II

105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1689

To reform Federal election law.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

FEBRUARY 26, 1998

Mr. DOMENICI introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred

to the Committee on Rules and Administration

A BILL

To reform Federal election law.

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 ‘‘Grassroots Campaign and Common Sense Federal Elec6 tion Reform Act of 1998’’.

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

8 this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.

Sec. 2. Restriction on out-of-state contributions.

Sec. 3. Limitation on political action committees.

Sec. 4. Use of personal wealth for campaign purposes.

Sec. 5. Increase in contribution limits.

Sec. 6. Limit on soft money donations to political parties.

Sec. 7. Increased disclosure for certain communications.

Sec. 8. Use of union dues for political purposes.
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Sec. 9. Prohibition of fundraising on Federal property and other criminal prohibitions.

Sec. 10. Contributions to defray legal expenses of certain officials.

Sec. 11. Increased criminal penalties for violations of foreign national provisions and contributions in the name of another.

Sec. 12. Filing of reports using computers and facsimile machines.

Sec. 13. Term limits for Federal Election Commission.

1 SEC. 2. RESTRICTION ON OUT-OF-STATE CONTRIBUTIONS.

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

3 Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 301 et seq.) is amended

4 by adding at the end the following:

5 ‘‘SEC. 324. LIMIT ON OUT-OF-STATE CONTRIBUTIONS.

6 ‘‘A candidate for nomination to, or election to, the

7 Senate or House of Representatives or the candidate’s au8 thorized committees shall not accept an aggregate amount

9 of funds during an election cycle from individuals, sepa10 rate segregated funds, and multicandidate political com11 mittees that do not reside or have their headquarters with12 in the candidate’s State in excess of an amount equal to

13 40 percent of the total amount of contributions accepted

14 by the candidate and the candidate’s authorized commit15 tees.’’.

16 (b) DEFINITION OF ELECTION CYCLE.—Section 301

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

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

19 ‘‘(20) ELECTION CYCLE.—The term ‘election

20 cycle’ means the period beginning on the day after

21 the date of the most recent general election for the

22 specific office or seat that a candidate is seeking and
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1 ending on the date of the next general election for

2 that office or seat.’’.

3 SEC. 3. LIMITATION ON POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEES.

4 (a) PROHIBITION OF SEPARATE SEGREGATED

5 FUNDS.—Section 316(b)(2) of the Federal Election Cam6 paign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441b(b)(2)) is amended—

7 (1) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ‘‘and’’

8 after the semicolon;

9 (2) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘; and’’

10 and inserting a period; and

11 (3) by striking subparagraph (C).

12 (b) PROHIBITION OF CERTAIN DISBURSEMENTS BY

13 BANKS, CORPORATIONS, AND LABOR ORGANIZATIONS.—

14 Section 316 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of

15 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441b) is amended by adding at the end

16 the following:

17 ‘‘(c) PROHIBITED DISBURSEMENTS.—A bank, labor

18 organization, or corporation referred to in subsection (a)

19 shall not make a disbursement for the establishment or

20 administration of a political committee or the solicitation

21 of contributions to such committee.’’

22 (c) LIMITATION ON CONTRIBUTIONS BY MULTI23 CANDIDATE POLITICAL COMMITTEES.—Section 315(a)(2)

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

25 441a(a)(2)) is amended—
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1 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘$5,000’’

2 and inserting ‘‘$500’’; and

3 (2) in subparagraph (C), by striking ‘‘in any’’

4 and all that follows through ‘‘$5,000’’.

5 SEC. 4. USE OF PERSONAL WEALTH FOR CAMPAIGN PUR6 POSES.

7 Section 315 of the Federal Election Campaign Act

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

9 the following:

10 ‘‘(i)(1)(A) Not later than 15 days after the date a

11 candidate qualifies for a ballot, under State law, the can12 didate shall file with the Commission a declaration stating

13 whether or not the candidate intends to expend personal

14 funds in connection with the candidate’s election for office,

15 in an aggregate amount equal to or greater than—

16 ‘‘(i) in the case of a candidate for the Senate,

17 $250,000, ; and

18 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a candidate for the House

19 of Representatives, $100,000.

20 ‘‘(B) In this subsection, the term ‘personal funds’

21 means—

22 ‘‘(i) funds of the candidate or funds from obli23 gations incurred by the candidate in connection with

24 the candidate’s campaign; and
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1 ‘‘(ii) funds of the candidate’s spouse, a child,

2 stepchild, parent, grandparent, brother, sister, half3 brother, or half-sister of the candidate and the

4 spouse of any such person, and a child, stepchild,

5 parent, grandparent, brother, half-brother, sister, or

6 half-sister of the candidate’s spouse and the spouse

7 of such person.

8 ‘‘(C) The statement required by this subsection shall

9 be in such form, and shall contain such information, as

10 the Commission may, by regulation, require.

11 ‘‘(2) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, in

12 any election in which a candidate declares an intention to

13 expend more personal funds than the limits described in

14 paragraph (1)(A), expends personal funds in excess of

15 such limits, or fails to file the declaration required by this

16 subsection—

17 ‘‘(A) subsection (h) shall apply to other eligible

18 candidates in the same election without regard to

19 the $17,500 limit; and

20 ‘‘(B) the limitations on contributions in sub21 section (a) for other eligible candidates in the same

22 election shall be increased for such election as fol23 lows:
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1 ‘‘(i) The limitations under subsection

2 (a)(1)(A) shall be increased to an amount equal

3 to 1,000 percent of such limitation; and

4 ‘‘(ii) The limitations under subsection

5 (a)(3) shall be increased to an amount equal to

6 150 percent of such limitation, but only to the

7 extent that contributions above such limitation

8 are made to candidates affected by the in9 creased levels provided in clause (i).

10 ‘‘(3) For purposes of this paragraph, an eligible can11 didate is a candidate who is not required to file a declara12 tion under paragraph (1) or notice under paragraph (5).

13 ‘‘(4) If the limitations described in paragraph (2) are

14 increased under paragraph (2) for a convention or a pri15 mary election, as they relate to an individual candidate,

16 and such individual candidate is not a candidate in any

17 subsequent election in such campaign, including the gen18 eral election, the provisions of paragraph (2) shall no

19 longer apply.

20 ‘‘(5) Any candidate who—

21 ‘‘(A) declares under paragraph (1) that the

22 candidate does not intend to expend personal funds

23 in an aggregate amount in excess of the limit de24 scribed in paragraph (1)(A); and
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1 ‘‘(B) subsequently does expend personal funds

2 in excess of such limit or intends to expend personal

3 funds in excess of such limits,

4 such candidate shall notify and file an amended declara5 tion with the Commission and shall notify all other can6 didates for such office within 24 hours after changing such

7 declaration or exceeding such limits, whichever first oc8 curs, by sending such notice by certified mail, return re9 ceipt requested. A candidate that violates this paragraph

10 shall be subject to a civil penalty in an amount equal to

11 2 times the amount of funds expended in excess of the

12 limits.

13 ‘‘(6) Any candidate who incurs personal loans in con14 nection with his campaign under this Act shall not repay,

15 either directly or indirectly, such loans from any contribu16 tions made to such candidate or any authorized committee

17 of such candidate after the date of such election.

18 ‘‘(7) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no

19 candidate shall make expenditures from personal funds in

20 connection with a general, special, or runoff election for

21 office after the later of—

22 ‘‘(A) the date that is 90 days before the date

23 of the election; or

24 ‘‘(B) the day after the primary election for such

25 office, whichever date occurs later.
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1 The provisions of this paragraph shall apply to all can2 didates regardless of whether such candidate has reached

3 the limits provided in paragraph (1) of this subsection.

4 A candidate that violates this paragraph shall be subject

5 to a civil penalty in an amount equal to 3 times the

6 amount of funds expended.

7 ‘‘(8) The Commission shall take such action as it

8 deems necessary under the enforcement provisions of this

9 Act to assure compliance with the provisions of this sub10 section.’’.

11 SEC. 5. INCREASE IN CONTRIBUTION LIMITS.

12 (a) INCREASE IN LIMITS.—Section 315(a) of the

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

14 441a(a)) is amended—

15 (1) in paragraph (1)—

16 (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking

17 ‘‘$1,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$5,000’’; and

18 (B) in subparagraph (B), by striking

19 ‘‘$20,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$50,000’’; and

20 (2) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘$25,000’’

21 and inserting ‘‘$50,000’’.

22 (b) INDEXING.—Section 315(c) of the Federal Elec23 tion Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a(c)) is amend24 ed—

25 (1) in paragraph (1)—
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1 (A) by striking the second and third sen2 tences;

3 (B) by inserting before ‘‘At the beginning’’

4 the following: ‘‘(A)’’; and

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

6 ‘‘(B) Each limitation established by subparagraphs

7 (A) and (B) of paragraph (1) and paragraph (3) of sub8 section (a) or subsection (b) or (d) shall be increased by

9 the percent difference determined under subparagraph

10 (A).

11 ‘‘(C) Each amount increased under subparagraph (B)

12 shall remain in effect for the calendar year in which the

13 amount is increased.’’; and

14 (2) in paragraph (2)(B), by striking ‘‘means the

15 calendar year 1974.’’ and inserting ‘‘means—

16 ‘‘(i) for purposes of subsections (b) and

17 (d), calendar year 1974; and

18 ‘‘(ii) for purposes of subsection (a), cal19 endar year 1998.’’.

20 SEC. 6. LIMIT ON SOFT MONEY DONATIONS TO POLITICAL

21 PARTIES.

22 (a) SOFT MONEY OF NATIONAL POLITICAL PARTY

23 COMMITTEES.—Title III of the Federal Election Cam24 paign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431 et seq.) (as amended
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1 by section 2) is amended by adding at the end the follow2 ing:

3 ‘‘SEC. 325. SOFT MONEY OF POLITICAL PARTY COMMIT4 TEES.

5 ‘‘A national committee of a political party, any subor6 dinate committee of a national committee, a Senatorial or

7 Congressional Campaign Committee of a national political

8 party, or an entity that is directly or indirectly established,

9 financed, maintained, or controlled by a national commit10 tee or a Senatorial or Congressional Campaign Committee

11 of a national political party or that is an entity acting on

12 behalf of a national committee or a Senatorial or Congres13 sional Campaign Committee of a national political party

14 shall not accept donations from any person during a cal15 endar year in an aggregate amount that exceeds

16 $100,000.’’.

17 SEC. 7. INCREASED DISCLOSURE FOR CERTAIN COMMU18 NICATIONS.

19 Section 304 of the Federal Election Campaign Act

20 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 434) is amended by adding at the end

21 the following:

22 ‘‘(d) DISCLOSURE OF CERTAIN COMMUNICATIONS.—

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A person shall file a report

24 under paragraph (2) if the person expends an aggre25 gate amount of funds during a calendar year for
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1 communications described in paragraph (3) in excess

2 of—

3 ‘‘(A) $25,000 with respect to a candidate;

4 or

5 ‘‘(B) $100,000 with respect to all can6 didates.

7 ‘‘(2) REPORT.—

8 ‘‘(A) TIME TO FILE.—A report under this

9 paragraph shall be filed in accordance with sub10 section (a)(2).

11 ‘‘(B) CONTENTS OF REPORT.—A report

12 filed under this paragraph shall contain the

13 same information required for an independent

14 expenditure under subsection (c).

15 ‘‘(3) COMMUNICATION DESCRIBED.—A commu16 nication described in this paragraph is any commu17 nication that—

18 ‘‘(A) is broadcast to the general public

19 through radio or television;

20 ‘‘(B) mentions or refers to by name, rep21 resentation, or likeness any candidate for elec22 tion to Federal office;

23 ‘‘(C) the payment for which is not a dis24 bursement described in clause (i) or (iii) of sec25 tion 301(9)(B); and
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1 ‘‘(D) the payment for which is not an inde2 pendent expenditure.’’.

3 SEC. 8. USE OF UNION DUES FOR POLITICAL PURPOSES.

4 Section 316 of the Federal Election Campaign Act

5 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441b) (as amended by section 3) is

6 amended by adding at the end the following:

7 ‘‘(d)(1) Except with the separate, prior, written, vol8 untary authorization of each individual, it shall be unlaw9 ful for any labor organization described in this section to

10 collect from or assess its members or nonmembers any

11 dues, initiation fee, or other payment, if any part of such

12 dues, fee, or payment will be used for political activities.

13 ‘‘(2) An authorization described in paragraph (1)

14 shall remain in effect until revoked and may be revoked

15 at any time.

16 ‘‘(3) In this subsection, the term ‘political activities’

17 includes communications or other activities which involve

18 carrying on propaganda, attempting to influence legisla19 tion, or participating or intervening in any political cam20 paign or political party.’’.

21 SEC. 9. PROHIBITION OF FUNDRAISING ON FEDERAL PROP22 ERTY AND OTHER CRIMINAL PROHIBITIONS.

23 (a) DEFINITION OF DONATION.—Section 301 of the

24 Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431)
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1 (as amended by section 2) is amended by adding at the

2 end the following:

3 ‘‘(21) DONATION.—The term ‘donation’ means a gift,

4 subscription, loan, advance, or deposit of money or any5 thing else of value made by any person to a national com6 mittee of a political party or a Senatorial or Congressional

7 Campaign Committee of a national political party for any

8 purpose, but does not include a contribution (as defined

9 in paragraph (8)).’’.

10 (b) PROHIBITION OF FUNDRAISING ON FEDERAL

11 PROPERTY.—Section 607 of title 18, United States Code,

12 is amended—

13 (1) in subsection (a), by inserting ‘‘or donation

14 within the meaning of section 301(20)’’ after ‘‘sec15 tion 301(8)’’; and

16 (2) in subsection (b)—

17 (A) by inserting ‘‘or donations’’ after ‘‘con18 tributions’’ each place it appears;

19 (B) by inserting ‘‘or donation’’ after ‘‘con20 tribution’’; and

21 (C) by inserting ‘‘donator’’ after ‘‘contribu22 tor’’.

23 (c) AMENDMENT OF TITLE 18 TO INCLUDE PROHI24 BITION OF DONATIONS.—Chapter 29 of title 18, United

25 States Code, is amended—
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1 (1) in section 602(a)(4), by inserting ‘‘or dona2 tion within the meaning of section 301(20)’’ after

3 ‘‘section 301(8)’’; and

4 (2) in section 603(a)—

5 (A) by inserting ‘‘or donation within the

6 meaning of section 301(20)’’ after ‘‘section

7 301(8)’’; and

8 (B) by inserting ‘‘or donation’’ after ‘‘con9 tribution’’ the second and third time it appears.

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

11 this section shall apply to violations occurring on or after

12 the date of enactment of this Act.

13 SEC. 10. CONTRIBUTIONS TO DEFRAY LEGAL EXPENSES OF

14 CERTAIN OFFICIALS.

15 (a) CONTRIBUTIONS TO DEFRAY LEGAL EX16 PENSES.—

17 (1) PROHIBITION ON MAKING OF CONTRIBU18 TIONS.—It shall be unlawful for any person to make

19 a contribution to a candidate for nomination to, or

20 election to, a Federal office (as defined in section

21 301(3) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of

22 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431(3))), an individual who is a

23 holder of a Federal office, or any head of an Execu24 tive department, or any entity established on behalf
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1 of any such individual, to defray legal expenses of

2 such individual—

3 (A) to the extent it would result in the ag4 gregate amount of such contributions from such

5 person to or on behalf of such individual to ex6 ceed $10,000 for any calendar year; or

7 (B) if the person is—

8 (i) a foreign national (as defined in

9 section 319(b) of the Federal Election

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

11 441e(b))); or

12 (ii) a person prohibited from contrib13 uting to the campaign of a candidate

14 under section 316 of the Federal Election

15 Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441b).

16 (2) PROHIBITION ON ACCEPTANCE OF CON17 TRIBUTIONS.—No person shall accept a contribution

18 if the contribution would violate paragraph (1).

19 (3) PENALTY.—A person that knowingly and

20 willfully commits a violation of paragraph (1) or (2)

21 shall be fined an amount not to exceed the greater

22 of $25,000 or 300 percent of the contribution in23 volved in such violation, imprisoned for not more

24 than 1 year, or both.
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1 (4) CONSTRUCTION OF PROHIBITION.—Nothing

2 in this section shall be construed to permit the mak3 ing of a contribution that is otherwise prohibited by

4 law.

5 (b) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—A candidate for

6 nomination to, or election to, a Federal office, an individ7 ual who is a holder of a Federal office, or any head of

8 an Executive department, or any entity established on be9 half of any such individual, that accepts contributions to

10 defray legal expenses of such individual shall file a quar11 terly report with the Federal Election Commission includ12 ing the following information:

13 (1) The name and address of each contributor

14 who makes a contribution in excess of $25.

15 (2) The amount of each contribution.

16 (3) The name and address of each individual or

17 entity receiving disbursements from the fund.

18 (4) A brief description of the nature and

19 amount of each disbursement.

20 (5) The name and address of any provider of

21 pro bono services to the fund.

22 (6) The fair market value of any pro bono serv23 ices provided to the fund.
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1 SEC. 11. INCREASED CRIMINAL PENALTIES FOR VIOLA2 TIONS OF FOREIGN NATIONAL PROVISIONS

3 AND CONTRIBUTIONS IN THE NAME OF AN4 OTHER.

5 Section 309(d)(1) of the Federal Election Campaign

6 Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 437g(d)(1)) is amended by adding

7 at the end the following:

8 ‘‘(D) In the case of a person who knowingly and will9 fully violates section 319 or 320, the person shall be fined

10 an amount not to exceed $10,000, imprisoned for not more

11 than 10 years, or both.’’.

12 SEC. 12. FILING OF REPORTS USING COMPUTERS AND FAC13 SIMILE MACHINES.

14 Section 304(a) of the Federal Election Campaign Act

15 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 434(a)) is amended by striking para16 graph (11) and inserting the following:

17 ‘‘(11) FILING REPORTS USING COMPUTERS AND

18 FACSIMILE MACHINES.—

19 ‘‘(A) SOFTWARE.—The Commission shall—

20 ‘‘(i) develop software for use to file a des21 ignation, statement, or report under this Act;

22 and

23 ‘‘(ii) provide a copy of the software at no

24 cost to a person required to file a designation,

25 statement, or report under this Act.
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1 ‘‘(B) COMPUTERS.—The Commission shall pro2 mulgate a regulation under which a person required

3 to file a designation, statement, or report under this

4 Act—

5 ‘‘(i) is required to maintain and file the

6 designation, statement, or report for any cal7 endar year in electronic form accessible by com8 puters if the person has, or has reason to ex9 pect to have, aggregate contributions or expend10 itures in excess of a threshold amount deter11 mined by the Commission; and

12 ‘‘(ii) may maintain and file a designation,

13 statement, or report in that manner if not re14 quired to do so under a regulation promulgated

15 under clause (i).

16 ‘‘(C) FACSIMILE MACHINE.—The Commission

17 shall promulgate a regulation which allows a person

18 to file a designation, statement, or report required

19 by this Act through the use of a facsimile machine.

20 ‘‘(D) VERIFICATION OF SIGNATURE.—In pro21 mulgating a regulation under this paragraph, the

22 Commission shall provide methods (other than re23 quiring a signature on the document being filed) for

24 verifying a designation, statement, or report covered

25 by the regulation. A document verified under any of
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1 the methods shall be treated for all purposes (includ2 ing penalties for perjury) in the same manner as a

3 document verified by signature.’’.

4 SEC. 13. TERM LIMITS FOR FEDERAL ELECTION COMMIS5 SION.

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 306(a)(2)(A) of the Fed7 eral Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C.

8 437c(a)(2)(A)) is amended in the matter preceding clause

9 (i) by striking ‘‘terms of 6 years’’ and inserting ‘‘no more

10 than 1 term of 8 years’’.

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

12 subsection (a) shall apply to appointments made after the

13 date of enactment of this Act and to Commissioners serv14 ing a term on the date of enactment of this section except

15 that such Commissioner shall continue to serve until the

16 expiration of such term.

Æ