution or 

6 depository institution holding company 

7 with continuing, broad responsibility for 

8 the examination (or inspection) of that de9 pository institution or depository institu10 tion holding company on behalf of the rel11 evant agency or Federal reserve bank; or 

12 ‘‘(ii) as a supervisor of the senior ex13 aminer with responsibility for managing 

14 the oversight of not more than 5 deposi15 tory institutions or depository institution 

16 holding companies on behalf of the rel17 evant agency or Federal reserve bank; 

18 and’’; and 

19 (B) in subparagraph (C)— 

20 (i) in the matter preceding clause (i), 

21 by striking ‘‘1 year’’ and inserting ‘‘2 

22 years’’; 

23 (ii) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘or’’ and 

24 inserting a semicolon; 


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1 (iii) in clause (ii), by striking the pe2 riod at the end and inserting a semicolon; 

3 and 

4 (iv) by adding at the end the fol5 lowing: 

6 ‘‘(iii) a business entity, firm, or asso7 ciation that represents the depository insti8 tution or depository institution holding 

9 company for compensation.’’; 

10 (3) by redesignating paragraphs (2) through 

11 (6) as paragraphs (3) through (7), respectively; 

12 (4) by inserting after paragraph (1) the fol13 lowing: 

14 ‘‘(2) APPLICATION OF PENALTIES FOR SUPER15 VISORS.—A supervisor of a large financial service 

16 regulatory agency or a supervisor of a senior exam17 iner shall be subject to the penalties described in 

18 paragraph (7) if the supervisor of the senior exam19 iner or the senior examiner knowingly accepts com20 pensation during the period beginning on the date 

21 on which the service of the supervisor or senior ex22 aminer is terminated and ending on the date that is 

23 2 years after the date on which the service on which 

24 the service of the supervisor or senior examiner is 

25 terminated— 


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1 ‘‘(A) as— 

2 ‘‘(i) an employee; 

3 ‘‘(ii) an officer; 

4 ‘‘(iii) a director; or 

5 ‘‘(iv) a consultant; and 

6 ‘‘(B) from— 

7 ‘‘(i) a depository institution; 

8 ‘‘(ii) a depository institution holding 

9 company that is designated by the Finan10 cial Stability Oversight Council as a sys11 temically important financial market utility 

12 under section 804 of the Payment, Clear13 ing, and Settlement Supervision Act of 

14 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5463); or 

15 ‘‘(iii) a business entity, firm, or asso16 ciation that represents an institution de17 scribed in clause (ii) for compensation.’’; 

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

19 striking ‘‘or other company.’’ and inserting ‘‘or other 

20 company, firm, or association.’’; and 

21 (6) in the matter preceding clause (i) of sub22 paragraph (A) of paragraph (7), as so redesignated, 

23 by striking ‘‘other company’’ and inserting ‘‘other 

24 company, firm, or association’’. 


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1 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

2 Section 10(k) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 

3 U.S.C. 1820(k)) is amended— 

4 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘paragraph 

5 (6)’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraph (7)’’; 

6 (2) in paragraph (5)(A), as so redesignated, by 

7 inserting ‘‘and paragraph (2)’’ before the period at 

8 the end; and 

9 (3) in paragraph (7), as so redesignated— 

10 (A) in subparagraph (A)— 

11 (i) by striking ‘‘subject to paragraph 

12 (1)’’ and inserting ‘‘subject to paragraph 

13 (1) or (2)’’; and 

14 (ii) by striking ‘‘paragraph (1)(C)’’ 

15 and inserting ‘‘paragraph (1)(C) or para16 graph (2)’’; and 

17 (B) in subparagraph (C)— 

18 (i) by striking ‘‘person described in 

19 paragraph (1)’’ and inserting ‘‘person de20 scribed in paragraph (1) or (2)’’; and 

21 (ii) by inserting ‘‘paragraph (2)’’ be22 fore the period at the end. 


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1 TITLE IV—SEVERABILITY 

2 SEC. 4001. SEVERABILITY. 

3 If any provision of this Act or amendment made by 

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

5 to any person or circumstance, is held to be unconstitu6 tional, the remainder of this and amendments made by 

7 this Act, and the application of the provisions and amend8 ment to any person or circumstance, shall not be affected 

9 by the holding. 

Æ 


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