II

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1057

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

spending limits for Senate candidates and limits on independent expenditures, to ban soft money, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JULY 23, 1997

Mr. REED (for himself, Mr. BRYAN, Mr. HOLLINGS, and Mr. JOHNSON) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration

A BILL

To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to

require mandatory spending limits for Senate candidates

and limits on independent expenditures, to ban soft

money, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

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

5 ‘‘Campaign Spending Control Act of 1997’’.

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

7 this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
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Sec. 2. Statement of purpose.

Sec. 3. Findings of fact.

TITLE I—SENATE ELECTION SPENDING LIMITS

Sec. 101. Senate election spending limits.

TITLE II—COORDINATED AND INDEPENDENT EXPENDITURES

Sec. 201. Adding definition of coordination to definition of contribution.

Sec. 202. Treatment of certain coordinated contributions and expenditures.

Sec. 203. Political party committees.

Sec. 204. Limit on independent expenditures.

Sec. 205. Clarification of definitions relating to independent expenditures.

Sec. 206. Elimination of leadership PACs.

TITLE III—SOFT MONEY

Sec. 301. Soft money of political party committee.

Sec. 302. State party grassroots funds.

Sec. 303. Reporting requirements.

Sec. 304. Soft money of persons other than political parties.

TITLE IV—ENFORCEMENT

Sec. 401. Filing of reports using computers and facsimile machines.

Sec. 402. Audits.

Sec. 403. Authority to seek injunction.

Sec. 404. Increase in penalty for knowing and willful violations.

Sec. 405. Prohibition of contributions by individuals not qualified to vote.

Sec. 406. Use of candidates’ names.

Sec. 407. Expedited procedures.

TITLE V—SEVERABILITY; REGULATIONS; EFFECTIVE DATE

Sec. 501. Severability.

Sec. 502. Regulations.

Sec. 503. Effective date.

1 SEC. 2. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE.

2 The purposes of this Act are to—

3 (1) restore the public confidence in and the in4 tegrity of our democratic system;

5 (2) strengthen and promote full and free dis6 cussion and debate during election campaigns;

7 (3) relieve Federal officeholders from limita8 tions on their attention to the affairs of the Federal
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1 government that can arise from excessive attention

2 to fundraising;

3 (4) relieve elective office-seekers and office4 holders from the limitations on purposeful political

5 conduct and discourse that can arise from excessive

6 attention to fundraising;

7 (5) reduce corruption and undue influence, or

8 the appearance thereof, in the financing of Federal

9 election campaigns; and

10 (6) provide non-preferential terms of access to

11 elected Federal officeholders by all interested mem12 bers of the public in order to uphold the constitu13 tionally guaranteed right to petition the Government

14 for redress of grievances.

15 SEC. 3. FINDINGS OF FACT.

16 Congress finds the following:

17 (1) The current Federal campaign finance sys18 tem, with its perceived preferential access to law19 makers for interest groups capable of contributing

20 sizable sums of money to lawmakers’ campaigns, has

21 caused a widespread loss of public confidence in the

22 fairness and responsiveness of elective government

23 and undermined the belief, necessary to a function24 ing democracy, that the Government exists to serve

25 the needs of all people.
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1 (2) The United States Supreme Court, in Buck2 ley v. Valeo, 424 U.S. 1 (1976), disapproved the use

3 of mandatory spending limits as a remedy for such

4 effects, while approving the use of campaign con5 tribution limits.

6 (3) Since that time, campaign expenditures

7 have risen steeply in Federal elections with spending

8 by successful candidates for the United States Sen9 ate between 1976 and 1996 rising from $609,100 to

10 $3,775,000, an increase that is twice the rate of in11 flation.

12 (4) As campaign spending has escalated, voter

13 turnout has steadily declined and in 1996 voter

14 turnout fell to its lowest point since 1924, and

15 stands now at the lowest level of any democracy in

16 the world.

17 (5) Coupled with out-of-control campaign

18 spending has come the constant necessity of fund19 raising, arising, to a large extent, from candidates

20 adopting a defensive ‘‘arms race’’ posture of con21 stant readiness against the risk of massively fi22 nanced attacks against whatever the candidate may

23 say or do.

24 (6) The current campaign finance system has

25 had a deleterious effect on those who hold public of-
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1 fice as endless fundraising pressures intrude upon

2 the performance of constitutionally required duties.

3 Capable and dedicated officials have left office in

4 dismay over these distractions and the negative pub5 lic perceptions that the fundraising process engen6 ders and numerous qualified citizens have declined

7 to seek office because of the prospect of having to

8 raise the extraordinary amounts of money needed in

9 today’s elections.

10 (7) The requirement for candidates to

11 fundraise, the average 1996 expenditure level re12 quired a successful Senate candidate to raise more

13 than $12,099 a week for 6 years, significantly im14 pedes on the ability of Senators and other office15 holders to tend to their official duties, and limits the

16 ability of candidates to interact with the electorate

17 while also tending to professional responsibilities.

18 (8) As talented incumbent and potential public

19 servants are deterred from seeking office in Con20 gress because of such fundraising pressures, the

21 quality of representation suffers and those who do

22 serve are impeded in their effort to devote full atten23 tion to matters of the Government by the campaign

24 financing system.
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1 (9) Contribution limits are inadequate to con2 trol all of these trends and as long as campaign

3 spending is effectively unrestrained, supporters can

4 find ways to protect their favored candidates from

5 being outspent. Since 1976 major techniques have

6 been found and exploited to get around and evade

7 contribution limits.

8 (10) Techniques to evade contribution limits in9 clude personal spending by wealthy candidates, inde10 pendent expenditures that assist or attack an identi11 fied candidate, media campaigns by corporations,

12 labor unions, and nonprofit organizations to advo13 cate the election or defeat of candidates, and the use

14 of national, State, or local political parties as a con15 duit for money that assists or attacks such can16 didates.

17 (11) Wealthy candidates may, under the

18 present Federal campaign financing system, spend

19 any amount they want out of their own resources

20 and while such spending may not be self-corrupting,

21 it introduces the very defects the Supreme Court

22 wants to avoid. The effectively limitless character of

23 such resources obliges a wealthy candidate’s oppo24 nent to reach for larger amounts of outside support,

25 causing the deleterious effects previously described.
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1 (12) Experience shows that there is an identity

2 of interest between candidates and political parties

3 because the parties exist to support candidates, not

4 the other way around. Party expenditures in support

5 of, or in opposition to, an identifiable candidate are,

6 therefore, effectively spending on behalf of a can7 didate.

8 (13) Political experience shows that so-called

9 ‘‘independent’’ support, whether by individuals, com10 mittees, or other entities, can be and often is coordi11 nated with a candidate’s campaign by means of tacit

12 understandings without losing its nominally inde13 pendent character and, similarly, contributions to a

14 political party, ostensibly for ‘‘party-building’’ pur15 poses, can be and often are routed, by undeclared

16 design, to the support of identified candidates.

17 (14) The actual, case-by-case detection of co18 ordination between candidate, party, and independ19 ent contributor is, as a practical matter, impossible

20 in a fast-moving campaign environment.

21 (15) So-called ‘‘issue advocacy’’ communica22 tions, by or through political parties or independent

23 contributors, need not, as a practical matter, advo24 cate expressly for the election or defeat of a named

25 candidate in order to cross the line into election
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1 campaign advocacy; any clear, objective indication of

2 purpose, such that voters may readily observe where

3 their electoral support is invited, can suffice as evi4 dence of intent to impact a Federal election cam5 paign.

6 (16) When State political parties or other enti7 ties operating under State law receive funds, often

8 called ‘‘soft money’’, for use in Federal elections,

9 they become de facto agents of the national political

10 party and the inclusion of these funds under applica11 ble Federal limitations is necessary and proper for

12 the effective regulation of Federal election cam13 paigns.

14 (17) The exorbitant level of money in the politi15 cal system has served to distort our democracy by

16 giving some contributors, who constitute less than 3

17 percent of the citizenry, the appearance of favored

18 access to elected officials, thus undermining the abil19 ity of ordinary citizens to petition their Government.

20 Concerns over the potential for corruption and

21 undue influence, and the appearances thereof, has

22 left citizens cynical, the reputation of elected offi23 cials tarnished, and the moral authority of Govern24 ment weakened.
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1 (18) The 2 decades of experience since the Su2 preme Court’s Buckley v. Valeo ruling in 1976 have

3 made it evident that reasonable limits on election

4 campaign expenditures are now necessary and these

5 limits must comprehensively address all types of ex6 penditures to prevent circumvention of such limits.

7 (19) The Supreme Court based its Buckley v.

8 Valeo decision on a concern that spending limits

9 could narrow political speech ‘‘by restricting the

10 number of issues discussed, the depth of their explo11 ration, and the size of the audience reached’’. The

12 experience of the past 20 years has been otherwise

13 as experience shows that unlimited expenditures can

14 drown out or distort political discourse in a flood of

15 distractive repetition. Reasonable spending limits

16 will increase the opportunity for previously muted

17 voices to be heard and thereby increase the number,

18 depth, and diversity of ideas presented to the public.

19 (20) Issue advocacy communications that do

20 not promote or oppose an identified candidate should

21 remain unregulated, as should the traditional free22 dom of the press to report and editorialize about

23 candidates and campaigns.

24 (21) In establishing reasonable limits on cam25 paign spending, it is necessary that the limits reflect
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1 the realities of modern campaigning in a large, di2 verse population with sophisticated and expensive

3 modes of communication. The limits must allow citi4 zens to benefit from a full and free debate of issues

5 and permit candidates to garner the resources nec6 essary to engage in that debate.

7 (22) The expenditure limits established in this

8 Act for election to the United States Senate were de9 termined after careful review of historical spending

10 patterns in Senate campaigns as well as the particu11 lar spending level of the 3 most recent elections as

12 evidenced by the following:

13 (A) The limit formula allows candidates a

14 level of spending which guarantees an ability to

15 disseminate their message by accounting for the

16 size of the population in each State as well as

17 historical spending trends including the dem18 onstrated trend of lower campaign spending per

19 voter in larger States as compared to voter

20 spending in smaller States.

21 (B) The candidate expenditure limits in22 cluded in this legislation would have restricted

23 80 percent of the incumbent candidates in the

24 last 3 elections, while only impeding 18 percent

25 of the challengers.
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1 (C) It is clear from recent experience that

2 expenditure limits as set by the formula in this

3 Act will be high enough to allow an effective

4 level of competition, encourage candidate dia5 logue with constituents, and circumscribe the

6 most egregiously high spending levels, so as to

7 be a bulwark against future campaign finance

8 excesses and the resulting voter disenfranchise9 ment.

10 TITLE I—SENATE ELECTION

11 SPENDING LIMITS

12 SEC. 101. SENATE ELECTION SPENDING LIMITS.

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

14 Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431 et seq.) is amended

15 by adding at the end the following:

16 ‘‘SEC. 324. SPENDING LIMITS FOR SENATE ELECTION

17 CAMPAIGNS

18 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The amount of funds expended

19 by a candidate for election to the Senate and the can20 didate’s authorized committees with respect to an election

21 may not exceed the election expenditure limits of sub22 sections (b), (c), and (d).

23 ‘‘(b) PRIMARY ELECTION EXPENDITURE LIMIT.—

24 The aggregate amount of expenditures for a primary elec25 tion by a Senate candidate and the candidate’s authorized
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1 committees shall not exceed 67 percent of the general elec2 tion expenditure limit under subsection (d).

3 ‘‘(c) RUNOFF ELECTION EXPENDITURE LIMIT.—The

4 aggregate amount of expenditures for a runoff election by

5 a Senate candidate and the candidate’s authorized com6 mittees shall not exceed 20 percent of the general election

7 expenditure limit under subsection (d).

8 ‘‘(d) GENERAL ELECTION EXPENDITURE LIMIT.—

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The aggregate amount of

10 expenditures for a general election by a Senate can11 didate and the candidate’s authorized committees

12 shall not exceed the greater of—

13 ‘‘(A) $1,182,500; or

14 ‘‘(B) $500,000; plus

15 ‘‘(i) 37.5 cents multiplied by the vot16 ing age population not in excess of

17 4,000,000; and

18 ‘‘(ii) 31.25 cents multiplied by the

19 voting age population in excess of

20 4,000,000.

21 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—In the case of a Senate can22 didate in a State that has not more than 1 transmit23 ter for a commercial Very High Frequency (VHF)

24 television station licensed to operate in that State,

25 paragraph (1)(B) shall be applied by substituting—
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1 ‘‘(A) ‘$1.00’ for ‘37.5 cents’ in clause (i);

2 and

3 ‘‘(B) ‘87.5 cents’ for ‘31.25 cents’ in

4 clause (ii).

5 ‘‘(3) INDEXING.—The monetary amounts in

6 paragraphs (1) and (2) shall be increased as of the

7 beginning of each calendar year based on the in8 crease in the price index determined under section

9 315(c), except that the base period shall be calendar

10 year 1997.

11 ‘‘(e) EXEMPTED EXPENDITURES.—In determining

12 the amount of funds expended for purposes of this section,

13 there shall be excluded any amounts expended for—

14 ‘‘(1) Federal, State, or local taxes with respect

15 to earnings on contributions raised;

16 ‘‘(2) legal and accounting services provided

17 solely in connection with complying with the require18 ments of this Act;

19 ‘‘(3) legal services related to a recount of the

20 results of a Federal election or an election contest

21 concerning a Federal election; or

22 ‘‘(4) payments made to or on behalf of an em23 ployee of a candidate’s authorized committees for

24 employee benefits—

25 ‘‘(A) including—
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1 ‘‘(i) health care insurance;

2 ‘‘(ii) retirement plans; and

3 ‘‘(iii) unemployment insurance; but

4 ‘‘(B) not including salary, any form of

5 compensation, or amounts intended to reim6 burse the employee.’’.

7 TITLE II—COORDINATED AND

8 INDEPENDENT EXPENDITURES

9 SEC. 201. ADDING DEFINITION OF COORDINATION TO

10 DEFINITION OF CONTRIBUTION.

11 (a) DEFINITION OF CONTRIBUTION.—Section 301(8)

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

13 431(8)) is amended—

14 (1) in subparagraph (A)—

15 (A) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘or’’ at the

16 end;

17 (B) in clause (ii) by striking the period

18 and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and

19 (C) by adding at the end the following:

20 ‘‘(iii) a payment made for a communication or

21 anything of value that is for the purpose of influenc22 ing an election for Federal office and that is a pay23 ment made in coordination with a candidate.’’; and

24 (2) by adding at the end the following:
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1 ‘‘(C) PAYMENT MADE IN COORDINATION WITH.—The

2 term ‘payment made in coordination with’ means—

3 ‘‘(i) a payment made by any person in coopera4 tion, consultation, or concert with, at the request or

5 suggestion of, or pursuant to any general or particu6 lar understanding with, a candidate, a candidate’s

7 authorized committees, an agent acting on behalf of

8 a candidate or a candidate’s authorized committee,

9 or (for purposes of paragraphs (9) and (10) of sec10 tion 315(a)) another person;

11 ‘‘(ii) the financing by any person of the dissemi12 nation, distribution, or republication, in whole or in

13 part, of any broadcast or any written, graphic, or

14 other form of campaign materials prepared by the

15 candidate or the candidate’s authorized committees

16 (not including a communication described in para17 graph (9)(B)(i) or a communication that expressly

18 advocates the candidate’s defeat); or

19 ‘‘(iii) payments made based on information

20 about the candidate’s plans, projects, or needs pro21 vided to the person making the payment by the can22 didate, the candidate’s authorized committees, or an

23 agent of a candidate or a candidate’s authorized

24 committees.’’.

25 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—
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1 (1) SECTION 315.—Section 315(a)(7)(B) of the

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

3 441a(a)(7)(B)) is amended to read as follows:

4 ‘‘(B) expenditures made in coordination with a

5 candidate, within the meaning of section 301(8)(C),

6 shall be considered to be contributions to the can7 didate and, in the case of limitations on expendi8 tures, shall be treated as an expenditure for pur9 poses of this section; and’’.

10 (2) SECTION 316.—Section 316(b)(2) of the

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

12 441b(b)(2)) is amended by striking ‘‘shall include’’

13 and inserting ‘‘shall have the meaning given those

14 terms in paragraphs (8) and (9) of section 301 and

15 shall also include’’.

16 SEC. 202. TREATMENT OF CERTAIN COORDINATED CON17 TRIBUTIONS AND EXPENDITURES.

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

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

20 end the following:

21 ‘‘(9) For purposes of this section, contributions made

22 by more than 1 person in coordination with each other

23 (within the meaning of section 301(8)(C)) shall be consid24 ered to have been made by a single person.
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1 ‘‘(10) For purposes of this section, an independent

2 expenditure made by a person in coordination with (within

3 the meaning of section 301(8)(C)) another person shall

4 be considered to have been made by a single person.’’.

5 SEC. 203. POLITICAL PARTY COMMITTEES.

6 (a) LIMIT ON COORDINATED AND INDEPENDENT EX7 PENDITURES BY POLITICAL PARTY COMMITTEES.—Sec8 tion 315(d) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971

9 (2 U.S.C. 441a(d)) is amended—

10 (1) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘and inde11 pendent expenditures’’ after ‘‘Federal office’’; and

12 (2) in paragraph (3)—

13 (A) by inserting ‘‘, including expenditures

14 made’’ after ‘‘make any expenditure’’; and

15 (B) by inserting ‘‘and independent expend16 itures advocating the election or defeat of a

17 candidate,’’ after ‘‘such party’’.

18 (b) RULES APPLICABLE WHEN LIMITS NOT IN EF19 FECT.—For purposes of the Federal Election Campaign

20 Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431 et seq.), during any period

21 beginning after the effective date of this Act in which the

22 limitation under section 315(d)(3) (as amended by sub23 section (a)) is not in effect the following amendments shall

24 be effective:
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1 (1) INDEPENDENT VERSUS COORDINATED EX2 PENDITURES BY A POLITICAL PARTY COMMITTEE.—

3 Section 315(d) of the Federal Election Campaign

4 Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a(d)) is amended—

5 (A) in paragraph (1)—

6 (i) by striking ‘‘(2) and (3) of this

7 subsection’’ and inserting ‘‘(2), (3), and

8 (4) of this subsection’’; and

9 (ii) by inserting ‘‘coordinated’’ after

10 ‘‘make’’;

11 (B) in paragraph (3), by inserting ‘‘coordi12 nated’’ after ‘‘make’’; and

13 (C) by adding at the end the following:

14 ‘‘(4) PROHIBITION AGAINST MAKING BOTH COORDI15 NATED EXPENDITURES AND INDEPENDENT EXPENDI16 TURES.—

17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A committee of a political

18 party shall not make both a coordinated expenditure

19 in excess of $5,000 and an independent expenditure

20 with respect to the same candidate during an elec21 tion cycle.

22 ‘‘(B) CERTIFICATION.—Before making a coordi23 nated expenditure in excess of $5,000 in connection

24 with a general election campaign for Federal office,

25 a committee of a political party that is subject to
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1 this subsection shall file with the Commission a cer2 tification, signed by the treasurer, stating that the

3 committee will not make independent expenditures

4 with respect to such candidate.

5 ‘‘(C) TRANSFERS.—A party committee that cer6 tifies under this paragraph that the committee will

7 make coordinated expenditures with respect to any

8 candidate shall not, in the same election cycle, make

9 a transfer of funds to, or receive a transfer of funds

10 from, any other party committee unless that com11 mittee has certified under this paragraph that it will

12 only make coordinated expenditures with respect to

13 candidates.

14 ‘‘(D) DEFINITION OF COORDINATED EXPENDI15 TURE.—In this paragraph, the term ‘coordinated ex16 penditure’ shall have the meaning given the term

17 ‘payments made in coordination with’ in section

18 301(8)(C).’’.

19 (2) LIMIT ON CONTRIBUTIONS TO POLITICAL

20 PARTY COMMITTEES.—Section 315(a) of Federal

21 Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a(a))

22 is amended—

23 (A) in paragraph (1)(B), by striking

24 ‘‘which, in the aggregate, exceed $20,000’’ and

25 inserting ‘‘that—
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1 ‘‘(i) in the case of a political committee

2 that certifies under subsection (d)(4) that it will

3 not make independent expenditures in connec4 tion with the general election campaign of any

5 candidate, in the aggregate, exceed $20,000; or

6 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a political committee

7 that does not certify under subsection (d)(4)

8 that it will not make independent expenditures

9 in connection with the general election cam10 paign of any candidate, in the aggregate, exceed

11 $5,000’’; and

12 (B) in paragraph (2)(B), by striking

13 ‘‘which, in the aggregate, exceed $15,000’’ and

14 inserting ‘‘that—

15 ‘‘(i) in the case of a political committee

16 that certifies under subsection (d)(4) that it will

17 not make independent expenditures in connec18 tion with the general election campaign of any

19 candidate, in the aggregate, exceed $15,000; or

20 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a political committee

21 that does not certify under subsection (d)(4)

22 that it will not make independent expenditures

23 in connection with the general election cam24 paign of any candidate, in the aggregate, exceed

25 $5,000’’.
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1 (c) DEFINITION OF ELECTION CYCLE.—Section 301

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

3 431) is amended by adding at the end the following:

4 ‘‘(20) ELECTION CYCLE.—The term ‘election cycle’

5 means—

6 ‘‘(A) in the case of a candidate or the au7 thorized committees of a candidate, the period

8 beginning on the day after the date of the most

9 recent general election for the specific office or

10 seat that the candidate is seeking and ending

11 on the date of the next general election for that

12 office or seat; and

13 ‘‘(B) in the case of all other persons, the

14 period beginning on the first day following the

15 date of the last general election and ending on

16 the date of the next general election.’’.

17 SEC. 204. LIMIT ON INDEPENDENT EXPENDITURES.

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 315 of the Federal Elec19 tion Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a) is amended

20 by adding at the end the following:

21 ‘‘(i) LIMIT ON INDEPENDENT EXPENDITURES.—No

22 person shall make an amount of independent expenditures

23 advocating the election or defeat of a candidate during an

24 election cycle in an aggregate amount greater than the
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1 limit applicable to the candidate under section

2 315(d)(3).’’.

3 (b) RULES APPLICABLE WHEN RULES IN SUB4 SECTION (a) NOT IN EFFECT.—For purposes of the Fed5 eral Election Campaign Act of 1971, during any period

6 beginning after the effective date of this Act in which the

7 limit on independent expenditures under section 315(i) of

8 the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as added by

9 subsection (a), is not in effect section 324 of such Act,

10 as added by section 101(a), is amended by adding at the

11 end the following:

12 ‘‘(f) INCREASE IN EXPENDITURE LIMIT IN RE13 SPONSE TO INDEPENDENT EXPENDITURES.—

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The applicable election ex15 penditure limit for a candidate shall be increased by

16 the aggregate amount of independent expenditures

17 made in excess of the limit applicable to the can18 didate under section 315(d)(3)—

19 ‘‘(A) on behalf of an opponent of the can20 didate; or

21 ‘‘(B) in opposition to the candidate.

22 ‘‘(2) NOTIFICATION.—

23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A candidate shall no24 tify the Commission of an intent to increase an

25 expenditure limit under paragraph (1).
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1 ‘‘(B) COMMISSION RESPONSE.—Within 3

2 business days of receiving a notice under sub3 paragraph (A), the Commission must approve

4 or deny the increase in expenditure limit.

5 ‘‘(C) ADDITIONAL NOTIFICATION.—A can6 didate who has increased an expenditure limit

7 under paragraph (1) shall notify the Commis8 sion of each additional increase in increments of

9 $50,000.’’.

10 SEC. 205. CLARIFICATION OF DEFINITIONS RELATING TO

11 INDEPENDENT EXPENDITURES.

12 (a) DEFINITION OF INDEPENDENT EXPENDITURE.—

13 Section 301 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of

14 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431) is amended by striking paragraph

15 (17) and inserting the following:

16 ‘‘(17) INDEPENDENT EXPENDITURE.—The term

17 ‘independent expenditure’ means an expenditure that—

18 (A) contains express advocacy; and

19 (B) is made without the participation or co20 operation of, or without consultation with, or with21 out coordination with a candidate or a candidate’s

22 authorized committee or agent (within the meaning

23 of section 301(8)(C)).’’.

24 (b) DEFINITION OF EXPRESS ADVOCACY.—Section

25 301 of Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C.
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1 431), as amended by section 202(c), is amended by adding

2 at the end the following:

3 ‘‘(21) EXPRESS ADVOCACY.—The term ‘express advo4 cacy’ includes—

5 ‘‘(i) a communication that conveys a message

6 that advocates the election or defeat of a clearly

7 identified candidate for Federal office by using an

8 expression such as ‘vote for,’ ‘elect,’ ‘support,’ ‘vote

9 against,’ ‘defeat,’ ‘reject,’ ‘(name of candidate) for

10 Congress,’ ‘vote pro-life,’ or ‘vote pro-choice,’ accom11 panied by a listing or picture of a clearly identified

12 candidate described as ‘pro-life’ or ‘pro-choice,’ ‘re13 ject the incumbent,’ or an expression susceptible to

14 no other reasonable interpretation but an unmistak15 able and unambiguous exhortation to vote for or

16 against a specific candidate; or

17 ‘‘(ii) a communication that is made through a

18 broadcast medium, newspaper, magazine, billboard,

19 direct mail, or similar type of general public commu20 nication or political advertising—

21 ‘‘(A) that is made on or after a date that

22 is 90 days before the date of a general election

23 of the candidate;

24 ‘‘(B) that refers to the character, qualifica25 tions, or accomplishments of a clearly identified
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1 candidate, group of candidates, or candidate of

2 a clearly identified political party; and

3 ‘‘(C) that does not have as its sole purpose

4 an attempt to urge action on legislation that

5 has been introduced in or is being considered by

6 a legislature that is in session.’’.

7 SEC. 206. ELIMINATION OF LEADERSHIP PACS.

8 (a) DESIGNATION AND ESTABLISHMENT OF AU9 THORIZED COMMITTEE.—Section 302(e) of the Federal

10 Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 432(e)) is

11 amended by—

12 (1) striking paragraph (3) and inserting the fol13 lowing:

14 ‘‘(3) No political committee that supports, or has

15 supported, more than one candidate may be designated as

16 an authorized committee, except that—

17 ‘‘(A) a candidate for the office of President

18 nominated by a political party may designate the na19 tional committee of such political party as the can20 didate’s principal campaign committee, if that na21 tional committee maintains separate books of ac22 count with respect to its functions as a principal

23 campaign committee; and

24 ‘‘(B) a candidate may designate a political com25 mittee established solely for the purpose of joint
26

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1 fundraising by such candidates as an authorized

2 committee.’’; and

3 (2) adding at the end the following:

4 ‘‘(6)(A) A candidate for Federal office or any individ5 ual holding Federal office may not directly or indirectly

6 establish, finance, maintain, or control any political com7 mittee other than a principal campaign committee of the

8 candidate, designated in accordance with paragraph (3).

9 A candidate for more than one Federal office may des10 ignate a separate principal campaign committee for each

11 Federal office. This paragraph shall not preclude a Fed12 eral officeholder who is a candidate for State or local office

13 from establishing, financing, maintaining, or controlling a

14 political committee for election of the individual to such

15 State or local office.

16 ‘‘(B) A political committee prohibited by subpara17 graph (A), that is established before the date of enactment

18 of this Act, may continue to make contributions for a pe19 riod that ends on the date that is 1 year after the date

20 of enactment of this paragraph. At the end of such period

21 the political committee shall disburse all funds by 1 or

22 more of the following means:

23 ‘‘(1) Making contributions to an entity de24 scribed in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue

25 Code of 1986 and exempt from taxation under sec-
27

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1 tion 501(a) of such Act that is not established,

2 maintained, financed, or controlled directly or indi3 rectly by any candidate for Federal office or any in4 dividual holding Federal office.

5 ‘‘(2) Making a contribution to the Treasury.

6 ‘‘(3) Making contributions to the national,

7 State, or local committees of a political party.

8 ‘‘(4) Making contributions not to exceed $1,000

9 to candidates for elective office.’’.

10 TITLE III—SOFT MONEY

11 SEC. 301. SOFT MONEY OF POLITICAL PARTY COMMITTEE.

12 Title III of the Federal Election Campaign Act of

13 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431 et seq.) is amended by adding at the

14 end the following:

15 ‘‘SEC. 325. SOFT MONEY OF PARTY COMMITTEES.

16 ‘‘(a) NATIONAL COMMITTEES.—A national commit17 tee of a political party (including a national congressional

18 campaign committee of a political party), an entity that

19 is directly or indirectly established, financed, maintained,

20 or controlled by a national committee or its agent, an en21 tity acting on behalf of a national committee, and an offi22 cer or agent acting on behalf of any such committee or

23 entity (but not including an entity regulated under sub24 section (b)) shall not solicit or receive any contributions,

25 donations, or transfers of funds, or spend any funds, that
28

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1 are not subject to the limitations, prohibitions, and report2 ing requirements of this Act.

3 ‘‘(b) STATE, DISTRICT, AND LOCAL COMMITTEES.—

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any amount that is ex5 pended or disbursed by a State, district, or local

6 committee of a political party (including an entity

7 that is directly or indirectly established, financed,

8 maintained, or controlled by a State, district, or

9 local committee of a political party and an officer or

10 agent acting on behalf of any such committee or en11 tity) during a calendar year in which a Federal elec12 tion is held, for any activity that might affect the

13 outcome of a Federal election, including any voter

14 registration or get-out-the-vote activity, any generic

15 campaign activity, and any communication that re16 fers to a candidate (regardless of whether a can17 didate for State or local office is also mentioned or

18 identified) shall be made from funds subject to the

19 limitations, prohibitions, and reporting requirements

20 of this Act.

21 ‘‘(2) ACTIVITY EXCLUDED FROM PARAGRAPH

22 (1).—

23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (1) shall

24 not apply to an expenditure or disbursement
29

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1 made by a State, district, or local committee of

2 a political party for—

3 ‘‘(i) a contribution to a candidate for

4 State or local office if the contribution is

5 not designated or otherwise earmarked to

6 pay for an activity described in paragraph

7 (1);

8 ‘‘(ii) the costs of a State, district, or

9 local political convention;

10 ‘‘(iii) the non-Federal share of a

11 State, district, or local party committee’s

12 administrative and overhead expenses (but

13 not including the compensation in any

14 month of any individual who spends more

15 than 20 percent of the individual’s time on

16 activity during the month that may affect

17 the outcome of a Federal election) except

18 that for purposes of this paragraph, the

19 non-Federal share of a party committee’s

20 administrative and overhead expenses shall

21 be determined by applying the ratio of the

22 non-Federal disbursements to the total

23 Federal expenditures and non-Federal dis24 bursements made by the committee during

25 the previous presidential election year to
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1 the committee’s administrative and over2 head expenses in the election year in ques3 tion;

4 ‘‘(iv) the costs of grassroots campaign

5 materials, including buttons, bumper stick6 ers, and yard signs that name or depict

7 only a candidate for State or local office;

8 and

9 ‘‘(v) the cost of any campaign activity

10 conducted solely on behalf of a clearly

11 identified candidate for State or local of12 fice, if the candidate activity is not an ac13 tivity described in paragraph (1).

14 ‘‘(B) FUNDRAISING COSTS.—Any amount

15 spent by a national, State, district, or local

16 committee, by an entity that is established, fi17 nanced, maintained, or controlled by a State,

18 district, or local committee of a political party,

19 or by an agent or officer of any such committee

20 or entity to raise funds that are used, in whole

21 or in part, to pay the costs of an activity de22 scribed in paragraph (1) shall be made from

23 funds subject to the limitations, prohibitions,

24 and reporting requirements of this Act.
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1 ‘‘(c) TAX-EXEMPT ORGANIZATIONS.—A national,

2 State, district, or local committee of a political party (in3 cluding a national congressional campaign committee of

4 a political party, an entity that is directly or indirectly

5 established, financed, maintained, or controlled by any

6 such national, State, district, or local committee or its

7 agent, an agent acting on behalf of any such party com8 mittee, and an officer or agent acting on behalf of any

9 such party committee or entity), shall not solicit any funds

10 for or make any donations to an organization that is ex11 empt from Federal taxation under section 501(c) of the

12 Internal Revenue Code of 1986.

13 ‘‘(d) CANDIDATES.—

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A candidate, individual

15 holding Federal office, or agent of a candidate or in16 dividual holding Federal office shall not—

17 ‘‘(A) solicit, receive, transfer, or spend

18 funds in connection with an election for Federal

19 office unless the funds are subject to the limita20 tions, prohibitions, and reporting requirements

21 of this Act;

22 ‘‘(B) solicit, receive, or transfer funds that

23 are to be expended in connection with any elec24 tion other than a Federal election unless the

25 funds—
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1 ‘‘(i) are not in excess of the amounts

2 permitted with respect to contributions to

3 candidates and political committees under

4 section 315(a) (1) and (2); and

5 ‘‘(ii) are not from sources prohibited

6 by this Act from making contributions with

7 respect to an election for Federal office; or

8 ‘‘(C) solicit, receive, or transfer any funds

9 on behalf of any person that are not subject to

10 the limitations, prohibitions, and reporting re11 quirements of the Act if the funds are for use

12 in financing any campaign-related activity or

13 any communication that refers to a clearly iden14 tified candidate for Federal office.

15 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—Paragraph (1) does not

16 apply to the solicitation or receipt of funds by an in17 dividual who is a candidate for a State or local office

18 if the solicitation or receipt of funds is permitted

19 under State law for the individual’s State or local

20 campaign committee.’’.

21 SEC. 302. STATE PARTY GRASSROOTS FUNDS.

22 (a) INDIVIDUAL CONTRIBUTIONS.—Section

23 315(a)(1) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971

24 (2 U.S.C. 441a(a)(1)) is amended—
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1 (1) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘or’’ at

2 the end;

3 (2) in subparagraph (C), by striking the period

4 at the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and

5 (3) by inserting after subparagraph (C) the fol6 lowing:

7 ‘‘(D) to—

8 ‘‘(i) a State Party Grassroots Fund estab9 lished and maintained by a State committee of

10 a political party in any calendar year which, in

11 the aggregate, exceed $20,000;

12 ‘‘(ii) any other political committee estab13 lished and maintained by a State committee of

14 a political party in any calendar year which, in

15 the aggregate, exceed $5,000;

16 except that the aggregate contributions described in

17 this subparagraph that may be made by a person to

18 the State Party Grassroots Fund and all committees

19 of a State Committee of a political party in any

20 State in any calendar year shall not exceed

21 $20,000.’’.

22 (b) LIMITS.—

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 315(a) of the Fed24 eral Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C.
34

•S 1057 IS

1 441a(a)) is amended by striking paragraph (3) and

2 inserting the following:

3 ‘‘(3) OVERALL LIMITS.—

4 ‘‘(A) INDIVIDUAL LIMIT.—No individual

5 shall make contributions during any calendar

6 year that, in the aggregate, exceed $30,000.

7 ‘‘(B) CALENDAR YEAR.—No individual

8 shall make contributions during any calendar

9 year—

10 ‘‘(i) to all candidates and their au11 thorized political committees that, in the

12 aggregate, exceed $25,000; or

13 ‘‘(ii) to all political committees estab14 lished and maintained by State committees

15 of a political party that, in the aggregate,

16 exceed $20,000.

17 ‘‘(C) NONELECTION YEARS.—For purposes

18 of subparagraph (B)(i), any contribution made

19 to a candidate or the candidate’s authorized po20 litical committees in a year other than the cal21 endar year in which the election is held with re22 spect to which the contribution is made shall be

23 treated as being made during the calendar year

24 in which the election is held.’’.
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1 (c) DEFINITIONS.—Section 301 of the Federal Elec2 tion Campaign Act of 1970 (2 U.S.C. 431), as amended

3 by section 205(b), is amended by adding at the end the

4 following:

5 ‘‘(22) GENERIC CAMPAIGN ACTIVITY.—The

6 term ‘generic campaign activity’ means a campaign

7 activity that promotes a political party and does not

8 refer to any particular Federal or non-Federal can9 didate.

10 ‘‘(23) STATE PARTY GRASSROOTS FUND.—The

11 term ‘State Party Grassroots Fund’ means a sepa12 rate segregated fund established and maintained by

13 a State committee of a political party solely for pur14 poses of making expenditures and other disburse15 ments described in section 326(d).’’.

16 (d) STATE PARTY GRASSROOTS FUNDS.—Title III of

17 the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431

18 et seq.), as amended by section 301, is amended by adding

19 at the end the following:

20 ‘‘SEC. 326. STATE PARTY GRASSROOTS FUNDS.

21 ‘‘(a) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘State

22 or local candidate committee’ means a committee estab23 lished, financed, maintained, or controlled by a candidate

24 for other than Federal office.
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1 ‘‘(b) TRANSFERS.—Notwithstanding section

2 315(a)(4), no funds may be transferred by a State com3 mittee of a political party from its State Party Grassroots

4 Fund to any other State Party Grassroots Fund or to any

5 other political committee, except a transfer may be made

6 to a district or local committee of the same political party

7 in the same State if the district or local committee—

8 ‘‘(1) has established a separate segregated fund

9 for the purposes described in subsection (d); and

10 ‘‘(2) uses the transferred funds solely for those

11 purposes.

12 ‘‘(c) AMOUNTS RECEIVED BY GRASSROOTS FUNDS

13 FROM STATE AND LOCAL CANDIDATE COMMITTEES.—

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any amount received by a

15 State Party Grassroots Fund from a State or local

16 candidate committee for expenditures described in

17 subsection (d) that are for the benefit of that can18 didate shall be treated as meeting the requirements

19 of 325(b)(1) and section 304(e) if—

20 ‘‘(A) the amount is derived from funds

21 which meet the requirements of this Act with

22 respect to any limitation or prohibition as to

23 source or dollar amount specified in section

24 315(a) (1)(A) and (2)(A); and
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1 ‘‘(B) the State or local candidate commit2 tee—

3 ‘‘(i) maintains, in the account from

4 which payment is made, records of the

5 sources and amounts of funds for purposes

6 of determining whether those requirements

7 are met; and

8 ‘‘(ii) certifies that the requirements

9 were met.

10 ‘‘(2) DETERMINATION OF COMPLIANCE.—For

11 purposes of paragraph (1)(A), in determining wheth12 er the funds transferred meet the requirements of

13 this Act described in paragraph (1)(A)—

14 ‘‘(A) a State or local candidate commit15 tee’s cash on hand shall be treated as consisting

16 of the funds most recently received by the com17 mittee; and

18 ‘‘(B) the committee must be able to dem19 onstrate that its cash on hand contains funds

20 meeting those requirements sufficient to cover

21 the transferred funds.

22 ‘‘(3) REPORTING.—Notwithstanding paragraph

23 (1), any State Party Grassroots Fund that receives

24 a transfer described in paragraph (1) from a State

25 or local candidate committee shall be required to
38

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1 meet the reporting requirements of this Act, and

2 shall submit to the Commission all certifications re3 ceived, with respect to receipt of the transfer from

4 the candidate committee.

5 ‘‘(d) DISBURSEMENTS AND EXPENDITURES.—A

6 State committee of a political party may make disburse7 ments and expenditures from its State Party Grassroots

8 Fund only for—

9 ‘‘(1) any generic campaign activity;

10 ‘‘(2) payments described in clauses (v), (ix),

11 and (xi) of paragraph (8)(B) and clauses (iv), (viii),

12 and (ix) of paragraph (9)(B) of section 301;

13 ‘‘(3) subject to the limitations of section

14 315(d), payments described in clause (xii) of para15 graph (8)(B), and clause (ix) of paragraph (9)(B),

16 of section 301 on behalf of candidates other than for

17 President and Vice President;

18 ‘‘(4) voter registration; and

19 ‘‘(5) development and maintenance of voter files

20 during an even-numbered calendar year.’’.

21 SEC. 303. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.

22 (a) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—Section 304 of the

23 Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 434)

24 is amended by adding at the end the following:

25 ‘‘(e) POLITICAL COMMITTEES.—
39

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1 ‘‘(1) NATIONAL AND CONGRESSIONAL POLITI2 CAL COMMITTEES.—The national committee of a po3 litical party, any congressional campaign committee

4 of a political party, and any subordinate committee

5 of either, shall report all receipts and disbursements

6 during the reporting period, whether or not in con7 nection with an election for Federal office.

8 ‘‘(2) OTHER POLITICAL COMMITTEES TO WHICH

9 SECTION 325 APPLIES.—A political committee (not

10 described in paragraph (1)) to which section

11 325(b)(1) applies shall report all receipts and dis12 bursements made for activities described in para13 graphs (1) and (2)(iii) of section 325(b).

14 ‘‘(3) OTHER POLITICAL COMMITTEES.—Any po15 litical committee to which paragraph (1) or (2) does

16 not apply shall report any receipts or disbursements

17 that are used in connection with a Federal election.

18 ‘‘(4) ITEMIZATION.—If a political committee

19 has receipts or disbursements to which this sub20 section applies from any person aggregating in ex21 cess of $200 for any calendar year, the political

22 committee shall separately itemize its reporting for

23 such person in the same manner as required in para24 graphs (3)(A), (5), and (6) of subsection (b).
40

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1 ‘‘(5) REPORTING PERIODS.—Reports required

2 to be filed under this subsection shall be filed for the

3 same time periods required for political committees

4 under subsection (a).’’.

5 (b) BUILDING FUND EXCEPTION TO THE DEFINI6 TION OF CONTRIBUTION.—Section 301(8) of the Federal

7 Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431(8)) is

8 amended—

9 (1) by striking clause (viii); and

10 (2) by redesignating clauses (ix) through (xiv)

11 as clauses (viii) through (xiii), respectively.

12 (c) REPORTS BY STATE COMMITTEES.—Section 304

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

14 434), as amended by subsection (a), is amended by adding

15 at the end the following:

16 ‘‘(f) FILING OF STATE REPORTS.—In lieu of any re17 port required to be filed by this Act, the Commission may

18 allow a State committee of a political party to file with

19 the Commission a report required to be filed under State

20 law if the Commission determines such reports contain

21 substantially the same information.’’.

22 (d) OTHER REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—

23 (1) AUTHORIZED COMMITTEES.—Section

24 304(b)(4) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of

25 1971 (2 U.S.C. 434(b)(4)) is amended—
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1 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub2 paragraph (H);

3 (B) by inserting ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub4 paragraph (I); and

5 (C) by adding at the end the following new

6 subparagraph:

7 ‘‘(J) in the case of an authorized commit8 tee, disbursements for the primary election, the

9 general election, and any other election in which

10 the candidate participates;’’.

11 (2) NAMES AND ADDRESSES.—Section

12 304(b)(5)(A) of the Federal Election Campaign Act

13 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 434(b)(5)(A)) is amended by in14 serting ‘‘, and the election to which the operating ex15 penditure relates’’ after ‘‘operating expenditure’’.

16 SEC. 304. SOFT MONEY OF PERSONS OTHER THAN

17 POLITICAL PARTIES.

18 Section 304 of the Federal Election Campaign Act

19 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 434), as amended by subsection 303,

20 is amended by adding at the end the following:

21 ‘‘(g) ELECTION ACTIVITY OF PERSONS OTHER THAN

22 POLITICAL PARTIES.—

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A person other than a com24 mittee of a political party that makes aggregate dis25 bursements totaling in excess of $10,000 for activi-
42

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1 ties described in paragraph (2) shall file a statement

2 with the Commission—

3 ‘‘(A) within 48 hours after the disburse4 ments are made; or

5 ‘‘(B) in the case of disbursements that are

6 made within 20 days of an election, within 24

7 hours after the disbursements are made.

8 ‘‘(2) ACTIVITY.—The activity described in this

9 paragraph is—

10 ‘‘(A) any activity described in section

11 316(b)(2)(A) that refers to any candidate for

12 Federal office, any political party, or any Fed13 eral election; and

14 ‘‘(B) any activity described in subpara15 graph (B) or (C) of section 316(b)(2).

16 ‘‘(3) ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS.—An additional

17 statement shall be filed each time additional dis18 bursements aggregating $10,000 are made by a per19 son described in paragraph (1).

20 ‘‘(4) APPLICABILITY.—This subsection does not

21 apply to—

22 ‘‘(A) a candidate or a candidate’s author23 ized committees; or

24 ‘‘(B) an independent expenditure.
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1 ‘‘(5) CONTENTS.—A statement under this sec2 tion shall contain such information about the dis3 bursements as the Commission shall prescribe, in4 cluding—

5 ‘‘(A) the name and address of the person

6 or entity to whom the disbursement was made;

7 ‘‘(B) the amount and purpose of the dis8 bursement; and

9 ‘‘(C) if applicable, whether the disburse10 ment was in support of, or in opposition to, a

11 candidate or a political party, and the name of

12 the candidate or the political party.’’.

13 TITLE IV—ENFORCEMENT

14 SEC. 401. FILING OF REPORTS USING COMPUTERS AND

15 FACSIMILE MACHINES.

16 Section 302(a) of the Federal Election Campaign Act

17 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 434(a)) is amended by striking para18 graph (11) and inserting the following:

19 ‘‘(11) FILING OF REPORTS USING COMPUTERS

20 AND FACSIMILE MACHINES.—

21 ‘‘(A) REQUIRED FILING.—The Commission

22 may promulgate a regulation under which a

23 person required to file a designation, statement,

24 or report under this Act—
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1 ‘‘(i) is required to maintain and file a

2 designation, statement, or report for any

3 calendar year in electronic form accessible

4 by computers if the person has, or has rea5 son to expect to have, aggregate contribu6 tions or expenditures in excess of a thresh7 old amount determined by the Commission;

8 and

9 ‘‘(ii) may maintain and file a designa10 tion, statement, or report in that manner

11 if not required to do so under regulations

12 prescribed under clause (i).

13 ‘‘(B) FACSIMILE MACHINE.—The Commis14 sion shall promulgate a regulation that allows a

15 person to file a designation, statement, or re16 port required by this Act through the use of

17 facsimile machines.

18 ‘‘(C) VERIFICATION OF SIGNATURE.—

19 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In promulgating a

20 regulation under this paragraph, the Com21 mission shall provide methods (other than

22 requiring a signature on the document

23 being filed) for verifying a designation,

24 statement, or report covered by the regula25 tions.
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1 ‘‘(ii) TREATMENT OF VERIFICA2 TION.—A document verified under any of

3 the methods shall be treated for all pur4 poses (including penalties for perjury) in

5 the same manner as a document verified

6 by signature.’’.

7 SEC. 402. AUDITS.

8 (a) RANDOM AUDITS.—Section 311(b) of the Federal

9 Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 438(b)) is

10 amended—

11 (1) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ before ‘‘The Commis12 sion’’; and

13 (2) by adding at the end the following:

14 ‘‘(2) RANDOM AUDITS.—

15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding para16 graph (1), the Commission may conduct ran17 dom audits and investigations to ensure vol18 untary compliance with this Act.

19 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—The Commission shall

20 not institute an audit or investigation of a can21 didate’s authorized committee under subpara22 graph (A) until the candidate is no longer a

23 candidate for the office sought by the candidate

24 in that election cycle.
46

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1 ‘‘(C) APPLICABILITY.—This paragraph

2 does not apply to an authorized committee of a

3 candidate for President or Vice President sub4 ject to audit under section 9007 or 9038 of the

5 Internal Revenue Code of 1986.’’.

6 (b) EXTENSION OF PERIOD DURING WHICH CAM7 PAIGN AUDITS MAY BE BEGUN.—Section 311(b) of the

8 Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 438(b))

9 is amended by striking ‘‘6 months’’ and inserting ‘‘12

10 months’’.

11 SEC. 403. AUTHORITY TO SEEK INJUNCTION.

12 Section 309(a) of the Federal Election Campaign Act

13 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 437g(a)) is amended—

14 (1) by adding at the end the following:

15 ‘‘(13) AUTHORITY TO SEEK INJUNCTION.—

16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If, at any time in a pro17 ceeding described in paragraph (1), (2), (3), or (4),

18 the Commission believes that—

19 ‘‘(i) there is a substantial likelihood that a

20 violation of this Act is occurring or is about to

21 occur;

22 ‘‘(ii) the failure to act expeditiously will re23 sult in irreparable harm to a party affected by

24 the potential violation;
47

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1 ‘‘(iii) expeditious action will not cause

2 undue harm or prejudice to the interests of oth3 ers; and

4 ‘‘(iv) the public interest would be best

5 served by the issuance of an injunction;

6 the Commission may initiate a civil action for a temporary

7 restraining order or a preliminary injunction pending the

8 outcome of the proceedings described in paragraphs (1),

9 (2), (3), and (4).

10 ‘‘(B) VENUE.—An action under subparagraph

11 (A) shall be brought in the United States district

12 court for the district in which the defendant resides,

13 transacts business, or may be found, or in which the

14 violation is occurring, has occurred, or is about to

15 occur.’’;

16 (2) in paragraph (7), by striking ‘‘(5) or (6)’’

17 and inserting ‘‘(5), (6), or (13)’’; and

18 (3) in paragraph (11), by striking ‘‘(6)’’ and in19 serting ‘‘(6) or (13)’’.

20 SEC. 404. INCREASE IN PENALTY FOR KNOWING AND

21 WILLFUL VIOLATIONS.

22 Section 309(a)(5)(B) of the Federal Election Cam23 paign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 437g(a)(5)(B)) is amended

24 by striking ‘‘the greater of $10,000 or an amount equal
48

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1 to 200 percent’’ and inserting ‘‘the greater of $15,000 or

2 an amount equal to 300 percent’’.

3 SEC. 405. PROHIBITION OF CONTRIBUTIONS BY

4 INDIVIDUALS NOT QUALIFIED TO VOTE.

5 (a) PROHIBITION.—Section 319 of the Federal Elec6 tion Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441e) is amended—

7 (1) in the heading by adding ‘‘AND INDIVID8 UALS NOT QUALIFIED TO REGISTER TO

9 VOTE’’ at the end; and

10 (2) in subsection (a)—

11 (A) by striking ‘‘(a) It shall’’ and inserting

12 the following:

13 ‘‘(a) PROHIBITIONS.—

14 ‘‘(1) FOREIGN NATIONALS.—It shall’’; and

15 (B) by adding at the end the following:

16 ‘‘(2) INDIVIDUALS NOT QUALIFIED TO VOTE.—

17 It shall be unlawful for an individual who is not

18 qualified to register to vote in a Federal election to

19 make a contribution, or to promise expressly or

20 impliedly to make a contribution, in connection with

21 a Federal election; or for any person to knowingly

22 solicit, accept, or receive a contribution in connection

23 with a Federal election from an individual who is not

24 qualified to register to vote in a Federal election.’’.
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1 (b) INCLUSION IN DEFINITION OF IDENTIFICA2 TION.—Section 301(13) of the Federal Election Campaign

3 Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431(13)) is amended—

4 (1) in subparagraph (A)—

5 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ the first place it ap6 pears; and

7 (B) by inserting ‘‘, and an affirmation that

8 the individual is an individual who is not pro9 hibited by section 319 from making a contribu10 tion’’ after ‘‘employer’’; and

11 (2) in subparagraph (B) by inserting ‘‘and an

12 affirmation that the person is a person that is not

13 prohibited by section 319 from making a contribu14 tion’’ after ‘‘such person’’.

15 SEC. 406. USE OF CANDIDATES’ NAMES.

16 Section 302(e) of the Federal Election Campaign Act

17 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 432(e)) is amended by striking para18 graph (4) and inserting the following:

19 ‘‘(4)(A) The name of each authorized commit20 tee shall include the name of the candidate who au21 thorized the committee under paragraph (1).

22 ‘‘(B) A political committee that is not an au23 thorized committee shall not—

24 ‘‘(i) include the name of any can25 didate in its name, or
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1 ‘‘(ii) except in the case of a national,

2 State, or local party committee, use the

3 name of any candidate in any activity on

4 behalf of such committee in such a context

5 as to suggest that the committee is an au6 thorized committee of the candidate or

7 that the use of the candidate’s name has

8 been authorized by the candidate.’’.

9 SEC. 407. EXPEDITED PROCEDURES.

10 Section 309(a) of the Federal Election Campaign Act

11 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 437g(a)), as amended by section 403,

12 is amended by adding at the end the following:

13 ‘‘(14) EXPEDITED PROCEDURE.—

14 ‘‘(A) 60 DAYS PRECEDING AN ELECTION.—

15 If the complaint in a proceeding was filed with16 in 60 days immediately preceding a general

17 election, the Commission may take action de18 scribed in this subparagraph.

19 ‘‘(B) RESOLUTION BEFORE ELECTION.—If

20 the Commission determines, on the basis of

21 facts alleged in the complaint and other facts

22 available to the Commission, that there is clear

23 and convincing evidence that a violation of this

24 Act has occurred, is occurring, or is about to

25 occur and it appears that the requirements for
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1 relief stated in paragraph (13)(A) (ii), (iii), and

2 (iv) are met, the Commission may—

3 ‘‘(i) order expedited proceedings,

4 shortening the time periods for proceedings

5 under paragraphs (1), (2), (3), and (4) as

6 necessary to allow the matter to be re7 solved in sufficient time before the election

8 to avoid harm or prejudice to the interests

9 of the parties; or

10 ‘‘(ii) if the Commission determines

11 that there is insufficient time to conduct

12 proceedings before the election, imme13 diately seek relief under paragraph

14 (13)(A).

15 ‘‘(C) COMPLAINT WITHOUT MERIT.—If the

16 Commission determines, on the basis of facts

17 alleged in the complaint and other facts avail18 able to the Commission, that the complaint is

19 clearly without merit, the Commission may—

20 ‘‘(i) order expedited proceedings,

21 shortening the time periods for proceedings

22 under paragraphs (1), (2), (3), and (4) as

23 necessary to allow the matter to be re24 solved in sufficient time before the election
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1 to avoid harm or prejudice to the interests

2 of the parties; or

3 ‘‘(ii) if the Commission determines

4 that there is insufficient time to conduct

5 proceedings before the election, summarily

6 dismiss the complaint.’’.

7 TITLE V—SEVERABILITY;

8 REGULATIONS; EFFECTIVE DATE

9 SEC. 501. SEVERABILITY.

10 If any provision of this Act or amendment made by

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

12 to any person or circumstance, is held to be unconstitu13 tional, the remainder of this Act and amendments made

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

15 amendment to any person or circumstance, shall not be

16 affected by the holding.

17 SEC. 502. REGULATIONS.

18 The Federal Election Commission shall promulgate

19 any regulations required to carry out this Act and the

20 amendments made by this Act.

21 SEC. 503. EFFECTIVE DATE.

22 Except as otherwise provided in this Act, this Act and

23 the amendments made by this Act take effect on the date

24 that is 30 days after the date of enactment of this Act.

Æ