I 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5515 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to require certain tax exempt 

organizations to certify that foreign funds will not be used to make 

any contribution or expenditure in connection with any election in the 

United States, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 16, 2016 

Mr. KILMER (for himself and Mr. HANNA) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to 

the Committee on House Administration, for a period to be subsequently 

determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to require 

certain tax exempt organizations to certify that foreign 

funds will not be used to make any contribution or 

expenditure in connection with any election in the United 

States, and for other purposes. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Election Protection 

5 & Integrity Certification Act’’ or the ‘‘EPIC Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. CERTIFICATION THAT FOREIGN FUNDS WILL NOT 

2 BE USED TO MAKE ANY CONTRIBUTION OR 

3 EXPENDITURE IN CONNECTION WITH ANY 

4 ELECTION IN THE UNITED STATES. 

5 (a) APPLICATION FOR EXEMPTION.—Section 501 of 

6 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding 

7 at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(s) CERTIFICATION.—In the case of an organization 

9 described in subsection (c) for which an application is re10 quired for exemption from tax under subsection (a), such 

11 application shall not be treated as complete unless the ap12 plication contains a certification that the organization will 

13 not, directly or indirectly— 

14 ‘‘(1) use foreign funds to make— 

15 ‘‘(A) a contribution or donation of money 

16 or other thing of value, or to make an express 

17 or implied promise to make a contribution or 

18 donation, in connection with any Federal, State 

19 or local election, 

20 ‘‘(B) a contribution or donation to a com21 mittee of a political party, or 

22 ‘‘(C) an expenditure, independent expendi23 ture, or disbursement for an electioneering com24 munication (within the meaning of section 

25 304(f)(3) of the Federal Election Campaign Act 

26 of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30104(f)(3))), or 


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1 ‘‘(2) solicit, accept or receive a contribution or 

2 donation described in paragraph (1) (A) or (B) from 

3 a foreign national.’’. 

4 (b) CERTIFICATION BY (c)(4) ORGANIZATIONS.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 506(a) of such Code 

6 is amended by inserting before the period at the end 

7 the following: ‘‘and shall include with such notifica8 tion the certification described in subsection (g)’’. 

9 (2) CERTIFICATION.—Section 506 of such Code 

10 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(g) CERTIFICATION.—The certification described in 

12 this subsection with respect to an organization is a certifi13 cation that the organization will not, directly or indi14 rectly— 

15 ‘‘(1) use foreign funds to make— 

16 ‘‘(A) a contribution or donation of money 

17 or other thing of value, or to make an express 

18 or implied promise to make a contribution or 

19 donation, in connection with any Federal, State 

20 or local election, 

21 ‘‘(B) a contribution or donation to a com22 mittee of a political party, or 

23 ‘‘(C) an expenditure, independent expendi24 ture, or disbursement for an electioneering com25 munication (within the meaning of section 


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1 304(f)(3) of the Federal Election Campaign Act 

2 of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30104(f)(3))), or 

3 ‘‘(2) solicit, accept or receive a contribution or 

4 donation described in paragraph (1) (A) or (B) from 

5 a foreign national.’’. 

6 (c) ANNUAL REPORTING.—Section 6033 of the Inter7 nal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by redesignating 

8 subsection (n) as subsection (o) and by inserting after sub9 section (m) the following: 

10 ‘‘(n) CERTIFICATION.—The annual return required 

11 by subsection (a) for an organization described in section 

12 501(c) and exempt from tax under section 501(a) shall 

13 not be treated as complete unless the return contains a 

14 certification that the organization did not, directly or indi15 rectly— 

16 ‘‘(1) use foreign funds to make— 

17 ‘‘(A) a contribution or donation of money 

18 or other thing of value, or to make an express 

19 or implied promise to make a contribution or 

20 donation, in connection with a Federal, State, 

21 or local election in the year, 

22 ‘‘(B) a contribution or donation to a com23 mittee of a political party, or 

24 ‘‘(C) an expenditure, independent expendi25 ture, or disbursement for an electioneering comVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:53 Jun 18, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5515.IH H5515

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1 munication (within the meaning of section 

2 304(f)(3) of the Federal Election Campaign Act 

3 of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30104(f)(3))), or 

4 ‘‘(2) solicit, accept or receive a contribution or 

5 donation described in paragraph (1) (A) or (B) from 

6 a foreign national.’’. 

7 (d) GAO STUDY.—The Comptroller General of the 

8 United States shall— 

9 (1) conduct a study of the political activities of 

10 corporations to determine whether foreign money is 

11 being used in United States elections, and 

12 (2) not later than July 1, 2017, submit a report 

13 of such study to the Committee on House Adminis14 tration of the House of Representatives and the 

15 Committee on Rules and Administration of the Sen16 ate. 

17 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 

18 (1) The amendment made by subsection (a) 

19 shall apply to applications filed after the date of the 

20 enactment of this Act. 

21 (2) The amendment made by subsection (b) 

22 shall apply to returns filed for taxable years begin23 ning after the date of the enactment of this Act. 


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1 SEC. 3. INCLUDING CERTIFICATIONS IN REPORTS FILED 

2 UNDER FEDERAL ELECTION CAMPAIGN ACT 

3 OF 1971 BY ORGANIZATIONS MAKING DIS4 BURSEMENTS FOR INDEPENDENT EXPENDI5 TURES OR ELECTIONEERING COMMUNICA6 TIONS. 

7 (a) INDEPENDENT EXPENDITURES.—Section 

8 304(c)(2) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 

9 (52 U.S.C. 30104(c)(2)) is amended— 

10 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara11 graph (B); 

12 (2) by striking the period at the end of sub13 paragraph (C) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

14 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub15 paragraph: 

16 ‘‘(D) in the case of an independent expenditure 

17 made by an organization that is described in section 

18 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and 

19 exempt from taxation under section 501(a) of such 

20 Code (or has submitted an application for deter21 mination of tax exempt status under such section), 

22 a certification that the organization did not use for23 eign funds to make the expenditure.’’. 

24 (b) ELECTIONEERING COMMUNICATIONS.—Section 

25 304(f)(2) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 30104(f)(2)) is amended 

26 by adding at the end the following new subparagraph: 


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1 ‘‘(G) If the person making the disburse2 ment is an organization that is described in sec3 tion 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 

4 1986 and exempt from taxation under section 

5 501(a) of such Code (or has submitted an ap6 plication for determination of tax exempt status 

7 under such section), a certification that the per8 son did not use foreign funds to make the dis9 bursement.’’. 

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

11 this section shall apply with respect to reports required 

12 to be filed under the Federal Election Campaign Act of 

13 1971 on or after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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