I

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 600

To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to reform the financing

of Federal election campaigns, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 5, 1997

Mr. FARR of California (for himself, Mr. GEPHARDT, Mr. BONIOR, Mr. FAZIO

of California, Mr. ACKERMAN, Mr. BALDACCI, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr.

BORSKI, Mr. BROWN of California, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. COYNE, Mr.

CRAMER, Mr. DELAHUNT, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. ENGEL, Ms. ESHOO, Mr.

FALEOMAVAEGA, Mr. FATTAH, Mr. FORD, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts,

Ms. FURSE, Mr. GEJDENSON, Mr. HALL of Ohio, Mr. HEFNER, Mr.

HINCHEY, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON

of Texas, Mr. KENNEDY of Massachusetts, Mr. KENNEDY of Rhode Island, Mr. KLECZKA, Mr. LAFALCE, Mrs. LOWEY, Mrs. MALONEY of New

York, Mr. MANTON, Mr. MASCARA, Ms. MCCARTHY of Missouri, Ms.

MILLENDER-MCDONALD, Mr. MINGE, Mrs. MINK of Hawaii, Mr. MORAN

of Virginia, Ms. NORTON, Mr. OLVER, Mr. OWENS, Ms. PELOSI, Ms. RIVERS, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. SPRATT, Mr. TORRES, Mr. VENTO, Ms. WOOLSEY, Mr. UNDERWOOD, Mr. WISE, Mr. DINGELL, Mr. DELLUMS, Mr.

ABERCROMBIE, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. MATSUI, Mrs. THURMAN,

Mr. DEFAZIO, and Mrs. MEEK of Florida) introduced the following bill;

which was referred to the Committee on House Oversight, and in addition

to the Committees on Ways and Means, Commerce, Government Reform

and Oversight, and Rules, for a period to be subsequently determined by

the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

A BILL

To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to

reform the financing of Federal election campaigns, and

for other purposes.
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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 ‘‘American Political Reform Act’’.

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

7 this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.

TITLE I—CONGRESSIONAL CAMPAIGN SPENDING LIMITS AND

BENEFITS

Subtitle A—Election Campaign Spending Limits and Benefits

Sec. 101. Spending limits and benefits.

Subtitle B—Limitations on Contributions to House of Representatives

Candidates

Sec. 121. Limitations on political committees.

Sec. 122. Limitations on political committee and large donor contributions that

may be accepted by House of Representatives candidates.

Subtitle C—Related Provisions

Sec. 131. Reporting requirements.

Sec. 132. Registration as eligible House of Representatives candidate.

Sec. 133. Definitions.

Subtitle D—Tax on Excess Political Expenditures of Certain Congressional

Campaign Funds

Sec. 141. Tax treatment of certain campaign funds.

TITLE II—INDEPENDENT EXPENDITURES

Sec. 201. Clarification of definitions relating to independent expenditures.

Sec. 202. Reporting requirements for certain independent expenditures.

TITLE III—CONTRIBUTIONS AND EXPENDITURES BY POLITICAL

PARTY COMMITTEES

Sec. 301. Definitions.

Sec. 302. Contributions to political party committees.

Sec. 303. Increase in the amount that multicandidate political committees may

contribute to national political party committees.

Sec. 304. Merchandising and affinity cards.

Sec. 305. Provisions relating to national, State, and local party committees.

Sec. 306. Restrictions on fundraising by candidates and officeholders.

Sec. 307. Reporting requirements.
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TITLE IV—CONTRIBUTIONS

Sec. 401. Restrictions on bundling.

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

Sec. 403. Prohibition of acceptance by a candidate of cash contributions from

any one person aggregating more than $100.

Sec. 404. Contributions to candidates from State and local committees of political parties to be aggregated.

Sec. 405. Prohibition of false representation to solicit contributions.

Sec. 406. Limited exclusion of advances by campaign workers from the definition of the term ‘‘contribution’’.

Sec. 407. Amendment to section 316 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of

1971.

Sec. 408. Prohibition of certain election-related activities of foreign nationals.

TITLE V—REPORTING REQUIREMENTS

Sec. 501. Change in certain reporting from a calendar year basis to an election

cycle basis.

Sec. 502. Disclosure of personal and consulting services.

Sec. 503. Political committees other than candidate committees.

Sec. 504. Use of candidates’ names.

Sec. 505. Reporting requirements.

Sec. 506. Simultaneous registration of candidate and candidate’s principal campaign committee.

Sec. 507. Reporting on general campaign activities of persons other than political parties.

TITLE VI—BROADCAST RATES AND CAMPAIGN ADVERTISING

Sec. 601. Broadcast rates and campaign advertising.

Sec. 602. Campaign advertising amendments.

Sec. 603. Eligibility for nonprofit third class bulk rates of postage.

TITLE VII—MISCELLANEOUS

Sec. 701. Prohibition of leadership committees.

Sec. 702. Appearance by Federal Election Commission as amici curiae.

Sec. 703. Prohibiting solicitation of contributions by members in hall of the

House of Representatives.

TITLE VIII—EFFECTIVE DATES; AUTHORIZATIONS

Sec. 801. Effective date.

Sec. 802. Severability.

Sec. 803. Expedited review of constitutional issues.

Sec. 804. Regulations.
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1 TITLE I—CONGRESSIONAL CAM2 PAIGN SPENDING LIMITS AND

3 BENEFITS

4 Subtitle A—Election Campaign

5 Spending Limits and Benefits

6 SEC. 101. SPENDING LIMITS AND BENEFITS.

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

8 Act of 1971 is amended by adding at the end the following

9 new title:

10 ‘‘TITLE V—ELECTION SPENDING

11 LIMITS AND BENEFITS

‘‘TITLE V—ELECTION SPENDING LIMITS AND BENEFITS

‘‘Subtitle A—Election Campaigns for the House of Representatives

‘‘Sec. 501. Expenditure limitations.

‘‘Sec. 502. Personal contribution limitations.

‘‘Sec. 503. Definition.

‘‘Subtitle B—Administrative Provisions

‘‘Sec. 511. Certifications by Commission.

‘‘Sec. 512. Examination and audits; repayments and civil penalties.

‘‘Sec. 513. Judicial review.

‘‘Sec. 514. Reports to Congress; certifications; regulations.

‘‘Sec. 515. Closed captioning requirement for television commercials of eligible

candidates.

‘‘Subtitle C—Congressional Election Campaign Fund

‘‘Sec. 521. Establishment and operation of the Fund.

‘‘Sec. 522. Designation of receipts to the Fund.
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1 ‘‘Subtitle A—Election Campaigns

2 for the House of Representatives

3 ‘‘SEC. 501. EXPENDITURE LIMITATIONS.

4 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—An eligible House of Representa5 tives candidate may not, in an election cycle, make expend6 itures aggregating more than $600,000.

7 ‘‘(b) RUNOFF ELECTION AND SPECIAL ELECTION

8 AMOUNTS.—

9 ‘‘(1) RUNOFF ELECTION AMOUNT.—If an eligi10 ble House of Representatives candidate is a can11 didate in a runoff election, the candidate may make

12 additional expenditures aggregating not more than

13 $200,000 in the election cycle.

14 ‘‘(2) SPECIAL ELECTION AMOUNT.—An eligible

15 House of Representatives candidate who is a can16 didate in a special election may make expenditures

17 aggregating not more than $600,000 with respect to

18 the special election.

19 ‘‘(c) CLOSELY CONTESTED PRIMARY.—If, as deter20 mined by the Commission, an eligible House of Represent21 atives candidate in a contested primary election wins that

22 primary election by a margin of 20 percentage points or

23 less, the candidate may make additional expenditures ag24 gregating not more than $200,000 in the election cycle.

25 ‘‘(d) EXCEPTIONS TO LIMITATIONS.—
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1 ‘‘(1) NONPARTICIPATING OPPONENT.—The lim2 itations imposed by subsections (a) and (b) do not

3 apply in the case of an eligible House of Representa4 tives candidate if any other general election can5 didate seeking nomination or election to that of6 fice—

7 ‘‘(A) is not an eligible House of Represent8 atives candidate; and

9 ‘‘(B) makes expenditures in excess of 30

10 percent of the limitation under subsection (a).

11 ‘‘(2) INDEPENDENT EXPENDITURES AGAINST

12 ELIGIBLE CANDIDATE.—The limitations imposed by

13 subsections (a) and (b) do not apply in the case of

14 an eligible House of Representatives candidate if the

15 total amount of independent expenditures made dur16 ing the election cycle on behalf of candidates oppos17 ing such eligible candidate exceeds $15,000.

18 ‘‘(3) CONTINUED ELIGIBILITY FOR BENE19 FITS.—An eligible House of Representatives can20 didate referred to in paragraph (1) or paragraph (2)

21 shall continue to be eligible for all benefits under

22 this title.

23 ‘‘(e) EXEMPTION FOR LEGAL COSTS AND TAXES.—

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any costs incurred by an

25 eligible House of Representatives candidate or his or
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1 her authorized committee, or a Federal officeholder,

2 for qualified legal services, for Federal, State, or

3 local income taxes on earnings of a candidate’s au4 thorized committees, or to comply with section 512

5 shall not be considered in the computation of

6 amounts subject to limitation under this section.

7 ‘‘(2) QUALIFIED LEGAL SERVICES.—For pur8 poses of this subsection, the term ‘qualified legal

9 services’ means—

10 ‘‘(A) any legal service performed on behalf

11 of an authorized committee; or

12 ‘‘(B) any legal service performed on behalf

13 of a candidate or Federal officeholder in con14 nection with his or her duties or activities as a

15 candidate or Federal officeholder.

16 ‘‘(f) EXEMPTION FOR FUNDRAISING OR ACCOUNTING

17 COSTS.—Any costs incurred by an eligible House of Rep18 resentatives candidate or his or her authorized committee

19 in connection with the solicitation of contributions on be20 half of such candidate, or for accounting services to ensure

21 compliance with this Act, shall not be considered in the

22 computation of amounts subject to expenditure limitation

23 under subsection (a) to the extent that the aggregate of

24 such costs does not exceed 10 percent of the expenditure

25 limitation under subsection (a).
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1 ‘‘(g) INDEXING.—The dollar amounts specified in

2 subsections (a), (b), and (c) shall be adjusted at the begin3 ning of each calendar year based on the increase in the

4 price index determined under section 315(c), except that,

5 for the purposes of such adjustment, the base period shall

6 be calendar year 1996.

7 ‘‘(h) RECALL ACTIONS.—The limitations of this sec8 tion do not apply in the case of any recall action held pur9 suant to State law.

10 ‘‘SEC. 502. PERSONAL CONTRIBUTION LIMITATIONS.

11 ‘‘(a) PERSONAL CONTRIBUTIONS.—An eligible House

12 of Representatives candidate may not, with respect to an

13 election cycle, make contributions or loans to the can14 didate’s own campaign totaling more than $50,000 from

15 the personal funds of the candidate. Contributions from

16 the personal funds of a candidate may not qualify for cer17 tification for voter benefits under this title.

18 ‘‘(b) LIMITATION EXCEPTION.—The limitation im19 posed by subsection (a) does not apply—

20 ‘‘(1) in the case of an eligible House of Rep21 resentatives candidate if any other general election

22 candidate for that office makes contributions or

23 loans to the candidate’s own campaign totaling more

24 than $50,000 from the personal funds of the can25 didate; or
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1 ‘‘(2) with respect to any contribution or loan

2 used for costs described in section 501 (e) or (f).

3 ‘‘(c) AGGREGATION.—For purposes of subsection (a),

4 any contribution or loan to a candidate’s campaign by a

5 member of a candidate’s immediate family shall be treated

6 as made by the candidate.

7 ‘‘SEC. 503. DEFINITION.

8 ‘‘As used in this title, the term ‘benefits’ means, with

9 respect to an eligible House of Representatives candidate,

10 reduced charges for use of a broadcasting station under

11 section 315 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47

12 U.S.C. 315) and eligibility for nonprofit third-class bulk

13 rates of postage under section 3626(e) of title 39, United

14 States Code.

15 ‘‘Subtitle B—Administrative

16 Provisions

17 ‘‘SEC. 511. CERTIFICATIONS BY COMMISSION.

18 ‘‘(a) GENERAL ELIGIBILITY.—The Commission shall

19 certify whether a candidate is eligible to receive benefits

20 under subtitle A. The initial determination shall be based

21 on the candidate’s filings under this title. Any subsequent

22 determination shall be based on relevant additional infor23 mation submitted in such form and manner as the Com24 mission may require.

25 ‘‘(b) CERTIFICATION OF BENEFITS.—
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1 ‘‘(1) DEADLINE FOR RESPONSE TO RE2 QUESTS.—The Commission shall respond to a can3 didate’s request for certification for eligibility to re4 ceive benefits under this section not later than 5

5 business days after the candidate submits the re6 quest.

7 ‘‘(2) REQUESTS.—Any request for certification

8 submitted by a candidate shall contain—

9 ‘‘(A) such information and be made in ac10 cordance with such procedures as the Commis11 sion may provide by regulation; and

12 ‘‘(B) a verification signed by the candidate

13 and the treasurer of the principal campaign

14 committee of such candidate stating that the in15 formation furnished in support of the request,

16 to the best of their knowledge, is correct and

17 fully satisfies the requirement of this title.

18 ‘‘(3) PARTIAL CERTIFICATION.—If the Commis19 sion determines that any portion of a request does

20 not meet the requirement for certification, the Com21 mission shall withhold the certification for that por22 tion only and inform the candidate as to how the re23 quest may be corrected.

24 ‘‘(4) CERTIFICATION WITHHELD.—The Com25 mission may withhold certification if it determines
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1 that a candidate who is otherwise eligible has en2 gaged in a pattern of activity indicating that the

3 candidate’s filings under this title cannot be relied

4 upon.

5 ‘‘(c) WITHDRAWAL OF CERTIFICATION.—If the Com6 mission determines that a candidate who is certified as

7 an eligible House of Representatives candidate pursuant

8 to this section has made expenditures in excess of any

9 limit under subtitle A or otherwise no longer meets the

10 requirements for certification under this title, the Com11 mission shall revoke the candidate’s certification.

12 ‘‘SEC. 512. EXAMINATION AND AUDITS; REPAYMENTS AND

13 CIVIL PENALTIES.

14 ‘‘(a) EXAMINATIONS AND AUDITS.—

15 ‘‘(1) GENERAL ELECTIONS.—After each general

16 election, the Commission shall conduct an examina17 tion and audit of the campaign accounts of 5 per18 cent of the eligible House of Representatives can19 didates, as designated by the Commission through

20 the use of an appropriate statistical method of ran21 dom selection, to determine whether such candidates

22 have complied with the conditions of eligibility and

23 other requirements of this title. The Commission

24 shall conduct an examination and audit of the ac25 counts of all candidates for election to an office
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1 where any eligible candidate for the office is selected

2 for examination and audit.

3 ‘‘(2) SPECIAL ELECTION.—After each special

4 election involving an eligible candidate, the Commis5 sion shall conduct an examination and audit of the

6 campaign accounts of all candidates in the election

7 to determine whether the candidates have complied

8 with the conditions of eligibility and other require9 ments of this Act.

10 ‘‘(3) AFFIRMATIVE VOTE.—The Commission

11 may conduct an examination and audit of the cam12 paign accounts of any eligible House of Representa13 tives candidate in a general election if the Commis14 sion determines that there exists reason to believe

15 whether such candidate may have violated any provi16 sion of this title.

17 ‘‘(b) NOTIFICATION OF EXCESS EXPENDITURES.—If

18 the Commission determines that any eligible candidate

19 who has received benefits under this title has made ex20 penditures in excess of any limit under subtitle A, the

21 Commission shall notify the candidate.

22 ‘‘(c) CIVIL PENALTIES.—

23 ‘‘(1) EXCESS EXPENDITURES.—

24 ‘‘(A) LOW AMOUNT OF EXCESS EXPENDI25 TURES.—Any eligible House of Representatives
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1 candidate who makes expenditures that exceed

2 a limitation under subtitle A by 2.5 percent or

3 less shall pay to the Commission an amount

4 equal to the amount of the excess expenditures.

5 ‘‘(B) MEDIUM AMOUNT OF EXCESS EX6 PENDITURES.—Any eligible House of Rep7 resentatives candidate who makes expenditures

8 that exceed a limitation under subtitle A by

9 more than 2.5 percent and less than 5 percent

10 shall pay to the Commission an amount equal

11 to three times the amount of the excess expend12 itures.

13 ‘‘(C) LARGE AMOUNT OF EXCESS EXPEND14 ITURES.—Any eligible House of Representatives

15 candidate who makes expenditures that exceed

16 a limitation under subtitle A by 5 percent or

17 more shall pay to the Commission an amount

18 equal to three times the amount of the excess

19 expenditures plus, if the Commission deter20 mines such excess expenditures were knowing

21 and willful, a civil penalty in an amount deter22 mined by the Commission.

23 ‘‘(2) MISUSED BENEFITS OF CANDIDATES.—If

24 the Commission determines that an eligible House of

25 Representatives candidate used any benefit received
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1 under this title in a manner not provided for in this

2 title, the Commission may assess a civil penalty

3 against such candidate in an amount not greater

4 than 200 percent of the amount involved.

5 ‘‘(d) LIMIT ON PERIOD FOR NOTIFICATION.—No no6 tification shall be made by the Commission under this sec7 tion with respect to an election more than 3 years after

8 the date of such election.

9 ‘‘SEC. 513. JUDICIAL REVIEW.

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

11 Commission made under the provisions of this title shall

12 be subject to review by the United States Court of Appeals

13 for the District of Columbia Circuit upon petition filed in

14 such court within 30 days after the agency action by the

15 Commission for which review is sought. It shall be the

16 duty of the Court of Appeals, ahead of all matters not

17 filed under this title, to advance on the docket and expedi18 tiously take action on all petitions filed pursuant to this

19 title.

20 ‘‘(b) APPLICATION OF TITLE 5.—The provisions of

21 chapter 7 of title 5, United States Code, shall apply to

22 judicial review of any agency action by the Commission.

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

24 the term ‘agency action’ has the meaning given such term

25 by section 551(13) of title 5, United States Code.
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1 ‘‘SEC. 514. REPORTS TO CONGRESS; CERTIFICATIONS; REG2 ULATIONS.

3 ‘‘(a) REPORTS.—The Commission shall, as soon as

4 practicable after each election, submit a full report to the

5 House of Representatives setting forth—

6 ‘‘(1) the expenditures (shown in such detail as

7 the Commission determines appropriate) made by

8 each eligible candidate and the authorized commit9 tees of such candidate;

10 ‘‘(2) the benefits certified by the Commission as

11 available to each eligible candidate under this title;

12 and

13 ‘‘(3) the names of any candidates against whom

14 penalties were imposed under section 512, together

15 with the amount of each such penalty and the rea16 sons for its imposition.

17 ‘‘(b) DETERMINATIONS BY COMMISSION.—Subject to

18 sections 512 and 513, all determinations (including certifi19 cations under section 511) made by the Commission under

20 this title shall be final and conclusive.

21 ‘‘(c) RULES AND REGULATIONS.—The Commission is

22 authorized to prescribe such rules and regulations, in ac23 cordance with the provisions of subsection (d), to conduct

24 such audits, examinations and investigations, and to re25 quire the keeping and submission of such books, records,
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1 and information, as it deems necessary to carry out the

2 functions and duties imposed on it by this title.

3 ‘‘(d) REPORT OF PROPOSED REGULATIONS.—The

4 Commission shall submit to the House of Representatives

5 a report containing a detailed explanation and justification

6 of each rule and regulation of the Commission under this

7 title. No such rule, regulation, or form may take effect

8 until a period of 60 legislative days has elapsed after the

9 report is received. As used in this subsection, the terms

10 ‘rule’ and ‘regulation’ mean a provision or series of inter11 related provisions stating a single, separable rule of law.

12 ‘‘SEC. 515. CLOSED CAPTIONING REQUIREMENT FOR TELE13 VISION COMMERCIALS OF ELIGIBLE CAN14 DIDATES.

15 ‘‘No eligible House of Representatives candidate may

16 receive benefits under subtitle A unless such candidate has

17 certified that any television commercial prepared or dis18 tributed by the candidate will be prepared in a manner

19 that contains, is accompanied by, or otherwise readily per20 mits closed captioning of the oral content of the commer21 cial to be broadcast by way of line 21 of the vertical blank22 ing interval, or by way of comparable successor tech23 nologies.’’.
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1 Subtitle B—Limitations on Con2 tributions to House of Rep3 resentatives Candidates

4 SEC. 121. LIMITATIONS ON POLITICAL COMMITTEES.

5 (a) MULTICANDIDATE POLITICAL COMMITTEES.—

6 Section 315(a)(2)(A) of the Federal Election Campaign

7 Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a(a)(2)(A)) is amended by

8 striking out ‘‘with respect’’ and all that follows through

9 ‘‘$5,000,’’ and inserting in lieu thereof: ‘‘which, in the ag10 gregate, exceed $5,000 with respect to an election for Fed11 eral office or $8,000 with respect to an election cycle (not

12 including a runoff election);’’.

13 (b) CANDIDATE’S COMMITTEES.—(1) Section 315(a)

14 of such Act (2 U.S.C. 441a(a)) is amended by adding at

15 the end the following new paragraph:

16 ‘‘(9) For the purposes of the limitations provided by

17 paragraphs (1) and (2), any political committee which is

18 established or financed or maintained or controlled by any

19 candidate or Federal officeholder shall be deemed to be

20 an authorized committee of such candidate or officeholder.

21 Nothing in this paragraph shall be construed to permit

22 the establishment, financing, maintenance, or control of

23 any committee which is prohibited by paragraph (3) or

24 (6) of section 302(e).’’
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1 (2) Section 302(e)(3) of such Act (2 U.S.C.

2 432(e)(3)) is amended to read as follows:

3 ‘‘(3) No political committee that supports or has sup4 ported more than one candidate may be designated as an

5 authorized committee, except that—

6 ‘‘(A) a candidate for the office of President

7 nominated by a political party may designate the na8 tional committee of such political party as the can9 didate’s principal campaign committee, but only if

10 that national committee maintains separate books of

11 account with respect to its functions as a principal

12 campaign committee; and

13 ‘‘(B) a candidate may designate a political com14 mittee established solely for the purpose of joint

15 fundraising by such candidates as an authorized

16 committee.’’

17 (c) EFFECTIVE DATES.—(1) Except as provided in

18 paragraph (2), the amendments made by this section shall

19 apply to elections (and the election cycles relating thereto)

20 occurring after December 31, 1998.

21 (2) In applying the amendments made by this section,

22 there shall not be taken into account—

23 (A) contributions made or received before Janu24 ary 1, 1999; or
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1 (B) contributions made to, or received by, a

2 candidate on or after January 1, 1999, to the extent

3 such contributions are not greater than the excess

4 (if any) of—

5 (i) such contributions received by any op6 ponent of the candidate before January 1,

7 1999, over

8 (ii) such contributions received by the can9 didate before January 1, 1999.

10 SEC. 122. LIMITATIONS ON POLITICAL COMMITTEE AND

11 LARGE DONOR CONTRIBUTIONS THAT MAY

12 BE ACCEPTED BY HOUSE OF REPRESENTA13 TIVES CANDIDATES.

14 Section 315 of the Federal Election Campaign Act

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

16 the following new subsection:

17 ‘‘(i) LIMITATIONS ON CONTRIBUTIONS ACCEPTED BY

18 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CANDIDATE.—

19 ‘‘(1) POLITICAL COMMITTEES.—A candidate for

20 the office of Representative in, or Delegate or Resi21 dent Commissioner to, the Congress may not, with

22 respect to an election cycle, accept contributions

23 from political committees aggregating in excess of

24 $200,000.
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1 ‘‘(2) PERSONS OTHER THAN POLITICAL COM2 MITTEES.—A candidate for the office of Representa3 tive in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner to,

4 the Congress may not, with respect to an election

5 cycle, accept contributions aggregating in excess of

6 $200,000 from persons other than political commit7 tees whose contributions total more than $200.

8 ‘‘(3) CONTESTED PRIMARIES.—In addition to

9 the contributions under paragraphs (1) and (2), if a

10 House of Representatives candidate in a contested

11 primary election wins that primary election by a

12 margin of 20 percentage points or less, the can13 didate may accept contributions of—

14 ‘‘(A) not more than $66,600 from political

15 committees; and

16 ‘‘(B) not more than $66,600 from persons

17 referred to in paragraph (2).

18 ‘‘(4) RUNOFF ELECTIONS.—In addition to the

19 contributions under paragraphs (1) and (2), a

20 House of Representatives candidate who is a can21 didate in a runoff election may accept contributions

22 of (A) not more than $100,000 from political com23 mittees; and (B) not more than $100,000 from per24 sons referred to in paragraph (2).
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1 ‘‘(5) EXEMPTION FOR CERTAIN COSTS.—Any

2 amount—

3 ‘‘(A) accepted by a House of Representa4 tives candidate; and

5 ‘‘(B) used for costs incurred under section

6 501 (e) and (f),

7 shall not be considered in the computation of

8 amounts subject to limitation under this subsection.

9 ‘‘(6) TRANSFER PROVISION.—The limitations

10 imposed by this subsection shall apply without re11 gard to amounts transferred from previous election

12 cycles or other authorized committees of the same

13 candidate. Candidates shall not be required to seek

14 the redesignation of contributions in order to trans15 fer such contributions to a later election cycle.

16 ‘‘(7) INDEXATION OF AMOUNTS.—The dollar

17 amounts specified in this subsection shall be ad18 justed at the beginning of each calendar year based

19 on the increase in the price index determined under

20 subsection (c), except that, for the purposes of such

21 adjustment, the base period shall be calendar year

22 1996.’’
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1 Subtitle C—Related Provisions

2 SEC. 131. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.

3 Title III of the Federal Election Campaign Act of

4 1971 is amended by adding after section 304 the following

5 new section:

6 ‘‘REPORTING REQUIREMENTS FOR HOUSE CANDIDATES

7 ‘‘SEC. 304A. A candidate for the office of Represent8 ative in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, the

9 Congress who—

10 ‘‘(1) makes contributions in excess of $50,000

11 of personal funds of the candidate to the authorized

12 committee of the candidate; or

13 ‘‘(2) makes expenditures in excess of 50 percent

14 and 100 percent of the limitation under section

15 501(a);

16 shall report that the threshold has been reached to the

17 Commission not later than 48 hours after reaching the

18 threshold. The Commission shall transmit a copy to each

19 other candidate for election to the same office within 48

20 hours of receipt.’’

21 SEC. 132. REGISTRATION AS ELIGIBLE HOUSE OF REP22 RESENTATIVES CANDIDATE.

23 Section 302(e) of the Federal Election Campaign Act

24 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 432(e)) is amended by adding at the

25 end the following new paragraphs:
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1 ‘‘(6)(A) In the case of a candidate for the office of

2 Representative in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner

3 to, the Congress, who desires to be an eligible House of

4 Representatives candidate, a declaration of participation

5 of the candidate to abide by the limits specified in sections

6 315(i), 501, and 502 and provide the information required

7 under section 503(b)(4) shall be included in the designa8 tion required to be filed under paragraph (1).

9 ‘‘(B) A declaration of participation that is included

10 in a statement of candidacy may not thereafter be re11 voked.’’

12 SEC. 133. DEFINITIONS.

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 301 of the Federal Elec14 tion Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431) is amended

15 by striking paragraph (19) and inserting the following new

16 paragraphs:

17 ‘‘(19) The term ‘election cycle’ means—

18 ‘‘(A) in the case of a candidate or the author19 ized committees of a candidate, the term beginning

20 on the day after the date of the most recent general

21 election for the specific office or seat which such

22 candidate seeks and ending on the date of the next

23 general election for such office or seat; or

24 ‘‘(B) for all other persons, the term beginning

25 on the first day following the date of the last general
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1 election and ending on the date of the next general

2 election.

3 ‘‘(20) The term ‘general election’ means any election

4 which will directly result in the election of a person to a

5 Federal office.

6 ‘‘(21) The term ‘general election period’ means, with

7 respect to any candidate, the period beginning on the day

8 after the date of the primary or runoff election for the

9 specific office the candidate is seeking, whichever is later,

10 and ending on the earlier of—

11 ‘‘(A) the date of such general election; or

12 ‘‘(B) the date on which the candidate withdraws

13 from the campaign or otherwise ceases actively to

14 seek election.

15 ‘‘(22) The term ‘immediate family’ means—

16 ‘‘(A) a candidate’s spouse;

17 ‘‘(B) a child, stepchild, parent, grandparent,

18 brother, half-brother, sister or half-sister of the can19 didate or the candidate’s spouse; and

20 ‘‘(C) the spouse of any person described in sub21 paragraph (B).

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

23 which may result in the selection of a candidate for the

24 ballot in a general election for a Federal office.
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1 ‘‘(24) The term ‘primary election period’ means, with

2 respect to any candidate, the period beginning on the day

3 following the date of the last election for the specific office

4 the candidate is seeking and ending on the earlier of—

5 ‘‘(A) the date of the first primary election for

6 that office following the last general election for that

7 office; or

8 ‘‘(B) the date on which the candidate withdraws

9 from the election or otherwise ceases actively to seek

10 election.

11 ‘‘(25) The term ‘runoff election’ means an election

12 held after a primary election which is prescribed by appli13 cable State law as the means for deciding which candidate

14 will be on the ballot in the general election for a Federal

15 office.

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

17 respect to any candidate, the period beginning on the day

18 following the date of the last primary election for the spe19 cific office such candidate is seeking and ending on the

20 date of the runoff election for such office.

21 ‘‘(27) The term ‘special election’ means any election

22 (whether primary, runoff, or general) for Federal office

23 held by reason of a vacancy in the office arising before

24 the end of the term of the office.
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1 ‘‘(28) The term ‘special election period’ means, with

2 respect to any candidate for any Federal office, the period

3 beginning on the date the vacancy described in paragraph

4 (28) occurs and ending on the earlier of—

5 ‘‘(A) the date the election resulting in the elec6 tion of a person to the office occurs; or

7 ‘‘(B) the date on which the candidate withdraws

8 from the campaign or otherwise ceases actively to

9 seek election.

10 ‘‘(29) The term ‘eligible House of Representatives

11 candidate’ means a candidate for election to the office of

12 Representative in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner

13 to, the Congress, who, as determined by the Commission

14 under section 511, is eligible to receive benefits under sub15 title A of title V by reason of filing a declaration of partici16 pation under section 302(e) and complying with the con17 tinuing eligibility requirements under section 511.’’

18 (b) IDENTIFICATION.—Section 301(13)(A) of such

19 Act (2 U.S.C. 431(13)(A)) is amended by striking ‘‘mail20 ing address’’ and inserting ‘‘permanent residence ad21 dress’’.
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1 Subtitle D—Tax on Excess Political

2 Expenditures of Certain Con3 gressional Campaign Funds

4 SEC. 141. TAX TREATMENT OF CERTAIN CAMPAIGN FUNDS.

5 (a) GENERAL RULE.—Chapter 41 of the Internal

6 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end

7 thereof the following new subchapter:

8 ‘‘Subchapter B—Excess Political Expendi9 tures of Certain Congressional Campaign

10 Funds

‘‘Sec. 4915. Tax on excess political expenditures of certain campaign funds.

11 ‘‘SEC. 4915. TAX ON EXCESS POLITICAL EXPENDITURES OF

12 CERTAIN CAMPAIGN FUNDS.

13 ‘‘(a) IMPOSITION OF TAX.—If any applicable cam14 paign fund has excess political expenditures for any elec15 tion cycle, there is hereby imposed on such excess political

16 expenditures a tax equal to the amount of such excess po17 litical expenditures multiplied by the highest rate of tax

18 specified in section 11(b). Such tax shall be imposed for

19 the taxable year of such fund in which such election cycle

20 ends.

21 ‘‘(b) APPLICABLE CAMPAIGN FUND.—For purposes

22 of this section, the term ‘applicable campaign fund’ means

23 any political organization if—
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1 ‘‘(1) such organization is designated by a can2 didate for election or nomination to the House of

3 Representatives as such candidate’s principal cam4 paign committee for purposes of section 302(e) of

5 the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2

6 U.S.C. 432(e)), and

7 ‘‘(2) such candidate has made contributions to

8 such political organization during the election cycle

9 in excess of the contribution limitation which would

10 have been applicable under section 501(a) or 512(a)

11 of such Act, whichever is applicable, if an election

12 under such section had been made.

13 ‘‘(c) EXCESS POLITICAL EXPENDITURES.—

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this sec15 tion, the term ‘excess political expenditures’ means,

16 with respect to any election cycle, the excess (if any)

17 of the political expenditures incurred by the applica18 ble campaign fund during such cycle, over, in the

19 case of a House of Representatives candidate, the

20 expenditure ceiling which would have been applicable

21 under subtitle B of title V of such Act if an election

22 under such subtitle had been made.
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1 ‘‘(2) SPECIAL RULE FOR DETERMINING

2 AMOUNT OF EXPENDITURES.—For purposes of para3 graph (1), in determining the amount of political ex4 penditures incurred by an applicable campaign fund,

5 there shall be excluded any such expenditure which

6 would not have been subject to the expenditure limi7 tations of title V of the Federal Election Campaign

8 Act of 1971 had such limitations been applicable,

9 other than any such expenditure which would have

10 been exempt from such limitations under section

11 501(e) or 501(f) of such Act.

12 ‘‘(d) OTHER DEFINITIONS AND SPECIAL RULES.—

13 For purposes of this section—

14 ‘‘(1) ELECTION CYCLE.—The term ‘election

15 cycle’ has the meaning given such term by section

16 301 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971.

17 ‘‘(2) POLITICAL ORGANIZATION.—The term ‘po18 litical organization’ has the meaning given to such

19 term by section 527(e)(1).

20 ‘‘(3) CERTAIN RULES MADE APPLICABLE.—

21 Rules similar to the rules of section 4911(e)(4) shall

22 apply.’’

23 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.—
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1 (1) Chapter 41 of such Code is amended by

2 striking the chapter heading and inserting the fol3 lowing:

4 ‘‘CHAPTER 41—LOBBYING AND POLITICAL

5 EXPENDITURES OF CERTAIN ORGANI6 ZATIONS

‘‘Subchapter A. Public charities.

‘‘Subchapter B. Excess political expenditures of certain campaign

funds.

7 ‘‘Subchapter A—Public Charities’’.

8 (2) The table of sections for subtitle D of such

9 Code is amended by striking the item relating to

10 chapter 41 and inserting the following:

‘‘Chapter 41. Lobbying and political expenditures of certain organizations.’’

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

12 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after

13 December 31, 1998.

14 TITLE II—INDEPENDENT

15 EXPENDITURES

16 SEC. 201. CLARIFICATION OF DEFINITIONS RELATING TO

17 INDEPENDENT EXPENDITURES.

18 (a) INDEPENDENT EXPENDITURE DEFINITION

19 AMENDMENT.—Section 301 of the Federal Election Cam20 paign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431) is amended by striking

21 paragraphs (17) and (18) and inserting the following:
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1 ‘‘(17)(A) The term ‘independent expenditure’ means

2 an expenditure that—

3 ‘‘(i) contains express advocacy; and

4 ‘‘(ii) is made without the participation or co5 operation of and without consultation with a can6 didate or a candidate’s representative.

7 ‘‘(B) The following shall not be considered an inde8 pendent expenditure:

9 ‘‘(i) An expenditure made by an authorized

10 committee of a candidate for Federal office.

11 ‘‘(ii) An expenditure if there is any arrange12 ment, coordination, or direction with respect to the

13 expenditure between the candidate or the candidate’s

14 agent and the person making the expenditure.

15 ‘‘(iii) An expenditure if, in the same election

16 cycle, the person making the expenditure is or has

17 been—

18 ‘‘(I) authorized to raise or expend funds on

19 behalf of the candidate or the candidate’s au20 thorized committees; or

21 ‘‘(II) serving as a member, employee, or

22 agent of the candidate’s authorized committees

23 in an executive or policymaking position.

24 ‘‘(iv) An expenditure if the person making the

25 expenditure retains the professional services of any
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1 individual or other person also providing services in

2 the same election cycle to the candidate in connec3 tion with the candidate’s pursuit of nomination for

4 election, or election, to Federal office, including any

5 services relating to the candidate’s decision to seek

6 Federal office. For purposes of this clause, the term

7 ‘professional services’ shall include any services

8 (other than legal and accounting services solely for

9 purposes of ensuring compliance with any Federal

10 law) in support of any candidate’s or candidates’

11 pursuit of nomination for election, or election, to

12 Federal office.

13 For purposes of this subparagraph, the person making the

14 expenditure shall include any officer, director, employee,

15 or agent of such person.

16 ‘‘(18)(A) The term ‘express advocacy’ means, when

17 a communication is taken as a whole and with limited ref18 erence to external events, an expression of support for or

19 opposition to a specific candidate, to a specific group of

20 candidates, or to candidates of a particular political party.

21 ‘‘(B) The term ‘expression of support for or opposi22 tion to’ includes a suggestion to take action with respect

23 to an election, such as to vote for or against, make con24 tributions to, or participate in campaign activity, or to re25 frain from taking action.’’.
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1 (b) CONTRIBUTION DEFINITION AMENDMENT.—Sec2 tion 301(8)(A) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 431(8)(A)) is

3 amended—

4 (1) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘or’’ after the

5 semicolon at the end;

6 (2) in clause (ii), by striking the period at the

7 end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and

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

9 clause:

10 ‘‘(iii) any payment or other transaction referred

11 to in paragraph (17)(A)(i) that is not an independ12 ent expenditure under paragraph (17).’’.

13 SEC. 202. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS FOR CERTAIN INDE14 PENDENT EXPENDITURES.

15 Section 304(c) of the Federal Election Campaign Act

16 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 434(c)) is amended—

17 (1) in paragraph (2), by striking the undesig18 nated matter after subparagraph (C);

19 (2) by redesignating paragraph (3) as para20 graph (9); and

21 (3) by inserting after paragraph (2), as amend22 ed by paragraph (1), the following new paragraphs:
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1 ‘‘(3)(A) Any person (including a political committee)

2 making independent expenditures (including those de3 scribed in subsection (b)(6)(B)(iii)) with respect to a can4 didate in an election aggregating $1,000 or more made

5 after the 20th day, but more than 24 hours, before the

6 election shall file a report within 24 hours after such inde7 pendent expenditures are made. An additional report shall

8 be filed each time independent expenditures aggregating

9 $1,000 are made with respect to the same candidate after

10 the latest report filed under this subparagraph.

11 ‘‘(B) Any person (including a political committee)

12 making independent expenditures with respect to a can13 didate in an election aggregating $2,500 or more made

14 at any time up to and including the 20th day before the

15 election shall file a report within 48 hours after such inde16 pendent expenditures are made. An additional report shall

17 be filed each time independent expenditures aggregating

18 $2,500 are made with respect to the same candidate after

19 the latest report filed under this paragraph.

20 ‘‘(C) A report under subparagraph (A) or (B) shall

21 be filed with the Commission and the Secretary of State

22 of the State involved, and shall identify each candidate

23 whom the expenditure is actually intended to support or

24 to oppose. Not later than 48 hours after the Commission

25 receives a report, the Commission shall transmit a copy
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1 of the report to each candidate seeking nomination or elec2 tion to that office.

3 ‘‘(D) For purposes of this section, an independent ex4 penditure shall be considered to have been made upon the

5 making of any payment or the taking of any action to

6 incur an obligation for payment.

7 ‘‘(4)(A) If any person (including a political commit8 tee) intends to make independent expenditures with re9 spect to a candidate in an election totaling $2,500 or more

10 during the 20 days before an election, such person shall

11 file a report no later than the 20th day before the election.

12 ‘‘(B) A report under subparagraph (A) shall be filed

13 with the Commission and the Secretary of State of the

14 State involved, and shall identify each candidate whom the

15 expenditure is actually intended to support or to oppose.

16 Not later than 48 hours after the Commission receives a

17 report under this paragraph, the Commission shall trans18 mit a copy of the statement to each candidate identified.

19 ‘‘(5) The Commission may, upon a request of a can20 didate or on its own initiative, make its own determination

21 that a person has made, or has incurred obligations to

22 make, independent expenditures with respect to any can23 didate in any election which in the aggregate exceed the

24 applicable amounts under paragraph (3) or (4). The Com25 mission shall notify each candidate in such election of such
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1 determination within 48 hours after making it. Any deter2 mination made at the request of a candidate shall be made

3 within 48 hours of the request.

4 ‘‘(6) At the time at which an eligible House of Rep5 resentatives candidate is notified under paragraph (3),

6 (4), or (5) with respect to expenditures during a general

7 election period, the Commission shall certify eligibility to

8 receive benefits under section 504(a)(3)(B) or section

9 513(f).

10 ‘‘(7)(A) A person that makes a reservation of broad11 cast time to which section 315(a) of the Communications

12 Act of 1947 (47 U.S.C. 315(a)) applies, the payment for

13 which would constitute an independent expenditure, shall

14 at the time of reservation—

15 ‘‘(i) inform the broadcast licensee that payment

16 for the broadcast time will constitute an independent

17 expenditure;

18 ‘‘(ii) inform the broadcast licensee of the names

19 of all candidates for the office to which the proposed

20 broadcast relates and state whether the message to

21 be broadcast is intended to be made in support of

22 or in opposition to each such candidate;

23 ‘‘(iii) transmit to all candidates for the office to

24 which the proposed broadcast relates a script or tape
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1 recording of the communication, or an accurate sum2 mary of the communication if a script or tape re3 cording is not available.’’.

4 TITLE III—CONTRIBUTIONS AND

5 EXPENDITURES BY POLITI6 CAL PARTY COMMITTEES

7 SEC. 301. DEFINITIONS.

8 (a) CONTRIBUTION AND EXPENDITURE EXCEP9 TIONS.—(1) Section 301(8)(B) of the Federal Election

10 Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431(8)(B)) is amend11 ed—

12 (A) in clause (x)—

13 (i) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub14 clause (2),

15 (ii) by inserting ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub16 clause (3), and

17 (iii) by adding at the end the following new

18 subclause:

19 ‘‘(4) such activities are conducted solely by, and

20 any materials are prepared for distribution and

21 mailing and are distributed (if other than by mail22 ing) solely by, volunteers;’’;

23 (B) in clause (xi), by striking ‘‘That’’ and all

24 that follows through ‘‘Act;’’ and inserting ‘‘That—
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1 ‘‘(1) such payments are made from contribu2 tions subject to the limitations and prohibitions of

3 this Act; and

4 ‘‘(2) such activities are conducted solely by, and

5 any materials are prepared for distribution and

6 mailing and are distributed (if other than by mail7 ing) solely by, volunteers;’’ and

8 (C) in clause (xii)—

9 (i) by inserting ‘‘in connection with volun10 teer activities’’ after ‘‘such committee’’,

11 (ii) by striking ‘‘for President and Vice

12 President’’,

13 (iii) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub14 clause (2),

15 (iv) by inserting ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub16 clause (3), and

17 (v) by adding at the end the following new

18 subclause:

19 ‘‘(4) such activities are conducted solely

20 by, and any materials are prepared for distribu21 tion and mailing and are distributed (if other

22 than by mailing) solely by, volunteers;’’.

23 (2) Section 301(9)(B) of such Act (2 U.S.C.

24 431(9)(B)) is amended—

25 (A) in clause (viii)—
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1 (i) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub2 clause (2),

3 (ii) by inserting ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub4 clause (3), and

5 (iii) by adding at the end the following new

6 subclause:

7 ‘‘(4) such activities are conducted solely

8 by, and any materials are prepared for distribu9 tion and mailing and are distributed (if other

10 than by mailing) solely by, volunteers;’’; and

11 (B) in clause (ix)—

12 (i) by inserting ‘‘in connection with volun13 teer activities’’ after ‘‘such committee’’,

14 (ii) by striking ‘‘for President or Vice

15 President’’, and

16 (iii) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub17 clause (2), by inserting ‘‘and’’ at the end of

18 subclause (3), and by adding at the end the fol19 lowing new subclause:

20 ‘‘(4) such activities are conducted solely

21 by, and any materials are prepared for distribu22 tion and are distributed (if other than by mail23 ing) solely by, volunteers;’’.

24 (b) GENERIC ACTIVITIES; STATE PARTY GRASS25 ROOTS FUND.—Section 301 of such Act (2 U.S.C. 431),
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1 as amended by section 133, is further amended by adding

2 at the end the following new paragraphs:

3 ‘‘(30) The term ‘generic campaign activity’

4 means a campaign activity that promotes a political

5 party rather than any particular Federal or non6 Federal candidate.

7 ‘‘(31) The term ‘State Party Grassroots Fund’

8 means a separate segregated fund established and

9 maintained by a State committee of a political party

10 solely for purposes of making expenditures and other

11 disbursements described in section 324(d).’’.

12 SEC. 302. CONTRIBUTIONS TO POLITICAL PARTY COMMIT13 TEES.

14 (a) INDIVIDUAL CONTRIBUTIONS TO STATE

15 PARTY.—Section 315(a)(1) of the Federal Election Cam16 paign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a(a)(1)) is amended—

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

18 (B);

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

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

23 ‘‘(C) to—

24 ‘‘(i) a State Party Grassroots Fund estab25 lished and maintained by a State committee of
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1 a political party in any calendar year which, in

2 the aggregate, exceed $20,000; or

3 ‘‘(ii) any other political committee estab4 lished and maintained by a State committee of

5 a political party in any calendar year which, in

6 the aggregate, exceed $5,000,

7 except that the aggregate contributions described in

8 this subparagraph which may be made by a person

9 to the State Party Grassroots Fund and all commit10 tees of a State committee of a political party in any

11 State in any calendar year shall not exceed $20,000;

12 or’’.

13 (b) MULTICANDIDATE COMMITTEE CONTRIBUTIONS

14 TO STATE PARTY.—Section 315(a)(2) of such Act (2

15 U.S.C. 441a(a)(2)) is amended—

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

17 (B);

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

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

22 ‘‘(C) to—

23 ‘‘(i) a State Party Grassroots Fund estab24 lished and maintained by a State committee of
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1 a political party in any calendar year which, in

2 the aggregate, exceed $15,000; or

3 ‘‘(ii) to any other political committee estab4 lished and maintained by a State committee of

5 a political party which, in the aggregate, exceed

6 $5,000,

7 except that the aggregate contributions described in

8 this subparagraph which may be made by a multi9 candidate political committee to the State Party

10 Grassroots Fund and all committees of a State com11 mittee of a political party in any State in any cal12 endar year shall not exceed $15,000; or’’.

13 (c) OVERALL LIMIT.—Section 315(a)(3) of such Act

14 (2 U.S.C. 441a(a)(3)) is amended to read as follows:

15 ‘‘(3)(A) No individual shall make contributions dur16 ing any election cycle which, in the aggregate, exceed

17 $100,000.

18 ‘‘(B) No individual shall make contributions during

19 any calendar year—

20 ‘‘(i) to all candidates and their authorized polit21 ical committees which, in the aggregate, exceed

22 $25,000; or

23 ‘‘(ii) to all political committees established and

24 maintained by State committees of a political party

25 which, in the aggregate, exceed $20,000.
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1 ‘‘(C) For purposes of subparagraph (B)(i), any con2 tribution made to a candidate or the candidate’s author3 ized political committees in a year other than the calendar

4 year in which the election is held with respect to which

5 such contribution is made shall be treated as made during

6 the calendar year in which the election is held.’’.

7 (d) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE COMMITTEE TRANS8 FERS.—(1) Section 315(b)(1) of such Act (2 U.S.C.

9 441a(b)(1)) is amended to read as follows:

10 ‘‘(B) in the case of a campaign for election to

11 such office, an amount equal to the sum of—

12 ‘‘(i) $20,000,000, plus

13 ‘‘(ii) the amounts transferred by the can14 didate and the authorized committees of the

15 candidate to the national committee of the can16 didate’s political party for distribution to State

17 Party Grassroots Funds.

18 In no event shall the amount under subparagraph (B)(ii)

19 exceed 2 cents multiplied by the voting age population of

20 the United States (as certified under subsection (e)). The

21 Commission may require reporting of the transfers de22 scribed in subparagraph (B)(ii), may conduct an examina23 tion and audit of any such transfer, and may require the

24 return of the transferred amounts to the Presidential
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1 Election Campaign Fund if not used for the appropriate

2 purpose.’’

3 (2) Subparagraph (A) of section 9002(11) of the In4 ternal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended—

5 (A) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of clause (ii);

6 and

7 (B) in clause (iii), by striking ‘‘offices,’’ and in8 serting the following: ‘‘offices, or (iv) consisting of a

9 transfer to the national committee of the political

10 party of a candidate for the office of President or

11 Vice President for distribution to State Party Grass12 roots Funds (as defined in the Federal Election

13 Campaign Act of 1971) to the extent such transfers

14 do not exceed the amount determined under section

15 315(b)(1)(B)(ii) of such Act,’’.

16 SEC. 303. INCREASE IN THE AMOUNT THAT MULTICAN17 DIDATE POLITICAL COMMITTEES MAY CON18 TRIBUTE TO NATIONAL POLITICAL PARTY

19 COMMITTEES.

20 Section 315(a)(2)(B) of the Federal Election Cam21 paign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a(a)(2)(B)) is amended

22 by striking ‘‘$15,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$25,000’’.
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1 SEC. 304. MERCHANDISING AND AFFINITY CARDS.

2 Section 316 of the Federal Election Campaign Act

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

4 the following new subsection:

5 ‘‘(c) Notwithstanding the provisions of this section or

6 any other provision of this Act to the contrary, an amount

7 received from a corporation (including a State-chartered

8 or national bank) by any political committee (other than

9 a separate segregated fund established under section

10 316(b)(2)(C)) shall be deemed to meet the limitations and

11 prohibitions of this Act if such amount represents a com12 mission or royalty on the sale of goods or services, or on

13 the issuance of credit cards, by such corporation and if—

14 ‘‘(1) such goods, services, or credit cards are

15 promoted by or in the name of the political commit16 tee as a means of contributing to or supporting the

17 political committee and are offered to consumers

18 using the name of the political committee or using

19 a message, design, or device created and owned by

20 the political committee, or both;

21 ‘‘(2) the corporation is in the business of mer22 chandising such goods or services, or of issuing such

23 credit cards;

24 ‘‘(3) the royalty or commission has been offered

25 by the corporation to the political committee in the

26 ordinary course of the corporation’s business and on
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1 the same terms and conditions as those on which

2 such corporation offers royalties or commissions to

3 nonpolitical entities;

4 ‘‘(4) all revenue on which the commission or

5 royalty is based represents, or results from, sales to

6 or fees paid by individual consumers in the ordinary

7 course of retail transactions;

8 ‘‘(5) the costs of any unsold inventory of goods

9 are ultimately borne by the political committee in ac10 cordance with rules to be prescribed by the Commis11 sion; and

12 ‘‘(6) except for any royalty or commission per13 mitted to be paid by this subsection, no goods, serv14 ices, or anything else of value is provided by such

15 corporation to the political committee, except that

16 such corporation may advance or finance costs or ex17 tend credit in connection with the manufacture and

18 distribution of goods, provision of services, or issu19 ance of credit cards pursuant to this subsection if

20 and to the extent such advance, financing, or exten21 sion is undertaken in the ordinary course of the cor22 poration’s business and is undertaken on similar

23 terms by such corporation in its transactions with

24 nonpolitical entities in like circumstances.’’
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1 SEC. 305. PROVISIONS RELATING TO NATIONAL, STATE,

2 AND LOCAL PARTY COMMITTEES.

3 (a) SOFT MONEY OF COMMITTEES OF POLITICAL

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

5 of 1971 is amended by inserting after section 323 the fol6 lowing new section:

7 ‘‘POLITICAL PARTY COMMITTEES

8 ‘‘SEC. 324. (a) LIMITATIONS ON NATIONAL COMMIT9 TEE.—(1) A national committee of a political party and

10 the congressional campaign committees of a political party

11 may not solicit or accept contributions or transfers not

12 subject to the limitations, prohibitions, and reporting re13 quirements of this Act.

14 ‘‘(2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to contributions—

15 ‘‘(A) that—

16 ‘‘(i) are to be transferred to a State com17 mittee of a political party and are used solely

18 for activities described in clauses (xi) through

19 (xvii) of paragraph (9)(B) of section 301; or

20 ‘‘(ii) are described in section

21 301(8)(B)(viii); and

22 ‘‘(B) with respect to which contributors have

23 been notified that the funds will be used solely for

24 the purposes described in subparagraph (A).

25 ‘‘(b) ACTIVITIES SUBJECT TO THIS ACT.—Any

26 amount solicited, received, expended, or disbursed directly
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1 or indirectly by a national, State, district, or local commit2 tee of a political party with respect to any of the following

3 activities shall be subject to the limitations, prohibitions,

4 and reporting requirements of this Act:

5 ‘‘(1)(A) Any get-out-the-vote activity conducted

6 during a calendar year in which an election for the

7 office of President is held.

8 ‘‘(B) Any other get-out-the-vote activity unless

9 subsection (c)(2) applies to the activity.

10 ‘‘(2) Any generic campaign activity.

11 ‘‘(3) Any activity that identifies or promotes a

12 Federal candidate, regardless of whether—

13 ‘‘(A) a State or local candidate is also

14 identified or promoted; or

15 ‘‘(B) any portion of the funds disbursed

16 constitutes a contribution or expenditure under

17 this Act.

18 ‘‘(4) Voter registration.

19 ‘‘(5) Development and maintenance of voter

20 files during an even-numbered calendar year.

21 ‘‘(6) Any other activity that—

22 ‘‘(A) significantly affects a Federal elec23 tion, or

24 ‘‘(B) is not otherwise described in section

25 301(9)(B)(xvii).
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1 Any amount spent to raise funds that are used, in whole

2 or in part, in connection with activities described in the

3 preceding paragraphs shall be subject to the limitations,

4 prohibitions, and reporting requirements of this Act.

5 ‘‘(c) GET-OUT-THE-VOTE ACTIVITIES BY STATE,

6 DISTRICT, AND LOCAL COMMITTEES OF POLITICAL PAR7 TIES.—(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), any get8 out-the-vote activity for a State or local candidate, or for

9 a ballot measure, which is conducted by a State, district,

10 or local committee of a political party shall be subject to

11 the limitations, prohibitions, and reporting requirements

12 of this Act.

13 ‘‘(2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to any activity

14 which the State committee of a political party certifies to

15 the Commission is an activity which—

16 ‘‘(A) is conducted during a calendar year other

17 than a calendar year in which an election for the of18 fice of President is held,

19 ‘‘(B) is exclusively on behalf of (and specifically

20 identifies only) one or more State or local candidates

21 or ballot measures, and

22 ‘‘(C) does not include any effort or means used

23 to identify or turn out those identified to be support24 ers of any Federal candidate (including any activity
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1 that is undertaken in coordination with, or on behalf

2 of, a candidate for Federal office).

3 ‘‘(d) STATE PARTY GRASSROOTS FUNDS.—(1) A

4 State committee of a political party may make disburse5 ments and expenditures from its State Party Grassroots

6 Fund only for—

7 ‘‘(A) any generic campaign activity;

8 ‘‘(B) payments described in clauses (v), (x), and

9 (xii) of paragraph (8)(B) and clauses (iv), (viii), and

10 (ix) of paragraph (9)(B) of section 301;

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

12 315(d), payments described in clause (xii) of para13 graph (8)(B), and clause (ix) of paragraph (9)(B),

14 of section 301 on behalf of candidates other than for

15 President and Vice President;

16 ‘‘(D) voter registration; and

17 ‘‘(E) development and maintenance of voter

18 files during an even-numbered calendar year.

19 ‘‘(2) Notwithstanding section 315(a)(4), no funds

20 may be transferred by a State committee of a political

21 party from its State Party Grassroots Fund to any other

22 State Party Grassroots Fund or to any other political com23 mittee, except a transfer may be made to a district or local

24 committee of the same political party in the same State

25 if such district or local committee—
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1 ‘‘(A) has established a separate segregated fund

2 for the purposes described in paragraph (1); and

3 ‘‘(B) uses the transferred funds solely for those

4 purposes.

5 ‘‘(e) AMOUNTS RECEIVED BY GRASSROOTS FUND

6 FROM STATE AND LOCAL CANDIDATE COMMITTEES.—(1)

7 Any amount received by a State Party Grassroots Fund

8 from a State or local candidate committee for expenditures

9 described in subsection (b) that are for the benefit of that

10 candidate shall be treated as meeting the requirements of

11 subsection (b) and section 304(e) if—

12 ‘‘(A) such amount is derived from funds which

13 meet the requirements of this Act with respect to

14 any limitation or prohibition as to source or dollar

15 amount specified in section 315(a) (1)(A) and

16 (2)(A); and

17 ‘‘(B) the State or local candidate committee—

18 ‘‘(i) maintains, in the account from which

19 payment is made, records of the sources and

20 amounts of funds for purposes of determining

21 whether such requirements are met; and

22 ‘‘(ii) certifies that such requirements were

23 met.
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1 ‘‘(2) For purposes of paragraph (1)(A), in determin2 ing whether the funds transferred meet the requirements

3 of this Act described in such paragraph—

4 ‘‘(A) a State or local candidate committee’s

5 cash on hand shall be treated as consisting of the

6 funds most recently received by the committee, and

7 ‘‘(B) the committee must be able to dem8 onstrate that its cash on hand contains sufficient

9 funds meeting such requirements as are necessary to

10 cover the transferred funds.

11 ‘‘(3) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), any State Party

12 Grassroots Fund receiving any transfer described in para13 graph (1) from a State or local candidate committee shall

14 be required to meet the reporting requirements of this Act,

15 and shall submit to the Commission all certifications re16 ceived, with respect to receipt of the transfer from such

17 candidate committee.

18 ‘‘(4) For purposes of this subsection, a State or local

19 candidate committee is a committee established, financed,

20 maintained, or controlled by a candidate for other than

21 Federal office.

22 ‘‘(f) RELATED ENTITIES.—The provisions of this Act

23 shall apply to any entity that is established, financed, or

24 maintained by a national committee or State committee
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1 of a political party in the same manner as they apply to

2 the national or State committee.’’

3 (b) CONTRIBUTIONS AND EXPENDITURES.—

4 (1) CONTRIBUTIONS.—Section 301(8)(B) of

5 such Act (2 U.S.C. 431(8)(B)) is amended—

6 (A) in clause (viii), by inserting after

7 ‘‘Federal office’’ the following: ‘‘, or any

8 amounts received by the committees of any na9 tional political party to support the operation of

10 a television and radio broadcast facility’’;

11 (B) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of clause

12 (xiii);

13 (C) by striking clause (xiv); and

14 (D) by adding at the end the following new

15 clauses:

16 ‘‘(xiv) any amount contributed to a

17 candidate for other than Federal office;

18 ‘‘(xv) any amount received or ex19 pended to pay the costs of a State or local

20 political convention;

21 ‘‘(xvi) any payment for campaign ac22 tivities that are exclusively on behalf of

23 (and specifically identify only) State or

24 local candidates and do not identify any
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1 Federal candidate, and that are not activi2 ties described in section 324(b) (without

3 regard to paragraph (6)(B)) or section

4 324(c)(1);

5 ‘‘(xvii) any payment for administrative

6 expenses of a State or local committee of

7 a political party, including expenses for—

8 ‘‘(I) overhead, including party

9 meetings;

10 ‘‘(II) staff (other than individuals

11 devoting a significant amount of their

12 time to elections for Federal office

13 and individuals engaged in conducting

14 get-out-the-vote activities for a Fed15 eral election); and

16 ‘‘(III) conducting party elections

17 or caucuses;

18 ‘‘(xviii) any payment for research per19 taining solely to State and local candidates

20 and issues;

21 ‘‘(xix) any payment for development

22 and maintenance of voter files other than

23 during the 1-year period ending on the

24 date during an even-numbered calendar
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1 year on which regularly scheduled general

2 elections for Federal office occur; and

3 ‘‘(xx) any payment for any other ac4 tivity which is solely for the purpose of in5 fluencing, and which solely affects, an elec6 tion for non-Federal office and which is

7 not an activity described in section 324(b)

8 (without regard to paragraph (6)(B)) or

9 section 324(c)(1).’’.

10 (2) EXPENDITURES.—Section 301(9)(B) of

11 such Act (2 U.S.C. 431(9)(B)) is amended—

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

13 (ix);

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

15 clause (x) and inserting a semicolon; and

16 (C) by adding at the end the following new

17 clauses:

18 ‘‘(xi) any amount contributed to a

19 candidate for other than Federal office;

20 ‘‘(xii) any amount received or ex21 pended to pay the costs of a State or local

22 political convention;

23 ‘‘(xiii) any payment for campaign ac24 tivities that are exclusively on behalf of

25 (and specifically identify only) State or
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1 local candidates and do not identify any

2 Federal candidate, and that are not activi3 ties described in section 324(b) (without

4 regard to paragraph (6)(B)) or section

5 324(c)(1);

6 ‘‘(xiv) any payment for administrative

7 expenses of a State or local committee of

8 a political party, including expenses for—

9 ‘‘(I) overhead, including party

10 meetings;

11 ‘‘(II) staff (other than individuals

12 devoting a significant amount of their

13 time to elections for Federal office

14 and individuals engaged in conducting

15 get-out-the-vote activities for a Fed16 eral election); and

17 ‘‘(III) conducting party elections

18 or caucuses;

19 ‘‘(xv) any payment for research per20 taining solely to State and local candidates

21 and issues;

22 ‘‘(xvi) any payment for development

23 and maintenance of voter files other than

24 during the 1-year period ending on the

25 date during an even-numbered calendar
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1 year on which regularly scheduled general

2 elections for Federal office occur; and

3 ‘‘(xvii) any payment for any other ac4 tivity which is solely for the purpose of in5 fluencing, and which solely affects, an elec6 tion for non-Federal office and which is

7 not an activity described in section 324(b)

8 (without regard to paragraph (6)(B)) or

9 section 324(c)(1).’’.

10 (c) LIMITATION APPLIED AT NATIONAL LEVEL; PER11 MITTING COMMITTEES TO MATCH INDEPENDENT EX12 PENDITURES MADE ON OPPONENT’S BEHALF.—Section

13 315(d) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 441a(d)) is amended—

14 (1) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘The national

15 committee’’ and inserting ‘‘Subject to paragraph (4),

16 the national committee’’; and

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

18 paragraph:

19 ‘‘(4)(A) Notwithstanding paragraph (3), the applica20 ble congressional campaign committee of a political party

21 shall make the expenditures described in such paragraph

22 which are authorized to be made by a national or State

23 committee with respect to a candidate in any State unless

24 it allocates all or a portion of such expenditures to either

25 or both of such committees.
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1 ‘‘(B) For purposes of paragraph (3), in determining

2 the amount of expenditures of a national or State commit3 tee of a political party in connection with the general elec4 tion campaign of a candidate for election to the office of

5 Representative, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner,

6 there shall be excluded an amount equal to the total

7 amount of independent expenditures made during the

8 campaign on behalf of candidates opposing the can9 didate.’’.

10 (d) LIMITATIONS APPLY FOR ENTIRE ELECTION

11 CYCLE.—Section 315(d)(1) of such Act (2 U.S.C.

12 441a(d)(1)) is amended by adding at the end the following

13 new sentence: ‘‘Each limitation under the following para14 graphs shall apply to the entire election cycle for an of15 fice.’’.

16 SEC. 306. RESTRICTIONS ON FUNDRAISING BY CANDIDATES

17 AND OFFICEHOLDERS.

18 (a) STATE FUNDRAISING ACTIVITIES.—Section 315

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

20 441a), as amended by section 122, is further amended by

21 adding at the end the following new subsection:

22 ‘‘(j) LIMITATIONS ON FUNDRAISING ACTIVITIES OF

23 FEDERAL CANDIDATES AND OFFICEHOLDERS AND CER24 TAIN POLITICAL COMMITTEES.—(1) For purposes of this

25 Act, a candidate for Federal office, an individual holding
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1 Federal office, or any agent of the candidate or individual

2 may not solicit funds to, or receive funds on behalf of,

3 any Federal or non-Federal candidate or political commit4 tee—

5 ‘‘(A) which are to be expended in connection

6 with any election for Federal office unless such

7 funds are subject to the limitations, prohibitions,

8 and requirements of this Act; or

9 ‘‘(B) which are to be expended in connection

10 with any election for other than Federal office unless

11 such funds are not in excess of amounts permitted

12 with respect to Federal candidates and political com13 mittees under subsections (a) (1) and (2), and are

14 not from sources prohibited by such subsections with

15 respect to elections to Federal office.

16 ‘‘(2)(A) The aggregate amount which a person de17 scribed in subparagraph (B) may solicit from a multican18 didate political committee for State committees described

19 in subsection (a)(1)(C) (including subordinate commit20 tees) for any calendar year shall not exceed the dollar

21 amount in effect under subsection (a)(2)(B) for the cal22 endar year.

23 ‘‘(B) A person is described in this subparagraph if

24 such person is a candidate for Federal office, an individual

25 holding Federal office, an agent of such a candidate or
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1 individual, or any national, State, district, or local commit2 tee of a political party (including a subordinate committee)

3 and any agent of such a committee.

4 ‘‘(3) The appearance or participation by a candidate

5 for Federal office or individual holding Federal office in

6 any fundraising event conducted by a committee of a polit7 ical party or a candidate for other than Federal office shall

8 not be treated as a solicitation for purposes of paragraph

9 (1) if such candidate or individual does not solicit or re10 ceive, or make disbursements from, any funds resulting

11 from such activity.

12 ‘‘(4) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to the solicitation

13 or receipt of funds, or disbursements, by an individual who

14 is a candidate for other than Federal office if such activity

15 is permitted under State law.

16 ‘‘(5) For purposes of this subsection, an individual

17 shall be treated as holding Federal office if such individ18 ual—

19 ‘‘(A) holds a Federal office; or

20 ‘‘(B) holds a position described in level I of the

21 Executive Schedule under section 5312 of title 5,

22 United States Code.’’.

23 (b) TAX-EXEMPT ORGANIZATIONS.—Section 315 of

24 such Act (2 U.S.C. 441a), as amended by section 122 and
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1 subsection (a), is further amended by adding at the end

2 the following new subsection:

3 ‘‘(k) TAX-EXEMPT ORGANIZATIONS.—(1) If an indi4 vidual is a candidate for, or holds, Federal office during

5 any period, such individual may not during such period

6 solicit contributions to, or on behalf of, any organization

7 which is described in section 501(c) of the Internal Reve8 nue Code of 1986 if—

9 ‘‘(A) the organization is established, main10 tained, or controlled by such individual; and

11 ‘‘(B) a significant portion of the activities of

12 such organization include voter registration or get13 out-the-vote campaigns.

14 ‘‘(2) For purposes of this subsection, an individual

15 shall be treated as holding Federal office if such individ16 ual—

17 ‘‘(A) holds a Federal office; or

18 ‘‘(B) holds a position described in level I of the

19 Executive Schedule under section 5312 of title 5,

20 United States Code.’’.

21 SEC. 307. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.

22 (a) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—Section 304 of the

23 Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 434)

24 is amended by adding at the end the following new sub25 section:
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1 ‘‘(d) POLITICAL COMMITTEES.—(1) The national

2 committee of a political party and any congressional cam3 paign committee of a political party, and any subordinate

4 committee of either, shall report all receipts and disburse5 ments during the reporting period, whether or not in con6 nection with an election for Federal office.

7 ‘‘(2) A State, district, or local committee of a political

8 party to which section 324 applies shall report all receipts

9 and disbursements for the reporting period, including sep10 arate schedules for receipts and disbursements for State

11 Grassroots Funds.

12 ‘‘(3) Any political committee shall include in its re13 port under paragraph (1) or (2) the amount of any trans14 fer described in section 324(d)(2) and shall itemize such

15 amounts to the extent required by section 304(b)(3)(A).

16 ‘‘(4) The Commission may prescribe regulations to

17 require any political committee to which paragraph (1) or

18 (2) does not apply to report any receipts or disbursements

19 used in connection with a Federal election, including those

20 which are also used, directly or indirectly, to affect a State

21 or local election.

22 ‘‘(5) If a political committee has receipts or disburse23 ments to which this subsection applies from any person

24 aggregating in excess of $200 for any calendar year, the

25 political committee shall separately itemize its reporting
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1 for such person in the same manner as subsection (b)

2 (3)(A), (5), or (6).

3 ‘‘(6) Reports required to be filed by this subsection

4 shall be filed for the same time periods required for politi5 cal committees under subsection (a).’’.

6 (b) REPORT OF EXEMPT CONTRIBUTIONS.—Section

7 301(8) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 431(8)) is amended by in8 serting at the end the following new subparagraph:

9 ‘‘(C) The exclusion provided in clause (viii) of sub10 paragraph (B) shall not apply for purposes of any require11 ment to report contributions under this Act, and all such

12 contributions aggregating in excess of $200 (and disburse13 ments therefrom) shall be reported.’’.

14 (c) REPORTS BY STATE COMMITTEES.—Section 304

15 of such Act (2 U.S.C. 434), as amended by subsection (a),

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

17 subsection:

18 ‘‘(e) FILING OF STATE REPORTS.—In lieu of any re19 port required to be filed by this Act, the Commission may

20 allow a State committee of a political party to file with

21 the Commission a report required to be filed under State

22 law if the Commission determines such reports contain

23 substantially the same information.’’.

24 (d) OTHER REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—
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1 (1) AUTHORIZED COMMITTEES.—Section

2 304(b)(4) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 434(b)(4)) is

3 amended—

4 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub5 paragraph (H);

6 (B) by adding ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub7 paragraph (I); and

8 (C) by adding at the end the following new

9 subparagraph:

10 ‘‘(J) in the case of an authorized commit11 tee, disbursements for the primary election, the

12 general election, and any other election in which

13 the candidate participates;’’.

14 (2) NAMES AND ADDRESSES.—Section

15 304(b)(5)(A) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 434(b)(5)(A)) is

16 amended—

17 (A) by striking ‘‘within the calendar year’’,

18 and

19 (B) by inserting ‘‘, and the election to

20 which the operating expenditure relates’’ after

21 ‘‘operating expenditure’’.
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1 TITLE IV—CONTRIBUTIONS

2 SEC. 401. RESTRICTIONS ON BUNDLING.

3 Section 315(a)(8) of the Federal Election Campaign

4 Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a(a)(8)) is amended to read

5 as follows:

6 ‘‘(8)(A) No person, either directly or indirectly, may

7 act as a conduit or intermediary for any contribution to

8 a candidate.

9 ‘‘(B)(i) Nothing in this section shall prohibit—

10 ‘‘(I) joint fundraising conducted in accordance

11 with rules prescribed by the Commission by 2 or

12 more candidates; or

13 ‘‘(II) fundraising for the benefit of a candidate

14 that is conducted by another candidate.

15 ‘‘(ii) No other person may conduct or otherwise par16 ticipate in joint fundraising activities with or on behalf

17 of any candidate.

18 ‘‘(C) The term ‘conduit or intermediary’ means a per19 son who transmits a contribution to a candidate or can20 didate’s committee or representative from another person,

21 except that—

22 ‘‘(i) a House of Representatives candidate or

23 representative of a House of Representatives can24 didate is not a conduit or intermediary for the pur25 pose of transmitting contributions to the candidate’s
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1 principal campaign committee or authorized commit2 tee;

3 ‘‘(ii) a professional fundraiser is not a conduit

4 or intermediary, if the fundraiser is compensated for

5 fundraising services at the usual and customary

6 rate;

7 ‘‘(iii) a volunteer hosting a fundraising event at

8 the volunteer’s home, in accordance with section

9 301(8)(b), is not a conduit or intermediary for the

10 purposes of that event; and

11 ‘‘(iv) an individual is not a conduit or

12 intermediary for the purpose of transmitting a con13 tribution from the individual’s spouse.

14 For purposes of this section a conduit or intermediary

15 transmits a contribution when receiving or otherwise tak16 ing possession of the contribution and forwarding it di17 rectly to the candidate or the candidate’s committee or

18 representative.

19 ‘‘(D) For purposes of this section, the term ‘rep20 resentative’—

21 ‘‘(i) shall mean a person who is expressly au22 thorized by the candidate to engage in fundraising,

23 and who, in the case of an individual, is not acting

24 as an officer, employee, or agent of any other per25 son;
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1 ‘‘(ii) shall not include—

2 ‘‘(I) a political committee with a connected

3 organization;

4 ‘‘(II) a political party;

5 ‘‘(III) a partnership or sole proprietorship;

6 ‘‘(IV) an organization prohibited from

7 making contributions under section 316; or

8 ‘‘(V) a person required to register under

9 the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C.

10 1601 et seq.).

11 ‘‘(E) For purposes of this section, the term ‘acting

12 as an officer, employee, or agent of any other person’ in13 cludes the following activities by a salaried officer, em14 ployee, or paid agent of a person described in subpara15 graph (D)(ii)(IV):

16 ‘‘(i) Soliciting contributions to a particular can17 didate in the name of, or by using the name of, such

18 a person.

19 ‘‘(ii) Soliciting contributions to a particular

20 candidate using other than the incidental resources

21 of such a person.

22 ‘‘(iii) Soliciting contributions to a particular

23 candidate under the direction or control of other sal24 aried officers, employees, or paid agents of such a

25 person.
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1 For purposes of this subparagraph, the term ‘agent’ shall

2 include any person (other than individual members of an

3 organization described in subparagraph (b)(4)(C) of sec4 tion 316) acting on authority or under the direction of

5 such organization.’’.

6 SEC. 402. CONTRIBUTIONS BY DEPENDENTS NOT OF VOT7 ING AGE.

8 Section 315 of the Federal Election Campaign Act

9 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a), as amended by sections 122 and

10 306, is further amended by adding at the end the following

11 new subsection:

12 ‘‘(l) For purposes of this section, any contribution by

13 an individual who—

14 ‘‘(1) is a dependent of another individual; and

15 ‘‘(2) has not, as of the time of such contribu16 tion, attained the legal age for voting for elections

17 to Federal office in the State in which such individ18 ual resides,

19 shall be treated as having been made by such other indi20 vidual. If such individual is the dependent of another indi21 vidual and such other individual’s spouse, the contribution

22 shall be allocated among such individuals in the manner

23 determined by them.’’.
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1 SEC. 403. PROHIBITION OF ACCEPTANCE BY A CANDIDATE

2 OF CASH CONTRIBUTIONS FROM ANY ONE

3 PERSON AGGREGATING MORE THAN $100.

4 Section 321 of the Federal Election Campaign Act

5 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441g) is amended by inserting ‘‘, and

6 no candidate or authorized committee of a candidate shall

7 accept from any one person,’’ after ‘‘make’’.

8 SEC. 404. CONTRIBUTIONS TO CANDIDATES FROM STATE

9 AND LOCAL COMMITTEES OF POLITICAL PAR10 TIES TO BE AGGREGATED.

11 Section 315(a) of the Federal Election Campaign Act

12 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a(a)), as amended by section 121,

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

14 paragraph:

15 ‘‘(10) Notwithstanding paragraph (5)(B), a can16 didate for Federal office may not accept, with respect to

17 an election, any contribution from a State or local commit18 tee of a political party (including any subordinate commit19 tee of such committee) if such contribution, when added

20 to the total of contributions previously accepted from all

21 such committees of that political party, exceeds a limita22 tion on contributions to a candidate under this section.’’.

23 SEC. 405. PROHIBITION OF FALSE REPRESENTATION TO

24 SOLICIT CONTRIBUTIONS.

25 Section 322 of the Federal Election Campaign Act

26 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441h) is amended—
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1 (1) by inserting after ‘‘SEC. 322.’’ the follow2 ing: ‘‘(a)’’; and

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

4 ‘‘(b) No person shall solicit contributions by falsely

5 representing himself or herself as a candidate or as a rep6 resentative of a candidate, a political committee, or a polit7 ical party.’’.

8 SEC. 406. LIMITED EXCLUSION OF ADVANCES BY CAM9 PAIGN WORKERS FROM THE DEFINITION OF

10 THE TERM ‘‘CONTRIBUTION’’.

11 Section 301(8)(B) of the Federal Election Campaign

12 Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431(8)(B)), as amended by section

13 305, is amended—

14 (1) in clause (xix), by striking ‘‘and’’ after the

15 semicolon at the end;

16 (2) in clause (xx), by striking the period at the

17 end and inserting: ‘‘; and’’; and

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

19 clause:

20 ‘‘(xxi) any advance voluntarily made on behalf

21 of an authorized committee of a candidate by an in22 dividual in the normal course of such individual’s re23 sponsibilities as a volunteer for, or employee of, the

24 committee, if the advance is reimbursed by the com25 mittee within 10 days after the date on which the
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1 advance is made, and the value of advances on be2 half of a committee does not exceed $500 with re3 spect to an election.’’.

4 SEC. 407. AMENDMENT TO SECTION 316 OF THE FEDERAL

5 ELECTION CAMPAIGN ACT OF 1971.

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

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

8 (1) by striking ‘‘(2) For’’ and inserting ‘‘(2)(A)

9 Except as provided in subparagraph (B), for’’;

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

11 and (C) as clauses (i), (ii), and (iii), respectively;

12 and

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

14 ‘‘(B) Payments by a corporation or labor organization

15 for candidate debates, voter guides, or voting records di16 rected to the general public shall be considered contribu17 tions unless—

18 ‘‘(i) in the case of a candidate debate, the orga19 nization staging the debate is either an organization

20 described in section 301 (9)(B)(i) whose broadcasts,

21 cablecasts, or publications are supported by commer22 cial advertising, subscriptions, or sales to the public,

23 including a noncommercial educational broadcaster,

24 or a nonprofit organization exempt from Federal

25 taxation under section 501(c)(3) or 501(c)(4) of the
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1 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 that does not en2 dorse, support, or oppose candidates or political par3 ties, and any such debate features at least 2 can4 didates competing for election to that office;

5 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a voter guide, the guide is

6 prepared and distributed by a corporation or labor

7 organization and consists of questions posed to at

8 least two candidates for election to that office; and

9 ‘‘(iii) in the case of a voting record, the record

10 is prepared and distributed by a corporation or labor

11 organization at the end of a session of Congress and

12 consists solely of votes by all Members of Congress

13 in that session on one or more issues;

14 except that such payments shall be treated as contribu15 tions if any communication made by a corporation or labor

16 organization in connection with the candidate debate,

17 voter guide, or voting record contains express advocacy,

18 or any structure or format of the candidate debate, voter

19 guide, or voting record, or any preparation or distribution

20 of any such guide or record, reflects a purpose of influenc21 ing the election of a particular candidate.’’.
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1 SEC. 408. PROHIBITION OF CERTAIN ELECTION-RELATED

2 ACTIVITIES OF FOREIGN NATIONALS.

3 Section 319 of the Federal Election Campaign Act

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

5 the following new subsection:

6 ‘‘(c) A foreign national shall not directly or indirectly

7 direct, control, influence, or participate in any person’s

8 election-related activities, such as the making of contribu9 tions or expenditures in connection with elections for any

10 local, State, or Federal office or the administration of a

11 political committee.’’.

12 TITLE V—REPORTING

13 REQUIREMENTS

14 SEC. 501. CHANGE IN CERTAIN REPORTING FROM A CAL15 ENDAR YEAR BASIS TO AN ELECTION CYCLE

16 BASIS.

17 Paragraphs (2), (3), (4), (6), and (7) of section

18 304(b) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2

19 U.S.C. 434(b) (2)–(7)) are each amended by inserting

20 ‘‘(election cycle, in the case of an authorized committee

21 of a candidate for Federal office)’’ after ‘‘calendar year’’

22 each place it appears.

23 SEC. 502. DISCLOSURE OF PERSONAL AND CONSULTING

24 SERVICES.

25 (a) REPORTING BY POLITICAL COMMITTEES.—Sec26 tion 304(b)(5)(A) of the Federal Election Campaign Act
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1 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 434(b)(5)(A)) is amended by adding

2 before the semicolon at the end the following: ‘‘, except

3 that if a person to whom an expenditure is made by a

4 candidate or the candidate’s authorized committees is

5 merely providing personal or consulting services and is in

6 turn making expenditures to other persons (not including

7 its owners or employees) who provide goods or services to

8 the candidate or the candidate’s authorized committees,

9 the name and address of such other person, together with

10 the date, amount and purpose of such expenditure shall

11 also be disclosed’’.

12 (b) RECORDKEEPING AND REPORTING BY PERSONS

13 TO WHOM EXPENDITURES ARE PASSED THROUGH.—Sec14 tion 302 of such Act (2 U.S.C. 432) is amended by adding

15 at the end the following new subsection:

16 ‘‘(j) The person described in section 304(b)(5)(A)

17 who is providing personal or consulting services and who

18 is in turn making expenditures to other persons (not in19 cluding employees) for goods or services provided to a can20 didate shall maintain records of and shall provide to a po21 litical committee the information necessary to enable the

22 political committee to report the information described in

23 section 304(b)(5)(A).’’.
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1 SEC. 503. POLITICAL COMMITTEES OTHER THAN CAN2 DIDATE COMMITTEES.

3 Section 303(b) of the Federal Election Campaign Act

4 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 433(b)) is amended—

5 (1) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘, and if the

6 organization or committee is incorporated, the State

7 of incorporation’’ after ‘‘committee’’; and

8 (2) by striking the ‘‘name and address of the

9 treasurer’’ in paragraph (4) and inserting ‘‘the

10 names and addresses of any officers (including the

11 treasurer)’’.

12 SEC. 504. USE OF CANDIDATES’ NAMES.

13 Section 302(e)(4) of the Federal Election Campaign

14 Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 432(e)(4)) is amended to read as

15 follows:

16 ‘‘(4)(A) The name of each authorized committee shall

17 include the name of the candidate who authorized the com18 mittee under paragraph (1).

19 ‘‘(B) A political committee that is not an authorized

20 committee shall not—

21 ‘‘(i) include the name of any candidate in its

22 name, or

23 ‘‘(ii) except in the case of a national, State, or

24 local party committee, use the name of any can25 didate in any activity on behalf of such committee

26 in such a context as to suggest that the committee
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1 is an authorized committee of the candidate or that

2 the use of the candidate’s name has been authorized

3 by the candidate.’’.

4 SEC. 505. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.

5 (a) FILING ON THE 20TH DAY OF A MONTH.—Sec6 tion 304(a) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971

7 (2 U.S.C. 434(a)) is amended—

8 (1) in paragraph (2)(A)(iii), by striking ‘‘15th’’

9 and inserting ‘‘20th’’;

10 (2) in paragraph (3)(B)(ii), by striking ‘‘15th’’

11 and inserting ‘‘20th’’;

12 (3) in paragraph (4)(A)(i), by striking ‘‘15th’’

13 and inserting ‘‘20th’’; and

14 (4) in paragraph (8), by striking ‘‘15th’’ and

15 inserting ‘‘20th’’.

16 (b) OPTION TO FILE MONTHLY REPORTS.—Section

17 304(a)(2) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 434(a)(2)) is amended—

18 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘and’’ at

19 the end;

20 (2) in subparagraph (B), by striking the period

21 at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

22 (3) by inserting the following new subparagraph

23 at the end:

24 ‘‘(C) in lieu of the reports required by subpara25 graphs (A) and (B), the treasurer may file monthly
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1 reports in all calendar years, which shall be filed no

2 later than the 20th day after the last day of the

3 month and shall be complete as of the last day of

4 the month, except that, in lieu of filing the reports

5 otherwise due in November and December of any

6 year in which a regularly scheduled general election

7 is held, a pre-primary election report and a pre-gen8 eral election report shall be filed in accordance with

9 subparagraph (A)(i), a post-general election report

10 shall be filed in accordance with subparagraph

11 (A)(ii), and a year end report shall be filed no later

12 than January 31 of the following calendar year.’’.

13 (c) POLITICAL COMMITTEES.—Section 304(a)(4) of

14 such Act (2 U.S.C. 434(a)(4)) is amended in subpara15 graph (A)(i) by inserting ‘‘, and except that if at any time

16 during the election year a committee receives contributions

17 in excess of $100,000 ($10,000 in the case of a multican18 didate political committee), or makes disbursements in ex19 cess of $100,000 ($10,000 in the case of a multicandidate

20 political committee), monthly reports on the 20th day of

21 each month after the month in which that amount of con22 tributions is first received or that amount of disburse23 ments is first anticipated to be made during that year’’

24 before the semicolon.
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1 (d) INCOMPLETE OR FALSE CONTRIBUTOR INFORMA2 TION.—Section 302(i) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 432(i)) is

3 amended—

4 (1) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ after ‘‘(i)’’;

5 (2) by striking ‘‘submit’’ and inserting ‘‘re6 port’’; and

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

8 paragraph:

9 ‘‘(2) A treasurer shall be considered to have used best

10 efforts under this section only if—

11 ‘‘(A) all written solicitations include a clear and

12 conspicuous request for the contributor’s identifica13 tion and inform the contributor of the committee’s

14 obligation to report the identification in a statement

15 prescribed by the Commission;

16 ‘‘(B) the treasurer makes at least 1 additional

17 request for the contributor’s identification for each

18 contribution received that aggregates in excess of

19 $200 per calendar year and which does not contain

20 all of the information required by this Act; and

21 ‘‘(C) the treasurer reports all information in the

22 committee’s possession regarding contributor identi23 fications.’’.
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1 (e) WAIVER.—Section 304 of such Act (2 U.S.C.

2 434), as amended by section 307, is further amended by

3 adding at the end the following new subsection:

4 ‘‘(f) WAIVER.—The Commission may relieve any cat5 egory of political committees of the obligation to file 1 or

6 more reports required by this section, or may change the

7 due dates of such reports, if it determines that such action

8 is consistent with the purposes of this Act. The Commis9 sion may waive requirements to file reports in accordance

10 with this subsection through a rule of general applicability

11 or, in a specific case, may waive or extend the due date

12 of a report by notifying all political committees affected.’’.

13 SEC. 506. SIMULTANEOUS REGISTRATION OF CANDIDATE

14 AND CANDIDATE’S PRINCIPAL CAMPAIGN

15 COMMITTEE.

16 Section 303(a) of the Federal Election Campaign Act

17 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 433(a)) is amended in the first sentence

18 by striking ‘‘no later than 10 days after designation’’ and

19 inserting ‘‘on the date of its designation’’.

20 SEC. 507. REPORTING ON GENERAL CAMPAIGN ACTIVITIES

21 OF PERSONS OTHER THAN POLITICAL PAR22 TIES.

23 (a) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.—Section 304 of the

24 Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 434),
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1 as amended by sections 307 and 505, is further amended

2 by adding at the end the following new subsection:

3 ‘‘(g) CERTAIN COMMUNICATIONS BY CORPORATIONS

4 AND LABOR ORGANIZATIONS.—(1) Any person making

5 disbursements to pay the cost of applicable communication

6 activities aggregating $5,000 or more with respect to a

7 candidate in an election after the 20th day, but more than

8 24 hours, before the election shall file a report of such

9 disbursements within 24 hours after such disbursements

10 are made.

11 ‘‘(2) Any person making disbursements to pay the

12 cost of applicable communications activities aggregating

13 $5,000 or more with respect to a candidate in an election

14 at any time up to and including the 20th day before the

15 election shall file a report within 48 hours after such dis16 bursements are made.

17 ‘‘(3) Any person required to file a report under para18 graph (1) or (2) which also makes disbursements to pay

19 the cost directly attributable to a get-out-the-vote cam20 paign described in section 316(b)(2)(B) aggregating

21 $25,000 or more with respect to an election shall file a

22 report within 48 hours after such disbursements are made.

23 ‘‘(4) An additional report shall be filed each time ad24 ditional disbursements described in paragraph (1), (2), or

25 (3), whichever is applicable, aggregating $10,000 are
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1 made with respect to the same candidate in the same elec2 tion as the initial report filed under this subsection. Each

3 such report shall be filed within 48 hours after the dis4 bursements are made.

5 ‘‘(5) For purposes of this subsection, the term ‘appli6 cable communication activities’ means activities which are

7 covered by the exception to section 301(9)(B)(iii).

8 ‘‘(6) Any statement under this subsection—

9 ‘‘(A) shall be filed in the case of—

10 ‘‘(i) disbursements relating to candidates

11 for the House of Representatives, with the

12 Clerk of the House of Representatives and the

13 Secretary of State of the State involved, and

14 ‘‘(ii) any other disbursements, with the

15 Commission, and

16 ‘‘(B) shall contain such information as the

17 Commission shall prescribe.’’

18 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 301(9)(B)

19 of such Act (2 U.S.C. 431(9)(B)) is amended by inserting

20 ‘‘and shall, if such costs exceeds the amount described in

21 paragraph (1), (2), or (4) of section 304(g), be reported

22 in the manner provided in section 304(g)’’ before the semi23 colon at the end of clause (iii).
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1 TITLE VI—BROADCAST RATES

2 AND CAMPAIGN ADVERTISING

3 SEC. 601. BROADCAST RATES AND CAMPAIGN ADVERTIS4 ING.

5 (a) BROADCAST RATES.—Section 315 of the Commu6 nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 315) is amended—

7 (1) by amending subsection (b) to read as fol8 lows:

9 ‘‘(b)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), the

10 charges made for the use of a broadcasting station by a

11 person who is a legally qualified candidate for public office

12 in connection with the person’s campaign for nomination

13 for election, or election, to public office shall not exceed

14 the charges made for comparable use of such station by

15 other users thereof.

16 ‘‘(2) In the case of an eligible House of Representa17 tives candidate, during the 30 days preceding the date of

18 the primary or primary runoff election and during the 60

19 days preceding the date of a general or special election

20 in which the person is a candidate, the charges made for

21 the use of a broadcasting station by the candidate shall

22 not exceed 50 percent of the lowest unit charge of the sta23 tion for the same class and amount of time for the same

24 period.’’;
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1 (2) by redesignating subsections (c) and (d) as

2 subsections (f) and (g), respectively;

3 (3) by inserting after subsection (b) the follow4 ing new subsections:

5 ‘‘(c)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), a li6 censee shall not preempt the use, during any period speci7 fied in subsection (b)(1)(A), of a broadcast station by a

8 legally qualified candidate for public office who has pur9 chased and paid for such use pursuant to subsection

10 (b)(1)(A).

11 ‘‘(2) If a program to be broadcast by a broadcasting

12 station is preempted because of circumstances beyond the

13 control of the broadcasting station, any candidate adver14 tising spot scheduled to be broadcast during that program

15 may also be preempted.

16 ‘‘(d) If any person makes an independent expenditure

17 through a communication on a broadcasting station that

18 expressly advocates the defeat of an eligible House of Rep19 resentatives candidate, or the election of an eligible House

20 of Representatives candidate (regardless of whether such

21 opponent is an eligible candidate), the licensee, as applica22 ble, shall, not later than 5 business days after the date

23 on which the communication is made (or not later than
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1 24 hours after the communication is made if the commu2 nication occurs not more than 2 weeks before the date of

3 the election), transmit to the candidate—

4 ‘‘(1) a statement of the date and time on which

5 the communication was made;

6 ‘‘(2) a script or tape recording of the commu7 nication, or an accurate summary of the communica8 tion if a script or tape recording is not available;

9 and

10 ‘‘(3) an offer of an equal opportunity for the

11 candidate to use the broadcasting station to respond

12 to the communication without having to pay for the

13 use in advance.

14 ‘‘(e) A licensee that endorses a candidate for Federal

15 office in an editorial shall, within the time period stated

16 in subsection (d), provide to all other candidates for elec17 tion to the same office—

18 ‘‘(1) a statement of the date and time of the

19 communication;

20 ‘‘(2) a script or tape recording of the commu21 nication, or an accurate summary of the communica22 tion if a script or tape recording is not available;

23 and

24 ‘‘(3) an offer of an equal opportunity for the

25 candidate or spokesperson for the candidate to use
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1 the broadcasting station to respond to the commu2 nication.’’; and

3 (4) in subsection (f), as redesignated by para4 graph (2)—

5 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para6 graph (1);

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

8 paragraph (2) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

9 (C) by adding at the end the following new

10 paragraph:

11 ‘‘(3) the terms ‘eligible House of Representa12 tives candidate’ and ‘independent expenditure’ have

13 the meanings stated in section 301 of the Federal

14 Election Campaign Act of 1971.’’.

15 (b) REVOCATION OF LICENSE FOR FAILURE TO PER16 MIT ACCESS.—Section 312(a)(7) of such Act (47 U.S.C.

17 312(a)(7)) is amended—

18 (1) by striking ‘‘or repeated’’;

19 (2) by inserting ‘‘or cable system’’ after ‘‘broad20 casting station’’; and

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

22 ‘‘his or her candidacy, under the same terms, condi23 tions, and business practices as apply to its most fa24 vored advertiser’’.
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1 (c) MEETING REQUIREMENTS FOR RATES AS CONDI2 TION OF GRANTING OR RENEWAL OF LICENSE.—Section

3 307 of such Act (47 U.S.C. 307) is amended by adding

4 at the end the following new subsection:

5 ‘‘(f) The continuation of an existing license, the re6 newal of an expiring license, and the issuance of a new

7 license shall be expressly conditioned on the agreement by

8 the licensee or the applicant to meet the requirements of

9 section 315(b), except that the Commission may waive this

10 condition in the case of a licensee or applicant who dem11 onstrates (in accordance with such criteria as the Commis12 sion may establish in consultation with the Federal Elec13 tion Commission) that meeting such requirements will im14 pose a significant financial hardship.’’.

15 SEC. 602. CAMPAIGN ADVERTISING AMENDMENTS.

16 Section 318 of the Federal Election Campaign Act

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

18 (1) in the matter before paragraph (1) of sub19 section (a), by striking ‘‘Whenever’’ and inserting

20 ‘‘Whenever a political committee makes a disburse21 ment for the purpose of financing any communica22 tion through any broadcasting station, newspaper,

23 magazine, outdoor advertising facility, mailing, or

24 any other type of general public political advertising,

25 or whenever’’;
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1 (2) in the matter before paragraph (1) of sub2 section (a), by striking ‘‘an expenditure’’ and insert3 ing ‘‘a disbursement’’;

4 (3) in the matter before paragraph (1) of sub5 section (a), by striking ‘‘direct’’;

6 (4) in paragraph (3) of subsection (a), by in7 serting after ‘‘name’’ the following ‘‘and permanent

8 street address’’; and

9 (5) by adding at the end the following new sub10 sections:

11 ‘‘(c) Any printed communication described in sub12 section (a) shall be—

13 ‘‘(1) of sufficient type size to be clearly read14 able by the recipient of the communication;

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

16 the other contents of the communication; and

17 ‘‘(3) consist of a reasonable degree of color con18 trast between the background and the printed state19 ment.

20 ‘‘(d)(1) Any communication described in subsection

21 (a)(1) or (a)(2) that is provided to and distributed by any

22 broadcasting station or cable system (as such terms are

23 defined in sections 315 and 602, respectively, of the Fed24 eral Communications Act of 1934) shall include, in addi25 tion to the requirements of subsections (a)(1) and (a)(2),
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1 an audio statement by the candidate that identifies the

2 candidate and states that the candidate has approved the

3 communication.

4 ‘‘(2) If a communication described in paragraph (1)

5 contains any visual images, the communication shall in6 clude a written statement which contains the same infor7 mation as the audio statement and which—

8 ‘‘(A) appears at the end of the communication

9 in a clearly readable manner with a reasonable de10 gree of color contrast between the background and

11 the printed statement, for a period of at least 4 sec12 onds; and

13 ‘‘(B) is accompanied by a clearly identifiable

14 photographic or similar image of the candidate.

15 ‘‘(e)(1) Any communication described in subsection

16 (a)(3) that is provided to and distributed by any broad17 casting station or cable system described in subsection

18 (d)(1) shall include, in addition to the requirements of

19 that subsection, in a clearly spoken manner, the following

20 statement: ‘ is responsible for the content

21 of this advertisement.’; with the blank to be filled in with

22 the name of the political committee or other person paying

23 for the communication and the name of any connected or24 ganization of the payor.
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1 ‘‘(2) If the communication described in paragraph (1)

2 contains visual images, the communication shall include

3 a written statement which contains the same information

4 as the audio statement and which appears in a clearly

5 readable manner with a reasonable degree of color con6 trast between the background and the printed statement

7 for a period of at least 4 seconds.’’.

8 SEC. 603. ELIGIBILITY FOR NONPROFIT THIRD-CLASS BULK

9 RATES OF POSTAGE.

10 Paragraph (2) of section 3626(e) of title 39, United

11 States Code, is amended—

12 (1) in subparagraph (A) by striking ‘‘Commit13 tee, and the’’ and inserting ‘‘Committee, the’’, and

14 by striking ‘‘Committee;’’ and inserting ‘‘Committee,

15 and a qualified campaign committee;’’;

16 (2) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara17 graph (B);

18 (3) by striking the period at the end of sub19 paragraph (C) and inserting a semicolon; and

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

21 ‘‘(D) the term ‘qualified campaign committee’

22 means the campaign committee of an eligible House

23 of Representatives candidate; and

24 ‘‘(E) the term ‘eligible House of Representa25 tives candidate’ has the meaning given that term in
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1 section 301 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of

2 1971.’’.

3 TITLE VII—MISCELLANEOUS

4 SEC. 701. PROHIBITION OF LEADERSHIP COMMITTEES.

5 Section 302(e) of the Federal Election Campaign Act

6 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 432(e)) is amended—

7 (1) by amending paragraph (3) to read as fol8 lows:

9 ‘‘(3) No political committee that supports or has sup10 ported more than one candidate may be designated as an

11 authorized committee, except that—

12 ‘‘(A) a candidate for the office of President

13 nominated by a political party may designate the na14 tional committee of such political party as the can15 didate’s principal campaign committee, but only if

16 that national committee maintains separate books of

17 account with respect to its functions as a principal

18 campaign committee; and

19 ‘‘(B) a candidate may designate a political com20 mittee established solely for the purpose of joint

21 fundraising by such candidates as an authorized

22 committee.’’; and

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

24 paragraph:
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1 ‘‘(6)(A) A candidate for Federal office or any individ2 ual holding Federal office may not establish, finance,

3 maintain, or control any Federal or non-Federal political

4 committee other than a principal campaign committee of

5 the candidate, authorized committee, party committee, or

6 other political committee designated in accordance with

7 paragraph (3). A candidate for more than one Federal of8 fice may designate a separate principal campaign commit9 tee for each Federal office. This paragraph shall not pre10 clude a Federal officeholder who is a candidate for State

11 or local office from establishing, financing, maintaining,

12 or controlling a political committee for election of the indi13 vidual to such State or local office.

14 ‘‘(B) For 2 years after the effective date of this para15 graph, any political committee established before such

16 date but which is prohibited under subparagraph (A) may

17 continue to make contributions. At the end of that period

18 such political committee shall disburse all funds by one

19 or more of the following means: making contributions to

20 an entity qualified under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal

21 Revenue Code of 1986; making a contribution to the treas22 ury of the United States; contributing to the national,

23 State or local committees of a political party; or making

24 contributions not to exceed $1,000 to candidates for elec25 tive office.’’.
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1 SEC. 702. APPEARANCE BY FEDERAL ELECTION COMMIS2 SION AS AMICI CURIAE.

3 Section 306(f) of the Federal Election Campaign Act

4 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 437c(f)) is amended by striking out

5 paragraph (4) and inserting in lieu thereof the following

6 new paragraph:

7 ‘‘(4)(A) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph

8 (2), or of any other provision of law, the Commission is

9 authorized to appear on its own behalf in any action relat10 ed to the exercise of its statutory duties or powers in any

11 court as either a party or as amicus curiae, either—

12 ‘‘(i) by attorneys employed in its office, or

13 ‘‘(ii) by counsel whom it may appoint, on a

14 temporary basis as may be necessary for such pur15 pose, without regard to the provisions of title 5,

16 United States Code, governing appointments in the

17 competitive service, and whose compensation it may

18 fix without regard to the provisions of chapter 51

19 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of such title. The

20 compensation of counsel so appointed on a tem21 porary basis shall be paid out of any funds otherwise

22 available to pay the compensation of employees of

23 the Commission.

24 ‘‘(B) The authority granted under subparagraph (A)

25 includes the power to appeal from, and petition the Su26 preme Court for certiorari to review, judgments or decrees
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1 entered with respect to actions in which the Commission

2 appears pursuant to the authority provided in this sec3 tion.’’.

4 SEC. 703. PROHIBITING SOLICITATION OF CONTRIBUTIONS

5 BY MEMBERS IN HALL OF THE HOUSE OF

6 REPRESENTATIVES.

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—A Member of the House of Rep8 resentatives may not solicit or accept campaign contribu9 tions in the Hall of the House of Representatives, rooms

10 leading thereto, or the cloakrooms.

11 (b) DEFINITION.—In subsection (a), the term ‘‘Mem12 ber of the House of Representatives’’ means a Representa13 tive in, or a Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, Con14 gress.

15 (c) EXERCISE OF RULEMAKING AUTHORITY.—This

16 section is enacted by Congress—

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

18 the House of Representatives, and as such this sec19 tion is deemed a part of the rules of the House of

20 Representatives and supersedes other rules only to

21 the extent inconsistent therewith; and

22 (2) with full recognition of the constitutional

23 right of the House of Representatives to change the

24 rule at any time, in the same manner and to the
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1 same extent as in the case of any other rule of the

2 House of Representatives.

3 TITLE VIII—EFFECTIVE DATES;

4 AUTHORIZATIONS

5 SEC. 801. EFFECTIVE DATE.

6 Except as otherwise provided in this Act, the amend7 ments made by, and the provisions of, this Act shall take

8 effect on the date of the enactment of this Act, but shall

9 not apply with respect to activities in connection with any

10 election occurring before January 1, 1999.

11 SEC. 802. SEVERABILITY.

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise provided in

13 this section, if any provision of this Act (including any

14 amendment made by this Act), or the application of any

15 such provision to any person or circumstance, is held in16 valid, the validity of any other provision of this Act, or

17 the application of such provision to other persons and cir18 cumstances, shall not be affected thereby.

19 (b) EXCEPTIONS.—If any provision of subtitle A of

20 title V of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (as

21 added by title I) is held to be invalid, all provisions of

22 such subtitle, and the amendment made by section 122,

23 shall be treated as invalid.
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1 SEC. 803. EXPEDITED REVIEW OF CONSTITUTIONAL ISSUES.

2 (a) DIRECT APPEAL TO SUPREME COURT.—An ap3 peal may be taken directly to the Supreme Court of the

4 United States from any final judgment, decree, or order

5 issued by any court finding any provision of this Act or

6 amendment made by this Act to be unconstitutional.

7 (b) ACCEPTANCE AND EXPEDITION.—The Supreme

8 Court shall, if it has not previously ruled on the question

9 addressed in the ruling below, accept jurisdiction over, ad10 vance on the docket, and expedite the appeal to the great11 est extent possible.

12 SEC. 804. REGULATIONS.

13 The Federal Election Commission shall prescribe any

14 regulations required to carry out the provisions of this Act

15 within 12 months after the effective date of this Act.

Æ