II 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2392

To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to require candidates 

to stand by their printed and Internet advertising, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 6, 2004

Mr. WYDEN (for himself and Mr. GRAHAM of South Carolina) introduced the 

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Rules and Administration 

A BILL

To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to 

require candidates to stand by their printed and Internet 

advertising, and for other purposes.

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Political Candidate 

5 Personal Responsibility Act of 2004’’. 
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•S 2392 IS 

1 SEC. 2. ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR PUBLIC COMMU2 NICATIONS BY CANDIDATES FOR FEDERAL 

3 OFFICE. 

4 (a) PRINTED MEDIA.—Section 318(c) of the Federal 

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

6 amended—

7 (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by 

8 inserting ‘‘, including a printed communication that 

9 is transmitted through the Internet,’’ after ‘‘sub10 section (a)’’; 

11 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘and’’ after 

12 the semicolon at the end; 

13 (3) in paragraph (3), by striking the period and 

14 inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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

16 ‘‘(4) if the communication is described in para17 graph (1) or (2) of subsection (a) and makes any di18 rect reference to another candidate for the same of19 fice—

20 ‘‘(A) include a clearly identifiable photo21 graphic or similar image of the candidate; 

22 ‘‘(B) include a clearly readable printed 

23 statement identifying the candidate and stating 

24 that the candidate has approved the commu25 nication; and 
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•S 2392 IS 

1 ‘‘(C) occupy no less than 10 percent of the 

2 total area of the communication.’’. 

3 (b) INTERNET AND PRERECORDED TELEPHONE

4 COMMUNICATIONS.—

5 (1) AUDIO AND VIDEO INTERNET COMMUNICA6 TIONS.—Section 318(d)(1) of the Federal Election 

7 Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441d(d)(1)) is 

8 amended by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘(C) BY INTERNET.—Any communication 

10 described in paragraph (1) or (2) of subsection 

11 (a) which is transmitted through the Internet 

12 and which makes any direct reference to an13 other candidate for the same office shall—

14 ‘‘(i) in the case of an audio commu15 nication, meet the requirements applicable 

16 to communications transmitted through 

17 radio under subparagraph (A); and 

18 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a video commu19 nication, meet the requirements applicable 

20 to communications transmitted through 

21 television under subparagraph (B).’’. 

22 (2) PRERECORDED TELEPHONE COMMUNICA23 TIONS.—Section 318 of the Federal Election Cam24 paign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441d) is amended—
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•S 2392 IS 

1 (A) in subsection (a), by inserting ‘‘tele2 phone call which consists in substantial part of 

3 a prerecorded audio message’’ after ‘‘mailing,’’ 

4 each place it appears in the matter preceding 

5 paragraph (1); and 

6 (B) in subsection (d)(1), as amended by 

7 paragraph (1), by adding at the end the fol8 lowing: 

9 ‘‘(D) BY PRERECORDED TELEPHONE

10 CALL.—

11 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Any communica12 tion described in paragraph (1) or (2) of 

13 subsection (a) which is a telephone call 

14 which consists in substantial part of a 

15 prerecorded audio message and which 

16 makes any direct reference to another can17 didate for the same office shall meet the 

18 requirements applicable to communications 

19 transmitted through radio under subpara20 graph (A). 

21 ‘‘(ii) EXCEPTIONS.—The requirements 

22 of this subparagraph shall not apply to a 

23 communication that is—
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•S 2392 IS 

1 ‘‘(I) terminated by or at the re2 quest of the recipient of the commu3 nication after less than 30 seconds; or 

4 ‘‘(II) not initiated by the party 

5 making the communication.’’. 

6 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

7 this section shall apply to communications made after the 

8 date that is 180 days after the date of enactment of this 

9 Act.

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