I

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 569

To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to reduce the amount

that a nonparty multicandidate political committee may contribute to

a candidate in a congressional election, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 4, 1997

Mrs. FOWLER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on House Oversight

A BILL

To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to

reduce the amount that a nonparty multicandidate political committee may contribute to a candidate in a congressional election, and for other purposes.

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

3 SECTION 1. REDUCTION IN AMOUNT THAT A NONPARTY

4 MULTICANDIDATE POLITICAL COMMITTEE

5 MAY CONTRIBUTE TO A CANDIDATE IN A

6 CONGRESSIONAL ELECTION.

7 Section 315(a)(2)(A) of the Federal Election Cam8 paign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a(a)(2)(A)) is amended
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1 by inserting after ‘‘$5,000’’ the following: ‘‘, except that,

2 with respect to an election for the office of Senator or Rep3 resentative in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner to,

4 the Congress, the limitation applicable to a nonparty

5 multicandidate political committee under this subpara6 graph shall be $1,000’’.

7 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL ELECTION LIMITATION ON CON8 TRIBUTIONS FROM PERSONS OTHER THAN

9 IN-STATE INDIVIDUAL RESIDENTS.

10 Section 315 of the Federal Election Campaign Act

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

12 the following new subsection:

13 ‘‘(i)(1) A candidate for the office of Senator or Rep14 resentative in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner to,

15 the Congress may not, with respect to a reporting period

16 for an election, accept contributions from persons other

17 than in-State individual residents that, in total, are equal

18 to or greater than the total of contributions accepted from

19 in-State individual residents.

20 ‘‘(2) The exceptions relating to the name and address

21 of a person making a contribution of $50 or less and the

22 date of such contribution, as contained in subsection

23 (b)(1), subsection (b)(2)(A), and subsection (c)(2) of sec24 tion 302, shall not apply to contributions with respect to
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1 elections for the office of Senator or Representative in,

2 or Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, the Congress.

3 ‘‘(3) As used in this subsection, the term ‘in-State

4 individual resident’ means an individual who resides in the

5 State in which the election involved is held.’’.

6 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION OF CASH CONTRIBUTIONS IN FED7 ERAL ELECTIONS.

8 Section 321 of the Federal Election Campaign Act

9 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441g), is amended by striking out

10 ‘‘which, in the aggregate, exceed $100,’’.

11 SEC. 4. PROHIBITION OF INDEPENDENT EXPENDITURES

12 WITHIN 7 DAYS BEFORE A CONGRESSIONAL

13 ELECTION.

14 Section 315 of the Federal Election Campaign Act

15 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a), as amended by section 2, is fur16 ther amended by adding at the end the following new sub17 section:

18 ‘‘(j) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act,

19 during the period beginning 7 days before the date of an

20 election for the office of Senator or Representative in, or

21 Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, the Congress, and

22 ending on the date of the election, no person may make

23 any independent expenditure with respect to the election.’’.
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1 SEC. 5. PROHIBITION ON CONTRIBUTIONS BETWEEN

2 MULTICANDIDATE POLITICAL COMMITTEES.

3 Section 315 of the Federal Election Campaign Act

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

5 4, is further amended by adding at the end the following

6 new subsection:

7 ‘‘(k) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act,

8 a multicandidate political committee may not make a con9 tribution to another multicandidate political committee.’’.

10 SEC. 6. MULTICANDIDATE POLITICAL COMMITTEE NAME

11 REQUIREMENT.

12 Section 303 of the Federal Election Campaign Act

13 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 433) is amended by adding at the end

14 the following new subsection:

15 ‘‘(e) Any multicandidate political committee that is

16 affiliated with another organization shall include the entire

17 name of the organization in the name of the multican18 didate political committee.’’.

19 SEC. 7. PROHIBITION OF BUNDLING.

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

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

22 as follows:

23 ‘‘(8) No person may make a contribution through an

24 intermediary or conduit, except that a person may facili25 tate a contribution by providing—
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1 ‘‘(A) advice to another person as to how the

2 other person may make a contribution; and

3 ‘‘(B) addressed mailing material or similar

4 items to another person for use by the other person

5 in making a contribution.’’.

6 SEC. 8. REQUIREMENT FOR DISCLOSURE OF LOBBYIST

7 STATUS BY LOBBYISTS WHO MAKE CON8 TRIBUTIONS.

9 Section 315 of the Federal Election Campaign Act

10 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a), as amended by sections 2, 4,

11 and 5, is further amended by adding at the end the follow12 ing new subsection:

13 ‘‘(l) Any person who is a lobbyist and who makes a

14 contribution shall include with the contribution a state15 ment in writing that discloses the status of the person as

16 a lobbyist.’’.

17 SEC. 9. REPORTING REQUIREMENT FOR LOBBYISTS.

18 Section 304 of the Federal Election Campaign Act

19 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 434) is amended by adding at the end

20 the following new subsection:

21 ‘‘(d)(1) Not later than 20 days after the end of the

22 month in which a lobbyist makes a contribution, the lobby23 ist, in such form and manner as the Commission shall pre24 scribe by regulation, shall report the contribution to the

25 Commission.’’.
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1 SEC. 10. REPORTING REQUIREMENT FOR OUT-OF-STATE

2 CONTRIBUTIONS IN HOUSE OF REPRESENTA3 TIVES ELECTIONS.

4 Section 304 of the Federal Election Campaign Act

5 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 434), as amended by section 9, is fur6 ther amended by adding at the end the following new sub7 section:

8 ‘‘(e) Any report of contributions with respect to an

9 election for the office of Representative in, or Delegate or

10 Resident Commissioner to, the Congress, shall segregate

11 and itemize all out-of-State contributions.’’.

12 SEC. 11. BAN ON SOFT MONEY.

13 Section 315 of the Federal Election Campaign Act

14 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a), as amended by sections 2, 4,

15 5, and 8, is further amended by adding at the end the

16 following new subsection:

17 ‘‘(m)(1) It shall be unlawful for the purpose of influ18 encing any election to Federal office—

19 ‘‘(A) to solicit or receive any soft money; or

20 ‘‘(B) to make any payments from soft money.

21 ‘‘(2) For purposes of paragraph (1), the term ‘soft

22 money’ means any amount—

23 ‘‘(A) solicited or received from a source which

24 is prohibited under section 316(a);

25 ‘‘(B) contributed, solicited, or received in excess

26 of the contribution limits under section 315; or
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1 ‘‘(C) not subject to the recordkeeping, report2 ing, or disclosure requirements under section 304 or

3 any other provision of this Act.’’.

4 SEC. 12. EFFECTIVE DATE.

5 Except as otherwise provided in this Act, the amend6 ments made by this Act shall apply with respect to elec7 tions beginning with the general election on November 5,

8 1998.

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