I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4054 

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

of certain general public political advertisements to include in the advertisements information on the persons who provided the funding for such 

advertisements, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 25, 2019 

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

to the Committee on House Administration 

A BILL 

To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to 

require the sponsors of certain general public political 

advertisements to include in the advertisements information on the persons who provided the funding for such 

advertisements, 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 ‘‘Stand By Every Ad 

5 Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. APPLICATION OF DISCLAIMER STATEMENTS TO ON2 LINE COMMUNICATIONS. 

3 (a) APPLICATION TO ONLINE PUBLIC COMMUNICA4 TIONS.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (a) of section 

6 318 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 

7 (52 U.S.C. 30120) is amended— 

8 (A) by striking ‘‘financing any communica9 tion through any broadcasting station, news10 paper, magazine, outdoor advertising facility, 

11 mailing, or any other type of general public po12 litical advertising’’ and inserting ‘‘financing any 

13 public communication’’; and 

14 (B) by striking ‘‘solicits any contribution 

15 through any broadcasting station, newspaper, 

16 magazine, outdoor advertising facility, mailing, 

17 or any other type of general public political ad18 vertising’’ and inserting ‘‘solicits any contribu19 tion through any public communication’’. 

20 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO

21 DEFINITION OF PUBLIC COMMUNICATION.—Para22 graph (22) of section 301 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 

23 30101(22)) is amended by striking ‘‘or satellite com24 munication’’ and inserting ‘‘satellite, paid internet, 

25 or paid digital communication’’. 


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1 (b) CLEAR AND CONSPICUOUS MANNER REQUIRE2 MENT.—Subsection (a) of section 318 of such Act (52 

3 U.S.C. 30120(a)) is amended— 

4 (1) by striking ‘‘shall clearly state’’ each place 

5 it appears in paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) and in6 serting ‘‘shall state in a clear and conspicuous man7 ner’’; and 

8 (2) by adding at the end the following flush 

9 sentence: ‘‘For purposes of this section, a commu10 nication does not make a statement in a clear and 

11 conspicuous manner if it is difficult to read or hear 

12 or if the placement is easily overlooked.’’. 

13 (c) SPECIAL RULES FOR QUALIFIED INTERNET OR

14 DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 318 of such Act (52 

16 U.S.C. 30120) is amended by adding at the end the 

17 following new subsection: 

18 ‘‘(e) SPECIAL RULES FOR QUALIFIED INTERNET OR

19 DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS.— 

20 ‘‘(1) SPECIAL RULES WITH RESPECT TO STATE21 MENTS.—In the case of any qualified internet or 

22 digital communication which is disseminated through 

23 a medium in which the provision of all of the infor24 mation specified in this section is not possible, the 


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1 communication shall, in a clear and conspicuous 

2 manner— 

3 ‘‘(A) state the name of the person who 

4 paid for the communication; and 

5 ‘‘(B) provide a means for the recipient of 

6 the communication to obtain the remainder of 

7 the information required under this section with 

8 minimal effort and without receiving or viewing 

9 any additional material other than such re10 quired information. 

11 ‘‘(2) SAFE HARBOR FOR DETERMINING CLEAR

12 AND CONSPICUOUS MANNER.—A statement in quali13 fied internet or digital communication shall be con14 sidered to be made in a clear and conspicuous man15 ner as provided in subsection (a) if the communica16 tion meets the following requirements: 

17 ‘‘(A) TEXT OR GRAPHIC COMMUNICA18 TIONS.—In the case of a text or graphic com19 munication, the statement— 

20 ‘‘(i) appears in letters at least as large 

21 as the majority of the text in the commu22 nication; and 

23 ‘‘(ii) meets the requirements of para24 graphs (2) and (3) of subsection (c). 


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1 ‘‘(B) AUDIO COMMUNICATIONS.—In the 

2 case of an audio communication, the statement 

3 is spoken in a clearly audible and intelligible 

4 manner at the beginning or end of the commu5 nication and lasts at least 3 seconds. 

6 ‘‘(C) VIDEO COMMUNICATIONS.—In the 

7 case of a video communication which also in8 cludes audio, the statement— 

9 ‘‘(i) is included at either the beginning 

10 or the end of the communication; and 

11 ‘‘(ii) is made both in— 

12 ‘‘(I) a written format that meets 

13 the requirements of subparagraph (A) 

14 and appears for at least 4 seconds; 

15 and 

16 ‘‘(II) an audible format that 

17 meets the requirements of subpara18 graph (B). 

19 ‘‘(D) OTHER COMMUNICATIONS.—In the 

20 case of any other type of communication, the 

21 statement is at least as clear and conspicuous 

22 as the statement specified in subparagraph (A), 

23 (B), or (C). 

24 ‘‘(3) QUALIFIED INTERNET OR DIGITAL COM25 MUNICATION DEFINED.— 


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

2 term ‘qualified internet or digital communica3 tion’ means any communication which is placed 

4 or promoted for a fee on an online platform. 

5 ‘‘(B) ONLINE PLATFORM.—For purposes 

6 of this paragraph, the term ‘online platform’ 

7 means any public-facing website, web applica8 tion, or digital application (including a social 

9 network, ad network, or search engine) which— 

10 ‘‘(i) sells qualified political advertise11 ments; and 

12 ‘‘(ii) has 50,000,000 or more unique 

13 monthly United States visitors or users for 

14 a majority of months during the preceding 

15 12 months. 

16 ‘‘(C) QUALIFIED POLITICAL ADVERTISE17 MENT.—For purposes of this paragraph, the 

18 term ‘qualified political advertisement’ means 

19 any advertisement (including search engine 

20 marketing, display advertisements, video adver21 tisements, native advertisements, and sponsor22 ships) that— 

23 ‘‘(i) is made by or on behalf of a can24 didate; or 


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1 ‘‘(ii) communicates a message relating 

2 to any political matter of national impor3 tance, including— 

4 ‘‘(I) a candidate; 

5 ‘‘(II) any election to Federal of6 fice; or 

7 ‘‘(III) a national legislative issue 

8 of public importance.’’. 

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 318(e)(3) of 

15 the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as 

16 added by paragraph (1)). 

17 (d) MODIFICATION OF ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS

18 FOR CERTAIN COMMUNICATIONS.—Section 318(d) of such 

19 Act (52 U.S.C. 30120(d)) is amended— 

20 (1) in paragraph (1)(A)— 

21 (A) by striking ‘‘which is transmitted 

22 through radio’’ and inserting ‘‘which is in an 

23 audio format’’; and 

24 (B) by striking ‘‘BY RADIO’’ in the heading 

25 and inserting ‘‘AUDIO FORMAT’’; 


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1 (2) in paragraph (1)(B)— 

2 (A) by striking ‘‘which is transmitted 

3 through television’’ and inserting ‘‘which is in 

4 video format’’; and 

5 (B) by striking ‘‘BY TELEVISION’’ in the 

6 heading and inserting ‘‘VIDEO FORMAT’’; and 

7 (3) in paragraph (2)— 

8 (A) by striking ‘‘transmitted through radio 

9 or television’’ and inserting ‘‘made in audio or 

10 video format’’; and 

11 (B) by striking ‘‘through television’’ in the 

12 second sentence and inserting ‘‘in video for13 mat’’. 

14 SEC. 3. DISCLAIMER REQUIREMENTS FOR COMMUNICA15 TIONS CONSISTING OF CAMPAIGN-RELATED 

16 DISBURSEMENTS. 

17 (a) DISCLAIMER REQUIREMENTS FOR CAMPAIGN-RE18 LATED DISBURSEMENTS.—Section 318(a) of the Federal 

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

20 amended by striking ‘‘for the purpose of financing commu21 nications expressly advocating the election or defeat of a 

22 clearly identified candidate’’ and inserting ‘‘for a cam23 paign-related disbursement, as defined in subsection (f), 

24 consisting of a public communication’’. 


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1 (b) CAMPAIGN-RELATED DISBURSEMENTS DE2 FINED.—Section 318 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 30120), as 

3 amended by section 2(c)(1), is further amended by adding 

4 at the end the following new subsection: 

5 ‘‘(f) CAMPAIGN-RELATED DISBURSEMENT DE6 FINED.— 

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

8 ‘campaign-related disbursement’ means a disburse9 ment by a covered organization for any of the fol10 lowing (regardless of the intent of the person mak11 ing the disbursement): 

12 ‘‘(A) An independent expenditure which ex13 pressly advocates the election or defeat of a 

14 clearly identified candidate for election for Fed15 eral office, or is the functional equivalent of ex16 press advocacy because, when taken as a whole, 

17 it can be interpreted by a reasonable person 

18 only as advocating the election or defeat of a 

19 candidate for election for Federal office. 

20 ‘‘(B) Any public communication which re21 fers to a clearly identified candidate for election 

22 for Federal office and which promotes or sup23 ports the election of a candidate for that office, 

24 or attacks or opposes the election of a candidate 

25 for that office, without regard to whether the 


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1 communication expressly advocates a vote for or 

2 against a candidate for that office. 

3 ‘‘(C) An electioneering communication, as 

4 defined in section 304(f)(3). 

5 ‘‘(D) A covered transfer. 

6 ‘‘(2) COVERED ORGANIZATION DEFINED.—In 

7 this subsection, the term ‘covered organization’ 

8 means any of the following: 

9 ‘‘(A) A corporation (other than an organi10 zation described in section 501(c)(3) of the In11 ternal Revenue Code of 1986). 

12 ‘‘(B) A limited liability corporation that is 

13 not otherwise treated as a corporation for pur14 poses of this Act (other than an organization 

15 described in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal 

16 Revenue Code of 1986). 

17 ‘‘(C) An organization described in section 

18 501(c) of such Code and exempt from taxation 

19 under section 501(a) of such Code (other than 

20 an organization described in section 501(c)(3) 

21 of such Code). 

22 ‘‘(D) A labor organization (as defined in 

23 section 316(b)). 

24 ‘‘(E) Any political organization under sec25 tion 527 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, 


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1 other than a political committee under this Act 

2 (except as provided in subparagraph (F)). 

3 ‘‘(F) A political committee with an account 

4 that accepts donations or contributions that do 

5 not comply with the contribution limits or 

6 source prohibitions under this Act, but only 

7 with respect to such accounts. 

8 ‘‘(3) COVERED TRANSFER DEFINED.— 

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In this subsection, the 

10 term ‘covered transfer’ means any transfer or 

11 payment of funds by a covered organization to 

12 another person if the covered organization— 

13 ‘‘(i) designates, requests, or suggests 

14 that the amounts be used for— 

15 ‘‘(I) campaign-related disburse16 ments (other than covered transfers); 

17 or 

18 ‘‘(II) making a transfer to an19 other person for the purpose of mak20 ing or paying for such campaign-re21 lated disbursements; 

22 ‘‘(ii) made such transfer or payment 

23 in response to a solicitation or other re24 quest for a donation or payment for— 


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1 ‘‘(I) the making of or paying for 

2 campaign-related disbursements 

3 (other than covered transfers); or 

4 ‘‘(II) making a transfer to an5 other person for the purpose of mak6 ing or paying for such campaign-re7 lated disbursements; 

8 ‘‘(iii) engaged in discussions with the 

9 recipient of the transfer or payment re10 garding— 

11 ‘‘(I) the making of or paying for 

12 campaign-related disbursements 

13 (other than covered transfers); or 

14 ‘‘(II) donating or transferring 

15 any amount of such transfer or pay16 ment to another person for the pur17 pose of making or paying for such 

18 campaign-related disbursements; 

19 ‘‘(iv) made campaign-related disburse20 ments (other than a covered transfer) in 

21 an aggregate amount of $50,000 or more 

22 during the 2-year period ending on the 

23 date of the transfer or payment, or knew 

24 or had reason to know that the person re25 ceiving the transfer or payment made such 


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1 disbursements in such an aggregate 

2 amount during that 2-year period; or 

3 ‘‘(v) knew or had reason to know that 

4 the person receiving the transfer or pay5 ment would make campaign-related dis6 bursements in an aggregate amount of 

7 $50,000 or more during the 2-year period 

8 beginning on the date of the transfer or 

9 payment. 

10 ‘‘(B) EXCLUSIONS.—The term ‘covered 

11 transfer’ does not include any of the following: 

12 ‘‘(i) A disbursement made by a cov13 ered organization in a commercial trans14 action in the ordinary course of any trade 

15 or business conducted by the covered orga16 nization or in the form of investments 

17 made by the covered organization. 

18 ‘‘(ii) A disbursement made by a cov19 ered organization if— 

20 ‘‘(I) the covered organization 

21 prohibited, in writing, the use of such 

22 disbursement for campaign-related 

23 disbursements; and 

24 ‘‘(II) the recipient of the dis25 bursement agreed to follow the prohiVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:14 Aug 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4054.IH H4054

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1 bition and deposited the disbursement 

2 in an account which is segregated 

3 from any account used to make cam4 paign-related disbursements. 

5 ‘‘(C) SPECIAL RULE REGARDING TRANS6 FERS AMONG AFFILIATES.— 

7 ‘‘(i) SPECIAL RULE.—A transfer of an 

8 amount by one covered organization to an9 other covered organization which is treated 

10 as a transfer between affiliates under 

11 clause (iii) shall be considered a covered 

12 transfer by the covered organization which 

13 transfers the amount only if the aggregate 

14 amount transferred during the year by 

15 such covered organization to that same 

16 covered organization is equal to or greater 

17 than $50,000. 

18 ‘‘(ii) DETERMINATION OF AMOUNT OF

19 CERTAIN PAYMENTS AMONG AFFILIATES.— 

20 In determining the amount of a transfer 

21 between affiliates for purposes of clause 

22 (i), to the extent that the transfer consists 

23 of funds attributable to dues, fees, or as24 sessments which are paid by individuals on 

25 a regular, periodic basis in accordance with 


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1 a per-individual calculation which is made 

2 on a regular basis, the transfer shall be at3 tributed to the individuals paying the dues, 

4 fees, or assessments and shall not be at5 tributed to the covered organization. 

6 ‘‘(iii) DESCRIPTION OF TRANSFERS

7 BETWEEN AFFILIATES.—A transfer of 

8 amounts from one covered organization to 

9 another covered organization shall be 

10 treated as a transfer between affiliates if— 

11 ‘‘(I) one of the organizations is 

12 an affiliate of the other organization; 

13 or 

14 ‘‘(II) each of the organizations is 

15 an affiliate of the same organization, 

16 except that the transfer shall not be treat17 ed as a transfer between affiliates if one of 

18 the organizations is established for the 

19 purpose of making campaign-related dis20 bursements. 

21 ‘‘(iv) DETERMINATION OF AFFILIATE

22 STATUS.—For purposes of clause (iii), a 

23 covered organization is an affiliate of an24 other covered organization if— 


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1 ‘‘(I) the governing instrument of 

2 the organization requires it to be 

3 bound by decisions of the other orga4 nization; 

5 ‘‘(II) the governing board of the 

6 organization includes persons who are 

7 specifically designated representatives 

8 of the other organization or are mem9 bers of the governing board, officers, 

10 or paid executive staff members of the 

11 other organization, or whose service 

12 on the governing board is contingent 

13 upon the approval of the other organi14 zation; or 

15 ‘‘(III) the organization is char16 tered by the other organization. 

17 ‘‘(v) COVERAGE OF TRANSFERS TO

18 AFFILIATED SECTION 501(c)(3) ORGANIZA19 TIONS.—This subparagraph shall apply 

20 with respect to an amount transferred by 

21 a covered organization to an organization 

22 described in paragraph (3) of section 

23 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 

24 1986 and exempt from tax under section 

25 501(a) of such Code in the same manner 


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1 as this subparagraph applies to an amount 

2 transferred by a covered organization to 

3 another covered organization.’’. 

4 SEC. 4. STAND BY EVERY AD. 

5 (a) EXPANDED DISCLAIMER REQUIREMENTS FOR

6 CERTAIN COMMUNICATIONS.—Section 318 of the Federal 

7 Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30120), as 

8 amended by section 2(c)(1) and section 3(b), is further 

9 amended by adding at the end the following new sub10 section: 

11 ‘‘(g) EXPANDED DISCLAIMER REQUIREMENTS FOR

12 COMMUNICATIONS NOT AUTHORIZED BY CANDIDATES OR

13 COMMITTEES.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para15 graph (6), any communication described in para16 graph (3) of subsection (a) which is transmitted in 

17 an audio or video format (including an Internet or 

18 digital communication), or which is an Internet or 

19 digital communication transmitted in a text or 

20 graphic format, shall include, in addition to the re21 quirements of paragraph (3) of subsection (a), the 

22 following: 

23 ‘‘(A) The individual disclosure statement 

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

25 paying for the communication is an individual) 


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1 or the organizational disclosure statement de2 scribed in paragraph (2)(B) (if the person pay3 ing for the communication is not an individual). 

4 ‘‘(B) If the communication is transmitted 

5 in a video format, or is an Internet or digital 

6 communication which is transmitted in a text or 

7 graphic format, and is paid for in whole or in 

8 part with a payment which is treated as a cam9 paign-related disbursement under subsection 

10 (f)— 

11 ‘‘(i) the Top Five Funders list (if ap12 plicable); or 

13 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a communication 

14 which, as determined on the basis of cri15 teria established in regulations issued by 

16 the Commission, is of such short duration 

17 that including the Top Five Funders list in 

18 the communication would constitute a 

19 hardship to the person paying for the com20 munication by requiring a disproportionate 

21 amount of the content of the communica22 tion to consist of the Top Five Funders 

23 list, the name of a website which contains 

24 the Top Five Funders list (if applicable) 

25 or, in the case of an Internet or digital 


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1 communication, a hyperlink to such 

2 website. 

3 ‘‘(C) If the communication is transmitted 

4 in an audio format and is paid for in whole or 

5 in part with a payment which is treated as a 

6 campaign-related disbursement under sub7 section (f)— 

8 ‘‘(i) the Top Two Funders list (if ap9 plicable); or 

10 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a communication 

11 which, as determined on the basis of cri12 teria established in regulations issued by 

13 the Commission, is of such short duration 

14 that including the Top Two Funders list in 

15 the communication would constitute a 

16 hardship to the person paying for the com17 munication by requiring a disproportionate 

18 amount of the content of the communica19 tion to consist of the Top Two Funders 

20 list, the name of a website which contains 

21 the Top Two Funders list (if applicable). 

22 ‘‘(2) DISCLOSURE STATEMENTS DESCRIBED.— 

23 ‘‘(A) INDIVIDUAL DISCLOSURE STATE24 MENTS.—The individual disclosure statement 

25 described in this subparagraph is the following: 


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1 ‘I am llllllll, and I approve this 

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

3 name of the applicable individual. 

4 ‘‘(B) ORGANIZATIONAL DISCLOSURE

5 STATEMENTS.—The organizational disclosure 

6 statement described in this subparagraph is the 

7 following: ‘I am llllllll, the 

8 llllllll of llllllll, and 

9 llllllll approves this message.’, 

10 with— 

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

12 the name of the applicable individual; 

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

14 with the title of the applicable individual; 

15 and 

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

17 to be filled in with the name of the organi18 zation or other person paying for the com19 munication. 

20 ‘‘(3) METHOD OF CONVEYANCE OF STATE21 MENT.— 

22 ‘‘(A) COMMUNICATIONS IN TEXT OR

23 GRAPHIC FORMAT.—In the case of a commu24 nication to which this subsection applies which 

25 is transmitted in a text or graphic format, the 


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1 disclosure statements required under paragraph 

2 (1) shall appear in letters at least as large as 

3 the majority of the text in the communication. 

4 ‘‘(B) COMMUNICATIONS TRANSMITTED IN

5 AUDIO FORMAT.—In the case of a communica6 tion to which this subsection applies which is 

7 transmitted in an audio format, the disclosure 

8 statements required under paragraph (1) shall 

9 be made by audio by the applicable individual 

10 in a clear and conspicuous manner. 

11 ‘‘(C) COMMUNICATIONS TRANSMITTED IN

12 VIDEO FORMAT.—In the case of a communica13 tion to which this subsection applies which is 

14 transmitted in a video format, the information 

15 required under paragraph (1)— 

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

17 of the communication or in a crawl along 

18 the bottom of the communication in a clear 

19 and conspicuous manner, with a reasonable 

20 degree of color contrast between the back21 ground and the printed statement, for a 

22 period of at least 6 seconds; and 

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

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1 vidual making the statement in voice-over 

2 accompanied by a clearly identifiable pho3 tograph or similar image of the individual, 

4 except in the case of a Top Five Funders 

5 list. 

6 ‘‘(4) APPLICABLE INDIVIDUAL DEFINED.—The 

7 term ‘applicable individual’ means, with respect to a 

8 communication to which this subsection applies— 

9 ‘‘(A) if the communication is paid for by 

10 an individual, the individual involved; 

11 ‘‘(B) if the communication is paid for by a 

12 corporation, the chief executive officer of the 

13 corporation (or, if the corporation does not have 

14 a chief executive officer, the highest ranking of15 ficial of the corporation); 

16 ‘‘(C) if the communication is paid for by a 

17 labor organization, the highest ranking officer 

18 of the labor organization; and 

19 ‘‘(D) if the communication is paid for by 

20 any other person, the highest ranking official of 

21 such person. 

22 ‘‘(5) TOP FIVE FUNDERS LIST AND TOP TWO

23 FUNDERS LIST DEFINED.— 

24 ‘‘(A) TOP FIVE FUNDERS LIST.—The term 

25 ‘Top Five Funders list’ means, with respect to 


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1 a communication which is paid for in whole or 

2 in part with a campaign-related disbursement 

3 (as defined in subsection (f)), a list of the five 

4 persons who, during the 12-month period end5 ing on the date of the disbursement, provided 

6 the largest payments of any type in an aggre7 gate amount equal to or exceeding $10,000 to 

8 the person who is paying for the communication 

9 and the amount of the payments each such per10 son provided. If two or more people provided 

11 the fifth largest of such payments, the person 

12 paying for the communication shall select one of 

13 those persons to be included on the Top Five 

14 Funders list. 

15 ‘‘(B) TOP TWO FUNDERS LIST.—The term 

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

17 a communication which is paid for in whole or 

18 in part with a campaign-related disbursement 

19 (as defined in subsection (f)), a list of the per20 sons who, during the 12-month period ending 

21 on the date of the disbursement, provided the 

22 largest and the second largest payments of any 

23 type in an aggregate amount equal to or ex24 ceeding $10,000 to the person who is paying for 

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1 ments each such person provided. If two or 

2 more persons provided the second largest of 

3 such payments, the person paying for the com4 munication shall select one of those persons to 

5 be included on the Top Two Funders list. 

6 ‘‘(C) EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN PAY7 MENTS.—For purposes of subparagraphs (A) 

8 and (B), in determining the amount of pay9 ments made by a person to a person paying for 

10 a communication, there shall be excluded the 

11 following: 

12 ‘‘(i) Any amounts provided in the or13 dinary course of any trade or business con14 ducted by the person paying for the com15 munication or in the form of investments 

16 in the person paying for the communica17 tion. 

18 ‘‘(ii) Any payment which the person 

19 prohibited, in writing, from being used for 

20 campaign-related disbursements, but only 

21 if the person paying for the communication 

22 agreed to follow the prohibition and depos23 ited the payment in an account which is 

24 segregated from any account used to make 

25 campaign-related disbursements. 


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1 ‘‘(6) SPECIAL RULES FOR CERTAIN COMMU2 NICATIONS.— 

3 ‘‘(A) EXCEPTION FOR COMMUNICATIONS

4 PAID FOR BY POLITICAL PARTIES AND CERTAIN

5 POLITICAL COMMITTEES.—This subsection does 

6 not apply to any communication to which sub7 section (d)(2) applies. 

8 ‘‘(B) TREATMENT OF VIDEO COMMUNICA9 TIONS LASTING 10 SECONDS OR LESS.—In the 

10 case of a communication to which this sub11 section applies which is transmitted in a video 

12 format, or is an Internet or digital communica13 tion which is transmitted in a text or graphic 

14 format, the communication shall meet the fol15 lowing requirements: 

16 ‘‘(i) The communication shall include 

17 the individual disclosure statement de18 scribed in paragraph (2)(A) (if the person 

19 paying for the communication is an indi20 vidual) or the organizational disclosure 

21 statement described in paragraph (2)(B) 

22 (if the person paying for the communica23 tion is not an individual). 

24 ‘‘(ii) The statement described in 

25 clause (i) shall appear in writing at the 


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1 end of the communication, or in a crawl 

2 along the bottom of the communication, in 

3 a clear and conspicuous manner, with a 

4 reasonable degree of color contrast between 

5 the background and the printed statement, 

6 for a period of at least 4 seconds. 

7 ‘‘(iii) The communication shall in8 clude, in a clear and conspicuous manner, 

9 a website address with a landing page 

10 which will provide all of the information 

11 described in paragraph (1) with respect to 

12 the communication. Such address shall ap13 pear for the full duration of the commu14 nication. 

15 ‘‘(iv) To the extent that the format in 

16 which the communication is made permits 

17 the use of a hyperlink, the communication 

18 shall include a hyperlink to the website ad19 dress described in clause (iii).’’. 

20 (b) EXCEPTION FOR COMMUNICATIONS PAID FOR BY

21 POLITICAL PARTIES AND CERTAIN POLITICAL COMMIT22 TEES.—Section 318(d)(2) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 

23 30120(d)(2)) is amended— 

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

25 inserting ‘‘CERTAIN POLITICAL COMMITTEES’’; 


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1 (2) by striking ‘‘Any communication’’ and in2 serting ‘‘(A) Any communication’’; 

3 (3) by inserting ‘‘which (except to the extent 

4 provided in subparagraph (B)) is paid for by a polit5 ical committee (including a political committee of a 

6 political party) and’’ after ‘‘subsection (a)’’; 

7 (4) by striking ‘‘or other person’’ each place it 

8 appears; and 

9 (5) by adding at the end the following new sub10 paragraph: 

11 ‘‘(B)(i) This paragraph does not apply to a 

12 communication paid for in whole or in part during 

13 a calendar year with a campaign-related disburse14 ment, but only if the covered organization making 

15 the campaign-related disbursement made campaign16 related disbursements (as defined in subsection (f)) 

17 aggregating more than $10,000 during such cal18 endar year. 

19 ‘‘(ii) For purposes of clause (i), in determining 

20 the amount of campaign-related disbursements made 

21 by a covered organization during a year, there shall 

22 be excluded the following: 

23 ‘‘(I) Any amounts received by the covered 

24 organization in the ordinary course of any trade 

25 or business conducted by the covered organizaVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:14 Aug 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00027 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4054.IH H4054

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1 tion or in the form of investments in the cov2 ered organization. 

3 ‘‘(II) Any amounts received by the covered 

4 organization from a person who prohibited, in 

5 writing, the organization from using such 

6 amounts for campaign-related disbursements, 

7 but only if the covered organization agreed to 

8 follow the prohibition and deposited the 

9 amounts in an account which is segregated 

10 from any account used to make campaign-re11 lated disbursements.’’. 

12 SEC. 5. DISCLAIMER REQUIREMENTS FOR COMMUNICA13 TIONS MADE THROUGH PRERECORDED TELE14 PHONE CALLS. 

15 (a) APPLICATION OF REQUIREMENTS.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 318(a) of the Fed17 eral Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 

18 30120(a)), as amended by section 2(a)(1), is further 

19 amended by inserting after ‘‘public communication’’ 

20 each place it appears the following: ‘‘(including a 

21 telephone call consisting in substantial part of a 

22 prerecorded audio message)’’. 

23 (2) APPLICATION TO COMMUNICATIONS SUB24 JECT TO EXPANDED DISCLAIMER REQUIREMENTS.— 

25 Section 318(g)(1) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 


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1 30120(e)(1)), as added by section 4(a), is amended 

2 in the matter preceding subparagraph (A) by strik3 ing ‘‘which is transmitted in an audio or video for4 mat’’ and inserting ‘‘which is transmitted in an 

5 audio or video format or which consists of a tele6 phone call consisting in substantial part of a 

7 prerecorded audio message’’. 

8 (b) TREATMENT AS COMMUNICATION TRANSMITTED

9 IN AUDIO FORMAT.— 

10 (1) COMMUNICATIONS BY CANDIDATES OR AU11 THORIZED PERSONS.—Section 318(d) of such Act 

12 (52 U.S.C. 30120(d)) is amended by adding at the 

13 end the following new paragraph: 

14 ‘‘(3) PRERECORDED TELEPHONE CALLS.—Any 

15 communication described in paragraph (1), (2), or 

16 (3) of subsection (a) (other than a communication 

17 which is subject to subsection (e)) which is a tele18 phone call consisting in substantial part of a 

19 prerecorded audio message shall include, in addition 

20 to the requirements of such paragraph, the audio 

21 statement required under subparagraph (A) of para22 graph (1) or the audio statement required under 

23 paragraph (2) (whichever is applicable), except that 

24 the statement shall be made at the beginning of the 

25 telephone call.’’. 


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1 (2) COMMUNICATIONS SUBJECT TO EXPANDED

2 DISCLAIMER REQUIREMENTS.—Section 318(g)(3) of 

3 such Act (52 U.S.C. 30120(e)(3)), as added by sec4 tion 4(a), is amended by adding at the end the fol5 lowing new subparagraph: 

6 ‘‘(D) PRERECORDED TELEPHONE

7 CALLS.—In the case of a communication to 

8 which this subsection applies which is a tele9 phone call consisting in substantial part of a 

10 prerecorded audio message, the communication 

11 shall be considered to be transmitted in an 

12 audio format.’’. 

13 SEC. 6. NO EXPANSION OF PERSONS SUBJECT TO DIS14 CLAIMER REQUIREMENTS ON INTERNET 

15 COMMUNICATIONS. 

16 Nothing in this Act or the amendments made by this 

17 Act may be construed to require any person who is not 

18 required under section 318 of the Federal Election Cam19 paign Act of 1971 (as provided under section 110.11 of 

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

21 a disclaimer on communications made by the person 

22 through the internet to include any disclaimer on any such 

23 communications. 


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1 SEC. 7. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

2 The amendments made by this Act shall apply with 

3 respect to communications made on or after January 1, 

4 2020, and shall take effect without regard to whether or 

5 not the Federal Election Commission has promulgated 

6 regulations to carry out such amendments. 

Æ 


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