I 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5175 

To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to prohibit foreign 

influence in Federal elections, to prohibit government contractors from 

making expenditures with respect to such elections, and to establish 

additional disclosure requirements with respect to spending in such elections, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 29, 2010 

Mr. VAN HOLLEN (for himself, Mr. CASTLE, Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania, and 

Mr. JONES) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House Administration, and in addition to the Committee on the 

Judiciary, 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 amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to 

prohibit foreign influence in Federal elections, to prohibit 

government contractors from making expenditures with 

respect to such elections, and to establish additional disclosure requirements with respect to spending in such 

elections, 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

2 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

3 ‘‘Democracy is Strengthened by Casting Light on Spend4 ing in Elections Act’’ or the ‘‘DISCLOSE Act’’. 

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

6 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Findings. 

TITLE I—REGULATION OF CERTAIN POLITICAL SPENDING 

Sec. 101. Prohibiting independent expenditures and electioneering communications by government contractors. 

Sec. 102. Application of ban on contributions and expenditures by foreign nationals to foreign-controlled domestic corporations. 

Sec. 103. Treatment of payments for coordinated communications as contributions. 

Sec. 104. Treatment of political party communications made on behalf of candidates. 

TITLE II—PROMOTING EFFECTIVE DISCLOSURE OF CAMPAIGNRELATED ACTIVITY 

Subtitle A—Treatment of Independent Expenditures and Electioneering 

Communications Made by All Persons 

Sec. 201. Independent expenditures. 

Sec. 202. Electioneering communications. 

Subtitle B—Expanded Requirements for Corporations and Other 

Organizations 

Sec. 211. Additional information required to be included in reports on disbursements by covered organizations. 

Sec. 212. Rules regarding use of general treasury funds by covered organizations for campaign-related activity. 

Sec. 213. Optional use of separate account by covered organizations for campaign-related activity. 

Sec. 214. Modification of rules relating to disclaimer statements required for 

certain communications. 

Subtitle C—Reporting Requirements for Registered Lobbyists 

Sec. 221. Requiring registered lobbyists to report information on independent 

expenditures and electioneering communications. 

TITLE III—DISCLOSURE BY COVERED ORGANIZATIONS OF 

INFORMATION ON CAMPAIGN-RELATED ACTIVITY 

Sec. 301. Requiring disclosure by covered organizations of information on campaign-related activity. 


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TITLE IV—OTHER PROVISIONS 

Sec. 401. Judicial review. 

Sec. 402. Severability. 

Sec. 403. Effective date. 

1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 (a) GENERAL FINDINGS.—Congress finds and de3 clares as follows: 

4 (1) Throughout the history of the United 

5 States, the American people have been rightly con6 cerned about the power of special interests to control 

7 our democratic processes. That was true over 100 

8 years ago when Congress first enacted legislation in9 tended to restrict corporate funds from being used 

10 in Federal elections, legislation that Congress in 

11 1947 reaffirmed was intended to include inde12 pendent expenditures. The Supreme Court held such 

13 legislation to be constitutional in 1990 in Austin v. 

14 Michigan Chamber of Commerce (494 U.S. 652) 

15 and again in 2003 in McConnell v. F.E.C. (540 U.S. 

16 93). 

17 (2) The Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens 

18 United v. Federal Election Commission on January 

19 21, 2010, reverses established jurisprudence and 

20 sound policy to greatly increase the dangers of 

21 undue special interest influence over the democratic 

22 process. That decision has opened the floodgates for 

23 corporations and labor unions to spend unlimited 


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1 sums from their general treasury accounts to influ2 ence the outcome of elections. 

3 (3) Congress must take action to ensure that 

4 the American public has all the information nec5 essary to exercise its free speech and voting rights, 

6 and must otherwise take narrowly-tailored steps to 

7 regulate independent expenditures and electioneering 

8 communications in elections. 

9 (b) FINDINGS RELATING TO GOVERNMENT CON10 TRACTORS.—Congress finds and declares as follows: 

11 (1) Government contracting is an activity that 

12 is particularly susceptible to improper influence, and 

13 to the appearance of improper influence. Govern14 ment contracts must be awarded based on an objec15 tive evaluation of how well bidders or potential con16 tractors meet relevant statutory criteria. 

17 (2) Independent expenditures and electioneering 

18 communications that benefit particular candidates or 

19 elected officials or disfavor their opponents can lead 

20 to apparent and actual ingratiation, access, influ21 ence, and quid pro quo arrangements. Government 

22 contracts should be awarded based on an objective 

23 application of statutory criteria, not based on other 

24 forms of inappropriate or corrupting influence. 


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1 (3) Prohibiting independent expenditures and 

2 electioneering communications by persons negoti3 ating for or performing government contracts will 

4 prevent government officials involved in or with in5 fluence over the contracting process from influencing 

6 the contracting process based, consciously or other7 wise, on this kind of inappropriate or corrupting in8 fluence. 

9 (4) Prohibiting independent expenditures and 

10 electioneering communications by persons negoti11 ating for or performing government contracts will 

12 likewise prevent such persons from feeling pressure, 

13 whether actually exerted by government officials or 

14 not, to make expenditures and to fund communica15 tions in order to maximize their chances of receiving 

16 contracts, or to match similar expenditures and com17 munications made by their competitors. 

18 (5) Furthermore, because government contracts 

19 often involve large amounts of public money, it is 

20 critical that the public perceive that the government 

21 contracts are awarded strictly in accordance with 

22 prescribed statutory standards, and not based on 

23 other forms of inappropriate or corrupting influence. 

24 The public’s confidence in government is under25 mined when corporations that make significant exVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:40 Apr 30, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5175.IH H5175

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1 penditures during Federal election campaigns later 

2 receive government funds. 

3 (6) Prohibiting independent expenditures and 

4 electioneering communications by persons negoti5 ating for or performing government contracts will 

6 prevent any appearance that government contracts 

7 were awarded based in whole or in part on such ex8 penditures or communications, or based on the inap9 propriate or corrupting influence such expenditures 

10 and communications can create and appear to cre11 ate. 

12 (7) In these ways, prohibiting independent ex13 penditures and electioneering communications by 

14 persons negotiating for or performing government 

15 contracts will protect the actual and perceived integ16 rity of the government contracting process. 

17 (8) Moreover, the risks of waste, fraud and 

18 abuse, all resulting in economic losses to taxpayers, 

19 are significant when would-be public contractors or 

20 applicants for public funds make expenditures in 

21 Federal election campaigns in order to affect elec22 toral outcomes. 

23 (c) FINDINGS RELATING TO FOREIGN CORPORA24 TIONS.—Congress finds and declares as follows: 


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1 (1) The Supreme Court’s decision in the Citi2 zens United case has provided the means by which 

3 United States corporations controlled by foreign en4 tities can freely spend money to influence United 

5 States elections. 

6 (2) Foreign corporations commonly own U.S. 

7 corporations in whole or in part, and U.S. corporate 

8 equity and debt are also held by foreign individuals, 

9 sovereign wealth funds, and even foreign nations at 

10 levels which permit effective control over those U.S. 

11 entities. 

12 (3) As recognized in many areas of the law, for13 eign ownership interests and influences are exerted 

14 in a perceptible way even when the entity is not ma15 jority-foreign-owned. 

16 (4) The Federal Government has broad con17 stitutional power to protect American interests and 

18 sovereignty from foreign interference and intrusion. 

19 (5) Congress has a clear interest in minimizing 

20 foreign intervention, and the perception of foreign 

21 intervention, in United States elections. 

22 (d) FINDINGS RELATING TO COORDINATED EXPEND23 ITURES.—Congress finds and declares as follows: 

24 (1) It has been the consistent view of Congress 

25 and the courts that coordinated expenditures in 


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1 campaigns for election are no different in nature 

2 from contributions. 

3 (2) Existing rules still allow donors to evade 

4 contribution limits by making campaign expendi5 tures which, while technically qualifying as inde6 pendent expenditures under law, are for all relevant 

7 purposes coordinated with candidates and political 

8 parties and thus raise the potential for corruption or 

9 the appearance of corruption. 

10 (3) Such arrangements have the potential to 

11 give rise to the reality or appearance of corruption 

12 to the same degree that direct contributions to a 

13 candidate may give rise to the reality or appearance 

14 of corruption. Moreover, expenditures which are in 

15 fact made in coordination with a candidate or polit16 ical party have the potential to lessen the public’s 

17 trust and faith in the rules and the integrity of the 

18 electoral process. 

19 (4) The government therefore has a compelling 

20 interest in making sure that expenditures that are 

21 de facto coordinated with a candidate are treated as 

22 such to prevent corruption, the appearance of cor23 ruption, or the perception that some participants are 

24 circumventing the laws and regulations which govern 

25 the financing of election campaigns. 


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1 (e) FINDINGS RELATING TO DISCLOSURES AND DIS2 CLAIMERS.—Congress finds and declares as follows: 

3 (1) The American people have a compelling in4 terest in knowing who is funding independent ex5 penditures and electioneering communications to in6 fluence Federal elections, and the government has a 

7 compelling interest in providing the public with that 

8 information. Effective disclaimers and prompt disclo9 sure of expenditures, and the disclosure of the fund10 ing sources for these expenditures, can provide 

11 shareholders, voters, and citizens with the informa12 tion needed to evaluate the actions by special inter13 ests seeking influence over the democratic process. 

14 Transparency promotes accountability, increases the 

15 fund of information available to the public con16 cerning the support given to candidates by special 

17 interests, sheds the light of publicity on political 

18 spending, and encourages the leaders of organiza19 tions to act only upon legitimate organizational pur20 poses. 

21 (2) Protecting this compelling interest has be22 come particularly important to address the antici23 pated increase in special interest spending on elec24 tion-related communications which will result from 

25 the Supreme Court’s decision in the Citizens United 


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1 case. The current disclosure and disclaimer require2 ments were designed for a campaign finance system 

3 in which such expenditures were subject to prohibi4 tions that no longer apply. 

5 (3) More rigorous disclosure and disclaimer re6 quirements are necessary to protect against the eva7 sion of current rules. Organizations that engage in 

8 election-related communications have used a variety 

9 of methods to attempt to obscure their sponsorship 

10 of communications from the general public. Robust 

11 disclosure and disclaimer requirements are necessary 

12 to ensure that the electorate is informed about who 

13 is paying for particular election-related communica14 tions, and so that the shareholders and members of 

15 these organizations are aware of their organizations’ 

16 election-related spending. 

17 (4) The current lack of accountability and 

18 transparency allow special interest political spending 

19 to serve as a private benefit for the officials of spe20 cial interest organizations, to the detriment of the 

21 organizations and their shareholders and members. 

22 (f) FINDINGS RELATING TO CAMPAIGN SPENDING BY

23 LOBBYISTS.—Congress finds and declares as follows: 


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1 (1) Lobbyists and lobbying organizations, and 

2 through them, their clients, influence the public deci3 sion-making process in a variety of ways. 

4 (2) In recent years, scandals involving undue 

5 lobbyist influence have lowered public trust in gov6 ernment and jeopardized the willingness of voters to 

7 take part in democratic governance. 

8 (3) One way in which lobbyists may unduly in9 fluence Federal officials is through their or their cli10 ents making independent expenditures or election11 eering communications targeting elected officials. 

12 (4) Disclosure of such independent expenditures 

13 and electioneering communications will allow the 

14 public to examine connections between such spend15 ing and official actions, and will therefore limit the 

16 ability of lobbyists to exert an undue influence on 

17 elected officials. 

18 TITLE I—REGULATION OF 

19 CERTAIN POLITICAL SPENDING 

20 SEC. 101. PROHIBITING INDEPENDENT EXPENDITURES AND 

21 ELECTIONEERING COMMUNICATIONS BY 

22 GOVERNMENT CONTRACTORS. 

23 (a) PROHIBITION APPLICABLE TO GOVERNMENT

24 CONTRACTORS.— 

25 (1) PROHIBITION.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—Section 317(a)(1) of 

2 the Federal Election Campaign Act (2 U.S.C. 

3 441c(a)(1)) is amended by striking ‘‘purpose or 

4 use; or’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘purpose 

5 or use, to make any independent expenditure, 

6 or to disburse any funds for an electioneering 

7 communication; or’’. 

8 (B) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The 

9 heading of section 317 of such Act (2 U.S.C. 

10 441c) is amended by striking ‘‘CONTRIBU11 TIONS’’ and inserting ‘‘CONTRIBUTIONS, INDE12 PENDENT EXPENDITURES, AND ELECTION13 EERING COMMUNICATIONS’’. 

14 (2) THRESHOLD FOR APPLICATION OF BAN.— 

15 Section 317 of such Act (2 U.S.C. 441c) is amend16 ed— 

17 (A) by redesignating subsections (b) and 

18 (c) as subsections (c) and (d); and 

19 (B) by inserting after subsection (a) the 

20 following new subsection: 

21 ‘‘(b) To the extent that subsection (a)(1) prohibits 

22 a person who enters into a contract described in such sub23 section from making any independent expenditure or dis24 bursing funds for an electioneering communication, such 


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1 subsection shall apply only if the value of the contract is 

2 equal to or greater than $50,000.’’. 

3 (b) APPLICATION TO RECIPIENTS OF ASSISTANCE

4 UNDER TROUBLED ASSET PROGRAM.—Section 317(a) of 

5 such Act (2 U.S.C. 441c(a)) is amended— 

6 (1) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of paragraph 

7 (1); 

8 (2) by redesignating paragraph (2) as para9 graph (3); and 

10 (3) by inserting after paragraph (1) the fol11 lowing new paragraph: 

12 ‘‘(2) who enters into negotiations for financial 

13 assistance under title I of the Emergency Economic 

14 Stabilization Act of 2008 (12 U.S.C. 5211 et seq.) 

15 (relating to the purchase of troubled assets by the 

16 Secretary of the Treasury), during the period— 

17 ‘‘(A) beginning on the later of the com18 mencement of the negotiations or the date of 

19 the enactment of the Democracy is Strength20 ened by Casting Light on Spending in Elections 

21 Act; and 

22 ‘‘(B) ending with the later of the termi23 nation of such negotiations or the repayment of 

24 such financial assistance; 


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1 directly or indirectly to make any contribution of 

2 money or other things of value, or to promise ex3 pressly or impliedly to make any such contribution 

4 to any political party, committee, or candidate for 

5 public office or to any person for any political pur6 pose or use, to make any independent expenditure, 

7 or to disburse any funds for an electioneering com8 munication; or’’. 

9 (c) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—Section 317 of such 

10 Act (2 U.S.C. 441c) is amended by striking ‘‘section 321’’ 

11 each place it appears and inserting ‘‘section 316’’. 

12 SEC. 102. APPLICATION OF BAN ON CONTRIBUTIONS AND 

13 EXPENDITURES BY FOREIGN NATIONALS TO 

14 FOREIGN-CONTROLLED DOMESTIC COR15 PORATIONS. 

16 (a) APPLICATION OF BAN.—Section 319(b) of the 

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

18 441e(b)) is amended— 

19 (1) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of paragraph 

20 (1); 

21 (2) by striking the period at the end of para22 graph (2) and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

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

24 paragraph: 


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1 ‘‘(3) any corporation which is not a foreign na2 tional described in paragraph (1) and— 

3 ‘‘(A) in which a foreign national described 

4 in paragraph (1) or (2) directly or indirectly 

5 owns 20 percent or more of the voting shares; 

6 ‘‘(B) with respect to which the majority of 

7 the members of the board of directors are for8 eign nationals described in paragraph (1) or 

9 (2); 

10 ‘‘(C) over which one or more foreign na11 tionals described in paragraph (1) or (2) has 

12 the power to direct, dictate, or control the deci13 sion-making process of the corporation with re14 spect to its interests in the United States; or 

15 ‘‘(D) over which one or more foreign na16 tionals described in paragraph (1) or (2) has 

17 the power to direct, dictate, or control the deci18 sion-making process of the corporation with re19 spect to activities in connection with a Federal, 

20 State, or local election, including— 

21 ‘‘(i) the making of a contribution, do22 nation, expenditure, independent expendi23 ture, or disbursement for an electioneering 

24 communication (within the meaning of sec25 tion 304(f)(3)); or 


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1 ‘‘(ii) the administration of a political 

2 committee established or maintained by the 

3 corporation.’’. 

4 (b) CERTIFICATION OF COMPLIANCE.—Section 319 

5 of such Act (2 U.S.C. 441e) is amended by adding at the 

6 end the following new subsection: 

7 ‘‘(c) CERTIFICATION OF COMPLIANCE REQUIRED

8 PRIOR TO CARRYING OUT ACTIVITY.—Prior to the mak9 ing of any contribution, donation, expenditure, inde10 pendent expenditure, or disbursement for an election11 eering communication by a corporation during a year, the 

12 chief executive officer of the corporation (or, if the cor13 poration does not have a chief executive officer, the high14 est ranking official of the corporation), shall file a certifi15 cation with the Commission, under penalty of perjury, that 

16 the corporation is not prohibited from carrying out such 

17 activity under subsection (b)(3), unless the chief executive 

18 officer has previously filed such a certification during the 

19 year.’’. 

20 (c) NO EFFECT ON OTHER LAWS.—Section 319 of 

21 such Act (2 U.S.C. 441e), as amended by subsection (b), 

22 is further amended by adding at the end the following new 

23 subsection: 

24 ‘‘(d) NO EFFECT ON OTHER LAWS.—Nothing in this 

25 section shall be construed to affect the determination of 


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1 whether a corporation is treated as a foreign national for 

2 purposes of any law other than this Act.’’. 

3 SEC. 103. TREATMENT OF PAYMENTS FOR COORDINATED 

4 COMMUNICATIONS AS CONTRIBUTIONS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 301(8)(A) of the Federal 

6 Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431(8)(A)) is 

7 amended— 

8 (1) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of clause (i); 

9 (2) by striking the period at the end of clause 

10 (ii) and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

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

12 clause: 

13 ‘‘(iii) any payment made by any person 

14 (other than a candidate, an authorized com15 mittee of a candidate, or a political committee 

16 of a political party) for a coordinated commu17 nication (as determined under section 324).’’. 

18 (b) COORDINATED COMMUNICATIONS DESCRIBED.— 

19 Section 324 of such Act (2 U.S.C. 431 et seq.) is amended 

20 to read as follows: 

21 ‘‘SEC. 324. COORDINATED COMMUNICATIONS. 

22 ‘‘(a) COORDINATED COMMUNICATIONS DEFINED.— 

23 For purposes of this Act, the term ‘coordinated commu24 nication’ means— 


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1 ‘‘(1) a covered communication which is made in 

2 cooperation, consultation, or concert with, or at the 

3 request or suggestion of, a candidate, an authorized 

4 committee of a candidate, or a political committee of 

5 a political party; or 

6 ‘‘(2) any communication that republishes, dis7 seminates, or distributes, in whole or in part, any 

8 broadcast or any written, graphic, or other form of 

9 campaign material prepared by a candidate, an au10 thorized committee of a candidate, or their agents. 

11 ‘‘(b) COVERED COMMUNICATION DEFINED.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para13 graph (4), for purposes of this subsection, the term 

14 ‘covered communication’ means, for purposes of the 

15 applicable election period described in paragraph (2), 

16 a publicly distributed or disseminated communica17 tion that refers to a clearly identified candidate for 

18 Federal office and is publicly distributed or publicly 

19 disseminated during such period. 

20 ‘‘(2) APPLICABLE ELECTION PERIOD.—For 

21 purposes of paragraph (1), the ‘applicable election 

22 period’ with respect to a communication means— 

23 ‘‘(A) in the case of a communication which 

24 refers to a candidate for the office of President 

25 or Vice President, the period— 


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1 ‘‘(i) beginning with the date that is 

2 120 days before the date of the first pri3 mary election, preference election, or nomi4 nating convention for nomination for the 

5 office of President which is held in any 

6 State; and 

7 ‘‘(ii) ending with the date of the gen8 eral election for such office; or 

9 ‘‘(B) in the case of a communication which 

10 refers to a candidate for any other Federal of11 fice, the period— 

12 ‘‘(i) beginning with the date that is 90 

13 days before the earliest of the primary 

14 election, preference election, or nominating 

15 convention with respect to the nomination 

16 for the office that the candidate is seeking; 

17 and 

18 ‘‘(ii) ending with the date of the gen19 eral election for such office. 

20 ‘‘(3) SPECIAL RULE FOR PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION

21 OF COMMUNICATIONS INVOLVING CONGRESSIONAL

22 CANDIDATES.—For purposes of paragraph (1), in 

23 the case of a communication involving a candidate 

24 for an office other than President or Vice President, 

25 the communication shall be considered to be publicly 


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1 distributed or publicly disseminated only if the dis2 semination or distribution occurs in the jurisdiction 

3 of the office that the candidate is seeking. 

4 ‘‘(4) EXCEPTION.—The term ‘covered commu5 nication’ does not include— 

6 ‘‘(A) a communication appearing in a news 

7 story, commentary, or editorial distributed 

8 through the facilities of any broadcasting sta9 tion, newspaper, magazine, or other periodical 

10 publication, unless such facilities are owned or 

11 controlled by any political party, political com12 mittee, or candidate; or 

13 ‘‘(B) a communication which constitutes a 

14 candidate debate or forum conducted pursuant 

15 to the regulations adopted by the Commission 

16 to carry out section 304(f)(3)(B)(iii), or which 

17 solely promotes such a debate or forum and is 

18 made by or on behalf of the person sponsoring 

19 the debate or forum. 

20 ‘‘(c) TREATMENT OF COORDINATION WITH POLIT21 ICAL PARTIES FOR COMMUNICATIONS REFERRING TO

22 CANDIDATES.—For purposes of this section, if a commu23 nication which refers to any clearly identified candidate 

24 or candidates of a political party or any opponent of such 

25 a candidate or candidates is determined to have been made 


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1 in cooperation, consultation, or concert with or at the re2 quest or suggestion of a political committee of the political 

3 party but not in cooperation, consultation, or concert with 

4 or at the request or suggestion of such clearly identified 

5 candidate or candidates, the communication shall be treat6 ed as having been made in cooperation, consultation, or 

7 concert with or at the request or suggestion of the political 

8 committee of the political party but not with or at the 

9 request or suggestion of such clearly identified candidate 

10 or candidates.’’. 

11 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—This section and the amend13 ments made by this section shall apply with respect 

14 to payments made on or after the expiration of the 

15 30-day period which begins on the date of the enact16 ment of this Act, without regard to whether or not 

17 the Federal Election Commission has promulgated 

18 regulations to carry out such amendments. 

19 (2) TRANSITION RULE FOR ACTIONS TAKEN

20 PRIOR TO ENACTMENT.—No person shall be consid21 ered to have made a payment for a coordinated com22 munication under section 324 of the Federal Elec23 tion Campaign Act of 1971 (as amended by sub24 section (b)) by reason of any action taken by the 

25 person prior to the date of the enactment of this 


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1 Act. Nothing in the previous sentence shall be con2 strued to affect any determination under any other 

3 provision of such Act which is in effect on the date 

4 of the enactment of this Act regarding whether a 

5 communication is made in cooperation, consultation, 

6 or concert with, or at the request or suggestion of, 

7 a candidate, an authorized committee of a candidate, 

8 or a political committee of a political party. 

9 SEC. 104. TREATMENT OF POLITICAL PARTY COMMUNICA10 TIONS MADE ON BEHALF OF CANDIDATES. 

11 (a) TREATMENT OF PAYMENT FOR COMMUNICATION

12 AS CONTRIBUTION IF MADE UNDER CONTROL OR DIREC13 TION OF CANDIDATE.—Section 301(8)(A) of the Federal 

14 Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431(8)(A)), as 

15 amended by section 103(a), is amended— 

16 (1) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of clause (ii); 

17 (2) by striking the period at the end of clause 

18 (iii) and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

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

20 clause: 

21 ‘‘(iv) any payment by a political committee 

22 of a political party for the direct costs of a com23 munication made on behalf of a candidate for 

24 Federal office who is affiliated with such party, 

25 but only if the communication is controlled by, 


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1 or made at the direction of, the candidate or an 

2 authorized committee of the candidate.’’. 

3 (b) REQUIRING CONTROL OR DIRECTION BY CAN4 DIDATE FOR TREATMENT AS COORDINATED PARTY EX5 PENDITURE.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (4) of section 

7 315(d) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 441a(d)) is amended 

8 to read as follows: 

9 ‘‘(4) SPECIAL RULE FOR DIRECT COSTS OF COMMU10 NICATIONS.—The direct costs incurred by a political com11 mittee of a political party for a communication made in 

12 connection with the campaign of a candidate for Federal 

13 office shall not be subject to the limitations contained in 

14 paragraphs (2) and (3) unless the communication is con15 trolled by, or made at the direction of, the candidate or 

16 an authorized committee of the candidate.’’. 

17 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Paragraph (1) 

18 of section 315(d) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 441a(d)) is 

19 amended by striking ‘‘paragraphs (2), (3), and (4)’’ 

20 and inserting ‘‘paragraphs (2) and (3)’’. 

21 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section and the amend22 ments made by this section shall apply with respect to pay23 ments made on or after the expiration of the 30-day period 

24 which begins on the date of the enactment of this Act, 

25 without regard to whether or not the Federal Election 


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1 Commission has promulgated regulations to carry out 

2 such amendments. 

3 TITLE II—PROMOTING EFFEC4 TIVE DISCLOSURE OF CAM5 PAIGN-RELATED ACTIVITY 

6 Subtitle A—Treatment of Inde7 pendent Expenditures and Elec8 tioneering Communications 

9 Made by All Persons 

10 SEC. 201. INDEPENDENT EXPENDITURES. 

11 (a) REVISION OF DEFINITION.—Subparagraph (A) of 

12 section 301(17) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 

13 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431(17)) is amended to read as follows: 

14 ‘‘(A) that, when taken as a whole, ex15 pressly advocates the election or defeat of a 

16 clearly identified candidate, or is the functional 

17 equivalent of express advocacy because it can be 

18 interpreted by a reasonable person only as ad19 vocating the election or defeat of a candidate, 

20 taking into account whether the communication 

21 involved mentions a candidacy, a political party, 

22 or a challenger to a candidate, or takes a posi23 tion on a candidate’s character, qualifications, 

24 or fitness for office; and’’. 


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1 (b) UNIFORM 24-HOUR REPORTING FOR PERSONS

2 MAKING INDEPENDENT EXPENDITURES EXCEEDING

3 $10,000 AT ANY TIME.—Section 304(g) of such Act (2 

4 U.S.C. 434(g)) is amended by striking paragraphs (1) and 

5 (2) and inserting the following: 

6 ‘‘(1) INDEPENDENT EXPENDITURES EXCEED7 ING THRESHOLD AMOUNT.— 

8 ‘‘(A) INITIAL REPORT.—A person (includ9 ing a political committee) that makes or con10 tracts to make independent expenditures in an 

11 aggregate amount equal to or greater than the 

12 threshold amount described in paragraph (2) 

13 shall file a report describing the expenditures 

14 within 24 hours. 

15 ‘‘(B) ADDITIONAL REPORTS.—After a per16 son files a report under subparagraph (A), the 

17 person shall file an additional report within 24 

18 hours after each time the person makes or con19 tracts to make independent expenditures in an 

20 aggregate amount equal to or greater than the 

21 threshold amount with respect to the same elec22 tion as that to which the initial report relates. 

23 ‘‘(2) THRESHOLD AMOUNT DESCRIBED.—In 

24 paragraph (1), the ‘threshold amount’ means— 


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1 ‘‘(A) during the period up to and including 

2 the 20th day before the date of an election, 

3 $10,000; or 

4 ‘‘(B) during the period after the 20th day, 

5 but more than 24 hours, before the date of an 

6 election, $1,000.’’. 

7 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—The amendment made by 

9 subsection (a) shall apply with respect to contribu10 tions and expenditures made on or after the expira11 tion of the 30-day period which begins on the date 

12 of the enactment of this Act, without regard to 

13 whether or not the Federal Election Commission has 

14 promulgated regulations to carry out such amend15 ments. 

16 (2) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—The amend17 ment made by subsection (b) shall apply with re18 spect to reports required to be filed after the date 

19 of the enactment of this Act. 

20 SEC. 202. ELECTIONEERING COMMUNICATIONS. 

21 (a) PERIOD DURING WHICH COMMUNICATIONS

22 TREATED AS ELECTIONEERING COMMUNICATIONS.— 

23 (1) EXPANSION OF PERIOD COVERING GENERAL

24 ELECTION.—Section 304(f)(3)(A)(i)(II)(aa) of the 

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


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1 434(f)(3)(A)(i)(II)(aa)) is amended by striking ‘‘60 

2 days’’ and inserting ‘‘120 days’’. 

3 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE; TRANSITION FOR COM4 MUNICATIONS MADE PRIOR TO ENACTMENT.—The 

5 amendment made by paragraph (1) shall apply with 

6 respect to communications made on or after the date 

7 of the enactment of this Act, without regard to 

8 whether or not the Federal Election Commission has 

9 promulgated regulations to carry out such amend10 ments, except that no communication which is made 

11 prior to the date of the enactment of this Act shall 

12 be treated as an electioneering communication under 

13 section 304(f)(3)(A)(i)(II) of the Federal Election 

14 Campaign Act of 1971 (as amended by paragraph 

15 (1)) unless the communication would be treated as 

16 an electioneering communication under such section 

17 if the amendment made by paragraph (1) did not 

18 apply. 

19 (b) REQUIRING REPORTS TO INCLUDE INFORMATION

20 ON INTENDED TARGET OF COMMUNICATIONS.—Section 

21 304(f)(2)(D) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 434(f)(2)(D)) is 

22 amended— 

23 (1) by striking ‘‘and the names’’ and inserting 

24 ‘‘, the names’’; and 


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1 (2) by inserting ‘‘, and (if applicable) a state2 ment regarding whether the communications are in3 tended to support or oppose such candidates’’ before 

4 the period at the end. 

5 Subtitle B—Expanded Require6 ments for Corporations and 

7 Other Organizations 

8 SEC. 211. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION REQUIRED TO BE IN9 CLUDED IN REPORTS ON DISBURSEMENTS BY 

10 COVERED ORGANIZATIONS. 

11 (a) INDEPENDENT EXPENDITURE REPORTS.—Sec12 tion 304(g) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 

13 (2 U.S.C. 434(g)) is amended by adding at the end the 

14 following new paragraph: 

15 ‘‘(5) DISCLOSURE OF ADDITIONAL INFORMA16 TION BY COVERED ORGANIZATIONS MAKING PAY17 MENTS FOR PUBLIC INDEPENDENT EXPENDI18 TURES.— 

19 ‘‘(A) ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.—If a 

20 covered organization makes or contracts to 

21 make public independent expenditures in an ag22 gregate amount equal to or exceeding $10,000 

23 in a calendar year, the report filed by the orga24 nization under this subsection shall include, in 


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1 addition to the information required under 

2 paragraph (3), the following information: 

3 ‘‘(i) If any person made a donation or 

4 payment to the covered organization dur5 ing the covered organization reporting pe6 riod which was provided for the purpose of 

7 being used for campaign-related activity or 

8 in response to a solicitation for funds to be 

9 used for campaign-related activity— 

10 ‘‘(I) subject to subparagraph (C), 

11 the identification of each person who 

12 made such donations or payments in 

13 an aggregate amount equal to or ex14 ceeding $600 during such period, pre15 sented in the order of the aggregate 

16 amount of donations or payments 

17 made by such persons during such pe18 riod (with the identification of the 

19 person making the largest donation or 

20 payment appearing first); and 

21 ‘‘(II) if any person identified 

22 under subclause (I) designated that 

23 the donation or payment be used for 

24 campaign-related activity with respect 

25 to a specific election or in support of 


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1 a specific candidate, the name of the 

2 election or candidate involved, and if 

3 any such person designated that the 

4 donation or payment be used for a 

5 specific public independent expendi6 ture, a description of the expenditure. 

7 ‘‘(ii) The identification of each person 

8 who made unrestricted donor payments to 

9 the organization during the covered organi10 zation reporting period— 

11 ‘‘(I) in an aggregate amount 

12 equal to or exceeding $600 during 

13 such period, if any of the disburse14 ments made by the organization for 

15 any of the public independent expendi16 tures which are covered by the report 

17 were not made from the organization’s 

18 Campaign-Related Activity Account 

19 under section 326; or 

20 ‘‘(II) in an aggregate amount 

21 equal to or exceeding $6,000 during 

22 such period, if the disbursements 

23 made by the organization for all of 

24 the public independent expenditures 

25 which are covered by the report were 


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1 made exclusively from the organiza2 tion’s Campaign-Related Activity Ac3 count under section 326 (but only if 

4 the organization has made deposits 

5 described in subparagraph (D) of sec6 tion 326(a)(2) into that Account dur7 ing such period in an aggregate 

8 amount equal to or greater than 

9 $10,000), 

10 presented in the order of the aggregate 

11 amount of payments made by such persons 

12 during such period (with the identification 

13 of the person making the largest payment 

14 appearing first). 

15 ‘‘(B) TREATMENT OF TRANSFERS MADE

16 TO OTHER PERSONS.— 

17 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of 

18 the requirement to file reports under this 

19 subsection (including the requirement 

20 under subparagraph (A) to include addi21 tional information in such reports), a cov22 ered organization which transfers amounts 

23 to another person for the purpose of mak24 ing a public independent expenditure by 

25 that person or by any other person, or (in 


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1 accordance with clause (ii)) which is 

2 deemed to have transferred amounts to an3 other person for the purpose of making a 

4 public independent expenditure by that 

5 person or by any other person, shall be 

6 considered to have made a public inde7 pendent expenditure. 

8 ‘‘(ii) RULES FOR DEEMING TRANS9 FERS MADE FOR PURPOSE OF MAKING EX10 PENDITURES.—For purposes of clause (i), 

11 in determining whether a covered organiza12 tion or any other person who transfers 

13 amounts to another person shall be deemed 

14 to have transferred the amounts for the 

15 purpose of making a public independent 

16 expenditure, the following rules apply: 

17 ‘‘(I) The person shall be deemed 

18 to have transferred the amounts for 

19 the purpose of making a public inde20 pendent expenditure if— 

21 ‘‘(aa) the person making the 

22 public independent expenditure 

23 or another person acting on that 

24 person’s behalf solicited funding 

25 from the person or from the perVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:40 Apr 30, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00032 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5175.IH H5175

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1 son to whom the amounts were 

2 transferred for making any pub3 lic independent expenditures, 

4 ‘‘(bb) the person and the 

5 person to whom the amounts 

6 were transferred engaged in sub7 stantial discussion (whether writ8 ten or verbal) regarding the mak9 ing of public independent expend10 itures, 

11 ‘‘(cc) the person or the per12 son to whom the amounts were 

13 transferred knew or should have 

14 known of the covered organiza15 tion’s intent to make public inde16 pendent expenditures, or 

17 ‘‘(dd) the person or the per18 son to whom the amounts were 

19 transferred made a public inde20 pendent expenditure during the 

21 election cycle involved or the pre22 vious election cycle (as defined in 

23 section 301(25)). 

24 ‘‘(II) The person shall not be 

25 deemed to have transferred the 


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1 amounts for the purpose of making a 

2 public independent expenditure if the 

3 transfer was a commercial transaction 

4 occurring in the ordinary course of 

5 business between the person and the 

6 person to whom the amounts were 

7 transferred. 

8 ‘‘(C) EXCLUSION OF AMOUNTS DES9 IGNATED FOR OTHER CAMPAIGN-RELATED AC10 TIVITY.—For purposes of subparagraph (A)(i), 

11 in determining the amount of a donation or 

12 payment made by a person which was provided 

13 for the purpose of being used for campaign-re14 lated activity or in response to a solicitation for 

15 funds to be used for campaign-related activity, 

16 there shall be excluded any amount which was 

17 designated by the person to be used— 

18 ‘‘(i) for campaign-related activity de19 scribed in clause (i) of section 

20 325(d)(2)(A) (relating to independent ex21 penditures) with respect to a different elec22 tion, or with respect to a candidate in a 

23 different election, than an election which is 

24 the subject of any of the public indeVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:40 Apr 30, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00034 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5175.IH H5175

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1 pendent expenditures covered by the report 

2 involved; or 

3 ‘‘(ii) for any campaign-related activity 

4 described in clause (ii) of section 

5 325(d)(2)(A) (relating to electioneering 

6 communications). 

7 ‘‘(D) EXCLUSION OF AMOUNTS PAID FROM

8 SEPARATE SEGREGATED FUND.—In deter9 mining the amount of public independent ex10 penditures made by a covered organization for 

11 purposes of this paragraph, there shall be ex12 cluded any amounts paid from a separate seg13 regated fund established and administered by 

14 the organization under section 316(b)(2)(C). 

15 ‘‘(E) COVERED ORGANIZATION REPORTING

16 PERIOD DESCRIBED.—In this paragraph, the 

17 ‘covered organization reporting period’ is, with 

18 respect to a report filed by a covered organiza19 tion under this subsection— 

20 ‘‘(i) in the case of the first report filed 

21 by a covered organization under this sub22 section which includes information required 

23 under this paragraph, the shorter of— 

24 ‘‘(I) the period which begins on 

25 the effective date of the Democracy is 


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1 Strengthened by Casting Light on 

2 Spending in Elections Act and ends 

3 on the last day covered by the report, 

4 or 

5 ‘‘(II) the 12-month period ending 

6 on the last day covered by the report; 

7 and 

8 ‘‘(ii) in the case of any subsequent re9 port filed by a covered organization under 

10 this subsection which includes information 

11 required under this paragraph, the period 

12 occurring since the most recent report filed 

13 by the organization which includes such in14 formation. 

15 ‘‘(F) COVERED ORGANIZATION DEFINED.— 

16 In this paragraph, the term ‘covered organiza17 tion’ means any of the following: 

18 ‘‘(i) Any corporation which is subject 

19 to section 316(a). 

20 ‘‘(ii) Any labor organization (as de21 fined in section 316). 

22 ‘‘(iii) Any organization described in 

23 paragraph (4), (5), or (6) of section 501(c) 

24 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and 


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1 exempt from tax under section 501(a) of 

2 such Code. 

3 ‘‘(iv) Any political organization under 

4 section 527 of the Internal Revenue Code 

5 of 1986, other than a political committee 

6 under this Act. 

7 ‘‘(G) OTHER DEFINITIONS.—In this para8 graph— 

9 ‘‘(i) the terms ‘campaign-related activ10 ity’ and ‘unrestricted donor payment’ have 

11 the meaning given such terms in section 

12 325; and 

13 ‘‘(ii) the term ‘public independent ex14 penditure’ means an independent expendi15 ture for a public communication (as de16 fined in section 301(22)).’’. 

17 (b) ELECTIONEERING COMMUNICATION REPORTS.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 304(f) of such Act 

19 (2 U.S.C. 434(f)) is amended— 

20 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (6) and 

21 (7) as paragraphs (7) and (8); and 

22 (B) by inserting after paragraph (5) the 

23 end the following new paragraph: 

24 ‘‘(6) DISCLOSURE OF ADDITIONAL INFORMA25 TION BY COVERED ORGANIZATIONS.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.—If a 

2 covered organization files a statement under 

3 this subsection, the statement shall include, in 

4 addition to the information required under 

5 paragraph (2), the following information: 

6 ‘‘(i) If any person made a donation or 

7 payment to the covered organization dur8 ing the covered organization reporting pe9 riod which was provided for the purpose of 

10 being used for campaign-related activity or 

11 in response to a solicitation for funds to be 

12 used for campaign-related activity— 

13 ‘‘(I) subject to subparagraph (C), 

14 the identification of each person who 

15 made such donations or payments in 

16 an aggregate amount equal to or ex17 ceeding $1,000 during such period, 

18 presented in the order of the aggre19 gate amount of donations or payments 

20 made by such persons during such pe21 riod (with the identification of the 

22 person making the largest donation or 

23 payment appearing first); and 

24 ‘‘(II) if any person identified 

25 under subclause (I) designated that 


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1 the donation or payment be used for 

2 campaign-related activity with respect 

3 to a specific election or in support of 

4 a specific candidate, the name of the 

5 election or candidate involved, and if 

6 any such person designated that the 

7 donation or payment be used for a 

8 specific electioneering communication, 

9 a description of the communication. 

10 ‘‘(ii) The identification of each person 

11 who made unrestricted donor payments to 

12 the organization during the covered organi13 zation reporting period— 

14 ‘‘(I) in an aggregate amount 

15 equal to or exceeding $1,000 during 

16 such period, if any of the disburse17 ments made by the organization for 

18 any of the electioneering communica19 tions which are covered by the state20 ment were not made from the organi21 zation’s Campaign-Related Activity 

22 Account under section 326; or 

23 ‘‘(II) in an aggregate amount 

24 equal to or exceeding $10,000 during 

25 such period, if the disbursements 


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1 made by the organization for all of 

2 the electioneering communications 

3 which are covered by the statement 

4 were made exclusively from the orga5 nization’s Campaign-Related Activity 

6 Account under section 326 (but only 

7 if the organization has made deposits 

8 described in subparagraph (D) of sec9 tion 326(a)(2) into that Account dur10 ing such period in an aggregate 

11 amount equal to or greater than 

12 $10,000), 

13 presented in the order of the aggregate 

14 amount of payments made by such persons 

15 during such period (with the identification 

16 of the person making the largest payment 

17 appearing first). 

18 ‘‘(B) TREATMENT OF TRANSFERS MADE

19 TO OTHER PERSONS.— 

20 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of 

21 the requirement to file statements under 

22 this subsection (including the requirement 

23 under subparagraph (A) to include addi24 tional information in such statements), a 

25 covered organization which transfers 


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1 amounts to another person for the purpose 

2 of making an electioneering communication 

3 by that person or by any other person, or 

4 (in accordance with clause (ii)) which is 

5 deemed to have transferred amounts to an6 other person for the purpose of making an 

7 electioneering communication by that per8 son or by any other person, shall be con9 sidered to have made a disbursement for 

10 an electioneering communication. 

11 ‘‘(ii) RULES FOR DEEMING TRANS12 FERS MADE FOR PURPOSE OF MAKING

13 COMMUNICATIONS.—For purposes of 

14 clause (i), in determining whether a cov15 ered organization or any other person who 

16 transfers amounts to another person shall 

17 be deemed to have transferred the amounts 

18 for the purpose of making an election19 eering communication, the following rules 

20 apply: 

21 ‘‘(I) The person shall be deemed 

22 to have transferred the amounts for 

23 the purpose of making an election24 eering communication if— 


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1 ‘‘(aa) the person making the 

2 public independent expenditure 

3 or another person acting on that 

4 person’s behalf solicited funding 

5 from the person or from the per6 son to whom the amounts were 

7 transferred for making any elec8 tioneering communications, 

9 ‘‘(bb) the person and the 

10 person to whom the amounts 

11 were transferred engaged in sub12 stantial discussion (whether writ13 ten or verbal) regarding the mak14 ing of electioneering communica15 tions, 

16 ‘‘(cc) the person or the per17 son to whom the amounts were 

18 transferred knew or should have 

19 known of the covered organiza20 tion’s intent to make election21 eering communications, or 

22 ‘‘(dd) the person or the per23 son to whom the amounts were 

24 transferred made an election25 eering communication during the 


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1 election cycle involved or the pre2 vious election cycle (as defined in 

3 section 301(25)). 

4 ‘‘(II) The person shall not be 

5 considered to have transferred the 

6 amounts for the purpose of making an 

7 electioneering communication if the 

8 transfer was a commercial transaction 

9 occurring in the ordinary course of 

10 business between the person and the 

11 person to whom the amounts were 

12 transferred. 

13 ‘‘(C) EXCLUSION OF AMOUNTS DES14 IGNATED FOR OTHER CAMPAIGN-RELATED AC15 TIVITY.—For purposes of subparagraph (A)(i), 

16 in determining the amount of a donation or 

17 payment made by a person which was provided 

18 for the purpose of being used for campaign-re19 lated activity or in response to a solicitation for 

20 funds to be used for campaign-related activity, 

21 there shall be excluded any amount which was 

22 designated by the person to be used— 

23 ‘‘(i) for campaign-related activity de24 scribed in clause (ii) of section 

25 325(d)(2)(A) (relating to electioneering 


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1 communications) with respect to a dif2 ferent election, or with respect to a can3 didate in a different election, than an elec4 tion which is the subject of any of the elec5 tioneering communications covered by the 

6 statement involved; or 

7 ‘‘(ii) for any campaign-related activity 

8 described in clause (i) of section 

9 325(d)(2)(A) (relating to independent ex10 penditures consisting of a public commu11 nication). 

12 ‘‘(D) COVERED ORGANIZATION REPORTING

13 PERIOD DESCRIBED.—In this paragraph, the 

14 ‘covered organization reporting period’ is, with 

15 respect to a statement filed by a covered orga16 nization under this subsection— 

17 ‘‘(i) in the case of the first statement 

18 filed by a covered organization under this 

19 subsection which includes information re20 quired under this paragraph, the shorter 

21 of— 

22 ‘‘(I) the period which begins on 

23 the effective date of the Democracy is 

24 Strengthened by Casting Light on 

25 Spending in Elections Act and ends 


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1 on the disclosure date for the state2 ment, or 

3 ‘‘(II) the 12-month period ending 

4 on the disclosure date for the state5 ment; and 

6 ‘‘(ii) in the case of any subsequent 

7 statement filed by a covered organization 

8 under this subsection which includes infor9 mation required under this paragraph, the 

10 period occurring since the most recent 

11 statement filed by the organization which 

12 includes such information. 

13 ‘‘(E) COVERED ORGANIZATION DE14 FINED.—In this paragraph, the term ‘covered 

15 organization’ means any of the following: 

16 ‘‘(i) Any corporation which is subject 

17 to section 316(a). 

18 ‘‘(ii) Any labor organization (as de19 fined in section 316). 

20 ‘‘(iii) Any organization described in 

21 paragraph (4), (5), or (6) of section 501(c) 

22 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and 

23 exempt from tax under section 501(a) of 

24 such Code. 


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1 ‘‘(iv) Any political organization under 

2 section 527 of the Internal Revenue Code 

3 of 1986, other than a political committee 

4 under this Act. 

5 ‘‘(F) OTHER DEFINITIONS.—In this para6 graph, the terms ‘campaign-related activity’ and 

7 ‘unrestricted donor payment’ have the meaning 

8 given such terms in section 325.’’. 

9 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 

10 304(2) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 434(f)(2)) is amended 

11 by striking ‘‘If the disbursements’’ each place it ap12 pears in subparagraph (E) and (F) and inserting the 

13 following: ‘‘Except in the case of a statement which 

14 is required to include additional information under 

15 paragraph (6), if the disbursements’’. 

16 SEC. 212. RULES REGARDING USE OF GENERAL TREASURY 

17 FUNDS BY COVERED ORGANIZATIONS FOR 

18 CAMPAIGN-RELATED ACTIVITY. 

19 Title III of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 

20 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431 et seq.) is amended by adding at the 

21 end the following new section: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 325. SPECIAL RULES FOR USE OF GENERAL TREAS2 URY FUNDS BY COVERED ORGANIZATIONS 

3 FOR CAMPAIGN-RELATED ACTIVITY. 

4 ‘‘(a) USE OF FUNDS FOR CAMPAIGN-RELATED AC5 TIVITY.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to any applicable 

7 restrictions and prohibitions under this Act, a cov8 ered organization may make disbursements for cam9 paign-related activity using— 

10 ‘‘(A) amounts paid or donated to the orga11 nization which are designated by the person 

12 providing the amounts to be used for campaign13 related activity; 

14 ‘‘(B) unrestricted donor payments made to 

15 the organization; and 

16 ‘‘(C) other funds of the organization, in17 cluding amounts received pursuant to commer18 cial activities in the regular course of a covered 

19 organization’s business. 

20 ‘‘(2) NO EFFECT ON USE OF SEPARATE SEG21 REGATED FUND.—Nothing in this section shall be 

22 construed to affect the authority of a covered organi23 zation to make disbursements from a separate seg24 regated fund established and administered by the or25 ganization under section 316(b)(2)(C). 


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1 ‘‘(b) RESTRICTIONS ON USE OF FUNDS FOR CAM2 PAIGN-RELATED ACTIVITY.— 

3 ‘‘(1) CERTIFICATION AFTER RECEIVING NOTIFI4 CATION BY DONOR TO NOT USE FUNDS FOR ACTIV5 ITY.—If any person who makes a donation, pay6 ment, or transfer to a covered organization (other 

7 than the covered organization) notifies the organiza8 tion in writing (at the time of making the donation, 

9 payment, or transfer) that the organization may not 

10 use the donation, payment, or transfer for cam11 paign-related activity, not later than 7 days after the 

12 organization receives the donation, payment, or 

13 transfer the organization shall transmit to the per14 son a written certification by the chief financial offi15 cer of the covered organization (or, if the organiza16 tion does not have a chief financial officer, the high17 est ranking financial official of the organization), 

18 under penalty of perjury, that— 

19 ‘‘(A) the organization will not use the do20 nation, payment, or transfer for campaign-re21 lated activity; and 

22 ‘‘(B) the organization will not include any 

23 information on the person in any report filed by 

24 the organization under section 304 with respect 

25 to independent expenditures or electioneering 


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1 communications, so that the person will not be 

2 required to appear in a significant funder state3 ment or a Top 5 Funders list under section 

4 318(e). 

5 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION FOR PAYMENTS MADE PURSU6 ANT TO COMMERCIAL ACTIVITIES.—Paragraph (1) 

7 does not apply with respect to any payment or trans8 fer made pursuant to commercial activities in the 

9 regular course of a covered organization’s business. 

10 ‘‘(c) CERTIFICATIONS REGARDING DISBURSEMENTS

11 FOR CAMPAIGN-RELATED ACTIVITY.— 

12 ‘‘(1) CERTIFICATION BY CHIEF EXECUTIVE OF13 FICER.—If, at any time during a calendar quarter, 

14 a covered organization makes a disbursement of 

15 funds for campaign-related activity using funds de16 scribed in subsection (a)(1), the chief executive offi17 cer of the covered organization (or, if the organiza18 tion does not have a chief executive officer, the high19 est ranking official of the organization), under pen20 alty of perjury, shall file a statement with the Com21 mission which contains the following certifications: 

22 ‘‘(A) None of the campaign-related activity 

23 for which the organization disbursed the funds 

24 during the quarter was made in cooperation, 

25 consultation, or concert with, or at the request 


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1 or suggestion of, any candidate or any author2 ized committee or agent of such candidate, or 

3 political committee of a political party or agent 

4 of any political party. 

5 ‘‘(B) The chief executive officer or highest 

6 ranking official of the covered organization (as 

7 the case may be) has reviewed and approved 

8 each statement and report filed by the organi9 zation under section 304 with respect to any 

10 such disbursement made during the quarter. 

11 ‘‘(C) Each statement and report filed by 

12 the organization under section 304 with respect 

13 to any such disbursement made during the 

14 quarter is complete and accurate and does not 

15 contain an untrue statement of a material fact. 

16 ‘‘(D) All such disbursements made during 

17 the quarter are in compliance with this Act and 

18 all other applicable Federal laws. 

19 ‘‘(E) No portion of the amounts used to 

20 make any such disbursements during the quar21 ter is attributable to funds received by the orga22 nization that were restricted by the person who 

23 provided the funds from being used for cam24 paign-related activity pursuant to subsection 

25 (b). 


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1 ‘‘(2) APPLICATION OF ELECTRONIC FILING

2 RULES.—Section 304(d)(1) shall apply with respect 

3 to a statement required under this subsection in the 

4 same manner as such section applies with respect to 

5 a statement under subsection (c) or (g) of section 

6 304. 

7 ‘‘(3) DEADLINE.—The chief executive officer or 

8 highest ranking official of a covered organization (as 

9 the case may be) shall file the statement required 

10 under this subsection with respect to a calendar 

11 quarter not later than 15 days after the end of the 

12 quarter. 

13 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section, the 

14 following definitions apply: 

15 ‘‘(1) COVERED ORGANIZATION.—The term ‘cov16 ered organization’ means any of the following: 

17 ‘‘(A) Any corporation which is subject to 

18 section 316(a). 

19 ‘‘(B) Any labor organization (as defined in 

20 section 316). 

21 ‘‘(C) Any organization described in para22 graph (4), (5), or (6) of section 501(c) of the 

23 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and exempt 

24 from tax under section 501(a) of such Code. 


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1 ‘‘(D) Any political organization under sec2 tion 527 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, 

3 other than a political committee under this Act. 

4 ‘‘(2) CAMPAIGN-RELATED ACTIVITY.— 

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘campaign6 related activity’ means— 

7 ‘‘(i) an independent expenditure con8 sisting of a public communication (as de9 fined in section 301(22)), a transfer of 

10 funds to another person for the purpose of 

11 making such an independent expenditure 

12 by that person or by any other person, or 

13 (in accordance with subparagraph (B)) a 

14 transfer of funds to another person which 

15 is deemed to have been made for the pur16 pose of making such an independent ex17 penditure by that person or by any other 

18 person; or 

19 ‘‘(ii) an electioneering communication, 

20 a transfer of funds to another person for 

21 the purpose of making an electioneering 

22 communication by that person or by any 

23 other person, or (in accordance with sub24 paragraph (B)) a transfer of funds to an25 other person which is deemed to have been 


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1 made for the purpose of making an elec2 tioneering communication by that person 

3 or by any other person. 

4 ‘‘(B) RULE FOR DEEMING TRANSFERS

5 MADE FOR PURPOSE OF CAMPAIGN-RELATED

6 ACTIVITY.—For purposes of subparagraph (A), 

7 in determining whether a transfer of funds by 

8 one person to another person shall be deemed 

9 to have been made for the purpose of making 

10 an independent expenditure consisting of a pub11 lic communication or an electioneering commu12 nication, the following rules apply: 

13 ‘‘(i) The transfer shall be deemed to 

14 have been made for the purpose of making 

15 such an independent expenditure or an 

16 electioneering communication if— 

17 ‘‘(I) the person making the inde18 pendent expenditure or electioneering 

19 communication or another person act20 ing on that person’s behalf solicited 

21 funding from the person or from the 

22 person to whom the amounts were 

23 transferred for the purpose of making 

24 any such independent expenditures or 

25 electioneering communications, 


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1 ‘‘(II) the person and the person 

2 to whom the amounts were trans3 ferred engaged in substantial discus4 sion (whether written or verbal) re5 garding the making of such inde6 pendent expenditures or electioneering 

7 communications, 

8 ‘‘(III) the person or the person to 

9 whom the amounts were transferred 

10 knew or should have known of the 

11 covered organization’s intent to dis12 burse funds for campaign-related ac13 tivity, or 

14 ‘‘(IV) the person or the person to 

15 whom the amounts were transferred 

16 made such an independent expendi17 ture or electioneering communication 

18 during the election cycle involved or 

19 the previous election cycle (as defined 

20 in section 301(25)). 

21 ‘‘(ii) The transfer shall not be deemed 

22 to have been made for the purpose of mak23 ing such an independent expenditure or an 

24 electioneering communication if the trans25 fer was a commercial transaction occurring 


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1 in the ordinary course of business between 

2 the person and the person to whom the 

3 amounts were transferred. 

4 ‘‘(3) UNRESTRICTED DONOR PAYMENT.—The 

5 term ‘unrestricted donor payment’ means a payment 

6 to a covered organization which consists of a dona7 tion or payment from a person other than the cov8 ered organization, except that such term does not in9 clude— 

10 ‘‘(A) any payment made pursuant to com11 mercial activities in the regular course of a cov12 ered organization’s business; 

13 ‘‘(B) any donation or payment which is 

14 designated by the person making the donation 

15 or payment to be used for campaign-related ac16 tivity or made in response to a solicitation for 

17 funds to be used for campaign-related activity; 

18 or 

19 ‘‘(C) any donation or payment made by a 

20 person who notifies the organization in writing 

21 (at the time of making the payment) that the 

22 organization may not use the donation or pay23 ment for campaign-related activity.’’. 


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1 SEC. 213. OPTIONAL USE OF SEPARATE ACCOUNT BY COV2 ERED ORGANIZATIONS FOR CAMPAIGN-RE3 LATED ACTIVITY. 

4 Title III of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 

5 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431 et seq.), as amended by section 212, 

6 is further amended by adding at the end the following new 

7 section: 

8 ‘‘SEC. 326. OPTIONAL USE OF SEPARATE ACCOUNT BY COV9 ERED ORGANIZATIONS FOR CAMPAIGN-RE10 LATED ACTIVITY. 

11 ‘‘(a) OPTIONAL USE OF SEPARATE ACCOUNT.— 

12 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT OF ACCOUNT.— 

13 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—At its option, a cov14 ered organization may make disbursements for 

15 campaign-related activity using amounts from a 

16 bank account established and controlled by the 

17 organization to be known as the Campaign-Re18 lated Activity Account (hereafter in this section 

19 referred to as the ‘Account’), which shall be 

20 maintained separately from all other accounts 

21 of the organization and which shall consist ex22 clusively of the deposits described in paragraph 

23 (2). 

24 ‘‘(B) MANDATORY USE OF ACCOUNT

25 AFTER ESTABLISHMENT.—If a covered organi26 zation establishes an Account under this secVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:40 Apr 30, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00056 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5175.IH H5175

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1 tion, it may not make disbursements for cam2 paign-related activity from any source other 

3 than amounts from the Account. 

4 ‘‘(C) EXCLUSIVE USE OF ACCOUNT FOR

5 CAMPAIGN-RELATED ACTIVITY.—Amounts in 

6 the Account shall be used exclusively for dis7 bursements by the covered organization for 

8 campaign-related activity. After such disburse9 ments are made, information with respect to de10 posits made to the Account shall be disclosed in 

11 accordance with section 304(g)(5) or section 

12 304(f)(6). 

13 ‘‘(2) DEPOSITS DESCRIBED.—The deposits de14 scribed in this paragraph are deposits of the fol15 lowing amounts: 

16 ‘‘(A) Amounts donated or paid to the cov17 ered organization by a person other than the 

18 organization for the purpose of being used for 

19 campaign-related activity, and for which the 

20 person providing the amounts has designated 

21 that the amounts be used for campaign-related 

22 activity with respect to a specific election or 

23 specific candidate. 

24 ‘‘(B) Amounts donated or paid to the cov25 ered organization by a person other than the 


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1 organization for the purpose of being used for 

2 campaign-related activity, and for which the 

3 person providing the amounts has not des4 ignated that the amounts be used for campaign5 related activity with respect to a specific elec6 tion or specific candidate. 

7 ‘‘(C) Amounts donated or paid to the cov8 ered organization by a person other than the 

9 organization in response to a solicitation for 

10 funds to be used for campaign-related activity. 

11 ‘‘(D) Amounts transferred to the Account 

12 by the covered organization from other accounts 

13 of the organization, including from the organi14 zation’s general treasury funds. 

15 ‘‘(3) NO TREATMENT AS POLITICAL COM16 MITTEE.—The establishment and administration of 

17 an Account in accordance with this subsection shall 

18 not by itself be treated as the establishment or ad19 ministration of a political committee for any purpose 

20 of this Act. 

21 ‘‘(b) REDUCTION IN AMOUNTS OTHERWISE AVAIL22 ABLE FOR ACCOUNT IN RESPONSE TO DEMAND OF GEN23 ERAL DONORS.— 

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If a covered organization 

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1 nues during a year which are attributable to a dona2 tion or payment from a person other than the cov3 ered organization, and if any person who makes 

4 such a donation or payment to the organization noti5 fies the organization in writing (at the time of mak6 ing the donation or payment) that the organization 

7 may not use the donation or payment for campaign8 related activity, the organization shall reduce the 

9 amount of its revenues available for deposits to the 

10 Account which are described in subsection (a)(3)(D) 

11 during the year by the amount of the donation or 

12 payment. 

13 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—Paragraph (1) does not 

14 apply with respect to any payment made pursuant to 

15 commercial activities in the regular course of a cov16 ered organization’s business. 

17 ‘‘(c) COVERED ORGANIZATION DEFINED.—In this 

18 section, the term ‘covered organization’ means any of the 

19 following: 

20 ‘‘(1) Any corporation which is subject to section 

21 316(a). 

22 ‘‘(2) Any labor organization (as defined in sec23 tion 316). 

24 ‘‘(3) Any organization described in paragraph 

25 (4), (5), or (6) of section 501(c) of the Internal RevVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:40 Apr 30, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00059 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5175.IH H5175

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1 enue Code of 1986 and exempt from tax under sec2 tion 501(a) of such Code. 

3 ‘‘(4) Any political organization under section 

4 527 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, other 

5 than a political committee under this Act. 

6 ‘‘(d) CAMPAIGN-RELATED ACTIVITY DEFINED.—In 

7 this section, the term ‘covered organization’ has the mean8 ing given such term in section 325.’’. 

9 SEC. 214. MODIFICATION OF RULES RELATING TO DIS10 CLAIMER STATEMENTS REQUIRED FOR CER11 TAIN COMMUNICATIONS. 

12 (a) APPLYING REQUIREMENTS TO ALL INDE13 PENDENT EXPENDITURE COMMUNICATIONS.—Section 

14 318(a) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 

15 U.S.C. 441d(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘for the purpose 

16 of financing communications expressly advocating the 

17 election or defeat of a clearly identified candidate’’ and 

18 inserting ‘‘for an independent expenditure consisting of a 

19 public communication’’. 

20 (b) STAND BY YOUR AD REQUIREMENTS.— 

21 (1) MAINTENANCE OF EXISTING REQUIRE22 MENTS FOR COMMUNICATIONS BY POLITICAL PAR23 TIES AND OTHER POLITICAL COMMITTEES.—Section 

24 318(d)(2) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 441d(d)(2)) is 

25 amended— 


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

2 and inserting ‘‘POLITICAL COMMITTEES’’; 

3 (B) by striking ‘‘subsection (a)’’ and in4 serting ‘‘subsection (a) which is paid for by a 

5 political committee (including a political com6 mittee of a political party)’’; and 

7 (C) by striking ‘‘or other person’’ each 

8 place it appears. 

9 (2) SPECIAL DISCLAIMER REQUIREMENTS FOR

10 CERTAIN COMMUNICATIONS.—Section 318 of such 

11 Act (2 U.S.C. 441d) is amended by adding at the 

12 end the following new subsection: 

13 ‘‘(e) COMMUNICATIONS BY OTHERS.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any communication de15 scribed in paragraph (3) of subsection (a) which is 

16 transmitted through radio or television (other than 

17 a communication to which subsection (d)(2) applies 

18 because the communication is paid for by a political 

19 committee, including a political committee of a polit20 ical party) shall include, in addition to the require21 ments of that paragraph, the following: 

22 ‘‘(A) The individual disclosure statement 

23 described in paragraph (2) (if the person pay24 ing for the communication is an individual) or 

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1 scribed in paragraph (3) (if the person paying 

2 for the communication is not an individual). 

3 ‘‘(B) If the communication is an election4 eering communication or an independent ex5 penditure consisting of a public communication 

6 and is paid for in whole or in part with a pay7 ment which is treated as a disbursement by a 

8 covered organization for campaign-related activ9 ity under section 325, the significant funder 

10 disclosure statement described in paragraph (4) 

11 (if applicable). 

12 ‘‘(C) If the communication is transmitted 

13 through television and is an electioneering com14 munication or an independent expenditure con15 sisting of a public communication and is paid 

16 for in whole or in part with a payment which 

17 is treated as a disbursement by a covered orga18 nization for campaign-related activity under 

19 section 325, the Top Five Funders list de20 scribed in paragraph (5) (if applicable), unless, 

21 on the basis of criteria established in regula22 tions promulgated by the Commission, the com23 munication is of such short duration that in24 cluding the Top Five Funders list in the com25 munication would constitute a hardship to the 


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1 person paying for the communication by requir2 ing a disproportionate amount of the commu3 nication’s content to consist of the Top Five 

4 Funders list. 

5 ‘‘(2) INDIVIDUAL DISCLOSURE STATEMENT DE6 SCRIBED.—The individual disclosure statement de7 scribed in this paragraph is the following: ‘I am 

8 lllllll, and I approve this message.’, with 

9 the blank filled in with the name of the applicable 

10 individual. 

11 ‘‘(3) ORGANIZATIONAL DISCLOSURE STATE12 MENT DESCRIBED.—The organizational disclosure 

13 statement described in this paragraph is the fol14 lowing: ‘I am lllllll, the lllllll 

15 of lllllll, and lllllll approves 

16 this message.’, with— 

17 ‘‘(A) the first blank to be filled in with the 

18 name of the applicable individual; 

19 ‘‘(B) the second blank to be filled in with 

20 the title of the applicable individual; and 

21 ‘‘(C) the third and fourth blank each to be 

22 filled in with the name of the organization or 

23 other person paying for the communication. 

24 ‘‘(4) SIGNIFICANT FUNDER DISCLOSURE STATE25 MENT DESCRIBED.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) STATEMENT IF SIGNIFICANT FUNDER

2 IS AN INDIVIDUAL.—If the significant funder of 

3 a communication paid for in whole or in part 

4 with a payment which is treated as a disburse5 ment by a covered organization for campaign6 related activity under section 325 is an indi7 vidual, the significant funder disclosure state8 ment described in this paragraph is the fol9 lowing: ‘I am lllllll. I helped to pay 

10 for this message, and I approve it.’, with the 

11 blank filled in with the name of the applicable 

12 individual. 

13 ‘‘(B) STATEMENT IF SIGNIFICANT FUNDER

14 IS NOT AN INDIVIDUAL.—If the significant 

15 funder of a communication paid for in whole or 

16 in part with a payment which is treated as a 

17 disbursement by a covered organization for 

18 campaign-related activity under section 325 is 

19 not an individual, the significant funder disclo20 sure statement described in this paragraph is 

21 the following: ‘I am lllllll, the 

22 lllllll of lllllll. 

23 lllllll helped to pay for this mes24 sage, and lllllll approves it.’, with— 


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

2 the name of the applicable individual; 

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

4 with the title of the applicable individual; 

5 and 

6 ‘‘(iii) the third, fourth, and fifth blank 

7 each to be filled in with the name of the 

8 significant funder of the communication. 

9 ‘‘(C) SIGNIFICANT FUNDER DEFINED.— 

10 ‘‘(i) INDEPENDENT EXPENDITURES.— 

11 For purposes of this paragraph, the ‘sig12 nificant funder’ with respect to an inde13 pendent expenditure consisting of a public 

14 communication paid for in whole or in part 

15 with a payment which is treated as a dis16 bursement by a covered organization for 

17 campaign-related activity under section 

18 325 shall be determined as follows: 

19 ‘‘(I) If any report filed by any or20 ganization with respect to the inde21 pendent expenditure under section 

22 304 includes information on any per23 son who made a payment to the orga24 nization in an amount equal to or ex25 ceeding $100,000 which was desVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:40 Apr 30, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00065 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5175.IH H5175

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1 ignated by the person to be used for 

2 campaign-related activity consisting of 

3 that specific independent expenditure 

4 (as required to be included in the re5 port under section 304(g)(5)(A)(i)), 

6 the person who is identified among all 

7 such reports as making the largest 

8 such payment. 

9 ‘‘(II) If any report filed by any 

10 organization with respect to the inde11 pendent expenditure under section 

12 304 includes information on any per13 son who made a payment to the orga14 nization in an amount equal to or ex15 ceeding $100,000 which was des16 ignated by the person to be used for 

17 campaign-related activity with respect 

18 to the same election or in support of 

19 the same candidate (as required to be 

20 included in the report under section 

21 304(g)(5)(A)(i)) but subclause (I) 

22 does not apply, the person who is 

23 identified among all such reports as 

24 making the largest such payment. 


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1 ‘‘(III) If any report filed by any 

2 organization with respect to the inde3 pendent expenditure under section 

4 304 includes information on any per5 son who made a payment to the orga6 nization which was provided for the 

7 purpose of being used for campaign8 related activity or in response to a so9 licitation for funds to be used for 

10 campaign-related activity (as required 

11 to be included in the report under sec12 tion 304(g)(5)(A)(i)) but subclause (I) 

13 or subclause (II) does not apply, the 

14 person who is identified among all 

15 such reports as making the largest 

16 such payment. 

17 ‘‘(IV) If none of the reports filed 

18 by any organization with respect to 

19 the independent expenditure under 

20 section 304 includes information on 

21 any person (other than the organiza22 tion) who made a payment to the or23 ganization which was provided for the 

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1 licitation for funds to be used for 

2 campaign-related activity, but any of 

3 such reports includes information on 

4 any person who made an unrestricted 

5 donor payment to the organization (as 

6 required to be included in the report 

7 under section 304(g)(5)(A)(ii)), the 

8 person who is identified among all 

9 such reports as making the largest 

10 such unrestricted donor payment. 

11 ‘‘(ii) ELECTIONEERING COMMUNICA12 TIONS.—For purposes of this paragraph, 

13 the ‘significant funder’ with respect to an 

14 electioneering communication paid for in 

15 whole or in part with a payment which is 

16 treated as a disbursement by a covered or17 ganization for campaign-related activity 

18 under section 325, shall be determined as 

19 follows: 

20 ‘‘(I) If any report filed by any or21 ganization with respect to the elec22 tioneering communication under sec23 tion 304 includes information on any 

24 person who made a payment to the 

25 organization in an amount equal to or 


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1 exceeding $100,000 which was des2 ignated by the person to be used for 

3 campaign-related activity consisting of 

4 that specific electioneering commu5 nication (as required to be included in 

6 the report under section 

7 304(f)(6)(A)(i)), the person who is 

8 identified among all such reports as 

9 making the largest such payment. 

10 ‘‘(II) If any report filed by any 

11 organization with respect to the elec12 tioneering communication under sec13 tion 304 includes information on any 

14 person who made a payment to the 

15 organization in an amount equal to or 

16 exceeding $100,000 which was des17 ignated by the person to be used for 

18 campaign-related activity with respect 

19 to the same election or in support of 

20 the same candidate (as required to be 

21 included in the report under section 

22 304(f)(6)(A)(i)) but subclause (I) 

23 does not apply, the person who is 

24 identified among all such reports as 

25 making the largest such payment. 


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1 ‘‘(III) If any report filed by any 

2 organization with respect to the elec3 tioneering communication under sec4 tion 304 includes information on any 

5 person who made a payment to the 

6 organization which was provided for 

7 the purpose of being used for cam8 paign-related activity or in response to 

9 a solicitation for funds to be used for 

10 campaign-related activity (as required 

11 to be included in the report under sec12 tion 304(f)(6)(A)(i)) but subclause (I) 

13 or subclause (II) does not apply, the 

14 person who is identified among all 

15 such reports as making the largest 

16 such payment. 

17 ‘‘(IV) If none of the reports filed 

18 by any organization with respect to 

19 the electioneering communication 

20 under section 304 includes informa21 tion on any person who made a pay22 ment to the organization which was 

23 provided for the purpose of being used 

24 for campaign-related activity or in re25 sponse to a solicitation for funds to be 


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1 used for campaign-related activity, but 

2 any of such reports includes informa3 tion on any person who made an unre4 stricted donor payment to the organi5 zation (as required to be included in 

6 the report under section 

7 304(f)(6)(A)(ii)), the person who is 

8 identified among all such reports as 

9 making the largest such unrestricted 

10 donor payment. 

11 ‘‘(5) TOP 5 FUNDERS LIST DESCRIBED.—With 

12 respect to a communication paid for in whole or in 

13 part with a payment which is treated as a disburse14 ment by a covered organization for campaign-related 

15 activity under section 325, the Top 5 Funders list 

16 described in this paragraph is— 

17 ‘‘(A) in the case of a disbursement for an 

18 independent expenditure consisting of a public 

19 communication, a list of the 5 persons who pro20 vided the largest payments of any type which 

21 are required under section 304(g)(5)(A) to be 

22 included in the reports filed by any organization 

23 with respect to that independent expenditure 

24 under section 304, together with the amount of 

25 the payments each such person provided; or 


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1 ‘‘(B) in the case of a disbursement for an 

2 electioneering communication, a list of the 5 

3 persons who provided the largest payments of 

4 any type which are required under section 

5 304(f)(6)(A) to be included in the reports filed 

6 by any organization with respect to that elec7 tioneering communication under section 304, 

8 together with the amount of the payments each 

9 such person provided. 

10 ‘‘(6) METHOD OF CONVEYANCE OF STATE11 MENT.— 

12 ‘‘(A) COMMUNICATIONS TRANSMITTED

13 THROUGH RADIO.—In the case of a communica14 tion to which this subsection applies which is 

15 transmitted through radio, the disclosure state16 ments required under paragraph (1) shall be 

17 made by audio by the applicable individual in a 

18 clearly spoken manner. 

19 ‘‘(B) COMMUNICATIONS TRANSMITTED

20 THROUGH TELEVISION.—In the case of a com21 munication to which this subsection applies 

22 which is transmitted through television, the in23 formation required under paragraph (1)— 

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

25 of the communication in a clearly readable 


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1 manner, with a reasonable degree of color 

2 contrast between the background and the 

3 printed statement, for a period of at least 

4 6 seconds; and 

5 ‘‘(ii) except in the case of a Top 5 

6 Funders list described in paragraph (5), 

7 shall also be conveyed by an unobscured, 

8 full-screen view of the applicable indi9 vidual, or by the applicable individual mak10 ing the statement in voice-over accom11 panied by a clearly identifiable photograph 

12 or similar image of the individual. 

13 ‘‘(7) APPLICABLE INDIVIDUAL DEFINED.—In 

14 this subsection, the term ‘applicable individual’ 

15 means, with respect to a communication to which 

16 this paragraph applies— 

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

18 an individual or if the significant funder of the 

19 communication under paragraph (4) is an indi20 vidual, the individual involved; 

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

22 corporation or if the significant funder of the 

23 communication under paragraph (4) is a cor24 poration, the chief executive officer of the cor25 poration (or, if the corporation does not have a 


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1 chief executive officer, the highest ranking offi2 cial of the corporation); 

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

4 labor organization or if the significant funder of 

5 the communication under paragraph (4) is a 

6 labor organization, the highest ranking officer 

7 of the labor organization; or 

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

9 any other person or if the significant funder of 

10 the communication under paragraph (4) is any 

11 other person, the highest ranking official of 

12 such person. 

13 ‘‘(8) COVERED ORGANIZATION DEFINED.—In 

14 this subsection, the term ‘covered organization’ 

15 means any of the following: 

16 ‘‘(A) Any corporation which is subject to 

17 section 316(a). 

18 ‘‘(B) Any labor organization (as defined in 

19 section 316). 

20 ‘‘(C) Any organization described in para21 graph (4), (5), or (6) of section 501(c) of the 

22 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and exempt 

23 from tax under section 501(a) of such Code. 


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1 ‘‘(D) Any political organization under sec2 tion 527 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, 

3 other than a political committee under this Act. 

4 ‘‘(9) OTHER DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection, 

5 the terms ‘campaign-related activity’ and ‘unre6 stricted donor payment’ have the meaning given 

7 such terms in section 325.’’. 

8 Subtitle C—Reporting Require9 ments for Registered Lobbyists 

10 SEC. 221. REQUIRING REGISTERED LOBBYISTS TO REPORT 

11 INFORMATION ON INDEPENDENT EXPENDI12 TURES AND ELECTIONEERING COMMUNICA13 TIONS. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 5(d)(1) of the Lobbying 

15 Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1604(d)(1)) is amend16 ed— 

17 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara18 graph (F); 

19 (2) by redesignating subparagraph (G) as sub20 paragraph (I); and 

21 (3) by inserting after subparagraph (F) the fol22 lowing new subparagraphs: 

23 ‘‘(G) the amount of any independent ex24 penditure (as defined in section 301(17) of the 

25 Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 


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1 U.S.C. 431(17)) equal to or greater than 

2 $1,000 made by such person or organization, 

3 and for each such expenditure the name of each 

4 candidate being supported or opposed and the 

5 amount spent supporting or opposing each such 

6 candidate; 

7 ‘‘(H) the amount of any electioneering 

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

9 of such Act (2 U.S.C. 434(f)(3)) equal to or 

10 greater than $1,000 made by such person or or11 ganization, and for each such communication 

12 the name of the candidate referred to in the 

13 communication and whether the communication 

14 involved was in support of or in opposition to 

15 the candidate; and’’. 

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

17 this section shall apply with respect to reports for semi18 annual periods described in section 5(d)(1) of the Lob19 bying Disclosure Act of 1995 that begin after the date 

20 of the enactment of this Act. 


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1 TITLE III—DISCLOSURE BY COV2 ERED ORGANIZATIONS OF IN3 FORMATION ON CAMPAIGN4 RELATED ACTIVITY 

5 SEC. 301. REQUIRING DISCLOSURE BY COVERED ORGANI6 ZATIONS OF INFORMATION ON CAMPAIGN7 RELATED ACTIVITY. 

8 Title III of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 

9 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431 et seq.), as amended by section 213, 

10 is amended by adding at the end the following new section: 

11 ‘‘SEC. 327. DISCLOSURES BY COVERED ORGANIZATIONS TO 

12 SHAREHOLDERS, MEMBERS, AND DONORS OF 

13 INFORMATION ON DISBURSEMENTS FOR 

14 CAMPAIGN-RELATED ACTIVITY. 

15 ‘‘(a) INCLUDING INFORMATION IN REGULAR PERI16 ODIC REPORTS.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A covered organization 

18 which submits regular, periodic reports to its share19 holders, members, or donors on its finances or ac20 tivities shall include in each such report the informa21 tion described in paragraph (2) with respect to the 

22 disbursements made by the organization for cam23 paign-related activity during the period covered by 

24 the report. 


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1 ‘‘(2) INFORMATION DESCRIBED.—The informa2 tion described in this paragraph is, for each dis3 bursement for campaign-related activity— 

4 ‘‘(A) the date of the independent expendi5 ture or electioneering communication involved; 

6 ‘‘(B) the amount of the independent ex7 penditure or electioneering communication in8 volved; 

9 ‘‘(C) the name of the candidate identified 

10 in the independent expenditure or electioneering 

11 communication involved, the office sought by 

12 the candidate, and (if applicable) whether the 

13 independent expenditure or electioneering com14 munication involved was in support of or in op15 position to the candidate; 

16 ‘‘(D) in the case of a transfer of funds to 

17 another person, the information required by 

18 subparagraphs (A) through (C), as well as the 

19 name of the recipient of the funds and the date 

20 and amount of the funds transferred; 

21 ‘‘(E) the source of such funds; and 

22 ‘‘(F) such other information as the Com23 mission determines is appropriate to further the 

24 purposes of this subsection. 


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1 ‘‘(b) PUBLIC DISSEMINATION OF CERTAIN INFORMA2 TION.— 

3 ‘‘(1) INFORMATION INCLUDED IN REPORTS.— 

4 ‘‘(A) REQUIRING DISSEMINATION.—If a 

5 covered organization maintains an Internet site, 

6 the organization shall post on such Internet 

7 site, in a machine-readable, searchable, sortable, 

8 and downloadable manner and through a direct 

9 link from the homepage of the organization, the 

10 following information: 

11 ‘‘(i) The information the organization 

12 is required to report under section 

13 304(g)(5)(A) with respect to public inde14 pendent expenditures. 

15 ‘‘(ii) The information the organization 

16 is required to include in a statement of dis17 bursements for electioneering communica18 tions under section 304(f)(6). 

19 ‘‘(B) DEADLINE; DURATION OF POST20 ING.—The covered organization shall post the 

21 information described in subparagraph (A) not 

22 later than 24 hours after the organization files 

23 the information with the Commission under the 

24 applicable provision of this Act, and shall en25 sure that the information remains on the 


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1 website until the expiration of the 1-year period 

2 which begins on the date of the election with re3 spect to which the public independent expendi4 tures or electioneering communications are 

5 made. 

6 ‘‘(2) INFORMATION ON BREAKDOWN OF DIS7 BURSEMENTS AMONG TYPES OF RECIPIENTS.— 

8 ‘‘(A) REQUIRING DISSEMINATION.—If a 

9 covered organization maintains an Internet site, 

10 the organization shall post on such Internet 

11 site, in a machine-readable, searchable, sortable, 

12 and downloadable manner and through a direct 

13 link from the homepage of the organization, the 

14 following information with respect to the aggre15 gate amount of disbursements made by the or16 ganization for campaign-related activity during 

17 a calendar year: 

18 ‘‘(i) A breakdown by political party of 

19 the total amount disbursed in support of 

20 and in opposition to candidates of each po21 litical party. 

22 ‘‘(ii) The total amount disbursed in 

23 support of or opposition to— 

24 ‘‘(I) incumbent candidates; 


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1 ‘‘(II) candidates challenging in2 cumbent candidates; and 

3 ‘‘(III) candidates for election to 

4 an office for which no incumbent is 

5 seeking re-election. 

6 ‘‘(B) DEADLINE; DURATION OF POST7 ING.—A covered organization shall post the in8 formation described in subparagraph (A) with 

9 respect to a calendar year not later than the 

10 first January 31 which follows that calendar 

11 year, and shall ensure that the information re12 mains on the website until the end of the cal13 endar year in which the information is posted. 

14 ‘‘(c) COVERED ORGANIZATION DEFINED.—In this 

15 section, the term ‘covered organization’ means any of the 

16 following: 

17 ‘‘(1) Any corporation which is subject to section 

18 316(a). 

19 ‘‘(2) Any labor organization (as defined in sec20 tion 316). 

21 ‘‘(3) Any organization described in paragraph 

22 (4), (5), or (6) of section 501(c) of the Internal Rev23 enue Code of 1986 and exempt from tax under sec24 tion 501(a) of such Code. 


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1 ‘‘(4) Any political organization under section 

2 527 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, other 

3 than a political committee under this Act.’’. 

4 TITLE IV—OTHER PROVISIONS 

5 SEC. 401. JUDICIAL REVIEW. 

6 (a) SPECIAL RULES FOR ACTIONS BROUGHT ON

7 CONSTITUTIONAL GROUNDS.—If any action is brought for 

8 declaratory or injunctive relief to challenge the constitu9 tionality of any provision of this Act or any amendment 

10 made by this Act, the following rules shall apply: 

11 (1) The action shall be filed in the United 

12 States District Court for the District of Columbia, 

13 and an appeal from a decision of the District Court 

14 may be taken to the Court of Appeals for the Dis15 trict of Columbia Circuit. 

16 (2) A copy of the complaint shall be delivered 

17 promptly to the Clerk of the House of Representa18 tives and the Secretary of the Senate. 

19 (3) It shall be the duty of the United States 

20 District Court for the District of Columbia, the 

21 Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Cir22 cuit, and the Supreme Court of the United States to 

23 advance on the docket and to expedite to the great24 est possible extent the disposition of the action and 

25 appeal. 


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1 (b) INTERVENTION BY MEMBERS OF CONGRESS.—In 

2 any action in which the constitutionality of any provision 

3 of this Act or any amendment made by this Act is raised, 

4 any member of the House of Representatives (including 

5 a Delegate or Resident Commissioner to the Congress) or 

6 Senate shall have the right to intervene either in support 

7 of or opposition to the position of a party to the case re8 garding the constitutionality of the provision or amend9 ment. To avoid duplication of efforts and reduce the bur10 dens placed on the parties to the action, the court in any 

11 such action may make such orders as it considers nec12 essary, including orders to require intervenors taking simi13 lar positions to file joint papers or to be represented by 

14 a single attorney at oral argument. 

15 (c) CHALLENGE BY MEMBERS OF CONGRESS.—Any 

16 Member of the House of Representatives (including a Del17 egate or Resident Commissioner to the Congress) or Sen18 ate may bring an action, subject to the special rules de19 scribed in subsection (a), for declaratory or injunctive re20 lief to challenge the constitutionality of any provision of 

21 this Act or any amendment made by this Act. 

22 SEC. 402. SEVERABILITY. 

23 If any provision of this Act or amendment made by 

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

25 to any person or circumstance, is held to be unconstituVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:40 Apr 30, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00083 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5175.IH H5175

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1 tional, the remainder of this Act and amendments made 

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

3 amendment to any person or circumstance, shall not be 

4 affected by the holding. 

5 SEC. 403. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

6 Except as otherwise provided, this Act and the 

7 amendments made by this Act shall take effect upon the 

8 expiration of the 30-day period which begins on the date 

9 of the enactment of this Act, and shall take effect without 

10 regard to whether or not the Federal Election Commission 

11 has promulgated regulations to carry out such amend12 ments. 

Æ 


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