I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1612 

To ensure election security, enhance Americans’ access to the ballot box, 

reduce the influence of big money in politics through transparency, establish accountability and integrity measures for Congress, and strengthen 

ethics rules for public servants, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 7, 2019 

Mr. FITZPATRICK introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on House Administration, and in addition to the Committees 

on Science, Space, and Technology, the Judiciary, Homeland Security, 

Intelligence (Permanent Select), Ways and Means, Financial Services, 

Oversight and Reform, and Ethics, 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 ensure election security, enhance Americans’ access to 

the ballot box, reduce the influence of big money in 

politics through transparency, establish accountability 

and integrity measures for Congress, and strengthen ethics rules for public servants, 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 ‘‘Nonpartisan Bill For 

5 the People Act of 2019’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ORGANIZATION OF ACT INTO DIVISIONS; TABLE OF 

2 CONTENTS. 

3 (a) DIVISIONS.—This Act is organized into 3 divi4 sions as follows: 

5 (1) Division A—Voting and Elections. 

6 (2) Division B—Campaign Finance. 

7 (3) Division C—Ethics. 

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

9 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title. 

Sec. 2. Organization of Act into divisions; table of contents. 

DIVISION A—VOTING AND ELECTIONS 

TITLE I—ELECTION ACCESS 

Subtitle A—Voter Registration Modernization 

Sec. 1001. Short title; findings and purpose. 

Sec. 1002. Automatic registration of eligible individuals. 

Sec. 1003. Contributing agency assistance in registration. 

Sec. 1004. One-time contributing agency assistance in registration of eligible 

voters in existing records. 

Sec. 1005. Voter protection and security in automatic registration. 

Sec. 1006. Registration portability and correction. 

Sec. 1007. Payments and grants. 

Sec. 1008. Treatment of exempt States. 

Sec. 1009. Miscellaneous provisions. 

Sec. 1010. Definitions. 

Sec. 1011. Effective date. 

Subtitle B—Access to Voting for Individuals With Disabilities 

Sec. 1101. Requirements for States to promote access to voter registration and 

voting for individuals with disabilities. 

Sec. 1102. Pilot programs for enabling individuals with disabilities to register 

to vote and vote privately and independently at residences. 

Sec. 1103. Expansion and reauthorization of grant program to assure voting 

access for individuals with disabilities. 

Subtitle C—CLEAN Elections 

Sec. 1201. Short title. 

Sec. 1202. Requiring open primaries. 

Sec. 1203. Sense of Congress on need for term limits for Members. 

Subtitle D—Election Integrity 


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Sec. 1301. Requiring voters to provide photo identification. 

TITLE II—REDISTRICTING REFORM 

Sec. 2001. Short title; finding of constitutional authority. 

Subtitle A—Requirements for Congressional Redistricting 

Sec. 2101. Limit on congressional redistricting after an apportionment. 

Sec. 2102. Requiring congressional redistricting to be conducted through plan 

of independent State commission. 

Subtitle B—Independent Redistricting Commissions 

Sec. 2201. Independent redistricting commission. 

Sec. 2202. Establishment of selection pool of individuals eligible to serve as 

members of commission. 

Sec. 2203. Criteria for redistricting plan by independent commission; public notice and input. 

Sec. 2204. Establishment of related entities. 

Subtitle C—Administrative and Miscellaneous Provisions 

Sec. 2301. Payments to States for carrying out redistricting. 

Sec. 2302. State apportionment notice defined. 

Sec. 2303. No effect on elections for State and local office. 

Sec. 2304. Effective date. 

Subtitle D—Severability 

Sec. 2401. Severability. 

TITLE III—ELECTION SECURITY 

Sec. 3000. Short title; sense of Congress. 

Subtitle A—Financial Support for Election Infrastructure 

PART 1—GRANTS FOR RISK-LIMITING AUDITS OF RESULTS OF ELECTIONS

Sec. 3001. Grants to States for conducting risk-limiting audits of results of 

elections. 

Sec. 3002. GAO analysis of effects of audits. 

PART 2—ELECTION INFRASTRUCTURE INNOVATION GRANT PROGRAM

Sec. 3011. Election infrastructure innovation grant program. 

Subtitle B—Security Measures 

Sec. 3101. Election infrastructure designation. 

Sec. 3102. Timely threat information. 

Sec. 3103. Security clearance assistance for election officials. 

Sec. 3104. Security risk and vulnerability assessments. 

Sec. 3105. Annual reports. 

Subtitle C—Enhancing Protections for United States Democratic Institutions 

Sec. 3201. National strategy to protect United States democratic institutions. 


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Sec. 3202. National Commission to Protect United States Democratic Institutions. 

Subtitle D—Promoting Cybersecurity Through Improvements in Election 

Administration 

Sec. 3301. Testing of existing voting systems to ensure compliance with election 

cybersecurity guidelines and other guidelines. 

Sec. 3302. Treatment of electronic poll books as part of voting systems. 

Sec. 3303. Pre-election reports on voting system usage. 

Sec. 3304. Streamlining collection of election information. 

Subtitle E—Preventing Election Hacking 

Sec. 3401. Short title. 

Sec. 3402. Election Security Bug Bounty Program. 

Sec. 3403. Definitions. 

Subtitle F—Miscellaneous Provisions 

Sec. 3501. Definitions. 

Sec. 3502. Initial report on adequacy of resources available for implementation. 

Subtitle G—Severability 

Sec. 3601. Severability. 

DIVISION B—CAMPAIGN FINANCE 

TITLE IV—CAMPAIGN FINANCE TRANSPARENCY 

Subtitle A—Findings Relating to Illicit Money Undermining Our Democracy 

Sec. 4001. Findings relating to illicit money undermining our democracy. 

Subtitle B—DISCLOSE Act 

Sec. 4100. Short title. 

PART 1—REGULATION OF CERTAIN POLITICAL SPENDING

Sec. 4101. Application of ban on contributions and expenditures by foreign nationals to domestic corporations, limited liability corporations, 

and partnerships that are foreign-controlled, foreign-influenced, 

and foreign-owned. 

Sec. 4102. Clarification of application of foreign money ban to certain disbursements and activities. 

PART 2—REPORTING OF CAMPAIGN-RELATED DISBURSEMENTS

Sec. 4111. Reporting of campaign-related disbursements. 

Sec. 4112. Application of foreign money ban to disbursements for campaign-related disbursements consisting of covered transfers. 

Sec. 4113. Effective date. 

PART 3—OTHER ADMINISTRATIVE REFORMS

Sec. 4121. Petition for certiorari. 

Sec. 4122. Judicial review of actions related to campaign finance laws. 


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Subtitle C—Honest Ads 

Sec. 4201. Short title. 

Sec. 4202. Purpose. 

Sec. 4203. Findings. 

Sec. 4204. Sense of Congress. 

Sec. 4205. Expansion of definition of public communication. 

Sec. 4206. Expansion of definition of electioneering communication. 

Sec. 4207. Application of disclaimer statements to online communications. 

Sec. 4208. Political record requirements for online platforms. 

Sec. 4209. Preventing contributions, expenditures, independent expenditures, 

and disbursements for electioneering communications by foreign nationals in the form of online advertising. 

Subtitle D—Stand By Every Ad 

Sec. 4301. Short title. 

Sec. 4302. Stand By Every Ad. 

Sec. 4303. Disclaimer requirements for communications made through 

prerecorded telephone calls. 

Sec. 4304. No expansion of persons subject to disclaimer requirements on internet communications. 

Sec. 4305. Effective date. 

Subtitle E—Secret Money Transparency 

Sec. 4401. Repeal of restriction of use of funds by Internal Revenue Service to 

bring transparency to political activity of certain nonprofit organizations. 

Subtitle F—Shareholder Right-To-Know 

Sec. 4501. Repeal of restriction on use of funds by Securities and Exchange 

Commission to ensure shareholders of corporations have knowledge of corporation political activity. 

Subtitle G—Disclosure of Political Spending by Government Contractors 

Sec. 4601. Repeal of restriction on use of funds to require disclosure of political 

spending by government contractors. 

Subtitle H—Limitation and Disclosure Requirements for Presidential 

Inaugural Committees 

Sec. 4701. Short title. 

Sec. 4702. Limitations and disclosure of certain donations to, and disbursements by, inaugural committees. 

Subtitle I—Severability 

Sec. 4801. Severability. 

TITLE V—CAMPAIGN FINANCE OVERSIGHT 

Subtitle A—Restoring Integrity to America’s Elections 

Sec. 5001. Short title. 

Sec. 5002. Membership of Federal Election Commission. 

Sec. 5003. Assignment of powers to Chair of Federal Election Commission. 


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Sec. 5004. Revision to enforcement process. 

Sec. 5005. Permitting appearance at hearings on requests for advisory opinions 

by persons opposing the requests. 

Sec. 5006. Permanent extension of administrative penalty authority. 

Sec. 5007. Effective date; transition. 

Subtitle B—Stopping Super PAC–Candidate Coordination 

Sec. 5101. Short title. 

Sec. 5102. Clarification of treatment of coordinated expenditures as contributions to candidates. 

Sec. 5103. Clarification of ban on fundraising for super PACs by Federal candidates and officeholders. 

Subtitle C—Severability 

Sec. 5201. Severability. 

DIVISION C—ETHICS 

TITLE VI—ETHICAL STANDARDS 

Subtitle A—Supreme Court Ethics 

Sec. 6001. Code of conduct for Federal judges. 

Subtitle B—Foreign Agents Registration 

Sec. 6101. Establishment of FARA investigation and enforcement unit within 

Department of Justice. 

Sec. 6102. Authority to impose civil money penalties. 

Sec. 6103. Disclosure of transactions involving things of financial value conferred on officeholders. 

Subtitle C—Lobbying Disclosure Reform 

Sec. 6201. Expanding scope of individuals and activities subject to requirements of Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995. 

Subtitle D—Recusal of Presidential Appointees 

Sec. 6301. Recusal of appointees. 

Subtitle E—Severability 

Sec. 6401. Severability. 

TITLE VII—ETHICS REFORMS FOR THE PRESIDENT, VICE 

PRESIDENT, AND FEDERAL OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES 

Subtitle A—Executive Branch Conflict of Interest 

Sec. 7001. Short title. 

Sec. 7002. Restrictions on private sector payment for Government service. 

Sec. 7003. Requirements relating to slowing the revolving door. 

Sec. 7004. Prohibition of procurement officers accepting employment from Government contractors. 

Sec. 7005. Revolving door restrictions on employees moving into the private 

sector. 


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Subtitle B—Presidential Conflicts of Interest 

Sec. 7011. Short title. 

Sec. 7012. Divestiture of personal financial interests of the President and Vice 

President that pose a potential conflict of interest. 

Sec. 7013. Initial financial disclosure. 

Sec. 7014. Contracts by the President or Vice President. 

Subtitle C—White House Ethics Transparency 

Sec. 7021. Short title. 

Sec. 7022. Procedure for waivers and authorizations relating to ethics requirements. 

Subtitle D—Executive Branch Ethics Enforcement 

Sec. 7031. Short title. 

Sec. 7032. Reauthorization of the Office of Government Ethics. 

Sec. 7033. Tenure of the Director of the Office of Government Ethics. 

Sec. 7034. Duties of Director of the Office of Government Ethics. 

Sec. 7035. Agency ethics officials training and duties. 

Subtitle E—Conflicts From Political Fundraising 

Sec. 7041. Short title. 

Sec. 7042. Disclosure of certain types of contributions. 

Subtitle F—Transition Team Ethics 

Sec. 7051. Short title. 

Sec. 7052. Presidential transition ethics programs. 

Subtitle G—Ethics Pledge for Senior Executive Branch Employees 

Sec. 7061. Short title. 

Sec. 7062. Ethics pledge requirement for senior executive branch employees. 

Subtitle H—Severability 

Sec. 7071. Severability. 

TITLE VIII—CONGRESSIONAL ETHICS REFORM 

Subtitle A—Requiring Members of Congress To Reimburse Treasury for 

Amounts Paid as Settlements and Awards Under Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 

Sec. 8001. Requiring Members of Congress to reimburse Treasury for amounts 

paid as settlements and awards under Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 in all cases of employment discrimination 

acts by Members. 

Subtitle B—Conflicts of Interests 

Sec. 8101. Prohibiting Members of House of Representatives from serving on 

boards of for-profit entities. 

Sec. 8102. Conflict of interest rules for Members of Congress and congressional 

staff. 

Sec. 8103. Exercise of rulemaking powers. 


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Subtitle C—Campaign Finance and Lobbying Disclosure 

Sec. 8201. Short title. 

Sec. 8202. Requiring disclosure in certain reports filed with Federal Election 

Commission of persons who are registered lobbyists. 

Sec. 8203. Effective date. 

Subtitle D—Access to Congressionally Mandated Reports 

Sec. 8301. Short title. 

Sec. 8302. Definitions. 

Sec. 8303. Establishment of online portal for congressionally mandated reports. 

Sec. 8304. Federal agency responsibilities. 

Sec. 8305. Removing and altering reports. 

Sec. 8306. Relationship to the Freedom of Information Act. 

Sec. 8307. Implementation. 

Subtitle E—CLEAN Congress 

Sec. 8401. Short title. 

Sec. 8402. Prohibiting multiple subjects in single bill. 

Sec. 8403. Requiring equal application of laws to Members of Congress. 

Subtitle F—CLEAN Public Service 

Sec. 8501. Short title. 

Sec. 8502. Termination of further retirement benefits for Members of Congress. 

Subtitle G—No Budget, No Pay 

Sec. 8601. Short title. 

Sec. 8602. Definition. 

Sec. 8603. Timely approval of concurrent resolution on the budget and the appropriations bills. 

Sec. 8604. No pay without concurrent resolution on the budget and the appropriations bills. 

Sec. 8605. Determinations. 

Sec. 8606. Effective date. 

Subtitle H—No Work, No Pay 

Sec. 8701. Short title. 

Sec. 8702. Prohibiting paying Members of Congress during Government shutdowns. 

Sec. 8703. Definitions. 

Subtitle I—Severability 

Sec. 8801. Severability. 

TITLE IX—PRESIDENTIAL, VICE PRESIDENTIAL, AND 

CONGRESSIONAL TAX TRANSPARENCY 

Sec. 9001. Presidential, Vice Presidential, and congressional tax transparency. 


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1 DIVISION A—VOTING AND 

2 ELECTIONS 

3 TITLE I—ELECTION ACCESS 

Subtitle A—Voter Registration Modernization 

Sec. 1001. Short title; findings and purpose. 

Sec. 1002. Automatic registration of eligible individuals. 

Sec. 1003. Contributing agency assistance in registration. 

Sec. 1004. One-time contributing agency assistance in registration of eligible 

voters in existing records. 

Sec. 1005. Voter protection and security in automatic registration. 

Sec. 1006. Registration portability and correction. 

Sec. 1007. Payments and grants. 

Sec. 1008. Treatment of exempt States. 

Sec. 1009. Miscellaneous provisions. 

Sec. 1010. Definitions. 

Sec. 1011. Effective date. 

Subtitle B—Access to Voting for Individuals With Disabilities 

Sec. 1101. Requirements for States to promote access to voter registration and 

voting for individuals with disabilities. 

Sec. 1102. Pilot programs for enabling individuals with disabilities to register 

to vote and vote privately and independently at residences. 

Sec. 1103. Expansion and reauthorization of grant program to assure voting 

access for individuals with disabilities. 

Subtitle C—CLEAN Elections 

Sec. 1201. Short title. 

Sec. 1202. Requiring open primaries. 

Sec. 1203. Sense of Congress on need for term limits for Members. 

Subtitle D—Election Integrity 

Sec. 1301. Requiring voters to provide photo identification. 

4 Subtitle A—Voter Registration 

5 Modernization 

6 SEC. 1001. SHORT TITLE; FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 

7 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This subtitle may be cited as the 

8 ‘‘Automatic Voter Registration Act of 2019’’. 

9 (b) FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.— 

10 (1) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 


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1 (A) the right to vote is a fundamental 

2 right of citizens of the United States; 

3 (B) it is the responsibility of the State and 

4 Federal governments to ensure that every eligi5 ble citizen is registered to vote; 

6 (C) existing voter registration systems can 

7 be inaccurate, costly, inaccessible and con8 fusing, with damaging effects on voter partici9 pation in elections and disproportionate impacts 

10 on young people, persons with disabilities, and 

11 racial and ethnic minorities; and 

12 (D) voter registration systems must be up13 dated with 21st-century technologies and proce14 dures to maintain their security. 

15 (2) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this sub16 title— 

17 (A) to establish that it is the responsibility 

18 of government at every level to ensure that all 

19 eligible citizens are registered to vote; 

20 (B) to enable the State and Federal gov21 ernments to register all eligible citizens to vote 

22 with accurate, cost-efficient, and up-to-date pro23 cedures; 


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1 (C) to modernize voter registration and list 

2 maintenance procedures with electronic and 

3 internet capabilities; and 

4 (D) to protect and enhance the integrity, 

5 accuracy, efficiency, and accessibility of the 

6 electoral process for all eligible citizens. 

7 SEC. 1002. AUTOMATIC REGISTRATION OF ELIGIBLE INDI8 VIDUALS. 

9 (a) REQUIRING STATES TO ESTABLISH AND OPER10 ATE AUTOMATIC REGISTRATION SYSTEM.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—The chief State election offi12 cial of each State shall establish and operate a sys13 tem of automatic registration for the registration of 

14 eligible individuals to vote for elections for Federal 

15 office in the State, in accordance with the provisions 

16 of this subtitle. 

17 (2) DEFINITION.—The term ‘‘automatic reg18 istration’’ means a system that registers an indi19 vidual to vote in elections for Federal office in a 

20 State, if eligible, by electronically transferring the 

21 information necessary for registration from govern22 ment agencies to election officials of the State so 

23 that, unless the individual affirmatively declines to 

24 be registered, the individual will be registered to vote 

25 in such elections. 


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1 (b) REGISTRATION OF VOTERS BASED ON NEW

2 AGENCY RECORDS.—The chief State election official 

3 shall— 

4 (1) not later than 15 days after a contributing 

5 agency has transmitted information with respect to 

6 an individual pursuant to section 1003, ensure that 

7 the individual is registered to vote in elections for 

8 Federal office in the State if the individual is eligible 

9 to be registered to vote in such elections; and 

10 (2) send written notice to the individual, in ad11 dition to other means of notice established by this 

12 part, of the individual’s voter registration status. 

13 (c) ONE-TIME REGISTRATION OF VOTERS BASED ON

14 EXISTING CONTRIBUTING AGENCY RECORDS.—The chief 

15 State election official shall— 

16 (1) identify all individuals whose information is 

17 transmitted by a contributing agency pursuant to 

18 section 1004 and who are eligible to be, but are not 

19 currently, registered to vote in that State; 

20 (2) promptly send each such individual written 

21 notice, in addition to other means of notice estab22 lished by this part, which shall not identify the con23 tributing agency that transmitted the information 

24 but shall include— 


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1 (A) an explanation that voter registration 

2 is voluntary, but if the individual does not de3 cline registration, the individual will be reg4 istered to vote; 

5 (B) a statement offering the opportunity to 

6 decline voter registration through means con7 sistent with the requirements of this part; 

8 (C) in the case of a State in which affili9 ation or enrollment with a political party is re10 quired in order to participate in an election to 

11 select the party’s candidate in an election for 

12 Federal office, a statement offering the indi13 vidual the opportunity to affiliate or enroll with 

14 a political party or to decline to affiliate or en15 roll with a political party, through means con16 sistent with the requirements of this part; 

17 (D) the substantive qualifications of an 

18 elector in the State as listed in the mail voter 

19 registration application form for elections for 

20 Federal office prescribed pursuant to section 9 

21 of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, 

22 the consequences of false registration, and a 

23 statement that the individual should decline to 

24 register if the individual does not meet all those 

25 qualifications; 


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1 (E) instructions for correcting any erro2 neous information; and 

3 (F) instructions for providing any addi4 tional information which is listed in the mail 

5 voter registration application form for elections 

6 for Federal office prescribed pursuant to section 

7 9 of the National Voter Registration Act of 

8 1993; 

9 (3) ensure that each such individual who is eli10 gible to register to vote in elections for Federal of11 fice in the State is promptly registered to vote not 

12 later than 45 days after the official sends the indi13 vidual the written notice under paragraph (2), un14 less, during the 30-day period which begins on the 

15 date the election official sends the individual such 

16 written notice, the individual declines registration in 

17 writing, through a communication made over the 

18 internet, or by an officially logged telephone commu19 nication; and 

20 (4) send written notice to each such individual, 

21 in addition to other means of notice established by 

22 this part, of the individual’s voter registration sta23 tus. 

24 (d) TREATMENT OF INDIVIDUALS UNDER 18 YEARS

25 OF AGE.—A State may not refuse to treat an individual 


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1 as an eligible individual for purposes of this subtitle on 

2 the grounds that the individual is less than 18 years of 

3 age at the time a contributing agency receives information 

4 with respect to the individual, so long as the individual 

5 is at least 16 years of age at such time. 

6 (e) CONTRIBUTING AGENCY DEFINED.—In this part, 

7 the term ‘‘contributing agency’’ means, with respect to a 

8 State, an agency listed in section 1003(e). 

9 SEC. 1003. CONTRIBUTING AGENCY ASSISTANCE IN REG10 ISTRATION. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—In accordance with this part, each 

12 contributing agency in a State shall assist the State’s chief 

13 election official in registering to vote all eligible individuals 

14 served by that agency. 

15 (b) REQUIREMENTS FOR CONTRIBUTING AGEN16 CIES.— 

17 (1) INSTRUCTIONS ON AUTOMATIC REGISTRA18 TION.—With each application for service or assist19 ance, and with each related recertification, renewal, 

20 or change of address, or, in the case of an institu21 tion of higher education, with each registration of a 

22 student for enrollment in a course of study, each 

23 contributing agency that (in the normal course of its 

24 operations) requests individuals to affirm United 

25 States citizenship (either directly or as part of the 


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1 overall application for service or assistance) shall in2 form each such individual who is a citizen of the 

3 United States of the following: 

4 (A) Unless that individual declines to reg5 ister to vote, or is found ineligible to vote, the 

6 individual will be registered to vote or, if appli7 cable, the individual’s registration will be up8 dated. 

9 (B) The substantive qualifications of an 

10 elector in the State as listed in the mail voter 

11 registration application form for elections for 

12 Federal office prescribed pursuant to section 9 

13 of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, 

14 the consequences of false registration, and the 

15 individual should decline to register if the indi16 vidual does not meet all those qualifications. 

17 (C) In the case of a State in which affili18 ation or enrollment with a political party is re19 quired in order to participate in an election to 

20 select the party’s candidate in an election for 

21 Federal office, the requirement that the indi22 vidual must affiliate or enroll with a political 

23 party in order to participate in such an election. 

24 (D) Voter registration is voluntary, and 

25 neither registering nor declining to register to 


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1 vote will in any way affect the availability of 

2 services or benefits, nor be used for other pur3 poses. 

4 (2) OPPORTUNITY TO DECLINE REGISTRATION

5 REQUIRED.—Each contributing agency shall ensure 

6 that each application for service or assistance, and 

7 each related recertification, renewal, or change of 

8 address, or, in the case of an institution of higher 

9 education, each registration of a student for enroll10 ment in a course of study, cannot be completed until 

11 the individual is given the opportunity to decline to 

12 be registered to vote. 

13 (3) INFORMATION TRANSMITTAL.—Upon the 

14 expiration of the 30-day period which begins on the 

15 date the contributing agency informs the individual 

16 of the information described in paragraph (1), each 

17 contributing agency shall electronically transmit to 

18 the appropriate State election official, in a format 

19 compatible with the statewide voter database main20 tained under section 303 of the Help America Vote 

21 Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21083), the following infor22 mation, unless during such 30-day period the indi23 vidual declined to be registered to vote: 

24 (A) The individual’s given name(s) and 

25 surname(s). 


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1 (B) The individual’s date of birth. 

2 (C) The individual’s residential address. 

3 (D) Information showing that the indi4 vidual is a citizen of the United States. 

5 (E) The date on which information per6 taining to that individual was collected or last 

7 updated. 

8 (F) If available, the individual’s signature 

9 in electronic form. 

10 (G) Information regarding the individual’s 

11 affiliation or enrollment with a political party, 

12 if the individual provides such information. 

13 (H) Any additional information listed in 

14 the mail voter registration application form for 

15 elections for Federal office prescribed pursuant 

16 to section 9 of the National Voter Registration 

17 Act of 1993, including any valid driver’s license 

18 number or the last 4 digits of the individual’s 

19 social security number, if the individual pro20 vided such information. 

21 (c) ALTERNATE PROCEDURE FOR CERTAIN CON22 TRIBUTING AGENCIES.—With each application for service 

23 or assistance, and with each related recertification, re24 newal, or change of address, or in the case of an institu25 tion of higher education, with each registration of a stuVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:43 Mar 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00018 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1612.IH H1612

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1 dent for enrollment in a course of study, any contributing 

2 agency that in the normal course of its operations does 

3 not request individuals applying for service or assistance 

4 to affirm United States citizenship (either directly or as 

5 part of the overall application for service or assistance) 

6 shall— 

7 (1) complete the requirements of section 7(a)(6) 

8 of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (52 

9 U.S.C. 20506(a)(6)); 

10 (2) ensure that each applicant’s transaction 

11 with the agency cannot be completed until the appli12 cant has indicated whether the applicant wishes to 

13 register to vote or declines to register to vote in elec14 tions for Federal office held in the State; and 

15 (3) for each individual who wishes to register to 

16 vote, transmit that individual’s information in ac17 cordance with subsection (b)(3). 

18 (d) REQUIRED AVAILABILITY OF AUTOMATIC REG19 ISTRATION OPPORTUNITY WITH EACH APPLICATION FOR

20 SERVICE OR ASSISTANCE.—Each contributing agency 

21 shall offer each individual, with each application for serv22 ice or assistance, and with each related recertification, re23 newal, or change of address, or in the case of an institu24 tion of higher education, with each registration of a stu25 dent for enrollment in a course of study, the opportunity 


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1 to register to vote as prescribed by this section without 

2 regard to whether the individual previously declined a reg3 istration opportunity. 

4 (e) CONTRIBUTING AGENCIES.— 

5 (1) STATE AGENCIES.—In each State, each of 

6 the following agencies shall be treated as a contrib7 uting agency: 

8 (A) Each agency in a State that is re9 quired by Federal law to provide voter registra10 tion services, including the State motor vehicle 

11 authority and other voter registration agencies 

12 under the National Voter Registration Act of 

13 1993. 

14 (B) Each agency in a State that admin15 isters a program pursuant to title III of the So16 cial Security Act (42 U.S.C. 501 et seq.), title 

17 XIX of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396 

18 et seq.), or the Patient Protection and Afford19 able Care Act (Public Law 111–148). 

20 (C) Each State agency primarily respon21 sible for regulating the private possession of 

22 firearms. 

23 (D) Each State agency primarily respon24 sible for maintaining identifying information for 

25 students enrolled at public secondary schools, 


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1 including, where applicable, the State agency 

2 responsible for maintaining the education data 

3 system described in section 6201(e)(2) of the 

4 America COMPETES Act (20 U.S.C. 

5 9871(e)(2)). 

6 (E) In the case of a State in which an in7 dividual disenfranchised by a criminal convic8 tion may become eligible to vote upon comple9 tion of a criminal sentence or any part thereof, 

10 or upon formal restoration of rights, the State 

11 agency responsible for administering that sen12 tence, or part thereof, or that restoration of 

13 rights. 

14 (F) Any other agency of the State which is 

15 designated by the State as a contributing agen16 cy. 

17 (2) FEDERAL AGENCIES.—In each State, each 

18 of the following agencies of the Federal Government 

19 shall be treated as a contributing agency with re20 spect to individuals who are residents of that State 

21 (except as provided in subparagraph (C)): 

22 (A) The Social Security Administration, 

23 the Department of Veterans Affairs, the De24 fense Manpower Data Center of the Depart25 ment of Defense, the Employee and Training 


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1 Administration of the Department of Labor, 

2 and the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Serv3 ices of the Department of Health and Human 

4 Services. 

5 (B) The Bureau of Citizenship and Immi6 gration Services, but only with respect to indi7 viduals who have completed the naturalization 

8 process. 

9 (C) In the case of an individual who is a 

10 resident of a State in which an individual 

11 disenfranchised by a criminal conviction under 

12 Federal law may become eligible to vote upon 

13 completion of a criminal sentence or any part 

14 thereof, or upon formal restoration of rights, 

15 the Federal agency responsible for admin16 istering that sentence or part thereof (without 

17 regard to whether the agency is located in the 

18 same State in which the individual is a resi19 dent), but only with respect to individuals who 

20 have completed the criminal sentence or any 

21 part thereof. 

22 (D) Any other agency of the Federal Gov23 ernment which the State designates as a con24 tributing agency, but only if the State and the 

25 head of the agency determine that the agency 


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1 collects information sufficient to carry out the 

2 responsibilities of a contributing agency under 

3 this section. 

4 (3) INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION.— 

5 Each institution of higher education that receives 

6 Federal funds shall be treated as a contributing 

7 agency in the State in which it is located, but only 

8 with respect to students of the institution (including 

9 students who attend classes online) who reside in the 

10 State. An institution of higher education described 

11 in the previous sentence shall be exempt from the 

12 voter registration requirements of section 487(a)(23) 

13 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

14 1094(a)(23)) if the institution is in compliance with 

15 the applicable requirements of this part. 

16 (4) PUBLICATION.—Not later than 180 days 

17 prior to the date of each election for Federal office 

18 held in the State, the chief State election official 

19 shall publish on the public website of the official an 

20 updated list of all contributing agencies in that 

21 State. 

22 (5) PUBLIC EDUCATION.—The chief State elec23 tion official of each State, in collaboration with each 

24 contributing agency, shall take appropriate measures 


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1 to educate the public about voter registration under 

2 this section. 

3 SEC. 1004. ONE-TIME CONTRIBUTING AGENCY ASSISTANCE 

4 IN REGISTRATION OF ELIGIBLE VOTERS IN 

5 EXISTING RECORDS. 

6 (a) INITIAL TRANSMITTAL OF INFORMATION.—For 

7 each individual already listed in a contributing agency’s 

8 records as of the date of enactment of this Act, and for 

9 whom the agency has the information listed in section 

10 1003(b)(3), the agency shall promptly transmit that infor11 mation to the appropriate State election official in accord12 ance with section 1003(b)(3) not later than the effective 

13 date described in section 1001(a). 

14 (b) TRANSITION.—For each individual listed in a con15 tributing agency’s records as of the effective date de16 scribed in section 1001(a) (but who was not listed in a 

17 contributing agency’s records as of the date of enactment 

18 of this Act), and for whom the agency has the information 

19 listed in section 1003(b)(3), the Agency shall promptly 

20 transmit that information to the appropriate State election 

21 official in accordance with section 1003(b)(3) not later 

22 than 6 months after the effective date described in section 

23 1001(a). 


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1 SEC. 1005. VOTER PROTECTION AND SECURITY IN AUTO2 MATIC REGISTRATION. 

3 (a) PROTECTIONS FOR ERRORS IN REGISTRATION.— 

4 An individual shall not be prosecuted under any Federal 

5 law, adversely affected in any civil adjudication concerning 

6 immigration status or naturalization, or subject to an alle7 gation in any legal proceeding that the individual is not 

8 a citizen of the United States on any of the following 

9 grounds: 

10 (1) The individual notified an election office of 

11 the individual’s automatic registration to vote under 

12 this part. 

13 (2) The individual is not eligible to vote in elec14 tions for Federal office but was automatically reg15 istered to vote under this part. 

16 (3) The individual was automatically registered 

17 to vote under this subtitle at an incorrect address. 

18 (4) The individual declined the opportunity to 

19 register to vote or did not make an affirmation of 

20 citizenship, including through automatic registration, 

21 under this part. 

22 (b) LIMITS ON USE OF AUTOMATIC REGISTRA23 TION.—The automatic registration of any individual or the 

24 fact that an individual declined the opportunity to register 

25 to vote or did not make an affirmation of citizenship (in26 cluding through automatic registration) under this subtitle 


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1 may not be used as evidence against that individual in any 

2 State or Federal law enforcement proceeding, and an indi3 vidual’s lack of knowledge or willfulness of such registra4 tion may be demonstrated by the individual’s testimony 

5 alone. 

6 (c) PROTECTION OF ELECTION INTEGRITY.—Noth7 ing in subsection (a) or (b) may be construed to prohibit 

8 or restrict any action under color of law against an indi9 vidual who— 

10 (1) knowingly and willfully makes a false state11 ment to effectuate or perpetuate automatic voter 

12 registration by any individual; or 

13 (2) casts a ballot knowingly and willfully in vio14 lation of State law or the laws of the United States. 

15 (d) CONTRIBUTING AGENCIES’ PROTECTION OF IN16 FORMATION.—Nothing in this subtitle authorizes a con17 tributing agency to collect, retain, transmit, or publicly 

18 disclose any of the following: 

19 (1) An individual’s decision to decline to reg20 ister to vote or not to register to vote. 

21 (2) An individual’s decision not to affirm his or 

22 her citizenship. 

23 (3) Any information that a contributing agency 

24 transmits pursuant to section 1003(b)(3), except in 

25 pursuing the agency’s ordinary course of business. 


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1 (e) ELECTION OFFICIALS’ PROTECTION OF INFOR2 MATION.— 

3 (1) PUBLIC DISCLOSURE PROHIBITED.— 

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara5 graph (B), with respect to any individual for 

6 whom any State election official receives infor7 mation from a contributing agency, the State 

8 election officials shall not publicly disclose any 

9 of the following: 

10 (i) The identity of the contributing 

11 agency. 

12 (ii) Any information not necessary to 

13 voter registration. 

14 (iii) Any voter information otherwise 

15 shielded from disclosure under State law or 

16 section 8(a) of the National Voter Reg17 istration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 

18 20507(a)). 

19 (iv) Any portion of the individual’s so20 cial security number. 

21 (v) Any portion of the individual’s 

22 motor vehicle driver’s license number. 

23 (vi) The individual’s signature. 

24 (vii) The individual’s telephone num25 ber. 


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1 (viii) The individual’s email address. 

2 (B) SPECIAL RULE FOR INDIVIDUALS REG3 ISTERED TO VOTE.—With respect to any indi4 vidual for whom any State election official re5 ceives information from a contributing agency 

6 and who, on the basis of such information, is 

7 registered to vote in the State under this part, 

8 the State election officials shall not publicly dis9 close any of the following: 

10 (i) The identity of the contributing 

11 agency. 

12 (ii) Any information not necessary to 

13 voter registration. 

14 (iii) Any voter information otherwise 

15 shielded from disclosure under State law or 

16 section 8(a) of the National Voter Reg17 istration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 

18 20507(a)). 

19 (iv) Any portion of the individual’s so20 cial security number. 

21 (v) Any portion of the individual’s 

22 motor vehicle driver’s license number. 

23 (vi) The individual’s signature. 

24 (2) VOTER RECORD CHANGES.—Each State 

25 shall maintain for at least 2 years and shall make 


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1 available for public inspection and, where available, 

2 photocopying at a reasonable cost, all records of 

3 changes to voter records, including removals and up4 dates. 

5 (3) DATABASE MANAGEMENT STANDARDS.— 

6 The Director of the National Institute of Standards 

7 and Technology shall, after providing the public with 

8 notice and the opportunity to comment— 

9 (A) establish standards governing the com10 parison of data for voter registration list main11 tenance purposes, identifying as part of such 

12 standards the specific data elements, the 

13 matching rules used, and how a State may use 

14 the data to determine and deem that an indi15 vidual is ineligible under State law to vote in an 

16 election, or to deem a record to be a duplicate 

17 or outdated; 

18 (B) ensure that the standards developed 

19 pursuant to this paragraph are uniform and 

20 nondiscriminatory and are applied in a uniform 

21 and nondiscriminatory manner; and 

22 (C) publish the standards developed pursu23 ant to this paragraph on the Director’s website 

24 and make those standards available in written 

25 form upon request. 


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1 (4) SECURITY POLICY.—The Director of the 

2 National Institute of Standards and Technology 

3 shall, after providing the public with notice and the 

4 opportunity to comment, publish privacy and secu5 rity standards for voter registration information. 

6 The standards shall require the chief State election 

7 official of each State to adopt a policy that shall 

8 specify— 

9 (A) each class of users who shall have au10 thorized access to the computerized statewide 

11 voter registration list, specifying for each class 

12 the permission and levels of access to be grant13 ed, and setting forth other safeguards to pro14 tect the privacy, security, and accuracy of the 

15 information on the list; and 

16 (B) security safeguards to protect personal 

17 information transmitted through the informa18 tion transmittal processes of section 1003 or 

19 section 1004, the online system used pursuant 

20 to section 1007, any telephone interface, the 

21 maintenance of the voter registration database, 

22 and any audit procedure to track access to the 

23 system. 

24 (5) STATE COMPLIANCE WITH NATIONAL

25 STANDARDS.— 


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1 (A) CERTIFICATION.—The chief executive 

2 officer of the State shall annually file with the 

3 Election Assistance Commission a statement 

4 certifying to the Director of the National Insti5 tute of Standards and Technology that the 

6 State is in compliance with the standards re7 ferred to in paragraphs (4) and (5). A State 

8 may meet the requirement of the previous sen9 tence by filing with the Commission a statement 

10 which reads as follows: ‘‘lllll hereby 

11 certifies that it is in compliance with the stand12 ards referred to in paragraphs (4) and (5) of 

13 section 1015(e) of the Automatic Voter Reg14 istration Act of 2019.’’ (with the blank to be 

15 filled in with the name of the State involved). 

16 (B) PUBLICATION OF POLICIES AND PRO17 CEDURES.—The chief State election official of a 

18 State shall publish on the official’s website the 

19 policies and procedures established under this 

20 section, and shall make those policies and pro21 cedures available in written form upon public 

22 request. 

23 (C) FUNDING DEPENDENT ON CERTIFI24 CATION.—If a State does not timely file the cer25 tification required under this paragraph, it shall 


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1 not receive any payment under this subtitle for 

2 the upcoming fiscal year. 

3 (D) COMPLIANCE OF STATES THAT RE4 QUIRE CHANGES TO STATE LAW.—In the case 

5 of a State that requires State legislation to 

6 carry out an activity covered by any certifi7 cation submitted under this paragraph, for a 

8 period of not more than 2 years the State shall 

9 be permitted to make the certification notwith10 standing that the legislation has not been en11 acted at the time the certification is submitted, 

12 and such State shall submit an additional cer13 tification once such legislation is enacted. 

14 (f) RESTRICTIONS ON USE OF INFORMATION.—No 

15 person acting under color of law may discriminate against 

16 any individual based on, or use for any purpose other than 

17 voter registration, election administration, or enforcement 

18 relating to election crimes, any of the following: 

19 (1) Voter registration records. 

20 (2) An individual’s declination to register to 

21 vote or complete an affirmation of citizenship under 

22 section 1003(b). 

23 (3) An individual’s voter registration status. 

24 (g) PROHIBITION ON THE USE OF VOTER REGISTRA25 TION INFORMATION FOR COMMERCIAL PURPOSES.—InVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:43 Mar 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00032 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1612.IH H1612

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1 formation collected under this subtitle shall not be used 

2 for commercial purposes. Nothing in this subsection may 

3 be construed to prohibit the transmission, exchange, or 

4 dissemination of information for political purposes, includ5 ing the support of campaigns for election for Federal, 

6 State, or local public office or the activities of political 

7 committees (including committees of political parties) 

8 under the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971. 

9 SEC. 1006. REGISTRATION PORTABILITY AND CORRECTION. 

10 (a) CORRECTING REGISTRATION INFORMATION AT

11 POLLING PLACE.—Notwithstanding section 302(a) of the 

12 Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21082(a)), if 

13 an individual is registered to vote in elections for Federal 

14 office held in a State, the appropriate election official at 

15 the polling place for any such election (including a location 

16 used as a polling place on a date other than the date of 

17 the election) shall permit the individual to— 

18 (1) update the individual’s address for purposes 

19 of the records of the election official; 

20 (2) correct any incorrect information relating to 

21 the individual, including the individual’s name and 

22 political party affiliation, in the records of the elec23 tion official; and 

24 (3) cast a ballot in the election on the basis of 

25 the updated address or corrected information, and to 


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1 have the ballot treated as a regular ballot and not 

2 as a provisional ballot under section 302(a) of such 

3 Act. 

4 (b) UPDATES TO COMPUTERIZED STATEWIDE VOTER

5 REGISTRATION LISTS.—If an election official at the poll6 ing place receives an updated address or corrected infor7 mation from an individual under subsection (a), the offi8 cial shall ensure that the address or information is 

9 promptly entered into the computerized statewide voter 

10 registration list in accordance with section 

11 303(a)(1)(A)(vi) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 

12 (52 U.S.C. 21083(a)(1)(A)(vi)). 

13 SEC. 1007. PAYMENTS AND GRANTS. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Election Assistance Commis15 sion shall make grants to each eligible State to assist the 

16 State in implementing the requirements of this subtitle 

17 (or, in the case of an exempt State, in implementing its 

18 existing automatic voter registration program). 

19 (b) ELIGIBILITY; APPLICATION.—A State is eligible 

20 to receive a grant under this section if the State submits 

21 to the Commission, at such time and in such form as the 

22 Commission may require, an application containing— 

23 (1) a description of the activities the State will 

24 carry out with the grant; 


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1 (2) an assurance that the State shall carry out 

2 such activities without partisan bias and without 

3 promoting any particular point of view regarding 

4 any issue; and 

5 (3) such other information and assurances as 

6 the Commission may require. 

7 (c) AMOUNT OF GRANT; PRIORITIES.—The Commis8 sion shall determine the amount of a grant made to an 

9 eligible State under this section. In determining the 

10 amounts of the grants, the Commission shall give priority 

11 to providing funds for those activities which are most like12 ly to accelerate compliance with the requirements of this 

13 subtitle (or, in the case of an exempt State, which are 

14 most likely to enhance the ability of the State to automati15 cally register individuals to vote through its existing auto16 matic voter registration program), including— 

17 (1) investments supporting electronic informa18 tion transfer, including electronic collection and 

19 transfer of signatures, between contributing agencies 

20 and the appropriate State election officials; 

21 (2) updates to online or electronic voter reg22 istration systems already operating as of the date of 

23 the enactment of this Act; 


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1 (3) introduction of online voter registration sys2 tems in jurisdictions in which those systems did not 

3 previously exist; and 

4 (4) public education on the availability of new 

5 methods of registering to vote, updating registration, 

6 and correcting registration. 

7 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

8 (1) AUTHORIZATION.—There are authorized to 

9 be appropriated to carry out this section— 

10 (A) $500,000,000 for fiscal year 2019; and 

11 (B) such sums as may be necessary for 

12 each succeeding fiscal year. 

13 (2) CONTINUING AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.— 

14 Any amounts appropriated pursuant to the authority 

15 of this subsection shall remain available without fis16 cal year limitation until expended. 

17 SEC. 1008. TREATMENT OF EXEMPT STATES. 

18 (a) WAIVER OF REQUIREMENTS.—Except as pro19 vided in subsection (b), this subtitle does not apply with 

20 respect to an exempt State. 

21 (b) EXCEPTIONS.—The following provisions of this 

22 subtitle apply with respect to an exempt State: 

23 (1) Section 1006 (relating to registration port24 ability and correction). 


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1 (2) Section 1007 (relating to payments and 

2 grants). 

3 (3) Section 1009(e) (relating to enforcement). 

4 (4) Section 1009(f) (relating to relation to 

5 other laws). 

6 SEC. 1009. MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS. 

7 (a) ACCESSIBILITY OF REGISTRATION SERVICES.— 

8 Each contributing agency shall ensure that the services 

9 it provides under this subtitle are made available to indi10 viduals with disabilities to the same extent as services are 

11 made available to all other individuals. 

12 (b) TRANSMISSION THROUGH SECURE THIRD PARTY

13 PERMITTED.—Nothing in this subtitle shall be construed 

14 to prevent a contributing agency from contracting with a 

15 third party to assist the agency in meeting the information 

16 transmittal requirements of this part, so long as the data 

17 transmittal complies with the applicable requirements of 

18 this part, including the privacy and security provisions of 

19 section 1005. 

20 (c) NONPARTISAN, NONDISCRIMINATORY PROVISION

21 OF SERVICES.—The services made available by contrib22 uting agencies under this subtitle and by the State under 

23 sections 1005 and 1006 shall be made in a manner con24 sistent with paragraphs (4), (5), and (6)(C) of section 7(a) 


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1 of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 

2 20506(a)). 

3 (d) NOTICES.—Each State may send notices under 

4 this subtitle via electronic mail if the individual has pro5 vided an electronic mail address and consented to elec6 tronic mail communications for election-related materials. 

7 All notices sent pursuant to this subtitle that require a 

8 response must offer the individual notified the opportunity 

9 to respond at no cost to the individual. 

10 (e) ENFORCEMENT.—Section 11 of the National 

11 Voter Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20510), relat12 ing to civil enforcement and the availability of private 

13 rights of action, shall apply with respect to this subtitle 

14 in the same manner as such section applies to such Act. 

15 (f) RELATION TO OTHER LAWS.—Except as pro16 vided, nothing in this subtitle may be construed to author17 ize or require conduct prohibited under, or to supersede, 

18 restrict, or limit the application of any of the following: 

19 (1) The Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 

20 10301 et seq.). 

21 (2) The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Ab22 sentee Voting Act (52 U.S.C. 20301 et seq.). 

23 (3) The National Voter Registration Act of 

24 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20501 et seq.). 


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1 (4) The Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 

2 U.S.C. 20901 et seq.). 

3 SEC. 1010. DEFINITIONS. 

4 In this subtitle, the following definitions apply: 

5 (1) The term ‘‘chief State election official’’ 

6 means, with respect to a State, the individual des7 ignated by the State under section 10 of the Na8 tional Voter Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 

9 20509) to be responsible for coordination of the 

10 State’s responsibilities under such Act. 

11 (2) The term ‘‘Commission’’ means the Election 

12 Assistance Commission. 

13 (3) The term ‘‘exempt State’’ means a State 

14 which, under law which is in effect continuously on 

15 and after the date of the enactment of this Act, op16 erates an automatic voter registration program 

17 under which an individual is automatically registered 

18 to vote in elections for Federal office in the State if 

19 the individual provides the motor vehicle authority of 

20 the State with such identifying information as the 

21 State may require. 

22 (4) The term ‘‘State’’ means each of the several 

23 States and the District of Columbia. 


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1 SEC. 1011. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 

3 (b), this subtitle and the amendments made by this sub4 title shall apply with respect to a State beginning January 

5 1, 2021. 

6 (b) WAIVER.—Subject to the approval of the Com7 mission, if a State certifies to the Commission that the 

8 State will not meet the deadline referred to in subsection 

9 (a) because of extraordinary circumstances and includes 

10 in the certification the reasons for the failure to meet the 

11 deadline, subsection (a) shall apply to the State as if the 

12 reference in such subsection to ‘‘January 1, 2021’’ were 

13 a reference to ‘‘January 1, 2023’’. 

14 Subtitle B—Access to Voting for 

15 Individuals With Disabilities 

16 SEC. 1101. REQUIREMENTS FOR STATES TO PROMOTE AC17 CESS TO VOTER REGISTRATION AND VOTING 

18 FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES. 

19 (a) REQUIREMENTS.—Subtitle A of title III of the 

20 Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081 et seq.) 

21 is amended— 

22 (1) by redesignating sections 304 and 305 as 

23 sections 305 and 306; and 

24 (2) by inserting after section 303 the following 

25 new section: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 304. ACCESS TO VOTER REGISTRATION AND VOTING 

2 FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES. 

3 ‘‘(a) TREATMENT OF APPLICATIONS AND BAL4 LOTS.—Each State shall— 

5 ‘‘(1) permit individuals with disabilities to use 

6 absentee registration procedures and to vote by ab7 sentee ballot in elections for Federal office; 

8 ‘‘(2) accept and process, with respect to any 

9 election for Federal office, any otherwise valid voter 

10 registration application and absentee ballot applica11 tion from an individual with a disability if the appli12 cation is received by the appropriate State election 

13 official not less than 30 days before the election; 

14 ‘‘(3) in addition to any other method of reg15 istering to vote or applying for an absentee ballot in 

16 the State, establish procedures— 

17 ‘‘(A) for individuals with disabilities to re18 quest by mail and electronically voter registra19 tion applications and absentee ballot applica20 tions with respect to elections for Federal office 

21 in accordance with subsection (c); 

22 ‘‘(B) for States to send by mail and elec23 tronically (in accordance with the preferred 

24 method of transmission designated by the indi25 vidual under subparagraph (C)) voter registra26 tion applications and absentee ballot applicaVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:43 Mar 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00041 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1612.IH H1612

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1 tions requested under subparagraph (A) in ac2 cordance with subsection (c); and 

3 ‘‘(C) by which such an individual can des4 ignate whether the individual prefers that such 

5 voter registration application or absentee ballot 

6 application be transmitted by mail or electroni7 cally; 

8 ‘‘(4) in addition to any other method of trans9 mitting blank absentee ballots in the State, establish 

10 procedures for transmitting by mail and electroni11 cally blank absentee ballots to individuals with dis12 abilities with respect to elections for Federal office 

13 in accordance with subsection (d); 

14 ‘‘(5) transmit a validly requested absentee bal15 lot to an individual with a disability— 

16 ‘‘(A) except as provided in subsection (e), 

17 in the case in which the request is received at 

18 least 45 days before an election for Federal of19 fice, not later than 45 days before the election; 

20 and 

21 ‘‘(B) in the case in which the request is re22 ceived less than 45 days before an election for 

23 Federal office— 

24 ‘‘(i) in accordance with State law; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) if practicable and as determined 

2 appropriate by the State, in a manner that 

3 expedites the transmission of such absen4 tee ballot; and 

5 ‘‘(6) if the State declares or otherwise holds a 

6 runoff election for Federal office, establish a written 

7 plan that provides absentee ballots are made avail8 able to individuals with disabilities in a manner that 

9 gives them sufficient time to vote in the runoff elec10 tion. 

11 ‘‘(b) DESIGNATION OF SINGLE STATE OFFICE TO

12 PROVIDE INFORMATION ON REGISTRATION AND ABSEN13 TEE BALLOT PROCEDURES FOR ALL DISABLED VOTERS

14 IN STATE.—Each State shall designate a single office 

15 which shall be responsible for providing information re16 garding voter registration procedures and absentee ballot 

17 procedures to be used by individuals with disabilities with 

18 respect to elections for Federal office to all individuals 

19 with disabilities who wish to register to vote or vote in 

20 any jurisdiction in the State. 

21 ‘‘(c) DESIGNATION OF MEANS OF ELECTRONIC COM22 MUNICATION FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES TO

23 REQUEST AND FOR STATES TO SEND VOTER REGISTRA24 TION APPLICATIONS AND ABSENTEE BALLOT APPLICAVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:43 Mar 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00043 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1612.IH H1612

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1 TIONS, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES RELATED TO VOTING

2 INFORMATION.— 

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each State shall, in addi4 tion to the designation of a single State office under 

5 subsection (b), designate not less than 1 means of 

6 electronic communication— 

7 ‘‘(A) for use by individuals with disabilities 

8 who wish to register to vote or vote in any ju9 risdiction in the State to request voter registra10 tion applications and absentee ballot applica11 tions under subsection (a)(3); 

12 ‘‘(B) for use by States to send voter reg13 istration applications and absentee ballot appli14 cations requested under such subsection; and 

15 ‘‘(C) for the purpose of providing related 

16 voting, balloting, and election information to in17 dividuals with disabilities. 

18 ‘‘(2) CLARIFICATION REGARDING PROVISION OF

19 MULTIPLE MEANS OF ELECTRONIC COMMUNICA20 TION.—A State may, in addition to the means of 

21 electronic communication so designated, provide 

22 multiple means of electronic communication to indi23 viduals with disabilities, including a means of elec24 tronic communication for the appropriate jurisdic25 tion of the State. 


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1 ‘‘(3) INCLUSION OF DESIGNATED MEANS OF

2 ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION WITH INFORMA3 TIONAL AND INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS THAT AC4 COMPANY BALLOTING MATERIALS.—Each State shall 

5 include a means of electronic communication so des6 ignated with all informational and instructional ma7 terials that accompany balloting materials sent by 

8 the State to individuals with disabilities. 

9 ‘‘(4) TRANSMISSION IF NO PREFERENCE INDI10 CATED.—In the case where an individual with a dis11 ability does not designate a preference under sub12 section (a)(3)(C), the State shall transmit the voter 

13 registration application or absentee ballot application 

14 by any delivery method allowable in accordance with 

15 applicable State law, or if there is no applicable 

16 State law, by mail. 

17 ‘‘(d) TRANSMISSION OF BLANK ABSENTEE BALLOTS

18 BY MAIL AND ELECTRONICALLY.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each State shall establish 

20 procedures— 

21 ‘‘(A) to securely transmit blank absentee 

22 ballots by mail and electronically (in accordance 

23 with the preferred method of transmission des24 ignated by the individual with a disability under 


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1 subparagraph (B)) to individuals with disabil2 ities for an election for Federal office; and 

3 ‘‘(B) by which the individual with a dis4 ability can designate whether the individual pre5 fers that such blank absentee ballot be trans6 mitted by mail or electronically. 

7 ‘‘(2) TRANSMISSION IF NO PREFERENCE INDI8 CATED.—In the case where an individual with a dis9 ability does not designate a preference under para10 graph (1)(B), the State shall transmit the ballot by 

11 any delivery method allowable in accordance with ap12 plicable State law, or if there is no applicable State 

13 law, by mail. 

14 ‘‘(3) APPLICATION OF METHODS TO TRACK DE15 LIVERY TO AND RETURN OF BALLOT BY INDIVIDUAL

16 REQUESTING BALLOT.—Under the procedures estab17 lished under paragraph (1), the State shall apply 

18 such methods as the State considers appropriate, 

19 such as assigning a unique identifier to the ballot, 

20 to ensure that if an individual with a disability re21 quests the State to transmit a blank absentee ballot 

22 to the individual in accordance with this subsection, 

23 the voted absentee ballot which is returned by the 

24 individual is the same blank absentee ballot which 

25 the State transmitted to the individual. 


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1 ‘‘(e) HARDSHIP EXEMPTION.— 

2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If the chief State election 

3 official determines that the State is unable to meet 

4 the requirement under subsection (a)(5)(A) with re5 spect to an election for Federal office due to an 

6 undue hardship described in paragraph (2)(B), the 

7 chief State election official shall request that the At8 torney General grant a waiver to the State of the 

9 application of such subsection. Such request shall in10 clude— 

11 ‘‘(A) a recognition that the purpose of 

12 such subsection is to individuals with disabil13 ities enough time to vote in an election for Fed14 eral office; 

15 ‘‘(B) an explanation of the hardship that 

16 indicates why the State is unable to transmit 

17 such individuals an absentee ballot in accord18 ance with such subsection; 

19 ‘‘(C) the number of days prior to the elec20 tion for Federal office that the State requires 

21 absentee ballots be transmitted to such individ22 uals; and 

23 ‘‘(D) a comprehensive plan to ensure that 

24 such individuals are able to receive absentee 

25 ballots which they have requested and submit 


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1 marked absentee ballots to the appropriate 

2 State election official in time to have that ballot 

3 counted in the election for Federal office, which 

4 includes— 

5 ‘‘(i) the steps the State will undertake 

6 to ensure that such individuals have time 

7 to receive, mark, and submit their ballots 

8 in time to have those ballots counted in the 

9 election; 

10 ‘‘(ii) why the plan provides such indi11 viduals sufficient time to vote as a sub12 stitute for the requirements under such 

13 subsection; and 

14 ‘‘(iii) the underlying factual informa15 tion which explains how the plan provides 

16 such sufficient time to vote as a substitute 

17 for such requirements. 

18 ‘‘(2) APPROVAL OF WAIVER REQUEST.—The 

19 Attorney General shall approve a waiver request 

20 under paragraph (1) if the Attorney General deter21 mines each of the following requirements are met: 

22 ‘‘(A) The comprehensive plan under sub23 paragraph (D) of such paragraph provides indi24 viduals with disabilities sufficient time to re25 ceive absentee ballots they have requested and 


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1 submit marked absentee ballots to the appro2 priate State election official in time to have that 

3 ballot counted in the election for Federal office. 

4 ‘‘(B) One or more of the following issues 

5 creates an undue hardship for the State: 

6 ‘‘(i) The State’s primary election date 

7 prohibits the State from complying with 

8 subsection (a)(5)(A). 

9 ‘‘(ii) The State has suffered a delay in 

10 generating ballots due to a legal contest. 

11 ‘‘(iii) The State Constitution prohibits 

12 the State from complying with such sub13 section. 

14 ‘‘(3) TIMING OF WAIVER.— 

15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided 

16 under subparagraph (B), a State that requests 

17 a waiver under paragraph (1) shall submit to 

18 the Attorney General the written waiver request 

19 not later than 90 days before the election for 

20 Federal office with respect to which the request 

21 is submitted. The Attorney General shall ap22 prove or deny the waiver request not later than 

23 65 days before such election. 

24 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—If a State requests a 

25 waiver under paragraph (1) as the result of an 


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1 undue hardship described in paragraph 

2 (2)(B)(ii), the State shall submit to the Attor3 ney General the written waiver request as soon 

4 as practicable. The Attorney General shall ap5 prove or deny the waiver request not later than 

6 5 business days after the date on which the re7 quest is received. 

8 ‘‘(4) APPLICATION OF WAIVER.—A waiver ap9 proved under paragraph (2) shall only apply with re10 spect to the election for Federal office for which the 

11 request was submitted. For each subsequent election 

12 for Federal office, the Attorney General shall only 

13 approve a waiver if the State has submitted a re14 quest under paragraph (1) with respect to such elec15 tion. 

16 ‘‘(f) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec17 tion may be construed to allow the marking or casting of 

18 ballots over the internet. 

19 ‘‘(g) INDIVIDUAL WITH A DISABILITY DEFINED.— 

20 In this section, an ‘individual with a disability’ means an 

21 individual with an impairment that substantially limits 

22 any major life activities and who is otherwise qualified to 

23 vote in elections for Federal office. 


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1 ‘‘(h) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall apply 

2 with respect to elections for Federal office held on or after 

3 January 1, 2020.’’. 

4 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO

5 ISSUANCE OF VOLUNTARY GUIDANCE BY ELECTION AS6 SISTANCE COMMISSION.—Section 311(b) of such Act (52 

7 U.S.C. 21101(b)) is amended— 

8 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 

9 (2); 

10 (2) by striking the period at the end of para11 graph (3) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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

13 paragraph: 

14 ‘‘(4) in the case of the recommendations with 

15 respect to section 304, January 1, 2020.’’. 

16 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

17 of such Act is amended— 

18 (1) by redesignating the items relating to sec19 tions 304 and 305 as relating to sections 305 and 

20 306; and 

21 (2) by inserting after the item relating to sec22 tion 303 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 304. Access to voter registration and voting for individuals with disabilities.’’. 


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1 SEC. 1102. PILOT PROGRAMS FOR ENABLING INDIVIDUALS 

2 WITH DISABILITIES TO REGISTER TO VOTE 

3 AND VOTE PRIVATELY AND INDEPENDENTLY 

4 AT RESIDENCES. 

5 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PILOT PROGRAMS.—The 

6 Election Assistance Commission (hereafter referred to as 

7 the ‘‘Commission’’) shall make grants to eligible States to 

8 conduct pilot programs under which— 

9 (1) individuals with disabilities may use elec10 tronic means (including the internet and telephones 

11 utilizing assistive devices) to register to vote and to 

12 request and receive absentee ballots, in a manner 

13 which permits such individuals to do so privately 

14 and independently at their own residences; and 

15 (2) individuals with disabilities may use the 

16 telephone to cast ballots electronically from their 

17 own residences, but only if the telephone used is not 

18 connected to the internet. 

19 (b) REPORTS.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—A State receiving a grant for 

21 a year under this section shall submit a report to the 

22 Commission on the pilot programs the State carried 

23 out with the grant with respect to elections for pub24 lic office held in the State during the year. 

25 (2) DEADLINE.—A State shall submit a report 

26 under paragraph (1) not later than 90 days after 


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1 the last election for public office held in the State 

2 during the year. 

3 (c) ELIGIBILITY.—A State is eligible to receive a 

4 grant under this section if the State submits to the Com5 mission, at such time and in such form as the Commission 

6 may require, an application containing such information 

7 and assurances as the Commission may require. 

8 (d) TIMING.—The Commission shall make the first 

9 grants under this section for pilot programs which will be 

10 in effect with respect to elections for Federal office held 

11 in 2020, or, at the option of a State, with respect to other 

12 elections for public office held in the State in 2020. 

13 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

14 authorized to be appropriated for grants for pilot pro15 grams under this section $30,000,000 for fiscal year 2020 

16 and each succeeding fiscal year. 

17 (f) STATE DEFINED.—In this section, the term 

18 ‘‘State’’ includes the District of Columbia, the Common19 wealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the 

20 United States Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of 

21 the Northern Mariana Islands. 


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1 SEC. 1103. EXPANSION AND REAUTHORIZATION OF GRANT 

2 PROGRAM TO ASSURE VOTING ACCESS FOR 

3 INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES. 

4 (a) PURPOSES OF PAYMENTS.—Section 261(b) of the 

5 Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21021(b)) is 

6 amended by striking paragraphs (1) and (2) and inserting 

7 the following: 

8 ‘‘(1) making absentee voting and voting at 

9 home accessible to individuals with the full range of 

10 disabilities (including impairments involving vision, 

11 hearing, mobility, or dexterity) through the imple12 mentation of accessible absentee voting systems that 

13 work in conjunction with assistive technologies for 

14 which individuals have access at their homes, inde15 pendent living centers, or other facilities; 

16 ‘‘(2) making polling places, including the path 

17 of travel, entrances, exits, and voting areas of each 

18 polling facility, accessible to individuals with disabil19 ities, including the blind and visually impaired, in a 

20 manner that provides the same opportunity for ac21 cess and participation (including privacy and inde22 pendence) as for other voters; and 

23 ‘‘(3) providing solutions to problems of access 

24 to voting and elections for individuals with disabil25 ities that are universally designed and provide the 


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1 same opportunities for individuals with and without 

2 disabilities.’’. 

3 (b) REAUTHORIZATION.—Section 264(a) of such Act 

4 (52 U.S.C. 21024(a)) is amended by adding at the end 

5 the following new paragraph: 

6 ‘‘(4) For fiscal year 2020 and each succeeding 

7 fiscal year, such sums as may be necessary to carry 

8 out this part.’’. 

9 (c) PERIOD OF AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Section 

10 264 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 21024) is amended— 

11 (1) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘Any 

12 amounts’’ and inserting ‘‘Except as provided in sub13 section (b), any amounts’’; and 

14 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub15 section: 

16 ‘‘(c) RETURN AND TRANSFER OF CERTAIN FUNDS.— 

17 ‘‘(1) DEADLINE FOR OBLIGATION AND EXPEND18 ITURE.—In the case of any amounts appropriated 

19 pursuant to the authority of subsection (a) for a 

20 payment to a State or unit of local government for 

21 fiscal year 2020 or any succeeding fiscal year, any 

22 portion of such amounts which have not been obli23 gated or expended by the State or unit of local gov24 ernment prior to the expiration of the 4-year period 

25 which begins on the date the State or unit of local 


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1 government first received the amounts shall be 

2 transferred to the Commission. 

3 ‘‘(2) REALLOCATION OF TRANSFERRED

4 AMOUNTS.— 

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall 

6 use the amounts transferred under paragraph 

7 (1) to make payments on a pro rata basis to 

8 each covered payment recipient described in 

9 subparagraph (B), which may obligate and ex10 pend such payment for the purposes described 

11 in section 261(b) during the 1-year period 

12 which begins on the date of receipt. 

13 ‘‘(B) COVERED PAYMENT RECIPIENTS DE14 SCRIBED.—In subparagraph (A), a ‘covered 

15 payment recipient’ is a State or unit of local 

16 government with respect to which— 

17 ‘‘(i) amounts were appropriated pur18 suant to the authority of subsection (a); 

19 and 

20 ‘‘(ii) no amounts were transferred to 

21 the Commission under paragraph (1).’’. 


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1 Subtitle C—CLEAN Elections 

2 SEC. 1201. SHORT TITLE. 

3 This title may be cited as the ‘‘Citizen Legislature 

4 Anti-Corruption Reform of Elections Act’’ or the 

5 ‘‘CLEAN Elections Act’’. 

6 SEC. 1202. REQUIRING OPEN PRIMARIES. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.— 

8 (1) ELECTIONS FOR FEDERAL OFFICE.—Each 

9 State shall hold open primaries for elections for Fed10 eral office held in the State. 

11 (2) ELECTIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL OF12 FICE.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, 

13 a State may not use any funds provided by the Fed14 eral Government directly for election administration 

15 purposes unless the State certifies to the Election 

16 Assistance Commission that the State holds open 

17 primaries for elections for State and local office. 

18 (b) OPEN PRIMARIES DESCRIBED.—For purposes of 

19 this section, a State holds open primaries for an election 

20 for an office if any individual who is registered to vote 

21 in a general election for such office in the State may cast 

22 a ballot in any primary election (including a primary elec23 tion held for the selection of delegates to a national nomi24 nating convention of a political party and a primary elec25 tion held for the expression of a preference for the nominaVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:43 Mar 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00057 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1612.IH H1612

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1 tion of individuals for election to the office of President) 

2 held by any political party to nominate candidates for elec3 tion for that office, including a convention or caucus of 

4 a political party which has authority to nominate a can5 didate. 

6 (c) STATE DEFINED.—In this section, the term 

7 ‘‘State’’ has the meaning given such term in section 901 

8 of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21141). 

9 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Subsection (a) shall apply 

10 with respect to elections held after the date of the enact11 ment of this Act. 

12 SEC. 1203. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON NEED FOR TERM LIM13 ITS FOR MEMBERS. 

14 It is the sense of Congress that, in order to root out 

15 the culture of corruption in Washington, DC, Congress 

16 should pass and send to the States for ratification an 

17 amendment to the Constitution of the United States which 

18 would limit the number of terms an individual may serve 

19 as a Member of Congress. 

20 Subtitle D—Election Integrity 

21 SEC. 1301. REQUIRING VOTERS TO PROVIDE PHOTO IDEN22 TIFICATION. 

23 (a) REQUIREMENT TO PROVIDE PHOTO IDENTIFICA24 TION AS CONDITION OF CASTING BALLOT.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Title III of the Help Amer2 ica Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 15481 et seq.) is 

3 amended by inserting after section 303 the following 

4 new section: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 303A. PHOTO IDENTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS. 

6 ‘‘(a) PROVISION OF IDENTIFICATION REQUIRED AS

7 CONDITION OF CASTING BALLOT.— 

8 ‘‘(1) INDIVIDUALS VOTING IN PERSON.— 

9 ‘‘(A) REQUIREMENT TO PROVIDE IDENTI10 FICATION.—Notwithstanding any other provi11 sion of law and except as provided in subpara12 graph (B), the appropriate State or local elec13 tion official may not provide a ballot for an 

14 election for Federal office to an individual who 

15 desires to vote in person unless the individual 

16 presents to the official a valid photo identifica17 tion. 

18 ‘‘(B) AVAILABILITY OF PROVISIONAL BAL19 LOT.— 

20 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—If an individual 

21 does not present the identification required 

22 under subparagraph (A), the individual 

23 shall be permitted to cast a provisional bal24 lot with respect to the election under sec25 tion 302(a), except that the appropriate 


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1 State or local election official may not 

2 make a determination under section 

3 302(a)(4) that the individual is eligible 

4 under State law to vote in the election un5 less, not later than 10 days after casting 

6 the provisional ballot, the individual pre7 sents to the official— 

8 ‘‘(I) the identification required 

9 under subparagraph (A); or 

10 ‘‘(II) an affidavit attesting that 

11 the individual does not possess the 

12 identification required under subpara13 graph (A) because the individual has 

14 a religious objection to being photo15 graphed. 

16 ‘‘(ii) NO EFFECT ON OTHER PROVI17 SIONAL BALLOTING RULES.—Nothing in 

18 clause (i) may be construed to apply to the 

19 casting of a provisional ballot pursuant to 

20 section 302(a) or any State law for reasons 

21 other than the failure to present the identi22 fication required under subparagraph (A). 

23 ‘‘(2) INDIVIDUALS VOTING OTHER THAN IN

24 PERSON.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any 

2 other provision of law and except as provided in 

3 subparagraph (B), the appropriate State or 

4 local election official may not accept any ballot 

5 for an election for Federal office provided by an 

6 individual who votes other than in person unless 

7 the individual submits with the ballot a copy of 

8 a valid photo identification. 

9 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION FOR OVERSEAS MILITARY

10 VOTERS.—Subparagraph (A) does not apply 

11 with respect to a ballot provided by an absent 

12 uniformed services voter who, by reason of ac13 tive duty or service, is absent from the United 

14 States on the date of the election involved. In 

15 this subparagraph, the term ‘absent uniformed 

16 services voter’ has the meaning given such term 

17 in section 107(1) of the Uniformed and Over18 seas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (52 U.S.C. 

19 20310(1)), other than an individual described 

20 in section 107(1)(C) of such Act. 

21 ‘‘(b) PROVISION OF IDENTIFICATIONS WITHOUT

22 CHARGE TO INDIVIDUALS UNABLE TO PAY COSTS OF OB23 TAINING IDENTIFICATION OR OTHERWISE UNABLE TO

24 OBTAIN IDENTIFICATION.—If an individual presents a 

25 State or local election official with an affidavit attesting 


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1 that the individual is unable to pay the costs associated 

2 with obtaining a valid photo identification under this sec3 tion, or attesting that the individual is otherwise unable 

4 to obtain a valid photo identification under this section 

5 after making reasonable efforts to obtain such an identi6 fication, the official shall provide the individual with a 

7 valid photo identification under this subsection without 

8 charge to the individual. 

9 ‘‘(c) VALID PHOTO IDENTIFICATIONS DESCRIBED.— 

10 For purposes of this section, a ‘valid photo identification’ 

11 means, with respect to an individual who seeks to vote in 

12 a State, any of the following: 

13 ‘‘(1) A valid State-issued motor vehicle driver’s 

14 license that includes a photo of the individual and an 

15 expiration date. 

16 ‘‘(2) A valid State-issued identification card 

17 that includes a photo of the individual and an expi18 ration date. 

19 ‘‘(3) A valid United States passport for the in20 dividual. 

21 ‘‘(4) A valid military identification for the indi22 vidual. 

23 ‘‘(5) Any other form of government-issued iden24 tification that the State may specify as a valid photo 

25 identification for purposes of this subsection. 


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1 ‘‘(d) NOTIFICATION OF IDENTIFICATION REQUIRE2 MENT TO APPLICANTS FOR VOTER REGISTRATION.— 

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each State shall ensure 

4 that, at the time an individual applies to register to 

5 vote in elections for Federal office in the State, the 

6 appropriate State or local election official notifies 

7 the individual of the photo identification require8 ments of this section. 

9 ‘‘(2) SPECIAL RULE FOR INDIVIDUALS APPLY10 ING TO REGISTER TO VOTE ONLINE.—Each State 

11 shall ensure that, in the case of an individual who 

12 applies to register to vote in elections for Federal of13 fice in the State online, the online voter registration 

14 system notifies the individual of the photo identifica15 tion requirements of this section before the indi16 vidual completes the online registration process. 

17 ‘‘(e) TREATMENT OF STATES WITH PHOTO IDENTI18 FICATION REQUIREMENTS IN EFFECT AS OF DATE OF

19 ENACTMENT.—If, as of the date of the enactment of this 

20 section, a State has in effect a law requiring an individual 

21 to provide a photo identification as a condition of casting 

22 a ballot in elections for Federal office held in the State 

23 and the law remains in effect on and after the effective 

24 date of this section, the State shall be considered to meet 

25 the requirements of this section if— 


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1 ‘‘(1) the State submits a request to the Attor2 ney General and provides such information as the 

3 Attorney General may consider necessary to deter4 mine that the State has in effect such a law and 

5 that the law remains in effect; and 

6 ‘‘(2) the Attorney General approves the request. 

7 ‘‘(f) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall apply 

8 with respect to elections for Federal office held in 2020 

9 or any succeeding year.’’. 

10 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con11 tents of such Act is amended by inserting after the 

12 item relating to section 303 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 303A. Photo identification requirements.’’. 

13 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO VOL14 UNTARY GUIDANCE BY ELECTION ASSISTANCE COMMIS15 SION.—Section 311(b) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 21101(b)) 

16 is amended— 

17 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 

18 (2); 

19 (2) by striking the period at the end of para20 graph (3) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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

22 paragraph: 

23 ‘‘(4) in the case of the recommendations with 

24 respect to section 303A, October 1, 2018.’’. 


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1 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO EN2 FORCEMENT.—Section 401 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 21111) 

3 is amended by striking ‘‘and 303’’ and inserting ‘‘303, and 

4 303A’’. 

5 (d) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS RELATING TO RE6 PEAL OF EXISTING PHOTO IDENTIFICATION REQUIRE7 MENTS FOR CERTAIN VOTERS.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 303 of such Act (42 

9 U.S.C. 15483) is amended— 

10 (A) in the heading, by striking ‘‘AND RE11 QUIREMENTS FOR VOTERS WHO REGISTER

12 BY MAIL’’; 

13 (B) in the heading of subsection (b), by 

14 striking ‘‘FOR VOTERS WHO REGISTER BY

15 MAIL’’ and inserting ‘‘FOR MAIL-IN REGISTRA16 TION FORMS’’; 

17 (C) in subsection (b), by striking para18 graphs (1) through (3) and redesignating para19 graphs (4) and (5) as paragraphs (1) and (2), 

20 respectively; and 

21 (D) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘sub22 sections (a)(5)(A)(i)(II) and (b)(3)(B)(i)(II)’’ 

23 and inserting ‘‘subsection (a)(5)(A)(i)(II)’’. 


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1 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con2 tents of such Act is amended by amending the item 

3 relating to section 303 to read as follows: 

‘‘Sec. 303. Computerized statewide voter registration list requirements.’’. 

4 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section and the amend5 ments made by this section shall apply with respect to 

6 elections for Federal office held in 2020 or any succeeding 

7 year. 

8 TITLE II—REDISTRICTING 

9 REFORM 

Sec. 2001. Short title; finding of constitutional authority. 

Subtitle A—Requirements for Congressional Redistricting 

Sec. 2101. Limit on congressional redistricting after an apportionment. 

Sec. 2102. Requiring congressional redistricting to be conducted through plan 

of independent State commission. 

Subtitle B—Independent Redistricting Commissions 

Sec. 2201. Independent redistricting commission. 

Sec. 2202. Establishment of selection pool of individuals eligible to serve as 

members of commission. 

Sec. 2203. Criteria for redistricting plan by independent commission; public notice and input. 

Sec. 2204. Establishment of related entities. 

Subtitle C—Administrative and Miscellaneous Provisions 

Sec. 2301. Payments to States for carrying out redistricting. 

Sec. 2302. State apportionment notice defined. 

Sec. 2303. No effect on elections for State and local office. 

Sec. 2304. Effective date. 

Subtitle D—Severability 

Sec. 2401. Severability. 

10 SEC. 2001. SHORT TITLE; FINDING OF CONSTITUTIONAL AU11 THORITY. 

12 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This title may be cited as the 

13 ‘‘Redistricting Reform Act of 2019’’. 


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1 (b) FINDING OF CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY.— 

2 Congress finds that it has the authority to establish the 

3 terms and conditions States must follow in carrying out 

4 congressional redistricting after an apportionment of 

5 Members of the House of Representatives because— 

6 (1) the authority granted to Congress under ar7 ticle I, section 4 of the Constitution of the United 

8 States gives Congress the power to enact laws gov9 erning the time, place, and manner of elections for 

10 Members of the House of Representatives; and 

11 (2) the authority granted to Congress under 

12 section 5 of the fourteenth amendment to the Con13 stitution gives Congress the power to enact laws to 

14 enforce section 2 of such amendment, which requires 

15 Representatives to be apportioned among the several 

16 States according to their number. 

17 Subtitle A—Requirements for 

18 Congressional Redistricting 

19 SEC. 2101. LIMIT ON CONGRESSIONAL REDISTRICTING 

20 AFTER AN APPORTIONMENT. 

21 The Act entitled ‘‘An Act for the relief of Doctor Ri22 cardo Vallejo Samala and to provide for congressional re23 districting’’, approved December 14, 1967 (2 U.S.C. 2c), 

24 is amended by adding at the end the following: ‘‘A State 

25 which has been redistricted in the manner provided by law 


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1 after an apportionment under section 22(a) of the Act en2 titled ‘An Act to provide for the fifteenth and subsequent 

3 decennial censuses and to provide for an apportionment 

4 of Representatives in Congress’, approved June 18, 1929 

5 (2 U.S.C. 2a), may not be redistricted again until after 

6 the next apportionment of Representatives under such sec7 tion, unless a court requires the State to conduct such 

8 subsequent redistricting to comply with the Constitution 

9 or to enforce the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 

10 10301 et seq.).’’. 

11 SEC. 2102. REQUIRING CONGRESSIONAL REDISTRICTING 

12 TO BE CONDUCTED THROUGH PLAN OF INDE13 PENDENT STATE COMMISSION. 

14 (a) USE OF PLAN REQUIRED.—Notwithstanding any 

15 other provision of law, any congressional redistricting con16 ducted by a State shall be conducted in accordance with 

17 the redistricting plan developed and enacted into law by 

18 the independent redistricting commission established in 

19 the State, in accordance with subtitle B. 

20 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 22(c) of 

21 the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to provide for the fifteenth and 

22 subsequent decennial censuses and to provide for an ap23 portionment of Representatives in Congress’’, approved 

24 June 18, 1929 (2 U.S.C. 2a(c)), is amended by striking 

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1 ing: ‘‘in the manner provided by the Redistricting Reform 

2 Act of 2019’’. 

3 Subtitle B—Independent 

4 Redistricting Commissions 

5 SEC. 2201. INDEPENDENT REDISTRICTING COMMISSION. 

6 (a) APPOINTMENT OF MEMBERS.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—The nonpartisan agency es8 tablished or designated by a State under section 

9 2204(a) shall establish an independent redistricting 

10 commission for the State, which shall consist of 15 

11 members appointed by the agency as follows: 

12 (A) The agency shall first appoint 6 mem13 bers as follows: 

14 (i) The agency shall appoint 2 mem15 bers on a random basis from the majority 

16 category of the approved selection pool (as 

17 described in section 2202(b)(1)(A)). 

18 (ii) The agency shall appoint 2 mem19 bers on a random basis from the minority 

20 category of the approved selection pool (as 

21 described in section 2202(b)(1)(B)). 

22 (iii) The agency shall appoint 2 mem23 bers on a random basis from the inde24 pendent category of the approved selection 


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1 pool (as described in section 

2 2202(b)(1)(C)). 

3 (B) The members appointed by the agency 

4 under subparagraph (A) shall then appoint 9 

5 members as follows: 

6 (i) The members shall appoint 3 mem7 bers on a random basis from the majority 

8 category of the approved selection pool (as 

9 described in section 2202(b)(1)(A)). 

10 (ii) The members shall appoint 3 

11 members on a random basis from the mi12 nority category of the approved selection 

13 pool (as described in section 

14 2202(b)(1)(B)). 

15 (iii) The members shall appoint 3 

16 members on a random basis from the inde17 pendent category of the approved selection 

18 pool (as described in section 

19 2202(b)(1)(C)). 

20 (2) APPOINTMENT OF ALTERNATES TO SERVE

21 IN CASE OF VACANCIES.— 

22 (A) MEMBERS APPOINTED BY AGENCY.— 

23 At the time the agency appoints the members 

24 of the independent redistricting commission 

25 under subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) from 


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1 each of the categories referred to in such sub2 paragraph, the agency shall, on a random basis, 

3 designate 2 other individuals from such cat4 egory to serve as alternate members who may 

5 be appointed to fill vacancies in the commission 

6 in accordance with paragraph (3). 

7 (B) MEMBERS APPOINTED BY FIRST MEM8 BERS.—At the time the members appointed by 

9 the agency appoint the other members of the 

10 independent redistricting commission under 

11 subparagraph (B) of paragraph (1) from each 

12 of the categories referred to in such subpara13 graph, the members shall, on a random basis, 

14 designate 2 other individuals from such cat15 egory to serve as alternate members who may 

16 be appointed to fill vacancies in the commission 

17 in accordance with paragraph (3). 

18 (3) VACANCY.— 

19 (A) MEMBERS APPOINTED BY AGENCY.—If 

20 a vacancy occurs in the commission with respect 

21 to a member who was appointed by the non22 partisan agency under subparagraph (A) of 

23 paragraph (1) from one of the categories re24 ferred to in such subparagraph, the agency 

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1 dom basis, one of the 2 alternates from such 

2 category who was designated under subpara3 graph (A) of paragraph (2). At the time the 

4 agency appoints an alternate to fill a vacancy 

5 under the previous sentence, the agency shall 

6 designate, on a random basis, another indi7 vidual from the same category to serve as an al8 ternate member, in accordance with subpara9 graph (A) of paragraph (2). 

10 (B) MEMBERS APPOINTED BY FIRST MEM11 BERS.—If a vacancy occurs in the commission 

12 with respect to a member who was appointed by 

13 the first members of the commission under sub14 paragraph (B) of paragraph (1) from one of the 

15 categories referred to in such subparagraph, the 

16 first members shall fill the vacancy by appoint17 ing, on a random basis, one of the 2 alternates 

18 from such category who was designated under 

19 subparagraph (B) of paragraph (2). At the time 

20 the first members appoint an alternate to fill a 

21 vacancy under the previous sentence, the first 

22 members shall designate, on a random basis, 

23 another individual from the same category to 

24 serve as an alternate member, in accordance 

25 with subparagraph (B) of paragraph (2). 


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1 (4) SPECIAL RULES FOR APPOINTMENT OF

2 MEMBERS APPOINTED BY FIRST MEMBERS.—The 

3 appointment of any of the 9 members of the inde4 pendent redistricting commission who are appointed 

5 by the first members of the commission pursuant to 

6 subparagraph (B) of paragraph (1), as well as the 

7 appointment of alternates for such members pursu8 ant to subparagraph (B) of paragraph (2) and the 

9 appointment of members to fill vacancies with re10 spect to such members pursuant to subparagraph 

11 (B) of paragraph (3), shall require the affirmative 

12 vote of at least 4 of the members appointed by the 

13 nonpartisan agency under subparagraph (A) of para14 graph (1), including at least one member from each 

15 of the categories referred to in such subparagraph. 

16 The 9 members appointed pursuant to subparagraph 

17 (B) of paragraph (1), as well as the alternates ap18 pointed pursuant to subparagraph (B) of paragraph 

19 (2) and the members appointed to fill vacancies pur20 suant to subparagraph (B) of paragraph (3), shall 

21 be selected, if necessary, to ensure that the commis22 sion as a whole reflects the demographic and geo23 graphic diversity of the State, including racial and 

24 language minorities protected under the Voting 

25 Rights Act, and that such minorities are provided 


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1 with a meaningful opportunity to participate in the 

2 development and enactment of the State’s redis3 tricting plan. 

4 (b) PROCEDURES FOR CONDUCTING COMMISSION

5 BUSINESS.— 

6 (1) CHAIR.—Members of an independent redis7 tricting commission established under this section 

8 shall select by majority vote one member who was 

9 appointed from the independent category of the ap10 proved selection pool described in section 

11 2202(b)(1)(C) to serve as chair of the commission. 

12 The commission may not take any action to develop 

13 a redistricting plan for the State under section 2203 

14 until the appointment of the commission’s chair. 

15 (2) REQUIRING MAJORITY APPROVAL FOR AC16 TIONS.—The independent redistricting commission 

17 of a State may not publish and disseminate any 

18 draft or final redistricting plan, or take any other 

19 action, without the approval of at least— 

20 (A) a majority of the whole membership of 

21 the commission; and 

22 (B) at least one member of the commission 

23 appointed from each of the categories of the ap24 proved selection pool described in section 

25 2202(b)(1). 


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1 (3) QUORUM.—A majority of the members of 

2 the commission shall constitute a quorum. 

3 (c) STAFF; CONTRACTORS.— 

4 (1) STAFF.—The independent redistricting 

5 commission of a State may appoint and set the pay 

6 of such staff as it considers appropriate, subject to 

7 State law. 

8 (2) CONTRACTORS.—The independent redis9 tricting commission of a State may enter into such 

10 contracts with vendors as it considers appropriate, 

11 subject to State law, except that any such contract 

12 shall be valid only if approved by the vote of a ma13 jority of the members of the commission, including 

14 at least one member appointed from each of the cat15 egories of the approved selection pool described in 

16 section 2202(b)(1). 

17 (3) GOAL OF IMPARTIALITY.—The commission 

18 shall take such steps as it considers appropriate to 

19 ensure that any staff appointed under this sub20 section, and any vendor with whom the commission 

21 enters into a contract under this subsection, will 

22 work in an impartial manner, and may require any 

23 person who applies for an appointment to a staff po24 sition or for a vendor’s contract with the commission 

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1 litical activity (including donations to candidates, po2 litical committees, and political parties) as a condi3 tion of the appointment or the contract. 

4 (d) TERMINATION.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The independent redis6 tricting commission of a State shall terminate on the 

7 earlier of— 

8 (A) June 14 of the following year ending 

9 in the numeral zero; or 

10 (B) the day on which the nonpartisan 

11 agency established or designated by a State 

12 under section 2204(a) has, in accordance with 

13 section 2202(b)(1), submitted a selection pool 

14 to the Select Committee on Redistricting for the 

15 State established under section 2204(b). 

16 (2) PRESERVATION OF RECORDS.—The State 

17 shall ensure that the records of the independent re18 districting commission are retained in the appro19 priate State archive in such manner as may be nec20 essary to enable the State to respond to any civil ac21 tion brought with respect to congressional redis22 tricting in the State. 


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1 SEC. 2202. ESTABLISHMENT OF SELECTION POOL OF INDI2 VIDUALS ELIGIBLE TO SERVE AS MEMBERS 

3 OF COMMISSION. 

4 (a) CRITERIA FOR ELIGIBILITY.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—An individual is eligible to 

6 serve as a member of an independent redistricting 

7 commission if the individual meets each of the fol8 lowing criteria: 

9 (A) As of the date of appointment, the in10 dividual is registered to vote in elections for 

11 Federal office held in the State. 

12 (B) During the 3-year period ending on 

13 the date of the individual’s appointment, the in14 dividual has been continuously registered to 

15 vote with the same political party, or has not 

16 been registered to vote with any political party. 

17 (C) The individual submits to the non18 partisan agency established or designated by a 

19 State under section 2203, at such time and in 

20 such form as the agency may require, an appli21 cation for inclusion in the selection pool under 

22 this section, and includes with the application a 

23 written statement containing the following in24 formation and assurances: 


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1 (i) A statement of the political party 

2 with which the individual is affiliated, if 

3 any. 

4 (ii) An assurance that the individual 

5 shall commit to carrying out the individ6 ual’s duties under this subtitle in an hon7 est, independent, and impartial fashion, 

8 and to upholding public confidence in the 

9 integrity of the redistricting process. 

10 (iii) An assurance that, during the 

11 covered periods described in paragraph (3), 

12 the individual has not taken and will not 

13 take any action which would disqualify the 

14 individual from serving as a member of the 

15 commission under paragraph (2). 

16 (2) DISQUALIFICATIONS.—An individual is not 

17 eligible to serve as a member of the commission if 

18 any of the following applies during any of the cov19 ered periods described in paragraph (3): 

20 (A) The individual or (in the case of the 

21 covered periods described in subparagraphs (A) 

22 and (B) of paragraph (3)) an immediate family 

23 member of the individual holds public office or 

24 is a candidate for election for public office. 


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1 (B) The individual or (in the case of the 

2 covered periods described in subparagraphs (A) 

3 and (B) of paragraph (3)) an immediate family 

4 member of the individual serves as an officer of 

5 a political party or as an officer, employee, or 

6 paid consultant of a campaign committee of a 

7 candidate for public office. 

8 (C) The individual or (in the case of the 

9 covered periods described in subparagraphs (A) 

10 and (B) of paragraph (3)) an immediate family 

11 member of the individual holds a position as a 

12 registered lobbyist under the Lobbying Disclo13 sure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) or an 

14 equivalent State or local law. 

15 (D) The individual or (in the case of the 

16 covered periods described in subparagraphs (A) 

17 and (B) of paragraph (3)) an immediate family 

18 member of the individual is an employee of an 

19 elected public official, a contractor with the leg20 islature of the State, or a donor to the cam21 paign of any candidate for public office (other 

22 than a donor who, during any of such covered 

23 periods, gives an aggregate amount of $20,000 

24 or less to the campaigns of all candidates for all 

25 public offices). 


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1 (3) COVERED PERIODS DESCRIBED.—In this 

2 subsection, the term ‘‘covered period’’ means, with 

3 respect to the appointment of an individual to the 

4 commission, any of the following: 

5 (A) The 5-year period ending on the date 

6 of the individual’s appointment. 

7 (B) The period beginning on the date of 

8 the individual’s appointment and ending on Au9 gust 14 of the next year ending in the numeral 

10 one. 

11 (C) The 5-year period beginning on the 

12 day after the last day of the period described in 

13 subparagraph (B). 

14 (4) IMMEDIATE FAMILY MEMBER DEFINED.—In 

15 this subsection, the term ‘‘immediate family mem16 ber’’ means, with respect to an individual, a father, 

17 stepfather, mother, stepmother, son, stepson, daugh18 ter, stepdaughter, brother, stepbrother, sister, step19 sister, husband, wife, father-in-law, or mother-in20 law. 

21 (b) DEVELOPMENT AND SUBMISSION OF SELECTION

22 POOL.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than June 15 of 

24 each year ending in the numeral zero, the non25 partisan agency established or designated by a State 


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1 under section 2204(a) shall develop and submit to 

2 the Select Committee on Redistricting for the State 

3 established under section 2204(b) a selection pool of 

4 36 individuals who are eligible to serve as members 

5 of the independent redistricting commission of the 

6 State under this subtitle, consisting of individuals in 

7 the following categories: 

8 (A) A majority category, consisting of 12 

9 individuals who are affiliated with the political 

10 party with the largest percentage of the reg11 istered voters in the State who are affiliated 

12 with a political party (as determined with re13 spect to the most recent statewide election for 

14 Federal office held in the State for which such 

15 information is available). 

16 (B) A minority category, consisting of 12 

17 individuals who are affiliated with the political 

18 party with the second largest percentage of the 

19 registered voters in the State who are affiliated 

20 with a political party (as so determined). 

21 (C) An independent category, consisting of 

22 12 individuals who are not affiliated with either 

23 of the political parties described in subpara24 graph (A) or subparagraph (B). 


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1 (2) FACTORS TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT IN DEVEL2 OPING POOL.—In selecting individuals for the selec3 tion pool under this subsection, the nonpartisan 

4 agency shall— 

5 (A) to the maximum extent practicable, en6 sure that the pool reflects the representative de7 mographic groups (including races, ethnicities, 

8 and genders) and geographic regions of the 

9 State; and 

10 (B) take into consideration the analytical 

11 skills of the individuals selected in relevant 

12 fields (including mapping, data management, 

13 law, community outreach, demography, and the 

14 geography of the State) and their ability to 

15 work on an impartial basis. 

16 (3) DETERMINATION OF POLITICAL PARTY AF17 FILIATION OF INDIVIDUALS IN SELECTION POOL.— 

18 For purposes of this section, an individual shall be 

19 considered to be affiliated with a political party on 

20 the basis of the information the individual provides 

21 in the application submitted under subsection 

22 (a)(1)(D). 

23 (4) ENCOURAGING RESIDENTS TO APPLY FOR

24 INCLUSION IN POOL.—The nonpartisan agency shall 

25 take such steps as may be necessary to ensure that 


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1 residents of the State across various geographic re2 gions and demographic groups are aware of the op3 portunity to serve on the independent redistricting 

4 commission, including publicizing the role of the 

5 panel and using newspapers, broadcast media, and 

6 online sources, including ethnic media, to encourage 

7 individuals to apply for inclusion in the selection 

8 pool developed under this subsection. 

9 (5) REPORT ON ESTABLISHMENT OF SELEC10 TION POOL.—At the time the nonpartisan agency 

11 submits the selection pool to the Select Committee 

12 on Redistricting under paragraph (1), it shall pub13 lish a report describing the process by which the 

14 pool was developed, and shall include in the report 

15 a description of how the individuals in the pool meet 

16 the eligibility criteria of subsection (a) and of how 

17 the pool reflects the factors the agency is required 

18 to take into consideration under paragraph (2). 

19 (6) ACTION BY SELECT COMMITTEE.— 

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 14 days 

21 after receiving the selection pool from the non22 partisan agency under paragraph (1), the Select 

23 Committee on Redistricting shall— 

24 (i) approve the pool as submitted by 

25 the nonpartisan agency, in which case the 


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1 pool shall be considered the approved selec2 tion pool for purposes of section 

3 2201(a)(1); or 

4 (ii) reject the pool, in which case the 

5 nonpartisan agency shall develop and sub6 mit a replacement selection pool in accord7 ance with subsection (c). 

8 (B) INACTION DEEMED REJECTION.—If 

9 the Select Committee on Redistricting fails to 

10 approve or reject the pool within the deadline 

11 set forth in subparagraph (A), the Select Com12 mittee shall be deemed to have rejected the pool 

13 for purposes of such subparagraph. 

14 (c) DEVELOPMENT OF REPLACEMENT SELECTION

15 POOL.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—If the Select Committee on 

17 Redistricting rejects the selection pool submitted by 

18 the nonpartisan agency under subsection (b), not 

19 later than 14 days after the rejection, the non20 partisan agency shall develop and submit to the Se21 lect Committee a replacement selection pool, under 

22 the same terms and conditions that applied to the 

23 development and submission of the selection pool 

24 under paragraphs (1) through (5) of subsection (b). 

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1 graph may include individuals who were included in 

2 the rejected selection pool submitted under sub3 section (b), so long as at least one of the individuals 

4 in the replacement pool was not included in such re5 jected pool. 

6 (2) ACTION BY SELECT COMMITTEE.— 

7 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 14 days 

8 after receiving the replacement selection pool 

9 from the nonpartisan agency under paragraph 

10 (1), the Select Committee on Redistricting 

11 shall— 

12 (i) approve the pool as submitted by 

13 the nonpartisan agency, in which case the 

14 pool shall be considered the approved selec15 tion pool for purposes of section 

16 2201(a)(1); or 

17 (ii) reject the pool, in which case the 

18 nonpartisan agency shall develop and sub19 mit a second replacement selection pool in 

20 accordance with subsection (d). 

21 (B) INACTION DEEMED REJECTION.—If 

22 the Select Committee on Redistricting fails to 

23 approve or reject the pool within the deadline 

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1 mittee shall be deemed to have rejected the pool 

2 for purposes of such subparagraph. 

3 (d) DEVELOPMENT OF SECOND REPLACEMENT SE4 LECTION POOL.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—If the Select Committee on 

6 Redistricting rejects the replacement selection pool 

7 submitted by the nonpartisan agency under sub8 section (c), not later than 14 days after the rejec9 tion, the nonpartisan agency shall develop and sub10 mit to the Select Committee a second replacement 

11 selection pool, under the same terms and conditions 

12 that applied to the development and submission of 

13 the selection pool under paragraphs (1) through (5) 

14 of subsection (b). The second replacement selection 

15 pool submitted under this paragraph may include in16 dividuals who were included in the rejected selection 

17 pool submitted under subsection (b) or the rejected 

18 replacement selection pool submitted under sub19 section (c), so long as at least one of the individuals 

20 in the replacement pool was not included in either 

21 such rejected pool. 

22 (2) ACTION BY SELECT COMMITTEE.— 

23 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 14 days 

24 after receiving the second replacement selection 

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1 graph (1), the Select Committee on Redis2 tricting shall— 

3 (i) approve the pool as submitted by 

4 the nonpartisan agency, in which case the 

5 pool shall be considered the approved selec6 tion pool for purposes of section 

7 2201(a)(1); or 

8 (ii) reject the pool, in which case the 

9 nonpartisan agency shall not develop or 

10 submit any other selection pool for pur11 poses of this subtitle. 

12 (B) INACTION DEEMED REJECTION.—If 

13 the Select Committee on Redistricting fails to 

14 approve or reject the pool within the deadline 

15 set forth in subparagraph (A), the Select Com16 mittee shall be deemed to have rejected the pool 

17 for purposes of such subparagraph. 

18 SEC. 2203. CRITERIA FOR REDISTRICTING PLAN BY INDE19 PENDENT COMMISSION; PUBLIC NOTICE AND 

20 INPUT. 

21 (a) DEVELOPMENT OF REDISTRICTING PLAN.— 

22 (1) CRITERIA.—In developing a redistricting 

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1 gressional districts using the following criteria as set 

2 forth in the following order of priority: 

3 (A) Districts shall comply with the United 

4 States Constitution, including the requirement 

5 that they equalize total population. 

6 (B) Districts shall comply with the Voting 

7 Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10301 et seq.) 

8 and all applicable Federal laws. 

9 (C) Districts shall provide racial, ethnic, 

10 and language minorities with an equal oppor11 tunity to participate in the political process and 

12 to elect candidates of choice and shall not dilute 

13 or diminish their ability to elect candidates of 

14 choice whether alone or in coalition with others. 

15 (D) Districts shall minimize the division of 

16 communities of interest, neighborhoods, and po17 litical subdivisions to the extent practicable. A 

18 community of interest is defined as an area 

19 with recognized similarities of interests, includ20 ing but not limited to ethnic, economic, social, 

21 cultural, geographic or historic identities. The 

22 term communities of interest may, in cir23 cumstances, include political subdivisions such 

24 as counties, municipalities, or school districts, 

25 but shall not include common relationships with 


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1 political parties, officeholders, or political can2 didates. 

3 (2) NO FAVORING OR DISFAVORING OF POLIT4 ICAL PARTIES.—The redistricting plan developed by 

5 the independent redistricting commission shall not, 

6 when considered on a statewide basis, unduly favor 

7 or disfavor any political party. 

8 (3) FACTORS PROHIBITED FROM CONSIDER9 ATION.—In developing the redistricting plan for the 

10 State, the independent redistricting commission may 

11 not take into consideration any of the following fac12 tors, except to the extent necessary to comply with 

13 the Voting Rights Act of 1965: 

14 (A) The political party affiliation or voting 

15 history of the population of a district. 

16 (B) The residence of any Member of the 

17 House of Representatives or candidate. 

18 (b) PUBLIC NOTICE AND INPUT.— 

19 (1) USE OF OPEN AND TRANSPARENT PROC20 ESS.—The independent redistricting commission of a 

21 State shall hold each of its meetings in public, shall 

22 solicit and take into consideration comments from 

23 the public throughout the process of developing the 

24 redistricting plan for the State, and shall carry out 

25 its duties in an open and transparent manner which 


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1 provides for the widest public dissemination reason2 ably possible of its proposed and final redistricting 

3 plans. 

4 (2) WEBSITE.—The commission shall maintain 

5 a public internet site which is not affiliated with or 

6 maintained by the office of any elected official and 

7 which includes the following features: 

8 (A) General information on the commission 

9 and its members, including contact information. 

10 (B) An updated schedule of commission 

11 hearings and activities, including deadlines for 

12 the submission of comments. 

13 (C) All draft redistricting plans developed 

14 by the commission under subsection (c) and the 

15 final redistricting plan developed under sub16 section (d). 

17 (D) Live streaming of commission hearings 

18 and an archive of previous meetings and other 

19 commission records. 

20 (E) A method by which members of the 

21 public may submit comments directly to the 

22 commission. 

23 (F) Access to the demographic data used 

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1 districting plans, together with any software 

2 used to draw maps of proposed districts. 

3 (3) PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD.—The commis4 sion shall solicit, accept, and consider comments 

5 from the public with respect to its duties, activities, 

6 and procedures at any time during the period— 

7 (A) which begins on January 1 of the year 

8 ending in the numeral one; and 

9 (B) which ends 7 days before the date of 

10 the meeting at which the commission shall vote 

11 on approving the final redistricting plan for en12 actment into law under subsection (d)(2). 

13 (4) MEETINGS AND HEARINGS IN VARIOUS GEO14 GRAPHIC LOCATIONS.—To the greatest extent prac15 ticable, the commission shall hold its meetings and 

16 hearings in various geographic regions and locations 

17 throughout the State. 

18 (c) DEVELOPMENT AND PUBLICATION OF PRELIMI19 NARY REDISTRICTING PLAN.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Prior to developing and pub21 lishing a final redistricting plan under subsection 

22 (d), the independent redistricting commission of a 

23 State shall develop and publish a preliminary redis24 tricting plan. 


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1 (2) MINIMUM PUBLIC HEARINGS PRIOR TO DE2 VELOPMENT.— 

3 (A) 3 HEARINGS REQUIRED.—Prior to de4 veloping a preliminary redistricting plan under 

5 this subsection, the commission shall hold not 

6 fewer than 3 public hearings at which members 

7 of the public may provide input and comments 

8 regarding the potential contents of redistricting 

9 plans for the State and the process by which 

10 the commission will develop the preliminary 

11 plan under this subsection. 

12 (B) MINIMUM PERIOD FOR NOTICE PRIOR

13 TO HEARINGS.—The commission shall notify 

14 the public through the website maintained 

15 under subsection (b)(2), as well as through pub16 lication of notice in newspapers of general cir17 culation throughout the State, of the date, time, 

18 and location of each of the hearings held under 

19 this paragraph not fewer than 14 days prior to 

20 the date of the hearing. 

21 (3) PUBLICATION OF PRELIMINARY PLAN.— 

22 (A) IN GENERAL.—The commission shall 

23 post the preliminary redistricting plan devel24 oped under this subsection, together with a re25 port that includes the commission’s responses 


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1 to any public comments received under sub2 section (b)(3), on the website maintained under 

3 subsection (b)(2), and shall provide for the pub4 lication of each such plan in newspapers of gen5 eral circulation throughout the State. 

6 (B) MINIMUM PERIOD FOR NOTICE PRIOR

7 TO PUBLICATION.—Not fewer than 14 days 

8 prior to the date on which the commission posts 

9 and publishes the preliminary plan under this 

10 paragraph, the commission shall notify the pub11 lic through the website maintained under sub12 section (b)(2), as well as through publication of 

13 notice in newspapers of general circulation 

14 throughout the State, of the pending publica15 tion of the plan. 

16 (4) MINIMUM PERIOD FOR PUBLIC COMMENT

17 AFTER PUBLICATION OF PLAN.—The commission 

18 shall accept and consider comments from the public 

19 with respect to the preliminary redistricting plan 

20 published under paragraph (3) for not fewer than 30 

21 days after the date on which the plan is published. 

22 (5) POST-PUBLICATION HEARINGS.— 

23 (A) 3 HEARINGS REQUIRED.—After post24 ing and publishing the preliminary redistricting 

25 plan under paragraph (3), the commission shall 


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1 hold not fewer than 3 public hearings at which 

2 members of the public may provide input and 

3 comments regarding the preliminary plan. 

4 (B) MINIMUM PERIOD FOR NOTICE PRIOR

5 TO HEARINGS.—The commission shall notify 

6 the public through the website maintained 

7 under subsection (b)(2), as well as through pub8 lication of notice in newspapers of general cir9 culation throughout the State, of the date, time, 

10 and location of each of the hearings held under 

11 this paragraph not fewer than 14 days prior to 

12 the date of the hearing. 

13 (6) PERMITTING MULTIPLE PRELIMINARY

14 PLANS.—At the option of the commission, after de15 veloping and publishing the preliminary redistricting 

16 plan under this subsection, the commission may de17 velop and publish subsequent preliminary redis18 tricting plans, so long as the process for the develop19 ment and publication of each such subsequent plan 

20 meets the requirements set forth in this subsection 

21 for the development and publication of the first pre22 liminary redistricting plan. 

23 (d) PROCESS FOR ENACTMENT OF FINAL REDIS24 TRICTING PLAN.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—After taking into consider2 ation comments from the public on any preliminary 

3 redistricting plan developed and published under 

4 subsection (c), the independent redistricting commis5 sion of a State shall develop and publish a final re6 districting plan for the State. 

7 (2) MEETING; FINAL VOTE.—Not later than 

8 August 15 of each year ending in the numeral one, 

9 the commission shall hold a public hearing at which 

10 the members of the commission shall vote on approv11 ing the final plan for enactment into law. 

12 (3) PUBLICATION OF PLAN AND ACCOMPANYING

13 MATERIALS.—Not fewer than 14 days before the 

14 date of the meeting under paragraph (2), the com15 mission shall provide the following information to 

16 the public through the website maintained under 

17 subsection (b)(2), as well as through newspapers of 

18 general circulation throughout the State: 

19 (A) The final redistricting plan, including 

20 all relevant maps. 

21 (B) A report by the commission to accom22 pany the plan which provides the background 

23 for the plan and the commission’s reasons for 

24 selecting the plan as the final redistricting plan, 

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1 ceived on any preliminary redistricting plan de2 veloped and published under subsection (c). 

3 (C) Any dissenting or additional views with 

4 respect to the plan of individual members of the 

5 commission. 

6 (4) ENACTMENT.—The final redistricting plan 

7 developed and published under this subsection shall 

8 be deemed to be enacted into law if— 

9 (A) the plan is approved by a majority of 

10 the whole membership of the commission; and 

11 (B) at least one member of the commission 

12 appointed from each of the categories of the ap13 proved selection pool described in section 

14 2202(b)(1) approves the plan. 

15 (e) DEADLINE.—The independent redistricting com16 mission of a State shall approve a final redistricting plan 

17 for the State not later than August 15 of each year ending 

18 in the numeral one. 

19 SEC. 2204. ESTABLISHMENT OF RELATED ENTITIES. 

20 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OR DESIGNATION OF NON21 PARTISAN AGENCY OF STATE LEGISLATURE.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each State shall establish a 

23 nonpartisan agency in the legislative branch of the 

24 State government to appoint the members of the 


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1 independent redistricting commission for the State 

2 in accordance with section 2201. 

3 (2) NONPARTISANSHIP DESCRIBED.—For pur4 poses of this subsection, an agency shall be consid5 ered to be nonpartisan if under law the agency— 

6 (A) is required to provide services on a 

7 nonpartisan basis; 

8 (B) is required to maintain impartiality; 

9 and 

10 (C) is prohibited from advocating for the 

11 adoption or rejection of any legislative proposal. 

12 (3) DESIGNATION OF EXISTING AGENCY.—At 

13 its option, a State may designate an existing agency 

14 in the legislative branch of its government to appoint 

15 the members of the independent redistricting com16 mission plan for the State under this subtitle, so 

17 long as the agency meets the requirements for non18 partisanship under this subsection. 

19 (4) TERMINATION OF AGENCY SPECIFICALLY

20 ESTABLISHED FOR REDISTRICTING.—If a State does 

21 not designate an existing agency under paragraph 

22 (3) but instead establishes a new agency to serve as 

23 the nonpartisan agency under this section, the new 

24 agency shall terminate upon the enactment into law 

25 of the redistricting plan for the State. 


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1 (5) DEADLINE.—The State shall meet the re2 quirements of this subsection not later than each 

3 August 15 of a year ending in the numeral nine. 

4 (b) ESTABLISHMENT OF SELECT COMMITTEE ON RE5 DISTRICTING.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each State shall appoint a 

7 Select Committee on Redistricting to approve or dis8 approve a selection pool developed by the inde9 pendent redistricting commission for the State under 

10 section 2202. 

11 (2) APPOINTMENT.—The Select Committee on 

12 Redistricting for a State under this subsection shall 

13 consist of the following members: 

14 (A) 1 member of the upper house of the 

15 State legislature, who shall be appointed by the 

16 leader of the party with the greatest number of 

17 seats in the upper house. 

18 (B) 1 member of the upper house of the 

19 State legislature, who shall be appointed by the 

20 leader of the party with the second greatest 

21 number of seats in the upper house. 

22 (C) 1 member of the lower house of the 

23 State legislature, who shall be appointed by the 

24 leader of the party with the greatest number of 

25 seats in the lower house. 


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1 (D) 1 member of the lower house of the 

2 State legislature, who shall be appointed by the 

3 leader of the party with the second greatest 

4 number of seats in the lower house. 

5 (3) SPECIAL RULE FOR STATES WITH UNICAM6 ERAL LEGISLATURE.—In the case of a State with a 

7 unicameral legislature, the Select Committee on Re8 districting for the State under this subsection shall 

9 consist of the following members: 

10 (A) 2 members of the State legislature ap11 pointed by the leader of the party with the 

12 greatest number of seats in the legislature. 

13 (B) 2 members of the State legislature ap14 pointed by the leader of the party with the sec15 ond greatest number of seats in legislature. 

16 (4) DEADLINE.—The State shall meet the re17 quirements of this subsection not later than each 

18 January 15 of a year ending in the numeral zero. 

19 Subtitle C—Administrative and 

20 Miscellaneous Provisions 

21 SEC. 2301. PAYMENTS TO STATES FOR CARRYING OUT RE22 DISTRICTING. 

23 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF PAYMENTS.—Subject to sub24 section (d), not later than 30 days after a State receives 

25 a State apportionment notice, the Election Assistance 


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1 Commission shall make a payment to the State in an 

2 amount equal to the product of— 

3 (1) the number of Representatives to which the 

4 State is entitled, as provided under the notice; and 

5 (2) $150,000. 

6 (b) USE OF FUNDS.—A State shall use the payment 

7 made under this section to establish and operate the 

8 State’s independent redistricting commission, to imple9 ment the State redistricting plan, and to otherwise carry 

10 out congressional redistricting in the State. 

11 (c) NO PAYMENT TO STATES WITH SINGLE MEM12 BER.—The Election Assistance Commission shall not 

13 make a payment under this section to any State which 

14 is not entitled to more than one Representative under its 

15 State apportionment notice. 

16 (d) REQUIRING SUBMISSION OF SELECTION POOL AS

17 CONDITION OF PAYMENT.—The Election Assistance Com18 mission may not make a payment to a State under this 

19 section until the State certifies to the Commission that 

20 the nonpartisan agency established or designated by a 

21 State under section 2204(a) has, in accordance with sec22 tion 2202(b)(1), submitted a selection pool to the Select 

23 Committee on Redistricting for the State established 

24 under section 2204(b). 


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1 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

2 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 

3 necessary for payments under this section. 

4 SEC. 2302. STATE APPORTIONMENT NOTICE DEFINED. 

5 In this subtitle, the ‘‘State apportionment notice’’ 

6 means, with respect to a State, the notice sent to the State 

7 from the Clerk of the House of Representatives under sec8 tion 22(b) of the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to provide for the 

9 fifteenth and subsequent decennial censuses and to pro10 vide for an apportionment of Representatives in Con11 gress’’, approved June 18, 1929 (2 U.S.C. 2a), of the 

12 number of Representatives to which the State is entitled. 

13 SEC. 2303. NO EFFECT ON ELECTIONS FOR STATE AND 

14 LOCAL OFFICE. 

15 Nothing in this title or in any amendment made by 

16 this title may be construed to affect the manner in which 

17 a State carries out elections for State or local office, in18 cluding the process by which a State establishes the dis19 tricts used in such elections. 

20 SEC. 2304. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

21 This title and the amendments made by this title 

22 shall apply with respect to redistricting carried out pursu23 ant to the decennial census conducted during 2020 or any 

24 succeeding decennial census. 


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1 Subtitle D—Severability 

2 SEC. 2401. SEVERABILITY. 

3 If any provision of this title or amendment made by 

4 this title, or the application of a provision or amendment 

5 to any person or circumstance, is held to be unconstitu6 tional, the remainder of this title and amendments made 

7 by this title, and the application of the provisions and 

8 amendment to any person or circumstance, shall not be 

9 affected by the holding. 

10 TITLE III—ELECTION SECURITY 

Sec. 3000. Short title; sense of Congress. 

Subtitle A—Financial Support for Election Infrastructure 

PART 1—GRANTS FOR RISK-LIMITING AUDITS OF RESULTS OF ELECTIONS

Sec. 3001. Grants to States for conducting risk-limiting audits of results of 

elections. 

Sec. 3002. GAO analysis of effects of audits. 

PART 2—ELECTION INFRASTRUCTURE INNOVATION GRANT PROGRAM

Sec. 3011. Election infrastructure innovation grant program. 

Subtitle B—Security Measures 

Sec. 3101. Election infrastructure designation. 

Sec. 3102. Timely threat information. 

Sec. 3103. Security clearance assistance for election officials. 

Sec. 3104. Security risk and vulnerability assessments. 

Sec. 3105. Annual reports. 

Subtitle C—Enhancing Protections for United States Democratic Institutions 

Sec. 3201. National strategy to protect United States democratic institutions. 

Sec. 3202. National Commission to Protect United States Democratic Institutions. 

Subtitle D—Promoting Cybersecurity Through Improvements in Election 

Administration 

Sec. 3301. Testing of existing voting systems to ensure compliance with election 

cybersecurity guidelines and other guidelines. 

Sec. 3302. Treatment of electronic poll books as part of voting systems. 

Sec. 3303. Pre-election reports on voting system usage. 


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Sec. 3304. Streamlining collection of election information. 

Subtitle E—Preventing Election Hacking 

Sec. 3401. Short title. 

Sec. 3402. Election Security Bug Bounty Program. 

Sec. 3403. Definitions. 

Subtitle F—Miscellaneous Provisions 

Sec. 3501. Definitions. 

Sec. 3502. Initial report on adequacy of resources available for implementation. 

Subtitle G—Severability 

Sec. 3601. Severability. 

1 SEC. 3000. SHORT TITLE; SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

2 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This title may be cited as the 

3 ‘‘Election Security Act’’. 

4 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS ON NEED TO IMPROVE

5 ELECTION INFRASTRUCTURE SECURITY.—It is the sense 

6 of Congress that, in light of the lessons learned from Rus7 sian interference in the 2016 Presidential election, the 

8 Federal Government should intensify its efforts to improve 

9 the security of election infrastructure in the United States, 

10 including through the use of individual, durable, paper 

11 ballots marked by the voter by hand. 


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1 Subtitle A—Financial Support for 

2 Election Infrastructure 

3 PART 1—GRANTS FOR RISK-LIMITING AUDITS OF 

4 RESULTS OF ELECTIONS 

5 SEC. 3001. GRANTS TO STATES FOR CONDUCTING RISK-LIM6 ITING AUDITS OF RESULTS OF ELECTIONS. 

7 (a) AVAILABILITY OF GRANTS.—Subtitle D of title 

8 II of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 

9 21001 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the fol10 lowing new part: 

11 ‘‘PART 7—GRANTS FOR CONDUCTING RISK12 LIMITING AUDITS OF RESULTS OF ELECTIONS 

13 ‘‘SEC. 297. GRANTS FOR CONDUCTING RISK-LIMITING AU14 DITS OF RESULTS OF ELECTIONS. 

15 ‘‘(a) AVAILABILITY OF GRANTS.—The Commission 

16 shall make a grant to each eligible State to conduct risk17 limiting audits as described in subsection (b) with respect 

18 to the regularly scheduled general elections for Federal of19 fice held in November 2020 and each succeeding election 

20 for Federal office. 

21 ‘‘(b) RISK-LIMITING AUDITS DESCRIBED.—In this 

22 part, a ‘risk-limiting audit’ is a post-election process— 

23 ‘‘(1) which is conducted in accordance with 

24 rules and procedures established by the chief State 


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1 election official of the State which meet the require2 ments of subsection (c); and 

3 ‘‘(2) under which, if the reported outcome of 

4 the election is incorrect, there is at least a predeter5 mined percentage chance that the audit will replace 

6 the incorrect outcome with the correct outcome as 

7 determined by a full, hand-to-eye tabulation of all 

8 votes validly cast in that election that ascertains 

9 voter intent manually and directly from voter10 verifiable paper records. 

11 ‘‘(c) REQUIREMENTS FOR RULES AND PROCE12 DURES.—The rules and procedures established for con13 ducting a risk-limiting audit shall include the following 

14 elements: 

15 ‘‘(1) Rules for ensuring the security of ballots 

16 and documenting that prescribed procedures were 

17 followed. 

18 ‘‘(2) Rules and procedures for ensuring the ac19 curacy of ballot manifests produced by election agen20 cies. 

21 ‘‘(3) Rules and procedures for governing the 

22 format of ballot manifests, cast vote records, and 

23 other data involved in the audit. 

24 ‘‘(4) Methods to ensure that any cast vote 

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1 ing system to tally the election results sent to the 

2 chief State election official and made public. 

3 ‘‘(5) Procedures for the random selection of 

4 ballots to be inspected manually during each audit. 

5 ‘‘(6) Rules for the calculations and other meth6 ods to be used in the audit and to determine wheth7 er and when the audit of an election is complete. 

8 ‘‘(7) Procedures and requirements for testing 

9 any software used to conduct risk-limiting audits. 

10 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this part, the following defi11 nitions apply: 

12 ‘‘(1) The term ‘ballot manifest’ means a record 

13 maintained by each election agency that meets each 

14 of the following requirements: 

15 ‘‘(A) The record is created without reliance 

16 on any part of the voting system used to tab17 ulate votes. 

18 ‘‘(B) The record functions as a sampling 

19 frame for conducting a risk-limiting audit. 

20 ‘‘(C) The record contains the following in21 formation with respect to the ballots cast and 

22 counted in the election: 

23 ‘‘(i) The total number of ballots cast 

24 and counted by the agency (including 


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1 undervotes, overvotes, and other invalid 

2 votes). 

3 ‘‘(ii) The total number of ballots cast 

4 in each election administered by the agency 

5 (including undervotes, overvotes, and other 

6 invalid votes). 

7 ‘‘(iii) A precise description of the 

8 manner in which the ballots are physically 

9 stored, including the total number of phys10 ical groups of ballots, the numbering sys11 tem for each group, a unique label for each 

12 group, and the number of ballots in each 

13 such group. 

14 ‘‘(2) The term ‘incorrect outcome’ means an 

15 outcome that differs from the outcome that would be 

16 determined by a full tabulation of all votes validly 

17 cast in the election, determining voter intent manu18 ally, directly from voter-verifiable paper records. 

19 ‘‘(3) The term ‘outcome’ means the winner of 

20 an election, whether a candidate or a position. 

21 ‘‘(4) The term ‘reported outcome’ means the 

22 outcome of an election which is determined accord23 ing to the canvass and which will become the official, 

24 certified outcome unless it is revised by an audit, re25 count, or other legal process. 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 297A. ELIGIBILITY OF STATES. 

2 ‘‘A State is eligible to receive a grant under this part 

3 if the State submits to the Commission, at such time and 

4 in such form as the Commission may require, an applica5 tion containing— 

6 ‘‘(1) a certification that, not later than 5 years 

7 after receiving the grant, the State will conduct risk8 limiting audits of the results of elections for Federal 

9 office held in the State as described in section 297; 

10 ‘‘(2) a certification that, not later than one year 

11 after the date of the enactment of this section, the 

12 chief State election official of the State has estab13 lished or will establish the rules and procedures for 

14 conducting the audits which meet the requirements 

15 of section 297(c); 

16 ‘‘(3) a certification that the audit shall be com17 pleted not later than the date on which the State 

18 certifies the results of the election; 

19 ‘‘(4) a certification that, after completing the 

20 audit, the State shall publish a report on the results 

21 of the audit, together with such information as nec22 essary to confirm that the audit was conducted prop23 erly; 

24 ‘‘(5) a certification that, if a risk-limiting audit 

25 conducted under this part leads to a full manual 

26 tally of an election, State law requires that the State 


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1 or election agency shall use the results of the full 

2 manual tally as the official results of the election; 

3 and 

4 ‘‘(6) such other information and assurances as 

5 the Commission may require. 

6 ‘‘SEC. 297B. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

7 ‘‘There are authorized to be appropriated for grants 

8 under this part $20,000,000 for fiscal year 2019, to re9 main available until expended.’’. 

10 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

11 of such Act is amended by adding at the end of the items 

12 relating to subtitle D of title II the following: 

‘‘PART 7—GRANTS FOR CONDUCTING RISK-LIMITING AUDITS OF RESULTS

OF ELECTIONS

‘‘Sec. 297. Grants for conducting risk-limiting audits of results of elections. 

‘‘Sec. 297A. Eligibility of States. 

‘‘Sec. 297B. Authorization of appropriations. 

13 SEC. 3002. GAO ANALYSIS OF EFFECTS OF AUDITS. 

14 (a) ANALYSIS.—Not later than 6 months after the 

15 first election for Federal office is held after grants are 

16 first awarded to States for conducting risk-limiting audits 

17 under part 7 of subtitle D of title II of the Help America 

18 Vote Act of 2002 (as added by section 3001) for con19 ducting risk-limiting audits of elections for Federal office, 

20 the Comptroller General of the United States shall con21 duct an analysis of the extent to which such audits have 

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1 curity of election infrastructure in the States receiving 

2 such grants. 

3 (b) REPORT.—The Comptroller General of the 

4 United States shall submit a report on the analysis con5 ducted under subsection (a) to the appropriate congres6 sional committees. 

7 PART 2—ELECTION INFRASTRUCTURE 

8 INNOVATION GRANT PROGRAM 

9 SEC. 3011. ELECTION INFRASTRUCTURE INNOVATION 

10 GRANT PROGRAM. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title III of the Homeland Secu12 rity Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 181 et seq.) is amended— 

13 (1) by redesignating the second section 319 (re14 lating to EMP and GMD mitigation research and 

15 development) as section 320; and 

16 (2) by adding at the end the following new sec17 tion: 

18 ‘‘SEC. 321. ELECTION INFRASTRUCTURE INNOVATION 

19 GRANT PROGRAM. 

20 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary, acting 

21 through the Under Secretary for Science and Technology, 

22 in coordination with the Chairman of the Election Assist23 ance Commission (established pursuant to the Help Amer24 ica Vote Act of 2002) and in consultation with the Direc25 tor of the National Science Foundation, shall establish a 


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1 competitive grant program to award grants to eligible enti2 ties, on a competitive basis, for purposes of research and 

3 development that are determined to have the potential to 

4 significantly to improve the security (including cybersecu5 rity), quality, reliability, accuracy, accessibility, and af6 fordability of election infrastructure. 

7 ‘‘(b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 90 days 

8 after the conclusion of each fiscal year for which grants 

9 are awarded under this section, the Secretary shall submit 

10 to the Committee on Homeland Security and the Com11 mittee on House Administration of the House of Rep12 resentatives and the Committee on Homeland Security 

13 and Governmental Affairs and the Committee on Rules 

14 and Administration of the Senate a report describing such 

15 grants and analyzing the impact, if any, of such grants 

16 on the security and operation of election infrastructure. 

17 ‘‘(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

18 is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary 

19 $6,250,000 for each of fiscal years 2019 through 2027 

20 for purposes of carrying out this section. 

21 ‘‘(d) ELIGIBLE ENTITY DEFINED.—In this section, 

22 the term ‘eligible entity’ means— 

23 ‘‘(1) an institution of higher education (as de24 fined in section 101(a) of the Higher Education Act 

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1 tion of higher education that is a historically Black 

2 college or university (which has the meaning given 

3 the term ‘part B institution’ in section 322 of such 

4 Act (20 U.S.C. 1061)) or other minority-serving in5 stitution listed in section 371(a) of such Act (20 

6 U.S.C. 1067q(a)); 

7 ‘‘(2) an organization described in section 

8 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and 

9 exempt from tax under section 501(a) of such Code; 

10 or 

11 ‘‘(3) an organization, association, or a for-profit 

12 company, including a small business concern (as 

13 such term is defined under section 3 of the Small 

14 Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632)), including a small 

15 business concern owned and controlled by socially 

16 and economically disadvantaged individuals as de17 fined under section 8(d)(3)(C) of the Small Business 

18 Act (15 U.S.C. 637(d)(3)(C)).’’. 

19 (b) DEFINITION.—Section 2 of the Homeland Secu20 rity Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 101) is amended— 

21 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (6) through 

22 (20) as paragraphs (7) through (21), respectively; 

23 and 

24 (2) by inserting after paragraph (5) the fol25 lowing new paragraph: 


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1 ‘‘(6) ELECTION INFRASTRUCTURE.—The term 

2 ‘election infrastructure’ means storage facilities, 

3 polling places, and centralized vote tabulation loca4 tions used to support the administration of elections 

5 for public office, as well as related information and 

6 communications technology, including voter registra7 tion databases, voting machines, electronic mail and 

8 other communications systems (including electronic 

9 mail and other systems of vendors who have entered 

10 into contracts with election agencies to support the 

11 administration of elections, manage the election 

12 process, and report and display election results), and 

13 other systems used to manage the election process 

14 and to report and display election results on behalf 

15 of an election agency.’’. 

16 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

17 in section 1(b) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 is 

18 amended by striking both items relating to section 319 

19 and the item relating to section 318 and inserting the fol20 lowing new items: 

‘‘Sec. 318. Social media working group. 

‘‘Sec. 319. Transparency in research and development. 

‘‘Sec. 320. EMP and GMD mitigation research and development. 

‘‘Sec. 321. Election infrastructure innovation grant program.’’. 


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1 Subtitle B—Security Measures 

2 SEC. 3101. ELECTION INFRASTRUCTURE DESIGNATION. 

3 Subparagraph (J) of section 2001(3) of the Home4 land Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 601(3)) is amended 

5 by inserting ‘‘, including election infrastructure’’ before 

6 the period at the end. 

7 SEC. 3102. TIMELY THREAT INFORMATION. 

8 Subsection (d) of section 201 of the Homeland Secu9 rity Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 121) is amended by adding 

10 at the end the following new paragraph: 

11 ‘‘(24) To provide timely threat information re12 garding election infrastructure to the chief State 

13 election official of the State with respect to which 

14 such information pertains.’’. 

15 SEC. 3103. SECURITY CLEARANCE ASSISTANCE FOR ELEC16 TION OFFICIALS. 

17 In order to promote the timely sharing of information 

18 on threats to election infrastructure, the Secretary may— 

19 (1) help expedite a security clearance for the 

20 chief State election official and other appropriate 

21 State personnel involved in the administration of 

22 elections, as designated by the chief State election 

23 official; 

24 (2) sponsor a security clearance for the chief 

25 State election official and other appropriate State 


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1 personnel involved in the administration of elections, 

2 as designated by the chief State election official; and 

3 (3) facilitate the issuance of a temporary clear4 ance to the chief State election official and other ap5 propriate State personnel involved in the administra6 tion of elections, as designated by the chief State 

7 election official, if the Secretary determines classi8 fied information to be timely and relevant to the 

9 election infrastructure of the State at issue. 

10 SEC. 3104. SECURITY RISK AND VULNERABILITY ASSESS11 MENTS. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (6) of section 2209(c) 

13 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 659(c)) 

14 is amended by inserting ‘‘(including by carrying out a se15 curity risk and vulnerability assessment)’’ after ‘‘risk 

16 management support’’. 

17 (b) PRIORITIZATION TO ENHANCE ELECTION SECU18 RITY.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 

20 receiving a written request from a chief State elec21 tion official, the Secretary shall, to the extent prac22 ticable, commence a security risk and vulnerability 

23 assessment (pursuant to paragraph (6) of section 

24 2209(c) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, as 


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1 amended by subsection (a)) on election infrastruc2 ture in the State at issue. 

3 (2) NOTIFICATION.—If the Secretary, upon re4 ceipt of a request described in paragraph (1), deter5 mines that a security risk and vulnerability assess6 ment cannot be commenced within 90 days, the Sec7 retary shall expeditiously notify the chief State elec8 tion official who submitted such request. 

9 SEC. 3105. ANNUAL REPORTS. 

10 (a) REPORTS ON ASSISTANCE AND ASSESSMENTS.— 

11 Not later than one year after the date of the enactment 

12 of this Act and annually thereafter through 2026, the Sec13 retary shall submit to the appropriate congressional com14 mittees— 

15 (1) efforts to carry out section 203 during the 

16 prior year, including specific information on which 

17 States were helped, how many officials have been 

18 helped in each State, how many security clearances 

19 have been sponsored in each State, and how many 

20 temporary clearances have been issued in each State; 

21 and 

22 (2) efforts to carry out section 205 during the 

23 prior year, including specific information on which 

24 States were helped, the dates on which the Secretary 

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1 ability assessment pursuant to such section, the 

2 dates on which the Secretary commenced each such 

3 request, and the dates on which the Secretary trans4 mitted a notification in accordance with subsection 

5 (b)(2) of such section. 

6 (b) REPORTS ON FOREIGN THREATS.—Not later 

7 than 90 days after the end of each fiscal year (beginning 

8 with fiscal year 2019), the Secretary and the Director of 

9 National Intelligence, in coordination with the heads of 

10 appropriate offices of the Federal Government, shall sub11 mit a joint report to the appropriate congressional com12 mittees on foreign threats to elections in the United 

13 States, including physical and cybersecurity threats. 

14 (c) INFORMATION FROM STATES.—For purposes of 

15 preparing the reports required under this section, the Sec16 retary shall solicit and consider information and comments 

17 from States and election agencies, except that the provi18 sion of such information and comments by a State or elec19 tion agency shall be voluntary and at the discretion of the 

20 State or agency. 


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1 Subtitle C—Enhancing Protections 

2 for United States Democratic In3 stitutions 

4 SEC. 3201. NATIONAL STRATEGY TO PROTECT UNITED 

5 STATES DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTIONS. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year after the 

7 date of the enactment of this Act, the President, acting 

8 through the Secretary, in consultation with the Chairman, 

9 the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of State, the At10 torney General, the Secretary of Education, the Director 

11 of National Intelligence, the Chairman of the Federal 

12 Election Commission, and the heads of any other appro13 priate Federal agencies, shall issue a national strategy to 

14 protect against cyber attacks, influence operations, 

15 disinformation campaigns, and other activities that could 

16 undermine the security and integrity of United States 

17 democratic institutions. 

18 (b) CONSIDERATIONS.—The national strategy re19 quired under subsection (a) shall include consideration of 

20 the following: 

21 (1) The threat of a foreign state actor, foreign 

22 terrorist organization (as designated pursuant to 

23 section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act 

24 (8 U.S.C. 1189)), or a domestic actor carrying out 

25 a cyber attack, influence operation, disinformation 


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1 campaign, or other activity aimed at undermining 

2 the security and integrity of United States demo3 cratic institutions. 

4 (2) The extent to which United States demo5 cratic institutions are vulnerable to a cyber attack, 

6 influence operation, disinformation campaign, or 

7 other activity aimed at undermining the security and 

8 integrity of such democratic institutions. 

9 (3) Potential consequences, such as an erosion 

10 of public trust or an undermining of the rule of law, 

11 that could result from a successful cyber attack, in12 fluence operation, disinformation campaign, or other 

13 activity aimed at undermining the security and in14 tegrity of United States democratic institutions. 

15 (4) Lessons learned from other Western govern16 ments the institutions of which were subject to a 

17 cyber attack, influence operation, disinformation 

18 campaign, or other activity aimed at undermining 

19 the security and integrity of such institutions, as 

20 well as actions that could be taken by the United 

21 States Government to bolster collaboration with for22 eign partners to detect, deter, prevent, and counter 

23 such activities. 

24 (5) Potential impacts such as an erosion of 

25 public trust in democratic institutions as could be 


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1 associated with a successful cyber breach or other 

2 activity negatively affecting election infrastructure. 

3 (6) Roles and responsibilities of the Secretary, 

4 the Chairman, and the heads of other Federal enti5 ties and non-Federal entities, including chief State 

6 election officials and representatives of multistate in7 formation sharing and analysis center. 

8 (7) Any findings, conclusions, and recommenda9 tions to strengthen protections for United States 

10 democratic institutions that have been agreed to by 

11 a majority of Commission members on the National 

12 Commission to Protect United States Democratic 

13 Institutions, authorized pursuant to section 3202. 

14 (c) IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.—Not later than 90 

15 days after the issuance of the national strategy required 

16 under subsection (a), the President, acting through the 

17 Secretary, in coordination with the Chairman, shall issue 

18 an implementation plan for Federal efforts to implement 

19 such strategy that includes the following: 

20 (1) Strategic objectives and corresponding 

21 tasks. 

22 (2) Projected timelines and costs for the tasks 

23 referred to in paragraph (1). 

24 (3) Metrics to evaluate performance of such 

25 tasks. 


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1 (d) CLASSIFICATION.—The national strategy re2 quired under subsection (a) shall be in unclassified form 

3 but may contain a classified annex. 

4 SEC. 3202. NATIONAL COMMISSION TO PROTECT UNITED 

5 STATES DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTIONS. 

6 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established within 

7 the legislative branch the National Commission to Protect 

8 United States Democratic Institutions (hereafter in this 

9 section referred to as the ‘‘Commission’’). 

10 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the Commission is to 

11 counter efforts to undermine democratic institutions with12 in the United States. 

13 (c) COMPOSITION.— 

14 (1) MEMBERSHIP.—The Commission shall be 

15 composed of 10 members appointed for the life of 

16 the Commission as follows: 

17 (A) One member shall be appointed by the 

18 Secretary. 

19 (B) One member shall be appointed by the 

20 Chairman. 

21 (C) 2 members shall be appointed by the 

22 majority leader of the Senate, in consultation 

23 with the Chairman of the Committee on Home24 land Security and Governmental Affairs, the 

25 Chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary, 


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1 and the Chairman of the Committee on Rules 

2 and Administration. 

3 (D) 2 members shall be appointed by the 

4 minority leader of the Senate, in consultation 

5 with the ranking minority member of the Com6 mittee on Homeland Security and Govern7 mental Affairs, the ranking minority member of 

8 the Committee on the Judiciary, and the rank9 ing minority member of the Committee on 

10 Rules and Administration. 

11 (E) 2 members shall be appointed by the 

12 Speaker of the House of Representatives, in 

13 consultation with the Chairman of the Com14 mittee on Homeland Security, the Chairman of 

15 the Committee on House Administration, and 

16 the Chairman of the Committee on the Judici17 ary. 

18 (F) 2 members shall be appointed by the 

19 minority leader of the House of Representa20 tives, in consultation with the ranking minority 

21 member of the Committee on Homeland Secu22 rity, the ranking minority member of the Com23 mittee on the Judiciary, and the ranking minor24 ity member of the Committee on House Admin25 istration. 


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1 (2) QUALIFICATIONS.—Individuals shall be se2 lected for appointment to the Commission solely on 

3 the basis of their professional qualifications, achieve4 ments, public stature, experience, and expertise in 

5 relevant fields, including, but not limited to cyberse6 curity, national security, and the Constitution of the 

7 United States. 

8 (3) NO COMPENSATION FOR SERVICE.—Mem9 bers shall not receive compensation for service on 

10 the Commission, but shall receive travel expenses, 

11 including per diem in lieu of subsistence, in accord12 ance with chapter 57 of title 5, United States Code. 

13 (4) DEADLINE FOR APPOINTMENT.—All mem14 bers of the Commission shall be appointed no later 

15 than 60 days after the date of the enactment of this 

16 Act. 

17 (5) VACANCIES.—A vacancy on the Commission 

18 shall not affect its powers and shall be filled in the 

19 manner in which the original appointment was 

20 made. The appointment of the replacement member 

21 shall be made not later than 60 days after the date 

22 on which the vacancy occurs. 

23 (d) CHAIR AND VICE CHAIR.—The Commission shall 

24 elect a Chair and Vice Chair from among its members. 

25 (e) QUORUM AND MEETINGS.— 


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1 (1) QUORUM.—The Commission shall meet and 

2 begin the operations of the Commission not later 

3 than 30 days after the date on which all members 

4 have been appointed or, if such meeting cannot be 

5 mutually agreed upon, on a date designated by the 

6 Speaker of the House of Representatives and the 

7 President pro tempore of the Senate. Each subse8 quent meeting shall occur upon the call of the Chair 

9 or a majority of its members. A majority of the 

10 members of the Commission shall constitute a 

11 quorum, but a lesser number may hold meetings. 

12 (2) AUTHORITY OF INDIVIDUALS TO ACT FOR

13 COMMISSION.—Any member of the Commission may, 

14 if authorized by the Commission, take any action 

15 that the Commission is authorized to take under this 

16 section. 

17 (f) POWERS.— 

18 (1) HEARINGS AND EVIDENCE.—The Commis19 sion (or, on the authority of the Commission, any 

20 subcommittee or member thereof) may, for the pur21 pose of carrying out this section, hold hearings and 

22 sit and act at such times and places, take such testi23 mony, receive such evidence, and administer such 

24 oaths as the Commission considers advisable to 

25 carry out its duties. 


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1 (2) CONTRACTING.—The Commission may, to 

2 such extent and in such amounts as are provided in 

3 appropriation Acts, enter into contracts to enable 

4 the Commission to discharge its duties under this 

5 section. 

6 (g) ASSISTANCE FROM FEDERAL AGENCIES.— 

7 (1) GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION.— 

8 The Administrator of General Services shall provide 

9 to the Commission on a reimbursable basis adminis10 trative support and other services for the perform11 ance of the Commission’s functions. 

12 (2) OTHER DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES.—In 

13 addition to the assistance provided under paragraph 

14 (1), the Department of Homeland Security, the 

15 Election Assistance Commission, and other appro16 priate departments and agencies of the United 

17 States shall provide to the Commission such serv18 ices, funds, facilities, and staff as they may deter19 mine advisable and as may be authorized by law. 

20 (h) PUBLIC MEETINGS.—Any public meetings of the 

21 Commission shall be conducted in a manner consistent 

22 with the protection of information provided to or developed 

23 for or by the Commission as required by any applicable 

24 statute, regulation, or Executive order. 

25 (i) SECURITY CLEARANCES.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The heads of appropriate 

2 departments and agencies of the executive branch 

3 shall cooperate with the Commission to expeditiously 

4 provide Commission members and staff with appro5 priate security clearances to the extent possible 

6 under applicable procedures and requirements. 

7 (2) PREFERENCES.—In appointing staff, ob8 taining detailees, and entering into contracts for the 

9 provision of services for the Commission, the Com10 mission shall give preference to individuals otherwise 

11 who have active security clearances. 

12 (j) REPORTS.— 

13 (1) INTERIM REPORTS.—At any time prior to 

14 the submission of the final report under paragraph 

15 (2), the Commission may submit interim reports to 

16 the President and Congress such findings, conclu17 sions, and recommendations to strengthen protec18 tions for democratic institutions in the United 

19 States as have been agreed to by a majority of the 

20 members of the Commission. 

21 (2) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than 18 months 

22 after the date of the first meeting of the Commis23 sion, the Commission shall submit to the President 

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1 en protections for democratic institutions in the 

2 United States as have been agreed to by a majority 

3 of the members of the Commission. 

4 (k) TERMINATION.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall termi6 nate upon the expiration of the 60-day period which 

7 begins on the date on which the Commission submits 

8 the final report required under subsection (j)(2). 

9 (2) ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIVITIES PRIOR TO

10 TERMINATION.—During the 60-day period described 

11 in paragraph (2), the Commission may carry out 

12 such administrative activities as may be required to 

13 conclude its work, including providing testimony to 

14 committees of Congress concerning the final report 

15 and disseminating the final report. 

16 (l) NONAPPLICABILITY OF FEDERAL ADVISORY COM17 MITTEE ACT.—The Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 

18 U.S.C. App.) shall not apply to the Commission. 


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1 Subtitle D—Promoting Cybersecu2 rity Through Improvements in 

3 Election Administration 

4 SEC. 3301. TESTING OF EXISTING VOTING SYSTEMS TO EN5 SURE COMPLIANCE WITH ELECTION CYBER6 SECURITY GUIDELINES AND OTHER GUIDE7 LINES. 

8 (a) REQUIRING TESTING OF EXISTING VOTING SYS9 TEMS.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 231(a) of the Help 

11 America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 20971(a)) is 

12 amended by adding at the end the following new 

13 paragraph: 

14 ‘‘(3) TESTING TO ENSURE COMPLIANCE WITH

15 GUIDELINES.— 

16 ‘‘(A) TESTING.—Not later than 9 months 

17 before the date of each regularly scheduled gen18 eral election for Federal office, the Commission 

19 shall provide for the testing by accredited lab20 oratories under this section of the voting system 

21 hardware and software which was certified for 

22 use in the most recent such election, on the 

23 basis of the most recent voting system guide24 lines applicable to such hardware or software 


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1 (including election cybersecurity guidelines) 

2 issued under this Act. 

3 ‘‘(B) DECERTIFICATION OF HARDWARE OR

4 SOFTWARE FAILING TO MEET GUIDELINES.—If, 

5 on the basis of the testing described in subpara6 graph (A), the Commission determines that any 

7 voting system hardware or software does not 

8 meet the most recent guidelines applicable to 

9 such hardware or software issued under this 

10 Act, the Commission shall decertify such hard11 ware or software.’’. 

12 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made 

13 by paragraph (1) shall apply with respect to the reg14 ularly scheduled general election for Federal office 

15 held in November 2020 and each succeeding regu16 larly scheduled general election for Federal office. 

17 (b) ISSUANCE OF CYBERSECURITY GUIDELINES BY

18 TECHNICAL GUIDELINES DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE.— 

19 Section 221(b) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 

20 U.S.C. 20961(b)) is amended by adding at the end the 

21 following new paragraph: 

22 ‘‘(3) ELECTION CYBERSECURITY GUIDE23 LINES.—Not later than 6 months after the date of 

24 the enactment of this paragraph, the Development 

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1 lines, including standards and best practices for pro2 curing, maintaining, testing, operating, and updat3 ing election systems to prevent and deter cybersecu4 rity incidents.’’. 

5 SEC. 3302. TREATMENT OF ELECTRONIC POLL BOOKS AS 

6 PART OF VOTING SYSTEMS. 

7 (a) INCLUSION IN DEFINITION OF VOTING SYS8 TEM.—Section 301(b) of the Help America Vote Act of 

9 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081(b)) is amended— 

10 (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by 

11 striking ‘‘this section’’ and inserting ‘‘this Act’’; 

12 (2) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 

13 (1); 

14 (3) by redesignating paragraph (2) as para15 graph (3); and 

16 (4) by inserting after paragraph (1) the fol17 lowing new paragraph: 

18 ‘‘(2) any electronic poll book used with respect 

19 to the election; and’’. 

20 (b) DEFINITION.—Section 301 of such Act (52 

21 U.S.C. 21081) is amended— 

22 (1) by redesignating subsections (c) and (d) as 

23 subsections (d) and (e); and 

24 (2) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol25 lowing new subsection: 


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1 ‘‘(c) ELECTRONIC POLL BOOK DEFINED.—In this 

2 Act, the term ‘electronic poll book’ means the total com3 bination of mechanical, electromechanical, or electronic 

4 equipment (including the software, firmware, and docu5 mentation required to program, control, and support the 

6 equipment) that is used— 

7 ‘‘(1) to retain the list of registered voters at a 

8 polling location, or vote center, or other location at 

9 which voters cast votes in an election for Federal of10 fice; and 

11 ‘‘(2) to identify registered voters who are eligi12 ble to vote in an election.’’. 

13 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Section 301(e) of such Act 

14 (52 U.S.C. 21081(e)), as redesignated by subsection (b), 

15 is amended by striking the period at the end and inserting 

16 the following: ‘‘, or, with respect to any requirements re17 lating to electronic poll books, on and after January 1, 

18 2020.’’. 

19 SEC. 3303. PRE-ELECTION REPORTS ON VOTING SYSTEM 

20 USAGE. 

21 (a) REQUIRING STATES TO SUBMIT REPORTS.—Title 

22 III of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 

23 21081 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 301 

24 the following new section: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 301A. PRE-ELECTION REPORTS ON VOTING SYSTEM 

2 USAGE. 

3 ‘‘(a) REQUIRING STATES TO SUBMIT REPORTS.— 

4 Not later than 120 days before the date of each regularly 

5 scheduled general election for Federal office, the chief 

6 State election official of a State shall submit a report to 

7 the Commission containing a detailed voting system usage 

8 plan for each jurisdiction in the State which will admin9 ister the election, including a detailed plan for the usage 

10 of electronic poll books and other equipment and compo11 nents of such system. 

12 ‘‘(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Subsection (a) shall apply 

13 with respect to the regularly scheduled general election for 

14 Federal office held in November 2020 and each succeeding 

15 regularly scheduled general election for Federal office.’’. 

16 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

17 of such Act is amended by inserting after the item relating 

18 to section 301 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 301A. Pre-election reports on voting system usage.’’. 

19 SEC. 3304. STREAMLINING COLLECTION OF ELECTION IN20 FORMATION. 

21 Section 202 of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 

22 (52 U.S.C. 20922) is amended— 

23 (1) by striking ‘‘The Commission’’ and insert24 ing ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Commission’’; and 


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1 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub2 section: 

3 ‘‘(b) WAIVER OF CERTAIN REQUIREMENTS.—Sub4 chapter I of chapter 35 of title 44, United States Code, 

5 shall not apply to the collection of information for pur6 poses of maintaining the clearinghouse described in para7 graph (1) of subsection (a).’’. 

8 Subtitle E—Preventing Election 

9 Hacking 

10 SEC. 3401. SHORT TITLE. 

11 This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘Prevent Election 

12 Hacking Act of 2019’’. 

13 SEC. 3402. ELECTION SECURITY BUG BOUNTY PROGRAM. 

14 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 1 year after 

15 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall 

16 establish a program to be known as the ‘‘Election Security 

17 Bug Bounty Program’’ (hereafter in this subtitle referred 

18 to as the ‘‘Program’’) to improve the cybersecurity of the 

19 systems used to administer elections for Federal office by 

20 facilitating and encouraging assessments by independent 

21 technical experts, in cooperation with State and local elec22 tion officials and election service providers, to identify and 

23 report election cybersecurity vulnerabilities. 

24 (b) VOLUNTARY PARTICIPATION BY ELECTION OFFI25 CIALS AND ELECTION SERVICE PROVIDERS.— 


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1 (1) NO REQUIREMENT TO PARTICIPATE IN PRO2 GRAM.—Participation in the Program shall be en3 tirely voluntary for State and local election officials 

4 and election service providers. 

5 (2) ENCOURAGING PARTICIPATION AND INPUT

6 FROM ELECTION OFFICIALS.—In developing the Pro7 gram, the Secretary shall solicit input from, and en8 courage participation by, State and local election of9 ficials. 

10 (c) ACTIVITIES FUNDED.—In establishing and car11 rying out the Program, the Secretary shall— 

12 (1) establish a process for State and local elec13 tion officials and election service providers to volun14 tarily participate in the Program; 

15 (2) designate appropriate information systems 

16 to be included in the Program; 

17 (3) provide compensation to eligible individuals, 

18 organizations, and companies for reports of pre19 viously unidentified security vulnerabilities within 

20 the information systems designated under subpara21 graph (A) and establish criteria for individuals, or22 ganizations, and companies to be considered eligible 

23 for such compensation in compliance with Federal 

24 laws; 


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1 (4) consult with the Attorney General on how 

2 to ensure that approved individuals, organizations, 

3 or companies that comply with the requirements of 

4 the Program are protected from prosecution under 

5 section 1030 of title 18, United States Code, and 

6 similar provisions of law, and from liability under 

7 civil actions for specific activities authorized under 

8 the Program; 

9 (5) consult with the Secretary of Defense and 

10 the heads of other departments and agencies that 

11 have implemented programs to provide compensation 

12 for reports of previously undisclosed vulnerabilities 

13 in information systems, regarding lessons that may 

14 be applied from such programs; 

15 (6) develop an expeditious process by which an 

16 individual, organization, or company can register 

17 with the Department, submit to a background check 

18 as determined by the Department, and receive a de19 termination as to eligibility for participation in the 

20 Program; and 

21 (7) engage qualified interested persons, includ22 ing representatives of private entities, about the 

23 structure of the Program and, to the extent prac24 ticable, establish a recurring competition for inde25 pendent technical experts to assess election systems 


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1 for the purpose of identifying and reporting election 

2 cybersecurity vulnerabilities. 

3 (d) USE OF SERVICE PROVIDERS.—The Secretary 

4 may award competitive contracts as necessary to manage 

5 the Program. 

6 SEC. 3403. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this subtitle, the following definitions apply: 

8 (1) The terms ‘‘election’’ and ‘‘Federal office’’ 

9 have the meanings given such terms in section 301 

10 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 

11 U.S.C. 30101). 

12 (2) The term ‘‘election cybersecurity vulner13 ability’’ means any security vulnerability (as defined 

14 in section 102 of the Cybersecurity Information 

15 Sharing Act of 2015 (6 U.S.C. 1501)) that affects 

16 an election system. 

17 (3) The term ‘‘election service provider’’ means 

18 any person providing, supporting, or maintaining an 

19 election system on behalf of a State or local election 

20 official, such as a contractor or vendor. 

21 (4) The term ‘‘election system’’ means any in22 formation system (as defined in section 3502 of title 

23 44, United States Code) which is part of an election 

24 infrastructure. 


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1 (5) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary 

2 of Homeland Security, or, upon designation by the 

3 Secretary of Homeland Security, the Deputy Sec4 retary of Homeland Security, the Director of Cyber5 security and Infrastructure Security of the Depart6 ment of Homeland Security, or a Senate-confirmed 

7 official that reports to the Director. 

8 (6) The term ‘‘State’’ means each of the several 

9 States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth 

10 of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the Com11 monwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and 

12 the United States Virgin Islands. 

13 (7) The term ‘‘voting system’’ has the meaning 

14 given such term in section 301(b) of the Help Amer15 ica Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081(b)). 

16 Subtitle F—Miscellaneous 

17 Provisions 

18 SEC. 3501. DEFINITIONS. 

19 Except as provided in section 3403, in this title, the 

20 following definitions apply: 

21 (1) The term ‘‘Chairman’’ means the chair of 

22 the Election Assistance Commission. 

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1 resentatives and the Committees on Homeland Secu2 rity and Governmental Affairs and Rules and Ad3 ministration of the Senate. 

4 (3) The term ‘‘chief State election official’’ 

5 means, with respect to a State, the individual des6 ignated by the State under section 10 of the Na7 tional Voter Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 

8 20509) to be responsible for coordination of the 

9 State’s responsibilities under such Act. 

10 (4) The term ‘‘Commission’’ means the Election 

11 Assistance Commission. 

12 (5) The term ‘‘democratic institutions’’ means 

13 the diverse range of institutions that are essential to 

14 ensuring an independent judiciary, free and fair elec15 tions, and rule of law. 

16 (6) The term ‘‘election agency’’ means any com17 ponent of a State, or any component of a unit of 

18 local government in a State, which is responsible for 

19 the administration of elections for Federal office in 

20 the State. 

21 (7) The term ‘‘election infrastructure’’ means 

22 storage facilities, polling places, and centralized vote 

23 tabulation locations used to support the administra24 tion of elections for public office, as well as related 

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1 ing voter registration databases, voting machines, 

2 electronic mail and other communications systems 

3 (including electronic mail and other systems of ven4 dors who have entered into contracts with election 

5 agencies to support the administration of elections, 

6 manage the election process, and report and display 

7 election results), and other systems used to manage 

8 the election process and to report and display elec9 tion results on behalf of an election agency. 

10 (8) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary 

11 of Homeland Security. 

12 (9) The term ‘‘State’’ has the meaning given 

13 such term in section 901 of the Help America Vote 

14 Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21141). 

15 SEC. 3502. INITIAL REPORT ON ADEQUACY OF RESOURCES 

16 AVAILABLE FOR IMPLEMENTATION. 

17 Not later than 120 days after enactment of this Act, 

18 the Chairman and the Secretary shall submit a report to 

19 the appropriate committees of Congress, including the 

20 Committees on Homeland Security and House Adminis21 tration of the House of Representatives and the Com22 mittee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

23 of the Senate, analyzing the adequacy of the funding, re24 sources, and personnel available to carry out this title and 

25 the amendments made by this title. 


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1 Subtitle G—Severability 

2 SEC. 3601. SEVERABILITY. 

3 If any provision of this title or amendment made by 

4 this title, or the application of a provision or amendment 

5 to any person or circumstance, is held to be unconstitu6 tional, the remainder of this title and amendments made 

7 by this title, and the application of the provisions and 

8 amendment to any person or circumstance, shall not be 

9 affected by the holding. 

10 DIVISION B—CAMPAIGN 

11 FINANCE 

12 TITLE IV—CAMPAIGN FINANCE 

13 TRANSPARENCY 

Subtitle A—Findings Relating to Illicit Money Undermining Our Democracy 

Sec. 4001. Findings relating to illicit money undermining our democracy. 

Subtitle B—DISCLOSE Act 

Sec. 4100. Short title. 

PART 1—REGULATION OF CERTAIN POLITICAL SPENDING

Sec. 4101. Application of ban on contributions and expenditures by foreign nationals to domestic corporations, limited liability corporations, 

and partnerships that are foreign-controlled, foreign-influenced, 

and foreign-owned. 

Sec. 4102. Clarification of application of foreign money ban to certain disbursements and activities. 

PART 2—REPORTING OF CAMPAIGN-RELATED DISBURSEMENTS

Sec. 4111. Reporting of campaign-related disbursements. 

Sec. 4112. Application of foreign money ban to disbursements for campaign-related disbursements consisting of covered transfers. 

Sec. 4113. Effective date. 

PART 3—OTHER ADMINISTRATIVE REFORMS

Sec. 4121. Petition for certiorari. 

Sec. 4122. Judicial review of actions related to campaign finance laws. 


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Subtitle C—Honest Ads 

Sec. 4201. Short title. 

Sec. 4202. Purpose. 

Sec. 4203. Findings. 

Sec. 4204. Sense of Congress. 

Sec. 4205. Expansion of definition of public communication. 

Sec. 4206. Expansion of definition of electioneering communication. 

Sec. 4207. Application of disclaimer statements to online communications. 

Sec. 4208. Political record requirements for online platforms. 

Sec. 4209. Preventing contributions, expenditures, independent expenditures, 

and disbursements for electioneering communications by foreign nationals in the form of online advertising. 

Subtitle D—Stand By Every Ad 

Sec. 4301. Short title. 

Sec. 4302. Stand By Every Ad. 

Sec. 4303. Disclaimer requirements for communications made through 

prerecorded telephone calls. 

Sec. 4304. No expansion of persons subject to disclaimer requirements on internet communications. 

Sec. 4305. Effective date. 

Subtitle E—Secret Money Transparency 

Sec. 4401. Repeal of restriction of use of funds by Internal Revenue Service to 

bring transparency to political activity of certain nonprofit organizations. 

Subtitle F—Shareholder Right-To-Know 

Sec. 4501. Repeal of restriction on use of funds by Securities and Exchange 

Commission to ensure shareholders of corporations have knowledge of corporation political activity. 

Subtitle G—Disclosure of Political Spending by Government Contractors 

Sec. 4601. Repeal of restriction on use of funds to require disclosure of political 

spending by government contractors. 

Subtitle H—Limitation and Disclosure Requirements for Presidential 

Inaugural Committees 

Sec. 4701. Short title. 

Sec. 4702. Limitations and disclosure of certain donations to, and disbursements by, inaugural committees. 

Subtitle I—Severability 

Sec. 4801. Severability. 


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1 Subtitle A—Findings Relating to Il2 licit Money Undermining Our 

3 Democracy 

4 SEC. 4001. FINDINGS RELATING TO ILLICIT MONEY UNDER5 MINING OUR DEMOCRACY. 

6 Congress finds the following: 

7 (1) Criminals, terrorists, and corrupt govern8 ment officials frequently abuse anonymously held 

9 limited liability companies (LLCs), also known as 

10 ‘‘shell companies’’, to hide, move, and launder the 

11 dirty money derived from illicit activities such as 

12 trafficking, bribery, exploitation, and embezzlement. 

13 Ownership and control of the finances that run 

14 through shell companies are obscured to regulators 

15 and law enforcement because little information is re16 quired and collected when establishing these entities. 

17 (2) The public release of the ‘‘Panama Papers’’ 

18 in 2016 and the ‘‘Paradise Papers’’ in 2017 revealed 

19 that these shell companies often purchase and sell 

20 United States real estate. United States anti-money 

21 laundering laws do not apply to cash transactions in22 volving real estate effectively concealing the bene23 ficiaries and transactions from regulators and law 

24 enforcement. 


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1 (3) Congress should curb the use of anonymous 

2 shell companies for illicit purposes by requiring 

3 United States companies to disclose their beneficial 

4 owners, strengthening anti-money laundering and 

5 counter-terrorism finance laws. 

6 (4) Congress should examine the money laun7 dering and terrorist financing risks in the real estate 

8 market, including the role of anonymous parties, and 

9 review legislation to address any vulnerabilities iden10 tified in this sector. 

11 (5) Congress should examine the methods by 

12 which corruption flourishes and the means to detect 

13 and deter the financial misconduct that fuels this 

14 driver of global instability. Congress should monitor 

15 government efforts to enforce United States anti16 corruption laws and regulations. 

17 Subtitle B—DISCLOSE Act 

18 SEC. 4100. SHORT TITLE. 

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

20 Strengthened by Casting Light On Spending in Elections 

21 Act of 2019’’ or the ‘‘DISCLOSE Act of 2019’’. 


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1 PART 1—REGULATION OF CERTAIN POLITICAL 

2 SPENDING 

3 SEC. 4101. APPLICATION OF BAN ON CONTRIBUTIONS AND 

4 EXPENDITURES BY FOREIGN NATIONALS TO 

5 DOMESTIC CORPORATIONS, LIMITED LIABIL6 ITY CORPORATIONS, AND PARTNERSHIPS 

7 THAT ARE FOREIGN-CONTROLLED, FOREIGN8 INFLUENCED, AND FOREIGN-OWNED. 

9 (a) APPLICATION OF BAN.—Section 319(b) of the 

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

11 30121(b)) is amended— 

12 (1) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of paragraph 

13 (1); 

14 (2) by striking the period at the end of para15 graph (2) and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

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

17 paragraph: 

18 ‘‘(3) any corporation, limited liability corpora19 tion, or partnership which is not a foreign national 

20 described in paragraph (1) and— 

21 ‘‘(A) in which a foreign national described 

22 in paragraph (1) or (2) directly or indirectly 

23 owns or controls— 

24 ‘‘(i) 5 percent or more of the voting 

25 shares, if the foreign national is a foreign 

26 country, a foreign government official, or a 


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1 corporation principally owned or controlled 

2 by a foreign country or foreign government 

3 official; or 

4 ‘‘(ii) 20 percent or more of the voting 

5 shares, if the foreign national is not de6 scribed in clause (i); 

7 ‘‘(B) in which two or more foreign nation8 als described in paragraph (1) or (2), each of 

9 whom owns or controls at least 5 percent of the 

10 voting shares, directly or indirectly own or con11 trol 50 percent or more of the voting shares; 

12 ‘‘(C) over which one or more foreign na13 tionals described in paragraph (1) or (2) has 

14 the power to direct, dictate, or control the deci15 sionmaking process of the corporation, limited 

16 liability corporation, or partnership with respect 

17 to its interests in the United States; or 

18 ‘‘(D) over which one or more foreign na19 tionals described in paragraph (1) or (2) has 

20 the power to direct, dictate, or control the deci21 sionmaking process of the corporation, limited 

22 liability corporation, or partnership with respect 

23 to activities in connection with a Federal, State, 

24 or local election, including— 


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1 ‘‘(i) the making of a contribution, do2 nation, expenditure, independent expendi3 ture, or disbursement for an electioneering 

4 communication (within the meaning of sec5 tion 304(f)(3)); or 

6 ‘‘(ii) the administration of a political 

7 committee established or maintained by the 

8 corporation.’’. 

9 (b) CERTIFICATION OF COMPLIANCE.—Section 319 

10 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 30121) is amended by adding at 

11 the end the following new subsection: 

12 ‘‘(c) CERTIFICATION OF COMPLIANCE REQUIRED

13 PRIOR TO CARRYING OUT ACTIVITY.—Prior to the mak14 ing in connection with an election for Federal office of any 

15 contribution, donation, expenditure, independent expendi16 ture, or disbursement for an electioneering communication 

17 by a corporation, limited liability corporation, or partner18 ship during a year, the chief executive officer of the cor19 poration, limited liability corporation, or partnership (or, 

20 if the corporation, limited liability corporation, or partner21 ship does not have a chief executive officer, the highest 

22 ranking official of the corporation, limited liability cor23 poration, or partnership), shall file a certification with the 

24 Commission, under penalty of perjury, that the corpora25 tion, limited liability corporation, or partnership is not 


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1 prohibited from carrying out such activity under sub2 section (b)(3), unless the chief executive officer has pre3 viously filed such a certification during that calendar 

4 year.’’. 

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

6 this section shall take effect upon the expiration of the 

7 180-day period which begins on the date of the enactment 

8 of this Act, and shall take effect without regard to whether 

9 or not the Federal Election Commission has promulgated 

10 regulations to carry out such amendments. 

11 SEC. 4102. CLARIFICATION OF APPLICATION OF FOREIGN 

12 MONEY BAN TO CERTAIN DISBURSEMENTS 

13 AND ACTIVITIES. 

14 (a) APPLICATION TO DISBURSEMENTS TO SUPER

15 PACS.—Section 319(a)(1)(A) of the Federal Election 

16 Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30121(a)(1)(A)) is 

17 amended by striking the semicolon and inserting the fol18 lowing: ‘‘, including any disbursement to a political com19 mittee which accepts donations or contributions that do 

20 not comply with the limitations, prohibitions, and report21 ing requirements of this Act (or any disbursement to or 

22 on behalf of any account of a political committee which 

23 is established for the purpose of accepting such donations 

24 or contributions);’’. 


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1 (b) CONDITIONS UNDER WHICH CORPORATE PACS

2 MAY MAKE CONTRIBUTIONS AND EXPENDITURES.—Sec3 tion 316(b) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 30118(b)) is amended 

4 by adding at the end the following new paragraph: 

5 ‘‘(8) A separate segregated fund established by a cor6 poration may not make a contribution or expenditure dur7 ing a year unless the fund has certified to the Commission 

8 the following during the year: 

9 ‘‘(A) Each individual who manages the fund, 

10 and who is responsible for exercising decisionmaking 

11 authority for the fund, is a citizen of the United 

12 States or is lawfully admitted for permanent resi13 dence in the United States. 

14 ‘‘(B) No foreign national under section 319 

15 participates in any way in the decisionmaking proc16 esses of the fund with regard to contributions or ex17 penditures under this Act. 

18 ‘‘(C) The fund does not solicit or accept rec19 ommendations from any foreign national under sec20 tion 319 with respect to the contributions or expend21 itures made by the fund. 

22 ‘‘(D) Any member of the board of directors of 

23 the corporation who is a foreign national under sec24 tion 319 abstains from voting on matters concerning 

25 the fund or its activities.’’. 


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1 PART 2—REPORTING OF CAMPAIGN-RELATED 

2 DISBURSEMENTS 

3 SEC. 4111. REPORTING OF CAMPAIGN-RELATED DISBURSE4 MENTS. 

5 (a) DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS FOR CORPORA6 TIONS, LABOR ORGANIZATIONS, AND CERTAIN OTHER

7 ENTITIES.— 

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

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

10 is amended to read as follows: 

11 ‘‘SEC. 324. DISCLOSURE OF CAMPAIGN-RELATED DISBURSE12 MENTS BY COVERED ORGANIZATIONS. 

13 ‘‘(a) DISCLOSURE STATEMENT.— 

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

15 that makes campaign-related disbursements aggre16 gating more than $10,000 in an election reporting 

17 cycle shall, not later than 24 hours after each disclo18 sure date, file a statement with the Commission 

19 made under penalty of perjury that contains the in20 formation described in paragraph (2)— 

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

22 under this subsection, for the period beginning 

23 on the first day of the election reporting cycle 

24 (or, if earlier, the period beginning one year be25 fore the first such disclosure date) and ending 

26 on the first such disclosure date; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) in the case of any subsequent state2 ment filed under this subsection, for the period 

3 beginning on the previous disclosure date and 

4 ending on such disclosure date. 

5 ‘‘(2) INFORMATION DESCRIBED.—The informa6 tion described in this paragraph is as follows: 

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

8 and the principal place of business of such or9 ganization and, in the case of a covered organi10 zation that is a corporation (other than a busi11 ness concern that is an issuer of a class of secu12 rities registered under section 12 of the Securi13 ties Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78l) or 

14 that is required to file reports under section 

15 15(d) of that Act (15 U.S.C. 78o(d))) or an en16 tity described in subsection (e)(2), a list of the 

17 beneficial owners (as defined in paragraph 

18 (4)(A)) of the entity that— 

19 ‘‘(i) identifies each beneficial owner by 

20 name and current residential or business 

21 street address; and 

22 ‘‘(ii) if any beneficial owner exercises 

23 control over the entity through another 

24 legal entity, such as a corporation, partner25 ship, limited liability company, or trust, 


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1 identifies each such other legal entity and 

2 each such beneficial owner who will use 

3 that other entity to exercise control over 

4 the entity. 

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

6 disbursement made by such organization during 

7 the period covered by the statement of more 

8 than $1,000, and the name and address of the 

9 person to whom the disbursement was made. 

10 ‘‘(C) In the case of a campaign-related dis11 bursement that is not a covered transfer, the 

12 election to which the campaign-related disburse13 ment pertains and if the disbursement is made 

14 for a public communication, the name of any 

15 candidate identified in such communication and 

16 whether such communication is in support of or 

17 in opposition to a candidate. 

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

19 officer or person who is the head of the covered 

20 organization that the campaign-related dis21 bursement is not made in cooperation, consulta22 tion, or concert with or at the request or sug23 gestion of a candidate, authorized committee, or 

24 agent of a candidate, political party, or agent of 

25 a political party. 


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1 ‘‘(E)(i) If the covered organization makes 

2 campaign-related disbursements using exclu3 sively funds in a segregated bank account con4 sisting of funds that were paid directly to such 

5 account by persons other than the covered orga6 nization that controls the account, for each 

7 such payment to the account— 

8 ‘‘(I) the name and address of each 

9 person who made such payment during the 

10 period covered by the statement; 

11 ‘‘(II) the date and amount of such 

12 payment; and 

13 ‘‘(III) the aggregate amount of all 

14 such payments made by the person during 

15 the period beginning on the first day of the 

16 election reporting cycle (or, if earlier, the 

17 period beginning one year before the dis18 closure date) and ending on the disclosure 

19 date, 

20 but only if such payment was made by a person 

21 who made payments to the account in an aggre22 gate amount of $10,000 or more during the pe23 riod beginning on the first day of the election 

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1 ning one year before the disclosure date) and 

2 ending on the disclosure date. 

3 ‘‘(ii) In any calendar year after 2020, sec4 tion 315(c)(1)(B) shall apply to the amount de5 scribed in clause (i) in the same manner as 

6 such section applies to the limitations estab7 lished under subsections (a)(1)(A), (a)(1)(B), 

8 (a)(3), and (h) of such section, except that for 

9 purposes of applying such section to the 

10 amounts described in subsection (b), the ‘base 

11 period’ shall be 2020. 

12 ‘‘(F)(i) If the covered organization makes 

13 campaign-related disbursements using funds 

14 other than funds in a segregated bank account 

15 described in subparagraph (E), for each pay16 ment to the covered organization— 

17 ‘‘(I) the name and address of each 

18 person who made such payment during the 

19 period covered by the statement; 

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

21 payment; and 

22 ‘‘(III) the aggregate amount of all 

23 such payments made by the person during 

24 the period beginning on the first day of the 

25 election reporting cycle (or, if earlier, the 


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1 period beginning one year before the dis2 closure date) and ending on the disclosure 

3 date, 

4 but only if such payment was made by a person 

5 who made payments to the covered organization 

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

7 during the period beginning on the first day of 

8 the election reporting cycle (or, if earlier, the 

9 period beginning one year before the disclosure 

10 date) and ending on the disclosure date. 

11 ‘‘(ii) In any calendar year after 2020, sec12 tion 315(c)(1)(B) shall apply to the amount de13 scribed in clause (i) in the same manner as 

14 such section applies to the limitations estab15 lished under subsections (a)(1)(A), (a)(1)(B), 

16 (a)(3), and (h) of such section, except that for 

17 purposes of applying such section to the 

18 amounts described in subsection (b), the ‘base 

19 period’ shall be 2020. 

20 ‘‘(G) Such other information as required in 

21 rules established by the Commission to promote 

22 the purposes of this section. 

23 ‘‘(3) EXCEPTIONS.— 

24 ‘‘(A) AMOUNTS RECEIVED IN ORDINARY

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1 clude in a statement filed under paragraph (1) 

2 the information described in paragraph (2) 

3 shall not apply to amounts received by the cov4 ered organization in commercial transactions in 

5 the ordinary course of any trade or business 

6 conducted by the covered organization or in the 

7 form of investments (other than investments by 

8 the principal shareholder in a limited liability 

9 corporation) in the covered organization. 

10 ‘‘(B) DONOR RESTRICTION ON USE OF

11 FUNDS.—The requirement to include in a state12 ment submitted under paragraph (1) the infor13 mation described in subparagraph (F) of para14 graph (2) shall not apply if— 

15 ‘‘(i) the person described in such sub16 paragraph prohibited, in writing, the use of 

17 the payment made by such person for cam18 paign-related disbursements; and 

19 ‘‘(ii) the covered organization agreed 

20 to follow the prohibition and deposited the 

21 payment in an account which is segregated 

22 from any account used to make campaign23 related disbursements. 

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1 ment submitted under paragraph (1) the infor2 mation described in subparagraph (F) of para3 graph (2) shall not apply to any amount which 

4 is described in subsection (f)(3). 

5 ‘‘(D) THREAT OF HARASSMENT OR RE6 PRISAL.—The requirement to include any infor7 mation relating to the name or address of any 

8 person (other than a candidate) in a statement 

9 submitted under paragraph (1) shall not apply 

10 if the inclusion of the information would subject 

11 the person to serious threats, harassment, or 

12 reprisals. 

13 ‘‘(4) OTHER DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of 

14 this section: 

15 ‘‘(A) BENEFICIAL OWNER DEFINED.— 

16 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Except as pro17 vided in clause (ii), the term ‘beneficial 

18 owner’ means, with respect to any entity, 

19 a natural person who, directly or indi20 rectly— 

21 ‘‘(I) exercises substantial control 

22 over an entity through ownership, vot23 ing rights, agreement, or otherwise; or 


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1 ‘‘(II) has a substantial interest in 

2 or receives substantial economic bene3 fits from the assets of an entity. 

4 ‘‘(ii) EXCEPTIONS.—The term ‘bene5 ficial owner’ shall not include— 

6 ‘‘(I) a minor child; 

7 ‘‘(II) a person acting as a nomi8 nee, intermediary, custodian, or agent 

9 on behalf of another person; 

10 ‘‘(III) a person acting solely as 

11 an employee of an entity and whose 

12 control over or economic benefits from 

13 the entity derives solely from the em14 ployment status of the person; 

15 ‘‘(IV) a person whose only inter16 est in an entity is through a right of 

17 inheritance, unless the person also 

18 meets the requirements of clause (i); 

19 or 

20 ‘‘(V) a creditor of an entity, un21 less the creditor also meets the re22 quirements of clause (i). 

23 ‘‘(iii) ANTI-ABUSE RULE.—The excep24 tions under clause (ii) shall not apply if 

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1 venting, or abusing the provisions of clause 

2 (i) or paragraph (2)(A). 

3 ‘‘(B) DISCLOSURE DATE.—The term ‘dis4 closure date’ means— 

5 ‘‘(i) the first date during any election 

6 reporting cycle by which a person has 

7 made campaign-related disbursements ag8 gregating more than $10,000; and 

9 ‘‘(ii) any other date during such elec10 tion reporting cycle by which a person has 

11 made campaign-related disbursements ag12 gregating more than $10,000 since the 

13 most recent disclosure date for such elec14 tion reporting cycle. 

15 ‘‘(C) ELECTION REPORTING CYCLE.—The 

16 term ‘election reporting cycle’ means the 2-year 

17 period beginning on the date of the most recent 

18 general election for Federal office. 

19 ‘‘(D) PAYMENT.—The term ‘payment’ in20 cludes any contribution, donation, transfer, pay21 ment of dues, or other payment. 

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

23 ‘‘(1) OTHER REPORTS FILED WITH THE COM24 MISSION.—Information included in a statement filed 


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1 under this section may be excluded from statements 

2 and reports filed under section 304. 

3 ‘‘(2) TREATMENT AS SEPARATE SEGREGATED

4 FUND.—A segregated bank account referred to in 

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

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

7 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. 

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

9 subsection (a) shall be subject to the requirements of sec10 tion 304(d) to the same extent and in the same manner 

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

12 or (g) of section 304. 

13 ‘‘(d) CAMPAIGN-RELATED DISBURSEMENT DE14 FINED.— 

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

16 ‘campaign-related disbursement’ means a disburse17 ment by a covered organization for any of the fol18 lowing: 

19 ‘‘(A) An independent expenditure which ex20 pressly advocates the election or defeat of a 

21 clearly identified candidate for election for Fed22 eral office, or is the functional equivalent of ex23 press advocacy because, when taken as a whole, 

24 it can be interpreted by a reasonable person 


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1 only as advocating the election or defeat of a 

2 candidate for election for Federal office. 

3 ‘‘(B) Any public communication which re4 fers to a clearly identified candidate for election 

5 for Federal office and which promotes or sup6 ports a candidate for that office, or attacks or 

7 opposes a candidate for that office, without re8 gard to whether the communication expressly 

9 advocates a vote for or against a candidate for 

10 that office. 

11 ‘‘(C) An electioneering communication, as 

12 defined in section 304(f)(3). 

13 ‘‘(D) A covered transfer. 

14 ‘‘(2) INTENT NOT REQUIRED.—A disbursement 

15 for an item described in subparagraph (A), (B), (C), 

16 or (D) of paragraph (1) shall be treated as a cam17 paign-related disbursement regardless of the intent 

18 of the person making the disbursement. 

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

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

21 following: 

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

23 described in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Rev24 enue Code of 1986). 


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1 ‘‘(2) A limited liability corporation that is not 

2 otherwise treated as a corporation for purposes of 

3 this Act (other than an organization described in 

4 section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 

5 1986). 

6 ‘‘(3) An organization described in section 

7 501(c) of such Code and exempt from taxation 

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

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

10 Code). 

11 ‘‘(4) A labor organization (as defined in section 

12 316(b)). 

13 ‘‘(5) Any political organization under section 

14 527 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, other 

15 than a political committee under this Act (except as 

16 provided in paragraph (6)). 

17 ‘‘(6) A political committee with an account that 

18 accepts donations or contributions that do not com19 ply with the contribution limits or source prohibi20 tions under this Act, but only with respect to such 

21 accounts. 

22 ‘‘(f) COVERED TRANSFER DEFINED.— 

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

24 ‘covered transfer’ means any transfer or payment of 


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1 funds by a covered organization to another person if 

2 the covered organization— 

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

4 the amounts be used for— 

5 ‘‘(i) campaign-related disbursements 

6 (other than covered transfers); or 

7 ‘‘(ii) making a transfer to another 

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

11 ‘‘(B) made such transfer or payment in re12 sponse to a solicitation or other request for a 

13 donation or payment for— 

14 ‘‘(i) the making of or paying for cam15 paign-related disbursements (other than 

16 covered transfers); or 

17 ‘‘(ii) making a transfer to another 

18 person for the purpose of making or pay19 ing for such campaign-related disburse20 ments; 

21 ‘‘(C) engaged in discussions with the re22 cipient of the transfer or payment regarding— 

23 ‘‘(i) the making of or paying for cam24 paign-related disbursements (other than 

25 covered transfers); or 


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1 ‘‘(ii) donating or transferring any 

2 amount of such transfer or payment to an3 other person for the purpose of making or 

4 paying for such campaign-related disburse5 ments; 

6 ‘‘(D) made campaign-related disburse7 ments (other than a covered transfer) in an ag8 gregate amount of $50,000 or more during the 

9 2-year period ending on the date of the transfer 

10 or payment, or knew or had reason to know 

11 that the person receiving the transfer or pay12 ment made such disbursements in such an ag13 gregate amount during that 2-year period; or 

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

15 person receiving the transfer or payment would 

16 make campaign-related disbursements in an ag17 gregate amount of $50,000 or more during the 

18 2-year period beginning on the date of the 

19 transfer or payment. 

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

21 does not include any of the following: 

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

23 organization in a commercial transaction in the 

24 ordinary course of any trade or business con25 ducted by the covered organization or in the 


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1 form of investments made by the covered orga2 nization. 

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

4 organization if— 

5 ‘‘(i) the covered organization prohib6 ited, in writing, the use of such disburse7 ment for campaign-related disbursements; 

8 and 

9 ‘‘(ii) the recipient of the disbursement 

10 agreed to follow the prohibition and depos11 ited the disbursement in an account which 

12 is segregated from any account used to 

13 make campaign-related disbursements. 

14 ‘‘(3) SPECIAL RULE REGARDING TRANSFERS

15 AMONG AFFILIATES.— 

16 ‘‘(A) SPECIAL RULE.—A transfer of an 

17 amount by one covered organization to another 

18 covered organization which is treated as a 

19 transfer between affiliates under subparagraph 

20 (C) shall be considered a covered transfer by 

21 the covered organization which transfers the 

22 amount only if the aggregate amount trans23 ferred during the year by such covered organi24 zation to that same covered organization is 

25 equal to or greater than $50,000. 


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1 ‘‘(B) DETERMINATION OF AMOUNT OF

2 CERTAIN PAYMENTS AMONG AFFILIATES.—In 

3 determining the amount of a transfer between 

4 affiliates for purposes of subparagraph (A), to 

5 the extent that the transfer consists of funds 

6 attributable to dues, fees, or assessments which 

7 are paid by individuals on a regular, periodic 

8 basis in accordance with a per-individual cal9 culation which is made on a regular basis, the 

10 transfer shall be attributed to the individuals 

11 paying the dues, fees, or assessments and shall 

12 not be attributed to the covered organization. 

13 ‘‘(C) DESCRIPTION OF TRANSFERS BE14 TWEEN AFFILIATES.—A transfer of amounts 

15 from one covered organization to another cov16 ered organization shall be treated as a transfer 

17 between affiliates if— 

18 ‘‘(i) one of the organizations is an af19 filiate of the other organization; or 

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

21 affiliate of the same organization, 

22 except that the transfer shall not be treated as 

23 a transfer between affiliates if one of the orga24 nizations is established for the purpose of mak25 ing campaign-related disbursements. 


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1 ‘‘(D) DETERMINATION OF AFFILIATE STA2 TUS.—For purposes of subparagraph (C), a 

3 covered organization is an affiliate of another 

4 covered organization if— 

5 ‘‘(i) the governing instrument of the 

6 organization requires it to be bound by de7 cisions of the other organization; 

8 ‘‘(ii) the governing board of the orga9 nization includes persons who are specifi10 cally designated representatives of the 

11 other organization or are members of the 

12 governing board, officers, or paid executive 

13 staff members of the other organization, or 

14 whose service on the governing board is 

15 contingent upon the approval of the other 

16 organization; or 

17 ‘‘(iii) the organization is chartered by 

18 the other organization. 

19 ‘‘(E) COVERAGE OF TRANSFERS TO AF20 FILIATED SECTION 501(c)(3) ORGANIZA21 TIONS.—This paragraph shall apply with re22 spect to an amount transferred by a covered or23 ganization to an organization described in para24 graph (3) of section 501(c) of the Internal Rev25 enue Code of 1986 and exempt from tax under 


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1 section 501(a) of such Code in the same man2 ner as this paragraph applies to an amount 

3 transferred by a covered organization to an4 other covered organization. 

5 ‘‘(g) NO EFFECT ON OTHER REPORTING REQUIRE6 MENTS.—Nothing in this section shall be construed to 

7 waive or otherwise affect any other requirement of this 

8 Act which relates to the reporting of campaign-related dis9 bursements.’’. 

10 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 

11 304(f)(6) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 30104) is amended 

12 by striking ‘‘Any requirement’’ and inserting ‘‘Ex13 cept as provided in section 324(b), any require14 ment’’. 

15 (b) COORDINATION WITH FINCEN.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Finan17 cial Crimes Enforcement Network of the Depart18 ment of the Treasury shall provide the Federal Elec19 tion Commission with such information as necessary 

20 to assist in administering and enforcing section 324 

21 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as 

22 added by this section. 

23 (2) REPORT.—Not later than 6 months after 

24 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Chairman 

25 of the Federal Election Commission, in consultation 


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1 with the Director of the Financial Crimes Enforce2 ment Network of the Department of the Treasury, 

3 shall submit to Congress a report with recommenda4 tions for providing further legislative authority to as5 sist in the administration and enforcement of such 

6 section 324. 

7 SEC. 4112. APPLICATION OF FOREIGN MONEY BAN TO DIS8 BURSEMENTS FOR CAMPAIGN-RELATED DIS9 BURSEMENTS CONSISTING OF COVERED 

10 TRANSFERS. 

11 Section 319(a)(1)(A) of the Federal Election Cam12 paign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30121(a)(1)(A)), as amend13 ed by section 4102, is amended by striking the semicolon 

14 and inserting the following: ‘‘, and any disbursement to 

15 another person who made a campaign-related disburse16 ment consisting of a covered transfer (as described in sec17 tion 324) during the 2-year period ending on the date of 

18 the disbursement;’’. 

19 SEC. 4113. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

20 The amendments made by this part shall apply with 

21 respect to disbursements made on or after January 1, 

22 2020, and shall take effect without regard to whether or 

23 not the Federal Election Commission has promulgated 

24 regulations to carry out such amendments. 


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1 PART 3—OTHER ADMINISTRATIVE REFORMS 

2 SEC. 4121. PETITION FOR CERTIORARI. 

3 Section 307(a)(6) of the Federal Election Campaign 

4 Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30107(a)(6)) is amended by in5 serting ‘‘(including a proceeding before the Supreme 

6 Court on certiorari)’’ after ‘‘appeal’’. 

7 SEC. 4122. JUDICIAL REVIEW OF ACTIONS RELATED TO 

8 CAMPAIGN FINANCE LAWS. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title IV of the Federal Election 

10 Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30141 et seq.) is 

11 amended by inserting after section 406 the following new 

12 section: 

13 ‘‘SEC. 407. JUDICIAL REVIEW. 

14 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding section 373(f), 

15 if any action is brought for declaratory or injunctive relief 

16 to challenge the constitutionality of any provision of this 

17 Act or of chapter 95 or 96 of the Internal Revenue Code 

18 of 1986, or is brought to with respect to any action of 

19 the Commission under chapter 95 or 96 of the Internal 

20 Revenue Code of 1986, the following rules shall apply: 

21 ‘‘(1) The action shall be filed in the United 

22 States District Court for the District of Columbia 

23 and an appeal from the decision of the district court 

24 may be taken to the Court of Appeals for the Dis25 trict of Columbia Circuit. 


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1 ‘‘(2) In the case of an action relating to declar2 atory or injunctive relief to challenge the constitu3 tionality of a provision— 

4 ‘‘(A) a copy of the complaint shall be deliv5 ered promptly to the Clerk of the House of 

6 Representatives and the Secretary of the Sen7 ate; and 

8 ‘‘(B) it shall be the duty of the United 

9 States District Court for the District of Colum10 bia, the Court of Appeals for the District of Co11 lumbia, and the Supreme Court of the United 

12 States to advance on the docket and to expedite 

13 to the greatest possible extent the disposition of 

14 the action and appeal. 

15 ‘‘(b) INTERVENTION BY MEMBERS OF CONGRESS.— 

16 In any action in which the constitutionality of any provi17 sion of this Act or chapter 95 or 96 of the Internal Rev18 enue Code of 1986 is raised, any Member of the House 

19 of Representatives (including a Delegate or Resident Com20 missioner to the Congress) or Senate shall have the right 

21 to intervene either in support of or opposition to the posi22 tion of a party to the case regarding the constitutionality 

23 of the provision. To avoid duplication of efforts and reduce 

24 the burdens placed on the parties to the action, the court 

25 in any such action may make such orders as it considers 


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1 necessary, including orders to require interveners taking 

2 similar positions to file joint papers or to be represented 

3 by a single attorney at oral argument. 

4 ‘‘(c) CHALLENGE BY MEMBERS OF CONGRESS.—Any 

5 Member of Congress may bring an action, subject to the 

6 special rules described in subsection (a), for declaratory 

7 or injunctive relief to challenge the constitutionality of any 

8 provision of this Act or chapter 95 or 96 of the Internal 

9 Revenue Code of 1986.’’. 

10 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.— 

12 (A) Section 9011 of the Internal Revenue 

13 Code of 1986 is amended to read as follows: 

14 ‘‘SEC. 9011. JUDICIAL REVIEW. 

15 ‘‘For provisions relating to judicial review of certifi16 cations, determinations, and actions by the Commission 

17 under this chapter, see section 407 of the Federal Election 

18 Campaign Act of 1971.’’. 

19 (B) Section 9041 of the Internal Revenue 

20 Code of 1986 is amended to read as follows: 

21 ‘‘SEC. 9041. JUDICIAL REVIEW. 

22 ‘‘For provisions relating to judicial review of actions 

23 by the Commission under this chapter, see section 407 of 

24 the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971.’’. 


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1 (C) Section 403 of the Bipartisan Cam2 paign Reform Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 30110 

3 note) is repealed. 

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

5 this section shall apply to actions brought on or after Jan6 uary 1, 2019. 

7 Subtitle C—Honest Ads 

8 SEC. 4201. SHORT TITLE. 

9 This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘Honest Ads Act’’. 

10 SEC. 4202. PURPOSE. 

11 The purpose of this subtitle is to enhance the integ12 rity of American democracy and national security by im13 proving disclosure requirements for online political adver14 tisements in order to uphold the Supreme Court’s well15 established standard that the electorate bears the right to 

16 be fully informed. 

17 SEC. 4203. FINDINGS. 

18 Congress makes the following findings: 

19 (1) On January 6, 2017, the Office of the Di20 rector of National Intelligence published a report ti21 tled ‘‘Assessing Russian Activities and Intentions in 

22 Recent U.S. Elections’’, noting that ‘‘Russian Presi23 dent Vladimir Putin ordered an influence campaign 

24 in 2016 aimed at the US presidential election . . .’’. 

25 Moscow’s influence campaign followed a Russian 


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1 messaging strategy that blends covert intelligence 

2 operation—such as cyber activity—with overt efforts 

3 by Russian Government agencies, state-funded 

4 media, third-party intermediaries, and paid social 

5 media users or ‘‘trolls’’. 

6 (2) On November 24, 2016, The Washington 

7 Post reported findings from 2 teams of independent 

8 researchers that concluded Russians ‘‘exploited 

9 American-made technology platforms to attack U.S. 

10 democracy at a particularly vulnerable moment . . . 

11 as part of a broadly effective strategy of sowing dis12 trust in U.S. democracy and its leaders.’’. 

13 (3) Findings from a 2017 study on the manipu14 lation of public opinion through social media con15 ducted by the Computational Propaganda Research 

16 Project at the Oxford Internet Institute found that 

17 the Kremlin is using pro-Russian bots to manipulate 

18 public discourse to a highly targeted audience. With 

19 a sample of nearly 1,300,000 tweets, researchers 

20 found that in the 2016 election’s 3 decisive States, 

21 propaganda constituted 40 percent of the sampled 

22 election-related tweets that went to Pennsylvanians, 

23 34 percent to Michigan voters, and 30 percent to 

24 those in Wisconsin. In other swing States, the figure 

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1 ida, 40 percent in North Carolina, 38 percent in 

2 Colorado, and 35 percent in Ohio. 

3 (4) On September 6, 2017, the nation’s largest 

4 social media platform disclosed that between June 

5 2015 and May 2017, Russian entities purchased 

6 $100,000 in political advertisements, publishing 

7 roughly 3,000 ads linked to fake accounts associated 

8 with the Internet Research Agency, a pro-Kremlin 

9 organization. According to the company, the ads 

10 purchased focused ‘‘on amplifying divisive social and 

11 political messages . . .’’. 

12 (5) In 2002, the Bipartisan Campaign Reform 

13 Act became law, establishing disclosure requirements 

14 for political advertisements distributed from a tele15 vision or radio broadcast station or provider of cable 

16 or satellite television. In 2003, the Supreme Court 

17 upheld regulations on electioneering communications 

18 established under the Act, noting that such require19 ments ‘‘provide the electorate with information and 

20 insure that the voters are fully informed about the 

21 person or group who is speaking.’’. 

22 (6) According to a study from Borrell Associ23 ates, in 2016, $1,415,000,000 was spent on online 

24 advertising, more than quadruple the amount in 

25 2012. 


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1 (7) The reach of a few large internet plat2 forms—larger than any broadcast, satellite, or cable 

3 provider—has greatly facilitated the scope and effec4 tiveness of disinformation campaigns. For instance, 

5 the largest platform has over 210,000,000 Ameri6 cans users—over 160,000,000 of them on a daily 

7 basis. By contrast, the largest cable television pro8 vider has 22,430,000 subscribers, while the largest 

9 satellite television provider has 21,000,000 sub10 scribers. And the most-watched television broadcast 

11 in United States history had 118,000,000 viewers. 

12 (8) The public nature of broadcast television, 

13 radio, and satellite ensures a level of publicity for 

14 any political advertisement. These communications 

15 are accessible to the press, fact-checkers, and polit16 ical opponents; this creates strong disincentives for 

17 a candidate to disseminate materially false, inflam18 matory, or contradictory messages to the public. So19 cial media platforms, in contrast, can target portions 

20 of the electorate with direct, ephemeral advertise21 ments often on the basis of private information the 

22 platform has on individuals, enabling political adver23 tisements that are contradictory, racially or socially 

24 inflammatory, or materially false. 


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1 (9) According to comScore, 2 companies own 8 

2 of the 10 most popular smartphone applications as 

3 of June 2017, including the most popular social 

4 media and email services—which deliver information 

5 and news to users without requiring proactivity by 

6 the user. Those same 2 companies accounted for 99 

7 percent of revenue growth from digital advertising in 

8 2016, including 77 percent of gross spending. 79 

9 percent of online Americans—representing 68 per10 cent of all Americans—use the single largest social 

11 network, while 66 percent of these users are most 

12 likely to get their news from that site. 

13 (10) In its 2006 rulemaking, the Federal Elec14 tion Commission noted that only 18 percent of all 

15 Americans cited the internet as their leading source 

16 of news about the 2004 Presidential election; by con17 trast, the Pew Research Center found that 65 per18 cent of Americans identified an internet-based 

19 source as their leading source of information for the 

20 2016 election. 

21 (11) The Federal Election Commission, the 

22 independent Federal agency charged with protecting 

23 the integrity of the Federal campaign finance proc24 ess by providing transparency and administering 


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1 campaign finance laws, has failed to take action to 

2 address online political advertisements. 

3 (12) In testimony before the Senate Select 

4 Committee on Intelligence titled, ‘‘Disinformation: A 

5 Primer in Russian Active Measures and Influence 

6 Campaigns’’, multiple expert witnesses testified that 

7 while the disinformation tactics of foreign adver8 saries have not necessarily changed, social media 

9 services now provide ‘‘platform[s] practically pur10 pose-built for active measures[.]’’. Similarly, as Gen. 

11 Keith B. Alexander (RET.), the former Director of 

12 the National Security Agency, testified, during the 

13 Cold War ‘‘if the Soviet Union sought to manipulate 

14 information flow, it would have to do so principally 

15 through its own propaganda outlets or through ac16 tive measures that would generate specific news: 

17 planting of leaflets, inciting of violence, creation of 

18 other false materials and narratives. But the news 

19 itself was hard to manipulate because it would have 

20 required actual control of the organs of media, which 

21 took long-term efforts to penetrate. Today, however, 

22 because the clear majority of the information on so23 cial media sites is uncurated and there is a rapid 

24 proliferation of information sources and other sites 

25 that can reinforce information, there is an increasing 


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1 likelihood that the information available to average 

2 consumers may be inaccurate (whether intentionally 

3 or otherwise) and may be more easily manipulable 

4 than in prior eras.’’. 

5 (13) Current regulations on political advertise6 ments do not provide sufficient transparency to up7 hold the public’s right to be fully informed about po8 litical advertisements made online. 

9 SEC. 4204. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

10 It is the sense of Congress that— 

11 (1) the dramatic increase in digital political ad12 vertisements, and the growing centrality of online 

13 platforms in the lives of Americans, requires the 

14 Congress and the Federal Election Commission to 

15 take meaningful action to ensure that laws and reg16 ulations provide the accountability and transparency 

17 that is fundamental to our democracy; 

18 (2) free and fair elections require both trans19 parency and accountability which give the public a 

20 right to know the true sources of funding for polit21 ical advertisements in order to make informed polit22 ical choices and hold elected officials accountable; 

23 and 

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1 nance laws, including the prohibition on campaign 

2 spending by foreign nationals. 

3 SEC. 4205. EXPANSION OF DEFINITION OF PUBLIC COMMU4 NICATION. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (22) of section 301 of 

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

7 30101(22)) is amended by striking ‘‘or satellite commu8 nication’’ and inserting ‘‘satellite, paid internet, or paid 

9 digital communication’’. 

10 (b) TREATMENT OF CONTRIBUTIONS AND EXPENDI11 TURES.—Section 301 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 30101) is 

12 amended— 

13 (1) in paragraph (8)(B)— 

14 (A) in clause (v), by striking ‘‘on broad15 casting stations, or in newspapers, magazines, 

16 or similar types of general public political ad17 vertising’’ and inserting ‘‘in any public commu18 nication’’; 

19 (B) in clause (ix), by striking ‘‘broad20 casting, newspaper, magazine, billboard, direct 

21 mail, or similar type of general public commu22 nication or political advertising’’ and inserting 

23 ‘‘public communication’’; and 

24 (C) in clause (x), by striking ‘‘but not in25 cluding the use of broadcasting, newspapers, 


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1 magazines, billboards, direct mail, or similar 

2 types of general public communication or polit3 ical advertising’’ and inserting ‘‘but not includ4 ing use in any public communication’’; and 

5 (2) in paragraph (9)(B)— 

6 (A) by amending clause (i) to read as fol7 lows: 

8 ‘‘(i) any news story, commentary, or 

9 editorial distributed through the facilities 

10 of any broadcasting station or any print, 

11 online, or digital newspaper, magazine, 

12 blog, publication, or periodical, unless such 

13 broadcasting, print, online, or digital facili14 ties are owned or controlled by any polit15 ical party, political committee, or can16 didate;’’; and 

17 (B) in clause (iv), by striking ‘‘on broad18 casting stations, or in newspapers, magazines, 

19 or similar types of general public political ad20 vertising’’ and inserting ‘‘in any public commu21 nication’’. 

22 (c) DISCLOSURE AND DISCLAIMER STATEMENTS.— 

23 Subsection (a) of section 318 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 

24 30120) is amended— 


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1 (1) by striking ‘‘financing any communication 

2 through any broadcasting station, newspaper, maga3 zine, outdoor advertising facility, mailing, or any 

4 other type of general public political advertising’’ 

5 and inserting ‘‘financing any public communication’’; 

6 and 

7 (2) by striking ‘‘solicits any contribution 

8 through any broadcasting station, newspaper, maga9 zine, outdoor advertising facility, mailing, or any 

10 other type of general public political advertising’’ 

11 and inserting ‘‘solicits any contribution through any 

12 public communication’’. 

13 SEC. 4206. EXPANSION OF DEFINITION OF ELECTION14 EERING COMMUNICATION. 

15 (a) EXPANSION TO ONLINE COMMUNICATIONS.— 

16 (1) APPLICATION TO QUALIFIED INTERNET AND

17 DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS.— 

18 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subparagraph (A) of 

19 section 304(f)(3) of the Federal Election Cam20 paign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30104(f)(3)(A)) 

21 is amended by striking ‘‘or satellite communica22 tion’’ each place it appears in clauses (i) and 

23 (ii) and inserting ‘‘satellite, or qualified internet 

24 or digital communication’’. 


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1 (B) QUALIFIED INTERNET OR DIGITAL

2 COMMUNICATION.—Paragraph (3) of section 

3 304(f) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 30104(f)) is 

4 amended by adding at the end the following 

5 new subparagraph: 

6 ‘‘(D) QUALIFIED INTERNET OR DIGITAL

7 COMMUNICATION.—The term ‘qualified internet 

8 or digital communication’ means any commu9 nication which is placed or promoted for a fee 

10 on an online platform (as defined in subsection 

11 (j)(3)).’’. 

12 (2) NONAPPLICATION OF RELEVANT ELEC13 TORATE TO ONLINE COMMUNICATIONS.—Section 

14 304(f)(3)(A)(i)(III) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 

15 30104(f)(3)(A)(i)(III)) is amended by inserting ‘‘any 

16 broadcast, cable, or satellite’’ before ‘‘communica17 tion’’. 

18 (3) NEWS EXEMPTION.—Section 

19 304(f)(3)(B)(i) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 

20 30104(f)(3)(B)(i)) is amended to read as follows: 

21 ‘‘(i) a communication appearing in a 

22 news story, commentary, or editorial dis23 tributed through the facilities of any 

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1 tion, or periodical, unless such broad2 casting, online, or digital facilities are 

3 owned or controlled by any political party, 

4 political committee, or candidate;’’. 

5 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

6 this section shall apply with respect to communications 

7 made on or after January 1, 2020. 

8 SEC. 4207. APPLICATION OF DISCLAIMER STATEMENTS TO 

9 ONLINE COMMUNICATIONS. 

10 (a) CLEAR AND CONSPICUOUS MANNER REQUIRE11 MENT.—Subsection (a) of section 318 of the Federal Elec12 tion Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30120(a)) is 

13 amended— 

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

15 it appears in paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) and in16 serting ‘‘shall state in a clear and conspicuous man17 ner’’; and 

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

19 sentence: ‘‘For purposes of this section, a commu20 nication does not make a statement in a clear and 

21 conspicuous manner if it is difficult to read or hear 

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

23 (b) SPECIAL RULES FOR QUALIFIED INTERNET OR

24 DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS.— 


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

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

3 following new subsection: 

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

5 DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS.— 

6 ‘‘(1) SPECIAL RULES WITH RESPECT TO STATE7 MENTS.—In the case of any qualified internet or 

8 digital communication (as defined in section 

9 304(f)(3)(D)) which is disseminated through a me10 dium in which the provision of all of the information 

11 specified in this section is not possible, the commu12 nication shall, in a clear and conspicuous manner— 

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

14 paid for the communication; and 

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

16 the communication to obtain the remainder of 

17 the information required under this section with 

18 minimal effort and without receiving or viewing 

19 any additional material other than such re20 quired information. 

21 ‘‘(2) SAFE HARBOR FOR DETERMINING CLEAR

22 AND CONSPICUOUS MANNER.—A statement in quali23 fied internet or digital communication (as defined in 

24 section 304(f)(3)(D)) shall be considered to be made 

25 in a clear and conspicuous manner as provided in 


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1 subsection (a) if the communication meets the fol2 lowing requirements: 

3 ‘‘(A) TEXT OR GRAPHIC COMMUNICA4 TIONS.—In the case of a text or graphic com5 munication, the statement— 

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

7 as the majority of the text in the commu8 nication; and 

9 ‘‘(ii) meets the requirements of para10 graphs (2) and (3) of subsection (c). 

11 ‘‘(B) AUDIO COMMUNICATIONS.—In the 

12 case of an audio communication, the statement 

13 is spoken in a clearly audible and intelligible 

14 manner at the beginning or end of the commu15 nication and lasts at least 3 seconds. 

16 ‘‘(C) VIDEO COMMUNICATIONS.—In the 

17 case of a video communication which also in18 cludes audio, the statement— 

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

20 or the end of the communication; and 

21 ‘‘(ii) is made both in— 

22 ‘‘(I) a written format that meets 

23 the requirements of subparagraph (A) 

24 and appears for at least 4 seconds; 

25 and 


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1 ‘‘(II) an audible format that 

2 meets the requirements of subpara3 graph (B). 

4 ‘‘(D) OTHER COMMUNICATIONS.—In the 

5 case of any other type of communication, the 

6 statement is at least as clear and conspicuous 

7 as the statement specified in subparagraph (A), 

8 (B), or (C).’’. 

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

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

12 Regulations, or any successor to such rules, shall 

13 have no application to qualified internet or digital 

14 communications (as defined in section 304(f)(3)(D) 

15 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971). 

16 (c) MODIFICATION OF ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS

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

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

19 (1) in paragraph (1)(A)— 

20 (A) by striking ‘‘which is transmitted 

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

22 audio format’’; and 

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

24 and inserting ‘‘AUDIO FORMAT’’; 

25 (2) in paragraph (1)(B)— 


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1 (A) by striking ‘‘which is transmitted 

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

3 video format’’; and 

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

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

6 (3) in paragraph (2)— 

7 (A) by striking ‘‘transmitted through radio 

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

9 video format’’; and 

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

11 second sentence and inserting ‘‘in video for12 mat’’. 

13 SEC. 4208. POLITICAL RECORD REQUIREMENTS FOR ON14 LINE PLATFORMS. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 304 of the Federal Elec16 tion Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30104) is amended 

17 by adding at the end the following new subsection: 

18 ‘‘(j) DISCLOSURE OF CERTAIN ONLINE ADVERTISE19 MENTS.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 

21 ‘‘(A) REQUIREMENTS FOR ONLINE PLAT22 FORMS.—An online platform shall maintain, 

23 and make available for online public inspection 

24 in machine readable format, a complete record 

25 of any request to purchase on such online platVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:43 Mar 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00187 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1612.IH H1612

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1 form a qualified political advertisement which is 

2 made by a person whose aggregate requests to 

3 purchase qualified political advertisements on 

4 such online platform during the calendar year 

5 exceeds $500. 

6 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENTS FOR ADVER7 TISERS.—Any person who requests to purchase 

8 a qualified political advertisement on an online 

9 platform shall provide the online platform with 

10 such information as is necessary for the online 

11 platform to comply with the requirements of 

12 subparagraph (A). 

13 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS OF RECORD.—A record main14 tained under paragraph (1)(A) shall contain— 

15 ‘‘(A) a digital copy of the qualified political 

16 advertisement; 

17 ‘‘(B) a description of the audience targeted 

18 by the advertisement, the number of views gen19 erated from the advertisement, and the date 

20 and time that the advertisement is first dis21 played and last displayed; and 

22 ‘‘(C) information regarding— 

23 ‘‘(i) the average rate charged for the 

24 advertisement; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) the name of the candidate to 

2 which the advertisement refers and the of3 fice to which the candidate is seeking elec4 tion, the election to which the advertise5 ment refers, or the national legislative 

6 issue to which the advertisement refers (as 

7 applicable); 

8 ‘‘(iii) in the case of a request made 

9 by, or on behalf of, a candidate, the name 

10 of the candidate, the authorized committee 

11 of the candidate, and the treasurer of such 

12 committee; and 

13 ‘‘(iv) in the case of any request not 

14 described in clause (iii), the name of the 

15 person purchasing the advertisement, the 

16 name, address, and phone number of a 

17 contact person for such person, and a list 

18 of the chief executive officers or members 

19 of the executive committee or of the board 

20 of directors of such person. 

21 ‘‘(3) ONLINE PLATFORM.—For purposes of this 

22 subsection, the term ‘online platform’ means any 

23 public-facing website, web application, or digital ap24 plication (including a social network, ad network, or 

25 search engine) which— 


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1 ‘‘(A) sells qualified political advertise2 ments; and 

3 ‘‘(B) has 50,000,000 or more unique 

4 monthly United States visitors or users for a 

5 majority of months during the preceding 12 

6 months. 

7 ‘‘(4) QUALIFIED POLITICAL ADVERTISEMENT.— 

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this 

9 subsection, the term ‘qualified political adver10 tisement’ means any advertisement (including 

11 search engine marketing, display advertise12 ments, video advertisements, native advertise13 ments, and sponsorships) that— 

14 ‘‘(i) is made by or on behalf of a can15 didate; or 

16 ‘‘(ii) communicates a message relating 

17 to any political matter of national impor18 tance, including— 

19 ‘‘(I) a candidate; 

20 ‘‘(II) any election to Federal of21 fice; or 

22 ‘‘(III) a national legislative issue 

23 of public importance. 

24 ‘‘(5) TIME TO MAINTAIN FILE.—The informa25 tion required under this subsection shall be made 


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1 available as soon as possible and shall be retained by 

2 the online platform for a period of not less than 4 

3 years. 

4 ‘‘(6) PENALTIES.—For penalties for failure by 

5 online platforms, and persons requesting to purchase 

6 a qualified political advertisement on online plat7 forms, to comply with the requirements of this sub8 section, see section 309.’’. 

9 (b) RULEMAKING.—Not later than 90 days after the 

10 date of the enactment of this Act, the Federal Election 

11 Commission shall establish rules— 

12 (1) requiring common data formats for the 

13 record required to be maintained under section 

14 304(j) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 

15 1971 (as added by subsection (a)) so that all online 

16 platforms submit and maintain data online in a com17 mon, machine-readable and publicly accessible for18 mat; and 

19 (2) establishing search interface requirements 

20 relating to such record, including searches by can21 didate name, issue, purchaser, and date. 

22 (c) REPORTING.—Not later than 2 years after the 

23 date of the enactment of this Act, and biannually there24 after, the Chairman of the Federal Election Commission 

25 shall submit a report to Congress on— 


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1 (1) matters relating to compliance with and the 

2 enforcement of the requirements of section 304(j) of 

3 the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as 

4 added by subsection (a); 

5 (2) recommendations for any modifications to 

6 such section to assist in carrying out its purposes; 

7 and 

8 (3) identifying ways to bring transparency and 

9 accountability to political advertisements distributed 

10 online for free. 

11 SEC. 4209. PREVENTING CONTRIBUTIONS, EXPENDITURES, 

12 INDEPENDENT EXPENDITURES, AND DIS13 BURSEMENTS FOR ELECTIONEERING COM14 MUNICATIONS BY FOREIGN NATIONALS IN 

15 THE FORM OF ONLINE ADVERTISING. 

16 Section 319 of the Federal Election Campaign Act 

17 of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30121), as amended by section 

18 4101(b), is further amended by adding at the end the fol19 lowing new subsection: 

20 ‘‘(d) RESPONSIBILITIES OF BROADCAST STATIONS, 

21 PROVIDERS OF CABLE AND SATELLITE TELEVISION, AND

22 ONLINE PLATFORMS.—Each television or radio broadcast 

23 station, provider of cable or satellite television, or online 

24 platform (as defined in section 304(j)(3)) shall make rea25 sonable efforts to ensure that communications described 


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1 in section 318(a) and made available by such station, pro2 vider, or platform are not purchased by a foreign national, 

3 directly or indirectly.’’. 

4 Subtitle D—Stand By Every Ad 

5 SEC. 4301. SHORT TITLE. 

6 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Stand By Every Ad 

7 Act’’. 

8 SEC. 4302. STAND BY EVERY AD. 

9 (a) EXPANDED DISCLAIMER REQUIREMENTS FOR

10 CERTAIN COMMUNICATIONS.—Section 318 of the Federal 

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

12 amended by section 4207(b)(1), is further amended— 

13 (1) by redesignating subsection (e) as sub14 section (f); and 

15 (2) by inserting after subsection (d) the fol16 lowing new subsection: 

17 ‘‘(e) EXPANDED DISCLAIMER REQUIREMENTS FOR

18 COMMUNICATIONS NOT AUTHORIZED BY CANDIDATES OR

19 COMMITTEES.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para21 graph (6), any communication described in para22 graph (3) of subsection (a) which is transmitted in 

23 an audio or video format (including an internet or 

24 digital communication), or which is an internet or 

25 digital communication transmitted in a text or 


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1 graphic format, shall include, in addition to the re2 quirements of paragraph (3) of subsection (a), the 

3 following: 

4 ‘‘(A) The individual disclosure statement 

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

6 paying for the communication is an individual) 

7 or the organizational disclosure statement de8 scribed in paragraph (2)(B) (if the person pay9 ing for the communication is not an individual). 

10 ‘‘(B) If the communication is transmitted 

11 in a video format, or is an internet or digital 

12 communication which is transmitted in a text or 

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

14 part with a payment which is treated as a cam15 paign-related disbursement under section 324, 

16 the Top Five Funders list (if applicable), un17 less, on the basis of criteria established in regu18 lations issued by the Commission, the commu19 nication is of such short duration that including 

20 the Top Five Funders list in the communication 

21 would constitute a hardship to the person pay22 ing for the communication by requiring a dis23 proportionate amount of the content of the 

24 communication to consist of the Top Five 

25 Funders list. 


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1 ‘‘(C) If the communication is transmitted 

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

3 in part with a payment which is treated as a 

4 campaign-related disbursement under section 

5 324, the Top Two Funders list (if applicable), 

6 unless, on the basis of criteria established in 

7 regulations issued by the Commission, the com8 munication is of such short duration that in9 cluding the Top Two Funders list in the com10 munication would constitute a hardship to the 

11 person paying for the communication by requir12 ing a disproportionate amount of the content of 

13 the communication to consist of the Top Two 

14 Funders list. 

15 ‘‘(2) DISCLOSURE STATEMENTS DESCRIBED.— 

16 ‘‘(A) INDIVIDUAL DISCLOSURE STATE17 MENTS.—The individual disclosure statement 

18 described in this subparagraph is the following: 

19 ‘I am llllllll, and I approve this 

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

21 name of the applicable individual. 

22 ‘‘(B) ORGANIZATIONAL DISCLOSURE

23 STATEMENTS.—The organizational disclosure 

24 statement described in this subparagraph is the 

25 following: ‘I am llllllll, the 


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1 llllllll of llllllll, and 

2 llllllll approves this message.’, 

3 with— 

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

5 the name of the applicable individual; 

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

7 with the title of the applicable individual; 

8 and 

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

10 to be filled in with the name of the organi11 zation or other person paying for the com12 munication. 

13 ‘‘(3) METHOD OF CONVEYANCE OF STATE14 MENT.— 

15 ‘‘(A) COMMUNICATIONS IN TEXT OR

16 GRAPHIC FORMAT.—In the case of a commu17 nication to which this subsection applies which 

18 is transmitted in a text or graphic format, the 

19 disclosure statements required under paragraph 

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

21 the majority of the text in the communication. 

22 ‘‘(B) COMMUNICATIONS TRANSMITTED IN

23 AUDIO FORMAT.—In the case of a communica24 tion to which this subsection applies which is 

25 transmitted in an audio format, the disclosure 


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1 statements required under paragraph (1) shall 

2 be made by audio by the applicable individual 

3 in a clear and conspicuous manner. 

4 ‘‘(C) COMMUNICATIONS TRANSMITTED IN

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

7 transmitted in a video format, the information 

8 required under paragraph (1)— 

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

10 of the communication or in a crawl along 

11 the bottom of the communication in a clear 

12 and conspicuous manner, with a reasonable 

13 degree of color contrast between the back14 ground and the printed statement, for a 

15 period of at least 6 seconds; and 

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

17 unobscured, full-screen view of the applica18 ble individual or by the applicable indi19 vidual making the statement in voice-over 

20 accompanied by a clearly identifiable pho21 tograph or similar image of the individual, 

22 except in the case of a Top Five Funders 

23 list. 


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

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

3 communication to which this subsection applies— 

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

5 an individual, the individual involved; 

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

7 corporation, the chief executive officer of the 

8 corporation (or, if the corporation does not have 

9 a chief executive officer, the highest ranking of10 ficial of the corporation); 

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

12 labor organization, the highest ranking officer 

13 of the labor organization; and 

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

15 any other person, the highest ranking official of 

16 such person. 

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

18 FUNDERS LIST DEFINED.— 

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

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

21 a communication which is paid for in whole or 

22 in part with a campaign-related disbursement 

23 (as defined in section 324), a list of the five 

24 persons who, during the 12-month period end25 ing on the date of the disbursement, provided 


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1 the largest payments of any type in an aggre2 gate amount equal to or exceeding $10,000 to 

3 the person who is paying for the communication 

4 and the amount of the payments each such per5 son provided. If two or more people provided 

6 the fifth largest of such payments, the person 

7 paying for the communication shall select one of 

8 those persons to be included on the Top Five 

9 Funders list. 

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

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

12 a communication which is paid for in whole or 

13 in part with a campaign-related disbursement 

14 (as defined in section 324), a list of the persons 

15 who, during the 12-month period ending on the 

16 date of the disbursement, provided the largest 

17 and the second largest payments of any type in 

18 an aggregate amount equal to or exceeding 

19 $10,000 to the person who is paying for the 

20 communication and the amount of the pay21 ments each such person provided. If two or 

22 more persons provided the second largest of 

23 such payments, the person paying for the com24 munication shall select one of those persons to 

25 be included on the Top Two Funders list. 


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1 ‘‘(C) EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN PAY2 MENTS.—For purposes of subparagraphs (A) 

3 and (B), in determining the amount of pay4 ments made by a person to a person paying for 

5 a communication, there shall be excluded the 

6 following: 

7 ‘‘(i) Any amounts provided in the or8 dinary course of any trade or business con9 ducted by the person paying for the com10 munication or in the form of investments 

11 in the person paying for the communica12 tion. 

13 ‘‘(ii) Any payment which the person 

14 prohibited, in writing, from being used for 

15 campaign-related disbursements, but only 

16 if the person paying for the communication 

17 agreed to follow the prohibition and depos18 ited the payment in an account which is 

19 segregated from any account used to make 

20 campaign-related disbursements. 

21 ‘‘(6) EXCEPTION FOR COMMUNICATIONS PAID

22 FOR BY POLITICAL PARTIES AND CERTAIN POLIT23 ICAL COMMITTEES.—This subsection does not apply 

24 to any communication to which subsection (d)(2) ap25 plies.’’. 


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1 (b) APPLICATION OF EXPANDED REQUIREMENTS TO

2 PUBLIC COMMUNICATIONS CONSISTING OF CAMPAIGN3 RELATED DISBURSEMENTS.—Section 318(a) of such Act 

4 (52 U.S.C. 30120(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘for the pur5 pose of financing communications expressly advocating the 

6 election or defeat of a clearly identified candidate’’ and 

7 inserting ‘‘for a campaign-related disbursement, as de8 fined in section 324, consisting of a public communica9 tion’’. 

10 (c) EXCEPTION FOR COMMUNICATIONS PAID FOR BY

11 POLITICAL PARTIES AND CERTAIN POLITICAL COMMIT12 TEES.—Section 318(d)(2) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 

13 30120(d)(2)) is amended— 

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

15 inserting ‘‘CERTAIN POLITICAL COMMITTEES’’; 

16 (2) by striking ‘‘Any communication’’ and in17 serting ‘‘(A) Any communication’’; 

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

19 provided in subparagraph (B)) is paid for by a polit20 ical committee (including a political committee of a 

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

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

23 appears; and 

24 (5) by adding at the end the following new sub25 paragraph: 


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

2 communication paid for in whole or in part during 

3 a calendar year with a campaign-related disburse4 ment, but only if the covered organization making 

5 the campaign-related disbursement made campaign6 related disbursements (as defined in section 324) ag7 gregating more than $10,000 during such calendar 

8 year. 

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

10 the amount of campaign-related disbursements made 

11 by a covered organization during a year, there shall 

12 be excluded the following: 

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

14 organization in the ordinary course of any trade 

15 or business conducted by the covered organiza16 tion or in the form of investments in the cov17 ered organization. 

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

19 organization from a person who prohibited, in 

20 writing, the organization from using such 

21 amounts for campaign-related disbursements, 

22 but only if the covered organization agreed to 

23 follow the prohibition and deposited the 

24 amounts in an account which is segregated 


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1 from any account used to make campaign-re2 lated disbursements.’’. 

3 SEC. 4303. DISCLAIMER REQUIREMENTS FOR COMMUNICA4 TIONS MADE THROUGH PRERECORDED TELE5 PHONE CALLS. 

6 (a) APPLICATION OF REQUIREMENTS.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 318(a) of the Fed8 eral Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 

9 30120(a)), as amended by section 4205(c), is 

10 amended by inserting after ‘‘public communication’’ 

11 each place it appears the following: ‘‘(including a 

12 telephone call consisting in substantial part of a 

13 prerecorded audio message)’’. 

14 (2) APPLICATION TO COMMUNICATIONS SUB15 JECT TO EXPANDED DISCLAIMER REQUIREMENTS.— 

16 Section 318(e)(1) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 

17 30120(e)(1)), as added by section 4302(a), is 

18 amended in the matter preceding subparagraph (A) 

19 by striking ‘‘which is transmitted in an audio or 

20 video format’’ and inserting ‘‘which is transmitted in 

21 an audio or video format or which consists of a tele22 phone call consisting in substantial part of a 

23 prerecorded audio message’’. 

24 (b) TREATMENT AS COMMUNICATION TRANSMITTED

25 IN AUDIO FORMAT.— 


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1 (1) COMMUNICATIONS BY CANDIDATES OR AU2 THORIZED PERSONS.—Section 318(d) of such Act 

3 (52 U.S.C. 30120(d)) is amended by adding at the 

4 end the following new paragraph: 

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

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

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

8 which is subject to subsection (e)) which is a tele9 phone call consisting in substantial part of a 

10 prerecorded audio message shall include, in addition 

11 to the requirements of such paragraph, the audio 

12 statement required under subparagraph (A) of para13 graph (1) or the audio statement required under 

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

15 the statement shall be made at the beginning of the 

16 telephone call.’’. 

17 (2) COMMUNICATIONS SUBJECT TO EXPANDED

18 DISCLAIMER REQUIREMENTS.—Section 318(e)(3) of 

19 such Act (52 U.S.C. 30120(e)(3)), as added by sec20 tion 4302(a), is amended by adding at the end the 

21 following new subparagraph: 

22 ‘‘(C) PRERECORDED TELEPHONE CALLS.— 

23 In the case of a communication to which this 

24 subsection applies which is a telephone call con25 sisting in substantial part of a prerecorded 


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1 audio message, the communication shall be con2 sidered to be transmitted in an audio format.’’. 

3 SEC. 4304. NO EXPANSION OF PERSONS SUBJECT TO DIS4 CLAIMER REQUIREMENTS ON INTERNET 

5 COMMUNICATIONS. 

6 Nothing in this subtitle or the amendments made by 

7 this subtitle may be construed to require any person who 

8 is not required under section 318 of the Federal Election 

9 Campaign Act of 1971 (as provided under section 110.11 

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

11 a disclaimer on communications made by the person 

12 through the internet to include any disclaimer on any such 

13 communications. 

14 SEC. 4305. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

15 The amendments made by this subtitle shall apply 

16 with respect to communications made on or after January 

17 1, 2020, and shall take effect without regard to whether 

18 or not the Federal Election Commission has promulgated 

19 regulations to carry out such amendments. 


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1 Subtitle E—Secret Money 

2 Transparency 

3 SEC. 4401. REPEAL OF RESTRICTION OF USE OF FUNDS BY 

4 INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE TO BRING 

5 TRANSPARENCY TO POLITICAL ACTIVITY OF 

6 CERTAIN NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS. 

7 Section 124 of the Financial Services and General 

8 Government Appropriations Act, 2019 (division D of Pub9 lic Law 116–6) is hereby repealed. 

10 Subtitle F—Shareholder Right-To11 Know 

12 SEC. 4501. REPEAL OF RESTRICTION ON USE OF FUNDS BY 

13 SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION TO 

14 ENSURE SHAREHOLDERS OF CORPORATIONS 

15 HAVE KNOWLEDGE OF CORPORATION POLIT16 ICAL ACTIVITY. 

17 Section 629 of the Financial Services and General 

18 Government Appropriations Act, 2019 (division D of Pub19 lic Law 116–6) is hereby repealed. 


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1 Subtitle G—Disclosure of Political 

2 Spending by Government Con3 tractors 

4 SEC. 4601. REPEAL OF RESTRICTION ON USE OF FUNDS TO 

5 REQUIRE DISCLOSURE OF POLITICAL SPEND6 ING BY GOVERNMENT CONTRACTORS. 

7 Section 735 of the Financial Services and General 

8 Government Appropriations Act, 2019 (division D of Pub9 lic Law 116–6) is hereby repealed. 

10 Subtitle H—Limitation and Disclo11 sure Requirements for Presi12 dential Inaugural Committees 

13 SEC. 4701. SHORT TITLE. 

14 This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘Presidential Inau15 gural Committee Oversight Act’’. 

16 SEC. 4702. LIMITATIONS AND DISCLOSURE OF CERTAIN DO17 NATIONS TO, AND DISBURSEMENTS BY, INAU18 GURAL COMMITTEES. 

19 (a) REQUIREMENTS FOR INAUGURAL COMMIT20 TEES.—Title III of the Federal Election Campaign Act 

21 of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30101 et seq.) is amended by adding 

22 at the end the following new section: 

23 ‘‘SEC. 325. INAUGURAL COMMITTEES. 

24 ‘‘(a) PROHIBITED DONATIONS.— 

25 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—It shall be unlawful— 


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1 ‘‘(A) for an Inaugural Committee— 

2 ‘‘(i) to solicit, accept, or receive a do3 nation from a person that is not an indi4 vidual; or 

5 ‘‘(ii) to solicit, accept, or receive a do6 nation from a foreign national; 

7 ‘‘(B) for a person— 

8 ‘‘(i) to make a donation to an Inau9 gural Committee in the name of another 

10 person, or to knowingly authorize his or 

11 her name to be used to effect such a dona12 tion; 

13 ‘‘(ii) to knowingly accept a donation 

14 to an Inaugural Committee made by a per15 son in the name of another person; or 

16 ‘‘(iii) to convert a donation to an In17 augural Committee to personal use as de18 scribed in paragraph (2); and 

19 ‘‘(C) for a foreign national to, directly or 

20 indirectly, make a donation, or make an express 

21 or implied promise to make a donation, to an 

22 Inaugural Committee. 

23 ‘‘(2) CONVERSION OF DONATION TO PERSONAL

24 USE.—For purposes of paragraph (1)(B)(iii), a do25 nation shall be considered to be converted to perVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:43 Mar 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00208 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1612.IH H1612

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1 sonal use if any part of the donated amount is used 

2 to fulfill a commitment, obligation, or expense of a 

3 person that would exist irrespective of the respon4 sibilities of the Inaugural Committee under chapter 

5 5 of title 36, United States Code. 

6 ‘‘(3) NO EFFECT ON DISBURSEMENT OF UN7 USED FUNDS TO NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS.— 

8 Nothing in this subsection may be construed to pro9 hibit an Inaugural Committee from disbursing un10 used funds to an organization which is described in 

11 section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 

12 1986 and is exempt from taxation under section 

13 501(a) of such Code. 

14 ‘‘(b) LIMITATION ON DONATIONS.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—It shall be unlawful for an 

16 individual to make donations to an Inaugural Com17 mittee which, in the aggregate, exceed $50,000. 

18 ‘‘(2) INDEXING.—At the beginning of each 

19 Presidential election year (beginning with 2024), the 

20 amount described in paragraph (1) shall be in21 creased by the cumulative percent difference deter22 mined in section 315(c)(1)(A) since the previous 

23 Presidential election year. If any amount after such 

24 increase is not a multiple of $1,000, such amount 

25 shall be rounded to the nearest multiple of $1,000. 


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1 ‘‘(c) DISCLOSURE OF CERTAIN DONATIONS AND DIS2 BURSEMENTS.— 

3 ‘‘(1) DONATIONS OVER $1,000.— 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An Inaugural Com5 mittee shall file with the Commission a report 

6 disclosing any donation by an individual to the 

7 committee in an amount of $1,000 or more not 

8 later than 24 hours after the receipt of such do9 nation. 

10 ‘‘(B) CONTENTS OF REPORT.—A report 

11 filed under subparagraph (A) shall contain— 

12 ‘‘(i) the amount of the donation; 

13 ‘‘(ii) the date the donation is received; 

14 and 

15 ‘‘(iii) the name and address of the in16 dividual making the donation. 

17 ‘‘(2) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than the date 

18 that is 90 days after the date of the Presidential in19 augural ceremony, the Inaugural Committee shall 

20 file with the Commission a report containing the fol21 lowing information: 

22 ‘‘(A) For each donation of money or any23 thing of value made to the committee in an ag24 gregate amount equal to or greater than 

25 $200— 


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1 ‘‘(i) the amount of the donation; 

2 ‘‘(ii) the date the donation is received; 

3 and 

4 ‘‘(iii) the name and address of the in5 dividual making the donation. 

6 ‘‘(B) The total amount of all disburse7 ments, and all disbursements in the following 

8 categories: 

9 ‘‘(i) Disbursements made to meet 

10 committee operating expenses. 

11 ‘‘(ii) Repayment of all loans. 

12 ‘‘(iii) Donation refunds and other off13 sets to donations. 

14 ‘‘(iv) Any other disbursements. 

15 ‘‘(C) The name and address of each per16 son— 

17 ‘‘(i) to whom a disbursement in an ag18 gregate amount or value in excess of $200 

19 is made by the committee to meet a com20 mittee operating expense, together with 

21 date, amount, and purpose of such oper22 ating expense; 

23 ‘‘(ii) who receives a loan repayment 

24 from the committee, together with the date 

25 and amount of such loan repayment; 


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1 ‘‘(iii) who receives a donation refund 

2 or other offset to donations from the com3 mittee, together with the date and amount 

4 of such disbursement; and 

5 ‘‘(iv) to whom any other disbursement 

6 in an aggregate amount or value in excess 

7 of $200 is made by the committee, to8 gether with the date and amount of such 

9 disbursement. 

10 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 

11 ‘‘(1)(A) The term ‘donation’ includes— 

12 ‘‘(i) any gift, subscription, loan, advance, 

13 or deposit of money or anything of value made 

14 by any person to the committee; or 

15 ‘‘(ii) the payment by any person of com16 pensation for the personal services of another 

17 person which are rendered to the committee 

18 without charge for any purpose. 

19 ‘‘(B) The term ‘donation’ does not include the 

20 value of services provided without compensation by 

21 any individual who volunteers on behalf of the com22 mittee. 

23 ‘‘(2) The term ‘foreign national’ has the mean24 ing given that term by section 319(b). 


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1 ‘‘(3) The term ‘Inaugural Committee’ has the 

2 meaning given that term by section 501 of title 36, 

3 United States Code.’’. 

4 (b) CONFIRMING AMENDMENT RELATED TO RE5 PORTING REQUIREMENTS.—Section 304 of the Federal 

6 Election Campaign Act (52 U.S.C. 30104) is amended— 

7 (1) by striking subsection (h); and 

8 (2) by redesignating subsection (i) as subsection 

9 (h). 

10 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATED TO STATUS

11 OF COMMITTEE.—Section 510 of title 36, United States 

12 Code, is amended to read as follows: 

13 ‘‘§ 510. Disclosure of and prohibition on certain dona14 tions 

15 ‘‘A committee shall not be considered to be the Inau16 gural Committee for purposes of this chapter unless the 

17 committee agrees to, and meets, the requirements of sec18 tion 325 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971.’’. 

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

20 this Act shall apply with respect to Inaugural Committees 

21 established under chapter 5 of title 36, United States 

22 Code, for inaugurations held in 2021 and any succeeding 

23 year. 


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1 Subtitle I—Severability 

2 SEC. 4801. SEVERABILITY. 

3 If any provision of this title or amendment made by 

4 this title, or the application of a provision or amendment 

5 to any person or circumstance, is held to be unconstitu6 tional, the remainder of this title and amendments made 

7 by this title, and the application of the provisions and 

8 amendment to any person or circumstance, shall not be 

9 affected by the holding. 

10 TITLE V—CAMPAIGN FINANCE 

11 OVERSIGHT 

Subtitle A—Restoring Integrity to America’s Elections 

Sec. 5001. Short title. 

Sec. 5002. Membership of Federal Election Commission. 

Sec. 5003. Assignment of powers to Chair of Federal Election Commission. 

Sec. 5004. Revision to enforcement process. 

Sec. 5005. Permitting appearance at hearings on requests for advisory opinions 

by persons opposing the requests. 

Sec. 5006. Permanent extension of administrative penalty authority. 

Sec. 5007. Effective date; transition. 

Subtitle B—Stopping Super PAC–Candidate Coordination 

Sec. 5101. Short title. 

Sec. 5102. Clarification of treatment of coordinated expenditures as contributions to candidates. 

Sec. 5103. Clarification of ban on fundraising for super PACs by Federal candidates and officeholders. 

Subtitle C—Severability 

Sec. 5201. Severability. 


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1 Subtitle A—Restoring Integrity to 

2 America’s Elections 

3 SEC. 5001. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘Restoring Integrity 

5 to America’s Elections Act’’. 

6 SEC. 5002. MEMBERSHIP OF FEDERAL ELECTION COMMIS7 SION. 

8 (a) REDUCTION IN NUMBER OF MEMBERS; REMOVAL

9 OF SECRETARY OF SENATE AND CLERK OF HOUSE AS

10 EX OFFICIO MEMBERS.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL; QUORUM.—Section 306(a)(1) 

12 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 

13 U.S.C. 30106(a)(1)) is amended by striking the sec14 ond and third sentences and inserting the following: 

15 ‘‘The Commission is composed of 5 members ap16 pointed by the President by and with the advice and 

17 consent of the Senate, of whom no more than 2 may 

18 be affiliated with the same political party. A major19 ity of the number of members of the Commission 

20 who are serving at the time shall constitute a 

21 quorum, except that 3 members shall constitute a 

22 quorum if there are 4 members serving at the 

23 time.’’. 

24 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS RELATING TO

25 REDUCTION IN NUMBER OF MEMBERS.—(A) The 


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1 second sentence of section 306(c) of such Act (52 

2 U.S.C. 30106(c)) is amended by striking ‘‘affirma3 tive vote of 4 members of the Commission’’ and in4 serting ‘‘affirmative vote of a majority of the mem5 bers of the Commission who are serving at the 

6 time’’. 

7 (B) Such Act is further amended by striking 

8 ‘‘affirmative vote of 4 of its members’’ and inserting 

9 ‘‘affirmative vote of a majority of the members of 

10 the Commission who are serving at the time’’ each 

11 place it appears in the following sections: 

12 (i) Section 309(a)(2) (52 U.S.C. 

13 30109(a)(2)). 

14 (ii) Section 309(a)(4)(A)(i) (52 U.S.C. 

15 30109(a)(4)(A)(i)). 

16 (iii) Section 309(a)(5)(C) (52 U.S.C. 

17 30109(a)(5)(C)). 

18 (iv) Section 309(a)(6)(A) (52 U.S.C. 

19 30109(a)(6)(A)). 

20 (v) Section 311(b) (52 U.S.C. 30111(b)). 

21 (3) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO

22 REMOVAL OF EX OFFICIO MEMBERS.—Section 

23 306(a) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 30106(a)) is amend24 ed by striking ‘‘(other than the Secretary of the SenVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:43 Mar 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00216 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1612.IH H1612

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1 ate and the Clerk of the House of Representatives)’’ 

2 each place it appears in paragraphs (4) and (5). 

3 (b) TERMS OF SERVICE.—Section 306(a)(2) of such 

4 Act (52 U.S.C. 30106(a)(2)) is amended to read as fol5 lows: 

6 ‘‘(2) TERMS OF SERVICE.— 

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each member of the 

8 Commission shall serve for a single term of 6 

9 years. 

10 ‘‘(B) SPECIAL RULE FOR INITIAL APPOINT11 MENTS.—Of the members first appointed to 

12 serve terms that begin in January 2022, the 

13 President shall designate 2 to serve for a 3-year 

14 term. 

15 ‘‘(C) NO REAPPOINTMENT PERMITTED.— 

16 An individual who served a term as a member 

17 of the Commission may not serve for an addi18 tional term, except that— 

19 ‘‘(i) an individual who served a 3-year 

20 term under subparagraph (B) may also be 

21 appointed to serve a 6-year term under 

22 subparagraph (A); and 

23 ‘‘(ii) for purposes of this subpara24 graph, an individual who is appointed to 

25 fill a vacancy under subparagraph (D) 


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1 shall not be considered to have served a 

2 term if the portion of the unexpired term 

3 the individual fills is less than 50 percent 

4 of the period of the term. 

5 ‘‘(D) VACANCIES.—Any vacancy occurring 

6 in the membership of the Commission shall be 

7 filled in the same manner as in the case of the 

8 original appointment. Except as provided in 

9 subparagraph (C), an individual appointed to 

10 fill a vacancy occurring other than by the expi11 ration of a term of office shall be appointed 

12 only for the unexpired term of the member he 

13 or she succeeds. 

14 ‘‘(E) LIMITATION ON SERVICE AFTER EX15 PIRATION OF TERM.—A member of the Com16 mission may continue to serve on the Commis17 sion after the expiration of the member’s term 

18 for an additional period, but only until the ear19 lier of— 

20 ‘‘(i) the date on which the member’s 

21 successor has taken office as a member of 

22 the Commission; or 

23 ‘‘(ii) the expiration of the 1-year pe24 riod that begins on the last day of the 

25 member’s term.’’. 


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1 (c) QUALIFICATIONS.—Section 306(a)(3) of such Act 

2 (52 U.S.C. 30106(a)(3)) is amended to read as follows: 

3 ‘‘(3) QUALIFICATIONS.— 

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

5 select an individual for service as a member of 

6 the Commission if the individual has experience 

7 in election law and has a demonstrated record 

8 of integrity, impartiality, and good judgment. 

9 ‘‘(B) ASSISTANCE OF BLUE RIBBON ADVI10 SORY PANEL.— 

11 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Prior to the regu12 larly scheduled expiration of the term of a 

13 member of the Commission and upon the 

14 occurrence of a vacancy in the membership 

15 of the Commission prior to the expiration 

16 of a term, the President shall convene a 

17 Blue Ribbon Advisory Panel, consisting of 

18 an odd number of individuals selected by 

19 the President from retired Federal judges, 

20 former law enforcement officials, or indi21 viduals with experience in election law, ex22 cept that the President may not select any 

23 individual to serve on the panel who holds 

24 any public office at the time of selection. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) RECOMMENDATIONS.—With re2 spect to each member of the Commission 

3 whose term is expiring or each vacancy in 

4 the membership of the Commission (as the 

5 case may be), the Blue Ribbon Advisory 

6 Panel shall recommend to the President at 

7 least one but not more than 3 individuals 

8 for nomination for appointment as a mem9 ber of the Commission. 

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

11 President submits to the Senate the nomi12 nations for individuals to be appointed as 

13 members of the Commission, the President 

14 shall publish the Blue Ribbon Advisory 

15 Panel’s recommendations for such nomina16 tions. 

17 ‘‘(iv) EXEMPTION FROM FEDERAL AD18 VISORY COMMITTEE ACT.—The Federal 

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

20 does not apply to a Blue Ribbon Advisory 

21 Panel convened under this subparagraph. 

22 ‘‘(C) PROHIBITING ENGAGEMENT WITH

23 OTHER BUSINESS OR EMPLOYMENT DURING

24 SERVICE.—A member of the Commission shall 

25 not engage in any other business, vocation, or 


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1 employment. Any individual who is engaging in 

2 any other business, vocation, or employment at 

3 the time of his or her appointment to the Com4 mission shall terminate or liquidate such activ5 ity no later than 90 days after such appoint6 ment.’’. 

7 SEC. 5003. ASSIGNMENT OF POWERS TO CHAIR OF FED8 ERAL ELECTION COMMISSION. 

9 (a) APPOINTMENT OF CHAIR BY PRESIDENT.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 306(a)(5) of the 

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

12 30106(a)(5)) is amended to read as follows: 

13 ‘‘(5) CHAIR.— 

14 ‘‘(A) INITIAL APPOINTMENT.—Of the 

15 members first appointed to serve terms that 

16 begin in January 2022, one such member (as 

17 designated by the President at the time the 

18 President submits nominations to the Senate) 

19 shall serve as Chair of the Commission. 

20 ‘‘(B) SUBSEQUENT APPOINTMENTS.—Any 

21 individual who is appointed to succeed the 

22 member who serves as Chair of the Commission 

23 for the term beginning in January 2022 (as 

24 well as any individual who is appointed to fill 

25 a vacancy if such member does not serve a full 


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1 term as Chair) shall serve as Chair of the Com2 mission. 

3 ‘‘(C) VICE CHAIR.—The Commission shall 

4 select, by majority vote of its members, one of 

5 its members to serve as Vice Chair, who shall 

6 act as Chair in the absence or disability of the 

7 Chair or in the event of a vacancy in the posi8 tion of Chair.’’. 

9 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 

10 309(a)(2) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 30109(a)(2)) is 

11 amended by striking ‘‘through its chairman or vice 

12 chairman’’ and inserting ‘‘through the Chair’’. 

13 (b) POWERS.— 

14 (1) ASSIGNMENT OF CERTAIN POWERS TO

15 CHAIR.—Section 307(a) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 

16 30107(a)) is amended to read as follows: 

17 ‘‘(a) DISTRIBUTION OF POWERS BETWEEN CHAIR

18 AND COMMISSION.— 

19 ‘‘(1) POWERS ASSIGNED TO CHAIR.— 

20 ‘‘(A) ADMINISTRATIVE POWERS.—The 

21 Chair of the Commission shall be the chief ad22 ministrative officer of the Commission and shall 

23 have the authority to administer the Commis24 sion and its staff, and (in consultation with the 


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1 other members of the Commission) shall have 

2 the power— 

3 ‘‘(i) to appoint and remove the staff 

4 director of the Commission; 

5 ‘‘(ii) to request the assistance (includ6 ing personnel and facilities) of other agen7 cies and departments of the United States, 

8 whose heads may make such assistance 

9 available to the Commission with or with10 out reimbursement; and 

11 ‘‘(iii) to prepare and establish the 

12 budget of the Commission and to make 

13 budget requests to the President, the Di14 rector of the Office of Management and 

15 Budget, and Congress. 

16 ‘‘(B) OTHER POWERS.—The Chair of the 

17 Commission shall have the power— 

18 ‘‘(i) to appoint and remove the gen19 eral counsel of the Commission with the 

20 concurrence of at least 2 other members of 

21 the Commission; 

22 ‘‘(ii) to require by special or general 

23 orders, any person to submit, under oath, 

24 such written reports and answers to ques25 tions as the Chair may prescribe; 


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1 ‘‘(iii) to administer oaths or affirma2 tions; 

3 ‘‘(iv) to require by subpoena, signed 

4 by the Chair, the attendance and testimony 

5 of witnesses and the production of all doc6 umentary evidence relating to the execu7 tion of its duties; 

8 ‘‘(v) in any proceeding or investiga9 tion, to order testimony to be taken by 

10 deposition before any person who is des11 ignated by the Chair, and shall have the 

12 power to administer oaths and, in such in13 stances, to compel testimony and the pro14 duction of evidence in the same manner as 

15 authorized under clause (iv); and 

16 ‘‘(vi) to pay witnesses the same fees 

17 and mileage as are paid in like cir18 cumstances in the courts of the United 

19 States. 

20 ‘‘(2) POWERS ASSIGNED TO COMMISSION.—The 

21 Commission shall have the power— 

22 ‘‘(A) to initiate (through civil actions for 

23 injunctive, declaratory, or other appropriate re24 lief), defend (in the case of any civil action 

25 brought under section 309(a)(8) of this Act) or 


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1 appeal any civil action in the name of the Com2 mission to enforce the provisions of this Act 

3 and chapter 95 and chapter 96 of the Internal 

4 Revenue Code of 1986, through its general 

5 counsel; 

6 ‘‘(B) to render advisory opinions under 

7 section 308 of this Act; 

8 ‘‘(C) to develop such prescribed forms and 

9 to make, amend, and repeal such rules, pursu10 ant to the provisions of chapter 5 of title 5, 

11 United States Code, as are necessary to carry 

12 out the provisions of this Act and chapter 95 

13 and chapter 96 of the Internal Revenue Code of 

14 1986; 

15 ‘‘(D) to conduct investigations and hear16 ings expeditiously, to encourage voluntary com17 pliance, and to report apparent violations to the 

18 appropriate law enforcement authorities; and 

19 ‘‘(E) to transmit to the President and Con20 gress not later than June 1 of each year a re21 port which states in detail the activities of the 

22 Commission in carrying out its duties under 

23 this Act, and which includes any recommenda24 tions for any legislative or other action the 

25 Commission considers appropriate. 


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1 ‘‘(3) PERMITTING COMMISSION TO EXERCISE

2 OTHER POWERS OF CHAIR.—With respect to any in3 vestigation, action, or proceeding, the Commission, 

4 by an affirmative vote of a majority of the members 

5 who are serving at the time, may exercise any of the 

6 powers of the Chair described in paragraph (1)(B).’’. 

7 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS RELATING TO

8 PERSONNEL AUTHORITY.—Section 306(f) of such 

9 Act (52 U.S.C. 30106(f)) is amended— 

10 (A) by amending the first sentence of 

11 paragraph (1) to read as follows: ‘‘The Com12 mission shall have a staff director who shall be 

13 appointed by the Chair of the Commission in 

14 consultation with the other members and a gen15 eral counsel who shall be appointed by the 

16 Chair with the concurrence of at least two other 

17 members.’’; 

18 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘With 

19 the approval of the Commission’’ and inserting 

20 ‘‘With the approval of the Chair of the Commis21 sion’’; and 

22 (C) by striking paragraph (3). 

23 (3) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO

24 BUDGET SUBMISSION.—Section 307(d)(1) of such 

25 Act (52 U.S.C. 30107(d)(1)) is amended by striking 


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1 ‘‘the Commission submits any budget’’ and inserting 

2 ‘‘the Chair (or, pursuant to subsection (a)(3), the 

3 Commission) submits any budget’’. 

4 (4) OTHER CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Sec5 tion 306(c) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 30106(c)) is 

6 amended by striking ‘‘All decisions’’ and inserting 

7 ‘‘Subject to section 307(a), all decisions’’. 

8 (5) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—The heading of 

9 section 307 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 30107) is 

10 amended by striking ‘‘THE COMMISSION’’ and insert11 ing ‘‘THE CHAIR AND THE COMMISSION’’. 

12 SEC. 5004. REVISION TO ENFORCEMENT PROCESS. 

13 (a) STANDARD FOR INITIATING INVESTIGATIONS AND

14 DETERMINING WHETHER VIOLATIONS HAVE OC15 CURRED.— 

16 (1) REVISION OF STANDARDS.—Section 309(a) 

17 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 

18 U.S.C. 30109(a)) is amended by striking paragraphs 

19 (2) and (3) and inserting the following: 

20 ‘‘(2)(A) The general counsel, upon receiving a com21 plaint filed with the Commission under paragraph (1) or 

22 upon the basis of information ascertained by the Commis23 sion in the normal course of carrying out its supervisory 

24 responsibilities, shall make a determination as to whether 

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1 mitted, or is about to commit, a violation of this Act or 

2 chapter 95 or chapter 96 of the Internal Revenue Code 

3 of 1986, and as to whether or not the Commission should 

4 either initiate an investigation of the matter or that the 

5 complaint should be dismissed. The general counsel shall 

6 promptly provide notification to the Commission of such 

7 determination and the reasons therefore, together with 

8 any written response submitted under paragraph (1) by 

9 the person alleged to have committed the violation. Upon 

10 the expiration of the 30-day period which begins on the 

11 date the general counsel provides such notification, the 

12 general counsel’s determination shall take effect, unless 

13 during such 30-day period the Commission, by vote of a 

14 majority of the members of the Commission who are serv15 ing at the time, overrules the general counsel’s determina16 tion. If the determination by the general counsel that the 

17 Commission should investigate the matter takes effect, or 

18 if the determination by the general counsel that the com19 plaint should be dismissed is overruled as provided under 

20 the previous sentence, the general counsel shall initiate an 

21 investigation of the matter on behalf of the Commission. 

22 ‘‘(B) If the Commission initiates an investigation 

23 pursuant to subparagraph (A), the Commission, through 

24 the Chair, shall notify the subject of the investigation of 

25 the alleged violation. Such notification shall set forth the 


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1 factual basis for such alleged violation. The Commission 

2 shall make an investigation of such alleged violation, which 

3 may include a field investigation or audit, in accordance 

4 with the provisions of this section. The general counsel 

5 shall provide notification to the Commission of any intent 

6 to issue a subpoena or conduct any other form of discovery 

7 pursuant to the investigation. Upon the expiration of the 

8 15-day period which begins on the date the general counsel 

9 provides such notification, the general counsel may issue 

10 the subpoena or conduct the discovery, unless during such 

11 15-day period the Commission, by vote of a majority of 

12 the members of the Commission who are serving at the 

13 time, prohibits the general counsel from issuing the sub14 poena or conducting the discovery. 

15 ‘‘(3)(A) Upon completion of an investigation under 

16 paragraph (2), the general counsel shall promptly submit 

17 to the Commission the general counsel’s recommendation 

18 that the Commission find either that there is probable 

19 cause or that there is not probable cause to believe that 

20 a person has committed, or is about to commit, a violation 

21 of this Act or chapter 95 or chapter 96 of the Internal 

22 Revenue Code of 1986, and shall include with the rec23 ommendation a brief stating the position of the general 

24 counsel on the legal and factual issues of the case. 


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1 ‘‘(B) At the time the general counsel submits to the 

2 Commission the recommendation under subparagraph (A), 

3 the general counsel shall simultaneously notify the re4 spondent of such recommendation and the reasons there5 fore, shall provide the respondent with an opportunity to 

6 submit a brief within 30 days stating the position of the 

7 respondent on the legal and factual issues of the case and 

8 replying to the brief of the general counsel. The general 

9 counsel and shall promptly submit such brief to the Com10 mission upon receipt. 

11 ‘‘(C) Not later than 30 days after the general counsel 

12 submits the recommendation to the Commission under 

13 subparagraph (A) (or, if the respondent submits a brief 

14 under subparagraph (B), not later than 30 days after the 

15 general counsel submits the respondent’s brief to the Com16 mission under such subparagraph), the Commission shall 

17 approve or disapprove the recommendation by vote of a 

18 majority of the members of the Commission who are serv19 ing at the time.’’. 

20 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO

21 INITIAL RESPONSE TO FILING OF COMPLAINT.—Sec22 tion 309(a)(1) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 30109(a)(1)) 

23 is amended— 


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1 (A) in the third sentence, by striking ‘‘the 

2 Commission’’ and inserting ‘‘the general coun3 sel’’; and 

4 (B) by amending the fourth sentence to 

5 read as follows: ‘‘Not later than 15 days after 

6 receiving notice from the general counsel under 

7 the previous sentence, the person may provide 

8 the general counsel with a written response that 

9 no action should be taken against such person 

10 on the basis of the complaint.’’. 

11 (b) REVISION OF STANDARD FOR REVIEW OF DIS12 MISSAL OF COMPLAINTS.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 309(a)(8) of such 

14 Act (52 U.S.C. 30109(a)(8)) is amended to read as 

15 follows: 

16 ‘‘(8)(A)(i) Any party aggrieved by an order of the 

17 Commission dismissing a complaint filed by such party 

18 after finding either no reason to believe a violation has 

19 occurred or no probable cause a violation has occurred 

20 may file a petition with the United States District Court 

21 for the District of Columbia. Any petition under this sub22 paragraph shall be filed within 60 days after the date on 

23 which the party received notice of the dismissal of the 

24 complaint. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) In any proceeding under this subparagraph, the 

2 court shall determine by de novo review whether the agen3 cy’s dismissal of the complaint is contrary to law. In any 

4 matter in which the penalty for the alleged violation is 

5 greater than $50,000, the court should disregard any 

6 claim or defense by the Commission of prosecutorial dis7 cretion as a basis for dismissing the complaint. 

8 ‘‘(B)(i) Any party who has filed a complaint with the 

9 Commission and who is aggrieved by a failure of the Com10 mission, within one year after the filing of the complaint, 

11 to either dismiss the complaint or to find reason to believe 

12 a violation has occurred or is about to occur, may file a 

13 petition with the United States District Court for the Dis14 trict of Columbia. 

15 ‘‘(ii) In any proceeding under this subparagraph, the 

16 court shall treat the failure to act on the complaint as 

17 a dismissal of the complaint, and shall determine by de 

18 novo review whether the agency’s failure to act on the 

19 complaint is contrary to law. 

20 ‘‘(C) In any proceeding under this paragraph the 

21 court may declare that the dismissal of the complaint or 

22 the failure to act is contrary to law, and may direct the 

23 Commission to conform with such declaration within 30 

24 days, failing which the complainant may bring, in the 


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1 name of such complainant, a civil action to remedy the 

2 violation involved in the original complaint.’’. 

3 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 

4 by paragraph (1) shall apply— 

5 (A) in the case of complaints which are 

6 dismissed by the Federal Election Commission, 

7 with respect to complaints which are dismissed 

8 on or after the date of the enactment of this 

9 Act; and 

10 (B) in the case of complaints upon which 

11 the Federal Election Commission failed to act, 

12 with respect to complaints which were filed on 

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

14 SEC. 5005. PERMITTING APPEARANCE AT HEARINGS ON RE15 QUESTS FOR ADVISORY OPINIONS BY PER16 SONS OPPOSING THE REQUESTS. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 308 of such Act (52 

18 U.S.C. 30108) is amended by adding at the end the fol19 lowing new subsection: 

20 ‘‘(e) To the extent that the Commission provides an 

21 opportunity for a person requesting an advisory opinion 

22 under this section (or counsel for such person) to appear 

23 before the Commission to present testimony in support of 

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1 portunity for an interested party who submitted written 

2 comments under subsection (d) in response to the request 

3 (or counsel for such interested party) to appear before the 

4 Commission to present testimony in response to the re5 quest.’’. 

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

7 subsection (a) shall apply with respect to requests for advi8 sory opinions under section 308 of the Federal Election 

9 Campaign Act of 1971 which are made on or after the 

10 date of the enactment of this Act. 

11 SEC. 5006. PERMANENT EXTENSION OF ADMINISTRATIVE 

12 PENALTY AUTHORITY. 

13 (a) EXTENSION OF AUTHORITY.—Section 

14 309(a)(4)(C)(v) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 

15 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30109(a)(4)(C)(v)) is amended by strik16 ing ‘‘, and that end on or before December 31, 2018’’. 

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

18 subsection (a) shall take effect on December 31, 2018. 

19 SEC. 5007. EFFECTIVE DATE; TRANSITION. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise provided, the 

21 amendments made by this subtitle shall apply beginning 

22 January 1, 2022. 

23 (b) TRANSITION.— 

24 (1) TERMINATION OF SERVICE OF CURRENT

25 MEMBERS.—Notwithstanding any provision of the 


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1 Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, the term of 

2 any individual serving as a member of the Federal 

3 Election Commission as of December 31, 2021, shall 

4 expire on that date. 

5 (2) NO EFFECT ON EXISTING CASES OR PRO6 CEEDINGS.—Nothing in this subtitle or in any 

7 amendment made by this subtitle shall affect any of 

8 the powers exercised by the Federal Election Com9 mission prior to December 31, 2021, including any 

10 investigation initiated by the Commission prior to 

11 such date or any proceeding (including any enforce12 ment action) pending as of such date. 

13 Subtitle B—Stopping Super PAC– 

14 Candidate Coordination 

15 SEC. 5101. SHORT TITLE. 

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

17 Candidate Coordination Act’’. 

18 SEC. 5102. CLARIFICATION OF TREATMENT OF COORDI19 NATED EXPENDITURES AS CONTRIBUTIONS 

20 TO CANDIDATES. 

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

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


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

2 (ii) and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

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

4 clause: 

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

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

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

10 which is not otherwise treated as a contribution 

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

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

13 30101 et seq.), as amended by section 4702(a), is amend14 ed by adding at the end the following new section: 

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

16 ‘‘(a) COORDINATED EXPENDITURES.— 

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

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

19 means— 

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

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

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


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1 a political party, or agents of the candidate or 

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

3 ‘‘(B) any payment for any communication 

4 which republishes, disseminates, or distributes, 

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

6 any written, graphic, or other form of campaign 

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

10 video from any such broadcast or written, 

11 graphic, or other form of campaign material). 

12 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION FOR PAYMENTS FOR CERTAIN

13 COMMUNICATIONS.—A payment for a communication 

14 (including a covered communication described in 

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

16 expenditure under this subsection if— 

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

18 story, commentary, or editorial distributed 

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

21 publication, unless such facilities are owned or 

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

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


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

3 promotes such a debate or forum and is made 

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

6 ‘‘(b) COORDINATION DESCRIBED.— 

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

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

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

14 is made, is not made entirely independently of the 

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

16 previous sentence, a payment or communication not 

17 made entirely independently of the candidate or 

18 committee includes any payment or communication 

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

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

22 payment or communication. 

23 ‘‘(2) NO FINDING OF COORDINATION BASED

24 SOLELY ON SHARING OF INFORMATION REGARDING

25 LEGISLATIVE OR POLICY POSITION.—For purposes 


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

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

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

4 candidate or committee, solely on the grounds that 

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

7 agent of the candidate or committee, regarding that 

8 person’s position on a legislative or policy matter 

9 (including urging the candidate or committee to 

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

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

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

16 other campaign activities. 

17 ‘‘(3) NO EFFECT ON PARTY COORDINATION

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

20 between a candidate and a political committee of a 

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

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

24 a payment in cooperation, consultation, or concert 

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


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

3 and used a firewall or similar procedures to restrict 

4 the sharing of information between individuals who 

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

6 person making the payment. 

7 ‘‘(c) PAYMENTS BY COORDINATED SPENDERS FOR

8 COVERED COMMUNICATIONS.— 

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

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

12 makes a payment for a covered communication, as 

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

14 under paragraph (2) with respect to the candidate 

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

16 the covered communication is made in cooperation, 

17 consultation, or concert with the candidate. 

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

19 purposes of this subsection, the term ‘coordinated 

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

21 authorized committee of a candidate, a person (other 

22 than a political committee of a political party) for 

23 which any of the following applies: 

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

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1 ment, the person was directly or indirectly 

2 formed or established by or at the request or 

3 suggestion of, or with the encouragement of, 

4 the candidate (including an individual who later 

5 becomes a candidate) or committee or agents of 

6 the candidate or committee, including with the 

7 approval of the candidate or committee or 

8 agents of the candidate or committee. 

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

10 agent of the candidate or committee solicits 

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

14 including by providing the person with names of 

15 potential donors or other lists to be used by the 

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

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

20 cycle’ means, with respect to an election for 

21 Federal office, the period beginning on the day 

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

24 resulted in a runoff election, the date of the 

25 runoff election) and ending on the date of the 


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

2 general election resulted in a runoff election, 

3 the date of the runoff election). 

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

5 managed by the candidate or committee or by 

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

8 payment, has been employed or retained as a 

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

13 or has held a formal position with the candidate 

14 or committee (including a position as an em15 ployee of the office of the candidate at any time 

16 the candidate held any Federal, State, or local 

17 public office during the 4-year period). 

18 ‘‘(D) The person has retained the profes19 sional services of any person who, during the 2- 

20 year period ending on the date on which the 

21 person makes the payment, has provided or is 

22 providing professional services relating to the 

23 campaign to the candidate or committee, with24 out regard to whether the person providing the 

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1 poses of this subparagraph, the term ‘profes2 sional services’ includes any services in support 

3 of the candidate’s or committee’s campaign ac4 tivities, including advertising, message, strat5 egy, policy, polling, allocation of resources, 

6 fundraising, and campaign operations, but does 

7 not include accounting or legal services. 

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

9 managed by a member of the immediate family 

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

11 agent of the person has had more than inci12 dental discussions about the candidate’s cam13 paign with a member of the immediate family 

14 of the candidate. For purposes of this subpara15 graph, the term ‘immediate family’ has the 

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

17 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. 

18 ‘‘(d) COVERED COMMUNICATION DEFINED.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this sec20 tion, the term ‘covered communication’ means, with 

21 respect to a candidate or an authorized committee of 

22 a candidate, a public communication (as defined in 

23 section 301(22)) which— 

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

25 candidate or the defeat of an opponent of the 


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1 candidate (or contains the functional equivalent 

2 of express advocacy); 

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

4 or attacks or opposes an opponent of the can5 didate (regardless of whether the communica6 tion expressly advocates the election or defeat 

7 of a candidate or contains the functional equiv8 alent of express advocacy); or 

9 ‘‘(C) refers to the candidate or an oppo10 nent of the candidate but is not described in 

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

12 only if the communication is disseminated dur13 ing the applicable election period. 

14 ‘‘(2) APPLICABLE ELECTION PERIOD.—In para15 graph (1)(C), the ‘applicable election period’ with re16 spect to a communication means— 

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

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

19 runoff election, the 120-day period which ends 

20 on the date of the election; or 

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

22 refers to a candidate in a primary or preference 

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1 didate, the 60-day period which ends on the 

2 date of the election or convention or caucus. 

3 ‘‘(3) SPECIAL RULES FOR COMMUNICATIONS IN4 VOLVING CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATES.—For pur5 poses of this subsection, a public communication 

6 shall not be considered to be a covered communica7 tion with respect to a candidate for election for an 

8 office other than the office of President or Vice 

9 President unless it is publicly disseminated or dis10 tributed in the jurisdiction of the office the can11 didate is seeking. 

12 ‘‘(e) PENALTY.— 

13 ‘‘(1) DETERMINATION OF AMOUNT.—Any per14 son who knowingly and willfully commits a violation 

15 of this Act by making a contribution which consists 

16 of a payment for a coordinated expenditure shall be 

17 fined an amount equal to the greater of— 

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

19 contribution which consists of a payment for a 

20 coordinated expenditure in an amount exceeding 

21 the applicable contribution limit under this Act, 

22 300 percent of the amount by which the 

23 amount of the payment made by the person ex24 ceeds such applicable contribution limit; or 


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1 ‘‘(B) in the case of a person who is prohib2 ited under this Act from making a contribution 

3 in any amount, 300 percent of the amount of 

4 the payment made by the person for the coordi5 nated expenditure. 

6 ‘‘(2) JOINT AND SEVERAL LIABILITY.—Any di7 rector, manager, or officer of a person who is subject 

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

9 severally liable for any amount of such penalty that 

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

11 the 1-year period which begins on the date the Com12 mission imposes the penalty or the 1-year period 

13 which begins on the date of the final judgment fol14 lowing any judicial review of the Commission’s ac15 tion, whichever is later.’’. 

16 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 

17 (1) REPEAL OF EXISTING REGULATIONS ON CO18 ORDINATION.—Effective upon the expiration of the 

19 90-day period which begins on the date of the enact20 ment of this Act— 

21 (A) the regulations on coordinated commu22 nications adopted by the Federal Election Com23 mission which are in effect on the date of the 

24 enactment of this Act (as set forth in 11 CFR 


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1 Part 109, Subpart C, under the heading ‘‘Co2 ordination’’) are repealed; and 

3 (B) the Federal Election Commission shall 

4 promulgate new regulations on coordinated 

5 communications which reflect the amendments 

6 made by this Act. 

7 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 

8 by this section shall apply with respect to payments 

9 made on or after the expiration of the 120-day pe10 riod which begins on the date of the enactment of 

11 this Act, without regard to whether or not the Fed12 eral Election Commission has promulgated regula13 tions in accordance with paragraph (1)(B) as of the 

14 expiration of such period. 

15 SEC. 5103. CLARIFICATION OF BAN ON FUNDRAISING FOR 

16 SUPER PACS BY FEDERAL CANDIDATES AND 

17 OFFICEHOLDERS. 

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

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

20 is amended— 

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

22 (A); 

23 (2) by striking the period at the end of sub24 paragraph (B) and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 


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1 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub2 paragraph: 

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

4 funds to or on behalf of any political committee 

5 which accepts donations or contributions that 

6 do not comply with the limitations, prohibitions, 

7 and reporting requirements of this Act (or to or 

8 on behalf of any account of a political com9 mittee which is established for the purpose of 

10 accepting such donations or contributions), or 

11 to or on behalf of any political organization 

12 under section 527 of the Internal Revenue Code 

13 of 1986 which accepts such donations or con14 tributions (other than a committee of a State or 

15 local political party or a candidate for election 

16 for State or local office).’’. 

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

18 subsection (a) shall apply with respect to elections occur19 ring after January 1, 2020. 

20 Subtitle C—Severability 

21 SEC. 5201. SEVERABILITY. 

22 If any provision of this title or amendment made by 

23 this title, or the application of a provision or amendment 

24 to any person or circumstance, is held to be unconstitu25 tional, the remainder of this title and amendments made 


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1 by this title, and the application of the provisions and 

2 amendment to any person or circumstance, shall not be 

3 affected by the holding. 

4 DIVISION C—ETHICS 

5 TITLE VI—ETHICAL STANDARDS 

Subtitle A—Supreme Court Ethics 

Sec. 6001. Code of conduct for Federal judges. 

Subtitle B—Foreign Agents Registration 

Sec. 6101. Establishment of FARA investigation and enforcement unit within 

Department of Justice. 

Sec. 6102. Authority to impose civil money penalties. 

Sec. 6103. Disclosure of transactions involving things of financial value conferred on officeholders. 

Subtitle C—Lobbying Disclosure Reform 

Sec. 6201. Expanding scope of individuals and activities subject to requirements of Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995. 

Subtitle D—Recusal of Presidential Appointees 

Sec. 6301. Recusal of appointees. 

Subtitle E—Severability 

Sec. 6401. Severability. 

6 Subtitle A—Supreme Court Ethics 

7 SEC. 6001. CODE OF CONDUCT FOR FEDERAL JUDGES. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 57 of title 28, United 

9 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol10 lowing: 

11 ‘‘§ 964. Code of conduct 

12 ‘‘Not later than one year after the date of the enact13 ment of this section, the Judicial Conference shall issue 

14 a code of conduct, which applies to each justice and judge 

15 of the United States, except that the code of conduct may 


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1 include provisions that are applicable only to certain cat2 egories of judges or justices.’’. 

3 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

4 for chapter 57 of title 28, United States Code, is amended 

5 by adding after the item related to section 963 the fol6 lowing: 

‘‘964. Code of conduct.’’. 

7 Subtitle B—Foreign Agents 

8 Registration 

9 SEC. 6101. ESTABLISHMENT OF FARA INVESTIGATION AND 

10 ENFORCEMENT UNIT WITHIN DEPARTMENT 

11 OF JUSTICE. 

12 Section 8 of the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 

13 1938, as amended (22 U.S.C. 618) is amended by adding 

14 at the end the following new subsection: 

15 ‘‘(i) DEDICATED ENFORCEMENT UNIT.— 

16 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 180 

17 days after the date of enactment of this subsection, 

18 the Attorney General shall establish a unit within 

19 the counterespionage section of the National Secu20 rity Division of the Department of Justice with re21 sponsibility for the enforcement of this Act. 

22 ‘‘(2) POWERS.—The unit established under this 

23 subsection is authorized to— 

24 ‘‘(A) take appropriate legal action against 

25 individuals suspected of violating this Act; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) coordinate any such legal action with 

2 the United States Attorney for the relevant ju3 risdiction. 

4 ‘‘(3) CONSULTATION.—In operating the unit es5 tablished under this subsection, the Attorney Gen6 eral shall, as appropriate, consult with the Director 

7 of National Intelligence, the Secretary of Homeland 

8 Security, and the Secretary of State. 

9 ‘‘(4) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

10 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

11 the activities of the unit established under this sub12 section $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2019 and each 

13 succeeding fiscal year.’’. 

14 SEC. 6102. AUTHORITY TO IMPOSE CIVIL MONEY PEN15 ALTIES. 

16 (a) ESTABLISHING AUTHORITY.—Section 8 of the 

17 Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, as amended (22 

18 U.S.C. 618) is amended by inserting after subsection (c) 

19 the following new subsection: 

20 ‘‘(d) CIVIL MONEY PENALTIES.— 

21 ‘‘(1) REGISTRATION STATEMENTS.—Whoever 

22 fails to file timely or complete a registration state23 ment as provided under section 2(a) shall be subject 

24 to a civil money penalty of not more than $10,000 

25 per violation. 


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1 ‘‘(2) SUPPLEMENTS.—Whoever fails to file 

2 timely or complete supplements as provided under 

3 section 2(b) shall be subject to a civil money penalty 

4 of not more than $1,000 per violation. 

5 ‘‘(3) OTHER VIOLATIONS.—Whoever knowingly 

6 fails to— 

7 ‘‘(A) remedy a defective filing within 60 

8 days after notice of such defect by the Attorney 

9 General; or 

10 ‘‘(B) comply with any other provision of 

11 this Act, 

12 shall upon proof of such knowing violation by a pre13 ponderance of the evidence, be subject to a civil 

14 money penalty of not more than $200,000, depend15 ing on the extent and gravity of the violation. 

16 ‘‘(4) NO FINES PAID BY FOREIGN PRIN17 CIPALS.—A civil money penalty paid under para18 graph (1) may not be paid, directly or indirectly, by 

19 a foreign principal. 

20 ‘‘(5) USE OF FINES.—All civil money penalties 

21 collected under this subsection shall be used to de22 fray the cost of the enforcement unit established 

23 under subsection (i).’’. 


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

2 subsection (a) shall take effect on the date of the enact3 ment of this Act. 

4 SEC. 6103. DISCLOSURE OF TRANSACTIONS INVOLVING 

5 THINGS OF FINANCIAL VALUE CONFERRED 

6 ON OFFICEHOLDERS. 

7 (a) REQUIRING AGENTS TO DISCLOSE KNOWN

8 TRANSACTIONS.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 2(a) of the Foreign 

10 Agents Registration Act of 1938, as amended (22 

11 U.S.C. 612(a)) is amended— 

12 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (10) and 

13 (11) as paragraphs (11) and (12); and 

14 (B) by inserting after paragraph (9) the 

15 following new paragraph: 

16 ‘‘(10) To the extent that the registrant has 

17 knowledge of any transaction which occurred in the 

18 preceding 60 days and in which the foreign principal 

19 for whom the registrant is acting as an agent con20 ferred on a Federal or State officeholder any thing 

21 of financial value, including a gift, profit, salary, fa22 vorable regulatory treatment, or any other direct or 

23 indirect economic or financial benefit, a detailed 

24 statement describing each such transaction.’’. 


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1 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 

2 by paragraph (1) shall apply with respect to state3 ments filed on or after the expiration of the 90-day 

4 period which begins on the date of the enactment of 

5 this Act. 

6 (b) SUPPLEMENTAL DISCLOSURE FOR CURRENT

7 REGISTRANTS.—Not later than the expiration of the 90- 

8 day period which begins on the date of the enactment of 

9 this Act, each registrant who (prior to the expiration of 

10 such period) filed a registration statement with the Attor11 ney General under section 2(a) of the Foreign Agents Reg12 istration Act of 1938, as amended (22 U.S.C. 612(a)) and 

13 who has knowledge of any transaction described in para14 graph (10) of section 2(a) of such Act (as added by sub15 section (a)(1)) which occurred at any time during which 

16 the registrant was an agent of the foreign principal in17 volved, shall file with the Attorney General a supplement 

18 to such statement under oath, on a form prescribed by 

19 the Attorney General, containing a detailed statement de20 scribing each such transaction. 


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1 Subtitle C—Lobbying Disclosure 

2 Reform 

3 SEC. 6201. EXPANDING SCOPE OF INDIVIDUALS AND AC4 TIVITIES SUBJECT TO REQUIREMENTS OF 

5 LOBBYING DISCLOSURE ACT OF 1995. 

6 (a) COVERAGE OF INDIVIDUALS PROVIDING LEGIS7 LATIVE, POLITICAL, AND STRATEGIC COUNSELING SERV8 ICES.— 

9 (1) TREATMENT OF LEGISLATIVE, POLITICAL, 

10 AND STRATEGIC COUNSELING SERVICES IN SUPPORT

11 OF LOBBYING CONTACTS AS LOBBYING ACTIVITY.— 

12 Section 3(7) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 1602(7)) is 

13 amended— 

14 (A) by striking ‘‘efforts’’ and inserting 

15 ‘‘any efforts’’; and 

16 (B) by striking ‘‘research and other back17 ground work’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘leg18 islative, political, and strategic counseling serv19 ices, research, and other background work’’. 

20 (2) TREATMENT OF LOBBYING CONTACT MADE

21 WITH SUPPORT OF LEGISLATIVE, POLITICAL, AND

22 STRATEGIC COUNSELING SERVICES AS LOBBYING

23 CONTACT MADE BY INDIVIDUAL PROVIDING SERV24 ICES.—Section 3(8) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 1602(8)) 


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1 is amended by adding at the end the following new 

2 subparagraph: 

3 ‘‘(C) TREATMENT OF PROVIDERS OF LEG4 ISLATIVE, POLITICAL, AND STRATEGIC COUN5 SELING SERVICES.—Any individual who for fi6 nancial or other compensation provides legisla7 tive, political, and strategic counseling services 

8 which are treated as lobbying activity under 

9 paragraph (7), and which are used in support 

10 of a lobbying contact under this paragraph 

11 which is made by another individual, shall be 

12 considered to have made the same lobbying con13 tact at the same time and in the same manner 

14 to the covered executive branch official or cov15 ered legislative branch official involved.’’. 

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

17 this section shall apply with respect to lobbying contacts 

18 made on or after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

19 Subtitle D—Recusal of Presidential 

20 Appointees 

21 SEC. 6301. RECUSAL OF APPOINTEES. 

22 Section 208 of title 18, United States Code, is 

23 amended by adding at the end the following: 

24 ‘‘(e)(1) Any officer or employee appointed by the 

25 President shall recuse himself or herself from any parVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:43 Mar 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00256 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1612.IH H1612

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1 ticular matter involving specific parties in which a party 

2 to that matter is— 

3 ‘‘(A) the President who appointed the officer or 

4 employee, which shall include any entity in which the 

5 President has a substantial interest; or 

6 ‘‘(B) the spouse of the President who appointed 

7 the officer or employee, which shall include any enti8 ty in which the spouse of the President has a sub9 stantial interest. 

10 ‘‘(2)(A) Subject to subparagraph (B), if an officer or 

11 employee is recused under paragraph (1), a career ap12 pointee in the agency of the officer or employee shall per13 form the functions and duties of the officer or employee 

14 with respect to the matter. 

15 ‘‘(B)(i) In this subparagraph, the term ‘Commission’ 

16 means a board, commission, or other agency for which the 

17 authority of the agency is vested in more than 1 member. 

18 ‘‘(ii) If the recusal of a member of a Commission 

19 from a matter under paragraph (1) would result in there 

20 not being a statutorily required quorum of members of the 

21 Commission available to participate in the matter, not22 withstanding such statute or any other provision of law, 

23 the members of the Commission not recused under para24 graph (1) may— 


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1 ‘‘(I) consider the matter without regard to the 

2 quorum requirement under such statute; 

3 ‘‘(II) delegate the authorities and responsibil4 ities of the Commission with respect to the matter 

5 to a subcommittee of the Commission; or 

6 ‘‘(III) designate an officer or employee of the 

7 Commission who was not appointed by the President 

8 who appointed the member of the Commission 

9 recused from the matter to exercise the authorities 

10 and duties of the recused member with respect to 

11 the matter. 

12 ‘‘(3) Any officer or employee who violates paragraph 

13 (1) shall be subject to the penalties set forth in section 

14 216. 

15 ‘‘(4) For purposes of this section, the term ‘particular 

16 matter’ shall have the meaning given the term in section 

17 207(i).’’. 

18 Subtitle E—Severability 

19 SEC. 6401. SEVERABILITY. 

20 If any provision of this title or amendment made by 

21 this title, or the application of a provision or amendment 

22 to any person or circumstance, is held to be unconstitu23 tional, the remainder of this title and amendments made 

24 by this title, and the application of the provisions and 


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1 amendment to any person or circumstance, shall not be 

2 affected by the holding. 

3 TITLE VII—ETHICS REFORMS 

4 FOR THE PRESIDENT, VICE 

5 PRESIDENT, AND FEDERAL 

6 OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES 

Subtitle A—Executive Branch Conflict of Interest 

Sec. 7001. Short title. 

Sec. 7002. Restrictions on private sector payment for Government service. 

Sec. 7003. Requirements relating to slowing the revolving door. 

Sec. 7004. Prohibition of procurement officers accepting employment from Government contractors. 

Sec. 7005. Revolving door restrictions on employees moving into the private 

sector. 

Subtitle B—Presidential Conflicts of Interest 

Sec. 7011. Short title. 

Sec. 7012. Divestiture of personal financial interests of the President and Vice 

President that pose a potential conflict of interest. 

Sec. 7013. Initial financial disclosure. 

Sec. 7014. Contracts by the President or Vice President. 

Subtitle C—White House Ethics Transparency 

Sec. 7021. Short title. 

Sec. 7022. Procedure for waivers and authorizations relating to ethics requirements. 

Subtitle D—Executive Branch Ethics Enforcement 

Sec. 7031. Short title. 

Sec. 7032. Reauthorization of the Office of Government Ethics. 

Sec. 7033. Tenure of the Director of the Office of Government Ethics. 

Sec. 7034. Duties of Director of the Office of Government Ethics. 

Sec. 7035. Agency ethics officials training and duties. 

Subtitle E—Conflicts From Political Fundraising 

Sec. 7041. Short title. 

Sec. 7042. Disclosure of certain types of contributions. 

Subtitle F—Transition Team Ethics 

Sec. 7051. Short title. 

Sec. 7052. Presidential transition ethics programs. 

Subtitle G—Ethics Pledge for Senior Executive Branch Employees 

Sec. 7061. Short title. 


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Sec. 7062. Ethics pledge requirement for senior executive branch employees. 

Subtitle H—Severability 

Sec. 7071. Severability. 

1 Subtitle A—Executive Branch 

2 Conflict of Interest 

3 SEC. 7001. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘Executive Branch 

5 Conflict of Interest Act’’. 

6 SEC. 7002. RESTRICTIONS ON PRIVATE SECTOR PAYMENT 

7 FOR GOVERNMENT SERVICE. 

8 Section 209 of title 18, United States Code, is 

9 amended— 

10 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘any salary’’ 

11 and inserting ‘‘any salary (including a bonus)’’; and 

12 (2) in subsection (b)— 

13 (A) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ after ‘‘(b)’’; and 

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

15 ‘‘(2) For purposes of paragraph (1), a pension, 

16 retirement, group life, health or accident insurance, 

17 profit-sharing, stock bonus, or other employee wel18 fare or benefit plan that makes payment of any por19 tion of compensation contingent on accepting a posi20 tion in the United States Government shall not be 

21 considered bona fide.’’. 


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1 SEC. 7003. REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO SLOWING THE RE2 VOLVING DOOR. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Ethics in Government Act of 

4 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended by adding at the end 

5 the following: 

6 ‘‘TITLE VI—ENHANCED RE7 QUIREMENTS FOR CERTAIN 

8 EMPLOYEES 

9 ‘‘SEC. 601. DEFINITIONS. 

10 ‘‘In this title: 

11 ‘‘(1) COVERED AGENCY.—The term ‘covered 

12 agency’— 

13 ‘‘(A) means an Executive agency, as de14 fined in section 105 of title 5, United States 

15 Code, the Postal Service and the Postal Rate 

16 Commission, but does not include the Govern17 ment Accountability Office or the Government 

18 of the District of Columbia; and 

19 ‘‘(B) shall include the Executive Office of 

20 the President. 

21 ‘‘(2) COVERED EMPLOYEE.—The term ‘covered 

22 employee’ means an officer or employee referred to 

23 in paragraph (2) of section 207(c) of title 18, 

24 United States Code. 

25 ‘‘(3) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘Director’ means 

26 the Director of the Office of Government Ethics. 


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1 ‘‘(4) EXECUTIVE BRANCH.—The term ‘execu2 tive branch’ has the meaning given that term in sec3 tion 109. 

4 ‘‘(5) FORMER CLIENT.—The term ‘former cli5 ent’— 

6 ‘‘(A) means a person for whom a covered 

7 employee served personally as an agent, attor8 ney, or consultant during the 2-year period end9 ing on the date before the date on which the 

10 covered employee begins service in the Federal 

11 Government; and 

12 ‘‘(B) does not include— 

13 ‘‘(i) instances in which the service 

14 provided was limited to a speech or similar 

15 appearance by the covered employee; or 

16 ‘‘(ii) a client of the former employer 

17 of the covered employee to whom the cov18 ered employee did not personally provide 

19 such services. 

20 ‘‘(6) FORMER EMPLOYER.—The term ‘former 

21 employer’— 

22 ‘‘(A) means a person for whom a covered 

23 employee served as an employee, officer, direc24 tor, trustee, or general partner during the 2 

25 year period ending on the date before the date 


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1 on which the covered employee begins service in 

2 the Federal Government; and 

3 ‘‘(B) does not include— 

4 ‘‘(i) an entity in the Federal Govern5 ment, including an executive branch agen6 cy; 

7 ‘‘(ii) a State or local government; 

8 ‘‘(iii) the District of Columbia; 

9 ‘‘(iv) an Indian tribe, as defined in 

10 section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination 

11 and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 

12 5304); or 

13 ‘‘(v) the government of a territory or 

14 possession of the United States. 

15 ‘‘(7) PARTICULAR MATTER.—The term ‘par16 ticular matter’ has the meaning given that term in 

17 section 207(i) of title 18, United States Code. 

18 ‘‘SEC. 602. CONFLICT OF INTEREST AND ELIGIBILITY 

19 STANDARDS. 

20 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A covered employee may not use, 

21 or attempt to use, the official position of the covered em22 ployee to participate in a particular matter in which the 

23 covered employee knows a former employer or former cli24 ent of the covered employee has a financial interest. 

25 ‘‘(b) WAIVER.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The head of the covered 

2 agency employing a covered employee, in consulta3 tion with the Director, may grant a written waiver 

4 of the restrictions under subsection (a) prior to en5 gaging in the action otherwise prohibited by sub6 section (a) if, and to the extent that, the head of the 

7 covered agency certifies in writing that— 

8 ‘‘(A) the application of the restriction to 

9 the particular matter is inconsistent with the 

10 purposes of the restriction; or 

11 ‘‘(B) it is in the public interest to grant 

12 the waiver. 

13 ‘‘(2) PUBLICATION.—The head of the covered 

14 agency shall provide a waiver under paragraph (1) 

15 to the Director and post the waiver on the website 

16 of the agency within 30 calendar days after granting 

17 such waiver. 

18 ‘‘SEC. 603. PENALTIES AND INJUNCTIONS. 

19 ‘‘(a) CRIMINAL PENALTIES.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any person who violates 

21 section 602 shall be fined under title 18, United 

22 States Code, imprisoned for not more than 1 year, 

23 or both. 

24 ‘‘(2) WILLFUL VIOLATIONS.—Any person who 

25 willfully violates section 602 shall be fined under 


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1 title 18, United States Code, imprisoned for not 

2 more than 5 years, or both. 

3 ‘‘(b) CIVIL ENFORCEMENT.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General may 

5 bring a civil action in an appropriate district court 

6 of the United States against any person who vio7 lates, or whom the Attorney General has reason to 

8 believe is engaging in conduct that violates, section 

9 602. 

10 ‘‘(2) CIVIL PENALTY.— 

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If the court finds by 

12 a preponderance of the evidence that a person 

13 violated section 602, the court shall impose a 

14 civil penalty of not more than the greater of— 

15 ‘‘(i) $100,000 for each violation; or 

16 ‘‘(ii) the amount of compensation the 

17 person received or was offered for the con18 duct constituting the violation. 

19 ‘‘(B) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—A civil 

20 penalty under this subsection may be in addi21 tion to any other criminal or civil statutory, 

22 common law, or administrative remedy available 

23 to the United States or any other person. 

24 ‘‘(3) INJUNCTIVE RELIEF.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In a civil action 

2 brought under paragraph (1) against a person, 

3 the Attorney General may petition the court for 

4 an order prohibiting the person from engaging 

5 in conduct that violates section 602. 

6 ‘‘(B) STANDARD.—The court may issue an 

7 order under subparagraph (A) if the court finds 

8 by a preponderance of the evidence that the 

9 conduct of the person violates section 602. 

10 ‘‘(C) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—The filing 

11 of a petition seeking injunctive relief under this 

12 paragraph shall not preclude any other remedy 

13 that is available by law to the United States or 

14 any other person.’’. 

15 SEC. 7004. PROHIBITION OF PROCUREMENT OFFICERS AC16 CEPTING EMPLOYMENT FROM GOVERNMENT 

17 CONTRACTORS. 

18 (a) EXPANSION OF PROHIBITION ON ACCEPTANCE

19 BY FORMER OFFICIALS OF COMPENSATION FROM CON20 TRACTORS.—Section 2104 of title 41, United States Code, 

21 is amended— 

22 (1) in subsection (a)— 

23 (A) in the matter preceding paragraph 

24 (1)— 


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1 (i) by striking ‘‘or consultant’’ and in2 serting ‘‘attorney, consultant, subcon3 tractor, or lobbyist’’; and 

4 (ii) by striking ‘‘one year’’ and insert5 ing ‘‘2 years’’; and 

6 (B) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘person7 ally made for the Federal agency’’ and inserting 

8 ‘‘participated personally and substantially in’’; 

9 and 

10 (2) by striking subsection (b) and inserting the 

11 following: 

12 ‘‘(b) PROHIBITION ON COMPENSATION FROM AFFILI13 ATES AND SUBCONTRACTORS.—A former official respon14 sible for a Government contract referred to in paragraph 

15 (1), (2), or (3) of subsection (a) may not accept compensa16 tion for 2 years after awarding the contract from any divi17 sion, affiliate, or subcontractor of the contractor.’’. 

18 (b) REQUIREMENT FOR PROCUREMENT OFFICERS

19 TO DISCLOSE JOB OFFERS MADE ON BEHALF OF REL20 ATIVES.—Section 2103(a) of title 41, United States Code, 

21 is amended in the matter preceding paragraph (1) by in22 serting after ‘‘that official’’ the following: ‘‘, or for a rel23 ative (as defined in section 3110 of title 5) of that offi24 cial,’’. 


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1 (c) REQUIREMENT ON AWARD OF GOVERNMENT

2 CONTRACTS TO FORMER EMPLOYERS.— 

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 21 of division B of 

4 subtitle I of title 41, United States Code, is amend5 ed by adding at the end the following new section: 

6 ‘‘§ 2108. Prohibition on involvement by certain 

7 former contractor employees in procure8 ments 

9 ‘‘An employee of the Federal Government may not 

10 be personally and substantially involved with any award 

11 of a contract to, or the administration of a contract award12 ed to, a contractor that is a former employer of the em13 ployee during the 2-year period beginning on the date on 

14 which the employee leaves the employment of the con15 tractor.’’. 

16 (2) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMEND17 MENT.—The table of sections for chapter 21 of title 

18 41, United States Code, is amended by adding at 

19 the end the following new item: 

‘‘2108. Prohibition on involvement by certain former contractor employees 

in procurements.’’. 

20 (d) REGULATIONS.—The Administrator for Federal 

21 Procurement Policy and the Director of the Office of Man22 agement and Budget shall— 

23 (1) in consultation with the Director of the Of24 fice of Personnel Management and the Counsel to 


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1 the President, promulgate regulations to carry out 

2 and ensure the enforcement of chapter 21 of title 

3 41, United States Code, as amended by this section; 

4 and 

5 (2) in consultation with designated agency eth6 ics officials (as that term is defined in section 

7 109(3) of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (5 

8 U.S.C. App.)), monitor compliance with that chapter 

9 by individuals and agencies. 

10 SEC. 7005. REVOLVING DOOR RESTRICTIONS ON EMPLOY11 EES MOVING INTO THE PRIVATE SECTOR. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (c) of section 207 of 

13 title 18, United States Code, is amended— 

14 (1) in the subsection heading, by striking 

15 ‘‘ONE-YEAR’’ and inserting ‘‘TWO-YEAR’’; 

16 (2) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘1 year’’ in 

17 each instance and inserting ‘‘2 years’’; and 

18 (3) in paragraph (2)(B), by striking ‘‘1-year’’ 

19 and inserting ‘‘2-year’’. 

20 (b) APPLICATION.—The amendments made by sub21 section (a) shall apply to any individual covered by sub22 section (c) of section 207 of title 18, United States Code, 

23 separating from the civil service on or after the date of 

24 enactment of this Act. 


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1 Subtitle B—Presidential Conflicts 

2 of Interest 

3 SEC. 7011. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘Presidential Con5 flicts of Interest Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 7012. DIVESTITURE OF PERSONAL FINANCIAL INTER7 ESTS OF THE PRESIDENT AND VICE PRESI8 DENT THAT POSE A POTENTIAL CONFLICT OF 

9 INTEREST. 

10 It is the sense of Congress that the President and 

11 the Vice President should conduct themselves as if they 

12 were bound by section 208 of title 18, United States Code, 

13 by divesting conflicting assets in accordance with that sec14 tion and implementing regulations issued by the Office of 

15 Government Ethics, or by establishing a qualified blind 

16 trust (as that term is defined in section 102(f)(3) of the 

17 Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.)), or 

18 both. 

19 SEC. 7013. INITIAL FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE. 

20 Subsection (a) of section 101 of the Ethics in Govern21 ment Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended by striking 

22 ‘‘position’’ and adding at the end the following: ‘‘position, 

23 with the exception of the President and Vice President, 

24 who must file a new report.’’. 


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1 SEC. 7014. CONTRACTS BY THE PRESIDENT OR VICE PRESI2 DENT. 

3 (a) AMENDMENT.—Section 431 of title 18, United 

4 States Code, is amended— 

5 (1) in the section heading, by inserting ‘‘the 

6 President, Vice President, or a’’ after 

7 ‘‘Contracts by’’; and 

8 (2) in the first undesignated paragraph, by in9 serting ‘‘the President or Vice President,’’ after 

10 ‘‘Whoever, being’’. 

11 (b) TABLE OF SECTIONS AMENDMENT.—The table of 

12 sections for chapter 23 of title 18, United States Code, 

13 is amended by striking the item relating to section 431 

14 and inserting the following: 

‘‘431. Contracts by the President, Vice President, or a Member of Congress.’’. 

15 Subtitle C—White House Ethics 

16 Transparency 

17 SEC. 7021. SHORT TITLE. 

18 This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘White House Eth19 ics Transparency Act of 2019’’. 

20 SEC. 7022. PROCEDURE FOR WAIVERS AND AUTHORIZA21 TIONS RELATING TO ETHICS REQUIREMENTS. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi23 sion of law, not later than 30 days after an officer or em24 ployee issues or approves a waiver or authorization pursu25 ant to section 3 of Executive Order 13770 (82 Fed. Reg. 


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1 9333), or any subsequent similar order, such officer or 

2 employee shall— 

3 (1) transmit a written copy of such waiver or 

4 authorization to the Director of the Office of Gov5 ernment Ethics; and 

6 (2) make a written copy of such waiver or au7 thorization available to the public on the website of 

8 the employing agency of the covered employee. 

9 (b) RETROACTIVE APPLICATION.—In the case of a 

10 waiver or authorization described in subsection (a) issued 

11 during the period beginning on January 20, 2017, and 

12 ending on the date of enactment of this Act, the issuing 

13 officer or employee of such waiver or authorization shall 

14 comply with the requirements of paragraphs (1) and (2) 

15 of such subsection not later than 30 days after the date 

16 of enactment of this Act. 

17 (c) OFFICE OF GOVERNMENT ETHICS PUBLIC AVAIL18 ABILITY.—Not later than 14 days after receiving a written 

19 copy of a waiver or authorization under subsection (a)(1), 

20 the Director of the Office of Government Ethics shall 

21 make such waiver or authorization available to the public 

22 on the website of the Office of Government Ethics. 

23 (d) DEFINITION OF COVERED EMPLOYEE.—In this 

24 section, the term ‘‘covered employee’’— 


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1 (1) means a full-time, noncareer Presidential or 

2 Vice Presidential appointee, noncareer appointee in 

3 the Senior Executive Service (or other SES-type sys4 tem), or an appointee to a position that has been ex5 cepted from the competitive service by reason of 

6 being of a confidential or policymaking character 

7 (Schedule C and other positions excepted under com8 parable criteria) in an executive agency; and 

9 (2) does not include any individual appointed as 

10 a member of the Senior Foreign Service or solely as 

11 a uniformed service commissioned officer. 

12 Subtitle D—Executive Branch 

13 Ethics Enforcement 

14 SEC. 7031. SHORT TITLE. 

15 This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘Executive Branch 

16 Comprehensive Ethics Enforcement Act of 2019’’. 

17 SEC. 7032. REAUTHORIZATION OF THE OFFICE OF GOVERN18 MENT ETHICS. 

19 Section 405 of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 

20 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended by striking ‘‘fiscal year 2007’’ 

21 and inserting ‘‘fiscal years 2019 through 2023.’’. 

22 SEC. 7033. TENURE OF THE DIRECTOR OF THE OFFICE OF 

23 GOVERNMENT ETHICS. 

24 Section 401(b) of the Ethics in Government Act of 

25 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended by striking the period 


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1 at the end and inserting ‘‘, subject to removal only for 

2 inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office. The 

3 Director may continue to serve beyond the expiration of 

4 the term until a successor is appointed and has qualified, 

5 except that the Director may not continue to serve for 

6 more than one year after the date on which the term would 

7 otherwise expire under this subsection.’’. 

8 SEC. 7034. DUTIES OF DIRECTOR OF THE OFFICE OF GOV9 ERNMENT ETHICS. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 402(b) of the Ethics in 

11 Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended— 

12 (1) in paragraph (1)— 

13 (A) by striking ‘‘developing, in consulta14 tion’’ and inserting ‘‘consulting’’; 

15 (B) by striking ‘‘Management, rules, and 

16 regulations to be promulgated by the President 

17 or the Director,’’ and inserting ‘‘Management 

18 for input on the promulgation of rules and reg19 ulations to be promulgated by the Director’’; 

20 and 

21 (C) by striking ‘‘title II’’ and inserting 

22 ‘‘title I’’; 

23 (2) by striking paragraph (2) and inserting the 

24 following: 


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1 ‘‘(2) providing mandatory education and train2 ing programs for designated agency ethics officials, 

3 which may be delegated to each agency or the White 

4 House Counsel as deemed appropriate by the Direc5 tor;’’; 

6 (3) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘title II’’ and 

7 inserting ‘‘title I’’; 

8 (4) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘problems’’ 

9 and inserting ‘‘issues’’; 

10 (5) in paragraph (6), by striking ‘‘problems’’ 

11 and inserting ‘‘issues’’; 

12 (6) in paragraph (7)— 

13 (A) by striking ‘‘, when requested,’’; and 

14 (B) by striking ‘‘conflict of interest prob15 lems’’ and inserting ‘‘conflicts of interest, as 

16 well as other ethics issues’’; 

17 (7) in paragraph (9)— 

18 (A) by striking ‘‘ordering’’ and inserting 

19 ‘‘receiving allegations of violations of this Act 

20 and, when necessary, investigating an allegation 

21 to determine whether a violation occurred, and 

22 ordering’’; and 

23 (B) by inserting before the semi-colon the 

24 following: ‘‘, and recommending appropriate 

25 disciplinary action’’; 


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1 (8) in paragraph (12)— 

2 (A) by striking ‘‘evaluating, with the as3 sistance of’’ and inserting ‘‘promulgating, with 

4 input from’’; 

5 (B) by striking ‘‘the need for’’; and 

6 (C) by striking ‘‘conflict of interest and 

7 ethical problems’’ and inserting ‘‘conflict of in8 terest and ethics issues’’; 

9 (9) in paragraph (13)— 

10 (A) by striking ‘‘with the Attorney Gen11 eral’’ and inserting ‘‘with the Inspectors Gen12 eral and the Attorney General’’; 

13 (B) by striking ‘‘violations of the conflict 

14 of interest laws’’ and inserting ‘‘conflict of in15 terest issues and allegations of violations of eth16 ics laws and regulations and this Act’’; and 

17 (C) by striking ‘‘, as required by section 

18 535 of title 28, United States Code’’; 

19 (10) in paragraph (14), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

20 the end; 

21 (11) in paragraph (15)— 

22 (A) by striking ‘‘title II’’ and inserting 

23 ‘‘title I’’; and 

24 (B) by striking the period at the end and 

25 inserting a semicolon; and 


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

2 ‘‘(16) directing and providing final approval, 

3 when determined appropriate by the Director, for 

4 designated agency ethics officials regarding the reso5 lution of conflicts of interest as well as any other 

6 ethics issues under the purview of this Act in indi7 vidual cases; and 

8 ‘‘(17) reviewing and approving, when deter9 mined appropriate by the Director, any recusals, ex10 emptions, or waivers from the conflicts of interest 

11 and ethics laws, rules, and regulations and making 

12 approved recusals, exemptions, and waivers made 

13 publicly available by the relevant agency available in 

14 a central location on the official website of the Office 

15 of Government Ethics.’’. 

16 (b) WRITTEN PROCEDURES.—Section 402(d) of the 

17 Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is 

18 amended— 

19 (1) in paragraph (1)— 

20 (A) by striking ‘‘, by the exercise of any 

21 authority otherwise available to the Director 

22 under this title,’’; and 

23 (B) by striking ‘‘the agency is’’. 


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1 (c) CORRECTIVE ACTIONS.—Section 402(f) of the 

2 Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is 

3 amended— 

4 (1) in paragraph (1)— 

5 (A) in clause (i) of subparagraph (A), by 

6 striking ‘‘of such agency’’; and 

7 (B) in subparagraph (B), by inserting at 

8 the end ‘‘and determine that a violation of this 

9 Act has occurred and issue appropriate admin10 istrative or legal remedies as prescribed in para11 graph (2)’’; 

12 (2) in paragraph (2)— 

13 (A) in subparagraph (A)— 

14 (i) in clause (ii)— 

15 (I) in subclause (I)— 

16 (aa) by inserting ‘‘to the 

17 President or the President’s des18 ignee if the matter involves em19 ployees of the Executive Office of 

20 the President or’’ after ‘‘may rec21 ommend’’; and 

22 (bb) by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

23 the end; and 

24 (II) in subclause (II)— 


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1 (aa) by inserting ‘‘President 

2 or’’ after ‘‘determines that the’’; 

3 and 

4 (bb) by adding ‘‘and’’ at the 

5 end; 

6 (ii) in subclause (II) of clause (iii)— 

7 (I) by striking ‘‘notify in writ8 ing,’’ and inserting ‘‘advise the Presi9 dent in writing or order’’; 

10 (II) by inserting ‘‘take appro11 priate disciplinary action including 

12 reprimand, suspension, demotion, or 

13 dismissal against the officer or em14 ployee’’ after ‘‘employee’s agency’’; 

15 and 

16 (III) by striking ‘‘of the officer’s 

17 or employee’s noncompliance, except 

18 that, if the officer or employee in19 volved is the agency head, the notifi20 cation shall instead be submitted to 

21 the President and Congress and’’; and 

22 (iii) by striking clause (iv); 

23 (B) in subparagraph (B)(i)— 

24 (i) by striking ‘‘subparagraph (A)(iii) 

25 or (iv)’’ and inserting ‘‘subparagraph (A)’’; 


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1 (ii) by inserting ‘‘(I)’’ before ‘‘In 

2 order to’’; and 

3 (iii) by adding at the end the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘(II)(aa) The Director may secure directly 

6 from any agency information necessary to en7 able the Director to carry out this Act. Upon 

8 request of the Director, the head of such agency 

9 shall furnish that information to the Director. 

10 ‘‘(bb) The Director may require by sub11 poena the production of all information, docu12 ments, reports, answers, records, accounts, pa13 pers, and other data in any medium and docu14 mentary evidence necessary in the performance 

15 of the functions assigned by this Act, which 

16 subpoena, in the case of refusal to obey, shall 

17 be enforceable by order of any appropriate 

18 United States district court.’’; 

19 (C) in subparagraph (B)(ii)(I)— 

20 (i) by striking ‘‘Subject to clause (iv) 

21 of this subparagraph, before’’ and insert22 ing ‘‘Before’’; and 

23 (ii) by striking ‘‘subparagraphs (A) 

24 (iii) or (iv)’’ and inserting ‘‘subparagraph 

25 (A)(iii)’’; 


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1 (D) in subparagraph (B)(iii), by striking 

2 ‘‘Subject to clause (iv) of this subparagraph, 

3 before’’ and inserting ‘‘Before’’; and 

4 (E) in subparagraph (B)(iv)— 

5 (i) by striking ‘‘title 2’’ and inserting 

6 ‘‘title I’’; and 

7 (ii) by striking ‘‘section 206’’ and in8 serting ‘‘section 104’’; 

9 (3) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘(iv),’’; and 

10 (4) by striking paragraph (5) and inserting the 

11 following: 

12 ‘‘(5)(A) The Office of Government Ethics shall 

13 provide, on the official website of the Office, public 

14 access to records made available by agencies of all 

15 conflicts of interest and ethics laws, rules and regu16 lations, recusals, waivers and exemptions, ethics ad17 visory opinions, ethics agreements of senior executive 

18 branch personnel and employee certificates of dives19 titure, financial disclosure reports, compliance re20 views, enforcement actions, and any other public 

21 records concerning conflicts of interest and ethics 

22 records for the executive branch required by law. 

23 ‘‘(B) All financial disclosure reports and 

24 records related to conflict of interest waivers and 

25 other records of ethics determinations deemed public 


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1 information by the Director or by law shall be made 

2 available to the public either by internet link to such 

3 information if publicly available, or at no charge on 

4 the website of the Office of Government Ethics in a 

5 searchable, sortable, and downloadable format, and 

6 at reasonable fees for reproduction of paper docu7 ments at the Office of Government Ethics.’’. 

8 (d) DEFINITIONS.—Section 402 of the Ethics in Gov9 ernment Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended by add10 ing at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(g) For purposes of this title— 

12 ‘‘(1) the term ‘agency’ shall include the Execu13 tive Office of the President; and 

14 ‘‘(2) the term ‘officer or employee’ shall include 

15 any individual occupying a position, providing any 

16 official services, or acting in an advisory capacity, in 

17 the White House or the Executive Office of the 

18 President. 

19 ‘‘(h) In this title, a reference to the head of an agency 

20 shall include the President or the President’s designee. 

21 ‘‘(i) The Director shall not be required to obtain the 

22 prior approval, comment, or review of any officer or agen23 cy of the United States, including the Office of Manage24 ment and Budget, before submitting to Congress, or any 

25 committee or subcommittee thereof, any information, reVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:43 Mar 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00282 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1612.IH H1612

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1 ports, recommendations, testimony, or comments, if such 

2 submissions include a statement indicating that the views 

3 expressed therein are those of the Director and do not nec4 essarily represent the views of the President.’’. 

5 SEC. 7035. AGENCY ETHICS OFFICIALS TRAINING AND DU6 TIES. 

7 Section 403 of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 

8 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended by adding at the end the fol9 lowing: 

10 ‘‘(c)(1) All designated agency ethics officials and al11 ternate designated agency ethics officials shall register 

12 with, and report to, the Director as well as with the ap13 pointing authority of the official. 

14 ‘‘(2) The Director shall provide ethics education and 

15 training to all designated and alternate designated agency 

16 ethics officials in a time and manner deemed appropriate 

17 by the Director. 

18 ‘‘(d)(1) The head of each agency shall ensure that 

19 all records and information provided to the Director under 

20 this Act shall be provided, to the greatest extent prac21 ticable, in a searchable, sortable, and downloadable for22 mat. 

23 ‘‘(2) The head of each agency shall post on the offi24 cial website of the agency each recusal, waiver, exemption, 

25 ethics advisory opinion, ethics agreement, and certificate 


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1 of divestiture issued by the agency under this Act and its 

2 implanting regulations.’’. 

3 Subtitle E—Conflicts From 

4 Political Fundraising 

5 SEC. 7041. SHORT TITLE. 

6 This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘Conflicts from Po7 litical Fundraising Act of 2019’’. 

8 SEC. 7042. DISCLOSURE OF CERTAIN TYPES OF CONTRIBU9 TIONS. 

10 (a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 109 of the Ethics in Gov11 ernment Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended— 

12 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (2) through 

13 (19) as paragraphs (5) through (22), respectively; 

14 and 

15 (2) by inserting after paragraph (1) the fol16 lowing: 

17 ‘‘(2) ‘covered contribution’ means a payment, 

18 advance, forbearance, rendering, or deposit of 

19 money, or any thing of value— 

20 ‘‘(A)(i) that— 

21 ‘‘(I) is— 

22 ‘‘(aa) made by or on behalf of a 

23 covered individual; or 


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1 ‘‘(bb) solicited in writing by or at 

2 the request of a covered individual; 

3 and 

4 ‘‘(II) is made— 

5 ‘‘(aa) to a political organization, 

6 as defined in section 527 of the Inter7 nal Revenue Code of 1986; or 

8 ‘‘(bb) to an organization— 

9 ‘‘(AA) that is described in 

10 paragraph (4) or (6) of section 

11 501(c) of the Internal Revenue 

12 Code of 1986 and exempt from 

13 tax under section 501(a) of such 

14 Code; and 

15 ‘‘(BB) that promotes or op16 poses changes in Federal laws or 

17 regulations that are (or would 

18 be) administered by the agency in 

19 which the covered individual has 

20 been nominated for appointment 

21 to a covered position or is serving 

22 in a covered position; or 

23 ‘‘(ii) that is— 

24 ‘‘(I) solicited in writing by or on be25 half of a covered individual; and 


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1 ‘‘(II) made— 

2 ‘‘(aa) by an individual or entity 

3 the activities of which are subject to 

4 Federal laws or regulations that are 

5 (or would be) administered by the 

6 agency in which the covered individual 

7 has been nominated for appointment 

8 to a covered position or is serving in 

9 a covered position; and 

10 ‘‘(bb) to— 

11 ‘‘(AA) a political organiza12 tion, as defined in section 527 of 

13 the Internal Revenue Code of 

14 1986; or 

15 ‘‘(BB) an organization that 

16 is described in paragraph (4) or 

17 (6) of section 501(c) of the Inter18 nal Revenue Code of 1986 and 

19 exempt from tax under section 

20 501(a) of such Code; and 

21 ‘‘(B) that is made to an organization de22 scribed in item (aa) or (bb) of clause (i)(II) or 

23 clause (ii)(II)(bb) of subparagraph (A) for 

24 which the total amount of such payments, ad25 vances, forbearances, renderings, or deposits of 


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1 money, or any thing of value, during the cal2 endar year in which it is made is not less than 

3 the contribution limitation in effect under sec4 tion 315(a)(1)(A) of the Federal Election Cam5 paign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30116(a)(1)(A)) 

6 for elections occurring during such calendar 

7 year; 

8 ‘‘(3) ‘covered individual’ means an individual 

9 who has been nominated or appointed to a covered 

10 position; and 

11 ‘‘(4) ‘covered position’— 

12 ‘‘(A) means— 

13 ‘‘(i) a position described under sec14 tions 5312 through 5316 of title 5, United 

15 States Code; 

16 ‘‘(ii) a position placed in level IV or V 

17 of the Executive Schedule under section 

18 5317 of title 5, United States Code; 

19 ‘‘(iii) a position as a limited term ap20 pointee, limited emergency appointee, or 

21 noncareer appointee in the Senior Execu22 tive Service, as defined under paragraphs 

23 (5), (6), and (7), respectively, of section 

24 3132(a) of title 5, United States Code; and 


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1 ‘‘(iv) a position in the executive 

2 branch of the Government of a confidential 

3 or policy-determining character under 

4 schedule C of subpart C of part 213 of 

5 title 5 of the Code of Federal Regulations; 

6 and 

7 ‘‘(B) does not include a position if the in8 dividual serving in the position has been ex9 cluded from the application of section 

10 101(f)(5);’’. 

11 (b) DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS.—The Ethics in 

12 Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended— 

13 (1) in section 101— 

14 (A) in subsection (a)— 

15 (i) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ before ‘‘With16 in’’; 

17 (ii) by striking ‘‘unless’’ and inserting 

18 ‘‘and, if the individual is assuming a cov19 ered position, the information described in 

20 section 102(j), except that, subject to para21 graph (2), the individual shall not be re22 quired to file a report if’’; and 

23 (iii) by adding at the end the fol24 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘(2) If an individual has left a position described in 

2 subsection (f) that is not a covered position and, within 

3 30 days, assumes a position that is a covered position, the 

4 individual shall, within 30 days of assuming the covered 

5 position, file a report containing the information described 

6 in section 102(j)(2)(A).’’; 

7 (B) in subsection (b)(1), in the first sen8 tence, by inserting ‘‘and the information re9 quired by section 102(j)’’ after ‘‘described in 

10 section 102(b)’’; 

11 (C) in subsection (d), by inserting ‘‘and, if 

12 the individual is serving in a covered position, 

13 the information required by section 

14 102(j)(2)(A)’’ after ‘‘described in section 

15 102(a)’’; and 

16 (D) in subsection (e), by inserting ‘‘and, if 

17 the individual was serving in a covered position, 

18 the information required by section 

19 102(j)(2)(A)’’ after ‘‘described in section 

20 102(a)’’; and 

21 (2) in section 102— 

22 (A) in subsection (g), by striking ‘‘Political 

23 campaign funds’’ and inserting ‘‘Except as pro24 vided in subsection (j), political campaign 

25 funds’’; and 


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

2 ‘‘(j)(1) In this subsection— 

3 ‘‘(A) the term ‘applicable period’ means— 

4 ‘‘(i) with respect to a report filed pursuant 

5 to subsection (a) or (b) of section 101, the year 

6 of filing and the 4 calendar years preceding the 

7 year of the filing; and 

8 ‘‘(ii) with respect to a report filed pursuant 

9 to subsection (d) or (e) of section 101, the pre10 ceding calendar year; and 

11 ‘‘(B) the term ‘covered gift’ means a gift that— 

12 ‘‘(i) is made to a covered individual, the 

13 spouse of a covered individual, or the dependent 

14 child of a covered individual; 

15 ‘‘(ii) is made by an entity described in item 

16 (aa) or (bb) of section 109(2)(A)(i)(II); and 

17 ‘‘(iii) would have been required to be re18 ported under subsection (a)(2) if the covered in19 dividual had been required to file a report 

20 under section 101(d) with respect to the cal21 endar year during which the gift was made. 

22 ‘‘(2)(A) A report filed pursuant to subsection (a), (b), 

23 (d), or (e) of section 101 by a covered individual shall in24 clude, for each covered contribution during the applicable 

25 period— 


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1 ‘‘(i) the date on which the covered contribution 

2 was made; 

3 ‘‘(ii) if applicable, the date or dates on which 

4 the covered contribution was solicited; 

5 ‘‘(iii) the value of the covered contribution; 

6 ‘‘(iv) the name of the person making the cov7 ered contribution; and 

8 ‘‘(v) the name of the person receiving the cov9 ered contribution. 

10 ‘‘(B)(i) Subject to clause (ii), a covered contribution 

11 made by or on behalf of, or that was solicited in writing 

12 by or on behalf of, a covered individual shall constitute 

13 a conflict of interest, or an appearance thereof, with re14 spect to the official duties of the covered individual. 

15 ‘‘(ii) The Director of the Office of Government Ethics 

16 may exempt a covered contribution from the application 

17 of clause (i) if the Director determines the circumstances 

18 of the solicitation and making of the covered contribution 

19 do not present a risk of a conflict of interest and the ex20 emption of the covered contribution would not affect ad21 versely the integrity of the Government or the public’s con22 fidence in the integrity of the Government. 

23 ‘‘(3) A report filed pursuant to subsection (a) or (b) 

24 of section 101 by a covered individual shall include the 


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1 information described in subsection (a)(2) with respect to 

2 each covered gift received during the applicable period.’’. 

3 (c) PROVISION OF REPORTS AND ETHICS AGREE4 MENTS TO CONGRESS.—Section 105 of the Ethics in Gov5 ernment Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended by add6 ing at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(e) Not later than 30 days after receiving a written 

8 request from the Chairman or Ranking Member of a com9 mittee or subcommittee of either House of Congress, the 

10 Director of the Office of Government Ethics shall provide 

11 to the Chairman and Ranking Member each report filed 

12 under this title by the covered individual and any ethics 

13 agreement entered into between the agency and the cov14 ered individual.’’. 

15 (d) RULES ON ETHICS AGREEMENTS.—The Director 

16 of the Office of Government Ethics shall promptly issue 

17 rules regarding how an agency in the executive branch 

18 shall address information required to be disclosed under 

19 the amendments made by this subtitle in drafting ethics 

20 agreements between the agency and individuals appointed 

21 to positions in the agency. 

22 (e) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

23 (1) The Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (5 

24 U.S.C. App.) is amended— 

25 (A) in section 101(f)— 


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1 (i) in paragraph (9), by striking ‘‘sec2 tion 109(12)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 

3 109(15)’’; 

4 (ii) in paragraph (10), by striking 

5 ‘‘section 109(13)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 

6 109(16)’’; 

7 (iii) in paragraph (11), by striking 

8 ‘‘section 109(10)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 

9 109(13)’’; and 

10 (iv) in paragraph (12), by striking 

11 ‘‘section 109(8)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 

12 109(11)’’; 

13 (B) in section 103(l)— 

14 (i) in paragraph (9), by striking ‘‘sec15 tion 109(12)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 

16 109(15)’’; and 

17 (ii) in paragraph (10), by striking 

18 ‘‘section 109(13)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 

19 109(16)’’; and 

20 (C) in section 105(b)(3)(A), by striking 

21 ‘‘section 109(8) or 109(10)’’ and inserting ‘‘sec22 tion 109(11) or 109(13)’’. 

23 (2) Section 3(4)(D) of the Lobbying Disclosure 

24 Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1602(4)(D)) is amended by 


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1 striking ‘‘section 109(13)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 

2 109(16)’’. 

3 (3) Section 21A of the Securities Exchange Act 

4 of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78u–1) is amended— 

5 (A) in subsection (g)(2)(B)(ii), by striking 

6 ‘‘section 109(11) of the Ethics in Government 

7 Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App. 109(11)))’’ and in8 serting ‘‘section 109 of the Ethics in Govern9 ment Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.))’’; and 

10 (B) in subsection (h)(2)— 

11 (i) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

12 ‘‘section 109(8) of the Ethics in Govern13 ment Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App. 109(8))’’ 

14 and inserting ‘‘section 109 of the Ethics in 

15 Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.)’’; 

16 and 

17 (ii) in subparagraph (C), by striking 

18 ‘‘section 109(10) of the Ethics in Govern19 ment Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App. 

20 109(10))’’ and inserting ‘‘section 109 of 

21 the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (5 

22 U.S.C. App.)’’. 

23 (4) Section 499(j)(2) of the Public Health Serv24 ice Act (42 U.S.C. 290b(j)(2)) is amended by strik25 ing ‘‘section 109(16) of the Ethics in Government 


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1 Act of 1978’’ and inserting ‘‘section 109 of the Eth2 ics in Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.)’’. 

3 Subtitle F—Transition Team Ethics 

4 SEC. 7051. SHORT TITLE. 

5 This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘Transition Team 

6 Ethics Improvement Act’’. 

7 SEC. 7052. PRESIDENTIAL TRANSITION ETHICS PROGRAMS. 

8 The Presidential Transition Act of 1963 (3 U.S.C. 

9 102 note) is amended— 

10 (1) in section 3(f), by adding at the end the fol11 lowing new paragraph: 

12 ‘‘(3) The President-elect shall submit to the Com13 mittee on Oversight and Reform of the House of Rep14 resentatives and the Committee on Homeland Security 

15 and Governmental Affairs of the Senate a report with a 

16 list of— 

17 ‘‘(A) any individual for whom an application for 

18 a security clearance was submitted, not later than 

19 10 days after the date on which the application was 

20 submitted; and 

21 ‘‘(B) any individual provided a security clear22 ance, not later than 10 days after the date on which 

23 the security clearance was provided.’’; 

24 (2) in section 4— 

25 (A) in subsection (a)— 


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1 (i) in paragraph (3), by striking 

2 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

3 (ii) by redesignating paragraph (4) as 

4 paragraph (5); and 

5 (iii) by inserting after paragraph (3) 

6 the following: 

7 ‘‘(4) the term ‘nonpublic information’— 

8 ‘‘(A) means information from the Federal 

9 Government that a transition team member ob10 tains as part of the employment of such mem11 ber that the member knows or reasonably 

12 should know has not been made available to the 

13 general public; and 

14 ‘‘(B) includes information that has not 

15 been released to the public that a transition 

16 team member knows or reasonably should 

17 know— 

18 ‘‘(i) is exempt from disclosure under 

19 section 552 of title 5, United States Code, 

20 or otherwise protected from disclosure by 

21 law; and 

22 ‘‘(ii) is not authorized by the appro23 priate agency or official to be released to 

24 the public; and’’; and 

25 (B) in subsection (g)— 


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1 (i) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘No2 vember’’ and inserting ‘‘October’’; and 

3 (ii) by adding at the end the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘(3) ETHICS PLAN.— 

6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each memorandum of 

7 understanding under paragraph (1) shall in8 clude an agreement that the eligible candidate 

9 will implement and enforce an ethics plan to 

10 guide the conduct of the transition beginning on 

11 the date on which the eligible candidate be12 comes the President-elect. 

13 ‘‘(B) CONTENTS.—The ethics plan shall 

14 include, at a minimum— 

15 ‘‘(i) a description of the ethics re16 quirements that will apply to all transition 

17 team members, including specific require18 ments for transition team members who 

19 will have access to nonpublic or classified 

20 information; 

21 ‘‘(ii) a description of how the transi22 tion team will— 

23 ‘‘(I) address the role on the tran24 sition team of— 


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1 ‘‘(aa) registered lobbyists 

2 under the Lobbying Disclosure 

3 Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1601 et 

4 seq.) and individuals who were 

5 formerly registered lobbyists 

6 under that Act; 

7 ‘‘(bb) persons registered 

8 under the Foreign Agents Reg9 istration Act, as amended (22 

10 U.S.C. 611 et seq.), foreign na11 tionals, and other foreign agents; 

12 and 

13 ‘‘(cc) transition team mem14 bers with sources of income or 

15 clients that are not disclosed to 

16 the public; 

17 ‘‘(II) prohibit a transition team 

18 member with personal financial con19 flicts of interest as described in sec20 tion 208 of title 18, United States 

21 Code, from working on particular 

22 matters involving specific parties that 

23 affect the interests of such member; 

24 and 


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1 ‘‘(III) address how the covered 

2 eligible candidate will address their 

3 own personal financial conflicts of in4 terest during a Presidential term if 

5 the covered eligible candidate becomes 

6 the President-elect; 

7 ‘‘(iii) a Code of Ethical Conduct, to 

8 which each transition team member will 

9 sign and be subject to, that reflects the 

10 content of the ethics plans under this para11 graph and at a minimum requires each 

12 transition team member to— 

13 ‘‘(I) seek authorization from 

14 transition team leaders or their des15 ignees before seeking, on behalf of the 

16 transition, access to any nonpublic in17 formation; 

18 ‘‘(II) keep confidential any non19 public information provided in the 

20 course of the duties of the member 

21 with the transition and exclusively use 

22 such information for the purposes of 

23 the transition; and 

24 ‘‘(III) not use any nonpublic in25 formation provided in the course of 


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1 transition duties, in any manner, for 

2 personal or private gain for the mem3 ber or any other party at any time 

4 during or after the transition; and 

5 ‘‘(iv) a description of how the transi6 tion team will enforce the Code of Ethical 

7 Conduct, including the names of the tran8 sition team members responsible for en9 forcement, oversight, and compliance. 

10 ‘‘(C) PUBLICLY AVAILABLE.—The transi11 tion team shall make the ethics plan described 

12 in this paragraph publicly available on the 

13 internet website of the General Services Admin14 istration the earlier of— 

15 ‘‘(i) the day on which the memo16 randum of understanding is completed; or 

17 ‘‘(ii) October 1.’’; and 

18 (3) in section 6(b)— 

19 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

20 (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

21 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

22 (ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

23 the period at the end and inserting a semi24 colon; and 


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1 (iii) by adding at the end the fol2 lowing: 

3 ‘‘(C) a list of all positions each transition team 

4 member has held outside the Federal Government 

5 for the previous 12-month period, including paid and 

6 unpaid positions; 

7 ‘‘(D) sources of compensation for each transi8 tion team member exceeding $5,000 a year for the 

9 previous 12-month period; 

10 ‘‘(E) a description of the role of each transition 

11 team member, including a list of any policy issues 

12 that the member expects to work on, and a list of 

13 agencies the member expects to interact with, while 

14 serving on the transition team; 

15 ‘‘(F) a list of any issues from which each tran16 sition team member will be recused while serving as 

17 a member of the transition team pursuant to the 

18 transition team ethics plan outlined in section 

19 4(g)(3); and 

20 ‘‘(G) an affirmation that no transition team 

21 member has a financial conflict of interest that pre22 cludes the member from working on the matters de23 scribed in subparagraph (E).’’; 

24 (B) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘not 

25 later than 2 business days’’ after ‘‘public’’; and 


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

2 ‘‘(3) The head of a Federal department or agency, 

3 or their designee, shall not permit access to the Federal 

4 department or agency, or employees of such department 

5 or agency, that would not be provided to a member of the 

6 public for any transition team member who does not make 

7 the disclosures listed under paragraph (1).’’. 

8 Subtitle G—Ethics Pledge for Sen9 ior Executive Branch Employees 

10 SEC. 7061. SHORT TITLE. 

11 This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘Ethics in Public 

12 Service Act’’. 

13 SEC. 7062. ETHICS PLEDGE REQUIREMENT FOR SENIOR EX14 ECUTIVE BRANCH EMPLOYEES. 

15 The Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. 

16 App. 101 et seq.) is amended by inserting after title I the 

17 following new title: 

18 ‘‘TITLE II—ETHICS PLEDGE 

19 ‘‘SEC. 201. DEFINITIONS. 

20 ‘‘For the purposes of this title, the following defini21 tions apply: 

22 ‘‘(1) The term ‘executive agency’ has the mean23 ing given that term in section 105 of title 5, United 

24 States Code, and includes the Executive Office of 

25 the President, the United States Postal Service, and 


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1 Postal Regulatory Commission, but does not include 

2 the Government Accountability Office. 

3 ‘‘(2) The term ‘appointee’ means any full-time, 

4 noncareer Presidential or Vice Presidential ap5 pointee, noncareer appointee in the Senior Executive 

6 Service (or other SES-type system), or appointee to 

7 a position that has been excepted from the competi8 tive service by reason of being of a confidential or 

9 policymaking character (Schedule C and other posi10 tions excepted under comparable criteria) in an exec11 utive agency, but does not include any individual ap12 pointed as a member of the Senior Foreign Service 

13 or solely as a uniformed service commissioned offi14 cer. 

15 ‘‘(3) The term ‘gift’ means anything having 

16 monetary value. 

17 ‘‘(4) The term ‘covered executive branch offi18 cial’ and ‘lobbyist’ have the meanings given those 

19 terms in section 3 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 

20 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1602). 

21 ‘‘(5) The term ‘registered lobbyist or lobbying 

22 organization’ means a lobbyist or an organization fil23 ing a registration pursuant to section 4(a) of the 

24 Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 

25 1603(a)), and in the case of an organization filing 


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1 such a registration, ‘registered lobbyist’ includes 

2 each of the lobbyists identified therein. 

3 ‘‘(6) The term ‘lobby’ and ‘lobbied’ mean to act 

4 or have acted as a registered lobbyist. 

5 ‘‘(7) The term ‘former employer’ is any person 

6 for whom the appointee has within the 2 years prior 

7 to the date of his or her appointment served as an 

8 employee, officer, director, trustee, or general part9 ner, except that ‘former employer’ does not include 

10 any executive agency or other entity of the Federal 

11 Government, State or local government, the District 

12 of Columbia, Native American tribe, or any United 

13 States territory or possession. 

14 ‘‘(8) The term ‘former client’ is any person for 

15 whom the appointee served personally as agent, at16 torney, or consultant within the 2 years prior to the 

17 date of his or her appointment, but excluding in18 stances where the service provided was limited to a 

19 speech or similar appearance. It does not include cli20 ents of the appointee’s former employer to whom the 

21 appointee did not personally provide services. 

22 ‘‘(9) The term ‘directly and substantially re23 lated to my former employer or former clients’ 

24 means matters in which the appointee’s former emVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:43 Mar 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00304 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1612.IH H1612

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1 ployer or a former client is a party or represents a 

2 party. 

3 ‘‘(10) The term ‘participate’ means to partici4 pate personally and substantially. 

5 ‘‘(11) The term ‘post-employment restrictions’ 

6 includes the provisions and exceptions in section 

7 207(c) of title 18, United States Code, and the im8 plementing regulations. 

9 ‘‘(12) The term ‘Government official’ means 

10 any employee of the executive branch. 

11 ‘‘(13) The term ‘Administration’ means all 

12 terms of office of the incumbent President serving at 

13 the time of the appointment of an appointee covered 

14 by this title. 

15 ‘‘(14) The term ‘pledge’ means the ethics 

16 pledge set forth in section 202 of this title. 

17 ‘‘(15) All references to provisions of law and 

18 regulations shall refer to such provisions as in effect 

19 on the date of enactment of this title. 

20 ‘‘SEC. 202. ETHICS PLEDGE. 

21 ‘‘Each appointee in every executive agency appointed 

22 on or after the date of enactment of this section shall be 

23 required to sign an ethics pledge upon appointment. The 

24 pledge shall be signed and dated within 30 days of taking 


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1 office and shall include, at a minimum, the following ele2 ments: 

3 ‘‘ ‘As a condition, and in consideration, of my employ4 ment in the United States Government in a position in5 vested with the public trust, I commit myself to the fol6 lowing obligations, which I understand are binding on me 

7 and are enforceable under law: 

8 ‘‘ ‘(1) Lobbyist Gift Ban.—I will not accept 

9 gifts from registered lobbyists or lobbying organiza10 tions for the duration of my service as an appointee. 

11 ‘‘ ‘(2) Revolving Door Ban; Entering Govern12 ment.— 

13 ‘‘ ‘(A) All Appointees Entering Govern14 ment.—I will not, for a period of 2 years from 

15 the date of my appointment, participate in any 

16 particular matter involving specific party or 

17 parties that is directly and substantially related 

18 to my former employer or former clients, in19 cluding regulations and contracts. 

20 ‘‘ ‘(B) Lobbyists Entering Government.—If 

21 I was a registered lobbyist within the 2 years 

22 before the date of my appointment, in addition 

23 to abiding by the limitations of subparagraph 

24 (A), I will not for a period of 2 years after the 

25 date of my appointment: 


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1 ‘‘ ‘(i) participate in any particular 

2 matter on which I lobbied within the 2 

3 years before the date of my appointment; 

4 ‘‘ ‘(ii) participate in the specific issue 

5 area in which that particular matter falls; 

6 or 

7 ‘‘ ‘(iii) seek or accept employment with 

8 any executive agency that I lobbied within 

9 the 2 years before the date of my appoint10 ment. 

11 ‘‘ ‘(3) Revolving Door Ban; Appointees Leaving 

12 Government.— 

13 ‘‘ ‘(A) All Appointees Leaving Govern14 ment.—If, upon my departure from the Govern15 ment, I am covered by the post-employment re16 strictions on communicating with employees of 

17 my former executive agency set forth in section 

18 207(c) of title 18, United States Code, I agree 

19 that I will abide by those restrictions for a pe20 riod of 2 years following the end of my appoint21 ment. 

22 ‘‘ ‘(B) Appointees Leaving Government To 

23 Lobby.—In addition to abiding by the limita24 tions of subparagraph (A), I also agree, upon 

25 leaving Government service, not to lobby any 


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1 covered executive branch official or noncareer 

2 Senior Executive Service appointee for the re3 mainder of the Administration. 

4 ‘‘ ‘(4) Employment Qualification Commit5 ment.—I agree that any hiring or other employment 

6 decisions I make will be based on the candidate’s 

7 qualifications, competence, and experience. 

8 ‘‘ ‘(5) Assent to Enforcement.—I acknowledge 

9 that title II of the Ethics in Government Act of 

10 1978, which I have read before signing this docu11 ment, defines certain of the terms applicable to the 

12 foregoing obligations and sets forth the methods for 

13 enforcing them. I expressly accept the provisions of 

14 that title as a part of this agreement and as binding 

15 on me. I understand that the terms of this pledge 

16 are in addition to any statutory or other legal re17 strictions applicable to me by virtue of Federal Gov18 ernment service.’ ’’. 

19 ‘‘SEC. 203. WAIVER. 

20 ‘‘(a) The President or the President’s designee may 

21 grant to any current or former appointee a written waiver 

22 of any restrictions contained in the pledge signed by such 

23 appointee if, and to the extent that, the President or the 

24 President’s designee certifies (in writing) that— 


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1 ‘‘(1) the literal application of the restriction is 

2 inconsistent with the purposes of the restriction; or 

3 ‘‘(2) it is in the public interest to grant the 

4 waiver. 

5 ‘‘(b) Any waiver under this section shall take effect 

6 when the certification is signed by the President or the 

7 President’s designee. 

8 ‘‘(c) For purposes of subsection (a)(2), the public in9 terest shall include exigent circumstances relating to na10 tional security or to the economy. De minimis contact with 

11 an executive agency shall be cause for a waiver of the re12 strictions contained in paragraph (2)(B) of the pledge. 

13 ‘‘SEC. 204. ADMINISTRATION. 

14 ‘‘(a) The head of each executive agency shall, in con15 sultation with the Director of the Office of Government 

16 Ethics, establish such rules or procedures (conforming as 

17 nearly as practicable to the agency’s general ethics rules 

18 and procedures, including those relating to designated 

19 agency ethics officers) as are necessary or appropriate to 

20 ensure— 

21 ‘‘(1) that every appointee in the agency signs 

22 the pledge upon assuming the appointed office or 

23 otherwise becoming an appointee; 


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1 ‘‘(2) that compliance with paragraph (2)(B) of 

2 the pledge is addressed in a written ethics agree3 ment with each appointee to whom it applies; 

4 ‘‘(3) that spousal employment issues and other 

5 conflicts not expressly addressed by the pledge are 

6 addressed in ethics agreements with appointees or, 

7 where no such agreements are required, through eth8 ics counseling; and 

9 ‘‘(4) compliance with this title within the agen10 cy. 

11 ‘‘(b) With respect to the Executive Office of the 

12 President, the duties set forth in subsection (a) shall be 

13 the responsibility of the Counsel to the President. 

14 ‘‘(c) The Director of the Office of Government Ethics 

15 shall— 

16 ‘‘(1) ensure that the pledge and a copy of this 

17 title are made available for use by agencies in ful18 filling their duties under subsection (a); 

19 ‘‘(2) in consultation with the Attorney General 

20 or the Counsel to the President, when appropriate, 

21 assist designated agency ethics officers in providing 

22 advice to current or former appointees regarding the 

23 application of the pledge; 

24 ‘‘(3) adopt such rules or procedures as are nec25 essary or appropriate— 


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1 ‘‘(A) to carry out the responsibilities as2 signed by this subsection; 

3 ‘‘(B) to apply the lobbyist gift ban set 

4 forth in paragraph (1) of the pledge to all exec5 utive branch employees; 

6 ‘‘(C) to authorize limited exceptions to the 

7 lobbyist gift ban for circumstances that do not 

8 implicate the purposes of the ban; 

9 ‘‘(D) to make clear that no person shall 

10 have violated the lobbyist gift ban if the person 

11 properly disposes of a gift; 

12 ‘‘(E) to ensure that existing rules and pro13 cedures for Government employees engaged in 

14 negotiations for future employment with private 

15 businesses that are affected by their official ac16 tions do not affect the integrity of the Govern17 ment’s programs and operations; and 

18 ‘‘(F) to ensure, in consultation with the 

19 Director of the Office of Personnel Manage20 ment, that the requirement set forth in para21 graph (4) of the pledge is honored by every em22 ployee of the executive branch; 

23 ‘‘(4) in consultation with the Director of the 

24 Office of Management and Budget, report to the 

25 President on whether full compliance is being 


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1 achieved with existing laws and regulations gov2 erning executive branch procurement lobbying disclo3 sure and on steps the executive branch can take to 

4 expand to the fullest extent practicable disclosure of 

5 such executive branch procurement lobbying and of 

6 lobbying for Presidential pardons, and to include in 

7 the report both immediate action the executive 

8 branch can take and, if necessary, recommendations 

9 for legislation; and 

10 ‘‘(5) provide an annual public report on the ad11 ministration of the pledge and this title. 

12 ‘‘(d) All pledges signed by appointees, and all waiver 

13 certifications with respect thereto, shall be filed with the 

14 head of the appointee’s agency for permanent retention 

15 in the appointee’s official personnel folder or equivalent 

16 folder.’’. 

17 Subtitle H—Severability 

18 SEC. 7071. SEVERABILITY. 

19 If any provision of this title or any amendment made 

20 by this title, or any application of such provision or 

21 amendment to any person or circumstance, is held to be 

22 unconstitutional, the remainder of the provisions of this 

23 title and the amendments made by this title, and the appli24 cation of the provision or amendment to any other person 

25 or circumstance, shall not be affected. 


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1 TITLE VIII—CONGRESSIONAL 

2 ETHICS REFORM 

Subtitle A—Requiring Members of Congress To Reimburse Treasury for 

Amounts Paid as Settlements and Awards Under Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 

Sec. 8001. Requiring Members of Congress to reimburse Treasury for amounts 

paid as settlements and awards under Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 in all cases of employment discrimination 

acts by Members. 

Subtitle B—Conflicts of Interests 

Sec. 8101. Prohibiting Members of House of Representatives from serving on 

boards of for-profit entities. 

Sec. 8102. Conflict of interest rules for Members of Congress and congressional 

staff. 

Sec. 8103. Exercise of rulemaking powers. 

Subtitle C—Campaign Finance and Lobbying Disclosure 

Sec. 8201. Short title. 

Sec. 8202. Requiring disclosure in certain reports filed with Federal Election 

Commission of persons who are registered lobbyists. 

Sec. 8203. Effective date. 

Subtitle D—Access to Congressionally Mandated Reports 

Sec. 8301. Short title. 

Sec. 8302. Definitions. 

Sec. 8303. Establishment of online portal for congressionally mandated reports. 

Sec. 8304. Federal agency responsibilities. 

Sec. 8305. Removing and altering reports. 

Sec. 8306. Relationship to the Freedom of Information Act. 

Sec. 8307. Implementation. 

Subtitle E—CLEAN Congress 

Sec. 8401. Short title. 

Sec. 8402. Prohibiting multiple subjects in single bill. 

Sec. 8403. Requiring equal application of laws to Members of Congress. 

Subtitle F—CLEAN Public Service 

Sec. 8501. Short title. 

Sec. 8502. Termination of further retirement benefits for Members of Congress. 

Subtitle G—No Budget, No Pay 

Sec. 8601. Short title. 

Sec. 8602. Definition. 

Sec. 8603. Timely approval of concurrent resolution on the budget and the appropriations bills. 


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Sec. 8604. No pay without concurrent resolution on the budget and the appropriations bills. 

Sec. 8605. Determinations. 

Sec. 8606. Effective date. 

Subtitle H—No Work, No Pay 

Sec. 8701. Short title. 

Sec. 8702. Prohibiting paying Members of Congress during Government shutdowns. 

Sec. 8703. Definitions. 

Subtitle I—Severability 

Sec. 8801. Severability. 

1 Subtitle A—Requiring Members of 

2 Congress To Reimburse Treas3 ury for Amounts Paid as Settle4 ments and Awards Under Con5 gressional Accountability Act of 

6 1995 

7 SEC. 8001. REQUIRING MEMBERS OF CONGRESS TO REIM8 BURSE TREASURY FOR AMOUNTS PAID AS 

9 SETTLEMENTS AND AWARDS UNDER CON10 GRESSIONAL ACCOUNTABILITY ACT OF 1995 

11 IN ALL CASES OF EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINA12 TION ACTS BY MEMBERS. 

13 (a) REQUIRING REIMBURSEMENT.—Clause (i) of sec14 tion 415(d)(1)(C) of the Congressional Accountability Act 

15 of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1415(d)(1)(C)), as amended by section 

16 111(a) of the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 

17 Reform Act, is amended to read as follows: 

18 ‘‘(i) a violation of section 201(a) or 

19 section 206(a); or’’. 


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1 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO NOTI2 FICATION OF POSSIBILITY OF REIMBURSEMENT.—Clause 

3 (i) of section 402(b)(2)(B) of the Congressional Account4 ability Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1402(b)(2)(B)), as amended 

5 by section 102(a) of the Congressional Accountability Act 

6 of 1995 Reform Act, is amended to read as follows: 

7 ‘‘(i) a violation of section 201(a) or 

8 section 206(a); or’’. 

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

10 this section shall take effect as if included in the enact11 ment of the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 Re12 form Act. 

13 Subtitle B—Conflicts of Interests 

14 SEC. 8101. PROHIBITING MEMBERS OF HOUSE OF REP15 RESENTATIVES FROM SERVING ON BOARDS 

16 OF FOR-PROFIT ENTITIES. 

17 Rule XXIII of the Rules of the House of Representa18 tives is amended— 

19 (1) by redesignating clause 19 as clause 20; 

20 and 

21 (2) by inserting after clause 18 the following 

22 new clause: 

23 ‘‘19. A Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner 

24 may not serve on the board of directors of any for-profit 

25 entity.’’. 


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1 SEC. 8102. CONFLICT OF INTEREST RULES FOR MEMBERS 

2 OF CONGRESS AND CONGRESSIONAL STAFF. 

3 No Member, officer, or employee of a committee or 

4 Member of either House of Congress may knowingly use 

5 his or her official position to introduce or aid the progress 

6 or passage of legislation, a principal purpose of which is 

7 to further only his or her pecuniary interest, only the pecu8 niary interest of his or her immediate family, or only the 

9 pecuniary interest of a limited class of persons or enter10 prises, when he or she, or his or her immediate family, 

11 or enterprises controlled by them, are members of the af12 fected class. 

13 SEC. 8103. EXERCISE OF RULEMAKING POWERS. 

14 The provisions of this subtitle are enacted by the 

15 Congress— 

16 (1) as an exercise of the rulemaking power of 

17 the House of Representatives and the Senate, re18 spectively, and as such they shall be considered as 

19 part of the rules of each House, respectively, or of 

20 that House to which they specifically apply, and 

21 such rules shall supersede other rules only to the ex22 tent that they are inconsistent therewith; and 

23 (2) with full recognition of the constitutional 

24 right of either House to change such rules (so far 

25 as relating to such House) at any time, in the same 


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1 manner, and to the same extent as in the case of 

2 any other rule of such House. 

3 Subtitle C—Campaign Finance and 

4 Lobbying Disclosure 

5 SEC. 8201. SHORT TITLE. 

6 This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘Connecting Lobby7 ists and Electeds for Accountability and Reform Act’’ or 

8 the ‘‘CLEAR Act’’. 

9 SEC. 8202. REQUIRING DISCLOSURE IN CERTAIN REPORTS 

10 FILED WITH FEDERAL ELECTION COMMIS11 SION OF PERSONS WHO ARE REGISTERED 

12 LOBBYISTS. 

13 (a) REPORTS FILED BY POLITICAL COMMITTEES.— 

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

15 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30104(b)) is amended— 

16 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 

17 (7); 

18 (2) by striking the period at the end of para19 graph (8) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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

21 paragraph: 

22 ‘‘(9) if any person identified in subparagraph 

23 (A), (E), (F), or (G) of paragraph (3) is a registered 

24 lobbyist under the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995, 


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1 a separate statement that such person is a reg2 istered lobbyist under such Act.’’. 

3 (b) REPORTS FILED BY PERSONS MAKING INDE4 PENDENT EXPENDITURES.—Section 304(c)(2) of such 

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

6 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara7 graph (B); 

8 (2) by striking the period at the end of sub9 paragraph (C) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

10 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub11 paragraph: 

12 ‘‘(D) if the person filing the statement, or a 

13 person whose identification is required to be dis14 closed under subparagraph (C), is a registered lob15 byist under the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995, a 

16 separate statement that such person is a registered 

17 lobbyist under such Act.’’. 

18 (c) REPORTS FILED BY PERSONS MAKING DIS19 BURSEMENTS FOR ELECTIONEERING COMMUNICA20 TIONS.—Section 304(f)(2) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 

21 30104(f)(2)) is amended by adding at the end the fol22 lowing new subparagraph: 

23 ‘‘(G) If the person making the disburse24 ment, or a contributor described in subpara25 graph (E) or (F), is a registered lobbyist under 


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1 the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995, a sepa2 rate statement that such person or contributor 

3 is a registered lobbyist under such Act.’’. 

4 (d) REQUIRING COMMISSION TO ESTABLISH LINK TO

5 WEBSITES OF CLERK OF HOUSE AND SECRETARY OF

6 SENATE.—Section 304 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 30104), 

7 as amended by section 4308(a), is amended by adding at 

8 the end the following new subsection: 

9 ‘‘(k) REQUIRING INFORMATION ON REGISTERED

10 LOBBYISTS TO BE LINKED TO WEBSITES OF CLERK OF

11 HOUSE AND SECRETARY OF SENATE.— 

12 ‘‘(1) LINKS TO WEBSITES.—The Commission 

13 shall ensure that the Commission’s public database 

14 containing information described in paragraph (2) is 

15 linked electronically to the websites maintained by 

16 the Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the 

17 House of Representatives containing information 

18 filed pursuant to the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 

19 1995. 

20 ‘‘(2) INFORMATION DESCRIBED.—The informa21 tion described in this paragraph is each of the fol22 lowing: 

23 ‘‘(A) Information disclosed under para24 graph (9) of subsection (b). 


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1 ‘‘(B) Information disclosed under subpara2 graph (D) of subsection (c)(2). 

3 ‘‘(C) Information disclosed under subpara4 graph (G) of subsection (f)(2).’’. 

5 SEC. 8203. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

6 The amendments made by this subtitle shall apply 

7 with respect to reports required to be filed under the Fed8 eral Election Campaign Act of 1971 on or after the expira9 tion of the 90-day period which begins on the date of the 

10 enactment of this Act. 

11 Subtitle D—Access to 

12 Congressionally Mandated Reports 

13 SEC. 8301. SHORT TITLE. 

14 This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘Access to Congres15 sionally Mandated Reports Act’’. 

16 SEC. 8302. DEFINITIONS. 

17 In this subtitle: 

18 (1) CONGRESSIONALLY MANDATED REPORT.— 

19 The term ‘‘congressionally mandated report’’— 

20 (A) means a report that is required to be 

21 submitted to either House of Congress or any 

22 committee of Congress, or subcommittee there23 of, by a statute, resolution, or conference report 

24 that accompanies legislation enacted into law; 

25 and 


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1 (B) does not include a report required 

2 under part B of subtitle II of title 36, United 

3 States Code. 

4 (2) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 

5 the Director of the Government Publishing Office. 

6 (3) FEDERAL AGENCY.—The term ‘‘Federal 

7 agency’’ has the meaning given that term under sec8 tion 102 of title 40, United States Code, but does 

9 not include the Government Accountability Office. 

10 (4) OPEN FORMAT.—The term ‘‘open format’’ 

11 means a file format for storing digital data based on 

12 an underlying open standard that— 

13 (A) is not encumbered by any restrictions 

14 that would impede reuse; and 

15 (B) is based on an underlying open data 

16 standard that is maintained by a standards or17 ganization. 

18 (5) REPORTS ONLINE PORTAL.—The term ‘‘re19 ports online portal’’ means the online portal estab20 lished under section 8303(a). 

21 SEC. 8303. ESTABLISHMENT OF ONLINE PORTAL FOR CON22 GRESSIONALLY MANDATED REPORTS. 

23 (a) REQUIREMENT TO ESTABLISH ONLINE POR24 TAL.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

2 the date of enactment of this Act, the Director shall 

3 establish and maintain an online portal accessible by 

4 the public that allows the public to obtain electronic 

5 copies of all congressionally mandated reports in one 

6 place. The Director may publish other reports on the 

7 online portal. 

8 (2) EXISTING FUNCTIONALITY.—To the extent 

9 possible, the Director shall meet the requirements 

10 under paragraph (1) by using existing online portals 

11 and functionality under the authority of the Direc12 tor. 

13 (3) CONSULTATION.—In carrying out this sub14 title, the Director shall consult with the Clerk of the 

15 House of Representatives, the Secretary of the Sen16 ate, and the Librarian of Congress regarding the re17 quirements for and maintenance of congressionally 

18 mandated reports on the reports online portal. 

19 (b) CONTENT AND FUNCTION.—The Director shall 

20 ensure that the reports online portal includes the fol21 lowing: 

22 (1) Subject to subsection (c), with respect to 

23 each congressionally mandated report, each of the 

24 following: 


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1 (A) A citation to the statute, conference 

2 report, or resolution requiring the report. 

3 (B) An electronic copy of the report, in4 cluding any transmittal letter associated with 

5 the report, in an open format that is platform 

6 independent and that is available to the public 

7 without restrictions, including restrictions that 

8 would impede the re-use of the information in 

9 the report. 

10 (C) The ability to retrieve a report, to the 

11 extent practicable, through searches based on 

12 each, and any combination, of the following: 

13 (i) The title of the report. 

14 (ii) The reporting Federal agency. 

15 (iii) The date of publication. 

16 (iv) Each congressional committee re17 ceiving the report, if applicable. 

18 (v) The statute, resolution, or con19 ference report requiring the report. 

20 (vi) Subject tags. 

21 (vii) A unique alphanumeric identifier 

22 for the report that is consistent across re23 port editions. 

24 (viii) The serial number, Super25 intendent of Documents number, or other 


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1 identification number for the report, if ap2 plicable. 

3 (ix) Key words. 

4 (x) Full text search. 

5 (xi) Any other relevant information 

6 specified by the Director. 

7 (D) The date on which the report was re8 quired to be submitted, and on which the report 

9 was submitted, to the reports online portal. 

10 (E) Access to the report not later than 30 

11 calendar days after its submission to Congress. 

12 (F) To the extent practicable, a permanent 

13 means of accessing the report electronically. 

14 (2) A means for bulk download of all congres15 sionally mandated reports. 

16 (3) A means for downloading individual reports 

17 as the result of a search. 

18 (4) An electronic means for the head of each 

19 Federal agency to submit to the reports online por20 tal each congressionally mandated report of the 

21 agency, as required by section 4. 

22 (5) In tabular form, a list of all congressionally 

23 mandated reports that can be searched, sorted, and 

24 downloaded by— 


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1 (A) reports submitted within the required 

2 time; 

3 (B) reports submitted after the date on 

4 which such reports were required to be sub5 mitted; and 

6 (C) reports not submitted. 

7 (c) NONCOMPLIANCE BY FEDERAL AGENCIES.— 

8 (1) REPORTS NOT SUBMITTED.—If a Federal 

9 agency does not submit a congressionally mandated 

10 report to the Director, the Director shall to the ex11 tent practicable— 

12 (A) include on the reports online portal— 

13 (i) the information required under 

14 clauses (i), (ii), (iv), and (v) of subsection 

15 (b)(1)(C); and 

16 (ii) the date on which the report was 

17 required to be submitted; and 

18 (B) include the congressionally mandated 

19 report on the list described in subsection 

20 (b)(5)(C). 

21 (2) REPORTS NOT IN OPEN FORMAT.—If a Fed22 eral agency submits a congressionally mandated re23 port that is not in an open format, the Director shall 

24 include the congressionally mandated report in an25 other format on the reports online portal. 


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1 (d) FREE ACCESS.—The Director may not charge a 

2 fee, require registration, or impose any other limitation 

3 in exchange for access to the reports online portal. 

4 (e) UPGRADE CAPABILITY.—The reports online por5 tal shall be enhanced and updated as necessary to carry 

6 out the purposes of this subtitle. 

7 SEC. 8304. FEDERAL AGENCY RESPONSIBILITIES. 

8 (a) SUBMISSION OF ELECTRONIC COPIES OF RE9 PORTS.—Concurrently with the submission to Congress of 

10 each congressionally mandated report, the head of the 

11 Federal agency submitting the congressionally mandated 

12 report shall submit to the Director the information re13 quired under subparagraphs (A) through (D) of section 

14 8303(b)(1) with respect to the congressionally mandated 

15 report. Nothing in this subtitle shall relieve a Federal 

16 agency of any other requirement to publish the congres17 sionally mandated report on the online portal of the Fed18 eral agency or otherwise submit the congressionally man19 dated report to Congress or specific committees of Con20 gress, or subcommittees thereof. 

21 (b) GUIDANCE.—Not later than 240 days after the 

22 date of enactment of this Act, the Director of the Office 

23 of Management and Budget, in consultation with the Di24 rector, shall issue guidance to agencies on the implementa25 tion of this Act. 


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1 (c) STRUCTURE OF SUBMITTED REPORT DATA.— 

2 The head of each Federal agency shall ensure that each 

3 congressionally mandated report submitted to the Director 

4 complies with the open format criteria established by the 

5 Director in the guidance issued under subsection (b). 

6 (d) POINT OF CONTACT.—The head of each Federal 

7 agency shall designate a point of contact for congression8 ally mandated report. 

9 (e) LIST OF REPORTS.—As soon as practicable each 

10 calendar year (but not later than April 1), and on a rolling 

11 basis during the year if feasible, the Librarian of Congress 

12 shall submit to the Director a list of congressionally man13 dated reports from the previous calendar year, in consulta14 tion with the Clerk of the House of Representatives, which 

15 shall— 

16 (1) be provided in an open format; 

17 (2) include the information required under 

18 clauses (i), (ii), (iv), and (v) of section 

19 8303(b)(1)(C) for each report; 

20 (3) include the frequency of the report; 

21 (4) include a unique alphanumeric identifier for 

22 the report that is consistent across report editions; 

23 (5) include the date on which each report is re24 quired to be submitted; and 


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1 (6) be updated and provided to the Director, as 

2 necessary. 

3 SEC. 8305. REMOVING AND ALTERING REPORTS. 

4 A report submitted to be published to the reports on5 line portal may only be changed or removed, with the ex6 ception of technical changes, by the head of the Federal 

7 agency concerned if— 

8 (1) the head of the Federal agency consults 

9 with each congressional committee to which the re10 port is submitted; and 

11 (2) Congress enacts a joint resolution author12 izing the changing or removal of the report. 

13 SEC. 8306. RELATIONSHIP TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMA14 TION ACT. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this subtitle shall be 

16 construed to— 

17 (1) require the disclosure of information or 

18 records that are exempt from public disclosure under 

19 section 552 of title 5, United States Code; or 

20 (2) impose any affirmative duty on the Director 

21 to review congressionally mandated reports sub22 mitted for publication to the reports online portal 

23 for the purpose of identifying and redacting such in24 formation or records. 


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1 (b) REDACTION OF INFORMATION.—The head of a 

2 Federal agency may redact information required to be dis3 closed under this subtitle if the information would be prop4 erly withheld from disclosure under section 552 of title 

5 5, United States Code, and shall— 

6 (1) redact information required to be disclosed 

7 under this subtitle if disclosure of such information 

8 is prohibited by law; 

9 (2) redact information being withheld under 

10 this subsection prior to submitting the information 

11 to the Director; 

12 (3) redact only such information properly with13 held under this subsection from the submission of 

14 information or from any congressionally mandated 

15 report submitted under this subtitle; 

16 (4) identify where any such redaction is made 

17 in the submission or report; and 

18 (5) identify the exemption under which each 

19 such redaction is made. 

20 SEC. 8307. IMPLEMENTATION. 

21 Except as provided in section 8304(b), this subtitle 

22 shall be implemented not later than 1 year after the date 

23 of enactment of this Act and shall apply with respect to 

24 congressionally mandated reports submitted to Congress 


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1 on or after the date that is 1 year after such date of enact2 ment. 

3 Subtitle E—CLEAN Congress 

4 SEC. 8401. SHORT TITLE. 

5 This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘Citizen Legislature 

6 Anti-Corruption Reform of Congress Act’’ or the 

7 ‘‘CLEAN Congress Act’’. 

8 SEC. 8402. PROHIBITING MULTIPLE SUBJECTS IN SINGLE 

9 BILL. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Each bill, order, resolution, or 

11 vote submitted by Congress to the President under section 

12 7 of article I of the Constitution of the United States shall 

13 embrace no more than one subject, and that subject shall 

14 be clearly and descriptively expressed in the title of the 

15 bill, order, resolution or vote. 

16 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Subsection (a) shall apply 

17 with respect to the One Hundred Sixteenth Congress and 

18 each succeeding Congress. 

19 SEC. 8403. REQUIRING EQUAL APPLICATION OF LAWS TO 

20 MEMBERS OF CONGRESS. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi22 sion of law, any provision of law that provides an exception 

23 in its application to a Member of Congress or an employee 

24 of the office of a Member of Congress shall have no effect. 


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1 (b) CLARIFICATION RELATING TO EXERCISE OF OF2 FICIAL OR REPRESENTATIONAL DUTIES.—Subsection (a) 

3 shall not be construed to apply to provisions of law or rules 

4 which permit Members of Congress or employees of offices 

5 of Members of Congress to carry out official duties that 

6 are tied directly to lawmaking, including provisions or 

7 rules permitting Members and employees to enter and use 

8 the United States Capitol, the United States Capitol 

9 grounds, and other buildings and facilities. 

10 (c) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘Member 

11 of Congress’’ means a Senator or a Representative in, or 

12 Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, the Congress. 

13 Subtitle F—CLEAN Public Service 

14 SEC. 8501. SHORT TITLE. 

15 This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘Citizen Legislature 

16 Anti-Corruption Reform of Public Service Act’’ or the 

17 ‘‘CLEAN Public Service Act’’. 

18 SEC. 8502. TERMINATION OF FURTHER RETIREMENT BENE19 FITS FOR MEMBERS OF CONGRESS. 

20 (a) AMENDMENTS RELATING TO THE CIVIL SERVICE

21 RETIREMENT SYSTEM.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter III of chapter 

23 83 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by in24 serting after section 8335 the following: 


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1 ‘‘§ 8335a. Termination of further retirement coverage 

2 of Members of Congress 

3 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other pro4 vision of this subchapter and subject to subsection (f), ef5 fective on the date that is 90 days after the date of enact6 ment of this section— 

7 ‘‘(1) a Member shall not be subject to this sub8 chapter for any further period of time; and 

9 ‘‘(2) no further Government contributions or 

10 deductions from basic pay may be made with respect 

11 to such Member for deposit in the Treasury of the 

12 United States to the credit of the Fund. 

13 ‘‘(b) PRIOR RIGHTS NOT AFFECTED.—Nothing in 

14 subsection (a) shall be considered to nullify, modify, or 

15 otherwise affect any right, entitlement, or benefit under 

16 this subchapter with respect to any Member covering any 

17 period prior to the date of enactment of this section. 

18 ‘‘(c) RIGHT TO PARTICIPATE IN THRIFT SAVINGS

19 PLAN NOT AFFECTED.—Nothing in subsection (a) shall 

20 affect the eligibility of a Member to participate in the 

21 Thrift Savings Plan in accordance with otherwise applica22 ble provisions of law. 

23 ‘‘(d) REGULATIONS.—Any regulations necessary to 

24 carry out this section may— 


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1 ‘‘(1) except with respect to matters relating to 

2 the Thrift Savings Plan, be prescribed by the Direc3 tor of the Office of Personnel Management; and 

4 ‘‘(2) with respect to matters relating to the 

5 Thrift Savings Plan, be prescribed by the Executive 

6 Director (as defined by section 8401(13)). 

7 ‘‘(e) EXCLUSION.—For purposes of this section, the 

8 term ‘Member’ does not include the Vice President.’’. 

9 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec10 tions at the beginning of chapter 83 of title 5, 

11 United States Code, is amended by inserting after 

12 the item relating to section 8335 the following: 

‘‘8335a. Termination of further retirement coverage of Members of Congress.’’. 

13 (b) AMENDMENTS RELATING TO THE FEDERAL EM14 PLOYEES RETIREMENT SYSTEM.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 84 

16 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by insert17 ing after section 8425 the following: 

18 ‘‘§ 8425a. Termination of further retirement coverage 

19 of Members of Congress 

20 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other pro21 vision of this chapter, effective on the date that is 90 days 

22 after the date of enactment of this section— 

23 ‘‘(1) subject to subsection (f), in the case of an 

24 individual who first becomes a Member before such 

25 date of enactment— 


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1 ‘‘(A) such Member shall not be subject to 

2 this chapter for any further period of time after 

3 such date of enactment; and 

4 ‘‘(B) no further Government contributions 

5 or deductions from basic pay may be made with 

6 respect to such Member for deposit in the 

7 Treasury of the United States to the credit of 

8 the Fund; and 

9 ‘‘(2) in the case of an individual who first be10 comes a Member on or after such date of enact11 ment— 

12 ‘‘(A) such Member shall not be subject to 

13 this chapter; and 

14 ‘‘(B) no Government contributions or de15 ductions from basic pay may be made with re16 spect to such Member for deposit in the Treas17 ury of the United States to the credit of the 

18 Fund. 

19 ‘‘(b) PRIOR RIGHTS NOT AFFECTED.—Nothing in 

20 subsection (a) shall be considered to nullify, modify, or 

21 otherwise affect any right, entitlement, or benefit under 

22 this chapter with respect to any Member covering any pe23 riod prior to the date of enactment of this section. 

24 ‘‘(c) RIGHT TO PARTICIPATE IN THRIFT SAVINGS

25 PLAN NOT AFFECTED.—Nothing in subsection (a) shall 


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1 affect the eligibility of a Member to participate in the 

2 Thrift Savings Plan in accordance with otherwise applica3 ble provisions of law. 

4 ‘‘(d) REGULATIONS.— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any regulations necessary 

6 to carry out this section may— 

7 ‘‘(A) except with respect to matters relat8 ing to the Thrift Savings Plan, be prescribed by 

9 the Director of the Office of Personnel Manage10 ment; and 

11 ‘‘(B) with respect to matters relating to 

12 the Thrift Savings Plan, be prescribed by the 

13 Executive Director (as defined by section 

14 8401(13)). 

15 ‘‘(2) REFUNDS.—Notwithstanding subsection 

16 (b), the regulations under paragraph (1)(A) shall, in 

17 the case of a Member who has not completed at 

18 least 5 years of civilian service as of the date of en19 actment of this section, provide that the lump-sum 

20 credit shall be payable to such Member to the same 

21 extent and in the same manner as if such Member 

22 satisfied paragraphs (1) through (4) of section 

23 8424(a) as of such date of enactment. 

24 ‘‘(e) EXCLUSIONS.—For purposes of this section, the 

25 term ‘Member’ does not include the Vice President.’’. 


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1 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec2 tions at the beginning of chapter 84 of title 5, 

3 United States Code, is amended by inserting after 

4 the item relating to section 8425 the following: 

‘‘8425a. Termination of further retirement coverage of Members of Congress.’’. 

5 Subtitle G—No Budget, No Pay 

6 SEC. 8601. SHORT TITLE. 

7 This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘No Budget, No 

8 Pay Act’’. 

9 SEC. 8602. DEFINITION. 

10 In this subtitle, the term ‘‘Member of Congress’’— 

11 (1) has the meaning given under section 2106 

12 of title 5, United States Code; and 

13 (2) does not include the Vice President. 

14 SEC. 8603. TIMELY APPROVAL OF CONCURRENT RESOLU15 TION ON THE BUDGET AND THE APPROPRIA16 TIONS BILLS. 

17 If both Houses of Congress have not approved a con18 current resolution on the budget as described under sec19 tion 301 of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment 

20 Control Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 632) for a fiscal year before 

21 October 1 of that fiscal year and have not passed all the 

22 regular appropriations bills for the next fiscal year before 

23 October 1 of that fiscal year, the pay of each Member of 

24 Congress may not be paid for each day following that Oc25 tober 1 until the date on which both Houses of Congress 


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1 approve a concurrent resolution on the budget for that fis2 cal year and all the regular appropriations bills. 

3 SEC. 8604. NO PAY WITHOUT CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 

4 ON THE BUDGET AND THE APPROPRIATIONS 

5 BILLS. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi7 sion of law, no funds may be appropriated or otherwise 

8 be made available from the United States Treasury for 

9 the pay of any Member of Congress during any period de10 termined by the Chairpersons of the Committee on the 

11 Budget and the Committee on Appropriations of the Sen12 ate or the Chairpersons of the Committee on the Budget 

13 and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of 

14 Representatives under section 8605. 

15 (b) NO RETROACTIVE PAY.—A Member of Congress 

16 may not receive pay for any period determined by the 

17 Chairpersons of the Committee on the Budget and the 

18 Committee on Appropriations of the Senate or the Chair19 persons of the Committee on the Budget and the Com20 mittee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives 

21 under section 8605, at any time after the end of that pe22 riod. 

23 SEC. 8605. DETERMINATIONS. 

24 (a) SENATE.— 


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1 (1) REQUEST FOR CERTIFICATIONS.—On Octo2 ber 1 of each year, the Secretary of the Senate shall 

3 submit a request to the Chairpersons of the Com4 mittee on the Budget and the Committee on Appro5 priations of the Senate for certification of deter6 minations made under paragraph (2) (A) and (B). 

7 (2) DETERMINATIONS.—The Chairpersons of 

8 the Committee on the Budget and the Committee on 

9 Appropriations of the Senate shall— 

10 (A) on October 1 of each year, make a de11 termination of whether Congress is in compli12 ance with section 8603 and whether Senators 

13 may not be paid under that section; 

14 (B) determine the period of days following 

15 each October 1 that Senators may not be paid 

16 under section 8603; and 

17 (C) provide timely certification of the de18 terminations under subparagraphs (A) and (B) 

19 upon the request of the Secretary of the Senate. 

20 (b) HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.— 

21 (1) REQUEST FOR CERTIFICATIONS.—On Octo22 ber 1 of each year, the Chief Administrative Officer 

23 of the House of Representatives shall submit a re24 quest to the Chairpersons of the Committee on the 

25 Budget and the Committee on Appropriations of the 


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1 House of Representatives for certification of deter2 minations made under paragraph (2) (A) and (B). 

3 (2) DETERMINATIONS.—The Chairpersons of 

4 the Committee on the Budget and the Committee on 

5 Appropriations of the House of Representatives 

6 shall— 

7 (A) on October 1 of each year, make a de8 termination of whether Congress is in compli9 ance with section 8603 and whether Members 

10 of the House of Representatives may not be 

11 paid under that section; 

12 (B) determine the period of days following 

13 each October 1 that Members of the House of 

14 Representatives may not be paid under section 

15 8603; and 

16 (C) provide timely certification of the de17 terminations under subparagraph (A) and (B) 

18 upon the request of the Chief Administrative 

19 Officer of the House of Representatives. 

20 SEC. 8606. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

21 This subtitle shall take effect on February 1, 2021. 

22 Subtitle H—No Work, No Pay 

23 SEC. 8701. SHORT TITLE. 

24 This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘No Work, No Pay 

25 Act of 2019’’. 


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1 SEC. 8702. PROHIBITING PAYING MEMBERS OF CONGRESS 

2 DURING GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWNS. 

3 (a) RULE FOR ONE HUNDRED SIXTEENTH CON4 GRESS.— 

5 (1) HOLDING SALARIES IN ESCROW.—If on any 

6 day during a pay period occurring during the One 

7 Hundred Sixteenth Congress a Government shut8 down is in effect, the payroll administrator of each 

9 House of Congress shall— 

10 (A) deposit in an escrow account and ex11 clude from the payments otherwise required to 

12 be made with respect to that pay period for the 

13 compensation of each Member of Congress who 

14 serves in that House of Congress an amount 

15 equal to the product of— 

16 (i) the daily rate of pay of the Mem17 ber under section 601(a) of the Legislative 

18 Reorganization Act of 1946 (2 U.S.C. 

19 4501); and 

20 (ii) the number of 24-hour periods 

21 during the pay period during which the 

22 Government shutdown is in effect; and 

23 (B) release amounts deposited in an es24 crow account under subparagraph (A) to such 

25 Member of Congress only upon the expiration of 

26 the period described in paragraph (2). 


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1 (2) PERIOD DESCRIBED.—The period described 

2 in this paragraph is the period that— 

3 (A) begins on the first day on which the 

4 applicable Government shutdown is in effect; 

5 and 

6 (B) ends on the earlier of— 

7 (i) the date on which the applicable 

8 Government shutdown is no longer in ef9 fect; or 

10 (ii) the last day of the One Hundred 

11 Sixteenth Congress. 

12 (3) WITHHOLDING AND REMITTANCE OF

13 AMOUNTS FROM PAYMENTS HELD IN ESCROW.—The 

14 payroll administrator of each House of Congress 

15 shall provide for the same withholding and remit16 tance with respect to a payment deposited in an es17 crow account under paragraph (1) that would apply 

18 to the payment if the payment were not subject to 

19 paragraph (1). 

20 (4) RELEASE OF AMOUNTS AT END OF THE

21 CONGRESS.—In order to ensure that this subsection 

22 is carried out in a manner that shall not vary the 

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1 trator of a House of Congress shall release for pay2 ment to Members of that House of Congress any 

3 amounts remaining in any escrow account under this 

4 section on the last day of the One Hundred Six5 teenth Congress. 

6 (b) SUBSEQUENT CONGRESSES.—On and after the 

7 first day of the One Hundred Seventeenth Congress, if 

8 on any day during a pay period a Government shutdown 

9 is in effect, the payroll administrator of each House of 

10 Congress shall exclude from the payments otherwise re11 quired to be made with respect to that pay period for the 

12 compensation of each Member of Congress who serves in 

13 that House of Congress an amount equal to the product 

14 of— 

15 (1) the daily rate of pay of the Member under 

16 section 601(a) of the Legislative Reorganization Act 

17 of 1946 (2 U.S.C. 4501); and 

18 (2) the number of 24-hour periods during the 

19 pay period during which the Government shutdown 

20 is in effect. 

21 (c) ROLE OF SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY.—The 

22 Secretary of the Treasury shall provide the payroll admin23 istrator of each House of Congress with such assistance 

24 as may be necessary to enable the payroll administrator 

25 to carry out this subtitle. 


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1 SEC. 8703. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this subtitle— 

3 (1) the term ‘‘Government shutdown’’ means a 

4 lapse in appropriations for one or more Federal 

5 agencies or departments as a result of a failure to 

6 enact a regular appropriations bill or continuing res7 olution; 

8 (2) the term ‘‘Member of Congress’’ means an 

9 individual serving in a position covered under sub10 paragraph (A), (B), or (C) of section 601(a)(1) of 

11 the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 (2 

12 U.S.C. 4501(1)); and 

13 (3) the term ‘‘payroll administrator’’, with re14 spect to a House of Congress, means— 

15 (A) in the case of the House of Represent16 atives, the Chief Administrative Officer of the 

17 House of Representatives, or an employee of 

18 the Office of the Chief Administrative Officer 

19 who is designated by the Chief Administrative 

20 Officer to carry out this Act; and 

21 (B) in the case of the Senate, the Sec22 retary of the Senate, or an employee of the Of23 fice of the Secretary of the Senate who is des24 ignated by the Secretary to carry out this Act. 


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1 Subtitle I—Severability 

2 SEC. 8801. SEVERABILITY. 

3 If any provision of this title or amendment made by 

4 this title, or the application of a provision or amendment 

5 to any person or circumstance, is held to be unconstitu6 tional, the remainder of this title and amendments made 

7 by this title, and the application of the provisions and 

8 amendment to any person or circumstance, shall not be 

9 affected by the holding. 

10 TITLE IX—PRESIDENTIAL, VICE 

11 PRESIDENTIAL, AND CON12 GRESSIONAL TAX TRANS13 PARENCY 

Sec. 9001. Presidential, Vice Presidential, and congressional tax transparency. 

14 SEC. 9001. PRESIDENTIAL, VICE PRESIDENTIAL, AND CON15 GRESSIONAL TAX TRANSPARENCY. 

16 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

17 (1) The term ‘‘covered candidate’’ means a can18 didate of a major party in a general election for the 

19 office of President, Vice President, Senator, or Rep20 resentative in, or Delegate or Resident Commis21 sioner to, the Congress. 

22 (2) The term ‘‘major party’’ has the meaning 

23 given the term in section 9002 of the Internal Rev24 enue Code of 1986. 


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1 (3) The term ‘‘income tax return’’ means, with 

2 respect to an individual, any return (as such term is 

3 defined in section 6103(b)(1) of the Internal Rev4 enue Code of 1986) of such individual other than— 

5 (A) information returns issued to persons 

6 other than such individual, and 

7 (B) declarations of estimated tax. 

8 (4) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary 

9 of the Treasury or the delegate of the Secretary. 

10 (b) DISCLOSURE.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.— 

12 (A) CANDIDATES FOR FEDERAL OFFICE.— 

13 Not later than the date that is 15 days after 

14 the date on which an individual becomes a cov15 ered candidate, the individual shall submit to 

16 the Federal Election Commission a copy of the 

17 individual’s income tax returns for the 10 most 

18 recent taxable years for which a return has 

19 been filed with the Internal Revenue Service. 

20 (B) FEDERAL OFFICEHOLDERS.—With re21 spect to each taxable year for an individual who 

22 is the President or Vice President, who is a 

23 Senator, or who is a Representative in, or Dele24 gate or Resident Commissioner to, the Con25 gress, not later than the due date for the return 


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1 of tax for the taxable year, such individual shall 

2 submit to the Federal Election Commission a 

3 copy of the individual’s income tax returns for 

4 the taxable year and for the 9 preceding taxable 

5 years. 

6 (C) TRANSITION RULE FOR SITTING OF7 FICEHOLDERS.—Not later than the date that is 

8 30 days after the date of enactment of this sec9 tion, an individual who is the President or Vice 

10 President, who is a Senator, or who is a Rep11 resentative in, or Delegate or Resident Commis12 sioner to, the Congress, on such date of enact13 ment shall submit to the Federal Election Com14 mission a copy of the income tax returns for the 

15 10 most recent taxable years for which a return 

16 has been filed with the Internal Revenue Serv17 ice. 

18 (2) FAILURE TO DISCLOSE.—If any require19 ment under paragraph (1) to submit an income tax 

20 return is not met, the chairman of the Federal Elec21 tion Commission shall submit to the Secretary a 

22 written request that the Secretary provide the Fed23 eral Election Commission with the income tax re24 turn. 


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1 (3) PUBLICLY AVAILABLE.—The chairman of 

2 the Federal Election Commission shall make publicly 

3 available each income tax return submitted under 

4 paragraph (1) in the same manner as a return pro5 vided under section 6103(l)(23) of the Internal Rev6 enue Code of 1986 (as added by this section). 

7 (4) TREATMENT AS A REPORT UNDER THE

8 FEDERAL ELECTION CAMPAIGN ACT OF 1971.—For 

9 purposes of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 

10 1971, any income tax return submitted under para11 graph (1) or provided under section 6103(l)(23) of 

12 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (as added by 

13 this section) shall, after redaction under paragraph 

14 (3) or subparagraph (B)(ii) of such section, be treat15 ed as a report filed under the Federal Election Cam16 paign Act of 1971. 

17 (c) DISCLOSURE OF RETURNS.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 6103(l) of the Inter19 nal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at 

20 the end the following new paragraph: 

21 ‘‘(23) DISCLOSURE OF RETURN INFORMATION

22 OF FEDERAL OFFICEHOLDERS AND CERTAIN CAN23 DIDATES FOR FEDERAL OFFICE.— 

24 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Upon written request 

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1 mission under section 10001(b)(2) of the Non2 partisan Bill For the People Act of 2019, the 

3 Secretary shall provide copies of any return 

4 which is so requested to officers and employees 

5 of the Federal Election Commission whose offi6 cial duties require access to such return under 

7 this paragraph. 

8 ‘‘(B) DISCLOSURE TO THE PUBLIC.— 

9 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The chairman of 

10 the Federal Election Commission shall 

11 make publicly available any return which is 

12 provided under subparagraph (A). 

13 ‘‘(ii) REDACTION OF CERTAIN INFOR14 MATION.—Before making publicly available 

15 under clause (i) any return, the chairman 

16 of the Federal Election Commission shall 

17 redact such information as the Federal 

18 Election Commission and the Secretary 

19 jointly determine is necessary for pro20 tecting against identity theft, such as so21 cial security numbers.’’. 

22 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 

23 6103(p)(4) of such Code is amended— 


pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS
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1 (A) in the matter preceding subparagraph 

2 (A) by striking ‘‘or (22)’’ and inserting ‘‘(22), 

3 or (23)’’, and 

4 (B) in subparagraph (F)(ii) by striking ‘‘or 

5 (22)’’ and inserting ‘‘(22), or (23)’’. 

6 (3) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 

7 by this subsection shall apply to disclosures made on 

8 or after the date of enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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