II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1285 

To reform the financing of Senate elections, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 3, 2007 

Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Mr. SPECTER, Mr. FEINGOLD, and Mr. OBAMA) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration 

A BILL 

To reform the financing of Senate elections, and for other 

purposes. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

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

5 ‘‘Fair Elections Now Act’’. 

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

7 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

TITLE I—FAIR ELECTIONS FINANCING OF SENATE ELECTION 

CAMPAIGNS 

Subtitle A—Fair Elections Financing Program 

Sec. 101. Findings and declarations. 


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Sec. 102. Eligibility requirements and benefits of fair elections financing of 

Senate election campaigns. 

‘‘TITLE V—FAIR ELECTIONS FINANCING OF SENATE ELECTION 

CAMPAIGNS 

‘‘Sec. 501. Definitions. 

‘‘Sec. 502. Senate Fair Elections Fund. 

‘‘Sec. 503. Eligibility for allocations from the Fund. 

‘‘Sec. 504. Seed money contribution requirement. 

‘‘Sec. 505. Qualifying contribution requirement. 

‘‘Sec. 506. Contribution and expenditure requirements. 

‘‘Sec. 507. Debate requirement. 

‘‘Sec. 508. Certification by Commission. 

‘‘Sec. 509. Benefits for participating candidates. 

‘‘Sec. 510. Allocations from the Fund. 

‘‘Sec. 511. Payment of fair fight funds. 

‘‘Sec. 512. Administration of the Senate fair elections system. 

‘‘Sec. 513. Violations and penalties. 

Sec. 103. Reporting requirements for nonparticipating candidates. 

Sec. 104. Modification of electioneering communication reporting requirements. 

Sec. 105. Limitation on coordinated expenditures by political party committees 

with participating candidates. 

Sec. 106. Audits. 

Subtitle B—Senate Fair Elections Fund Revenues 

Sec. 111. Deposit of proceeds from recovered spectrum auctions. 

Subtitle C—Fair Elections Review Commission 

Sec. 121. Establishment of Commission. 

Sec. 122. Structure and membership of the commission. 

Sec. 123. Powers of the Commission. 

Sec. 124. Administration. 

Sec. 125. Authorization of appropriations. 

Sec. 126. Expedited consideration of Commission recommendations. 

TITLE II—VOTER INFORMATION 

Sec. 201. Broadcasts relating to candidates. 

Sec. 202. Political advertisement vouchers for participating candidates. 

Sec. 203. FCC to prescribe standardized form for reporting candidate campaign 

ads. 

Sec. 204. Limit on Congressional use of the franking privilege. 

TITLE III—RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE FEDERAL ELECTION 

COMMISSION 

Sec. 301. Petition for certiorari. 

Sec. 302. Filing by Senate candidates with Commission. 

Sec. 303. Electronic filing of FEC reports. 

TITLE IV—MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS 

Sec. 401. Severability. 

Sec. 402. Review of constitutional issues. 

Sec. 403. Effective date. 


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1 TITLE I—FAIR ELECTIONS FI2 NANCING OF SENATE ELEC3 TION CAMPAIGNS 

4 Subtitle A—Fair Elections 

5 Financing Program 

6 SEC. 101. FINDINGS AND DECLARATIONS. 

7 (a) UNDERMINING OF DEMOCRACY BY CAMPAIGN

8 CONTRIBUTIONS FROM PRIVATE SOURCES.—The Senate 

9 finds and declares that the current system of privately fi10 nanced campaigns for election to the United States Senate 

11 has the capacity, and is often perceived by the public, to 

12 undermine democracy in the United States by— 

13 (1) creating a conflict of interest, perceived or 

14 real, by encouraging Senators to accept large cam15 paign contributions from private interests that are 

16 directly affected by Federal legislation; 

17 (2) diminishing or giving the appearance of di18 minishing a Senator’s accountability to constituents 

19 by compelling legislators to be accountable to the 

20 major contributors who finance their election cam21 paigns; 

22 (3) violating the democratic principle of ‘‘one 

23 person, one vote’’ and diminishing the meaning of 

24 the right to vote by allowing monied interests to 


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1 have a disproportionate and unfair influence within 

2 the political process; 

3 (4) imposing large, unwarranted costs on tax4 payers through legislative and regulatory outcomes 

5 shaped by unequal access to lawmakers for cam6 paign contributors; 

7 (5) driving up the cost of election campaigns, 

8 making it difficult for qualified candidates without 

9 personal wealth or access to campaign contributions 

10 from monied individuals and interest groups to 

11 mount competitive Senate election campaigns; 

12 (6) disadvantaging challengers, because large 

13 campaign contributors tend to donate their money to 

14 incumbent Senators, thus causing Senate elections 

15 to be less competitive; and 

16 (7) burdening incumbents with a preoccupation 

17 with fundraising and thus decreasing the time avail18 able to carry out their public responsibilities. 

19 (b) ENHANCEMENT OF DEMOCRACY BY PROVIDING

20 ALLOCATIONS FROM THE SENATE FAIR ELECTIONS

21 FUND.—The Senate finds and declares that providing the 

22 option of the replacement of private campaign contribu23 tions with allocations from the Senate Fair Elections 

24 Fund for all primary, runoff, and general elections to the 

25 Senate would enhance American democracy by— 


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1 (1) eliminating the potentially inherent conflict 

2 of interest created by the private financing of the 

3 election campaigns of public officials, thus restoring 

4 public confidence in the integrity and fairness of the 

5 electoral and legislative processes; 

6 (2) increasing the public’s confidence in the ac7 countability of Senators to the constituents who elect 

8 them; 

9 (3) helping to eliminate access to wealth as a 

10 determinant of a citizen’s influence within the polit11 ical process and to restore meaning to the principle 

12 of ‘‘one person, one vote’’; 

13 (4) reversing the escalating cost of elections 

14 and saving taxpayers billions of dollars that are (or 

15 that are perceived to be) currently allocated based 

16 upon legislative and regulatory agendas skewed by 

17 the influence of campaign contributions; 

18 (5) creating a more level playing field for in19 cumbents and challengers by creating genuine oppor20 tunities for all Americans to run for the Senate and 

21 by encouraging more competitive elections; and 

22 (6) freeing Senators from the incessant pre23 occupation with raising money, and allowing them 

24 more time to carry out their public responsibilities. 


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1 SEC. 102. ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS AND BENEFITS OF 

2 FAIR ELECTIONS FINANCING OF SENATE 

3 ELECTION CAMPAIGNS. 

4 The Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 

5 U.S.C. 431 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the 

6 following: 

7 ‘‘TITLE V—FAIR ELECTIONS FI8 NANCING OF SENATE ELEC9 TION CAMPAIGNS 

10 ‘‘SEC. 501. DEFINITIONS. 

11 ‘‘In this title: 

12 ‘‘(1) ALLOCATION FROM THE FUND.—The term 

13 ‘allocation from the Fund’ means an allocation of 

14 money from the Senate Fair Elections Fund to a 

15 participating candidate pursuant to sections 510 and 

16 511. 

17 ‘‘(2) FAIR ELECTIONS QUALIFYING PERIOD.— 

18 The term ‘fair elections qualifying period’ means, 

19 with respect to any candidate for Senator, the pe20 riod— 

21 ‘‘(A) beginning on the date on which the 

22 candidate files a statement of intent under sec23 tion 503(a)(1); and 

24 ‘‘(B) ending on the date that is 30 days 

25 before— 


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1 ‘‘(i) the date of the primary election; 

2 or 

3 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a State that does 

4 not hold a primary election, the date pre5 scribed by State law as the last day to 

6 qualify for a position on the general elec7 tion ballot. 

8 ‘‘(3) FAIR ELECTIONS START DATE.—The term 

9 ‘fair elections start date’ means, with respect to any 

10 candidate, the date that is 180 days before— 

11 ‘‘(A) the date of the primary election; or 

12 ‘‘(B) in the case of a State that does not 

13 hold a primary election, the date prescribed by 

14 State law as the last day to qualify for a posi15 tion on the general election ballot. 

16 ‘‘(4) FUND.—The term ‘Fund’ means the Sen17 ate Fair Elections Fund established by section 502. 

18 ‘‘(5) IMMEDIATE FAMILY.—The term ‘imme19 diate family’ means, with respect to any candidate— 

20 ‘‘(A) the candidate’s spouse; 

21 ‘‘(B) a child, stepchild, parent, grand22 parent, brother, half-brother, sister, or half-sis23 ter of the candidate or the candidate’s spouse; 

24 and 


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

2 subparagraph (B). 

3 ‘‘(6) INDEPENDENT CANDIDATE.—The term 

4 ‘independent candidate’ means a candidate for Sen5 ator who is— 

6 ‘‘(A) not affiliated with any political party; 

7 or 

8 ‘‘(B) affiliated with a political party that— 

9 ‘‘(i) in the case of a candidate in a 

10 State that holds a primary election for 

11 Senator, does not hold a primary election 

12 for Senator; or 

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

14 State that does not hold primary election 

15 for Senator, does not have ballot status in 

16 such State. 

17 ‘‘(7) MAJOR PARTY CANDIDATE.— 

18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘major 

19 party candidate’ means a candidate for Senator 

20 who is affiliated with a major political party. 

21 ‘‘(B) MAJOR POLITICAL PARTY.—The term 

22 ‘major political party’ means, with respect to 

23 any State, a political party of which a candidate 

24 for the office of Senator, President, or Governor 

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1 didate of that party in such State, 25 percent 

2 or more of the total number of popular votes 

3 cast for such office in such State. 

4 ‘‘(8) MINOR PARTY CANDIDATE.—The term 

5 ‘minor party candidate’ means a candidate for Sen6 ator who is affiliated with a political party that— 

7 ‘‘(A) holds a primary for Senate nomina8 tions; and 

9 ‘‘(B) is not a major political party. 

10 ‘‘(9) NONPARTICIPATING CANDIDATE.—The 

11 term ‘nonparticipating candidate’ means a candidate 

12 for Senator who is not a participating candidate. 

13 ‘‘(10) PARTICIPATING CANDIDATE.—The term 

14 ‘participating candidate’ means a candidate for Sen15 ator who is certified under section 508 as being eli16 gible to receive an allocation from the Fund. 

17 ‘‘(11) QUALIFYING CONTRIBUTION.—The term 

18 ‘qualifying contribution’ means, with respect to a 

19 candidate, a contribution that— 

20 ‘‘(A) is in the amount of $5 exactly; 

21 ‘‘(B) is made by an individual who— 

22 ‘‘(i) is a resident of the State with re23 spect to which the candidate is seeking 

24 election; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) is not prohibited from making a 

2 contribution under this Act; 

3 ‘‘(C) is made during the fair elections 

4 qualifying period; and 

5 ‘‘(D) meets the requirements of section 

6 505(c). 

7 ‘‘(12) SEED MONEY CONTRIBUTION.—The term 

8 ‘seed money contribution’ means a contribution or 

9 contributions by any 1 individual— 

10 ‘‘(A) aggregating not more than $100; and 

11 ‘‘(B) made to a candidate after the date of 

12 the most recent previous election for the office 

13 which the candidate is seeking and before the 

14 date the candidate has been certified as a par15 ticipating candidate under section 508(a). 

16 ‘‘SEC. 502. SENATE FAIR ELECTIONS FUND. 

17 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 

18 Treasury a fund to be known as the ‘Senate Fair Elections 

19 Fund’. 

20 ‘‘(b) AMOUNTS HELD BY FUND.—The Fund shall 

21 consist of the following amounts: 

22 ‘‘(1) PROCEEDS FROM RECOVERED SPEC23 TRUM.—Proceeds deposited into the Fund under 

24 section 309(j)(8)(E)(ii)(II) of the Communications 

25 Act of 1934. 


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1 ‘‘(2) EXCESS SPECTRUM USER FEES.—Amounts 

2 deposited in the Fund under section 

3 315A(f)(2)(B)(ii) of the Communications Act of 

4 1934. 

5 ‘‘(3) VOLUNTARY CONTRIBUTIONS.—Voluntary 

6 contributions to the fund. 

7 ‘‘(4) QUALIFYING CONTRIBUTIONS, PENALTIES, 

8 AND OTHER DEPOSITS.—Amounts deposited into the 

9 Fund under— 

10 ‘‘(A) section 504(2) (relating to limitation 

11 on amount of seed money); 

12 ‘‘(B) section 505(d) (relating to deposit of 

13 qualifying contributions); 

14 ‘‘(C) section 506(c) (relating to exceptions 

15 to contribution requirements); 

16 ‘‘(D) section 509(c) (relating to remittance 

17 of allocations from the Fund); 

18 ‘‘(E) section 513 (relating to violations); 

19 and 

20 ‘‘(F) any other section of this Act. 

21 ‘‘(5) INVESTMENT RETURNS.—Interest on, and 

22 the proceeds from, the sale or redemption of, any 

23 obligations held by the Fund under subsection (c). 

24 ‘‘(c) INVESTMENT.—The Commission shall invest 

25 portions of the Fund in obligations of the United States 


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1 in the same manner as provided under section 9602(b) 

2 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. 

3 ‘‘(d) USE OF FUND.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The sums in the Senate 

5 Fair Elections Fund shall be used to make alloca6 tions to participating candidates in accordance with 

7 sections 510 and 511. 

8 ‘‘(2) INSUFFICIENT AMOUNTS.—Under regula9 tions established by the Commission, rules similar to 

10 the rules of section 9006(c) of the Internal Revenue 

11 Code shall apply. 

12 ‘‘SEC. 503. ELIGIBILITY FOR ALLOCATIONS FROM THE 

13 FUND. 

14 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A candidate for Senator is eligi15 ble to receive an allocation from the Fund for any election 

16 if the candidate meets the following requirements: 

17 ‘‘(1) The candidate files with the Commission a 

18 statement of intent to seek certification as a partici19 pating candidate under this title during the period 

20 beginning on the fair elections start date and ending 

21 on the last day of the fair elections qualifying pe22 riod. 

23 ‘‘(2) The candidate has complied with the seed 

24 money contribution requirements of section 504. 


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1 ‘‘(3) The candidate meets the qualifying con2 tribution requirements of section 505. 

3 ‘‘(4) Not later than the last day of the fair elec4 tions qualifying period, the candidate files with the 

5 Commission an affidavit signed by the candidate and 

6 the treasurer of the candidate’s principal campaign 

7 committee declaring that the candidate— 

8 ‘‘(A) has complied and, if certified, will 

9 comply with the contribution and expenditure 

10 requirements of section 506; 

11 ‘‘(B) if certified, will comply with the de12 bate requirements of section 507; 

13 ‘‘(C) if certified, will not run as a non14 participating candidate during such year in any 

15 election for the office that such candidate is 

16 seeking; and 

17 ‘‘(D) has either qualified or will take steps 

18 to qualify under State law to be on the ballot. 

19 ‘‘(b) GENERAL ELECTION.—Notwithstanding sub20 section (a), a candidate shall not be eligible to receive an 

21 allocation from the Fund for a general election or a gen22 eral run off election unless the candidate’s party nomi23 nated the candidate to be placed on the ballot for the gen24 eral election or the candidate qualified to be placed on the 


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1 ballot as an independent candidate, and the candidate is 

2 qualified under State law to be on the ballot. 

3 ‘‘SEC. 504. SEED MONEY CONTRIBUTION REQUIREMENT. 

4 ‘‘A candidate for Senator meets the seed money con5 tribution requirements of this section if the candidate 

6 meets the following requirements: 

7 ‘‘(1) SEPARATE ACCOUNTING.—The candidate 

8 maintains seed money contributions in a separate 

9 account. 

10 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION ON AMOUNT.—The candidate 

11 deposits into the Senate Fair Elections Fund or re12 turns to donors an amount equal to the amount of 

13 any seed money contributions which, in the aggre14 gate, exceed the sum of— 

15 ‘‘(A) in the case of an independent can16 didate, the amount which the candidate would 

17 be entitled to under section 510(c)(3); and 

18 ‘‘(B) in the case of any other candidate, 

19 the amount which the candidate would be enti20 tled to under section 510(c)(1). 

21 ‘‘(3) USE OF SEED MONEY.—The candidate 

22 makes expenditures from seed money contributions 

23 only for campaign-related costs. 

24 ‘‘(4) RECORDS.—The candidate maintains a 

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1 tributor of a seed money contribution and the 

2 amount of any such contribution. 

3 ‘‘(5) REPORT.—Unless a seed money contribu4 tion or an expenditure made with a seed money con5 tribution has been reported previously under section 

6 304, the candidate files with the Commission a re7 port disclosing all seed money contributions and ex8 penditures not later than 48 hours after receiving 

9 notification of the determination with respect to the 

10 certification of the candidate under section 508. 

11 ‘‘SEC. 505. QUALIFYING CONTRIBUTION REQUIREMENT. 

12 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A candidate for Senator meets 

13 the requirement of this section if, during the fair elections 

14 qualifying period, the candidate obtains a number of quali15 fying contributions equal to the sum of— 

16 ‘‘(1) 2,000; plus 

17 ‘‘(2) 500 for each congressional district in ex18 cess of 1 in the State with respect to which the can19 didate is seeking election. 

20 ‘‘(b) SPECIAL RULE FOR CERTAIN CANDIDATES.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding subsection 

22 (a), in the case of a candidate described in para23 graph (2), the requirement of this section is met if, 

24 during the fair elections qualifying period, the can25 didate obtains a number of qualifying contributions 


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1 equal to 150 percent of the number of qualifying 

2 contributions that such candidate would be required 

3 to obtain without regard to this subsection. 

4 ‘‘(2) CANDIDATE DESCRIBED.—A candidate is 

5 described in this paragraph if— 

6 ‘‘(A) the candidate is a minor party can7 didate or an independent candidate; and 

8 ‘‘(B) in the most recent general election in9 volving the office of Senator, President, or Gov10 ernor in the State in which the candidate is 

11 seeking office, the candidate and all candidates 

12 of the same political party as such candidate re13 ceived less than 5 percent of the total number 

14 of votes cast for each such office. 

15 ‘‘(c) REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO RECEIPT OF

16 QUALIFYING CONTRIBUTION.—Each qualifying contribu17 tion— 

18 ‘‘(1) may be made by means of a personal 

19 check, money order, debit card, or credit card; 

20 ‘‘(2) shall be payable to the Senate Fair Elec21 tions Fund; 

22 ‘‘(3) shall be accompanied by a signed state23 ment containing— 

24 ‘‘(A) the contributor’s name and home ad25 dress; 


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1 ‘‘(B) an oath declaring that the contrib2 utor— 

3 ‘‘(i) is a resident of the State in which 

4 the candidate with respect to whom the 

5 contribution is made is running for elec6 tion; 

7 ‘‘(ii) understands that the purpose of 

8 the qualifying contribution is to show sup9 port for the candidate so that the can10 didate may qualify for public financing; 

11 ‘‘(iii) is making the contribution in his 

12 or her own name and from his or her own 

13 funds; 

14 ‘‘(iv) has made the contribution will15 ingly; and 

16 ‘‘(v) has not received any thing of 

17 value in return for the contribution; and 

18 ‘‘(4) shall be acknowledged by a receipt that is 

19 sent to the contributor with a copy kept by the can20 didate for the Commission and a copy kept by the 

21 candidate for the election authorities in the State 

22 with respect to which the candidate is seeking elec23 tion. 

24 ‘‘(d) DEPOSIT OF QUALIFYING CONTRIBUTIONS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 21 days 

2 after obtaining a qualifying contribution, a candidate 

3 shall— 

4 ‘‘(A) deposit such contribution into the 

5 Senate Fair Elections Fund, and 

6 ‘‘(B) remit to the Commission a copy of 

7 the receipt for such contribution. 

8 ‘‘(2) DEPOSIT OF CONTRIBUTIONS AFTER CER9 TIFICATION.—Notwithstanding paragraph (1), all 

10 qualifying contributions obtained by a candidate 

11 shall be deposited into the Senate Fair Elections 

12 Fund and all copies of receipts for such contribu13 tions shall be remitted to the Commission not later 

14 than— 

15 ‘‘(A) in the case of a candidate who is de16 nied certification under section 508, 3 days 

17 after receiving a notice of denial of certification 

18 under section 508(a)(2); and 

19 ‘‘(B) in any other case, not later than the 

20 last day of the fair elections qualifying period. 

21 ‘‘(e) VERIFICATION OF QUALIFYING CONTRIBU22 TIONS.—The Commission shall establish procedures for 

23 the auditing and verification of qualifying contributions to 

24 ensure that such contributions meet the requirements of 

25 this section. Such procedures may provide for verification 


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1 through the means of a postcard or other method, as de2 termined by the Commission. 

3 ‘‘SEC. 506. CONTRIBUTION AND EXPENDITURE REQUIRE4 MENTS. 

5 ‘‘(a) GENERAL RULE.—A candidate for Senator 

6 meets the requirements of this section if, during the elec7 tion cycle of the candidate, the candidate— 

8 ‘‘(1) except as provided in subsection (b), ac9 cepts no contributions other than— 

10 ‘‘(A) seed money contributions; 

11 ‘‘(B) qualifying contributions made payable 

12 to the Senate Fair Elections Fund; 

13 ‘‘(C) allocations from the Senate Fair 

14 Elections Fund under sections 510 and 511; 

15 and 

16 ‘‘(D) vouchers provided to the candidate 

17 under section 315A of the Communications Act 

18 of 1934; 

19 ‘‘(2) makes no expenditures from any amounts 

20 other than from— 

21 ‘‘(A) amounts received from seed money 

22 contributions; 

23 ‘‘(B) amounts received from the Senate 

24 Fair Elections Fund; and 


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1 ‘‘(C) vouchers provided to the candidate 

2 under section 315A of the Communications Act 

3 of 1934; and 

4 ‘‘(3) makes no expenditures from personal 

5 funds or the funds of any immediate family member 

6 (other than funds received through seed money con7 tributions). 

8 For purposes of this subsection, a payment made by a po9 litical party in coordination with a participating candidate 

10 shall not be treated as a contribution to or as an expendi11 ture made by the participating candidate. 

12 ‘‘(b) CONTRIBUTIONS FOR LEADERSHIP PACS, 

13 ETC.—A political committee of a participating candidate 

14 which is not an authorized committee of such candidate 

15 may accept contributions other than contributions de16 scribed in subsection (a)(1) from any person if— 

17 ‘‘(1) the aggregate contributions from such per18 son for any for a calendar year do not exceed $100; 

19 and 

20 ‘‘(2) no portion of such contributions is dis21 bursed in connection with the campaign of the par22 ticipating candidate. 

23 ‘‘(c) EXCEPTION.— 

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding subsection 

25 (a), a candidate shall not be treated as having failed 


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1 to meet the requirements of this section if any con2 tributions accepted before the date the candidate 

3 files a statement of intent under section 503(a)(1) 

4 are not expended and are— 

5 ‘‘(A) returned to the contributor; or 

6 ‘‘(B) submitted to the Federal Election 

7 Commission for deposit in the Senate Fair 

8 Elections Fund. 

9 ‘‘(2) SPECIAL RULE FOR SEED MONEY CON10 TRIBUTIONS AND CONTRIBUTIONS FOR LEADERSHIP

11 PACS.—For purposes of paragraph (1), a candidate 

12 shall not be required to return, donate, or submit 

13 any portion of the aggregate amount of contribu14 tions from any person which is $100 or less to the 

15 extent that such contribution— 

16 ‘‘(A) otherwise qualifies as a seed money 

17 contribution; or 

18 ‘‘(B) otherwise meets the requirements of 

19 subsection (b). 

20 ‘‘(3) SPECIAL RULE FOR CONTRIBUTIONS BE21 FORE THE DATE OF ENACTMENT OF THIS TITLE.— 

22 Notwithstanding subsection (a), a candidate shall 

23 not be treated as having failed to meet the require24 ments of this section if any contributions accepted 


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1 before the date of the enactment of this title are not 

2 expended and are— 

3 ‘‘(A) returned to the contributor; 

4 ‘‘(B) donated to an organization described 

5 in section 170(c) of the Internal Revenue Code 

6 of 1986; 

7 ‘‘(C) donated to a political party; 

8 ‘‘(D) used to retire campaign debt; or 

9 ‘‘(E) submitted to the Federal Election 

10 Commission for deposit in the Senate Fair 

11 Elections Fund. 

12 ‘‘SEC. 507. DEBATE REQUIREMENT. 

13 ‘‘A candidate for Senator meets the requirements of 

14 this section if the candidate participates in at least— 

15 ‘‘(1) 1 public debate before the primary election 

16 with other participating candidates and other willing 

17 candidates from the same party and seeking the 

18 same nomination as such candidate; and 

19 ‘‘(2) 2 public debates before the general election 

20 with other participating candidates and other willing 

21 candidates seeking the same office as such can22 didate. 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 508. CERTIFICATION BY COMMISSION. 

2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 5 days after a 

3 candidate for Senator files an affidavit under section 

4 503(a)(4), the Commission shall— 

5 ‘‘(1) certify whether or not the candidate is a 

6 participating candidate; and 

7 ‘‘(2) notify the candidate of the Commission’s 

8 determination. 

9 ‘‘(b) REVOCATION OF CERTIFICATION.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission may re11 voke a certification under subsection (a) if— 

12 ‘‘(A) a candidate fails to qualify to appear 

13 on the ballot at any time after the date of cer14 tification; or 

15 ‘‘(B) a candidate otherwise fails to comply 

16 with the requirements of this title. 

17 ‘‘(2) REPAYMENT OF BENEFITS.—If certifi18 cation is revoked under paragraph (1), the candidate 

19 shall repay— 

20 ‘‘(A) to the Senate Fair Elections Fund an 

21 amount equal to the value of benefits received 

22 under this title plus interest (at a rate deter23 mined by the Commission) on any such amount 

24 received; and 

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1 lar value of vouchers which were received from 

2 the Federal Communications Commission under 

3 section 315A of the Communications Act of 

4 1934 and used by the candidate. 

5 ‘‘SEC. 509. BENEFITS FOR PARTICIPATING CANDIDATES. 

6 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A participating candidate shall 

7 be entitled to— 

8 ‘‘(1) for each election with respect to which a 

9 candidate is certified as a participating candidate— 

10 ‘‘(A) an allocation from the Fund to make 

11 or obligate to make expenditures with respect to 

12 such election, as provided in section 510; 

13 ‘‘(B) fair fight funds, as provided in sec14 tion 511; and 

15 ‘‘(2) for the general election, vouchers for 

16 broadcasts of political advertisements, as provided in 

17 section 315A of the Communications Act of 1934 

18 (47 U.S.C. 315A). 

19 ‘‘(b) RESTRICTION ON USES OF ALLOCATIONS FROM

20 THE FUND.—Allocations from the Fund received by a par21 ticipating candidate under sections 510 and 511 may only 

22 be used for campaign-related costs. 

23 ‘‘(c) REMITTING ALLOCATIONS FROM THE FUND.— 

24 Not later than the date that is 45 days after the date of 

25 the election, a participating candidate shall remit to the 


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1 Commission for deposit in the Senate Fair Elections Fund 

2 any unspent amounts paid to such candidate under this 

3 title for such election. 

4 ‘‘SEC. 510. ALLOCATIONS FROM THE FUND. 

5 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall make allo6 cations from the Fund under section 509(a)(1)(A) to a 

7 participating candidate— 

8 ‘‘(1) in the case of amounts provided under 

9 subsection (c)(1), not later than 48 hours after the 

10 date on which such candidate is certified as a par11 ticipating candidate under section 508; 

12 ‘‘(2) in the case of a general election, not later 

13 than 48 hours after— 

14 ‘‘(A) the date the certification of the re15 sults of the primary election or the primary 

16 runoff election; or 

17 ‘‘(B) in any case in which there is no pri18 mary election, the date the candidate qualifies 

19 to be placed on the ballot; and 

20 ‘‘(3) in the case of a primary runoff election or 

21 a general runoff election, not later than 48 hours 

22 after the certification of the results of the primary 

23 election or the general election, as the case may be. 

24 ‘‘(b) METHOD OF PAYMENT.—The Commission shall 

25 distribute funds available to participating candidates 


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1 under this section through the use of an electronic funds 

2 exchange or a debit card. 

3 ‘‘(c) AMOUNTS.— 

4 ‘‘(1) PRIMARY ELECTION ALLOCATION; INITIAL

5 ALLOCATION.— 

6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

7 subparagraphs (B), the Commission shall make 

8 an allocation from the Fund for a primary elec9 tion to a participating candidate in an amount 

10 equal to 67 percent of the base amount with re11 spect to such participating candidate. 

12 ‘‘(B) INDEPENDENT CANDIDATES.—In the 

13 case of a participating candidate who is an 

14 independent candidate, the Commission shall 

15 make an initial allocation from the Fund in an 

16 amount equal to 25 percent of the base amount 

17 with respect to such candidate. 

18 ‘‘(C) REDUCTION FOR EXCESS SEED

19 MONEY.—An allocation from the Fund for any 

20 candidate under this paragraph shall be re21 duced by an amount equal to the aggregate 

22 amount of seed money contributions received by 

23 the candidate in excess of the sum of— 

24 ‘‘(i) $75,000; plus 


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1 ‘‘(ii) $7,500 for each congressional 

2 district in excess of 1 in the State with re3 spect to which the candidate is seeking 

4 election. 

5 ‘‘(2) PRIMARY RUNOFF ELECTION ALLOCA6 TION.—The Commission shall make an allocation 

7 from the Fund for a primary runoff election to a 

8 participating candidate in an amount equal to 25 

9 percent of the amount the participating candidate 

10 was eligible to receive under this section for the pri11 mary election. 

12 ‘‘(3) GENERAL ELECTION ALLOCATION.— 

13 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

14 subparagraph (B), the Commission shall make 

15 an allocation from the Fund for a general elec16 tion to a participating candidate in an amount 

17 equal to the base amount with respect to such 

18 candidate. 

19 ‘‘(B) UNCONTESTED ELECTIONS.— 

20 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Commission 

21 shall make an allocation from the Fund to 

22 a participating candidate for a general 

23 election that is uncontested in an amount 

24 equal to 25 percent of the base amount 

25 with respect to such candidate. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) UNCONTESTED ELECTIONS.— 

2 For purposes of this subparagraph, an 

3 election is uncontested if not more than 1 

4 candidate has received contributions (in5 cluding payments from the Senate Fair 

6 Elections Fund) in an amount equal to or 

7 greater than the lesser of— 

8 ‘‘(I) the amount in effect for a 

9 candidate in such election under para10 graph (1)(C), or 

11 ‘‘(II) an amount equal to 50 per12 cent of the base amount with respect 

13 to such candidate. 

14 ‘‘(C) REDUCTION FOR EXCESS SEED

15 MONEY.—The allocation from the Fund for the 

16 general election for any participating candidate 

17 in a State that does not hold a primary election 

18 shall be reduced by an amount equal to the ag19 gregate amount of seed money contributions re20 ceived by the candidate in excess of the sum 

21 of— 

22 ‘‘(i) $75,000; plus 

23 ‘‘(ii) $7,500 for each congressional 

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1 spect to which the candidate is seeking 

2 election. 

3 ‘‘(4) GENERAL RUNOFF ELECTION ALLOCA4 TION.—The Commission shall make an allocation 

5 from the Fund for a general runoff election to a par6 ticipating candidate in an amount equal to 25 per7 cent of the base amount with respect to such can8 didate. 

9 ‘‘(d) BASE AMOUNT.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise pro11 vided in this subsection, the base amount for any 

12 candidate is an amount equal to the sum of— 

13 ‘‘(A) $750,000; plus 

14 ‘‘(B) $150,000 for each congressional dis15 trict in excess of 1 in the State with respect to 

16 which the candidate is seeking election. 

17 ‘‘(2) MINOR PARTY AND INDEPENDENT CAN18 DIDATES.— 

19 ‘‘(A) REDUCED AMOUNT FOR CERTAIN

20 CANDIDATES.— 

21 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a 

22 minor party candidate or independent can23 didate described clause (ii), the base 

24 amount is an amount equal to the product 

25 of— 


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1 ‘‘(I) a fraction the numerator of 

2 which is the highest percentage of the 

3 vote received by the candidate or a 

4 candidate of the same political party 

5 as such candidate in the election de6 scribed in clause (ii) and the denomi7 nator of which is 25 percent; and 

8 ‘‘(II) the amount that would (but 

9 for this paragraph) be the base 

10 amount for the candidate under para11 graph (1). 

12 ‘‘(ii) CANDIDATE DESCRIBED.—A can13 didate is described in this clause if, in the 

14 most recent general election involving the 

15 office of Senator, President, or Governor in 

16 the State in which the candidate is seeking 

17 office— 

18 ‘‘(I) such candidate, or any can19 didate of the same political party as 

20 such candidate, received 5 percent or 

21 more of the total number of votes cast 

22 for any such office; and 

23 ‘‘(II) such candidate and all can24 didates of the same political party as 

25 such candidate received less than 25 


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1 percent of the total number of votes 

2 cast for each such office. 

3 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—Subparagraph (A) 

4 shall not apply to any candidate if such can5 didate receives a number of qualifying contribu6 tions which is greater than 150 percent of the 

7 number of qualifying contributions such can8 didate is required to receive in order to meet 

9 the requirements of section 505(a). 

10 ‘‘(3) INDEXING.—In each odd-numbered year 

11 after 2010— 

12 ‘‘(A) each dollar amount under paragraph 

13 (1) shall be increased by the percent difference 

14 between the price index (as defined in section 

15 315(c)(2)(A)) for the 12 months preceding the 

16 beginning of such calendar year and the price 

17 index for calendar year 2008; 

18 ‘‘(B) each dollar amount so increased shall 

19 remain in effect for the 2-year period beginning 

20 on the first day following the date of the last 

21 general election in the year preceding the year 

22 in which the amount is increased and ending on 

23 the date of the next general election; and 

24 ‘‘(C) if any amount after adjustment under 

25 subparagraph (A) is not a multiple of $100, 


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1 such amount shall be rounded to the nearest 

2 multiple of $100. 

3 ‘‘(4) ADJUSTMENT BY MEDIA MARKET.— 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Commission, in 

5 consultation with the Federal Communications 

6 Commission, shall establish an index reflecting 

7 the costs of the media markets in each State. 

8 ‘‘(B) ADJUSTMENT.—At the beginning of 

9 each year, the Commission shall increase the 

10 amount under paragraph (1) (after application 

11 of paragraph (3)) based on the index estab12 lished under subparagraph (A). 

13 ‘‘SEC. 511. PAYMENT OF FAIR FIGHT FUNDS. 

14 ‘‘(a) DETERMINATION OF RIGHT TO PAYMENT.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall, on 

16 a regular basis, make a determination on— 

17 ‘‘(A) the amount of opposing funds with 

18 respect to each participating candidate, and 

19 ‘‘(B) the applicable amount with respect to 

20 each participating candidate. 

21 ‘‘(2) BASIS OF DETERMINATIONS.—The Com22 mission shall make determinations under paragraph 

23 (1) based on— 

24 ‘‘(A) reports filed by the relevant opposing 

25 candidate under section 304(a) with respect to 


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1 amounts described in subsection (c)(1)(A)(i)(I); 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(B) reports filed by political committees 

4 under section 304(a) and by other persons 

5 under section 304(c) with respect to— 

6 ‘‘(i) opposing funds described in 

7 clauses (ii)(I) and (iii)(I) of subsection 

8 (c)(1)(A); and 

9 ‘‘(ii) applicable amounts described in 

10 subparagraphs (B)(i) and (C)(i) of sub11 section (b)(2). 

12 ‘‘(3) REQUESTS FOR DETERMINATION RELAT13 ING TO CERTAIN ELECTIONEERING COMMUNICA14 TIONS.— 

15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A participating can16 didate may request to the Commission to make 

17 a determination under paragraph (1) with re18 spect to any relevant opposing candidate with 

19 respect to— 

20 ‘‘(i) opposing funds described in 

21 clauses (ii)(II) and (iii)(II) of subsection 

22 (c)(1)(A); and 

23 ‘‘(ii) applicable amounts described in 

24 subparagraphs (B)(ii) and (C)(ii) of sub25 section (b)(2). 


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1 ‘‘(B) TIME FOR MAKING DETERMINA2 TION.—In the case of any such request, the 

3 Commission shall make such determination and 

4 notify the participating candidate of such deter5 mination not later than— 

6 ‘‘(i) 24 hours after receiving such re7 quest during the 3-week period ending on 

8 the date of the election, and 

9 ‘‘(ii) 48 hours after receiving such re10 quest at any other time. 

11 ‘‘(b) PAYMENTS.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall 

13 make available to the participating candidate fair 

14 fight funds in an amount equal to the amount of op15 posing funds that is in excess of the applicable 

16 amount— 

17 ‘‘(A) immediately after making any deter18 mination under subsection (a) with respect to 

19 any participating candidate during the 3-week 

20 period ending on the date of the election, and 

21 ‘‘(B) not later than 24 hours after making 

22 such determination at any other time. 

23 ‘‘(2) APPLICABLE AMOUNT.—For purposes of 

24 this section, the applicable amount is an amount 

25 equal to the sum of— 


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1 ‘‘(A) the sum of— 

2 ‘‘(i) the amount of seed money con3 tribution received by the participating can4 didate; 

5 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a general election, 

6 the value of any vouchers received by the 

7 candidate under section 315A of the Com8 munications Act of 1934; plus 

9 ‘‘(iii)(I) in the case of a participating 

10 candidate who is a minor party candidate 

11 running in a general election or an inde12 pendent candidate, the allocation from the 

13 Fund which would have been provided to 

14 such candidate for such election if such 

15 candidate were a major party candidate; or 

16 ‘‘(II) in the case of any other partici17 pating candidate, an amount equal to the 

18 allocation from the Fund to such candidate 

19 for such election under section 510(c); 

20 ‘‘(B) the sum of— 

21 ‘‘(i) the amount of independent ex22 penditures made advocating the election of 

23 the participating candidate; plus 

24 ‘‘(ii) the amount of disbursements for 

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1 mote or support such participating can2 didate; 

3 ‘‘(C) the sum of— 

4 ‘‘(i) the amount of independent ex5 penditures made advocating the defeat of 

6 the relevant opposing candidate; plus 

7 ‘‘(ii) the amount of disbursements for 

8 electioneering communications which at9 tack or oppose the relevant opposing can10 didate; plus 

11 ‘‘(D) the amount of fair fight funds pre12 viously provided to the participating candidate 

13 under this subsection for the election. 

14 ‘‘(3) LIMITS ON AMOUNT OF PAYMENT.—The 

15 aggregate of fair fight funds that a participating 

16 candidate receives under this subsection for any elec17 tion shall not exceed 200 percent of the allocation 

18 from the Fund that the participating candidate re19 ceives for such election under section 510(c). 

20 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section— 

21 ‘‘(1) OPPOSING FUNDS.— 

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘opposing 

23 funds’ means, with respect to any participating 

24 candidate for any election, the sum of— 


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1 ‘‘(i)(I) the greater of the total con2 tributions received by the relevant oppos3 ing candidate or the total expenditures 

4 made by such relevant opposing candidate; 

5 or 

6 ‘‘(II) in the case of a relevant oppos7 ing candidate who is a participating can8 didate, an amount equal to the sum of the 

9 amount of seed money contributions re10 ceived by the relevant opposing candidate, 

11 the value of any vouchers received by the 

12 relevant opposing candidate for the general 

13 election under section 315A of the Commu14 nications Act of 1934, and the allocation 

15 from the Fund under section 510(c) for 

16 the relevant opposing candidate for such 

17 election; 

18 ‘‘(ii) the sum of— 

19 ‘‘(I) the amount of independent 

20 expenditures made advocating the 

21 election of such relevant opposing can22 didate; plus 

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1 tions which promote or support such 

2 relevant opposing candidate; plus 

3 ‘‘(iii) the sum of— 

4 ‘‘(I) the amount of independent 

5 expenditures made advocating the de6 feat of such participating candidate; 

7 plus 

8 ‘‘(II) the amount of disburse9 ments for electioneering communica10 tions which attack or oppose such par11 ticipating candidate. 

12 ‘‘(2) RELEVANT OPPOSING CANDIDATE.—The 

13 term ‘relevant opposing candidate’ means, with re14 spect to any participating candidate, the opposing 

15 candidate of such participating candidate with re16 spect to whom the amount under paragraph (1) is 

17 the greatest. 

18 ‘‘(3) ELECTIONEERING COMMUNICATION.—The 

19 term ‘electioneering communication’ has the mean20 ing given such term under section 304(f)(3), except 

21 that subparagraph (A)(i)(II)(aa) thereof shall be ap22 plied by substituting ‘30’ for ‘60’. 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 512. ADMINISTRATION OF THE SENATE FAIR ELEC2 TIONS SYSTEM. 

3 ‘‘(a) REGULATIONS.—The Commission shall pre4 scribe regulations to carry out the purposes of this title, 

5 including regulations— 

6 ‘‘(1) to establish procedures for— 

7 ‘‘(A) verifying the amount of valid quali8 fying contributions with respect to a candidate; 

9 ‘‘(B) effectively and efficiently monitoring 

10 and enforcing the limits on the use of personal 

11 funds by participating candidates; 

12 ‘‘(C) the expedited payment of fair fight 

13 funds during the 3-week period ending on the 

14 date of the election; 

15 ‘‘(D) monitoring the use of allocations 

16 from the Fund under this title through audits 

17 or other mechanisms; and 

18 ‘‘(E) returning unspent disbursements and 

19 disposing of assets purchased with allocations 

20 from the Fund; 

21 ‘‘(2) providing for the administration of the 

22 provisions of this title with respect to special elec23 tions; 

24 ‘‘(3) pertaining to the replacement of can25 didates; 


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1 ‘‘(4) regarding the conduct of debates in a man2 ner consistent with the best practices of States that 

3 provide public financing for elections; and 

4 ‘‘(5) for attributing expenditures to specific 

5 elections for the purposes of calculating opposing 

6 funds. 

7 ‘‘(b) OPERATION OF COMMISSION.—The Commission 

8 shall maintain normal business hours during the weekend 

9 immediately before any general election for the purposes 

10 of administering the provisions of this title, including the 

11 distribution of fair fight funds under section 511. 

12 ‘‘(c) REPORTS.—Not later than April 1, 2009, and 

13 every 2 years thereafter, the Commission shall submit to 

14 the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration a re15 port documenting, evaluating, and making recommenda16 tions relating to the administrative implementation and 

17 enforcement of the provisions of this title. 

18 ‘‘SEC. 513. VIOLATIONS AND PENALTIES. 

19 ‘‘(a) CIVIL PENALTY FOR VIOLATION OF CONTRIBU20 TION AND EXPENDITURE REQUIREMENTS.—If a can21 didate who has been certified as a participating candidate 

22 under section 508(a) accepts a contribution or makes an 

23 expenditure that is prohibited under section 506, the Com24 mission shall assess a civil penalty against the candidate 

25 in an amount that is not more than 3 times the amount 


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1 of the contribution or expenditure. Any amounts collected 

2 under this subsection shall be deposited into the Senate 

3 Fair Elections Fund. 

4 ‘‘(b) REPAYMENT FOR IMPROPER USE OF FAIR

5 ELECTIONS FUND.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If the Commission deter7 mines that any benefit made available to a partici8 pating candidate under this title was not used as 

9 provided for in this title or that a participating can10 didate has violated any of the dates for remission of 

11 funds contained in this title, the Commission shall 

12 so notify the candidate and the candidate shall pay 

13 to the Senate Fair Elections Fund an amount equal 

14 to— 

15 ‘‘(A) the amount of benefits so used or not 

16 remitted, as appropriate, and 

17 ‘‘(B) interest on any such amounts (at a 

18 rate determined by the Commission). 

19 ‘‘(2) OTHER ACTION NOT PRECLUDED.—Any 

20 action by the Commission in accordance with this 

21 subsection shall not preclude enforcement pro22 ceedings by the Commission in accordance with sec23 tion 309(a), including a referral by the Commission 

24 to the Attorney General in the case of an apparent 

25 knowing and willful violation of this title.’’. 


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1 SEC. 103. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS FOR NONPARTICI2 PATING CANDIDATES. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 304 of the Federal Elec4 tion Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 434) is amended 

5 by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(i) NONPARTICIPATING CANDIDATES.— 

7 ‘‘(1) INITIAL REPORT.— 

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each nonparticipating 

9 candidate who is opposed to a participating 

10 candidate and who receives contributions or 

11 makes expenditures aggregating more than the 

12 threshold amount shall, within 48 hours of the 

13 date such aggregate contributions or expendi14 tures exceed the threshold amount, file with the 

15 Commission a report stating the total amount 

16 of contributions received and expenditures made 

17 or obligated by such candidate. 

18 ‘‘(B) THRESHOLD AMOUNT.—For purposes 

19 of this paragraph, the term ‘threshold amount’ 

20 means 75 percent of the allocation from the 

21 Fund that a participating candidate would be 

22 entitled to receive in such election under section 

23 510 if the participating candidate were a major 

24 party candidate. 

25 ‘‘(2) PERIODIC REPORTS.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In addition to any re2 ports required under subsection (a), each non3 participating candidate who is required to make 

4 a report under paragraph (1) shall make the 

5 following reports: 

6 ‘‘(i) A report which shall be filed not 

7 later than 5 p.m. on the forty-second day 

8 before the date on which the election in9 volving such candidate is held and which 

10 shall be complete through the forty-fourth 

11 day before such date. 

12 ‘‘(ii) A report which shall be filed not 

13 later than 5 p.m. on the twenty-first day 

14 before the date on which the election in15 volving such candidate is held and which 

16 shall be complete through the twenty-third 

17 day before such date. 

18 ‘‘(iii) A report which shall be filed not 

19 later than 5 p.m. on the twelfth day before 

20 the date on which the election involving 

21 such candidate is held and which shall be 

22 complete through the fourteenth day before 

23 such date. 

24 ‘‘(B) ADDITIONAL REPORTING WITHIN 2

25 WEEKS OF ELECTION.—Each nonparticipating 


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1 candidate who is required to make a report 

2 under paragraph (1) and who receives contribu3 tions or makes expenditures aggregating more 

4 than $1,000 at any time after the fourteenth 

5 day before the date of the election involving 

6 such candidate shall make a report to the Com7 mission not later than 24 hours after such con8 tributions are received or such expenditures are 

9 made. 

10 ‘‘(C) CONTENTS OF REPORT.—Each report 

11 required under this paragraph shall state the 

12 total amount of contributions received and ex13 penditures made or obligated to be made during 

14 the period covered by the report. 

15 ‘‘(3) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this sub16 section and section 309(a)(13), the terms ‘non17 participating candidate’, ‘participating candidate’, 

18 and ‘allocation from the Fund’ have the respective 

19 meanings given to such terms under section 501.’’. 

20 (b) INCREASED PENALTY FOR FAILURE TO FILE.— 

21 Section 309(a) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 

22 1971 (2 U.S.C. 437(g)) is amended by adding at the end 

23 the following new paragraph: 

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1 DIDATES.—For purposes of paragraphs (5) and (6), 

2 any civil penalty with respect to a violation of sec3 tion 304(i) shall not exceed the greater of— 

4 ‘‘(A) the amount otherwise applicable with5 out regard to this paragraph; or 

6 ‘‘(B) for each day of the violation, 3 times 

7 the amount of the fair fight funds under section 

8 511 that otherwise would have been allocated to 

9 the participating candidate but for such viola10 tion.’’. 

11 SEC. 104. MODIFICATION OF ELECTIONEERING COMMU12 NICATION REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. 

13 Paragraph (2) of section 304(f) of the Federal Elec14 tion Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 434(f)(2)) is amend15 ed by redesignating subparagraphs (E) and (F) as sub16 paragraphs (F) and (G), respectively, and by inserting 

17 after subparagraph (D) the following new subparagraph: 

18 ‘‘(E) in the case of a communication refer19 ring to any candidate in an election involving a 

20 participating candidate (as defined under sec21 tion 501(9)), a transcript of the electioneering 

22 communication.’’. 


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1 SEC. 105. LIMITATION ON COORDINATED EXPENDITURES 

2 BY POLITICAL PARTY COMMITTEES WITH 

3 PARTICIPATING CANDIDATES. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 315(d)(3) of the Federal 

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

6 amended— 

7 (1) by redesignating subparagraphs (A) and 

8 (B) as subparagraphs (B) and (C), respectively; and 

9 (2) by inserting before subparagraph (B), as re10 designated by paragraph (1), the following new sub11 paragraph: 

12 ‘‘(A) in the case of a candidate for election 

13 to the office of Senator who is a participating 

14 candidate (as defined in section 501), the lesser 

15 of— 

16 ‘‘(i) 10 percent of the allocation from 

17 the Senate Elections Fund that the partici18 pating candidate is eligible to receive for 

19 the general election under section 

20 510(c)(3); or 

21 ‘‘(ii) the amount which would (but for 

22 this subparagraph) apply with respect to 

23 such candidate under subparagraph (B);’’. 

24 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Subparagraph (B) 

25 of section 315(d)(3) of such Act, as redesignated by sub26 section (a), is amended by inserting ‘‘who is not a particiVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:04 May 05, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00046 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1285.IS S1285

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1 pating candidate (as so defined)’’ after ‘‘office of Sen2 ator’’. 

3 SEC. 106. AUDITS. 

4 Section 311(b) of the Federal Election Campaign Act 

5 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 438(b)) is amended— 

6 (1) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ before ‘‘The Commis7 sion’’; and 

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

9 ‘‘(2) AUDITS OF PARTICIPATING CAN10 DIDATES.— 

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding para12 graph (1), after every primary, general, and 

13 runoff election, the Commission shall conduct 

14 random audits and investigations of not less 

15 than 30 percent of the authorized committees of 

16 candidates who are participating candidates (as 

17 defined in section 501). 

18 ‘‘(B) SELECTION OF SUBJECTS.—The sub19 jects of audits and investigations under this 

20 paragraph shall be selected on the basis of im21 partial criteria established by a vote of at least 

22 4 members of the Commission.’’. 


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1 Subtitle B—Senate Fair Elections 

2 Fund Revenues 

3 SEC. 111. DEPOSIT OF PROCEEDS FROM RECOVERED SPEC4 TRUM AUCTIONS. 

5 Section 309(j)(8)(E)(ii) of the Communications Act 

6 of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 309(j)(8)(E)(ii)) is amended— 

7 (1) by striking ‘‘deposited in’’ and inserting the 

8 following: ‘‘deposited as follows: 

9 ‘‘(I) 90 percent of such proceeds 

10 deposited in’’; and 

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

12 ‘‘(II) 10 percent of such proceeds 

13 deposited in the Senate Fair Elections 

14 Fund established under section 502 of 

15 the Federal Election Campaign Act of 

16 1972.’’. 

17 Subtitle C—Fair Elections Review 

18 Commission 

19 SEC. 121. ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMISSION. 

20 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a com21 mission to be known as the ‘‘Fair Elections Review Com22 mission’’ (hereafter in this subtitle referred to as the 

23 ‘‘Commission’’). 

24 (b) DUTIES.— 

25 (1) REVIEW OF FAIR ELECTIONS FINANCING.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—After each general elec2 tion for Federal office, the Commission shall 

3 conduct a comprehensive review of the Senate 

4 fair elections financing program under title V of 

5 the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1974, in6 cluding— 

7 (i) the number and value of qualifying 

8 contributions a candidate is required to ob9 tain under section 505 of such Act to qual10 ify for allocations from the Fund; 

11 (ii) the amount of allocations from the 

12 Senate Fair Elections Fund that can13 didates may receive under sections 510 

14 and 511 of such Act; 

15 (iii) the overall satisfaction of partici16 pating candidates with the program; and 

17 (iv) such other matters relating to fi18 nancing of Senate campaigns as the Com19 mission determines are appropriate. 

20 (B) CRITERIA FOR REVIEW.—In con21 ducting the review under subparagraph (A), the 

22 Commission shall consider the following: 

23 (i) REVIEW OF QUALIFYING CON24 TRIBUTION REQUIREMENTS.—The Com25 mission shall consider whether the number 


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1 and value of qualifying contributions re2 quired strikes a balance between the im3 portance of voter choice and fiscal respon4 sibility, taking into consideration the num5 ber of primary and general election partici6 pating candidates, the electoral perform7 ance of those candidates, program cost, 

8 and any other information the Commission 

9 determines is appropriate. 

10 (ii) REVIEW OF PROGRAM ALLOCA11 TIONS.—The Commission shall consider 

12 whether allocations from the Senate Elec13 tions Fund under sections 510 ad 511 of 

14 the Federal Election Campaign Act of 

15 1974 are sufficient for voters in each State 

16 to learn about the candidates to cast an in17 formed vote, taking into account the his18 toric amount of spending by winning can19 didates, media costs, primary election 

20 dates, and any other information the Com21 mission determines is appropriate. 

22 (2) REPORT, RECOMMENDATIONS, AND PRO23 POSED LEGISLATIVE LANGUAGE.— 

24 (A) REPORT.—Not later than March 30 

25 following any general election for Federal office, 


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1 the Commission shall submit a report to Con2 gress on the review conducted under paragraph 

3 (1). Such report shall contain a detailed state4 ment of the findings, conclusions, and rec5 ommendations of the Commission based on 

6 such review, and shall contain any proposed leg7 islative language (as required under subpara8 graph (C)) of the Commission. 

9 (B) FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS, AND REC10 OMMENDATIONS.—A finding, conclusion, or rec11 ommendation of the Commission shall be in12 cluded in the report under subparagraph (A) 

13 only if not less than 3 members of the Commis14 sion voted for such finding, conclusion, or rec15 ommendation. 

16 (C) LEGISLATIVE LANGUAGE.— 

17 (i) IN GENERAL.—The report under 

18 subparagraph (A) shall include legislative 

19 language with respect to any recommenda20 tion involving— 

21 (I) an increase in the number or 

22 value of qualifying contributions; or 

23 (II) an increase in the amount of 

24 allocations from the Senate Elections 

25 Fund. 


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1 (ii) FORM.—The legislative language 

2 shall be in the form of a proposed bill for 

3 introduction in Congress and shall not in4 clude any recommendation not related to 

5 matter described subclause (I) or (II) of 

6 clause (i) 

7 SEC. 122. STRUCTURE AND MEMBERSHIP OF THE COMMIS8 SION. 

9 (a) APPOINTMENT.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall be 

11 composed of 5 members, of whom— 

12 (A) 1 shall be appointed by the Majority 

13 Leader of the Senate; 

14 (B) 1 shall be appointed by the Minority 

15 Leader of the Senate; and 

16 (C) 3 shall be appointed jointly by the 

17 members appointed under subparagraphs (A) 

18 and (B). 

19 (2) QUALIFICATIONS.— 

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—The members shall be 

21 individuals who are nonpartisan and, by reason 

22 of their education, experience, and attainments, 

23 exceptionally qualified to perform the duties of 

24 members of the Commission. 


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1 (B) PROHIBITION.—No member of the 

2 Commission may be— 

3 (i) a member of Congress; 

4 (ii) an employee of the Federal gov5 ernment; 

6 (iii) a registered lobbyist; or 

7 (iv) an officer or employee of a polit8 ical party or political campaign. 

9 (3) DATE.—Members of the Commission shall 

10 be appointed not later than 60 days after the date 

11 of the enactment of this Act. 

12 (4) TERMS.—A member of the Commission 

13 shall be appointed for a term of 5 years. 

14 (b) VACANCIES.—A vacancy on the Commission shall 

15 be filled not later than 30 calendar days after the date 

16 on which the Commission is given notice of the vacancy, 

17 in the same manner as the original appointment. The indi18 vidual appointed to fill the vacancy shall serve only for 

19 the unexpired portion of the term for which the individ20 ual’s predecessor was appointed. 

21 (c) CHAIRPERSON.—The Commission shall designate 

22 a Chairperson from among the members of the Commis23 sion. 

24 SEC. 123. POWERS OF THE COMMISSION. 

25 (a) MEETINGS AND HEARINGS.— 


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1 (1) MEETINGS.—The Commission may hold 

2 such hearings, sit and act at such times and places, 

3 take such testimony, and receive such evidence as 

4 the Commission considers advisable to carry out the 

5 purposes of this Act. 

6 (2) QUORUM.—Four members of the Commis7 sion shall constitute a quorum for purposes of vot8 ing, but a quorum is not required for members to 

9 meet and hold hearings. 

10 (b) INFORMATION FROM FEDERAL AGENCIES.—The 

11 Commission may secure directly from any Federal depart12 ment or agency such information as the Commission con13 siders necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act. 

14 Upon request of the Chairperson of the Commission, the 

15 head of such department or agency shall furnish such in16 formation to the Commission. 

17 (c) POSTAL SERVICES.—The Commission may use 

18 the United States mails in the same manner and under 

19 the same conditions as other departments and agencies of 

20 the Federal Government. 

21 (d) GIFTS.—The Commission may accept, use, and 

22 dispose of gifts or donations of services or property. 

23 SEC. 124. ADMINISTRATION. 

24 (a) COMPENSATION OF MEMBERS.— 

25 (1) IN GENERAL.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—Each member, other 

2 than the Chairperson, shall be paid at a rate 

3 equal to the daily equivalent of the minimum 

4 annual rate of basic pay prescribed for level IV 

5 of the Executive Schedule under section 5315 

6 of title 5, United States Code, for each day (in7 cluding travel time) during which such member 

8 is engaged in the performance of the duties of 

9 the Commission. 

10 (B) CHAIRPERSON.—The Chairperson 

11 shall be paid at a rate equal to the daily equiva12 lent of the minimum annual rate of basic pay 

13 prescribed for level III of the Executive Sched14 ule under section 5314 of title 5, United States 

15 Code, for each day (including travel time) dur16 ing which such member is engaged in the per17 formance of the duties of the Commission. 

18 (2) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—Members shall receive 

19 travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsist20 ence, in accordance with sections 5702 and 5703 of 

21 title 5, United States Code, while away from their 

22 homes or regular places of business in performance 

23 of services for the Commission. 

24 (b) PERSONNEL.— 


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1 (1) DIRECTOR.—The Commission shall have a 

2 staff headed by an Executive Director. The Execu3 tive Director shall be paid at a rate equivalent to a 

4 rate established for the Senior Executive Service 

5 under section 5382 of title 5, United States Code. 

6 (2) STAFF APPOINTMENT.—With the approval 

7 of the Chairperson, the Executive Director may ap8 point such personnel as the Executive Director and 

9 the Commission determines to be appropriate. 

10 (3) ACTUARIAL EXPERTS AND CONSULTANTS.— 

11 With the approval of the Chairperson, the Executive 

12 Director may procure temporary and intermittent 

13 services under section 3109(b) of title 5, United 

14 States Code. 

15 (4) DETAIL OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES.— 

16 Upon the request of the Chairperson, the head of 

17 any Federal agency may detail, without reimburse18 ment, any of the personnel of such agency to the 

19 Commission to assist in carrying out the duties of 

20 the Commission. Any such detail shall not interrupt 

21 or otherwise affect the civil service status or privi22 leges of the Federal employee. 

23 (5) OTHER RESOURCES.—The Commission 

24 shall have reasonable access to materials, resources, 

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1 brary of Congress and other agencies and elected 

2 representatives of the executive and legislative 

3 branches of the Federal Government. The Chair4 person of the Commission shall make requests for 

5 such access in writing when necessary. 

6 SEC. 125. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

7 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums 

8 as are necessary to carry out the purposes of this subtitle. 

9 SEC. 126. EXPEDITED CONSIDERATION OF COMMISSION 

10 RECOMMENDATIONS. 

11 (a) INTRODUCTION AND COMMITTEE CONSIDER12 ATION.— 

13 (1) INTRODUCTION.—Not later than 60 days 

14 after the Commission files a report under section 

15 121(b), the Majority Leader of the Senate, or the 

16 Majority Leader’s designee, shall introduce any pro17 posed legislative language submitted by the Commis18 sion under section 121(b)(2)(C) in the Senate (here19 after in this section referred to as a ‘‘Commission 

20 bill’’). 

21 (2) COMMITTEE CONSIDERATION.— 

22 (A) REFERRAL.—A Commission bill intro23 duced in the Senate shall be referred to the 

24 Committee on Rules and Administration of the 

25 Senate. 


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1 (B) REPORTING.—Not later than 60 cal2 endar days after the introduction of the Com3 mission bill, the Committee on Rules and Ad4 ministration shall hold a hearing on the bill and 

5 report the bill to the Senate. No amendment 

6 shall be in order to the bill in the Committee. 

7 (C) DISCHARGE OF COMMITTEE.—If the 

8 Committee on Rules and Administration has 

9 not reported a Commission bill at the end of 60 

10 calendar days after its introduction, such com11 mittee shall be automatically discharged from 

12 further consideration of the Commission bill 

13 and it shall be placed on the appropriate cal14 endar. 

15 (b) EXPEDITED PROCEDURE.— 

16 (1) FLOOR CONSIDERATION IN THE SENATE.— 

17 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 cal18 endar days after the date on which a committee 

19 has reported or has been discharged from con20 sideration of a Commission bill, the Majority 

21 Leader of the Senate, or the Majority Leader’s 

22 designee shall move to proceed to the consider23 ation of the Commission bill. It shall also be in 

24 order for any member of the Senate to move to 


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1 proceed to the consideration of the bill at any 

2 time after the conclusion of such 60-day period. 

3 (B) MOTION TO PROCEED.—A motion to 

4 proceed to the consideration of a Commission 

5 bill is privileged in the Senate. The motion is 

6 not debatable and is not subject to a motion to 

7 postpone consideration of the Commission bill 

8 or to proceed to the consideration of other busi9 ness. A motion to reconsider the vote by which 

10 the motion to proceed is agreed to or not 

11 agreed to shall not be in order. If the motion 

12 to proceed is agreed to, the Senate shall imme13 diately proceed to consideration of the Commis14 sion bill without intervening motion, order, ac15 tion, or other business, and the Commission bill 

16 shall remain the unfinished business of the Sen17 ate until disposed of. 

18 (C) AMENDMENTS, MOTIONS, AND AP19 PEALS.—No amendment shall be in order in the 

20 Senate, and any debatable motion or appeal is 

21 debatable for not to exceed 5 hours to be di22 vided equally between those favoring and those 

23 opposing the motion or appeal. 

24 (D) LIMITED DEBATE.—Consideration in 

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1 batable motions and appeals in connection 

2 therewith, shall be limited to not more than 40 

3 hours, which shall be equally divided between, 

4 and controlled by, the Majority Leader and the 

5 Minority Leader of the Senate or their des6 ignees. A motion further to limit debate on the 

7 Commission bill is in order and is not debat8 able. All time used for consideration of the 

9 Commission bill, including time used for 

10 quorum calls (except quorum calls immediately 

11 preceding a vote), shall come from the 40 hours 

12 of consideration. 

13 (E) VOTE ON PASSAGE.— 

14 (i) IN GENERAL.—The vote on pas15 sage in the Senate of the Commission bill 

16 shall occur immediately following the con17 clusion of the 40-hour period for consider18 ation of the Commission bill under sub19 paragraph (D) and a request to establish 

20 the presence of a quorum. 

21 (ii) OTHER MOTIONS NOT IN

22 ORDER.—A motion in the Senate to post23 pone consideration of the Commission bill, 

24 a motion to proceed to the consideration of 

25 other business, or a motion to recommit 


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1 the Commission bill is not in order. A mo2 tion in the Senate to reconsider the vote by 

3 which the Commission bill is agreed to or 

4 not agreed to is not in order. 

5 (2) FLOOR CONSIDERATION IN THE HOUSE.— 

6 (A) IN GENERAL.—If a Commission bill is 

7 agreed to in the Senate, the Majority Leader of 

8 the House of Representatives, or the Majority 

9 Leader’s designee shall move to proceed to the 

10 consideration of the Commission bill not later 

11 than 30 days after the date the House or Rep12 resentatives receives notice of such agreement. 

13 It shall also be in order for any member of the 

14 House of Representatives to move to proceed to 

15 the consideration of the bill at any time after 

16 the conclusion of such 30-day period. 

17 (B) MOTION TO PROCEED.—A motion to 

18 proceed to the consideration of a Commission 

19 bill is privileged in the House of Representa20 tives. The motion is not debatable and is not 

21 subject to a motion to postpone consideration of 

22 the Commission bill or to proceed to the consid23 eration of other business. A motion to recon24 sider the vote by which the motion to proceed 

25 is agreed to or not agreed to shall not be in 


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1 order. If the motion to proceed is agreed to, the 

2 House of Representatives shall immediately pro3 ceed to consideration of the Commission bill 

4 without intervening motion, order, action, or 

5 other business, and the Commission bill shall 

6 remain the unfinished business of the House of 

7 Representatives until disposed of. 

8 (C) AMENDMENTS, MOTIONS, AND AP9 PEALS.—No amendment shall be in order in the 

10 House of Representatives, and any debatable 

11 motion or appeal is debatable for not to exceed 

12 5 hours to be divided equally between those fa13 voring and those opposing the motion or appeal. 

14 (D) LIMITED DEBATE.—Consideration in 

15 the House of Representatives of the Commis16 sion bill and on all debatable motions and ap17 peals in connection therewith, shall be limited 

18 to not more than 40 hours, which shall be 

19 equally divided between, and controlled by, the 

20 Majority Leader and the Minority Leader of the 

21 House of Representatives or their designees. A 

22 motion further to limit debate on the Commis23 sion bill is in order and is not debatable. All 

24 time used for consideration of the Commission 

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1 cept quorum calls immediately preceding a 

2 vote), shall come from the 40 hours of consider3 ation. 

4 (E) VOTE ON PASSAGE.— 

5 (i) IN GENERAL.—The vote on pas6 sage in the House of Representatives of 

7 the Commission bill shall occur imme8 diately following the conclusion of the 40- 

9 hour period for consideration of the Com10 mission bill under subparagraph (D) and a 

11 request to establish the presence of a 

12 quorum. 

13 (ii) OTHER MOTIONS NOT IN

14 ORDER.—A motion in the House of Rep15 resentatives to postpone consideration of 

16 the Commission bill, a motion to proceed 

17 to the consideration of other business, or a 

18 motion to recommit the Commission bill is 

19 not in order. A motion in the House of 

20 Representatives to reconsider the vote by 

21 which the Commission bill is agreed to or 

22 not agreed to is not in order. 

23 (c) RULES OF SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTA24 TIVES.—This section is enacted by Congress— 


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1 (1) as an exercise of the rulemaking power of 

2 the Senate and House of Representatives, respec3 tively, and as such it is deemed a part of the rules 

4 of each House, respectively, but applicable only with 

5 respect to the procedure to be followed in that 

6 House in the case of a Commission bill, and it su7 persedes other rules only to the extent that it is in8 consistent with such rules, and 

9 (2) with full recognition of the constitutional 

10 right of either House to change the rules (so far as 

11 relating to the procedure of that House) at any time, 

12 in the same manner, and to the same extent as in 

13 the case of any other rule of that House. 

14 TITLE II—VOTER INFORMATION 

15 SEC. 201. BROADCASTS RELATING TO CANDIDATES. 

16 (a) LOWEST UNIT CHARGE; NATIONAL COMMIT17 TEES.—Section 315(b) of the Communications Act of 

18 1934 (47 U.S.C. 315(b)) is amended— 

19 (1) by striking ‘‘to such office’’ in paragraph 

20 (1) and inserting ‘‘to such office, or by a national 

21 committee of a political party on behalf of such can22 didate in connection with such campaign,’’; and 

23 (2) by inserting ‘‘for pre-emptible use thereof’’ 

24 after ‘‘station’’ in subparagraph (A) of paragraph 

25 (1). 


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1 (b) BROADCAST RATES.—Section 315(b) of the Com2 munications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 315(b)), as amended 

3 by subsection (a), is amended— 

4 (1) in paragraph (1)(A), by striking ‘‘paragraph 

5 (2)’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraphs (2) and (3)’’; and 

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

7 ‘‘(3) PARTICIPATING CANDIDATES.—In the case 

8 of a participating candidate (as defined under sec9 tion 501(10) of the Federal Election Campaign Act 

10 of 1971), the charges made for the use any broad11 casting station for a television broadcast shall not 

12 exceed 80 percent of the lowest charge described in 

13 paragraph (1)(A) during— 

14 ‘‘(A) the 45 days preceding the date of a 

15 primary or primary runoff election in which the 

16 candidate is opposed; and 

17 ‘‘(B) the 60 days preceding the date of a 

18 general or special election in which the can19 didate is opposed. 

20 ‘‘(4) RATE CARDS.—A licensee shall provide to 

21 a candidate for Senate a rate card that discloses— 

22 ‘‘(A) the rate charged under this sub23 section; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) the method that the licensee uses to 

2 determine the rate charged under this sub3 section.’’. 

4 (c) PREEMPTION; AUDITS.—Section 315 of such Act 

5 (47 U.S.C. 315) is amended— 

6 (1) by redesignating subsections (f) and (g) as 

7 subsections (e) and (f), respectively and moving 

8 them to follow the existing subsection (e); 

9 (2) by redesignating the existing subsection (e) 

10 as subsection (c); and 

11 (3) by inserting after subsection (c) (as redesig12 nated by paragraph (2)) the following: 

13 ‘‘(d) PREEMPTION.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para15 graph (2), and notwithstanding the requirements of 

16 subsection (b)(1)(A), a licensee shall not preempt 

17 the use of a broadcasting station by a legally quali18 fied candidate for Senate who has purchased and 

19 paid for such use. 

20 ‘‘(2) CIRCUMSTANCES BEYOND CONTROL OF LI21 CENSEE.—If a program to be broadcast by a broad22 casting station is preempted because of cir23 cumstances beyond the control of the station, any 

24 candidate or party advertising spot scheduled to be 

25 broadcast during that program shall be treated in 


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1 the same fashion as a comparable commercial adver2 tising spot. 

3 ‘‘(e) AUDITS.—During the 45-day period preceding 

4 a primary election and the 60-day period preceding a gen5 eral election, the Commission shall conduct such audits 

6 as it deems necessary to ensure that each broadcaster to 

7 which this section applies is allocating television broadcast 

8 advertising time in accordance with this section and sec9 tion 312.’’. 

10 (d) REVOCATION OF LICENSE FOR FAILURE TO PER11 MIT ACCESS.—Section 312(a)(7) of the Communications 

12 Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 312(a)(7)) is amended— 

13 (1) by striking ‘‘or repeated’’; 

14 (2) by inserting ‘‘or cable system’’ after ‘‘broad15 casting station’’; and 

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

17 ‘‘the candidacy of the candidate, under the same 

18 terms, conditions, and business practices as apply to 

19 the most favored advertiser of the licensee’’. 

20 (e) STYLISTIC AMENDMENTS.—Section 315 of such 

21 Act (47 U.S.C. 315) is amended— 

22 (1) by striking ‘‘the’’ in subsection (f)(1), as re23 designated by subsection (b)(1), and inserting 

24 ‘‘BROADCASTING STATION.—’’; 


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1 (2) by striking ‘‘the’’ in subsection (f)(2), as re2 designated by subsection (b)(1), and inserting ‘‘LI3 CENSEE; STATION LICENSEE.—’’; and 

4 (3) by inserting ‘‘REGULATIONS.—’’ in sub5 section (g), as redesignated by subsection (b)(1), be6 fore ‘‘The Commission’’. 

7 SEC. 202. POLITICAL ADVERTISEMENT VOUCHERS FOR 

8 PARTICIPATING CANDIDATES. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title III of the Communications 

10 Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 301 et seq.) is amended by insert11 ing after section 315 the following: 

12 ‘‘SEC. 315A. POLITICAL ADVERTISEMENT VOUCHER PRO13 GRAM. 

14 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall establish 

15 and administer a voucher program for the purchase of 

16 airtime on broadcasting stations for political advertise17 ments in accordance with the provisions of this section. 

18 ‘‘(b) CANDIDATES.—The Commission shall only dis19 burse vouchers under the program established under sub20 section (a) to individuals who meet the following require21 ments: 

22 ‘‘(1) QUALIFICATION.—The individual is cer23 tified by the Federal Election Commission as a par24 ticipating candidate (as defined under section 

25 501(10) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 


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1 1971) with respect to a general election for Federal 

2 office under section 508 of the Federal Election 

3 Campaign Act of 1971. 

4 ‘‘(2) AGREEMENT.—The individual has agreed 

5 in writing— 

6 ‘‘(A) to keep and furnish to the Federal 

7 Election Commission such records, books, and 

8 other information as it may require; and 

9 ‘‘(B) to repay to the Federal Communica10 tions Commission, if the Federal Election Com11 mission revokes the certification of the indi12 vidual as a participating candidate (as so de13 fined), an amount equal to the dollar value of 

14 vouchers which were received from the Commis15 sion and used by the candidate. 

16 ‘‘(c) AMOUNTS.—The Commission shall disburse 

17 vouchers to each candidate certified under subsection (b) 

18 in an aggregate amount equal to $100,000 multiplied by 

19 the number of congressional districts in the State with re20 spect to which such candidate is running for office. 

21 ‘‘(d) USE.— 

22 ‘‘(1) EXCLUSIVE USE.—Vouchers disbursed by 

23 the Commission under this section may be used only 

24 for the purchase of broadcast airtime for political 

25 advertisements relating to a general election for the 


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1 office of Senate by the participating candidate to 

2 which the vouchers were disbursed, except that— 

3 ‘‘(A) a candidate may exchange vouchers 

4 with a political party under paragraph (2); and 

5 ‘‘(B) a political party may use vouchers 

6 only to purchase broadcast airtime for political 

7 advertisements for generic party advertising, to 

8 support candidates for State or local office in a 

9 general election, or to support participating 

10 candidates of the party in a general election for 

11 Federal office, but only if it discloses the value 

12 of the voucher used as an expenditure under 

13 section 315(d) of the Federal Election Cam14 paign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441(d)). 

15 ‘‘(2) EXCHANGE WITH POLITICAL PARTY COM16 MITTEE.— 

17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An individual who re18 ceives a voucher under this section may transfer 

19 the right to use all or a portion of the value of 

20 the voucher to a committee of the political 

21 party of which the individual is a candidate in 

22 exchange for money in an amount equal to the 

23 cash value of the voucher or portion exchanged. 

24 ‘‘(B) CONTINUATION OF CANDIDATE OBLI25 GATIONS.—The transfer of a voucher, in whole 


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1 or in part, to a political party committee under 

2 this paragraph does not release the candidate 

3 from any obligation under the agreement made 

4 under subsection (b)(2) or otherwise modify 

5 that agreement or its application to that can6 didate. 

7 ‘‘(C) PARTY COMMITTEE OBLIGATIONS.— 

8 Any political party committee to which a vouch9 er or portion thereof is transferred under sub10 paragraph (A)— 

11 ‘‘(i) shall account fully, in accordance 

12 with such requirements as the Commission 

13 may establish, for the receipt of the vouch14 er; and 

15 ‘‘(ii) may not use the transferred 

16 voucher or portion thereof for any purpose 

17 other than a purpose described in para18 graph (1)(B). 

19 ‘‘(D) VOUCHER AS A CONTRIBUTION

20 UNDER FECA.—If a candidate transfers a 

21 voucher or any portion thereof to a political 

22 party committee under subparagraph (A)— 

23 ‘‘(i) the value of the voucher or por24 tion thereof transferred shall be treated as 

25 a contribution from the candidate to the 


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1 committee, and from the committee to the 

2 candidate, for purposes of sections 302 

3 and 304 of the Federal Election Campaign 

4 Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 432 and 434); 

5 ‘‘(ii) the committee may, in exchange, 

6 provide to the candidate only funds subject 

7 to the prohibitions, limitations, and report8 ing requirements of the Federal Election 

9 Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431 et 

10 seq.); and 

11 ‘‘(iii) the amount, if identified as a 

12 ‘voucher exchange’ shall not be considered 

13 a contribution for the purposes of sections 

14 315 or 506 of that Act. 

15 ‘‘(e) VALUE; ACCEPTANCE; REDEMPTION.— 

16 ‘‘(1) VOUCHER.—Each voucher disbursed by 

17 the Commission under this section shall have a value 

18 in dollars, redeemable upon presentation to the 

19 Commission, together with such documentation and 

20 other information as the Commission may require, 

21 for the purchase of broadcast airtime for political 

22 advertisements in accordance with this section. 

23 ‘‘(2) ACCEPTANCE.—A broadcasting station 

24 shall accept vouchers in payment for the purchase of 


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1 broadcast airtime for political advertisements in ac2 cordance with this section. 

3 ‘‘(3) REDEMPTION.—The Commission shall re4 deem vouchers accepted by broadcasting stations 

5 under paragraph (2) upon presentation, subject to 

6 such documentation, verification, accounting, and 

7 application requirements as the Commission may im8 pose to ensure the accuracy and integrity of the 

9 voucher redemption system. The Commission shall 

10 use amounts in the Political Advertising Voucher 

11 Account established under subsection (f) to redeem 

12 vouchers presented under this subsection. 

13 ‘‘(4) EXPIRATION.— 

14 ‘‘(A) CANDIDATES.—A voucher may only 

15 be used to pay for broadcast airtime for polit16 ical advertisements to be broadcast before mid17 night on the day before the date of the Federal 

18 election in connection with which it was issued 

19 and shall be null and void for any other use or 

20 purpose. 

21 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION FOR POLITICAL PARTY

22 COMMITTEES.—A voucher held by a political 

23 party committee may be used to pay for broad24 cast airtime for political advertisements to be 

25 broadcast before midnight on December 31st of 


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1 the odd-numbered year following the year in 

2 which the voucher was issued by the Commis3 sion. 

4 ‘‘(5) VOUCHER AS EXPENDITURE UNDER

5 FECA.— 

6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

7 subparagraph (B), for purposes of the Federal 

8 Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431 

9 et seq.), the use of a voucher to purchase 

10 broadcast airtime constitutes an expenditure as 

11 defined in section 301(9)(A) of that Act (2 

12 U.S.C. 431(9)(A)). 

13 ‘‘(B) PARTICIPATING CANDIDATES.—The 

14 use of a voucher to purchase broadcast airtime 

15 by a participating candidate shall not constitute 

16 an expenditure for purposes of section 506 of 

17 such Act. 

18 ‘‘(f) POLITICAL ADVERTISING VOUCHER AC19 COUNT.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall es21 tablish an account to be known as the Political Ad22 vertising Voucher Account, which shall be credited 

23 with commercial television and radio spectrum use 

24 fees assessed under this subsection, together with 

25 any amounts repaid or otherwise reimbursed under 


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1 this section or section 508(b)(2)(B) of the Federal 

2 Election Campaign Act of 1971. 

3 ‘‘(2) SPECTRUM USE FEE.— 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall 

5 assess, and collect annually, from each broad6 cast station, a spectrum use fee in an amount 

7 equal to 2 percent of each broadcasting sta8 tion’s gross advertising revenues for such year. 

9 ‘‘(B) AVAILABILITY.— 

10 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Any amount as11 sessed and collected under this paragraph 

12 shall be used by the Commission as an off13 setting collection for the purposes of mak14 ing disbursements under this section, ex15 cept that— 

16 ‘‘(I) the salaries and expenses ac17 count of the Commission shall be 

18 credited with such sums as are nec19 essary from those amounts for the 

20 costs of developing and implementing 

21 the program established by this sec22 tion; and 

23 ‘‘(II) the Commission may reim24 burse the Federal Election CommisVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:04 May 05, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00075 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1285.IS S1285

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1 sion for any expenses incurred by the 

2 Commission under this section. 

3 ‘‘(ii) DEPOSIT OF EXCESS FEES INTO

4 SENATE FAIR ELECTIONS FUND.—If the 

5 amount assessed and collected under this 

6 paragraph for years in any election period 

7 exceeds the amount necessary for making 

8 disbursements under this section for such 

9 election period, the Commission shall de10 posit such excess in the Senate Fair Elec11 tions Fund. 

12 ‘‘(C) FEE DOES NOT APPLY TO PUBLIC

13 BROADCASTING STATIONS.—Subparagraph (A) 

14 does not apply to a public telecommunications 

15 entity (as defined in section 397(12) of this 

16 Act). 

17 ‘‘(3) ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS.—Except as 

18 otherwise provided in this subsection, section 9 of 

19 this Act applies to the assessment and collection of 

20 fees under this subsection to the same extent as if 

21 those fees were regulatory fees imposed under sec22 tion 9. 

23 ‘‘(g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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1 ‘‘(1) BROADCASTING STATION.—The term 

2 ‘broadcasting station’ has the meaning given that 

3 term by section 315(f)(1) of this Act. 

4 ‘‘(2) FEDERAL ELECTION.—The term ‘Federal 

5 election’ means any regularly-scheduled, primary, 

6 runoff, or special election held to nominate or elect 

7 a candidate to Federal office. 

8 ‘‘(3) FEDERAL OFFICE.—The term ‘Federal of9 fice’ has the meaning given that term by section 

10 301(3) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 

11 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431(3)). 

12 ‘‘(4) POLITICAL PARTY.—The term ‘political 

13 party’ means a major party or a minor party as de14 fined in section 9002(3) or (4) of the Internal Rev15 enue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. 9002(3) or (4)). 

16 ‘‘(5) OTHER TERMS.—Except as otherwise pro17 vided in this section, any term used in this section 

18 that is defined in section 301 or 501 of the Federal 

19 Election Campaign of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431) has the 

20 meaning given that term by either such section of 

21 that Act. 

22 ‘‘(h) REGULATIONS.—The Commission shall pre23 scribe such regulations as may be necessary to carry out 

24 the provisions of this section. In developing the regulaVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:04 May 05, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00077 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1285.IS S1285

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1 tions, the Commission shall consult with the Federal Elec2 tion Commission.’’. 

3 SEC. 203. FCC TO PRESCRIBE STANDARDIZED FORM FOR 

4 REPORTING CANDIDATE CAMPAIGN ADS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Within 90 days after the date of 

6 enactment of this Act, the Federal Communications Com7 mission shall initiate a rulemaking proceeding to establish 

8 a standardized form to be used by broadcasting stations, 

9 as defined in section 315(f)(1) of the Communications Act 

10 of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 315(f)(1)), to record and report the 

11 purchase of advertising time by or on behalf of a candidate 

12 for nomination for election, or for election, to Federal elec13 tive office. 

14 (b) CONTENTS.—The form prescribed by the Com15 mission under subsection (a) shall require, broadcasting 

16 stations to report, at a minimum— 

17 (1) the station call letters and mailing address; 

18 (2) the name and telephone number of the sta19 tion’s sales manager (or individual with responsi20 bility for advertising sales); 

21 (3) the name of the candidate who purchased 

22 the advertising time, or on whose behalf the adver23 tising time was purchased, and the Federal elective 

24 office for which he or she is a candidate; 


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1 (4) the name, mailing address, and telephone 

2 number of the person responsible for purchasing 

3 broadcast political advertising for the candidate; 

4 (5) notation as to whether the purchase agree5 ment for which the information is being reported is 

6 a draft or final version; and 

7 (6) the following information about the adver8 tisement: 

9 (A) The date and time of the broadcast. 

10 (B) The program in which the advertise11 ment was broadcast. 

12 (C) The length of the broadcast airtime. 

13 (c) INTERNET ACCESS.—In its rulemaking under 

14 subsection (a), the Commission shall require any broad15 casting station required to file a report under this section 

16 that maintains an Internet website to make available a 

17 link to such reports on that website. 

18 SEC. 204. LIMIT ON CONGRESSIONAL USE OF THE FRANK19 ING PRIVILEGE. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 3210(a)(6) of title 39, 

21 United States Code, is amended by striking subparagraph 

22 (A) and inserting the following: 

23 ‘‘(A)(i) Except as provided in clause (ii), Member of 

24 Congress or a Congressional Committee or Subcommittee 

25 of which such Member is Chairman or Ranking Member 


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1 shall not mail any mass mailing as franked mail during 

2 the period which begins 90 days before date of the primary 

3 election and ends on the date of the general election with 

4 respect to any Federal office which such Member holds, 

5 unless the Member has made a public announcement that 

6 the Member will not be a candidate for reelection to such 

7 office in that year. 

8 ‘‘(ii) A Member of Congress or a Congressional Com9 mittee or Subcommittee of which such Member is Chair10 man or Ranking Member may mail a mass mailing as 

11 franked mail if— 

12 ‘‘(I) the purpose of the mailing is to commu13 nicate information about a public meeting; and 

14 ‘‘(II) the content of the mailed matter includes 

15 only the name of the Member, Committee, or Sub16 committee, as appropriate, and the date, time, and 

17 place of the public meeting.’’. 

18 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

19 (1) Section 3210(a)(6) of title 39, United 

20 States Code, is amended by striking subparagraph 

21 (B) and by redesignating subparagraphs (C) 

22 through (F) as subparagraphs (B) through (E), re23 spectively. 

24 (2) Section 3210(a)(6)(E) of title 39, United 

25 States Code, as redesignated by paragraph (1), is 


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1 amended by striking ‘‘subparagraphs (A) and (C)’’ 

2 and inserting ‘‘subparagraphs (A) and (B)’’. 

3 TITLE III—RESPONSIBILITIES 

4 OF THE FEDERAL ELECTION 

5 COMMISSION 

6 SEC. 301. PETITION FOR CERTIORARI. 

7 Section 307(a)(6) of the Federal Election Campaign 

8 Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 437d(a)(6)) is amended by insert9 ing ‘‘(including a proceeding before the Supreme Court on 

10 certiorari)’’ after ‘‘appeal’’. 

11 SEC. 302. FILING BY SENATE CANDIDATES WITH COMMIS12 SION. 

13 Section 302(g) of the Federal Election Campaign Act 

14 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 432(g)) is amended to read as follows: 

15 ‘‘(g) FILING WITH THE COMMISSION.—All des16 ignations, statements, and reports required to be 

17 filed under this Act shall be filed with the Commis18 sion.’’. 

19 SEC. 303. ELECTRONIC FILING OF FEC REPORTS. 

20 Section 304(a)(11) of the Federal Election Campaign 

21 Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 434(a)(11)) is amended— 

22 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘under 

23 this Act—’’ and all that follows and inserting 

24 ‘‘under this Act shall be required to maintain and 


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1 file such designation, statement, or report in elec2 tronic form accessible by computers.’’; 

3 (2) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘48 

4 hours’’ and all that follows through ‘‘filed electroni5 cally)’’ and inserting ‘‘24 hours’’; and 

6 (3) by striking subparagraph (D). 

7 TITLE IV—MISCELLANEOUS 

8 PROVISIONS 

9 SEC. 401. SEVERABILITY. 

10 If any provision of this Act or amendment made by 

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

12 to any person or circumstance, is held to be unconstitu13 tional, the remainder of this Act and amendments made 

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

15 amendment to any person or circumstance, shall not be 

16 affected by the holding. 

17 SEC. 402. REVIEW OF CONSTITUTIONAL ISSUES. 

18 An appeal may be taken directly to the Supreme 

19 Court of the United States from any final judgment, de20 cree, or order issued by any court ruling on the constitu21 tionality of any provision of this Act or amendment made 

22 by this Act. 


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1 SEC. 403. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

2 Except as otherwise provided for in this Act, this Act 

3 and the amendments made by this Act shall take effect 

4 on January 1, 2008. 

Æ 


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