I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1747

To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to increase the penalties imposed for making or accepting contributions in the name of

another and to prohibit foreign nationals from making any campaignrelated disbursements.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 11, 1999

Mr. BURTON of Indiana (for himself, Mr. SHAYS, Mr. MCHUGH, Mr. MICA,

Mr. MCINTOSH, Mr. SOUDER, Mr. LATOURETTE, Mr. HUTCHINSON, Mr.

TRAFICANT, Mr. HORN, Mr. GILMAN, Mr. BARR of Georgia, and Mr.

RYAN of Wisconsin) 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

increase the penalties imposed for making or accepting

contributions in the name of another and to prohibit

foreign nationals from making any campaign-related disbursements.

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 ‘‘Conduit Contribution

5 Prevention Act of 1999’’.
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1 SEC. 2. INCREASE IN PENALTIES IMPOSED FOR VIOLA2 TIONS OF CONDUIT CONTRIBUTION BAN.

3 (a) INCREASE IN CIVIL MONEY PENALTY FOR KNOW4 ING AND WILLFUL VIOLATIONS.—Section 309(a) of the

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

6 437g(a)) is amended—

7 (1) in paragraph (5)(B), by inserting before the

8 period at the end the following: ‘‘(or, in the case of

9 a violation of section 320, which is not less than 300

10 percent of the amount involved in the violation and

11 is not more than the greater of $50,000 or 1000

12 percent of the amount involved in the violation)’’;

13 and

14 (2) in paragraph (6)(C), by inserting before the

15 period at the end the following: ‘‘(or, in the case of

16 a violation of section 320, which is not less than 300

17 percent of the amount involved in the violation and

18 is not more than the greater of $50,000 or 1000

19 percent of the amount involved in the violation)’’.

20 (b) INCREASE IN CRIMINAL PENALTY.—

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 309(d)(1) of such

22 Act (2 U.S.C. 437g(d)(1)) is amended by adding at

23 the end the following new subparagraph:

24 ‘‘(D) Any person who knowingly and willfully com25 mits a violation of section 320 involving an amount aggre26 gating $1,000 or more during a calendar year shall be
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1 fined, or imprisoned for not more than 2 years, or both.

2 The amount of the fine shall not be less than 300 percent

3 of the amount involved in the violation and shall not be

4 more than the greater of $50,000 or 1000 percent of the

5 amount involved in the violation.’’.

6 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section

7 309(d)(1)(A) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 437g(d)(1)(A))

8 is amended by inserting ‘‘(other than section 320)’’

9 after ‘‘this Act’’.

10 (c) MANDATORY REFERRAL TO ATTORNEY GEN11 ERAL.—Section 309(a)(5)(C) of such Act (2 U.S.C.

12 437(a)(5)(C)) is amended by inserting ‘‘(or, in the case

13 of a violation of section 320, shall refer such apparent vio14 lation to the Attorney General of the United States)’’ after

15 ‘‘United States’’.

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

17 this section shall apply with respect to violations occurring

18 on or after the date of the enactment of this Act.

19 SEC. 3. EXTENSION OF BAN ON FOREIGN CONTRIBUTIONS

20 TO ALL CAMPAIGN-RELATED DISBURSE21 MENTS.

22 (a) PROHIBITION ON DISBURSEMENTS BY FOREIGN

23 NATIONALS.—Section 319 of the Federal Election Cam24 paign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441e) is amended—
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1 (1) in the heading, by striking ‘‘contributions’’

2 and inserting ‘‘disbursements’’;

3 (2) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘contribution’’

4 each place it appears and inserting ‘‘disbursement’’;

5 and

6 (3) in subsection (a), by striking the semicolon

7 and inserting the following: ‘‘, including any dis8 bursement to a political committee of a political

9 party and any disbursement for an independent ex10 penditure;’’.

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

12 this section shall apply with respect to disbursements

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

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