II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 16

To reform the Federal election campaign laws applicable to Congress.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JANUARY 19, 1999

Mr. DASCHLE (for himself, Mr. SARBANES, Mr. BRYAN, Mr. KERRY, Mr.

ROCKEFELLER, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. WELLSTONE, Mr. MOYNIHAN, and Mr.

LAUTENBERG) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration

A BILL

To reform the Federal election campaign laws applicable

to Congress.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

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

5 ‘‘Congressional Election Campaign Spending Limit and

6 Reform Act of 1999’’.

7 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.

TITLE I—CONTROL OF CONGRESSIONAL CAMPAIGN SPENDING

Subtitle A—Senate Election Campaign Spending Limits and Benefits

Sec. 101. Senate spending limits and benefits.
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Sec. 102. Reporting requirements.

Sec. 103. Disclosure by candidates other than eligible Senate candidates.

Sec. 104. Excess campaign funds of Senate candidates.

Sec. 105. Contribution limit for eligible Senate candidates.

Subtitle B—General Provisions

Sec. 111. Broadcast rates and preemption.

Sec. 112. Reporting requirements for certain independent expenditures.

Sec. 113. Campaign advertising amendments.

Sec. 114. Definitions.

Sec. 115. Provisions relating to franked mass mailings.

TITLE II—INDEPENDENT EXPENDITURES

Sec. 201. Definition of independent expenditure.

Sec. 202. Independent versus coordinated expenditures by political party committees.

Sec. 203. Treatment of qualified nonprofit corporations.

Sec. 204. Equal broadcast time.

TITLE III—EXPENDITURES

Subtitle A—Personal Funds; Credit

Sec. 301. Contributions and loans from personal funds.

Sec. 302. Extensions of credit.

Subtitle B—Soft Money of Political Parties

Sec. 311. Preparation and distribution by volunteers of materials in connection

with State and local political party voter registration and getout-the-vote activities so as not to be considered a contribution

or expenditure.

Sec. 312. Contributions to political party committees.

Sec. 313. Provisions relating to national, State, and local party committees.

Sec. 314. Restrictions on fundraising by candidates and officeholders.

Sec. 315. Reporting requirements.

Subtitle C—Soft Money of Persons Other Than Political Parties

Sec. 321. Soft money of persons other than political parties.

TITLE IV—CONTRIBUTIONS

Sec. 401. Prohibition of certain contributions by lobbyists.

Sec. 402. Contributions by dependents not of voting age.

Sec. 403. Contributions to candidates from State and local committees of political parties to be aggregated.

Sec. 404. Contributions and expenditures using money secured by physical

force or other intimidation.

Sec. 405. Prohibition of acceptance by a candidate of cash contributions from

any one person aggregating more than $100.

TITLE V—AUTHORITIES AND DUTIES OF THE FEDERAL

ELECTION COMMISSION

Sec. 501. Filing of reports using computers and facsimile machines.

Sec. 502. Increase in threshold for reporting requirements.
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Sec. 503. Audits.

Sec. 504. Authority to seek injunction.

Sec. 505. Penalties.

Sec. 506. Independent litigating authority.

Sec. 507. Reference of suspected violation to the Attorney General.

Sec. 508. Powers of the commission.

TITLE VI—MISCELLANEOUS

Sec. 601. Prohibition of leadership committees.

Sec. 602. Telephone voting by persons with disabilities.

Sec. 603. Certain tax-exempt organizations not subject to corporate limits.

Sec. 604. Aiding and abetting violations of the Federal Election Campaign Act

of 1971.

Sec. 605. Campaign advertising that refers to an opponent.

Sec. 606. Limit on congressional use of the franking privilege.

Sec. 607. Strengthening foreign money ban.

Sec. 608. Certification of compliance with foreign contribution and solicitation

limitations.

TITLE VII—EFFECTIVE DATES; AUTHORIZATIONS

Sec. 701. Effective date.

Sec. 702. Budget neutrality.

Sec. 703. Severability.

Sec. 704. Expedited review of constitutional issues.

Sec. 705. Regulations.

1 TITLE I—CONTROL OF CON2 GRESSIONAL CAMPAIGN

3 SPENDING

4 Subtitle A—Senate Election Cam5 paign Spending Limits and Ben6 efits

7 SEC. 101. SENATE SPENDING LIMITS AND BENEFITS.

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Federal Election Campaign

9 Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431 et seq.) is amended by adding

10 at the end the following:
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1 ‘‘TITLE V—SPENDING LIMITS

2 AND BENEFITS FOR SENATE

3 ELECTION CAMPAIGNS

4 ‘‘SEC. 501. DEFINITIONS.

5 ‘‘In this title:

6 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE SENATE CANDIDATE.—The term

7 ‘eligible Senate candidate’ means a candidate who is

8 certified under section 505 as being eligible to re9 ceive benefits under this title.

10 ‘‘(2) EXCESS EXPENDITURE AMOUNT.—The

11 term ‘excess expenditure amount’, with respect to an

12 eligible Senate candidate, means the amount applica13 ble to the eligible Senate candidate under section

14 504(b).

15 ‘‘(3) EXPENDITURE.—The term ‘expenditure’

16 has the meaning given in paragraph (9) of section

17 301, excluding subparagraph (B)(ii) of that para18 graph.

19 ‘‘(4) GENERAL ELECTION EXPENDITURE

20 LIMIT.—The term ‘general election expenditure

21 limit’, with respect to an eligible Senate candidate,

22 means the limit applicable to the eligible Senate can23 didate under section 503(b).
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1 ‘‘(5) PERSONAL FUNDS EXPENDITURE LIMIT.—

2 The term ‘personal funds expenditure limit’ means

3 the limit stated in section 503(a).

4 ‘‘(6) PRIMARY ELECTION EXPENDITURE

5 LIMIT.—The term ‘primary election expenditure

6 limit’, with respect to an eligible Senate candidate,

7 means the limit applicable to the eligible Senate can8 didate under section 502(d)(1)(A).

9 ‘‘(7) RUNOFF ELECTION EXPENDITURE

10 LIMIT.—The term ‘runoff election expenditure limit’,

11 with respect to an eligible Senate candidate, means

12 the limit applicable to the eligible Senate candidate

13 under section 502(d)(1)(B).

14 ‘‘SEC. 502. ELIGIBLE SENATE CANDIDATES.

15 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this title, a can16 didate is an eligible Senate candidate if the candidate—

17 ‘‘(1) files a primary election eligibility declara18 tion under subsection (b) and is in compliance with

19 the representations made in the declaration;

20 ‘‘(2) files a general election eligibility certifi21 cation and declaration under subsection (c) and is in

22 compliance with the representations made in the cer23 tification and declaration; and

24 ‘‘(3) meets the threshold contribution require25 ments of subsection (e).
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1 ‘‘(b) PRIMARY ELECTION ELIGIBILITY DECLARA2 TION.—

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The requirements of this

4 subsection are met if the candidate files with the

5 Secretary of the Senate a declaration that—

6 ‘‘(A) the candidate and the candidate’s au7 thorized committees—

8 ‘‘(i) will meet the primary and runoff

9 election expenditure limits of subsection

10 (d); and

11 ‘‘(ii) will accept only an amount of

12 contributions for the primary and runoff

13 elections that does not exceed those limits;

14 ‘‘(B) the candidate and the candidate’s au15 thorized committees will meet the personal

16 funds expenditure limit;

17 ‘‘(C) the candidate and the candidate’s au18 thorized committees will meet the general elec19 tion expenditure limit; and

20 ‘‘(D) the candidate and the candidate’s au21 thorized committees will meet the closed cap22 tioning requirements of section 510.

23 ‘‘(2) DEADLINE FOR FILING DECLARATION.—

24 The declaration under paragraph (1) shall be filed
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1 not later than the date on which the candidate files

2 as a candidate for the primary election.

3 ‘‘(c) GENERAL ELECTION ELIGIBILITY CERTIFI4 CATION AND DECLARATION.—

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The requirements of this

6 subsection are met if the candidate files with the

7 Secretary of the Senate—

8 ‘‘(A) a certification, under penalty of per9 jury, that—

10 ‘‘(i) the candidate and the candidate’s

11 authorized committees—

12 ‘‘(I) met the primary and runoff

13 election expenditure limits under sub14 section (d); and

15 ‘‘(II) did not accept contributions

16 for the primary or runoff election in

17 excess of the primary or runoff ex18 penditure limit under subsection (d),

19 whichever is applicable, reduced by

20 any amounts transferred to the cur21 rent election cycle from a preceding

22 election cycle;

23 ‘‘(ii) the candidate met the threshold

24 contribution requirement under subsection

25 (e), and that only allowable contributions
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1 were taken into account in meeting such

2 requirement; and

3 ‘‘(iii) at least 1 other candidate has

4 qualified for the same general election bal5 lot under the law of the candidate’s State;

6 and

7 ‘‘(B) a declaration that the candidate and

8 the authorized committees of the candidate—

9 ‘‘(i) except as otherwise provided by

10 this title, will not make expenditures that

11 exceed the general election expenditure

12 limit;

13 ‘‘(ii) will not accept any contributions

14 in violation of section 315;

15 ‘‘(iii) except as otherwise provided by

16 this title, will not accept any contribution

17 for the general election to the extent that

18 the contribution would cause the aggregate

19 amount of contributions to exceed the sum

20 of the amount of the general election ex21 penditure limit and the amounts described

22 in subsections (c), (d), and (e) of section

23 503, reduced by any amounts transferred

24 to the current election cycle from a pre-
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1 vious election cycle and not taken into ac2 count under subparagraph (A)(ii)(II);

3 ‘‘(iv) will deposit all payments re4 ceived under this title in an account in5 sured by the Federal Deposit Insurance

6 Corporation from which funds may be

7 withdrawn by check or similar means of

8 payment to third parties;

9 ‘‘(v) will furnish campaign records,

10 evidence of contributions, and other appro11 priate information to the Commission;

12 ‘‘(vi) will cooperate in the case of any

13 audit and examination by the Commission

14 under section 506 and will pay any

15 amounts required to be paid under that

16 section; and

17 ‘‘(vii) will meet the closed captioning

18 requirements of section 510.

19 ‘‘(2) DEADLINE FOR FILING CERTIFICATION.—

20 The certification under paragraph (1) shall be filed

21 not later than 7 days after the earlier of—

22 ‘‘(A) the date on which the candidate

23 qualifies for the general election ballot under

24 State law; or
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1 ‘‘(B) if, under State law, a primary or run2 off election to qualify for the general election

3 ballot occurs after September 1, the date on

4 which the candidate wins the primary or runoff

5 election.

6 ‘‘(d) PRIMARY AND RUNOFF EXPENDITURE LIM7 ITS.—

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The requirements of this

9 subsection are met if—

10 ‘‘(A) the candidate or the candidate’s au11 thorized committees did not make expenditures

12 for the primary election in excess of the lesser

13 of—

14 ‘‘(i) 67 percent of the general election

15 expenditure limit; or

16 ‘‘(ii) $2,750,000; and

17 ‘‘(B) the candidate and the candidate’s au18 thorized committees did not make expenditures

19 for any runoff election in excess of 20 percent

20 of the general election expenditure limit.

21 ‘‘(2) INDEXING.—The $2,750,000 amount

22 under paragraph (1)(A)(ii) shall be increased as of

23 the beginning of each calendar year based on the in24 crease in the price index determined under section
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1 315(c), except that the base period shall be calendar

2 year 1998.

3 ‘‘(3) INCREASE.—The limitations under sub4 paragraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (1) with re5 spect to any candidate shall be increased by the ag6 gregate amount of independent expenditures in op7 position to, or on behalf of any opponent of, the can8 didate during the primary or runoff election period,

9 whichever is applicable, that are required to be re10 ported to the Secretary of the Senate or to the Com11 mission with respect to that period under section

12 304.

13 ‘‘(4) EXCESS AMOUNT OF CONTRIBUTIONS.—

14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If the contributions

15 received by a candidate or the candidate’s au16 thorized committees for the primary election or

17 runoff election exceed the expenditures for ei18 ther election—

19 ‘‘(i) the excess amount of contribu20 tions shall be treated as contributions for

21 the general election; and

22 ‘‘(ii) expenditures for the general elec23 tion may be made from the excess amount

24 of contributions.
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1 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—Subparagraph (A)

2 shall not apply to the extent that treatment of

3 excess contributions in accordance with sub4 paragraph (A)—

5 ‘‘(i) would result in the violation of

6 any limitation under section 315; or

7 ‘‘(ii) would cause the aggregate

8 amount of contributions received for the

9 general election to exceed the limits under

10 subsection (c)(1)(D)(iii).

11 ‘‘(e) THRESHOLD CONTRIBUTION REQUIREMENTS.—

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The requirements of this

13 subsection are met if the candidate and the can14 didate’s authorized committees have received allow15 able contributions during the applicable period in an

16 amount at least equal to 5 percent of the general

17 election expenditure limit.

18 ‘‘(2) DEFINITIONS.—In this section and sub19 section (b) of section 504:

20 ‘‘(A) ALLOWABLE CONTRIBUTION.—The

21 term ‘allowable contribution’ means a contribu22 tion that is made as a gift of money by an indi23 vidual pursuant to a written instrument identi24 fying the individual as the contributor.
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1 ‘‘(B) APPLICABLE PERIOD.—The term ‘ap2 plicable period’ means—

3 ‘‘(i) the period beginning on January

4 1 of the calendar year preceding the cal5 endar year of a general election and ending

6 on—

7 ‘‘(I) the date on which the certifi8 cation under subsection (c) is filed by

9 the candidate; or

10 ‘‘(II) for purposes of subsection

11 (b) of section 504, the date of the

12 general election; or

13 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a special election

14 for the office of United States Senator, the

15 period beginning on the date on which the

16 vacancy in the office occurs and ending on

17 the date of the general election.

18 ‘‘SEC. 503. LIMIT ON EXPENDITURES.

19 ‘‘(a) PERSONAL FUNDS EXPENDITURE LIMIT.—

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The aggregate amount of

21 expenditures that may be made during an election

22 cycle by an eligible Senate candidate or the can23 didate’s authorized committees from the sources de24 scribed in paragraph (2) shall not exceed $25,000.
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1 ‘‘(2) SOURCES.—A source is described in this

2 paragraph if it is—

3 ‘‘(A) personal funds of the candidate or a

4 member of the candidate’s immediate family; or

5 ‘‘(B) proceeds of indebtedness incurred by

6 the candidate or a member of the candidate’s

7 immediate family.

8 ‘‘(b) GENERAL ELECTION EXPENDITURE LIMIT.—

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise pro10 vided in this title, the aggregate amount of expendi11 tures for a general election by an eligible Senate

12 candidate and the candidate’s authorized committees

13 shall not exceed the lesser of—

14 ‘‘(A) $5,500,000; or

15 ‘‘(B) the greater of—

16 ‘‘(i) $1,200,000; or

17 ‘‘(ii) $400,000; plus

18 ‘‘(I) 30 cents multiplied by the

19 voting age population not in excess of

20 4,000,000; and

21 ‘‘(II) 25 cents multiplied by the

22 voting age population in excess of

23 4,000,000.

24 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—In the case of an eligible

25 Senate candidate in a State that has not more than
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1 1 transmitter for a commercial Very High Fre2 quency (VHF) television station licensed to operate

3 in that State, paragraph (1)(B)(ii) shall be applied

4 by substituting—

5 ‘‘(A) ‘92 cents’ for ‘30 cents’ in subclause

6 (I); and

7 ‘‘(B) ‘90 cents’ for ‘25 cents’ in subclause

8 (II).

9 ‘‘(3) INDEXING.—The amount otherwise deter10 mined under paragraph (1) for any calendar year

11 shall be increased by the same percentage as the

12 percentage increase for the calendar year under sec13 tion 502(d)(2).

14 ‘‘(c) LEGAL AND ACCOUNTING COMPLIANCE

15 FUND.—

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The general election ex17 penditure limit, shall not apply to qualified legal or

18 accounting expenditures made by a candidate or the

19 candidate’s authorized committees or a Federal of20 ficeholder from a legal and accounting compliance

21 fund meeting the requirements of paragraph (2).

22 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—A legal and accounting

23 compliance fund meets the requirements of this

24 paragraph if—
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1 ‘‘(A) the fund is established with respect to

2 qualified legal or accounting expenditures in3 curred with respect to a particular election;

4 ‘‘(B) the only amounts transferred to the

5 fund are amounts received in accordance with

6 the limitations, prohibitions, and reporting re7 quirements of this Act;

8 ‘‘(C) the aggregate amounts transferred to,

9 and expenditures made from, the fund do not

10 exceed the sum of—

11 ‘‘(i) the lesser of—

12 ‘‘(I) 15 percent of the general

13 election expenditure limit for the elec14 tion for which the fund was estab15 lished; or

16 ‘‘(II) $300,000; plus

17 ‘‘(ii) the amount determined under

18 paragraph (4); and

19 ‘‘(D) no funds received by the candidate

20 under section 504(a)(3) are transferred to the

21 fund.

22 ‘‘(3) DEFINITION OF QUALIFIED LEGAL OR AC23 COUNTING EXPENDITURE.—For purposes of this

24 subsection, the term ‘qualified legal or accounting

25 expenditure’ means—
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1 ‘‘(A) an expenditure for costs of legal or

2 accounting services provided in connection

3 with—

4 ‘‘(i) an administrative or court pro5 ceeding initiated under this Act for the

6 election for which the legal and accounting

7 fund was established; or

8 ‘‘(ii) the preparation of a document or

9 report required by this Act or by the Com10 mission;

11 ‘‘(B) an expenditure for legal or account12 ing service provided in connection with the elec13 tion cycle for which the legal and accounting

14 compliance fund was established to ensure com15 pliance with this Act with respect to the elec16 tion cycle.

17 ‘‘(4) INCREASE.—

18 ‘‘(A) PETITION.—If, after a general elec19 tion, primary election, or runoff election, a can20 didate determines that qualified legal or ac21 counting expenditures will exceed the limit

22 under paragraph (2)(C)(i), the candidate may

23 petition the Commission for an increase in the

24 limit by filing the petition with the Secretary of

25 the Senate.
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1 ‘‘(B) DETERMINATION.—The Commission

2 shall authorize an increase in the limit under

3 paragraph (2)(C)(i) in the amount (if any) by

4 which the Commission determines the qualified

5 legal or accounting expenditures exceed the

6 limit.

7 ‘‘(C) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—A determination

8 under subparagraph (B) shall be subject to ju9 dicial review under section 507.

10 ‘‘(D) CONTRIBUTIONS AND EXPENDITURES

11 NOT COUNTED.—Except as provided in section

12 315, a contribution received or expenditure

13 made under this paragraph shall not be counted

14 against any contribution or expenditure limit

15 applicable to the candidate under this title.

16 ‘‘(5) TREATMENT.—Funds in a legal and ac17 counting compliance fund shall be treated for pur18 poses of this Act as a separate segregated fund, ex19 cept that any portion of the fund not used to pay

20 qualified legal or accounting expenditures, and not

21 transferred to a legal and accounting compliance

22 fund for the election cycle for the next general elec23 tion, shall be treated in the same manner as other

24 campaign funds for purposes of section 313(b).
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1 ‘‘(d) PAYMENT OF TAXES ON EARNINGS.—The limi2 tation under subsection (b) shall not apply to any expendi3 ture for Federal, State, or local income taxes on the earn4 ings of a candidate’s authorized committees.

5 ‘‘(e) CERTAIN EXPENSES.—In the case of an eligible

6 Senate candidate who holds a Federal office, the limitation

7 under subsection (b) shall not apply to ordinary and nec8 essary expenses of travel of the candidate and the can9 didate’s spouse and children between Washington, District

10 of Columbia, and the candidate’s State in connection with

11 the candidate’s activities as a holder of Federal office.

12 ‘‘SEC. 504. BENEFITS FOR ELIGIBLE SENATE CANDIDATES.

13 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—An eligible Senate candidate

14 shall be entitled to—

15 ‘‘(1) the broadcast media rates provided under

16 section 315(b) of the Communications Act of 1934;

17 and

18 ‘‘(2) payments in an amount equal to—

19 ‘‘(A) the excess expenditure amount deter20 mined under subsection (b); and

21 ‘‘(B) the independent expenditure amount

22 determined under subsection (c).

23 ‘‘(b) EXCESS EXPENDITURE AMOUNT.—

24 ‘‘(1) DETERMINATION.—The excess expenditure

25 amount is—
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1 ‘‘(A) in the case of a major party can2 didate, an amount equal to—

3 ‘‘(i) if the opponent’s excess is less

than 331 4 ⁄3 percent of the general election

5 expenditure limit, an amount equal to one6 third of the general election expenditure

7 limit;

8 ‘‘(ii) if the opponent’s excess equals or

exceeds 331⁄3 percent but is less than 662 9 ⁄3

10 percent of the general election expenditure

11 limit, an amount equal to one-third of the

12 general election expenditure limit; or

13 ‘‘(iii) if the opponent’s excess equals

or exceeds 662 14 ⁄3 percent of the general

15 election expenditure limit, an amount equal

16 to one-third of the general election expend17 iture limit; and

18 ‘‘(B) in the case of an eligible Senate can19 didate who is not a major party candidate, an

20 amount equal to the least of—

21 ‘‘(i) the amount of allowable contribu22 tions accepted by the eligible Senate can23 didate during the applicable period in ex24 cess of the threshold contribution require25 ment under section 502(e);
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1 ‘‘(ii) 50 percent of the general election

2 expenditure limit; or

3 ‘‘(iii) the opponent’s excess.

4 ‘‘(2) DEFINITION OF OPPONENT’S EXCESS.—In

5 this subsection, the term ‘opponent’s excess’ means

6 the amount by which an opponent of an eligible Sen7 ate candidate in the general election accepts con8 tributions or makes (or obligates to make) expendi9 tures for the election in excess of the general elec10 tion expenditure limit.

11 ‘‘(c) INDEPENDENT EXPENDITURE AMOUNT.—The

12 independent expenditure amount is the total amount of

13 independent expenditures made, or obligated to be made,

14 during the general election period by 1 or more persons

15 in opposition to, or on behalf of an opponent of, an eligible

16 Senate candidate that are required to be reported by the

17 persons under section 304(d) with respect to the general

18 election period and are certified by the Commission under

19 section 304(c).

20 ‘‘(d) WAIVER OF EXPENDITURE AND CONTRIBUTION

21 LIMITS.—

22 ‘‘(1) RECIPIENTS OF EXCESS EXPENDITURE

23 AMOUNT PAYMENTS AND INDEPENDENT EXPENDI24 TURE AMOUNT PAYMENTS.—
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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An eligible Senate

2 candidate who receives payments under sub3 section (a)(2) may make expenditures from the

4 payments for the general election without re5 gard to the general election expenditure limit.

6 ‘‘(B) NONMAJOR PARTY CANDIDATES.—In

7 the case of an eligible Senate candidate who is

8 not a major party candidate, the general elec9 tion expenditure limit shall be increased by the

10 amount (if any) by which the opponent’s excess

11 expenditure amount exceeds the amount deter12 mined under subsection (b)(2)(B) with respect

13 to the candidate.

14 ‘‘(2) ALL BENEFIT RECIPIENTS.—

15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An eligible Senate

16 candidate who receives benefits under this sec17 tion may make expenditures for the general

18 election without regard to the personal funds

19 expenditure limit or general election expendi20 ture limit if any 1 of the eligible Senate can21 didate’s opponents who is not an eligible Senate

22 candidate raises an amount of contributions or

23 makes or becomes obligated to make an amount

24 of expenditures for the general election that ex-
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1 ceeds 200 percent of the general election ex2 penditure limit.

3 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—The amount of the ex4 penditures that may be made by reason of sub5 paragraph (A) shall not exceed 100 percent of

6 the general election expenditure limit.

7 ‘‘(3) ACCEPTANCE OF CONTRIBUTION WITHOUT

8 REGARD TO SECTION 502(c)(1)(B)(iii).—

9 ‘‘(A) A candidate who receives benefits

10 under this section may accept a contribution for

11 the general election without regard to section

12 502(c)(1)(B)(iii) if—

13 ‘‘(i) a major party candidate in the

14 same general election is not an eligible

15 Senate candidate; or

16 ‘‘(ii) any other candidate in the same

17 general election who is not an eligible Sen18 ate candidate raises an amount of con19 tributions or makes or becomes obligated

20 to make an amount of expenditures for the

21 general election that exceeds 75 percent of

22 the general election expenditure limit appli23 cable to such other candidate.

24 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—The amount of con25 tributions that may be received by reason of
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1 subparagraph (A) shall not exceed 100 percent

2 of the general election expenditure limit.

3 ‘‘(e) USE OF PAYMENTS.—

4 ‘‘(1) PERMITTED USE.—Payments received by

5 an eligible Senate candidate under subsection (a)(2)

6 shall be used to make expenditures with respect to

7 the general election period for the candidate.

8 ‘‘(2) PROHIBITED USE.—Payments received by

9 an eligible Senate candidate under subsection (a)(2)

10 shall not be used—

11 ‘‘(A) except as provided in subparagraph

12 (D), to make any payments, directly or indi13 rectly, to the candidate or to any member of the

14 immediate family of the candidate;

15 ‘‘(B) to make any expenditure other than

16 an expenditure to further the general election of

17 the candidate;

18 ‘‘(C) to make an expenditure the making

19 of which constitutes a violation of any law of

20 the United States or of the State in which the

21 expenditure is made; or

22 ‘‘(D) subject to section 315(i), to repay

23 any loan to any person except to the extent that

24 proceeds of the loan were used to further the

25 general election of the candidate.
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1 ‘‘SEC. 505. CERTIFICATION BY THE COMMISSION.

2 ‘‘(a) CERTIFICATION OF STATUS AS ELIGIBLE SEN3 ATE CANDIDATE.—

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall cer5 tify to any candidate meeting the requirements of

6 section 502 that the candidate is an eligible Senate

7 candidate entitled to benefits under this title.

8 ‘‘(2) REVOCATION.—The Commission shall re9 voke a certification under paragraph (1) if the Com10 mission determines that a candidate fails to continue

11 to meet the requirements of section 502.

12 ‘‘(b) CERTIFICATION OF ELIGIBILITY TO RECEIVE

13 BENEFITS.—

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 48 hours

15 after an eligible Senate candidate files a request

16 with the Secretary of the Senate to receive benefits

17 under section 504, the Commission shall issue a cer18 tification stating whether the candidate is eligible for

19 payments under this title and the amount of such

20 payments to which such candidate is entitled.

21 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS OF REQUEST.—A request

22 under paragraph (1) shall—

23 ‘‘(A) contain such information and be

24 made in accordance with such procedures as the

25 Commission may provide by regulation; and
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1 ‘‘(B) contain a verification signed by the

2 candidate and the treasurer of the principal

3 campaign committee of the candidate stating

4 that the information furnished in support of the

5 request, to the best of their knowledge, is cor6 rect and fully satisfies the requirements of this

7 title.

8 ‘‘(c) DETERMINATIONS BY THE COMMISSION.—All

9 determinations made by the Commission under this title

10 (including certifications under subsections (a) and (b))

11 shall be final and conclusive, except to the extent that a

12 determination is subject to examination and audit by the

13 Commission under section 506 and judicial review under

14 section 507.

15 ‘‘SEC. 506. EXAMINATIONS AND AUDITS; REPAYMENTS;

16 CIVIL PENALTIES.

17 ‘‘(a) EXAMINATIONS AND AUDITS.—

18 ‘‘(1) AFTER A GENERAL ELECTION.—After each

19 general election, the Commission shall conduct an

20 examination and audit of the campaign accounts of

21 all candidates in 5 percent of the elections to the

22 Senate in which there was an eligible Senate can23 didate on the ballot, as designated by the Commis24 sion through the use of an appropriate statistical

25 method of random selection, to determine whether
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1 the candidates have complied with the conditions of

2 eligibility and other requirements of this title.

3 ‘‘(2) AFTER A SPECIAL ELECTION.—After each

4 special election in which an eligible Senate candidate

5 was on the ballot, the Commission shall conduct an

6 examination and audit of the campaign accounts of

7 all candidates in the election to determine whether

8 the candidates have complied with the conditions of

9 eligibility and other requirements of this title.

10 ‘‘(3) WITH REASON TO BELIEVE THERE MAY

11 HAVE BEEN A VIOLATION.—The Commission may

12 conduct an examination and audit of the campaign

13 accounts of any eligible Senate candidate in a gen14 eral election if the Commission determines that there

15 exists reason to believe that the eligible Senate can16 didate failed to comply with this title.

17 ‘‘(b) EXCESS PAYMENT.—If the Commission deter18 mines any payment was made to an eligible Senate can19 didate under this title in excess of the aggregate amounts

20 to which the eligible Senate candidate was entitled, the

21 Commission shall notify the eligible Senate candidate, and

22 the eligible Senate candidate shall pay an amount equal

23 to the excess.

24 ‘‘(c) REVOCATION OF STATUS.—If the Commission

25 revokes the certification of an eligible Senate candidate as
28

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1 an eligible Senate candidate under section 505(a)(1), the

2 Commission shall notify the eligible Senate candidate, and

3 the eligible Senate candidate shall pay an amount equal

4 to the payments received under this title.

5 ‘‘(d) MISUSE OF BENEFIT.—If the Commission de6 termines that any amount of any benefit made available

7 to an eligible Senate candidate under this title was not

8 used as provided for in this title, the Commission shall

9 notify the eligible Senate candidate, and the eligible Sen10 ate candidate shall pay the amount of that amount.

11 ‘‘(e) EXCESS EXPENDITURES.—If the Commission

12 determines that an eligible Senate candidate who received

13 benefits under this title made expenditures that in the ag14 gregate exceed the primary election expenditure, the run15 off election expenditure limit, or the general election ex16 penditure limit, the Commission shall notify the eligible

17 Senate candidate, and the eligible Senate candidate shall

18 pay an amount equal to the amount of the excess expendi19 tures.

20 ‘‘(f) CIVIL PENALTIES.—

21 ‘‘(1) MISUSE OF BENEFIT.—If the Commission

22 determines that an eligible Senate candidate has

23 committed a violation described in subsection (d),

24 the Commission may assess a civil penalty against

25 the eligible Senate candidate in an amount not
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1 greater than 200 percent of the amount of the bene2 fit that was misused.

3 ‘‘(2) EXCESS EXPENDITURES.—

4 ‘‘(A) LOW AMOUNT OF EXCESS EXPENDI5 TURES.—If the Commission determines that an

6 eligible Senate candidate made expenditures

7 that exceeded by 2.5 percent or less the pri8 mary election expenditure limit, the runoff elec9 tion expenditure limit, or the general election

10 expenditure limit, the Commission shall assess

11 a civil penalty against the eligible Senate can12 didate in an amount equal to the amount of the

13 excess expenditures.

14 ‘‘(B) MEDIUM AMOUNT OF EXCESS EX15 PENDITURES.—If the Commission determines

16 that an eligible Senate candidate made expendi17 tures that exceeded by more than 2.5 percent

18 and less than 5 percent the primary election ex19 penditure limit, the runoff election expenditure

20 limit, or the general election expenditure limit,

21 the Commission shall assess a civil penalty

22 against the eligible Senate candidate in an

23 amount equal to 3 times the amount of the ex24 cess expenditures.
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1 ‘‘(C) LARGE AMOUNT OF EXCESS EXPEND2 ITURES.—If the Commission determines that an

3 eligible Senate candidate made expenditures

4 that exceeded by 5 percent or more the primary

5 election expenditure limit, the runoff election

6 expenditure limit, or the general election ex7 penditure limit, the Commission shall assess a

8 civil penalty against the eligible Senate can9 didate in an amount equal to the amount of the

10 excess expenditures an amount equal to the

11 sum of—

12 ‘‘(i) 3 times the amount of the excess

13 expenditures plus an additional amount de14 termined by the Commission; plus

15 ‘‘(ii) if the Commission determines

16 that the exceeding of the expenditure limit

17 was willful, an amount equal to the

18 amount of benefits that the eligible Senate

19 candidate received under this title.

20 ‘‘(g) UNEXPENDED FUNDS.—

21 ‘‘(1) REPAYMENT.—Subject to paragraph (2),

22 any amount received by an eligible Senate candidate

23 under this title and not expended on or before the

24 date of the general election shall be repaid not later

25 than 30 days after the date of the general election.
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1 ‘‘(2) RETENTION FOR PURPOSES OF LIQUIDA2 TION OF OBLIGATIONS.—An eligible Senate can3 didate may retain for a period not exceeding 120

4 days after the date of a general election a reasonable

5 portion of unexpended funds received under this title

6 for the liquidation of all obligations to pay expendi7 tures for the general election incurred during the

8 general election period. At the end of the 120-day

9 period, any unexpended funds received under this

10 title shall be promptly repaid.

11 ‘‘(h) PAYMENTS RETURNED TO SOURCE.—Any pay12 ment, repayment, or civil penalty under this section shall

13 be paid to the entity that afforded benefits under this title

14 to the eligible Senate candidate.

15 ‘‘(i) LIMIT ON PERIOD FOR NOTIFICATION.—No no16 tification shall be made by the Commission under this sec17 tion with respect to an election more than 3 years after

18 the date of the election.

19 ‘‘SEC. 507. JUDICIAL REVIEW.

20 ‘‘(a) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—Any agency action by the

21 Commission under this title shall be subject to review by

22 the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Co23 lumbia Circuit upon petition filed in that court within 30

24 days after the date of the agency action.
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1 ‘‘(b) APPLICATION OF TITLE 5, UNITED STATES

2 CODE.—Chapter 7 of title 5, United States Code, shall

3 apply to judicial review of any agency action by the Com4 mission under this title.

5 ‘‘(c) AGENCY ACTION.—For purposes of this section,

6 the term ‘agency action’ has the meaning given the term

7 in section 551(13) of title 5, United States Code.

8 ‘‘SEC. 508. PARTICIPATION BY COMMISSION IN JUDICIAL

9 PROCEEDINGS.

10 ‘‘(a) APPEARANCES.—The Commission may appear

11 in and defend against any action instituted under this sec12 tion and under section 507 by attorneys employed in the

13 office of the Commission or by counsel whom it may ap14 point without regard to the provisions of title 5, United

15 States Code, governing appointments in the competitive

16 service, and whose compensation it may fix without regard

17 to chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of that

18 title.

19 ‘‘(b) ACTIONS FOR RECOVERY OF AMOUNT OF BENE20 FITS.—The Commission, by attorneys and counsel de21 scribed in subsection (a), may bring an action in United

22 States district court to recover any amounts determined

23 under this title to be payable to any entity that afforded

24 a benefit to an eligible Senate candidate under this title.
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1 ‘‘(c) ACTION FOR INJUNCTIVE RELIEF.—The Com2 mission, by attorneys and counsel described in subsection

3 (a), may petition the courts of the United States for such

4 injunctive relief as is appropriate in order to implement

5 any provision of this title.

6 ‘‘(d) APPEALS.—The Commission, on behalf of the

7 United States, may appeal from, and may petition the Su8 preme Court for certiorari to review, any judgment or de9 cree entered with respect to actions in which the Commis10 sion under this section.

11 ‘‘SEC. 509. REPORTS TO CONGRESS; REGULATIONS.

12 ‘‘(a) REPORTS.—

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—As soon as practicable

14 after each general election, the Commission shall

15 submit a full report to the Senate setting forth—

16 ‘‘(A) the expenditures (shown in such de17 tail as the Commission determines to be appro18 priate) made by each eligible Senate candidate

19 and the authorized committees of the candidate;

20 ‘‘(B) the amounts certified by the Commis21 sion under section 505 as benefits available to

22 each eligible Senate candidate; and

23 ‘‘(C) the amount of repayments, if any, re24 quired under section 506 and the reason why

25 each repayment was required.
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1 ‘‘(2) PRINTING.—Each report under paragraph

2 (1) shall be printed as a Senate document.

3 ‘‘(b) REGULATIONS.—

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission may issue

5 such regulations, conduct such examinations and in6 vestigations, and require the keeping and submission

7 of such books, records, and information, as the Com8 mission considers necessary to carry out the func9 tions and duties of the Commission under this title.

10 ‘‘(2) STATEMENT TO SENATE.—Not less than

11 30 days before issuing a regulation under paragraph

12 (1), the Commission shall submit to the Senate a

13 statement setting forth the proposed regulation and

14 containing a detailed explanation and justification

15 for the regulation.

16 ‘‘SEC. 510. CLOSED CAPTIONING IN TELEVISION BROAD17 CASTS.

18 ‘‘Any television broadcast prepared or distributed by

19 an eligible Senate candidate shall be prepared in a manner

20 that contains, is accompanied by, or otherwise readily per21 mits closed captioning of the oral content of the broadcast

22 to be broadcast by way of line 21 of the vertical blanking

23 interval or by way of a comparable successor technology.
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1 ‘‘SEC. 511. LIMITATIONS ON PAYMENTS.

2 ‘‘(a) PAYMENTS ON CERTIFICATION.—On receipt of

3 a certification from the Commission under section 505, ex4 cept as provided in subsection (b), the Secretary shall,

5 subject to the availability of appropriations, promptly pay

6 the amount certified by the Commission to the candidate.

7 ‘‘(b) INSUFFICIENT FUNDS.—

8 ‘‘(1) WITHHOLDING.—If, at the time of a cer9 tification by the Commission under section 505 for

10 payment to an eligible Senate candidate, the Sec11 retary determines that there are not, or may not be,

12 sufficient funds to satisfy the full entitlement of all

13 eligible Senate candidates, the Secretary shall with14 hold from the amount of the payment such amount

15 as the Secretary determines to be necessary to en16 sure that each eligible Senate candidate will receive

17 the same pro rata share of the candidate’s full enti18 tlement.

19 ‘‘(2) SUBSEQUENT PAYMENT.—Amounts with20 held under paragraph (1) shall be paid when the

21 Secretary determines that there are sufficient funds

22 to pay all or a portion of the funds withheld from

23 all eligible Senate candidates, but, if only a portion

24 is to be paid, the portion shall be paid in such a

25 manner that each eligible Senate candidate receives

26 an equal pro rata share.
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1 ‘‘(3) NOTIFICATION OF ESTIMATED WITHHOLD2 ING.—

3 ‘‘(A) ADVANCE ESTIMATE OF AVAILABLE

4 FUNDS AND PROJECTED COSTS.—Not later

5 than December 31 of any calendar year preced6 ing a calendar year in which there is a regularly

7 scheduled general election, the Secretary, after

8 consultation with the Commission, shall make

9 an estimate of—

10 ‘‘(i) the amount of funds that will be

11 available to make payments under this title

12 in the general election year; and

13 ‘‘(ii) the costs of implementing this

14 title in the general election year.

15 ‘‘(B) NOTIFICATION.—If the Secretary de16 termines under subparagraph (A) that there

17 will be insufficient funds for any calendar year,

18 the Secretary shall notify by registered mail

19 each candidate for the Senate on January 1 of

20 that year (or, if later, the date on which an in21 dividual becomes such a candidate) of the

22 amount that the Secretary estimates will be the

23 pro rata withholding from each eligible Senate

24 candidate’s payments under this subsection.
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1 ‘‘(C) INCREASE IN CONTRIBUTION

2 LIMIT.—The amount of an eligible candidate’s

3 contribution limit under section

4 502(c)(1)(B)(iii) shall be increased by the

5 amount of the estimated pro rata withholding

6 under subparagraph (B).

7 ‘‘(4) NOTIFICATION OF ACTUAL WITHHOLD8 ING.—

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall

10 notify the Commission and each eligible Senate

11 candidate by registered mail of any actual re12 duction in the amount of any payment by rea13 son of this subsection.

14 ‘‘(B) GREATER AMOUNT OF WITHHOLD15 ING.—If the amount of a withholding exceeds

16 the amount estimated under paragraph (3), an

17 eligible Senate candidate’s contribution limit

18 under section 502(c)(1)(B)(iii) shall be in19 creased by the amount of the excess.’’.

20 (b) EFFECTIVE DATES.—

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in this

22 subsection, the amendment made by subsection (a)

23 shall apply to elections occurring after December 31,

24 1998.
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1 (2) APPLICABILITY TO CONTRIBUTIONS AND

2 EXPENDITURES.—For purposes of any expenditure

3 or contribution limit imposed by the amendment

4 made by subsection (a)—

5 (A) no expenditure made before January 1,

6 1999, shall be taken into account, except that

7 there shall be taken into account any such ex8 penditure for goods or services to be provided

9 after that date; and

10 (B) all cash, cash items, and Government

11 securities on hand as of January 1, 1999, shall

12 be taken into account in determining whether

13 the contribution limit is met, except that there

14 shall not be taken into account amounts used

15 during the 60-day period beginning on January

16 1, 1999, to pay for expenditures that were in17 curred (but unpaid) before that date.

18 (c) EFFECT OF INVALIDITY ON OTHER PROVISIONS

19 OF TITLE.—If section 502, 503, or 504 of the Federal

20 Election Campaign Act of 1971 (as added by subsection

21 (a)) or any part of those sections is held to be invalid,

22 this Act and all amendments made by this Act shall be

23 treated as invalid.
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1 SEC. 102. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.

2 Title III of the Federal Election Campaign Act of

3 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431 et seq.) is amended by inserting after

4 section 304 the following:

5 ‘‘SEC. 304A. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS FOR SENATE CAN6 DIDATES.

7 ‘‘(a) MEANINGS OF TERMS.—Any term used in this

8 section that is used in title V shall have the same meaning

9 as when used in title V.

10 ‘‘(b) CANDIDATE OTHER THAN ELIGIBLE SENATE

11 CANDIDATE.—

12 ‘‘(1) DECLARATION OF INTENT.—A candidate

13 for the office of Senator who does not file a certifi14 cation with the Secretary of the Senate under sec15 tion 502(c) shall, at the time provided in section

16 501(c)(2), file with the Secretary of the Senate a

17 declaration as to whether the candidate intends to

18 make expenditures for the general election in excess

19 of the general election expenditure limit.

20 ‘‘(2) REPORTS.—

21 ‘‘(A) INITIAL REPORT.—A candidate for

22 the Senate who qualifies for the ballot for a

23 general election—

24 ‘‘(i) who is not an eligible Senate can25 didate under section 502; and
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1 ‘‘(ii) who receives contributions in an

2 aggregate amount or makes or obligates to

3 make expenditures in an aggregate amount

4 for the general election that exceeds 75

5 percent of the general election expenditure

6 limit;

7 shall file a report with the Secretary of the Sen8 ate within 2 business days after aggregate con9 tributions have been received or aggregate ex10 penditures have been made or obligated to be

11 made in that amount (or, if later, within 2 busi12 ness days after the date of qualification for the

13 general election ballot), setting forth the can14 didate’s aggregate amount of contributions re15 ceived and aggregate amount of expenditures

16 made or obligated to be made for the election

17 as of the date of the report.

18 ‘‘(B) ADDITIONAL REPORTS.—After an ini19 tial report is filed under subparagraph (A), the

20 candidate shall file additional reports (until the

21 amount of such contributions or expenditures

22 exceeds 200 percent of the general election ex23 penditure limit) with the Secretary of the Sen24 ate within 2 business days after each time addi25 tional contributions are received, or expendi-
41

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1 tures are made or are obligated to be made,

2 that in the aggregate exceed an amount equal

3 to 10 percent of the general election expendi4 ture limit and after the aggregate amount of

5 contributions or expenditures exceeds 100,

1331⁄3, 1662 6 ⁄3, and 200 percent of the general

7 election expenditure limit.

8 ‘‘(3) NOTIFICATION OF OTHER CANDIDATES.—

9 The Commission—

10 ‘‘(A) shall, within 2 business days after re11 ceipt of a declaration or report under paragraph

12 (1) or (2), notify each eligible Senate candidate

13 of the filing of the declaration or report; and

14 ‘‘(B) if an opposing candidate has received

15 aggregate contributions, or made or obligated to

16 make aggregate expenditures, in excess of the

17 general election expenditure limit, shall certify,

18 under subsection (e), the eligibility for payment

19 of any amount to which an eligible Senate can20 didate in the general election is entitled under

21 section 504(a).

22 ‘‘(4) ACTION BY THE COMMISSION ABSENT RE23 PORT.—

24 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding the

25 reporting requirements under this subsection,
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1 the Commission may make its own determina2 tion that a candidate in a general election who

3 is not an eligible Senate candidate has raised

4 aggregate contributions, or made or has obli5 gated to make aggregate expenditures, in the

6 amounts that would require a report under

7 paragraph (2).

8 ‘‘(B) NOTIFICATION OF ELIGIBLE SENATE

9 CANDIDATES.—The Commission shall—

10 ‘‘(i) within 2 business days after mak11 ing a determination under subparagraph

12 (A), notify each eligible Senate candidate

13 in the general election of the making of the

14 determination; and

15 ‘‘(ii) when the aggregate amount of

16 contributions or expenditures exceeds the

17 general election expenditure limit, certify

18 under subsection (e) an eligible Senate

19 candidate’s eligibility for payment of any

20 amount under section 504(a).

21 ‘‘(c) REPORTS ON PERSONAL FUNDS.—

22 ‘‘(1) FILING.—A candidate for the Senate who,

23 during an election cycle, expends more than the per24 sonal funds expenditure limit during the election

25 cycle shall file a report with the Secretary of the
43

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1 Senate within 2 business days after expenditures

2 have been made or loans incurred in excess of the

3 personal funds expenditure limit.

4 ‘‘(2) NOTIFICATION OF ELIGIBLE SENATE CAN5 DIDATES.—Within 2 business days after a report

6 has been filed under paragraph (1), the Commission

7 shall notify each eligible Senate candidate in the

8 general election of the filing of the report.

9 ‘‘(3) ACTION BY THE COMMISSION ABSENT RE10 PORT.—

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding the

12 reporting requirements under this subsection,

13 the Commission may make its own determina14 tion that a candidate for the Senate has made

15 expenditures in excess of the amount under

16 paragraph (1).

17 ‘‘(B) NOTIFICATION OF ELIGIBLE SENATE

18 CANDIDATES.—Within 2 business days after

19 making a determination under subparagraph

20 (A), the Commission shall notify each eligible

21 Senate candidate in the general election of the

22 making of the determination.

23 ‘‘(d) CANDIDATES FOR OTHER OFFICES.—

24 ‘‘(1) FILING.—Each individual—
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•S 16 IS

1 ‘‘(A) who becomes a candidate for the of2 fice of United States Senator;

3 ‘‘(B) who, during the election cycle for that

4 office, held any other Federal, State, or local

5 office or was a candidate for any such office;

6 and

7 ‘‘(C) who expended any amount during the

8 election cycle before becoming a candidate for

9 the office of United States Senator that would

10 have been treated as an expenditure if the indi11 vidual had been such a candidate (including

12 amounts for activities to promote the image or

13 name recognition of the individual);

14 shall, within 7 days after becoming a candidate for

15 the office of United States Senator, report to the

16 Secretary of the Senate the amount and nature of

17 such expenditures.

18 ‘‘(2) APPLICABILITY.—Paragraph (1) shall not

19 apply to any expenditures in connection with a Fed20 eral, State, or local election that has been held be21 fore the individual becomes a candidate for the office

22 of United States Senator.

23 ‘‘(3) DETERMINATION.—The Commission shall,

24 as soon as practicable, make a determination as to

25 whether any amounts reported under paragraph (1)
45

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1 were made for purposes of influencing the election of

2 the individual to the office of Senator.

3 ‘‘(4) CERTIFICATION.—The Commission shall

4 certify to the individual and the individual’s oppo5 nents the amounts the Commission determines to be

6 described in paragraph (3), and such amounts shall

7 be treated as expenditures for purposes of this Act.

8 ‘‘(e) BASIS OF CERTIFICATIONS.—Notwithstanding

9 section 505(a), the certification required by this section

10 shall be made by the Commission on the basis of reports

11 filed in accordance with this Act or on the basis of the

12 Commission’s own investigation or determination.

13 ‘‘(f) SHORTER PERIODS FOR REPORTS AND NOTICES

14 DURING ELECTION WEEK.—Any report, determination,

15 or notice required by reason of an event occurring during

16 the 7-day period ending on the date of the general election

17 shall be made within 24 hours (rather than 2 business

18 days) of the event.

19 ‘‘(g) COPIES OF REPORTS AND PUBLIC INSPEC20 TION.—The Secretary of the Senate shall—

21 ‘‘(1) transmit a copy of any report or filing re22 ceived under this section or under title V as soon as

23 possible (but not later than 4 working hours of the

24 Commission) after receipt of the report or filing;
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1 ‘‘(2) make the report or filing available for pub2 lic inspection and copying in the same manner as

3 the Commission under section 311(a)(4); and

4 ‘‘(3) preserve the reports and filings in the

5 same manner as the Commission under section

6 311(a)(5).’’.

7 SEC. 103. DISCLOSURE BY CANDIDATES OTHER THAN ELI8 GIBLE SENATE CANDIDATES.

9 Section 318 of the Federal Election Campaign Act

10 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441d) (as amended by section 113) is

11 amended by adding at the end the following:

12 ‘‘(e) DISCLOSURE BY CANDIDATES OTHER THAN EL13 IGIBLE SENATE CANDIDATES.—A broadcast, cablecast, or

14 other communication that is paid for or authorized by a

15 candidate in the general election for the office of United

16 States Senator who is not an eligible Senate candidate,

17 or the authorized committee of such a candidate, shall

18 contain the following sentence: ‘This candidate has not

19 agreed to voluntary campaign spending limits.’.’’.

20 SEC. 104. EXCESS CAMPAIGN FUNDS OF SENATE CAN21 DIDATES.

22 Section 313 of the Federal Election Campaign Act

23 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 439a) is amended—
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1 (1) by inserting ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—’’ before

2 ‘‘Amounts’’ and adjusting the margin appropriately;

3 and

4 (2) by adding at the end the following:

5 ‘‘(b) DISPOSITION OF EXCESS CAMPAIGN FUNDS.—

6 ‘‘(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), and

7 notwithstanding subsection (a), a candidate for the

8 Senate who has amounts in excess of amounts nec9 essary to defray expenditures for an election cycle,

10 including any fines or penalties relating thereto,

11 shall, not later than 1 year after the date of the gen12 eral election for the election cycle—

13 ‘‘(A) expend the excess in the manner de14 scribed in subsection (a); or

15 ‘‘(B) pay the excess to the general fund of

16 the Treasury of the United States.

17 ‘‘(2) APPLICABILITY.—Paragraph (1) shall not

18 apply to any amount—

19 ‘‘(A) that is transferred to a legal and ac20 counting compliance fund under section 503(c);

21 or

22 ‘‘(B) that is transferred for use in the next

23 election cycle, to the extent that the amount

24 transferred does not exceed 20 percent of the

25 sum of the primary election expenditure limit
48

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1 under section 501(d)(1)(A) and the general

2 election expenditure limit for the election cycle

3 from which the amounts are transferred.’’.

4 SEC. 105. CONTRIBUTION LIMIT FOR ELIGIBLE SENATE

5 CANDIDATES.

6 Section 315(a)(1) of the Federal Election Campaign

7 Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a(a)(1)) is amended—

8 (1) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ‘‘except

9 as provided in subparagraph (B),’’ before ‘‘to’’;

10 (2) by redesignating subparagraphs (B) and

11 (C) as subparagraphs (C) and (D), respectively; and

12 (3) by inserting after subparagraph (A) the fol13 lowing:

14 ‘‘(B) to an eligible Senate candidate (as defined

15 in section 501) and the authorized political commit16 tees of the candidate which, in the aggregate, exceed

17 $2,000, if an opponent of the eligible Senate can18 didate fails to comply with the expenditure limits

19 contained in this Act and has received contributions

20 in excess of 10 percent of the general election limits

21 contained in this Act or has expended personal funds

22 in excess of 10 percent of the general election limits

23 contained in this Act;’’.
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1 Subtitle B—General Provisions

2 SEC. 111. BROADCAST RATES AND PREEMPTION.

3 (a) BROADCAST RATES.—Section 315(b) of the Com4 munications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 315(b)) is amended—

5 (1) by striking ‘‘(b) The charges’’ and inserting

6 the following:

7 ‘‘(b) BROADCAST MEDIA RATES.—

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The charges’’;

9 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and (2) as

10 subparagraphs (A) and (B), respectively, and adjust11 ing the margins accordingly;

12 (3) in paragraph (1)(A) (as redesignated by

13 paragraph (2))—

14 (A) by striking ‘‘forty-five’’ and inserting

15 ‘‘30’’; and

16 (B) by striking ‘‘lowest unit charge of the

17 station for the same class and amount of time

18 for the same period’’ and inserting ‘‘lowest

19 charge of the station for the same amount of

20 time for the same period on the same date’’;

21 and

22 (4) by adding at the end the following:

23 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE SENATE CANDIDATES.—

24 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an eligi25 ble Senate candidate (as described in section
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1 501 of the Federal Election Campaign Act), the

2 charges for the use of a television broadcasting

3 station during the 30-day period and 60-day pe4 riod referred to in paragraph (1)(A) shall not

5 exceed 50 percent of the lowest charge de6 scribed in paragraph (1)(A).

7 ‘‘(B) APPLICABILITY.—Subparagraph (A)

8 shall not apply to broadcasts that are to be paid

9 from amounts received under section

10 504(a)(2)(B) of the Federal Election Campaign

11 Act of 1971.’’.

12 (b) PREEMPTION; ACCESS.—Section 315 of the Com13 munications Act of 1947 (47 U.S.C. 315) is amended—

14 (1) by redesignating subsections (c) and (d) as

15 subsections (d) and (e), respectively; and

16 (2) by inserting after subsection (b) the follow17 ing:

18 ‘‘(c) PREEMPTION.—

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para20 graph (2), a licensee shall not preempt the use, dur21 ing any period specified in subsection (b)(1), of a

22 broadcasting station by a legally qualified candidate

23 for public office who has purchased and paid for

24 such use pursuant to subsection (b)(1).
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1 ‘‘(2) CIRCUMSTANCES BEYOND CONTROL OF LI2 CENSEE.—If a program to be broadcast by a broad3 casting station is preempted because of cir4 cumstances beyond the control of the broadcasting

5 station, any candidate advertising spot scheduled to

6 be broadcast during that program may also be pre7 empted.’’.

8 (c) REVOCATION OF LICENSE FOR FAILURE TO PER9 MIT ACCESS.—Section 312(a)(7) of the Communications

10 Act of 1947 (47 U.S.C. 312(a)(7)) is amended—

11 (1) by striking ‘‘or repeated’’;

12 (2) by inserting ‘‘or cable system’’ after ‘‘broad13 casting station’’; and

14 (3) by striking ‘‘his candidacy’’ and inserting

15 ‘‘his or her candidacy, under the same terms, condi16 tions, and business practices as apply to the broad17 casting station’s most favored advertiser’’.

18 SEC. 112. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS FOR CERTAIN INDE19 PENDENT EXPENDITURES.

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 304 of the Federal Elec21 tion Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 434) (as amended

22 by section 608) is amended by adding at the end the fol23 lowing:

24 ‘‘(e) TIME FOR REPORTING CERTAIN EXPENDI25 TURES.—
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1 ‘‘(1) EXPENDITURES AGGREGATING $1,000.—A

2 person that makes independent expenditures aggre3 gating $1,000 or more after the 20th day, but more

4 than 24 hours, before an election shall file a report

5 describing the expenditures within 24 hours after

6 that amount of independent expenditures has been

7 made.

8 ‘‘(2) EXPENDITURES AGGREGATING $10,000.—

9 ‘‘(A) INITIAL REPORT.—A person that

10 makes independent expenditures aggregating

11 $10,000 or more at any time up to and includ12 ing the 20th day before an election shall file a

13 report describing the expenditures within 48

14 hours that amount of independent expenditures

15 has been made.

16 ‘‘(B) ADDITIONAL REPORTS.—After a per17 son files a report under subparagraph (A), the

18 person filing the report shall file an additional

19 report each time that independent expenditures

20 aggregating an additional $10,000 are made

21 with respect to the same election as that to

22 which the initial report relates.

23 ‘‘(3) PLACE OF FILING; CONTENTS; TRANSMIT24 TAL.—
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1 ‘‘(A) PLACE OF FILING; CONTENTS.—A re2 port under this subsection—

3 ‘‘(i) shall be filed with the Secretary

4 of the Senate or the Commission, and the

5 Secretary of State of the candidate’s State;

6 and

7 ‘‘(ii) shall contain the information re8 quired by subsection (b)(6)(B)(iii), includ9 ing whether each independent expenditure

10 was made in support of, or in opposition

11 to, a candidate.

12 ‘‘(B) TRANSMITTAL.—

13 ‘‘(i) TO THE COMMISSION.—As soon

14 as possible (but not later than 4 working

15 hours of the Commission) after receipt of

16 a report under this subsection, the Sec17 retary of the Senate shall transmit the re18 port to the Commission.

19 ‘‘(ii) TO CANDIDATES.—Not later

20 than 48 hours after receipt of a report

21 under this subsection, the Commission

22 shall transmit a copy of the report to each

23 candidate seeking nomination for election

24 to, or election to, the office in question.
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1 ‘‘(4) OBLIGATION TO MAKE EXPENDITURE.—

2 For purposes of this subsection, an expenditure shall

3 be treated as being made when it is made or obli4 gated to be made.

5 ‘‘(5) ADVANCE NOTICE OF INTENTION TO MAKE

6 INDEPENDENT EXPENDITURES.—

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A person that intends

8 to make independent expenditures totaling

9 $5,000 or more during the 20 days before an

10 election shall file a notice of that intention not

11 later than the 20th day before the election.

12 ‘‘(B) PLACE OF FILING; CONTENTS;

13 TRANSMITTAL.—

14 ‘‘(i) PLACE OF FILING; CONTENTS.—

15 A statement under subparagraph (A)—

16 ‘‘(I) shall be filed with the Sec17 retary of the Senate or the Commis18 sion, and the Secretary of State of the

19 candidate’s State; and

20 ‘‘(II) shall identify each can21 didate whom the expenditure will sup22 port or oppose.

23 ‘‘(ii) TRANSMITTAL.—

24 ‘‘(I) TO THE COMMISSION.—As

25 soon as possible (but not later than 4
55

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1 working hours of the Commission)

2 after receipt of a notice of intention

3 under this paragraph, the Commission

4 shall transmit the notice to the Com5 mission.

6 ‘‘(II) TO CANDIDATES.—Not

7 later than 48 hours after the receipt

8 of a notice of intention under this

9 paragraph, the Commission shall

10 transmit a copy of the notice to each

11 candidate identified in the notice.

12 ‘‘(6) DETERMINATIONS BY THE COMMISSION.—

13 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Commission may

14 make its own determination that a person has

15 made independent expenditures with respect to

16 any Federal election that in the aggregate ex17 ceed the applicable amounts under paragraph

18 (1) or (2).

19 ‘‘(B) NOTIFICATION.—The Commission

20 shall notify each candidate in the election of the

21 making of the determination within 24 hours

22 after making the determination.

23 ‘‘(7) CERTIFICATION OF ELIGIBILITY TO RE24 CEIVE BENEFITS.—At the same time as a candidate

25 is notified under paragraph (3), (5), or (6) with re-
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1 spect to expenditures during a general election pe2 riod, the Commission shall certify eligibility to re3 ceive benefits under section 504(a).

4 ‘‘(8) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY; PRESERVATION.—

5 The Secretary of the Senate shall make any report

6 or notice of intention received under this subsection

7 available for public inspection and copying in the

8 same manner as under section 311(a)(4), and shall

9 preserve the reports and notices in the same manner

10 as under section 311(a)(5).’’.

11 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 304(c)(2)

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

13 434(c)(2)) is amended by striking the undesignated mat14 ter after subparagraph (C).

15 SEC. 113. CAMPAIGN ADVERTISING AMENDMENTS.

16 Section 318 of the Federal Election Campaign Act

17 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441d) is amended—

18 (1) in subsection (a)—

19 (A) by striking ‘‘Whenever’’ and inserting

20 the following:

21 ‘‘(a) DISCLOSURE.—When a political committee

22 makes a disbursement for the purpose of financing any

23 communication through any broadcasting station, news24 paper, magazine, outdoor advertising facility, mailing, or
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1 any other type of general public political advertising, or

2 when’’;

3 (B) by striking ‘‘an expenditure’’ and in4 serting ‘‘a disbursement’’;

5 (C) by striking ‘‘direct’’; and

6 (D) in paragraph (3), by inserting ‘‘and

7 permanent street address’’ after ‘‘name’’;

8 (2) in subsection (b), by inserting ‘‘SAME

9 CHARGE AS CHARGE FOR COMPARABLE USE.—’’ be10 fore ‘‘No’’; and

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

12 ‘‘(c) REQUIREMENTS FOR PRINTED COMMUNICA13 TIONS.—A printed communication described in subsection

14 (a) shall be—

15 ‘‘(1) of sufficient type size to be clearly read16 able by the recipient of the communication;

17 ‘‘(2) contained in a printed box set apart from

18 the other contents of the communication; and

19 ‘‘(3) consist of a reasonable degree of color con20 trast between the background and the printed state21 ment.

22 ‘‘(d) REQUIREMENTS FOR BROADCAST AND CABLE23 CAST COMMUNICATIONS.—

24 ‘‘(1) PAID FOR OR AUTHORIZED BY THE CAN25 DIDATE.—
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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A broadcast or cable2 cast communication described in paragraph (1)

3 or (2) of subsection (a) shall include, in addi4 tion to the requirements of those paragraphs,

5 an audio statement by the candidate that iden6 tifies the candidate and states that the can7 didate has approved the communication.

8 ‘‘(B) TELEVISED COMMUNICATIONS.—A

9 broadcast or cablecast communication described

10 in paragraph (1) that is broadcast or cablecast

11 by means of television shall include, in addition

12 to the audio statement under subparagraph (A),

13 a written statement—

14 ‘‘(i) that states: ‘I [name of can15 didate] am a candidate for [the office the

16 candidate is seeking], and I have approved

17 this message’;

18 ‘‘(ii) that appears at the end of the

19 communication in a clearly readable man20 ner with a reasonable degree of color con21 trast between the background and the

22 printed statement, for a period of at least

23 4 seconds; and
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1 ‘‘(iii) that is accompanied by a clearly

2 identifiable photographic or similar image

3 of the candidate.

4 ‘‘(2) NOT PAID FOR OR AUTHORIZED BY THE

5 CANDIDATE.—A broadcast or cablecast communica6 tion described in subsection (a)(3) shall include, in

7 addition to the requirements of that paragraph, in a

8 clearly spoken manner, the statement—

9 ‘llllllllll is responsible for the

10 content of this advertisement.’;

11 with the blank to be filled in with the name of the political

12 committee or other person paying for the communication

13 and the name of any connected organization of the payor;

14 and, if the communication is broadcast or cablecast by

15 means of television, the statement shall also appear in a

16 clearly readable manner with a reasonable degree of color

17 contrast between the background and the printed state18 ment, for a period of at least 4 seconds.’’.

19 SEC. 114. DEFINITIONS.

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 301 of the Federal Elec21 tion Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431) is amended

22 by striking paragraph (19) and inserting the following:

23 ‘‘(19) The term ‘general election’—
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1 ‘‘(A) means an election that will directly

2 result in the election of a person to a Federal

3 office; and

4 ‘‘(B) includes a primary election that may

5 result in the election of a person to a Federal

6 office.

7 ‘‘(20) The term ‘general election period’ means,

8 with respect to a candidate, the period beginning on

9 the day after the date of the primary or runoff elec10 tion for the specific office that the candidate is seek11 ing, whichever is later, and ending on the earlier

12 of—

13 ‘‘(A) the date of the general election; or

14 ‘‘(B) the date on which the candidate with15 draws from the campaign or otherwise ceases

16 actively to seek election.

17 ‘‘(21) The term ‘immediate family’ means—

18 ‘‘(A) a candidate’s spouse;

19 ‘‘(B) a child, stepchild, parent, grand20 parent, brother, half-brother, sister, or half-sis21 ter of the candidate or the candidate’s spouse;

22 and

23 ‘‘(C) the spouse of any person described in

24 subparagraph (B).
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1 ‘‘(22) The term ‘major party’ has the meaning

2 given the term in section 9002(6) of the Internal

3 Revenue Code of 1986, except that if a candidate

4 qualified for the ballot in a general election in an

5 open primary in which all the candidates for the of6 fice participated and which resulted in the candidate

7 and at least 1 other candidate’s qualifying for the

8 ballot in the general election, the candidate shall be

9 treated as a candidate of a major party for purposes

10 of title V.

11 ‘‘(23) The term ‘primary election’ means an

12 election that may result in the selection of a can13 didate for the ballot in a general election for a Fed14 eral office.

15 ‘‘(24) The term ‘primary election period’

16 means, with respect to a candidate, the period begin17 ning on the day following the date of the last elec18 tion for the specific office that the candidate is seek19 ing and ending on the earlier of—

20 ‘‘(A) the date of the first primary election

21 for that office following the last general election

22 for that office; or

23 ‘‘(B) the date on which the candidate with24 draws from the election or otherwise ceases ac25 tively to seek election.
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1 ‘‘(25) The term ‘runoff election’ means an elec2 tion held after a primary election that is prescribed

3 by applicable State law as the means for deciding

4 which candidate will be on the ballot in the general

5 election for a Federal office.

6 ‘‘(26) The term ‘runoff election period’ means,

7 with respect to any candidate, the period beginning

8 on the day following the date of the last primary

9 election for the specific office that the candidate is

10 seeking and ending on the date of the runoff election

11 for that office.

12 ‘‘(27) The term ‘voting age population’ means

13 the number of residents of a State who are 18 years

14 of age or older, as certified under section 315(e).

15 ‘‘(28) The term ‘election cycle’ means—

16 ‘‘(A) in the case of a candidate or the au17 thorized committees of a candidate, the period

18 beginning on the day after the date of the most

19 recent general election for the specific office or

20 seat that the candidate is seeking and ending

21 on the date of the next general election for that

22 office or seat; and

23 ‘‘(B) in the case of all other persons, the

24 period beginning on the first day following the
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1 date of the last general election and ending on

2 the date of the next general election.’’.

3 (b) IDENTIFICATION.—Section 301(13) of the Fed4 eral Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431(13))

5 is amended by striking ‘‘mailing address’’ and inserting

6 ‘‘permanent residence address’’.

7 SEC. 115. PROVISIONS RELATING TO FRANKED MASS MAIL8 INGS.

9 Section 3210(a)(6)(C) of title 39, United States

10 Code, is amended—

11 (1) by striking ‘‘if the mass mailing is post12 marked fewer than 60 days immediately before the

13 date’’ and inserting ‘‘if the mass mailing is post14 marked during the calendar year’’; and

15 (2) by inserting ‘‘or reelection’’ before the pe16 riod.

17 TITLE II—INDEPENDENT

18 EXPENDITURES

19 SEC. 201. DEFINITION OF INDEPENDENT EXPENDITURE.

20 Section 301 of the Federal Election Campaign Act

21 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431) is amended by striking paragraph

22 (17) and inserting the following:

23 ‘‘(17) INDEPENDENT EXPENDITURE.—

24 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘independ25 ent expenditure’’ means an expenditure by a
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1 person other than a candidate or candidate’s

2 authorized committee—

3 ‘‘(i) that is made for a communication

4 that contains express advocacy; and

5 ‘‘(ii) is made without the participation

6 or cooperation of and without coordination

7 with a candidate.

8 ‘‘(B) EXPRESS ADVOCACY.—The term ‘ex9 press advocacy’ means a communication advo10 cating the election or defeat of a clearly identi11 fied candidate and includes any communication

12 that—

13 ‘‘(i)(I) contains a phrase such as ‘vote

14 for’, ‘re-elect’, ‘support’, ‘cast your ballot

15 for’, ‘(name of candidate) for Congress’,

16 ‘(name of candidate) in (year)’, ‘vote

17 against’, ‘defeat’, ‘reject’;

18 ‘‘(II) recommends a position on an

19 issue and clearly identifies 1 or more can20 didates as supporting or opposing that po21 sition; or

22 ‘‘(III) contains campaign slogans or

23 individual words that in context can have

24 no reasonable meaning other than to rec-
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1 ommend the election or defeat of 1 or more

2 clearly identified candidates;

3 ‘‘(ii) clearly identifies 1 or more can4 didates and is broadcast by a radio broad5 cast station or a television broadcast sta6 tion (including a cable system) within 60

7 calendar days preceding the date of an

8 election (or with respect to a candidate for

9 the office of Vice President or President in

10 a general election, within 90 calendar days

11 preceding the date of the general election);

12 or

13 ‘‘(iii) taken as a whole and with lim14 ited reference to external events, such as

15 proximity to an election, expresses unmis16 takable support for or opposition to 1 or

17 more clearly identified candidates.

18 ‘‘(C) WITHOUT THE PARTICIPATION OR

19 COOPERATION OF AND WITHOUT COORDINATION

20 WITH A CANDIDATE.—The term ‘without the

21 participation or cooperation of and without co22 ordination with a candidate’, with respect to an

23 expenditure, means an expenditure that is

24 made—
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1 ‘‘(i) without any request or suggestion

2 from or any involvement of a candidate or

3 candidate’s representative;

4 ‘‘(ii) without the involvement of any

5 person who, during the election cycle in

6 which the expenditure is made, has raised

7 funds on behalf of the candidate, counseled

8 or advised the candidate or the candidate’s

9 representative regarding the election (other

10 than to provide legal and accounting serv11 ices to ensure compliance with this Act),

12 engaged in campaign-related research or

13 polling analysis with respect to the elec14 tion, or communicated with or received in15 formation from the candidate or the can16 didate’s representative about the can17 didate’s plans, resources, expenditures, or

18 needs regarding the election; and

19 ‘‘(iii) without the involvement of any

20 person who received compensation, during

21 the election cycle in which the expenditure

22 is made, from the candidate or candidate’s

23 representative and from the person making

24 the independent expenditure.’’.
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1 SEC. 202. INDEPENDENT VERSUS COORDINATED EXPENDI2 TURES BY POLITICAL PARTY COMMITTEES.

3 (a) DEFINITION OF COORDINATED EXPENDITURE.—

4 Section 301 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of

5 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431) (as amended by section 114) is

6 amended by adding at the end the following:

7 ‘‘(29) COORDINATED EXPENDITURE.—The

8 term ‘coordinated expenditure’ means an expendi9 ture that is made by a person other than the can10 didate and that is not an independent expenditure.’’.

11 (b) INDEPENDENT VERSUS COORDINATED EXPENDI12 TURES BY POLITICAL PARTY COMMITTEES.—Section

13 315(d) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2

14 U.S.C. 441a(d)) is amended—

15 (1) in paragraph (1) by striking ‘‘and (3)’’ and

16 inserting ‘‘, (3) and (4)’’; and

17 (2) by adding at the end the following:

18 ‘‘(4) PROHIBITION AGAINST MAKING BOTH

19 COORDINATED EXPENDITURES AND INDEPEND20 ENT EXPENDITURES.—

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A committee of a

22 political party shall not make both a co23 ordinated expenditure and an independent

24 expenditure with respect to the same can25 didate during a single election cycle.
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1 ‘‘(B) CERTIFICATION.—Before mak2 ing a coordinated expenditure or an inde3 pendent expenditure with respect to a can4 didate, a committee of a political party

5 that is subject to this subsection shall file

6 with the Commission a certification, signed

7 by the treasurer, stating whether the com8 mittee will make coordinated expenditures

9 or independent expenditures with respect

10 to the candidate.

11 ‘‘(C) TRANSFERS.—A party commit12 tee that certifies under this paragraph that

13 the committee will make coordinated ex14 penditures with respect to a candidate

15 shall not, in the same election cycle, make

16 a transfer of funds to, or receive a transfer

17 of funds from, any other party committee

18 that has certified under this paragraph

19 that it will make independent expenditures

20 with respect to the candidate.’’.

21 SEC. 203. TREATMENT OF QUALIFIED NONPROFIT COR22 PORATIONS.

23 Section 316 of the Federal Election Campaign Act

24 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441b) is amended by adding at the end

25 the following:
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1 ‘‘(c) EXCEPTION FOR CERTAIN TAX-EXEMPT COR2 PORATIONS.—

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding the prohi4 bitions of this section, a qualified nonprofit corpora5 tion may make an independent expenditure.

6 ‘‘(2) DEFINITION OF QUALIFIED NONPROFIT

7 CORPORATION.—In this Act, the term ‘qualified non8 profit corporation’ means a corporation that meets

9 the following requirements:

10 ‘‘(A) TAX-EXEMPT STATUS.—The corpora11 tion is exempt from taxation under section

12 501(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986

13 and is described in section 501(c)(4) of such

14 Code.

15 ‘‘(B) PURPOSES.—The corporation is orga16 nized exclusively to promote specific political

17 ideas.

18 ‘‘(C) NO TRADE OR BUSINESS.—The cor19 poration does not engage in any activity that

20 constitutes a trade or business.

21 ‘‘(D) ESTABLISHMENT.—The corporation

22 was not established by—

23 ‘‘(i) a corporation that is carrying on

24 a trade or business;

25 ‘‘(ii) a labor organization; or
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1 ‘‘(iii) a business league or other orga2 nization described in section 501(c)(6) of

3 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.

4 ‘‘(E) CONTRIBUTIONS.—The corporation

5 does not accept, directly or indirectly, donations

6 of anything of value from any corporation, labor

7 organization or organization described in sub8 paragraph (D)(iii), and does not serve, directly

9 or indirectly, as a conduit for expenditures by

10 such entities.

11 ‘‘(F) CLAIMS AND INCENTIVES.—The

12 corporation—

13 ‘‘(i) has no shareholder or other per14 son, other than an employee or creditor

15 without an ownership interest, whose affili16 ation could allow a claim on the assets or

17 earnings of such corporation; and

18 ‘‘(ii) offers no incentives or disincen19 tives for persons to associate or not to as20 sociate with the corporation other than the

21 positions of the corporation on political

22 issues.

23 ‘‘(3) STATUS AS POLITICAL COMMITTEE.—If a

24 qualified nonprofit corporation meets the qualifica-
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1 tions of section 301(4), the corporation shall be

2 treated as a political committee.

3 ‘‘(4) DISCLOSURE TO DONORS.—All solicita4 tions of donations by the qualified nonprofit corpora5 tion shall inform potential donors that donations

6 may be used by the corporation for political pur7 poses, such as supporting or opposing candidates for

8 public office.’’.

9 SEC. 204. EQUAL BROADCAST TIME.

10 Section 315 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47

11 U.S.C. 315) is amended by striking subsection (a) and in12 serting the following:

13 ‘‘(a) EQUAL OPPORTUNITY TO USE BROADCASTING

14 STATION.—

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A licensee that permits any

16 person who is a legally qualified candidate for public

17 office to use a broadcasting station (other than any

18 use required to be provided under paragraph (2))

19 shall afford equal opportunities to all other such

20 candidates for that office in the use of the broad21 casting station.

22 ‘‘(2) INDEPENDENT EXPENDITURES.—

23 ‘‘(A) INFORMATION TO BE PROVIDED TO

24 LICENSEE BY PERSON RESERVING BROADCAST

25 TIME.—A person that reserves broadcast time
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1 the payment for which would constitute an

2 independent expenditure (as defined in section

3 301 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of

4 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431)) shall—

5 ‘‘(i) inform the licensee that payment

6 for the broadcast time will constitute an

7 independent expenditure;

8 ‘‘(ii) inform the licensee of the names

9 of all candidates for the office to which the

10 proposed broadcast relates and state

11 whether the message to be broadcast is in12 tended to be made in support of or in op13 position to each such candidate; and

14 ‘‘(iii) provide the licensee a copy of

15 the statement described in section 304(d)

16 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of

17 1971 (2 U.S.C. 434(d)).

18 ‘‘(B) RESPONSE BY LICENSEE.—A licensee

19 that is informed as described in subparagraph

20 (A) shall—

21 ‘‘(i) if any of the candidates described

22 in subparagraph (A)(ii) has provided the

23 licensee the name and address of a person

24 to whom notification under this subpara25 graph is to be given—
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1 ‘‘(I) notify the person of the pro2 posed making of the independent ex3 penditure; and

4 ‘‘(II) allow any such candidate

5 (other than a candidate for whose

6 benefit the independent expenditure is

7 made) to purchase the same amount

8 of broadcast time immediately after

9 the broadcast time paid for by the

10 independent expenditure; and

11 ‘‘(ii) in the case of an opponent of a

12 candidate for whose benefit the independ13 ent expenditure is made who certifies to

14 the licensee that the opponent is eligible to

15 have the cost of response broadcast time

16 paid using funds derived from a payment

17 made under section 504(a)(2)(B) of the

18 Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971,

19 afford the opponent such broadcast time

20 without requiring payment in advance and

21 at the cost specified in subsection (b).

22 ‘‘(3) NO CENSORSHIP.—A licensee shall have no

23 power of censorship over the material broadcast

24 under this section.
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1 ‘‘(4) NO OBLIGATION.—Except as provided in

2 paragraph (2), no obligation is imposed under this

3 subsection on any licensee to allow the use of its sta4 tion by any candidate.

5 ‘‘(5) CERTAIN APPEARANCES NOT CONSIDERED

6 USE OF BROADCASTING STATION.—

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An appearance by a

8 legally qualified candidate on a—

9 ‘‘(i) bona fide newscast;

10 ‘‘(ii) bona fide news interview;

11 ‘‘(iii) bona fide news documentary (if

12 the appearance of the candidate is inciden13 tal to the presentation of the subject or

14 subjects covered by the news documen15 tary); or

16 ‘‘(iv) on-the-spot coverage of bona fide

17 news events (including political conventions

18 and activities incidental thereto);

19 shall not be considered to be use of a broadcast20 ing station within the meaning of this sub21 section.

22 ‘‘(B) NO RELIEF FROM OTHER OBLIGA23 TIONS.—Nothing in subparagraph (A) shall re24 lieve a licensee, in connection with the presen25 tation of newscasts, news interviews, news docu-
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1 mentaries, and on-the-spot coverage of news

2 events, from the obligation under this Act to

3 operate in the public interest and to afford rea4 sonable opportunity for the discussion of con5 flicting views on issues of public importance.

6 ‘‘(6) ENDORSEMENT OF CANDIDATE BY LI7 CENSEE.—

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A licensee that en9 dorses a candidate for Federal office in an edi10 torial shall, within the time stated in subpara11 graph (B), provide to all other candidates for

12 election to the same office—

13 ‘‘(i) notice of the date and time of

14 broadcast of the editorial;

15 ‘‘(ii) a taped or printed copy of the

16 editorial; and

17 ‘‘(iii) a reasonable opportunity to

18 broadcast a response using the licensee’s

19 facilities.

20 ‘‘(B) TIME FOR RESPONSE.—

21 ‘‘(i) 72 HOURS OR MORE BEFORE

22 ELECTION.—In the case of an editorial de23 scribed in subparagraph (A) that is first

24 broadcast 72 hours or more before the

25 date of a primary, runoff, or general elec-
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1 tion, the notice and copy described in

2 clauses (i) and (ii) of subparagraph (A)

3 shall be provided not later than 24 hours

4 after the time of the first broadcast of the

5 editorial.

6 ‘‘(ii) LESS THAN 72 HOURS BEFORE

7 ELECTION.—In the case of an editorial de8 scribed in subparagraph (A) that is first

9 broadcast less than 72 hours before the

10 date of an election, the notice and copy

11 shall be provided at a time prior to the

12 first broadcast that will be sufficient to en13 able candidates a reasonable opportunity to

14 prepare and broadcast a response.’’.

15 TITLE III—EXPENDITURES

16 Subtitle A—Personal Funds; Credit

17 SEC. 301. CONTRIBUTIONS AND LOANS FROM PERSONAL

18 FUNDS.

19 Section 315 of the Federal Election Campaign Act

20 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a) is amended by adding at the end

21 the following:

22 ‘‘(i) LIMITATIONS ON REPAYMENT OF LOANS AND

23 RETURN OF CONTRIBUTIONS FROM PERSONAL FUNDS.—

24 ‘‘(1) REPAYMENT OF LOANS.—If a candidate or

25 a member of the candidate’s immediate family made
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1 a loan to the candidate or to the candidate’s author2 ized committees during an election cycle, no con3 tribution received after the date of the general elec4 tion for the election cycle may be used to repay the

5 loan.

6 ‘‘(2) RETURN OF CONTRIBUTIONS.—No con7 tribution by a candidate or member of the can8 didate’s immediate family may be returned to the

9 candidate or member other than as part of a pro

10 rata distribution of excess contributions to all con11 tributors.’’.

12 SEC. 302. EXTENSIONS OF CREDIT.

13 Section 301(8)(A) of the Federal Election Campaign

14 Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431(8)(A)), is amended—

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

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

17 (ii) and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and

18 (3) by inserting at the end the following:

19 ‘‘(iii) with respect to a candidate and

20 the candidate’s authorized committees, any

21 extension of credit for goods or services re22 lating to advertising on a broadcasting sta23 tion, in a newspaper or magazine, or by a

24 mailing, or relating to other similar types
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1 of general public political advertising, if

2 the extension of credit is—

3 ‘‘(I) in an amount greater than

4 $1,000; and

5 ‘‘(II) for a period greater than

6 the period, not in excess of 60 days,

7 for which credit is generally extended

8 in the normal course of business after

9 the date on which the goods or serv10 ices are furnished or the date of a

11 mailing.’’.

12 Subtitle B—Soft Money of Political

13 Parties

14 SEC. 311. PREPARATION AND DISTRIBUTION BY VOLUN15 TEERS OF MATERIALS IN CONNECTION WITH

16 STATE AND LOCAL POLITICAL PARTY VOTER

17 REGISTRATION AND GET-OUT-THE-VOTE AC18 TIVITIES SO AS NOT TO BE CONSIDERED A

19 CONTRIBUTION OR EXPENDITURE.

20 (a) CONTRIBUTION.—Section 301(8)(B)(xii) of the

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

22 431(8)(B)(xii)) is amended—

23 (1) by striking ‘‘such committee’’ and inserting

24 ‘‘the committee in connection with volunteer activi25 ties’’;
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1 (2) by striking ‘‘: Provided, That’’ and inserting

2 ‘‘if’’;

3 (3) by redesignating the items designated as

4 items ‘‘(1)’’, ‘‘(2)’’, and ‘‘(3)’’, respectively, as sub5 clauses (I), (II), and (III);

6 (4) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subclause

7 (II) (as redesignated);

8 (5) by inserting ‘‘and’’ at the end of subclause

9 (III) (as redesignated); and

10 (6) by adding at the end the following:

11 ‘‘(IV) the activities are conducted

12 solely by, and any materials are dis13 tributed solely by, volunteers;’’.

14 (b) EXPENDITURE.—Section 301(9)(B)(ix) of the

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

16 431(9)(B)(ix)) is amended—

17 (1) by striking ‘‘such committee’’ and inserting

18 ‘‘the committee in connection with volunteer activi19 ties’’;

20 (2) by striking ‘‘: Provided, That’’ and inserting

21 ‘‘if’’;

22 (3) by redesignating the items designated as

23 items ‘‘(1)’’, ‘‘(2)’’, and ‘‘(3)’’, respectively, as sub24 clauses (I), (II), and (III);
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1 (4) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subclause

2 (II) (as redesignated);

3 (5) by inserting ‘‘and’’ at the end of subclause

4 (III) (as redesignated); and

5 (6) by adding at the end the following:

6 ‘‘(IV) any materials in connection

7 with the activities are prepared for

8 distribution (and are distributed) sole9 ly by volunteers; and’’.

10 SEC. 312. CONTRIBUTIONS TO POLITICAL PARTY COMMIT11 TEES.

12 (a) INDIVIDUAL CONTRIBUTIONS TO STATE

13 PARTY.—Section 315(a)(1) of the Federal Election Cam14 paign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a(a)(1)) (as amended by

15 section 105) is amended—

16 (1) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of subparagraph

17 (C);

18 (2) by redesignating subparagraph (D) as sub19 paragraph (E); and

20 (3) by inserting after subparagraph (C) the fol21 lowing:

22 ‘‘(D) to—

23 ‘‘(i) a State Party Grassroots Fund

24 established and maintained by a State

25 committee of a political party in any cal-
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1 endar year that, in the aggregate, exceed

2 $20,000; or

3 ‘‘(ii) any other political committee es4 tablished and maintained by a State com5 mittee of a political party in any calendar

6 year that, in the aggregate, exceed $5,000;

7 except that the aggregate contributions de8 scribed in this subparagraph that may be made

9 by a person to the State Party Grassroots Fund

10 and all committees of a State Committee of a

11 political party in any State in any calendar year

12 shall not exceed $20,000; or’’.

13 (b) MULTICANDIDATE COMMITTEE CONTRIBUTIONS

14 TO STATE PARTY.—Section 315(a)(2) of the Federal

15 Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a(a)(2)) is

16 amended—

17 (1) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of subparagraph

18 (B);

19 (2) by redesignating subparagraph (C) as sub20 paragraph (D); and

21 (3) by inserting after subparagraph (B) the fol22 lowing:

23 ‘‘(C) to—

24 ‘‘(i) a State Party Grassroots Fund

25 established and maintained by a State
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1 committee of a political party in any cal2 endar year that, in the aggregate, exceed

3 $15,000; or

4 ‘‘(ii) to any other political committee

5 established and maintained by a State

6 committee of a political party that, in the

7 aggregate, exceed $5,000;

8 except that the aggregate contributions de9 scribed in this subparagraph that may be made

10 by a multicandidate political committee to the

11 State Party Grassroots Fund and all commit12 tees of a State Committee of a political party

13 in any State in any calendar year shall not ex14 ceed $15,000; or’’.

15 (c) OVERALL LIMIT.—Section 315(a) of the Federal

16 Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a(a)) is

17 amended by striking paragraph (3) and inserting the fol18 lowing:

19 ‘‘(3) OVERALL LIMIT.—

20 ‘‘(A) ELECTION CYCLE.—No individual

21 shall make contributions during any election

22 cycle (as defined in section 301(28)(B)) that, in

23 the aggregate, exceed $60,000.

24 ‘‘(B) CALENDAR YEAR.—
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1 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—No individual

2 shall make contributions during any cal3 endar year—

4 ‘‘(I) to all candidates and their

5 authorized political committees that,

6 in the aggregate, exceed $25,000; or

7 ‘‘(II) to all political committees

8 established and maintained by State

9 committees of a political party that, in

10 the aggregate, exceed $20,000.

11 ‘‘(ii) NONELECTION YEAR.—For pur12 poses of clause (i), a contribution made to

13 a candidate or the candidate’s authorized

14 political committees in a year other than

15 the calendar year in which the election is

16 held with respect to which the contribution

17 is made shall be treated as being made

18 during the calendar year in which the elec19 tion is held.’’.

20 (d) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE COMMITTEE TRANS21 FERS.—

22 (1) AMENDMENT OF FECA.—Section 315(b)(1)

23 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2

24 U.S.C. 441a(b)(1)) is amended by striking subpara25 graph (B) and inserting the following:
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1 ‘‘(B) in the case of a campaign for election

2 to that office, an amount equal to the sum of—

3 ‘‘(i) $20,000,000; plus

4 ‘‘(ii) the lesser of—

5 ‘‘(I) 2 cents multiplied by the

6 voting age population of the United

7 States (as certified under subsection

8 (e); or

9 ‘‘(II) the amounts transferred by

10 the candidate and the authorized com11 mittees of the candidate to the na12 tional committee of the candidate’s

13 political party for distribution to State

14 Party Grassroots Funds.’’.

15 (2) AMENDMENT OF INTERNAL REVENUE

16 CODE.—Subparagraph (A) of section 9002(11) of

17 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (defining quali18 fied campaign expense) is amended—

19 (A) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of clause

20 (ii);

21 (B) by inserting ‘‘or’’ at the end of clause

22 (iii); and

23 (C) by adding at the end the following:

24 ‘‘(iv) any transfers to the national

25 committee of the candidate’s political party
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1 for distribution to State Party Grassroots

2 Funds (as defined in section 301(31) of

3 the Federal Election Campaign Act of

4 1971) to the extent that such transfers do

5 not exceed the amount determined under

6 section 315(b)(1)(B)(ii) of that Act;’’.

7 SEC. 313. PROVISIONS RELATING TO NATIONAL, STATE,

8 AND LOCAL PARTY COMMITTEES.

9 (a) SOFT MONEY OF COMMITTEES OF POLITICAL

10 PARTIES.—Title III of the Federal Election Campaign Act

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

12 the end the following:

13 ‘‘SEC. 324. POLITICAL PARTY COMMITTEES.

14 ‘‘(a) LIMITATIONS ON NATIONAL COMMITTEES.—

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A national committee of a

16 political party and the congressional campaign com17 mittees of a political party shall not solicit or accept

18 any amount, or solicit or accept a transfer from an19 other political committee, that is not subject to the

20 limitations, prohibitions, and reporting requirements

21 of this Act.

22 ‘‘(2) EXCLUSIONS.—Paragraph (1) shall not

23 apply to any amount received—

24 ‘‘(A) that—
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1 ‘‘(i) is to be transferred to a State

2 committee of a political party and is used

3 solely for an activity described in clause

4 (xi), (xii), (xiii), (xiv), (xv), (xvi), or (xvii)

5 of section 301(9)(B); or

6 ‘‘(ii) is described in section

7 301(8)(B)(viii); and

8 ‘‘(B) with respect to which a contributor

9 has been notified that the amount will be used

10 solely for the purposes described in subpara11 graph (A).

12 ‘‘(b) TRANSFERS TO TAX-EXEMPT ORGANIZA13 TIONS.—A national committee or a State committee of a

14 political party shall not transfer any funds to an organiza15 tion that is exempt from taxation under section 501(a)

16 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and is described

17 in section 501(c)(3) of the Code.

18 ‘‘(c) ACTIVITIES SUBJECT TO THIS ACT.—

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any amount solicited, re20 ceived, expended, or disbursed directly or indirectly

21 by a national, State, district, or local committee of

22 a political party (including any subordinate commit23 tee) with respect to any of the following activities

24 shall be treated as a contribution subject to the limi-
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1 tations, prohibitions, and reporting requirements of

2 this Act:

3 ‘‘(A)(i) Any get-out-the-vote activity con4 ducted during a calendar year in which an elec5 tion for the office of President is held.

6 ‘‘(ii) Any other get-out-the-vote activity un7 less subsection (c)(2) applies to the activity.

8 ‘‘(B) Any generic campaign activity.

9 ‘‘(C) Any activity that identifies or pro10 motes a Federal candidate, regardless of

11 whether—

12 ‘‘(i) a State or local candidate is also

13 identified or promoted; or

14 ‘‘(ii) any portion of the funds dis15 bursed constitutes a contribution or ex16 penditure under this Act.

17 ‘‘(D) Voter registration.

18 ‘‘(E) Development and maintenance of

19 voter files during an even-numbered calendar

20 year.

21 ‘‘(F) Any other activity that—

22 ‘‘(i) significantly affects a Federal

23 election; or

24 ‘‘(ii) is not described in section

25 301(8)(B)(xvii).
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1 ‘‘(2) FUNDRAISING COSTS.—Any amount spent

2 to raise funds that are used, in whole or in part, in

3 connection with an activity described in paragraph

4 (1) shall be treated as an expenditure subject to the

5 limitations, prohibitions, and reporting requirements

6 of this Act.

7 ‘‘(d) GET-OUT-THE-VOTE ACTIVITIES BY STATE,

8 DISTRICT, AND LOCAL COMMITTEES OF A POLITICAL

9 PARTY.—

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para11 graph (2), any get-out-the-vote activity for a State

12 or local candidate, or for a ballot measure, that is

13 conducted by a State, district, or local committee of

14 a political party (including any subordinate commit15 tee) shall be treated as an expenditure subject to the

16 limitations, prohibitions, and reporting requirements

17 of this Act.

18 ‘‘(2) EXCLUSIONS.—Paragraph (1) shall not

19 apply to any activity that the State committee of a

20 political party certifies to the Commission is an ac21 tivity that—

22 ‘‘(A) is conducted during a calendar year

23 other than a calendar year in which an election

24 for the office of President is held;
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1 ‘‘(B) is exclusively on behalf of (and spe2 cifically identifies only) 1 or more State or local

3 candidates or ballot measures; and

4 ‘‘(C) does not include any effort or means

5 used to identify or turn out those identified to

6 be supporters of any Federal candidate (includ7 ing any activity that is undertaken in coordina8 tion with, or on behalf of, a candidate for Fed9 eral office).

10 ‘‘(e) STATE PARTY GRASSROOTS FUNDS.—

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A State committee of a po12 litical party may make disbursements and expendi13 tures from its State Party Grassroots Fund only

14 for—

15 ‘‘(A) a generic campaign activity;

16 ‘‘(B) the making of a payment described in

17 clause (v), (x), or (xii) of paragraph (8)(B) or

18 clause (iv), (viii), or (ix) of paragraph (9)(B) of

19 section 301;

20 ‘‘(C) subject to the limitations of section

21 315(d), the making of a payment described in

22 paragraph (8)(B)(xii) or (9)(B)(ix) of section

23 301 on behalf of a candidate other than a can24 didate for President or Vice President;

25 ‘‘(D) voter registration; and
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1 ‘‘(E) development and maintenance of

2 voter files during an even-numbered calendar

3 year.

4 ‘‘(2) TRANSFERS.—

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding sec6 tion 315(a)(4) and except as provided in sub7 paragraph (B), no funds may be transferred by

8 a State committee of a political party from its

9 State Party Grassroots Fund to any other State

10 Party Grassroots Fund or to any other political

11 committee.

12 ‘‘(B) TRANSFER TO SEPARATE SEG13 REGATED FUND OF DISTRICT OR LOCAL COM14 MITTEE.—A transfer may be made from a

15 State Party Grassroots Fund to a district or

16 local committee of the same political party in

17 the same State if the district or local

18 committee—

19 ‘‘(i) has established a separate fund

20 for the purposes described in paragraph

21 (1); and

22 ‘‘(ii) uses the transferred funds solely

23 for those purposes.
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1 ‘‘(f) AMOUNTS RECEIVED BY STATE PARTY GRASS2 ROOTS FUND FROM NON-FEDERAL CANDIDATE COMMIT3 TEES.—

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any amount received by a

5 State Party Grassroots Fund from a non-Federal

6 candidate committee for expenditures described in

7 subsection (b) that are for the benefit of that can8 didate shall be treated as meeting the requirements

9 of subsection (b) and section 304(f) if—

10 ‘‘(A) the amount is derived from funds

11 that meet the requirements of this Act with re12 spect to any limitation or prohibition as to

13 source or dollar amount specified in paragraphs

14 (1)(A) and (2)(A) of section 315(a); and

15 ‘‘(B) the non-Federal candidate

16 committee—

17 ‘‘(i) maintains, in the account from

18 which payment is made, records of the

19 sources and amounts of funds for purposes

20 of determining whether those requirements

21 are met; and

22 ‘‘(ii) certifies that the requirements

23 were met.

24 ‘‘(2) DETERMINATION OF COMPLIANCE.—For

25 purposes of paragraph (1)(A), in determining wheth-
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1 er the funds transferred meet the requirements of

2 this Act referred to in paragraph (1)(A)—

3 ‘‘(A) a non-Federal candidate committee’s

4 cash on hand shall be treated as consisting of

5 the funds most recently received by the commit6 tee; and

7 ‘‘(B) the committee must be able to dem8 onstrate that its cash on hand contains suffi9 cient funds meeting those requirements as are

10 necessary to cover the transferred funds.

11 ‘‘(3) REPORTING.—Notwithstanding paragraph

12 (1), a State Party Grassroots Fund that receives a

13 transfer described in paragraph (1) from a non-Fed14 eral candidate committee—

15 ‘‘(A) shall meet the reporting requirements

16 of this Act; and

17 ‘‘(B) shall submit to the Commission all

18 certifications received with respect to receipt of

19 the transfer from the candidate committee.’’.

20 (b) DEFINITIONS.—

21 (1) CONTRIBUTION.—Section 301(8)(B) of the

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

23 431(8)(B)) is amended—

24 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of clause

25 (xiii);
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1 (B) by striking the period at the end of

2 clause (xiv) and inserting a semicolon; and

3 (C) by adding at the end the following:

4 ‘‘(xv) any amount contributed to a

5 candidate for other than Federal office;

6 ‘‘(xvi) any amount received or ex7 pended to pay the costs of a State or local

8 political convention;

9 ‘‘(xvii) any payment for campaign ac10 tivities that are exclusively on behalf of

11 (and specifically identify only) State or

12 local candidates and do not identify any

13 Federal candidate, and that are not activi14 ties described in section 324(c) (without

15 regard to paragraph (1)(F)(ii) of such sec16 tion) or section 324(d)(1);

17 ‘‘(xviii) any payment for administra18 tive expenses of a State or local committee

19 of a political party, including expenses

20 for—

21 ‘‘(I) overhead, including party

22 meetings;

23 ‘‘(II) staff (other than individuals

24 devoting a significant amount of their

25 time to elections for Federal office
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1 and individuals engaged in conducting

2 get-out-the-vote activities for a Fed3 eral election); and

4 ‘‘(III) party elections or cau5 cuses;

6 ‘‘(xix) any payment for research per7 taining solely to State and local candidates

8 and issues;

9 ‘‘(xx) any payment for development

10 and maintenance of voter files other than

11 during the 1-year period ending on the

12 date during an even-numbered calendar

13 year on which regularly scheduled general

14 elections for Federal office occur; and

15 ‘‘(xxi) any payment for any other ac16 tivity that is solely for the purpose of influ17 encing, and that solely affects, an election

18 for non-Federal office and that is not an

19 activity described in section 324(c) (with20 out regard to paragraph (1)(F)(ii) of such

21 section) or section 324(d)(1).’’.

22 (2) EXPENDITURE.—Section 301(9)(B) of the

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

24 431(9)(B)) is amended—
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1 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of clause

2 (ix);

3 (B) by striking the period at the end of

4 clause (x) and inserting a semicolon; and

5 (C) by adding at the end the following:

6 ‘‘(xi) any amount contributed to a

7 candidate for other than Federal office;

8 ‘‘(xii) any amount received or ex9 pended to pay the costs of a State or local

10 political convention;

11 ‘‘(xiii) any payment for campaign ac12 tivities that are exclusively on behalf of

13 (and specifically identify only) State or

14 local candidates and do not identify any

15 Federal candidate, and that are not activi16 ties described in section 324(c) (without

17 regard to paragraph (1)(F)(ii) of such sec18 tion) or section 324(d)(1);

19 ‘‘(xiv) any payment for administrative

20 expenses of a State or local committee of

21 a political party, including expenses for—

22 ‘‘(I) overhead, including party

23 meetings;

24 ‘‘(II) staff (other than individuals

25 devoting a significant amount of their
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1 time to elections for Federal office

2 and individuals engaged in conducting

3 get-out-the-vote activities for a Fed4 eral election); and

5 ‘‘(III) conducting party elections

6 or caucuses;

7 ‘‘(xv) any payment for research per8 taining solely to State and local candidates

9 and issues;

10 ‘‘(xvi) any payment for development

11 and maintenance of voter files other than

12 during the 1-year period ending on the

13 date during an even-numbered calendar

14 year on which regularly scheduled general

15 elections for Federal office occur; and

16 ‘‘(xvii) any payment for any other ac17 tivity that is solely for the purpose of influ18 encing, and that solely affects, an election

19 for non-Federal office and that is not an

20 activity described in section 324(c) (with21 out regard to paragraph (1)(F)(ii) of such

22 section) or section 324(d)(1).’’.

23 (3) OTHER TERMS.—Section 301 of the Federal

24 Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431) (as
97

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1 amended by section 202) is amended by adding at

2 the end the following:

3 ‘‘(30) GENERIC CAMPAIGN ACTIVITY.—The

4 term ‘generic campaign activity’ means a campaign

5 activity that promotes a political party rather than

6 a particular candidate or non-Federal candidate.

7 ‘‘(31) STATE PARTY GRASSROOTS FUND.—The

8 term ‘State Party Grassroots Fund’ means a sepa9 rate fund established and maintained by a State

10 committee of a political party solely for purposes of

11 making expenditures and other disbursements de12 scribed in section 324(d).

13 ‘‘(32) NON-FEDERAL CANDIDATE.—The term

14 ‘non-Federal candidate’ means a candidate for State

15 or local office.

16 ‘‘(33) NON-FEDERAL CANDIDATE COMMIT17 TEE.—For purposes of this subsection, the term

18 ‘non-Federal candidate committee’ means a commit19 tee established, financed, maintained, or controlled

20 by a non-Federal candidate.’’.

21 (c) LIMITATION APPLIED AT NATIONAL LEVEL.—

22 Section 315(d)(3) of the Federal Election Campaign Act

23 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a(d)(3)) is amended—

24 (1) by striking ‘‘(3) The national’’ and inserting

25 the following:
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1 ‘‘(3) CANDIDATES FOR THE SENATE AND THE

2 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.—

3 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The national’’;

4 (2) by redesignating subparagraphs (A), (B),

5 and (C) as clauses (i), (ii), and (iii), respectively,

6 and adjusting the margins as appropriate; and

7 (3) by adding at the end the following:

8 ‘‘(2) EXPENDITURES BY CONGRESSIONAL CAM9 PAIGN COMMITTEES.—Notwithstanding paragraph

10 (1), a congressional campaign committee of a politi11 cal party shall make the expenditures described in

12 paragraph (1) that are authorized to be made by a

13 national or State committee with respect to a can14 didate in any State unless the congressional cam15 paign committee allocates all or a portion of the ex16 penditures to either or both of those committees.’’.

17 (d) APPLICATION OF LIMITATIONS TO ENTIRE ELEC18 TION CYCLE.—Section 315(d) of the Federal Election

19 Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a(d)) is amended—

20 (1) in paragraph (1) by striking ‘‘general’’; and

21 (2) in the first sentence of paragraph (2) and

22 in paragraph (3)—

23 (A) by striking ‘‘general’’; and

24 (B) by striking ‘‘which’’ and inserting

25 ‘‘that, during an election cycle,’’.
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1 SEC. 314. RESTRICTIONS ON FUNDRAISING BY CANDIDATES

2 AND OFFICEHOLDERS.

3 (a) STATE FUNDRAISING ACTIVITIES.—Section 315

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

5 441a) (as amended by section 301) is amended by adding

6 at the end the following:

7 ‘‘(j) LIMITATIONS ON FUNDRAISING ACTIVITIES OF

8 FEDERAL CANDIDATES AND OFFICEHOLDERS AND CER9 TAIN POLITICAL COMMITTEES.—

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this Act, a

11 candidate, an individual holding Federal office, or

12 any agent of the candidate or individual may not so13 licit funds to, or receive funds on behalf of, any

14 person—

15 ‘‘(A) that are to be expended in connection

16 with any election for Federal office unless the

17 funds are subject to the limitations, prohibi18 tions, and requirements of this Act; or

19 ‘‘(B) that are to be expended in connection

20 with any election for other than Federal office

21 unless the funds are not in excess of amounts

22 permitted with respect to Federal candidates

23 and political committees under paragraphs (1)

24 and (2) of subsection (a), and are not from

25 sources prohibited by those paragraphs with re26 spect to elections to Federal office.
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1 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION ON SOLICITATIONS.—

2 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The aggregate

3 amount that a person described in subpara4 graph (B) may solicit from a multicandidate po5 litical committee for State committees described

6 in subsection (a)(1)(C) (including subordinate

7 committees) for any calendar year shall not ex8 ceed the dollar amount in effect under sub9 section (a)(2)(B) for the calendar year.

10 ‘‘(B) APPLICABILITY.—A person is de11 scribed in this subparagraph if the person is a

12 candidate, an individual holding Federal office,

13 an agent of such a candidate or individual, or

14 a national, State, district, or local committee of

15 a political party (including a subordinate com16 mittee) or an agent of such a committee.

17 ‘‘(3) APPEARANCE OR PARTICIPATION IN A

18 FUNDRAISING EVENT.—The appearance or participa19 tion by a candidate or individual holding Federal of20 fice in a fundraising event conducted by a committee

21 of a political party or a non-Federal candidate shall

22 not be treated as a solicitation for purposes of para23 graph (1) if the candidate or individual does not so24 licit or receive, or make disbursements from, any

25 funds resulting from the activity.
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1 ‘‘(4) STATE LAW.—Paragraph (1) shall not

2 apply to the solicitation or receipt of funds, or dis3 bursements, by an individual who is a non-Federal

4 candidate if the activity is permitted under State

5 law.

6 ‘‘(5) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this sub7 section, an individual shall be treated as holding

8 Federal office if the individual—

9 ‘‘(A) holds a Federal office; or

10 ‘‘(B) holds a position described in level I of

11 the Executive Schedule under section 5312 of

12 title 5, United States Code.’’.

13 (b) TAX-EXEMPT ORGANIZATIONS.—Section 315 of

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

15 441a) (as amended by subsection (a)) is amended by add16 ing at the end the following:

17 ‘‘(k) TAX-EXEMPT ORGANIZATIONS.—

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If an individual is a can19 didate for, or holds, Federal office during any pe20 riod, the individual shall not during that period so21 licit contributions to, or on behalf of, any organiza22 tion that is described in section 501(c) of the Inter23 nal Revenue Code of 1986 if a significant portion of

24 the activities of the organization include voter reg25 istration or get-out-the-vote campaigns.
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1 ‘‘(2) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this sec2 tion, an individual shall be treated as holding Fed3 eral office if the individual—

4 ‘‘(A) holds a Federal office; or

5 ‘‘(B) holds a position described in level I of

6 the Executive Schedule under section 5312 of

7 title 5, United States Code.’’.

8 SEC. 315. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.

9 (a) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—Section 304 of the

10 Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 434)

11 (as amended by section 112(a)) is amended by adding at

12 the end the following:

13 ‘‘(f) POLITICAL COMMITTEES.—

14 ‘‘(1) NATIONAL AND CONGRESSIONAL POLITI15 CAL COMMITTEES.—The national committee of a po16 litical party, a congressional campaign committee of

17 a political party, and any subordinate committee of

18 a national committee or congressional campaign

19 committee of a political party, shall report all re20 ceipts and disbursements during the reporting pe21 riod, whether or not in connection with an election

22 for Federal office.

23 ‘‘(2) OTHER POLITICAL COMMITTEES TO WHICH

24 SECTION 324 APPLIES.—A political committee (not

25 described in paragraph (1)) to which section 324 ap-
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1 plies shall report all receipts and disbursements, in2 cluding separate schedules for receipts and disburse3 ments for a State Grassroots Fund.

4 ‘‘(3) TRANSFERS.—A political committee to

5 which section 324 applies shall—

6 ‘‘(A) include in a report under paragraph

7 (1) or (2) the amount of any transfer described

8 in section 324(d)(2); and

9 ‘‘(B) itemize those amounts to the extent

10 required by section 304(b)(3)(A).

11 ‘‘(4) OTHER POLITICAL COMMITTEES.—Any po12 litical committee to which paragraph (1) or (2) does

13 not apply shall report any receipts or disbursements

14 that are used in connection with a Federal election.

15 ‘‘(5) ITEMIZATION.—If a political committee

16 has receipts or disbursements to which this sub17 section applies from any person aggregating in ex18 cess of $200 for any calendar year, the political

19 committee shall separately itemize its reporting for

20 the person in the same manner as under paragraphs

21 (3)(A), (5), and (6) of subsection (b).

22 ‘‘(6) REPORTING PERIODS.—Reports required

23 to be filed by this subsection shall be filed for the

24 same time periods as reports are required for politi25 cal committees under subsection (a).’’.
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1 (b) REPORT OF EXEMPT CONTRIBUTIONS.—Section

2 301(8) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2

3 U.S.C. 431(8)) is amended by adding at the end the fol4 lowing:

5 ‘‘(C) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.—The ex6 clusion provided in subparagraph (B)(viii) shall

7 not apply for purposes of any requirement to

8 report contributions under this Act, and all

9 such contributions aggregating in excess of

10 $200 shall be reported.’’.

11 (c) REPORTS BY STATE COMMITTEES.—Section 304

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

13 434 (as amended by subsection (a)) is amended by adding

14 at the end the following:

15 ‘‘(g) FILING OF STATE REPORTS.—In lieu of any re16 port required to be filed under this Act, the Commission

17 may allow a State committee of a political party to file

18 with the Commission a report required to be filed under

19 State law if the Commission determines that such a report

20 contains substantially the same information as a report

21 required under this Act.’’.

22 (d) OTHER REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—

23 (1) AUTHORIZED COMMITTEES.—Section

24 304(b)(4) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of

25 1971 (2 U.S.C. 434(b)(4)) is amended—
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1 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub2 paragraph (H);

3 (B) by inserting ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub4 paragraph (I); and

5 (C) by adding at the end the following:

6 ‘‘(J) in the case of an authorized commit7 tee, disbursements for the primary election, the

8 general election, and any other election in which

9 the candidate participates;’’.

10 (2) NAMES AND ADDRESSES.—Section

11 304(b)(5)(A) of the Federal Election Campaign Act

12 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 434(b)(5)(A)) is amended—

13 (A) by striking ‘‘within the calendar year’’;

14 and

15 (B) by striking ‘‘such operating expendi16 ture’’ and inserting ‘‘operating expense, and the

17 election to which the operating expense re18 lates’’.

19 Subtitle C—Soft Money of Persons

20 Other Than Political Parties

21 SEC. 321. SOFT MONEY OF PERSONS OTHER THAN POLITI22 CAL PARTIES.

23 Section 304 of the Federal Election Campaign Act

24 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 434) (as amended by section 315(c))

25 is amended by adding at the end the following:
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1 ‘‘(h) ELECTION ACTIVITY OF PERSONS OTHER THAN

2 POLITICAL PARTIES.—

3 ‘‘(1) INITIAL STATEMENT.—A person to which

4 section 324 does not apply that makes (or obligates

5 to make) aggregate disbursements totaling in excess

6 of $2,000 for activities described in section 324(c)

7 shall file a statement with the Commission—

8 ‘‘(A) within 48 hours after the disburse9 ments or obligations in excess of $2,000 are

10 made; or

11 ‘‘(B) in the case of disbursements or obli12 gations that are made within 14 days of an

13 election, on or before the 14th day before the

14 election.

15 ‘‘(2) ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS.—An additional

16 statement shall be filed each time additional dis17 bursements aggregating $2,000 are made by a per18 son described in paragraph (1).

19 ‘‘(3) APPLICABILITY.—This subsection does not

20 apply to—

21 ‘‘(A) a candidate or a candidate’s author22 ized committees; or

23 ‘‘(B) an independent expenditure.

24 ‘‘(4) CONTENTS.—A statement under this sec25 tion shall contain such information about the dis-
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1 bursements as the Commission shall prescribe, in2 cluding if applicable, whether the disbursement was

3 in support of, or in opposition to, a candidate or a

4 political party.

5 ‘‘(5) PLACE OF FILING.—A statement under

6 this section shall be filed with the Secretary of the

7 Senate or the Clerk of the House of Representatives,

8 and the Secretary of State (or equivalent official) of

9 the candidate’s State. The Secretary of the Senate

10 or Clerk of the House of Representatives shall, as

11 soon as possible (but not later than 24 hours after

12 receipt), transmit a copy of the statement to the

13 Commission.

14 ‘‘(6) TRANSMITTAL.—Not later than 48 hours

15 after receipt, the Commission shall transmit a state16 ment filed under this subsection—

17 ‘‘(A) to the candidates or political parties

18 involved in the election in question; or

19 ‘‘(B) if the disbursement is not in support

20 of, or in opposition to, a candidate or political

21 party, to the State committees of each political

22 party in the State in question.

23 ‘‘(7) DETERMINATIONS BY THE COMMISSION.—

24 The Commission may make its own determination

25 that disbursements described in paragraph (1) have
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1 been made or are obligated to be made. The Com2 mission shall notify the candidates or political par3 ties described in paragraph (2) not later than 24

4 hours after its determination.’’.

5 TITLE IV—CONTRIBUTIONS

6 SEC. 401. PROHIBITION OF CERTAIN CONTRIBUTIONS BY

7 LOBBYISTS.

8 Section 315 of the Federal Election Campaign Act

9 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a) (as amended by section 314(b))

10 is amended by adding at the end the following:

11 ‘‘(m) PROHIBITION OF CERTAIN CONTRIBUTIONS BY

12 LOBBYISTS.—

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A lobbyist, or a political

14 committee controlled by a lobbyist, shall not make a

15 contribution to—

16 ‘‘(A) a Federal officeholder or candidate

17 for Federal office if, during the preceding 12

18 months, the lobbyist has made a lobbying con19 tact with the officeholder or candidate; or

20 ‘‘(B) any authorized committee of the

21 President or Vice President of the United

22 States if, during the preceding 12 months, the

23 lobbyist has made a lobbying contact with a

24 covered executive branch official.
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1 ‘‘(2) CONTRIBUTIONS TO MEMBER OF CON2 GRESS OR CANDIDATE FOR CONGRESS.—A lobbyist

3 who, or a lobbyist whose political committee, has

4 made a contribution to a member of Congress or

5 candidate for Congress (or any authorized committee

6 of the President) shall not, during the 12 months

7 following such contribution, make a lobbying contact

8 with the member or candidate who becomes a mem9 ber of Congress or with a covered executive branch

10 official.

11 ‘‘(3) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection the

12 terms ‘covered executive branch official’, ‘lobbying

13 contact’, and ‘lobbyist’ have the meanings given

14 those terms in section 3 of the Federal Lobbying

15 Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1602) except

16 that—

17 ‘‘(A) the term ‘lobbyist’ includes a person

18 required to register under the Foreign Agents

19 Registration Act of 1938 (22 U.S.C. 611 et

20 seq.); and

21 ‘‘(B) for purposes of this subsection, a lob22 byist shall be considered to make a lobbying

23 contact or communication with a member of

24 Congress if the lobbyist makes a lobbying con25 tact or communication with—
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1 ‘‘(i) the member of Congress;

2 ‘‘(ii) any person employed in the office

3 of the member of Congress; or

4 ‘‘(iii) any person employed by a com5 mittee, joint committee, or leadership of6 fice who, to the knowledge of the lobbyist,

7 was employed at the request of or is em8 ployed at the pleasure of, reports primarily

9 to, represents, or acts as the agent of the

10 member of Congress.’’.

11 SEC. 402. CONTRIBUTIONS BY DEPENDENTS NOT OF VOT12 ING AGE.

13 Section 315 of the Federal Election Campaign Act

14 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a) (as amended by section 401(a))

15 is amended by adding at the end the following:

16 ‘‘(n) DEPENDENTS NOT OF VOTING AGE.—

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this sec18 tion, any contribution by an individual who—

19 ‘‘(A) is a dependent of another individual;

20 and

21 ‘‘(B) has not, as of the time of the making

22 of the contribution, attained the legal age for

23 voting in an election to Federal office in the

24 State in which the individual resides;
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1 shall be treated as having been made by the other

2 individual.

3 ‘‘(2) ALLOCATION BETWEEN SPOUSES.—If an

4 individual described in paragraph (1) is the depend5 ent of another individual and the other individual’s

6 spouse, a contribution described in paragraph (1)

7 shall be allocated among those individuals in a man8 ner determined by the individuals.’’.

9 SEC. 403. CONTRIBUTIONS TO CANDIDATES FROM STATE

10 AND LOCAL COMMITTEES OF POLITICAL PAR11 TIES TO BE AGGREGATED.

12 Section 315(a) of the Federal Election Campaign Act

13 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a(a)) is amended by adding at the

14 end the following:

15 ‘‘(9) AGGREGATION OF CONTRIBUTIONS FROM

16 STATE AND LOCAL COMMITTEES OF POLITICAL PAR17 TIES.—Notwithstanding paragraph (5)(B), a can18 didate may not accept, with respect to an election,

19 any contribution from a State or local committee of

20 a political party (including any subordinate commit21 tee of such a committee), if the contribution, when

22 added to the total of contributions previously accept23 ed from all such committees of that political party,

24 would cause the total amount of contributions to ex-
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1 ceed a limitation on contributions to a candidate

2 under this section.’’.

3 SEC. 404. CONTRIBUTIONS AND EXPENDITURES USING

4 MONEY SECURED BY PHYSICAL FORCE OR

5 OTHER INTIMIDATION.

6 Title III of the Federal Election Campaign Act of

7 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431) (as amended by section 313) is

8 amended by adding at the end the following:

9 ‘‘SEC. 325. USE OF PHYSICAL FORCE OR INTIMIDATION TO

10 OBTAIN A CONTRIBUTION OR EXPENDITURE

11 OR DETER THE FILING OF A COMPLAINT.

12 ‘‘It shall be unlawful for any person to—

13 ‘‘(1) cause another person to make a contribu14 tion or expenditure by using physical force, job dis15 crimination, a financial reprisal, a threat of physical

16 force, job discrimination, or financial reprisal, or

17 taking or threatening to take other adverse action;

18 ‘‘(2) make a contribution or expenditure utiliz19 ing money or anything of value secured in the man20 ner described in paragraph (1); or

21 ‘‘(3) use physical force, job discrimination, or

22 financial reprisal, a threat of physical force, job dis23 crimination, or financial reprisal, or take or threaten

24 to take other adverse action, against an employee,

25 union member, or other person—
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1 ‘‘(A) to deter or prevent any person from

2 filing a complaint, providing testimony, or oth3 erwise cooperating with enforcement efforts

4 under this Act; or

5 ‘‘(B) to retaliate against any person who

6 has filed a complaint, provided testimony, or

7 otherwise cooperated with enforcement efforts

8 under this Act.’’.

9 SEC. 405. PROHIBITION OF ACCEPTANCE BY A CANDIDATE

10 OF CASH CONTRIBUTIONS FROM ANY ONE

11 PERSON AGGREGATING MORE THAN $100.

12 Section 321 of the Federal Election Campaign Act

13 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441g) is amended by inserting ‘‘, and

14 no candidate or authorized committee of a candidate shall

15 accept from any 1 person,’’ after ‘‘make’’.

16 TITLE V—AUTHORITIES AND DU17 TIES OF THE FEDERAL ELEC18 TION COMMISSION

19 SEC. 501. FILING OF REPORTS USING COMPUTERS AND

20 FACSIMILE MACHINES.

21 Section 302(g) of the Federal Election Campaign Act

22 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 432(g)) is amended by adding at the

23 end the following:

24 ‘‘(6) FILING OF REPORTS USING COMPUTERS

25 AND FACSIMILE MACHINES.—
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1 ‘‘(A) COMPUTERS.—The Commission, in

2 consultation with the Secretary of the Senate

3 and the Clerk of the House of Representatives,

4 may issue a regulation under a person required

5 to file a designation, statement, or report under

6 this Act—

7 ‘‘(i) are required to maintain and file

8 the designation, statement, or report for

9 any calendar year in electronic form acces10 sible by computers if the person has, or

11 has reason to expect to have, aggregate

12 contributions or expenditures in excess of a

13 threshold amount determined by the Com14 mission; and

15 ‘‘(ii) may maintain and file the des16 ignation, statement, or report in that man17 ner if not required to do so under a regula18 tion under clause (i).

19 ‘‘(B) FACSIMILE MACHINES.—The Com20 mission, in consultation with the Secretary of

21 the Senate and the Clerk of the House of Rep22 resentatives, shall prescribe a regulation that

23 allows a person to file a designation, statement,

24 or report required by this Act through the use

25 of a facsimile machine.
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1 ‘‘(C) VERIFICATION.—In a regulation

2 under this paragraph, the Commission shall

3 provide methods (other than requiring a signa4 ture on the document being filed) for verifying

5 a designation, statement, or report. Any docu6 ment verified under any of the methods shall

7 be treated for all purposes (including penalties

8 for perjury) in the same manner as a document

9 verified by signature.

10 ‘‘(D) COMPATIBILITY OF SYSTEMS.—The

11 Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the

12 House of Representatives shall ensure that any

13 computer or other system that the Secretary or

14 the Clerk may develop and maintain to receive

15 designations, statements, and reports in the

16 forms required or permitted under this para17 graph is compatible with any system that the

18 Commission may develop and maintain.’’.

19 SEC. 502. INCREASE IN THRESHOLD FOR REPORTING RE20 QUIREMENTS.

21 (a) IDENTIFICATION OF CONTRIBUTORS.—Section

22 302(c)(3) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971

23 (2 U.S.C. 432(c)(3)) is amended by striking ‘‘$200’’ and

24 inserting ‘‘$50’’.
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1 (b) IDENTIFICATION OF DISBURSEMENTS.—Section

2 302(c)(5) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971

3 (2 U.S.C. 432(c)(5)) is amended by striking ‘‘$200’’ and

4 inserting ‘‘$50’’.

5 SEC. 503. AUDITS.

6 (a) RANDOM AUDITS.—Section 311(b) of the Federal

7 Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 438(b)) is

8 amended—

9 (1) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ before ‘‘The Commis10 sion’’; and

11 (2) by adding at the end the following:

12 ‘‘(2) RANDOM AUDITS.—Notwithstanding paragraph

13 (1), the Commission may from time to time conduct ran14 dom audits and investigations to ensure voluntary compli15 ance with this Act. The subjects of such audits and inves16 tigations shall be selected on the basis of criteria estab17 lished by vote of at least 4 members of the Commission

18 to ensure impartiality in the selection process. This para19 graph does not apply to an authorized committee of a can20 didate for President or Vice President subject to audit

21 under title VI or to an authorized committee of an eligible

22 Senate candidate subject to audit under section 506.’’.

23 (b) EXTENSION OF PERIOD DURING WHICH CAM24 PAIGN AUDITS MAY BE BEGUN.—Section 311(b) of the

25 Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C.
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1 438(b)), as redesignated by subsection (a), is amended by

2 striking ‘‘6 months’’ and inserting ‘‘12 months’’.

3 SEC. 504. AUTHORITY TO SEEK INJUNCTION.

4 Section 309(a) of the Federal Election Campaign Act

5 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 437g(a)) is amended—

6 (1) by adding at the end the following:

7 ‘‘(13)(A) If, at any time in a proceeding described

8 in paragraph (1), (2), (3), or (4), the Commission believes

9 that—

10 ‘‘(i) there is a substantial likelihood that a vio11 lation of this Act is occurring or is about to occur;

12 ‘‘(ii) the failure to act expeditiously will result

13 in irreparable harm to a party affected by the poten14 tial violation;

15 ‘‘(iii) expeditious action will not cause undue

16 harm or prejudice to the interests of others; and

17 ‘‘(iv) the public interest would be best served by

18 the issuance of an injunction;

19 the Commission may initiate a civil action for a temporary

20 restraining order or a temporary injunction pending the

21 outcome of the proceedings described in paragraphs (1),

22 (2), (3), and (4).

23 ‘‘(B) An action under subparagraph (A) shall be

24 brought in the United States district court for the district

25 in which the defendant resides, transacts business, or may
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1 be found or in which the violation is occurring, has oc2 curred, or is about to occur.’’;

3 (2) in paragraph (7), by striking ‘‘(5) or (6)’’

4 and inserting ‘‘(5), (6), or (13)’’; and

5 (3) in paragraph (11), by striking ‘‘(6)’’ and in6 serting ‘‘(6) or (13)’’.

7 SEC. 505. PENALTIES.

8 (a) INCREASED PENALTIES.—Section 309(a) of the

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

10 437g(a)) is amended—

11 (1) in paragraphs (5)(A), (6)(A), and (6)(B) by

12 striking ‘‘$5,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$10,000’’;

13 (2) in paragraph (5)(B) by striking ‘‘the great14 er of $10,000 or an amount equal to 200 percent’’

15 and inserting ‘‘the greater of $20,000 or 300 per16 cent’’; and

17 (3) in paragraph (6)(C) by striking ‘‘the great18 er of $10,000 or an amount equal to 200 percent’’

19 and inserting ‘‘the greater of $20,000 or 300 per20 cent’’.

21 (b) EQUITABLE REMEDIES.—Section 309(a)(5)(A) of

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

23 437g(a)(5)) is amended by striking the period and insert24 ing ‘‘, and, if authorized by the agreement, may include

25 equitable remedies or penalties including disgorgement of
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1 funds to the United States Treasury, community service

2 requirements, suspension or disbarment of treasurers, or

3 public education requirements.’’.

4 (c) AUTOMATIC PENALTY FOR LATE FILING.—Sec5 tion 309(a) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971

6 (2 U.S.C. 437g(a)) (as amended by section 504) is

7 amended—

8 (1) by adding at the end the following:

9 ‘‘(14) PENALTY FOR LATE FILING.—

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

11 establish a schedule of mandatory monetary

12 penalties that shall be imposed by the staff di13 rector of the Commission for any failure to

14 meet the time requirements for filing under sec15 tion 304.

16 ‘‘(B) REQUIRED FILING OF LATE RE17 PORT.—The Commission may require a report

18 that has not been filed within the time require19 ments of section 304 to be filed by a specific

20 date.

21 ‘‘(C) PROCEDURE FOR ASSESSING PEN22 ALTIES AND FILING DEADLINES.—Penalties

23 and filing requirements imposed under this

24 paragraph shall not be subject to paragraph

25 (1), (2), (3), (4), (5) or (12).
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1 ‘‘(D) APPEALS.—

2 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—A political com3 mittee shall have 30 days after the imposi4 tion of penalty or filing requirement under

5 this paragraph to file an exception with the

6 Commission.

7 ‘‘(ii) COMMISSION DETERMINATION.—

8 Within 30 days after receiving the excep9 tion, the Commission shall make a deter10 mination that is a final agency action sub11 ject to exclusive review by the United

12 States Court of Appeals for the District of

13 Columbia Circuit under section 706 of title

14 5, United States Code, upon petition filed

15 in the court by the political committee that

16 is the subject of the agency action, if the

17 petition is filed within 30 days of the Com18 mission action for which review is

19 sought.’’;

20 (2) in paragraph (5)(D)—

21 (A) by inserting after the first sentence the

22 following: ‘‘In any case in which a penalty or

23 filing requirement imposed on a political com24 mittee or treasurer under paragraph (14) has

25 not been satisfied, the Commission may insti-
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1 tute a civil action for enforcement under para2 graph 6(A).’’; and

3 (B) by inserting before the period in the

4 last sentence ‘‘or has failed to pay a penalty or

5 meet a filing requirement imposed under para6 graph (14)’’; and

7 (3) in paragraph (6)(A), by striking ‘‘paragraph

8 (4)(A)’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraph (4)(A) or (14)’’.

9 SEC. 506. INDEPENDENT LITIGATING AUTHORITY.

10 (a) LITIGATING AUTHORITY.—Section 306(f) of Fed11 eral Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 437c(f))

12 is amended by striking paragraph (4) and inserting the

13 following:

14 ‘‘(4) INDEPENDENT LITIGATING AUTHORITY.—

15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding para16 graph (2) or any other provision of law, the

17 Commission is authorized to appear on its own

18 behalf in any action related to the exercise of

19 its statutory duties or powers in any court as

20 a party or amicus curiae, either—

21 ‘‘(i) by attorneys employed in the of22 fice of the Commission, or

23 ‘‘(ii) by counsel whom the Commission

24 may appoint, on a temporary basis, as may

25 be necessary for such purpose, without re-
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1 gard to the provisions of title 5, United

2 States Code, and whose compensation the

3 Commission may fix without regard to the

4 provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter

5 III of chapter 53 of that title.

6 ‘‘(B) APPEALS.—The authority granted under

7 subparagraph (A) includes the power of the Commis8 sion to appeal from, and petition the Supreme Court

9 for certiorari to review, judgments, or decrees en10 tered with respect to actions in which the Commis11 sion appears pursuant to the authority provided by

12 this Act.’’.

13 (b) POWER OF COMMISSION TO PETITION THE SU14 PREME COURT.—Section 307(a)(6) of Federal Election

15 Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 437d(a)(6)) is amended

16 by striking ‘‘or appeal any civil action’’ and inserting ‘‘,

17 appeal any civil action or petition the Supreme Court for

18 certiorari to review judgments or decrees entered with re19 spect to actions in which the Commission appears’’.

20 SEC. 507. REFERENCE OF SUSPECTED VIOLATION TO THE

21 ATTORNEY GENERAL.

22 Section 309(a)(5) of Federal Election Campaign Act

23 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 437g(a)) is amended by striking sub24 paragraph (C) and inserting the following:
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1 ‘‘(C) REFERRAL TO THE ATTORNEY GEN2 ERAL.—The Commission may at any time, by

3 an affirmative vote of 4 of its members, refer

4 a possible violation of this Act or chapter 95 or

5 chapter 96 of the Internal Revenue Code of

6 1986 to the Attorney General of the United

7 States, without regard to any limitations set

8 forth in this section.’’.

9 SEC. 508. POWERS OF THE COMMISSION.

10 (a) INITIATION OF ENFORCEMENT PROCEEDING.—

11 Section 309(a)(2) of Federal Election Campaign Act of

12 1971 (2 U.S.C. 437g(a)(2)) is amended by striking ‘‘rea13 son to believe that’’ and inserting ‘‘reason to investigate

14 whether’’.

15 (b) SERVICE OF PROCESS.—Section 306(f) of the

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

17 437c(f)) is amended by inserting at the end the following:

18 ‘‘(5) SERVICE OF PROCESS.—In any matter

19 under this Act or under chapter 95 or chapter 96

20 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, the Commis21 sion may at its discretion, without court order and

22 with or without reimbursement, require the United

23 States Marshal Service to serve process on behalf of

24 the Commission, including serving a summons, sub25 poena, or complaint, upon any person.’’.
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1 (c) VENUE FOR VIOLATIONS ADJUDICATED IN

2 COURT.—Section 309(a)(6)(A) of Federal Election Cam3 paign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 437g(a)(6)(A)) is amended

4 by striking ‘‘for the district in which the person against

5 whom such action is brought is found, resides, or transacts

6 business’’ and inserting ‘‘in which the defendant resides,

7 transacts business, or is found or in which the violation

8 occurred’’.

9 (d) FILING OF REPORTS WITH COMMISSION IN10 STEAD OF THE SECRETARY OF THE SENATE.—

11 (1) SECTION 302.—Section 302(g) of the Fed12 eral Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C.

13 432(g)) is amended—

14 (A) by striking ‘‘(g)(1)’’ and all that fol15 lows through ‘‘(3) All’’ and inserting ‘‘(g) FIL16 ING.—’’;

17 (B) by striking paragraph (4); and

18 (C) by striking ‘‘, except designations,

19 statements, and reports filed in accordance with

20 paragraph (1),’’.

21 (2) SECTION 304.—Section 304 of Federal Elec22 tion Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 434) is

23 amended—
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1 (A) in the first sentence of subsection

2 (a)(6), by striking ‘‘the Secretary, or the Com3 mission,’’ and inserting ‘‘the Commission’’; and

4 (B) in the third sentence of subsection

5 (c)(2), by striking ‘‘the Secretary, or’’.

6 (3) SECTION 311.—Section 311(a)(4) of Federal

7 Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C.

8 438(a)(4)) is amended by striking ‘‘Secretary, or

9 the’’.

10 (e) AUTHORIZATION TO ACCEPT GIFTS.—Section

11 306(f) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971

12 (2 U.S.C. 437c(f)) is amended by adding at the end the

13 following:

14 ‘‘(6) AUTHORIZATION TO ACCEPT GIFTS.—

15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—To carry out the pur16 poses of this Act, the Commission may accept,

17 hold, administer, and utilize gifts, devises, and

18 bequests of property, both real and personal, if

19 the acceptance and use of the gifts, devises, or

20 bequests does not create a conflict of interest.

21 ‘‘(B) DEPOSIT OF GIFTS.—Gifts and be22 quests of money and proceeds from sales of

23 other property received as gifts, devises, or be24 quests shall be deposited in the Treasury and
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1 shall be disbursed upon the order of the Com2 mission.

3 ‘‘(C) USE OF GIFTS.—Property accepted

4 pursuant to this section, and the proceeds from

5 the property, shall be used as closely as prac6 ticable in accordance with the terms of the

7 gifts, devises, or bequests.’’.

8 TITLE VI—MISCELLANEOUS

9 SEC. 601. PROHIBITION OF LEADERSHIP COMMITTEES.

10 Section 302(e) of the Federal Election Campaign Act

11 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 432(e)) is amended—

12 (1) by striking paragraph (3) and inserting the

13 following:

14 ‘‘(3) LIMITATIONS.—A political committee that

15 supports or has supported more than 1 candidate

16 shall not be designated as an authorized committee,

17 except that—

18 ‘‘(A) a candidate for the office of President

19 nominated by a political party may designate

20 the national committee of the political party as

21 the candidate’s principal campaign committee if

22 the national committee maintains separate

23 books of account with respect to its functions as

24 a principal campaign committee; and
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1 ‘‘(B) a candidate may designate a political

2 committee established solely for the purpose of

3 joint fundraising by such candidates as an au4 thorized committee.’’; and

5 (2) by adding at the end the following:

6 ‘‘(6) PROHIBITION OF LEADERSHIP COMMIT7 TEES.—

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—

9 ‘‘(i) PROHIBITION.—A candidate or

10 an individual holding Federal office shall

11 not establish, finance, maintain, or control

12 any political committee or non-Federal po13 litical committee other than a principal

14 campaign committee of the candidate, au15 thorized committee, party committee, or

16 other political committee designated in ac17 cordance with paragraph (3).

18 ‘‘(ii) CANDIDATE FOR MORE THAN 1

19 OFFICE.—A candidate for more than 1

20 Federal office may designate a separate

21 principal campaign committee for the cam22 paign for election to each Federal office.

23 ‘‘(iii) CANDIDATES FOR STATE OR

24 LOCAL OFFICE.—This paragraph does not

25 preclude a Federal officeholder who is a
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1 candidate for State or local office from es2 tablishing, financing, maintaining, or con3 trolling a political committee for election of

4 the individual to the State or local office.

5 ‘‘(B) TRANSITION.—

6 ‘‘(i) CONTINUATION FOR 12

7 MONTHS.—For a period of 12 months

8 after the effective date of this paragraph,

9 any political committee established before

10 that date but that is prohibited under sub11 paragraph (A) may continue to make con12 tributions.

13 ‘‘(ii) DISBURSEMENT AT THE END OF

14 12 MONTHS.—At the end of the 12-month

15 period, the political committee shall dis16 burse all funds by 1 or more of the follow17 ing means:

18 ‘‘(I) Making contributions to a

19 person described in section 501(c)(3)

20 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986

21 and exempt from taxation under sec22 tion 501(a) of the Code.

23 ‘‘(II) Making a contribution to

24 the Treasury of the United States.
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1 ‘‘(III) Contributing to the na2 tional, State, or local committee of a

3 political party.

4 ‘‘(IV) Making a contribution of

5 not to exceed $1,000 each to 1 or

6 more candidates or non-Federal can7 didates.’’.

8 SEC. 602. TELEPHONE VOTING BY PERSONS WITH DISABIL9 ITIES.

10 (a) STUDY OF SYSTEMS TO PERMIT PERSONS WITH

11 DISABILITIES TO VOTE BY TELEPHONE.—

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Federal Election Com13 mission shall conduct a study to determine the fea14 sibility of developing a system or systems by which

15 persons with disabilities may be permitted to vote by

16 telephone.

17 (2) CONSULTATION.—The Federal Election

18 Commission shall conduct the study described in

19 paragraph (1) in consultation with State and local

20 election officials, representatives of the telecommuni21 cations industry, representatives of persons with dis22 abilities, and other concerned members of the public.

23 (3) CRITERIA.—The system or systems devel24 oped pursuant to paragraph (1) shall—
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1 (A) propose a description of the kinds of

2 disabilities that impose such difficulty in travel

3 to polling places that a person with a disability

4 who may desire to vote is discouraged from un5 dertaking such travel;

6 (B) propose procedures to identify persons

7 who are so disabled; and

8 (C) describe procedures and equipment

9 that may be used to ensure that—

10 (i) only persons who are entitled to

11 use the system are permitted to use it;

12 (ii) the votes of persons who use the

13 system are recorded accurately and remain

14 secret;

15 (iii) the system minimizes the possibil16 ity of vote fraud; and

17 (iv) the system minimizes the finan18 cial costs that State and local governments

19 would incur in establishing and operating

20 the system.

21 (4) REQUESTS FOR PROPOSALS.—In developing

22 a system described in paragraph (1), the Federal

23 Election Commission may request proposals from

24 private contractors for the design of procedures and

25 equipment to be used in the system.
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1 (5) PHYSICAL ACCESS.—Nothing in this section

2 is intended to supersede or supplant efforts by State

3 and local governments to make polling places phys4 ically accessible to persons with disabilities.

5 (6) DEADLINE.—The Federal Election Commis6 sion shall submit to Congress the study required by

7 this section not later than 1 year after the effective

8 date of this Act.

9 SEC. 603. CERTAIN TAX-EXEMPT ORGANIZATIONS NOT SUB10 JECT TO CORPORATE LIMITS.

11 Section 316 of the Federal Election Campaign Act

12 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441b) (as amended by section 203) is

13 amended by adding at the end the following:

14 ‘‘(d) PROHIBITIONS NOT TO APPLY TO INDEPEND15 ENT EXPENDITURES OF CERTAIN TAX-EXEMPT ORGANI16 ZATIONS.—

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this section

18 shall preclude a qualified nonprofit corporation from

19 making an independent expenditure.

20 ‘‘(2) DEFINITION OF QUALIFIED NONPROFIT

21 CORPORATION.—In this subsection, the term ‘quali22 fied nonprofit corporation’ means a corporation de23 scribed in section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue

24 Code of 1986 that is exempt from taxation under
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1 section 501(a) of the Code and that meets the fol2 lowing requirements:

3 ‘‘(A) PURPOSE.—The only express purpose

4 of the corporation is the promotion of political

5 ideas.

6 ‘‘(B) NO TRADE OR BUSINESS.—The cor7 poration cannot and does not engage in any ac8 tivities that constitute a trade or business.

9 ‘‘(C) GROSS RECEIPTS.—The gross re10 ceipts of the corporation for the calendar year

11 have not (and will not) exceed $100,000, and

12 the net value of the total assets at any time

13 during the calendar year do not exceed

14 $250,000.

15 ‘‘(D) ESTABLISHMENT.—The

16 corporation—

17 ‘‘(i) was not established by—

18 ‘‘(I) a person described in section

19 501(c)(6) of the Internal Revenue

20 Code of 1986 that is exempt from

21 taxation under section 501(a) of the

22 Code;

23 ‘‘(II) a corporation engaged in

24 carrying out a trade or business; or

25 ‘‘(III) a labor organization; and
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1 ‘‘(ii) cannot and does not directly or

2 indirectly accept donations of anything of

3 value from any such person, corporation,

4 or labor organization.

5 ‘‘(E) ASSETS AND EARNINGS.—The

6 corporation—

7 ‘‘(i) has no shareholder or other per8 son affiliated with it that could make a

9 claim on its assets or earnings; and

10 ‘‘(ii) offers no incentives or disincen11 tives for associating or not associating with

12 it other than on the basis of its position on

13 any political issue.

14 ‘‘(3) QUALIFIED NONPROFIT CORPORATION

15 TREATED AS POLITICAL COMMITTEE.—If a major

16 purpose of a qualified nonprofit corporation is the

17 making of independent expenditures, and the re18 quirements of section 301(4) are met with respect to

19 the corporation, the corporation shall be treated as

20 a political committee.

21 ‘‘(4) NOTICE REQUIREMENT.—All solicitations

22 by a qualified nonprofit corporation shall include a

23 notice informing contributors that donations may be

24 used by the corporation to make independent ex25 penditures.
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1 ‘‘(5) REPORTS.—A qualified nonprofit corpora2 tion shall file reports as required by subsections (d)

3 and (e) of section 304.

4 SEC. 604. AIDING AND ABETTING VIOLATIONS OF THE FED5 ERAL ELECTION CAMPAIGN ACT OF 1971.

6 Title III of the Federal Election Campaign Act of

7 1971 (as amended by section 404) is amended by adding

8 at the end the following:

9 ‘‘SEC. 326. AIDING AND ABETTING VIOLATIONS.

10 ‘‘With reference to any provision of this Act that

11 places a requirement or prohibition on any person acting

12 in a particular capacity, any person who knowingly aids

13 or abets the person in that capacity in violating that provi14 sion may be proceeded against as a principal in the viola15 tion.’’.

16 SEC. 605. CAMPAIGN ADVERTISING THAT REFERS TO AN

17 OPPONENT.

18 Title III of the Federal Election Campaign Act of

19 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431 et seq.) (as amended by section 604)

20 is amended by adding at the end the following:

21 ‘‘SEC. 327. CAMPAIGN ADVERTISING THAT REFERS TO AN

22 OPPONENT.

23 ‘‘(a) CANDIDATES.—A candidate or candidate’s au24 thorized committee that places in the mail a campaign ad25 vertisement or any other communication to the general
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1 public that directly or indirectly refers to an opponent or

2 the opponents of the candidate in an election, with or with3 out identifying any opponent in particular, shall file an

4 exact copy of the communication with the Commission and

5 with the Secretary of State of the candidate’s State by

6 not later than 12:00 p.m. on the day on which the commu7 nication is first placed in the mail to the general public.

8 ‘‘(b) PERSONS OTHER THAN CANDIDATES.—

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A person other than a can10 didate or candidate’s authorized committee that

11 places in the mail a campaign advertisement or any

12 other communication described in paragraph (2)

13 shall file an exact copy of the communication with

14 the Commission and with the Secretary of State of

15 the candidate’s State by not later than 12:00 p.m.

16 on the day on which the communication is first

17 placed in the mail to the general public.

18 ‘‘(2) ADVOCACY OR REFERENCE TO OPPO19 NENT.—A communication is described in this para20 graph if it is a communication to the general public

21 that—

22 ‘‘(A) advocates the election of a particular

23 candidate in an election; and

24 ‘‘(B) directly or indirectly refers to an op25 ponent or the opponents of the candidate in the
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1 election, with or without identifying any oppo2 nent in particular.’’.

3 SEC. 606. LIMIT ON CONGRESSIONAL USE OF THE FRANK4 ING PRIVILEGE.

5 Section 3210(a)(6) of title 39, United States Code,

6 is amended by striking subparagraph (A) and inserting

7 the following:

8 ‘‘(A) A Member of Congress may not mail

9 any mass mailing as franked mail during a year

10 in which there will be an election for the seat

11 held by the Member during the period between

12 January 1 of that year and the date of the gen13 eral election for that office, unless the Member

14 has made a public announcement that the

15 Member will not be a candidate for reelection to

16 that seat or for election to any other Federal

17 office.’’.

18 SEC. 607. STRENGTHENING FOREIGN MONEY BAN.

19 Section 319 of the Federal Election Campaign Act

20 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441e) is amended—

21 (1) by striking the heading and inserting the

22 following: ‘‘CONTRIBUTIONS AND DONATIONS BY

23 FOREIGN NATIONALS’’; and

24 (2) by striking subsection (a) and inserting the

25 following:
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1 ‘‘(a) PROHIBITION.—It shall be unlawful for—

2 ‘‘(1) a foreign national, directly or indirectly, to

3 make—

4 ‘‘(A) a donation of money or other thing of

5 value, or to promise expressly or impliedly to

6 make a donation, in connection with a Federal,

7 State, or local election; or

8 ‘‘(B) a contribution or donation to a com9 mittee of a political party; or

10 ‘‘(2) for a person to solicit, accept, or receive

11 such contribution or donation from a foreign na12 tional.’’.

13 SEC. 608. CERTIFICATION OF COMPLIANCE WITH FOREIGN

14 CONTRIBUTION AND SOLICITATION LIMITA15 TIONS.

16 Section 304 of the Federal Election Campaign Act

17 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 434) is amended—

18 (1) by redesignating subsection (c) as sub19 section (d); and

20 (2) by inserting after subsection (b) the follow21 ing:

22 ‘‘(c) CERTIFICATION OF COMPLIANCE WITH FOR23 EIGN CONTRIBUTION AND SOLICITATION LIMITATIONS—

24 Each report required under this section shall include a cer25 tification under penalty of perjury that the political com-
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1 mittee has not knowingly solicited or accepted contribu2 tions prohibited by section 319.’’.

3 TITLE VII—EFFECTIVE DATES;

4 AUTHORIZATIONS

5 SEC. 701. EFFECTIVE DATE.

6 Except as otherwise provided in this Act, this Act and

7 the amendments made by this Act shall take effect on the

8 date of enactment of this Act.

9 SEC. 702. BUDGET NEUTRALITY.

10 (a) DELAYED EFFECTIVENESS.—This Act (other

11 than this section) and the amendments made by this Act

12 shall not be effective until the Director of the Office of

13 Management and Budget certifies that the estimated costs

14 under section 252 of the Balanced Budget and Emergency

15 Deficit Control Act of 1985 (2 U.S.C. 902) have been off16 set by the enactment of legislation effectuating this Act.

17 (b) FUNDING.—Legislation effectuating this Act

18 shall not provide for general revenue increases, reduce ex19 penditures for any existing Federal program, or increase

20 the Federal budget deficit.

21 SEC. 703. SEVERABILITY.

22 Except as provided in section 101(c), if any provision

23 of this Act (including any amendment made by this Act),

24 or the application of any such provision to any person or

25 circumstance is held invalid, the validity of any other pro-
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1 vision of this Act, or the application of the provision to

2 other persons and circumstances shall not be affected

3 thereby.

4 SEC. 704. EXPEDITED REVIEW OF CONSTITUTIONAL ISSUES.

5 (a) DIRECT APPEAL TO SUPREME COURT.—An ap6 peal may be taken directly to the Supreme Court of the

7 United States from any interlocutory order or final judg8 ment, decree, or order issued by any court ruling on the

9 constitutionality of any provision of this Act or amend10 ment made by this Act.

11 (b) ACCEPTANCE AND EXPEDITION.—The Supreme

12 Court shall, if the Court has not previously ruled on the

13 question addressed in the ruling below, accept jurisdiction

14 over, advance on the docket, and expedite the appeal to

15 the greatest extent possible.

16 SEC. 705. REGULATIONS.

17 The Federal Election Commission shall prescribe any

18 regulations required to carry out this Act and the amend19 ments made by this Act not later than 270 days after the

20 effective date of this Act.

Æ