I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1338 

To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to reassert the authority of Congress to restrict spending by corporations and labor organizations on campaigns for elections for Federal office, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 21, 2013 

Mr. DINGELL (for himself, Mr. CONYERS, Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of 

New York, Ms. DEGETTE, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mr. ELLISON, Mr. HIMES, 

Ms. EDWARDS, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. POLIS, and Ms. NORTON) 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 

reassert the authority of Congress to restrict spending 

by corporations and labor organizations on campaigns 

for elections for Federal office, 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 ‘‘Restoring Confidence 

5 in Our Democracy Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) Free and open elections are a founding 

4 principle of our republican form of government. 

5 (2) It is incumbent upon Congress to ensure 

6 that elections in the United States are free of cor7 ruption and the appearance of corruption. 

8 (3) The free flow of money in politics, as exem9 plified by the current state of affairs, is corrupting 

10 and will distort and disfigure our democracy. 

11 (4) Excessively high levels of spending on elec12 tions is fundamentally damaging to the public per13 ception of our government, and threatens the fair14 ness and integrity of our democracy. 

15 (5) Congress has a constitutional duty to guar16 antee a republican form of government for the 

17 States. 

18 (6) Spending record sums of money on our elec19 tions threatens the continued existence of our repub20 lican form of government. 

21 (7) Allowing unlimited spending on elections 

22 means the wealthy can crowd out other important 

23 voices in our political debates, thereby giving Amer24 ican citizens fewer sources of information. 

25 (8) Federalist 52 states that Congress ‘‘ought 

26 to be dependent on the people alone’’. 


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1 (9) Unlimited spending in our elections violates 

2 this principle and corrupts our government by mak3 ing elected officials more dependent on donors than 

4 the people. 

5 (10) This ‘‘dependency corruption’’ gives the 

6 wealthy a greater say in our democracy than the av7 erage citizen, which is contrary to the intent of the 

8 Founding Fathers. 

9 (11) Congress has the inherent power to ensure 

10 that elections for the government are conducted in 

11 a fair, honorable, and proper way to preserve our de12 mocracy and ensure the people have confidence in 

13 our elections and system of government. 

14 (12) Congress has the authority to regulate 

15 campaign expenditures to promote integrity, prevent 

16 corruption, and ensure the public has trust in our 

17 election system, going back to the Tillman Act of 

18 1907, which prohibits corporations from making di19 rect contributions to political campaigns. 

20 (13) In 1947, Congress passed the Taft-Hartley 

21 Act, which first prohibited corporations and labor 

22 unions from making independent expenditures in 

23 support or opposition to candidates for Federal of24 fice. 


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1 (14) The Watergate scandal, and the out2 rageous expenditure of campaign funds in that scan3 dal, did great damage to public confidence in govern4 ment and demanded a legislative response to restore 

5 this confidence. 

6 (15) Congress rewrote the Federal Elections 

7 Campaign Act (FECA) in 1974 as a response to 

8 Watergate and public calls for increased regulation 

9 of our campaign system. This law established the 

10 Federal Elections Commission (FEC) and instituted 

11 limits on campaign contributions which remain law 

12 to this day. 

13 (16) In 1976, the Supreme Court issued a deci14 sion in the case of Buckley v. Valeo which first es15 tablished the principle that money equals speech, in 

16 addition to overturning FECA limitations on inde17 pendent expenditures. 

18 (17) The Buckley decision also stated that 

19 ‘‘The constitutional power of Congress to regulate 

20 Federal elections is well established and is not ques21 tioned by any of the parties in this case’’. 

22 (18) Equating money with speech can result in 

23 the wealthy having an undue influence on our elec24 tions at the expense of the great majority of the 

25 American people. 


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1 (19) In 1990, the Supreme Court issued a deci2 sion in the case of Austin v. Michigan Chamber of 

3 Commerce which upheld a Michigan law banning 

4 corporations from making independent expenditures 

5 in elections. 

6 (20) In Austin, the Court found that ‘‘Cor7 porate wealth can unfairly influence elections when 

8 it is deployed in the form of independent expendi9 tures’’. 

10 (21) Austin also established that the govern11 ment has an anti-distortion interest in regulating po12 litical speech. The Court held that there is a compel13 ling government interest in preventing ‘‘the corrosive 

14 and distorting effects of immense aggregations of 

15 wealth that are accumulated with the help of the 

16 corporate form and that have little or no correlation 

17 to the public’s support for the corporation’s political 

18 ideas’’. 

19 (22) In 2002, Congress enacted the Bipartisan 

20 Campaign Reform Act, which among other things 

21 banned political parties from raising so-called ‘‘soft 

22 money’’. 

23 (23) Spending in presidential elections has risen 

24 to excessive levels over the last decade, which threatVerDate Mar 15 2010 04:18 Mar 28, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1338.IH H1338

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1 ens not only our government, but the integrity of 

2 our elections. 

3 (24) In the 2000 presidential election, both of 

4 the major party candidates spent $343.1 million 

5 combined. This number climbed to $717.9 million in 

6 the 2004 presidential election. 

7 (25) In the 2008 presidential election, Barack 

8 Obama’s campaign spent $740.6 million, more than 

9 both major party candidates combined in the pre10 vious election. 

11 (26) Following the Supreme Court’s decision in 

12 the case of Citizens United v. FEC, there was a 

13 massive increase in outside political spending, which 

14 threatens to undermine the legitimacy of our polit15 ical system. 

16 (27) The FEC estimates that $7 billion was 

17 spent on the 2012 elections. 

18 (28) According to the Wall Street Journal, so19 called ‘‘Super PACs’’ spent $567,498,628 on the 

20 2012 elections. 

21 (29) Super PACs spent $98 million during the 

22 week of October 29, 2012, alone. 

23 (30) Donations to Super PACs are dominated 

24 by the wealthy. In 2012, 58.9 percent of donations 


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1 to Super PACs were $1 million or higher, and came 

2 from only 159 donors. 

3 (31) Super PACs often accept funds from non4 profits which are allowed to conceal the source of 

5 their donations, thereby avoiding transparency and 

6 greater public scrutiny of their actions and motiva7 tions. 

8 (32) Thirty-one percent of outside spending in 

9 the 2012 elections was not able to be traced to its 

10 original sources, which decreases accountability and 

11 transparency, threatens public confidence in our 

12 elected officials and our elections, and has a dis13 torting effect on our elections. 

14 (33) Corporations, now freed to spend as much 

15 as they like to influence elections, accounted for 12 

16 percent of contributions to Super PACS in 2012, 

17 thereby helping to give corporate interests a greater 

18 voice in our political system than the average Ameri19 cans. 

20 (34) A January 2012 poll by Rasmussen says 

21 that 58 percent of Americans believe the United 

22 States needs new campaign finance laws. 

23 (35) A January 2012 poll by Democracy Corps 

24 found that 55 percent of Americans oppose the Citi25 zens United decision. Eighty percent of voters also 


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1 believe there should be limits on the money spent in 

2 campaigns. 

3 (36) An October 2012 poll by Bannon Commu4 nications Research found that 52 percent of Ameri5 cans are in favor of banning corporate political 

6 spending, 89 percent of Americans believe there is 

7 too much money in politics, and 66 percent believe 

8 that money is the root of all evil in politics. 

9 (37) After considering these findings, Congress 

10 is concerned by the unfairness of unlimited spending 

11 in elections and is taking this action to protect our 

12 democracy and our electoral system. 

13 (38) Reinstituting the ban on corporate political 

14 expenditures and placing a limit on the amount of 

15 donations to Super PACs will help restore faith and 

16 trust in our democracy and will respond to calls by 

17 the American people for vigorous campaign finance 

18 reform and effective laws to protect our free demo19 cratic system of elections. 

20 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION OF CORPORATE AND LABOR DIS21 BURSEMENTS FOR ELECTIONEERING COM22 MUNICATIONS. 

23 (a) PROHIBITION.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 316(b)(2) of the 

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


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1 441b(b)(2)) is amended by inserting ‘‘or for any ap2 plicable electioneering communication’’ before ‘‘, but 

3 shall not include’’. 

4 (2) APPLICABLE ELECTIONEERING COMMUNICA5 TION.—Section 316 of such Act (2 U.S.C. 441b) is 

6 amended by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(c) RULES RELATING TO ELECTIONEERING COM8 MUNICATIONS.— 

9 ‘‘(1) APPLICABLE ELECTIONEERING COMMU10 NICATION.—For purposes of this section, the term 

11 ‘applicable electioneering communication’ means an 

12 electioneering communication (within the meaning of 

13 section 304(f)(3)) which is made by any entity de14 scribed in subsection (a) of this section or by any 

15 other person using funds donated by an entity de16 scribed in subsection (a) of this section. 

17 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—Notwithstanding paragraph 

18 (1), the term ‘applicable electioneering communica19 tion’ does not include a communication by a section 

20 501(c)(4) organization or a political organization (as 

21 defined in section 527(e)(1) of the Internal Revenue 

22 Code of 1986) made under section 304(f)(2)(E) or 

23 (F) of this Act if the communication is paid for ex24 clusively by funds provided directly by individuals 

25 who are United States citizens or nationals or lawVerDate Mar 15 2010 04:18 Mar 28, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1338.IH H1338

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1 fully admitted for permanent residence (as defined 

2 in section 101(a)(20) of the Immigration and Na3 tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(20))). For purposes 

4 of the preceding sentence, the term ‘provided di5 rectly by individuals’ does not include funds the 

6 source of which is an entity described in subsection 

7 (a) of this section. 

8 ‘‘(3) SPECIAL OPERATING RULES.— 

9 ‘‘(A) DEFINITION UNDER PARAGRAPH

10 (1).—An electioneering communication shall be 

11 treated as made by an entity described in sub12 section (a) if an entity described in subsection 

13 (a) directly or indirectly disburses any amount 

14 for any of the costs of the communication. 

15 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION UNDER PARAGRAPH

16 (2).—A section 501(c)(4) organization that de17 rives amounts from business activities or re18 ceives funds from any entity described in sub19 section (a) shall be considered to have paid for 

20 any communication out of such amounts unless 

21 such organization paid for the communication 

22 out of a segregated account to which only indi23 viduals can contribute, as described in section 

24 304(f)(2)(E). 


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1 ‘‘(4) DEFINITIONS AND RULES.—For purposes 

2 of this subsection— 

3 ‘‘(A) the term ‘section 501(c)(4) organiza4 tion’ means— 

5 ‘‘(i) an organization described in sec6 tion 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue 

7 Code of 1986 and exempt from taxation 

8 under section 501(a) of such Code; or 

9 ‘‘(ii) an organization which has sub10 mitted an application to the Internal Rev11 enue Service for determination of its status 

12 as an organization described in clause (i); 

13 and 

14 ‘‘(B) a person shall be treated as having 

15 made a disbursement if the person has executed 

16 a contract to make the disbursement. 

17 ‘‘(5) COORDINATION WITH INTERNAL REVENUE

18 CODE.—Nothing in this subsection shall be con19 strued to authorize an organization exempt from 

20 taxation under section 501(a) of the Internal Rev21 enue Code of 1986 to carry out any activity which 

22 is prohibited under such Code. 

23 ‘‘(6) SPECIAL RULES FOR TARGETED COMMU24 NICATIONS.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) EXCEPTION DOES NOT APPLY.— 

2 Paragraph (2) shall not apply in the case of a 

3 targeted communication that is made by an or4 ganization described in such paragraph. 

5 ‘‘(B) TARGETED COMMUNICATION.—For 

6 purposes of subparagraph (A), the term ‘tar7 geted communication’ means an electioneering 

8 communication (as defined in section 304(f)(3)) 

9 that is distributed from a television or radio 

10 broadcast station or provider of cable or sat11 ellite television service and, in the case of a 

12 communication which refers to a candidate for 

13 an office other than President or Vice Presi14 dent, is targeted to the relevant electorate. 

15 ‘‘(C) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this 

16 paragraph, a communication is ‘targeted to the 

17 relevant electorate’ if it meets the requirements 

18 described in section 304(f)(C).’’. 

19 (3) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 

20 by this subsection shall take effect immediately after 

21 the enactment of subsection (b). 

22 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Sections 203 and 

23 204 of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 

24 (Public Law 107–155) are repealed, and each provision 


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1 of law amended by such sections is restored as if such 

2 sections had not been enacted into law. 

3 SEC. 4. PROHIBITION OF INDEPENDENT EXPENDITURES BY 

4 CORPORATIONS AND LABOR ORGANIZA5 TIONS. 

6 Section 316(b)(2) of the Federal Election Campaign 

7 Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441b(b)(2)) is amended by striking 

8 ‘‘includes a contribution or expenditure,’’ and inserting 

9 ‘‘includes a contribution or expenditure (including an inde10 pendent expenditure),’’. 

11 SEC. 5. APPLICATION OF CONTRIBUTION LIMITS AND 

12 SOURCE PROHIBITIONS TO CONTRIBUTIONS 

13 MADE TO SUPER PACS. 

14 (a) APPLICATION OF LIMITS.—Section 315(a) of the 

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

16 441a(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following 

17 new paragraph: 

18 ‘‘(9) For purposes of the limitations imposed by para19 graphs (1)(C), (2)(C), and (3)(B) on the amount of con20 tributions which may be made by any person to a political 

21 committee, a contribution made to a political committee 

22 which accepts donations or contributions that do not com23 ply with the contribution or source prohibitions under this 

24 Act (or made to any account of a political committee which 

25 is established for the purpose of accepting such donations 


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1 or contributions) shall be treated in the same manner as 

2 a contribution made to any other political committee to 

3 which such paragraphs apply.’’. 

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

5 subsection (a) shall apply with respect to contributions 

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

7 SEC. 6. SEVERABILITY. 

8 If any provision of this Act or amendment made by 

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

10 to any person or circumstance, is held to be unconstitu11 tional, the remainder of this Act and amendments made 

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

13 amendment to any person or circumstance, shall not be 

14 affected by the holding. 

Æ 


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