I

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 493

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

of Federal elections, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 21, 1997

Mr. SHAYS (for himself, Mr. MEEHAN, Mrs. ROUKEMA, Mr. BARRETT of Wisconsin, Mrs. SMITH of Washington, Mr. KIND, and Mr. DUNCAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House

Oversight, and in addition to the Committees on Commerce and Government Reform and Oversight, 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 elections, and for other

purposes.

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Bipartisan Campaign

5 Reform Act of 1997’’.

6 SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS.

7 The table of contents of this Act is as follows:
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Sec. 1. Short title.

Sec. 2. Table of contents.

TITLE I—HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ELECTION SPENDING

LIMITS AND BENEFITS

Sec. 101. House of Representatives election spending limits and benefits.

Sec. 102. Broadcast rates and preemption.

Sec. 103. Reduced postage rates.

Sec. 104. Contribution limit for eligible House of Representatives candidates.

Sec. 105. Reporting requirements.

TITLE II—REDUCTION OF SPECIAL INTEREST INFLUENCE

Subtitle A—Limitations on Political Action Committees and Large

Contributions of Individuals

Sec. 201. Limitations on activities of political action committees in Federal

elections.

Sec. 202. Aggregate limit on large contributions.

Subtitle B—Provisions Relating to Soft Money of Political Parties

Sec. 211. Soft money of political parties.

Sec. 212. Increase in contribution limit for individual contributions to national

political parties.

Sec. 212. Increase in contribution limits for contributions to State parties.

Sec. 213. Reporting requirements.

Sec. 214. Building fund exception to the definition of the term ‘‘contribution’’.

Subtitle C—Soft Money of Persons Other Than Political Parties

Sec. 221. Soft money of persons other than political parties.

Subtitle D—Contributions

Sec. 231. Contributions through intermediaries and conduits.

Subtitle E—Additional Prohibitions on Contributions

Sec. 241. Prohibition of contributions by noncitizens and other individuals not

qualified to vote.

Subtitle F—Coordinated and Independent Expenditures

Sec. 251. Clarification of definitions relating to independent expenditures.

Sec. 252. Treatment of coordinated expenditures as contributions.

Sec. 253. Treatment of certain party expenditures and communications containing express advocacy as expenditures.

Sec. 254. Reporting requirements for certain independent expenditures.

TITLE III—ENFORCEMENT AND DISCLOSURE

Sec. 301. Audits.

Sec. 302. Change in certain reporting from a calendar year basis to an election

cycle basis.

Sec. 303. Disclosure of personal and consulting services.

Sec. 304. Independent litigation authority.

Sec. 305. Term limits for Federal Election Commission.
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Sec. 306. Authority to seek injunction.

Sec. 307. Expedited procedures.

Sec. 308. Increase in penalty for knowing and willful violations.

Sec. 309. Mandatory electronic filing and preservation of Federal election commission reports.

TITLE IV—MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS

Sec. 401. Restrictions on use of campaign funds for personal purposes.

Sec. 402. Campaign advertising amendments.

Sec. 403. Use of candidates’ names.

Sec. 404. Reporting requirements.

Sec. 405. Simultaneous registration of candidate and candidate’s principal campaign committee.

Sec. 406. Insolvent political committees.

Sec. 407. Regulations relating to use of non-Federal money.

Sec. 408. Ban on franking for unsolicited mass mailings mailed during election

year.

Sec. 409. Intent of congress.

Sec. 410. Severability.

Sec. 411. Expedited review of constitutional issues.

Sec. 412. Effective date.

Sec. 413. Regulations.

1 TITLE I—HOUSE OF REPRESENT2 ATIVES ELECTION SPENDING

3 LIMITS AND BENEFITS

4 SEC. 101. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ELECTION SPEND5 ING LIMITS AND BENEFITS.

6 The Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 is

7 amended by adding at the end the following new title:

8 ‘‘TITLE V—SPENDING LIMITS

9 AND BENEFITS FOR HOUSE

10 OF REPRESENTATIVES ELEC11 TION CAMPAIGNS

12 ‘‘SEC. 501. CANDIDATES ELIGIBLE TO RECEIVE BENEFITS.

13 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this title, a can14 didate is an eligible House of Representatives candidate
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1 if the Commission has certified, pursuant to section 504,

2 that the candidate—

3 ‘‘(1) meets the election cycle filing requirements

4 of subsection (b); and

5 ‘‘(2) meets the threshold contribution require6 ments of subsection (c).

7 ‘‘(b) FILING REQUIREMENTS.—

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

9 subsection are met if the candidate files with the

10 Commission under penalty of perjury a declaration

11 that—

12 ‘‘(A) the candidate and the candidate’s au13 thorized committees—

14 ‘‘(i) will not exceed the expenditure

15 limits under section 502(a), (b), and (c),

16 ‘‘(ii) will not accept contributions in

17 excess of the election cycle expenditure

18 limit, reduced by any amounts transferred

19 to this election cycle from a preceding elec20 tion cycle,

21 ‘‘(iii) will not, in the event of a runoff

22 election, accept contributions in excess of

23 the runoff expenditure limit, reduced by

24 any amounts transferred to this election

25 cycle from a preceding election cycle,
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1 ‘‘(iv) will not accept any contributions

2 in violation of section 315, and

3 ‘‘(v) will comply with the requirement

4 that, by the end of the election cycle, not

5 less than 60 percent of the total dollar

6 amount of all contributions from individ7 uals to the candidate or the candidate’s

8 authorized committees (including any ex9 penditures, contributions, or loans made by

10 the candidate) shall come from individuals

11 legally residing in the candidate’s State;

12 and

13 ‘‘(B) the candidate intends to make use of

14 the benefits provided under section 503.

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

16 The declaration under paragraph (1) shall be filed

17 the date the candidate files as a candidate for the

18 primary election. In the case of a candidate who is

19 not eligible to participate in a primary election but

20 qualifies for the general election ballot under State

21 law, the declaration under paragraph (1) shall be

22 filed not later than the date the candidate qualifies

23 for the general election ballot under State law.’’.

24 ‘‘(3) NOTIFICATION.—A candidate who—
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1 ‘‘(A) files a declaration pursuant to sub2 section (b)(1) of this Act; and

3 ‘‘(B) subsequently acts in a manner incon4 sistent with any of the limitations or require5 ments of the declaration filed under subsection

6 (b)(1) shall file a notification regarding such

7 acts with the Commission not later than 24

8 hours after the first such act inconsistent with

9 any of the limitations or requirements and shall

10 at the same time notify all other candidates for

11 the same office by sending a copy of the notifi12 cation filed with the Commission by certified

13 mail, return receipt requested.

14 ‘‘(c) THRESHOLD CONTRIBUTION REQUIREMENTS.—

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

16 subsection are met if the candidate and the can17 didate’s authorized committees have received allow18 able contributions during the applicable period in an

19 amount equal to 10 percent of the election cycle ex20 penditure limit under section 502(b), and file with

21 the Commission under penalty of perjury a state22 ment with supporting materials demonstrating that

23 this requirement has been met.

24 ‘‘(2) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this sec25 tion—
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1 ‘‘(A) the term ‘allowable contributions’

2 means contributions that are made as gifts of

3 money by an individual pursuant to a written

4 instrument identifying such individual as the

5 contributor, except that—

6 ‘‘(i) such term shall not include con7 tributions from individuals residing outside

8 the candidate’s State to the extent such

9 contributions exceed 40 percent of the

10 amount set forth in paragraph (1),

11 ‘‘(ii) no more than $200 of any con12 tribution from an individual shall be taken

13 into account; and

14 ‘‘(iii) such term shall not include any

15 contribution of an intermediary or conduit

16 within the meaning of section 301(a)(8);

17 and

18 ‘‘(B) the term ‘applicable period’ means—

19 ‘‘(i) the period beginning on January

20 1 of the calendar year preceding the cal21 endar year of the general election involved

22 and ending on the date of the general elec23 tion; or
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1 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a special election

2 for the office of Representative in, or Dele3 gate or Resident Commissioner to, the

4 Congress, the period beginning on the date

5 the vacancy in such office occurs and end6 ing on the date of the general election.

7 ‘‘SEC. 502. LIMITATION ON EXPENDITURES.

8 ‘‘(a) LIMITATION ON USE OF PERSONAL FUNDS.—

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

10 expenditures that may be made during an election

11 cycle by an eligible House of Representatives can12 didate or such candidate’s authorized committees

13 from the sources described in paragraph (2) shall

14 not exceed 10 percent of the election cycle expendi15 ture limit under subsection (b).

16 ‘‘(2) SOURCES.—A source is described in this

17 subsection if it is—

18 ‘‘(A) personal funds of the candidate and

19 members of the candidate’s immediate family;

20 or

21 ‘‘(B) personal loans incurred by the can22 didate and members of the candidate’s imme23 diate family.

24 ‘‘(b) ELECTION CYCLE EXPENDITURE LIMIT.—
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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise pro2 vided in this title, the aggregate amount of expendi3 tures for an election cycle by an eligible House of

4 Representatives candidate and the candidate’s au5 thorized committees shall not exceed $600,000.

6 ‘‘(2) INDEXING.—The amount under paragraph

7 (1) shall be increased as of the beginning of each

8 calendar year based on the increase in the price

9 index determined under section 315(c), except that

10 the base period shall be calendar year 1997.

11 ‘‘(c) RUNOFF EXPENDITURE LIMITS.—The aggre12 gate amount of expenditures for a runoff election by an

13 eligible House of Representatives candidate and the can14 didate’s authorized committees shall not exceed 20 percent

15 of the election cycle expenditure limit under subsection

16 (b).

17 ‘‘(d) PAYMENT OF TAXES.—The limitation under

18 subsection (b) shall not apply to any expenditure for Fed19 eral, State, or local taxes with respect to earnings on con20 tributions raised.

21 ‘‘(e) CONTESTED PRIMARY.—If, as determined by the

22 Commission, an eligible House of Representatives can23 didate in a contested primary wins that primary election

24 by a margin of 10 percent or less, the limitation contained

25 in subsection (b)(1) shall be increased by 30 percent for
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1 such candidate, and such candidate shall be entitled to

2 raise additional contributions not to exceed this amount.

3 ‘‘(f) COMPLYING CANDIDATES RUNNING AGAINST

4 NONCOMPLYING CANDIDATES.—

5 ‘‘(1) If in the case of an election with more

6 than one candidate where any candidate either—

7 ‘‘(A) fails to be certified as an eligible can8 didate by the Commission and has expended

9 personal funds in excess of 10 percent of the

10 election cycle limits contained in subsection (b)

11 or has received contributions or expended per12 sonal funds which in the aggregate exceed 70

13 percent of the election cycle limits contained in

14 subsection (b), or

15 ‘‘(B) violates the limitations on expendi16 tures of this Act, any eligible House of Rep17 resentatives candidate in that election shall be

18 permitted to raise additional contributions up to

19 an amount equal to 50 percent of the election

20 cycle limit contained in subsection (b).

21 ‘‘(2) If the candidate who has failed to be cer22 tified as an eligible candidate or who has violated

23 the limitations on expenditures of this Act has re24 ceived contributions or expended personal funds

25 which, in the aggregate, exceed 120 percent of the
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1 election cycle limits contained in this section, any eli2 gible House of Representatives candidate in that

3 election shall be permitted to raise additional con4 tributions up to an amount equal to 100 percent of

5 the election cycle limit contained in subsection (b).

6 ‘‘(3) In the event a noncomplying candidate as

7 defined in subparagraphs (A) or (B) of paragraph

8 (1) spends an amount equal to 105 percent of the

9 election cycle limit contained in subsection (b), the

10 election cycle limit contained in subsection (b) for an

11 eligible House of Representatives candidate in such

12 election shall be increased by 50 percent. In the

13 event a noncomplying candidate spends an amount

14 equal to 155 percent of the election cycle limit con15 tained in subsection (b), the election cycle limit in

16 subsection (b) for an eligible House of Representa17 tives candidate in such election shall be increased by

18 100 percent.

19 ‘‘(g) RESPONDING TO INDEPENDENT EXPENDI20 TURES.—In the event an eligible House of Representatives

21 candidate is notified pursuant to section 304(c)(4) by the

22 Commission that independent expenditures totaling in the

23 aggregate $25,000 or more have been made in the same

24 election in favor of another candidate or against such eligi25 ble candidate, such eligible candidate shall be permitted
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1 to spend an amount equal to the amount of such independ2 ent expenditures, without such expenditures being subject

3 to such eligible candidates’s election cycle expenditure

4 limit in subsection (b), as may be modified by subsection

5 (c), (e), or (f).

6 ‘‘SEC. 503. BENEFITS ELIGIBLE CANDIDATES ENTITLED TO

7 RECEIVE.

8 ‘‘For any election in which an eligible House of Rep9 resentatives candidate has at least one opponent who has

10 qualified for the ballot and who has raised in contributions

11 or expended in personal funds an amount equal to 10 per12 cent of the election cycle limit in section 502(b), such eligi13 ble candidate shall be entitled to receive—

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

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

16 and

17 ‘‘(2) the reduced postage rates provided in sec18 tion 3626(e) of title 39, United States Code.

19 ‘‘SEC. 504. CERTIFICATION BY COMMISSION.

20 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall determine

21 whether a candidate has met the requirements of this title

22 and, based upon that determination, shall issue a certifi23 cation stating whether or not such candidate is eligible to

24 receive benefits under this title.

25 ‘‘(b) CERTIFICATION.—
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1 ‘‘(1) ISSUANCE OF CERTIFICATION.—Upon re2 ceipt of the declaration required under section

3 501(b) and the statement required under section

4 501(c), and such other information as the Commis5 sion may by regulation require, the Commission

6 shall determine if such candidate meets the eligi7 bility requirements in section 501 and, if so, shall

8 certify the candidate’s eligibility for the benefits re9 ferred to in section 503.

10 ‘‘(2) REVOCATION.—The Commission shall re11 voke such certification if, based on relevant informa12 tion submitted in such form and manner as the

13 Commission may require or based on relevant infor14 mation that otherwise comes to its attention, it de15 termines a candidate—

16 ‘‘(A) violates any of the expenditure limits

17 under this title by making an aggregate amount

18 of expenditures that exceeds such limits by 5

19 percent or more;

20 ‘‘(B) uses a benefit made available to the

21 candidate under this title in a manner not pro22 vided for under this title; or

23 ‘‘(C) fails to continue to meet the require24 ments of this title.
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1 ‘‘(3) TERMINATION OF BENEFITS.—A candidate

2 whose certification has been revoked under para3 graph (2) shall be ineligible for any further benefits

4 under this title for the duration of the election cycle.

5 ‘‘(c) DETERMINATION BY COMMISSION.—All deter6 minations (including certifications under this section)

7 made by the Commission under this title shall be final,

8 except to the extent that they are subject to examination

9 and audit by the Commission under section 505 and sub10 ject to judicial review.

11 ‘‘SEC. 505. REPAYMENTS; ADDITIONAL CIVIL PENALTIES.

12 ‘‘(a) REQUIRING REPAYMENT.—If the Commission

13 revokes the certification of a candidate as an eligible

14 House of Representatives candidate, the Commission shall

15 so notify the candidate and the candidate shall pay to the

16 provider of such benefits received an amount equal to the

17 difference between the amount the candidate paid for such

18 benefits and the amount the candidate would have paid

19 for such benefits if the candidate were not an eligible can20 didate under this title.

21 ‘‘(b) CIVIL PENALTIES.—

22 ‘‘(1) LOW AMOUNT OF EXCESS EXPENDI23 TURES.—Any eligible House of Representatives can24 didate who makes expenditures that exceed a limita25 tion under this title by 2.5 percent or less shall pay
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1 to the Commission an amount equal to the amount

2 of the excess expenditures.

3 ‘‘(2) MEDIUM AMOUNT OF EXCESS EXPENDI4 TURES.—Any eligible House of Representatives can5 didate who makes expenditures that exceed a limita6 tion under this title by more than 2.5 percent and

7 less than 5 percent shall pay to the Commission an

8 amount equal to 3 times the amount of the excess

9 expenditures.

10 ‘‘(3) LARGE AMOUNT OF EXCESS EXPENDI11 TURES.—Any eligible House of Representatives can12 didate who makes expenditures that exceed a limita13 tion under this title by 5 percent or more shall pay

14 to the Commission an amount equal to 3 times the

15 amount of the excess expenditures plus a civil pen16 alty to be imposed pursuant to the procedures of

17 section 309.’’.

18 SEC. 102. BROADCAST RATES AND PREEMPTION.

19 (a) BROADCAST RATES.—Section 315(b) of the Com20 munications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 315(b)) is amended—

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

22 ‘‘(b)(1) The charges’’;

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

24 subparagraphs (A) and (B), respectively;

25 (3) in paragraph (1)(A), as redesignated—
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1 (A) by striking ‘‘forty-five’’ and inserting

2 ‘‘30’’; and

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

4 station for the same class and amount of time

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

6 charge of the station for the same amount of

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

8 and

9 (4) by adding at the end the following new

10 paragraph:

11 ‘‘(2) In the case of an eligible House of Representa12 tives candidate (as described in section 501(a) of the Fed13 eral Election Campaign Act of 1971), the charges for the

14 use of a television or radio broadcasting station during

15 the 30-day period and 60-day period referred to in para16 graph (1)(A) shall not exceed 50 percent of the lowest

17 charge described in paragraph (1)(A).’’.

18 (b) PREEMPTION; ACCESS.—Section 315 of such Act

19 (47 U.S.C. 315) is amended—

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

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

22 (2) by inserting immediately after subsection

23 (b) the following subsection:
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1 ‘‘(c)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), a li2 censee shall not preempt the use, during any period speci3 fied in subsection (b)(1)(A), of a broadcasting station by

4 an eligible House of Representatives candidate who has

5 purchased and paid for such use pursuant to subsection

6 (b)(2).

7 ‘‘(2) If a program to be broadcast by a broadcasting

8 station is preempted because of circumstances beyond the

9 control of the broadcasting station, any candidate adver10 tising spot scheduled to be broadcast during that program

11 may also be preempted.’’.

12 (c) REVOCATION OF LICENSE FOR FAILURE TO PER13 MIT ACCESS.—Section 312(a)(7) of the Communications

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

15 (1) by inserting ‘‘or cable system’’ after ‘‘broad16 casting station’’; and

17 (2) by striking ‘‘his candidacy’’ and inserting

18 ‘‘the candidacy of such person, under the same

19 terms, conditions, and business practices as apply to

20 its most favored advertiser’’.

21 (d) JURISDICTION OVER TAKINGS CHALLENGE TO

22 BROADCAST RATES.—The United States Court of Federal

23 Claims shall have exclusive jurisdiction over any action

24 challenging the constitutionality of the broadcast media

25 rates required to be offered to political candidates under
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1 section 503(1) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of

2 1971 and section 315(b) of the Communications Act of

3 1934. Money damages shall be the sole and exclusive rem4 edy in such cases, and only individuals or entities suffering

5 actual financial injury shall have standing to maintain

6 such an action.

7 (e) CONDITION OF RENEWAL OR NEW LICENSE.—

8 Section 307 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47

9 U.S.C. 307) is amended by adding the following: ‘‘The

10 continuation of an existing license, the renewal of an ex11 piring license, and the issuance of a new license shall be

12 expressly conditioned on the agreement by the licensee to

13 abide by the provisions of section 503(1) of the Federal

14 Election Campaign Act of 1971 and section 315(b) of this

15 Act. The Commission shall take such action as it deems

16 appropriate to assure compliance with this requirement.’’.

17 (f) REGULATIONS.—The Federal Communications

18 Commission, in consultation with the Federal Communica19 tions Commission, shall issue regulations to modify the re20 quirements of section 315 of the Communications Act of

21 1934 (as amended by subsection (a)) in any cases where

22 a licensee establishes that such requirements would impose

23 significant economic hardship.

24 (g) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

25 this section shall apply to the general elections occurring
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1 after the expiratino of the 60-day period which begins on

2 the date of the enactment of this Act (and the election

3 cycles relating thereto).

4 SEC. 103. REDUCED POSTAGE RATES.

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 3626(e) of title 39, Unit6 ed States Code, is amended—

7 (1) by redesignating paragraph (2) as para8 graph (3);

9 (2) in paragraph (3) (as so redesignated)—

10 (A) in subparagraph (A)—

11 (i) by striking ‘‘and the National’’ and

12 inserting ‘‘the National’’; and

13 (ii) by inserting before the semicolon

14 the following: ‘‘, and, subject to paragraph

15 (2), the principal campaign committee of

16 an eligible House of Representatives can17 didate;’’;

18 (B) in subparagraph (B), by striking

19 ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon;

20 (C) in subparagraph (C), by striking the

21 period and inserting a semicolon; and

22 (D) by adding after subparagraph (C) the

23 following new subparagraphs:
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1 ‘‘(D) the term ‘principal campaign committee’

2 has the meaning given such term in section 301 of

3 the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971;

4 ‘‘(E) the term ‘eligible House of Representa5 tives candidate’ has the meaning given such term in

6 section 501(a) of the Federal Election Campaign

7 Act of 1971; and

8 ‘‘(F) the term ‘voting age population’ has the

9 meaning given such term in section 315(e) of the

10 Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971.’’; and

11 (3) by adding after paragraph (1) the following

12 new paragraph:

13 ‘‘(2) In the case of mail sent by the principal cam14 paign committee of an eligible House of Representatives

15 candidate, paragraph (1) shall not apply, with respect to

16 any election, except—

17 ‘‘(A) if the mail is sent to an individual in the

18 voting age population of the congressional district

19 involved; and

20 ‘‘(B) with respect to any individual under sub21 paragraph (A), to the extent of not to exceed 3

22 pieces of mail.’’.
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1 SEC. 104. CONTRIBUTION LIMIT FOR ELIGIBLE HOUSE OF

2 REPRESENTATIVES CANDIDATES.

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

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

5 (1) by inserting ‘‘except as provided in subpara6 graph (B),’’ before ‘‘to’’ in subparagraph (A);

7 (2) by redesignating subparagraphs (B) and

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

9 (3) by inserting immediately after subpara10 graph (A) the following new subparagraph:

11 ‘‘(B) to any eligible House of Representa12 tives candidate under title V and the authorized

13 political committees of such candidate with re14 spect to any general election for the office of

15 Representative in, or Delegate or Resident

16 Commissioner to, the Congress, which, in the

17 aggregate, exceed $2,000, if——

18 ‘‘(i) any other candidate in the elec19 tion is a candidate who is not an eligible

20 House of Representatives candidate under

21 title V and for whom one of the following

22 applies:

23 ‘‘(I) The candidate expends per24 sonal funds in excess of 25 percent of

25 the applicable expenditure limit with
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1 respect to the election under section

2 502.

3 ‘‘(II) The sum of the aggregate

4 amount of the contributions the can5 didate has received and the amount of

6 personal funds the candidate has ex7 pended exceeds 50 percent of the ap8 plicable expenditure limit with respect

9 to the election under section 502; or

10 ‘‘(ii) any other candidate in the elec11 tion is an eligible House of Representatives

12 candidate under title V who expends more

13 than the applicable expenditure limit with

14 respect to the election under section 502.’’.

15 SEC. 105. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.

16 Section 304 of the Federal Election Campaign Act

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

18 the following new subsections:

19 ‘‘(d)(1) The principal campaign committee of any

20 candidate for election as Representative in, or Delegate

21 or Resident Commissioner to, the Congress shall report

22 to the Commission if the amount of personal funds ex23 pended by the candidate with respect to a general election

24 exceeds the limitation described in section 502(a) and if

25 the amount of personal funds expended by the candidate
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1 with respect to a general election cycle exceeds 25 percent

2 of the applicable expenditure limit with respect to the elec3 tion under section 502.

4 ‘‘(2) Any report under paragraph (1) shall be submit5 ted within 48 hours of the date on which the amount of

6 personal funds expended exceeds the amount requiring the

7 submission of the report (or, if such date occurs after the

8 20th day, but more than 24 hours before the election in9 volved, within 24 hours of such date).

10 ‘‘(3) Within 48 hours of receiving any report under

11 this subsection with respect to a candidate in a general

12 election (or within 24 hours in the case of a report re13 quired to be submitted to the Commission within 24

14 hours), the Commission shall notify each candidate in the

15 election who is an eligible House of Representatives can16 didate under title V of the report.

17 ‘‘(4) In this subsection, the term ‘personal funds’

18 means personal funds of a candidate, the funds of the can19 didate’s immediate family, and personal loans incurred by

20 the candidate and the candidate’s immediate family.

21 ‘‘(e)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (4), the

22 principal campaign committee of any candidate for elec23 tion as Representative in, or Delegate or Resident Com24 missioner to, the Congress shall report to the Commission

25 if the sum of the aggregate amount of the contributions
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1 the candidate has received and the amount of personal

2 funds the candidate has expended with respect to a gen3 eral election exceeds 50 percent of the applicable expendi4 ture limit with respect to the election under section 502,

5 if such sum exceeds 70 percent of such limit, and if such

6 sum exceeds 120 percent of such limit.

7 ‘‘(2) Any report under paragraph (1) shall be submit8 ted within 48 hours of the date on which the sum of the

9 candidate’s contributions and personal funds expended ex10 ceeds the amount requiring the submission of the report

11 (or, if such date occurs after the 20th day, but more than

12 24 hours before the election involved, within 24 hours of

13 such date).

14 ‘‘(3) Within 48 hours of receiving any report under

15 this subsection with respect to a candidate in a general

16 election (or within 24 hours in the case of a report re17 quired to be submitted to the Commission within 24

18 hours), the Commission shall notify each candidate in the

19 election who is an eligible House of Representatives can20 didate under title V of the report.

21 ‘‘(4) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to the principal

22 campaign committee of any candidate who is an eligible

23 House of Representatives candidate under title V.
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1 ‘‘(5) In this subsection, the term ‘personal funds’

2 means personal funds of a candidate, the funds of the can3 didate’s immediate family, and personal loans incurred by

4 the candidate and the candidate’s immediate family.

5 ‘‘(f)(1) The principal campaign committee of any can6 didate for election as Representative in, or Delegate or

7 Resident Commissioner to, the Congress shall report to

8 the Commission if the aggregate amount of funds ex9 pended by the candidate with respect to a general election

10 exceeds 105 percent of the applicable expenditure limit

11 with respect to the election under section 502 and if such

12 amount exceeds 155 percent of such limit.

13 ‘‘(2) Any report under paragraph (1) shall be submit14 ted within 48 hours of the date on which the amount of

15 funds expended exceeds the amount requiring the submis16 sion of the report (or, if such date occurs after the 20th

17 day, but more than 24 hours before the election involved,

18 within 24 hours of such date).

19 ‘‘(3) Within 48 hours of receiving any report under

20 this subsection with respect to a candidate in a general

21 election (or within 24 hours in the case of a report re22 quired to be submitted to the Commission within 24

23 hours), the Commission shall notify each candidate in the

24 election who is an eligible House of Representatives can25 didate under title V of the report.’’.
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1 TITLE II—REDUCTION OF

2 SPECIAL INTEREST INFLUENCE

3 Subtitle A—Limitations on Political

4 Action Committees and Large

5 Contributions of Individuals

6 SEC. 201. LIMITATIONS ON ACTIVITIES OF POLITICAL AC7 TION COMMITTEES IN FEDERAL ELECTIONS.

8 (a) MODIFICATION OF LIMITS ON CONTRIBUTIONS

9 BY POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEES.—

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 315(a)(2)(A) of such

11 Act (2 U.S.C. 441a(a)(2)(A)) is amended to read as

12 follows:

13 ‘‘(A) to any candidate and the candidate’s au14 thorized political committees with respect to any

15 election for Federal office—

16 ‘‘(i) in the case of a candidate for election

17 for the office of Representative to, or Delegate

18 or Resident Commissioner in, the Congress, to

19 the extent that the acceptance of the contribu20 tion will result in the aggregate amount of con21 tributions received by the candidate and the

22 committees to exceed 25 percent of the applica23 ble limit on expenditures with respect to the

24 election cycle involved under section 502, with25 out regard to whether or not the candidate is
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1 an eligible House of Representatives candidate

2 under title V; or

3 ‘‘(ii) which, in the aggregate, exceed the

4 maximum amount which an individual may con5 tribute to the candidate and the candidate’s au6 thorized political committees with respect to the

7 election under paragraph (1)(A);’’.

8 (2) RETURN OF CERTAIN EXCESS CONTRIBU9 TIONS.—Section 315(f) of such Act (2 U.S.C.

10 441a(f)) is amended—

11 (A) by striking ‘‘(f)’’ and inserting

12 ‘‘(f)(1)’’; and

13 (B) by adding at the end the following new

14 paragraph:

15 ‘‘(2) A candidate (or authorized committees of such

16 candidate) who receives a contribution from a multican17 didate political committee in excess of the amount allowed

18 under subsection (a)(2)(A)(i) shall return the amount of

19 such excess contribution to the contributor.’’.

20 (b) PROHIBITION OF LEADERSHIP COMMITTEES.—

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

22 1971 (2 U.S.C. 432(e)) is amended—

23 (1) by amending paragraph (3) to read as fol24 lows:
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1 ‘‘(3) No political committee that supports or has sup2 ported more than one candidate may be designated as an

3 authorized committee, except that—

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

5 nominated by a political party may designate the na6 tional committee of such political party as the can7 didate’s principal campaign committee, but only if

8 that national committee maintains separate books of

9 account with respect to its functions as a principal

10 campaign committee; and

11 ‘‘(B) a candidate may designate a political com12 mittee established solely for the purpose of joint

13 fundraising by such candidates as an authorized

14 committee.’’; and

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

16 paragraph:

17 ‘‘(6)(A) A candidate for Federal office or any individ18 ual holding Federal office may not directly or indirectly

19 establish, finance, maintain, or control any Federal or

20 non-Federal political committee other than a principal

21 campaign committee of the candidate, authorized commit22 tee, party committee, or other political committee des23 ignated in accordance with paragraph (3). A candidate for

24 more than one Federal office may designate a separate

25 principal campaign committee for each Federal office.
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1 This paragraph shall not preclude a Federal officeholder

2 who is a candidate for State or local office from establish3 ing, financing, maintaining, or controlling a political com4 mittee for election of the individual to such State or local

5 office.

6 ‘‘(B) For one year after the effective date of this

7 paragraph, any political committee established before such

8 date but which is prohibited under subparagraph (A) may

9 continue to make contributions. At the end of that period

10 such political committee shall disburse all funds by one

11 or more of the following means:

12 ‘‘(i) Making contributions to an entity qualified

13 under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue

14 Code of 1986 that is not established, maintained, fi15 nanced, or controlled directly or indirectly by any

16 candidate for Federal office or any individual hold17 ing Federal office.

18 ‘‘(ii) Making a contribution to the treasury of

19 the United States.

20 ‘‘(iii) Making contributions to the national,

21 State, or local committees of a political party.

22 ‘‘(iv) Making contributions not to exceed

23 $1,000 to candidates for elective office.’’.
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1 SEC. 202. AGGREGATE LIMIT ON LARGE CONTRIBUTIONS.

2 Title III of the Federal Election Campaign Act of

3 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431 et seq.) is amended by adding at the

4 end the following new section:

5 ‘‘AGGREGATE LIMIT ON LARGE CONTRIBUTIONS FOR

6 HOUSE CANDIDATES

7 ‘‘SEC. 323. (a) IN GENERAL.—It shall be unlawful

8 for a candidate for election for the office of Representative

9 in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, the Congress

10 (or the authorized committees of such candidate) to accept

11 any contribution from an individual in excess of $250 to

12 the extent that the acceptance of such contribution will

13 cause the aggregate amount of contributions from individ14 uals in excess of $250 received by the candidate and the

15 candidate’s authorized committees to exceed an amount

16 equal to 25 percent of the applicable election cycle spend17 ing limit with respect to the election under section 502,

18 without regard to whether or not the candidate is an eligi19 ble House of Representatives candidate under title V.

20 ‘‘(b) EXCEPTION FOR CERTAIN CANDIDATES.—The

21 restrictions of subsection (a) shall not apply to any can22 didate with respect to whom section 315(a) (1)(B) (as

23 added by section 104 of the Bipartisan Campaign Finance

24 Reform Act of 1997) applies.’’.
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1 Subtitle B—Provisions Relating to

2 Soft Money of Political Parties

3 SEC. 211. SOFT MONEY OF POLITICAL PARTIES.

4 Title III of the Federal Election Campaign Act of

5 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431 et seq.), as amended by section 202,

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

7 section:

8 ‘‘SOFT MONEY OF POLITICAL PARTIES

9 ‘‘SEC. 324. (a) NATIONAL PARTIES.—A national

10 committee of a political party, including the national con11 gressional campaign committees of a political party, and

12 any officers or agents of such party committees, shall not

13 solicit or receive any contributions, donations, or transfers

14 of funds, or spend any funds, not subject to the limita15 tions, prohibitions, and reporting requirements of this Act.

16 This subsection shall apply to any entity that is estab17 lished, financed, maintained, or controlled (directly or in18 directly) by, or acting on behalf of, a national committee

19 of a political party, including the national congressional

20 campaign committees of a political party, and any officers

21 or agents of such party committees.

22 ‘‘(b) EXPENDITURES BY STATE OR LOCAL PAR23 TIES.—

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any amount expended or

25 disbursed by a State, district, or local committee of
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1 a political party during a calendar year in which a

2 Federal election is held, for any activity which may

3 affect the outcome of a Federal election, including

4 but not limited to any voter registration and get-out5 the-vote activity, any generic campaign activity, and

6 any communication that identifies a Federal can7 didate (regardless of whether a State or local can8 didate is also mentioned or identified) shall be made

9 from funds subject to the limitations, prohibitions

10 and reporting requirements of this Act.

11 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTIONS.—Paragraph (1) shall not

12 apply to expenditures or disbursements made by a

13 State, district or local committee of a political party

14 for—

15 ‘‘(A) a contribution to a candidate other

16 than for Federal office, provided that such con17 tribution is not designated or otherwise ear18 marked to pay for activities described in para19 graph (1);

20 ‘‘(B) the costs of a State, district, or local

21 political convention;

22 ‘‘(C) the non-Federal share of a State, dis23 trict or local party committee’s administrative

24 and overhead expenses (but not including the

25 compensation in any month of any individual
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•HR 493 IH

1 who spends more than 20 percent of his or her

2 time on activity during such month which may

3 affect the outcome of a Federal election), as de4 termined by applying the ratio of the non-Fed5 eral disbursements to the total Federal expendi6 tures and non-Federal disbursements made by

7 the committee during the previous presidential

8 election year to the committee’s administrative

9 and overhead expenses in the election year in

10 question;

11 ‘‘(D) the costs of grassroots campaign ma12 terials, including buttons, bumper stickers, and

13 yard signs, which materials solely name or de14 pict a State or local candidate; or

15 ‘‘(E) the cost of any campaign activity con16 ducted solely on behalf of a clearly identified

17 State or local candidate, provided that such ac18 tivity is not a get out the vote activity or any

19 other activity covered by paragraph (1).

20 ‘‘(3) AMOUNTS EXPENDED FOR FUNDRAISING

21 TO FINANCE ACTIVITIES.—Any amount spent by a

22 national, State, district or local committee or entity

23 of a political party to raise funds that are used, in

24 whole or in part, to pay the costs of any activity cov25 ered by paragraph (1) shall be made from funds
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1 subject to the limitations, prohibitions, and reporting

2 requirements of this Act. This paragraph shall apply

3 to any entity that is established, financed, main4 tained, or controlled (directly or indirectly) by, or

5 acting on behalf of, a State, district or local commit6 tee of a political party or any agent or officer of

7 such party committee in the same manner as it ap8 plies to that committee.

9 ‘‘(c) PROHIBITING SOLICITATION OR DONATION OF

10 FUNDS FROM NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS.—No na11 tional, State, district or local committee of a political

12 party, including any entity described in subsection (a) or

13 subsection (b)(3) and any agent or officer of such an en14 tity, shall solicit any funds for or make any donations to

15 any organization that is exempt from Federal taxation

16 under section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of

17 1986.

18 ‘‘(d) ALL CANDIDATES.—

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—No candidate for Federal

20 office, individual holding Federal office, or any agent

21 of such candidate or officeholder, may solicit or re22 ceive—

23 ‘‘(A) any funds in connection with any

24 Federal election unless such funds are subject
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1 to the limitations, prohibitions and reporting re2 quirements of this Act;

3 ‘‘(B) any funds that are to be expended in

4 connection with any election for other than a

5 Federal election unless such funds are not in

6 excess of the amounts permitted with respect to

7 contributions to Federal candidates and politi8 cal committees under section 315(a) (1) and

9 (2), and are not from sources prohibited from

10 making contributions by this Act with respect

11 to election for Federal office; or

12 ‘‘(C) any funds on behalf of any person

13 which are not subject to the limitations, prohi14 bitions, and reporting requirements of this Act

15 if such funds are for the purpose of financing

16 any activity on behalf of a candidate for elec17 tion for Federal office or any communication

18 which refers to a clearly identified candidate for

19 election for Federal office.

20 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION FOR CERTAIN ACTIVITIES.—

21 Paragraph (1) shall not apply to the solicitation or

22 receipt of funds by an individual who is a candidate

23 for a non-Federal office if such activity is permitted

24 under State law for such individual’s non-Federal

25 campaign committee.’’.
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1 ‘‘(e) PROHIBITING FUNDRAISING ACTIVITIES FOR

2 CERTAIN NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS.—

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—No candidate for Federal

4 office or individual holding Federal office may raise

5 funds for any organization described in section

6 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 if the

7 activities of the organization include voter registra8 tion or get-out-the-vote campaigns.

9 ‘‘(2) CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS TREATED AS HOLD10 ING FEDERAL OFFICE.—For purposes of this para11 graph, the term ‘individual holding Federal office’

12 includes any individual who holds a position de13 scribed in level I of the Executive Schedule under

14 5312 of title 5, United States Code.’’.

15 SEC. 212. INCREASE IN CONTRIBUTION LIMIT FOR INDIVID16 UAL CONTRIBUTIONS TO NATIONAL POLITI17 CAL PARTIES.

18 Section 315(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Election Cam19 paign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a(a)(1)(B)) is amended

20 by striking ‘‘$20,000’’ and inserting the following:

21 ‘‘$20,000 (or, in the case of an individual, $25,000)’’.

22 SEC. 213. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.

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

24 Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 434),
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1 as amended by section 105, is further amended by adding

2 at the end the following new subsection:

3 ‘‘(g)(1) A political committee other than a national

4 committee of a political party, any congressional campaign

5 committee of a political party, and any subordinate com6 mittee of either, to which section 324(b)(1) applies shall

7 report all receipts and disbursements.

8 ‘‘(2) Any political committee other than the commit9 tees of a political party shall report any receipts or dis10 bursements that are used in connection with a Federal

11 election.

12 ‘‘(3) If a political committee has receipts or disburse13 ments to which this subsection applies from any person

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

15 political committee shall separately itemize its reporting

16 for such person in the same manner as required in sub17 section (b)(3)(A), (5), or (6).

18 ‘‘(4) Reports required to be filed under this sub19 section shall be filed for the same time periods required

20 for political committees under subsection (a).’’.

21 (b) REPORTS BY STATE COMMITTEES.—Section 304

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

23 434), as amended by section 105 and subsection (a), is

24 further amended by adding at the end the following new

25 subsection:
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1 ‘‘(h) In lieu of any report required to be filed by this

2 Act, the Commission may allow a State committee of a

3 political party to file with the Commission a report re4 quired to be filed under State law if the Commission deter5 mines such reports contain substantially the same infor6 mation.’’.

7 (c) OTHER REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—

8 (1) AUTHORIZED COMMITTEES.—Section

9 304(b)(4) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of

10 1971 (2 U.S.C. 434(b)(4)) is amended—

11 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub12 paragraph (H);

13 (B) by inserting ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub14 paragraph (I); and

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

16 subparagraph:

17 ‘‘(J) in the case of an authorized commit18 tee, disbursements for the primary election, the

19 general election, and any other election in which

20 the candidate participates;’’.

21 (2) NAMES AND ADDRESSES.—Section

22 304(b)(5)(A) of the Federal Election Campaign Act

23 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 434(b)(5)(A)) is amended—

24 (A) by striking ‘‘within the calendar year’’;

25 and
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1 (B) by inserting ‘‘, and the election to

2 which the operating expenditure relates’’ after

3 ‘‘operating expenditure’’.

4 SEC. 214. BUILDING FUND EXCEPTION TO THE DEFINITION

5 OF THE TERM ‘‘CONTRIBUTION’’.

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

7 Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431(8)(B)) is amended—

8 (1) by striking out clause (viii); and

9 (2) by redesignating clauses (ix) through (xiv)

10 as clauses (viii) through (xiii), respectively.

11 Subtitle C—Soft Money of Persons

12 Other Than Political Parties

13 SEC. 221. SOFT MONEY OF PERSONS OTHER THAN POLITI14 CAL PARTIES.

15 Section 304 of the Federal Election Campaign Act

16 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 434), as amended by sections 105,

17 213(a), and 213(c), is further amended by adding at the

18 end the following new subsection:

19 ‘‘(i)(1)(A)(i) If any person to which section 324 does

20 not apply makes (or obligates to make) disbursements for

21 activities described in section 324(b)(1) in excess of

22 $2,000, such person shall file a statement—

23 ‘‘(I) within 48 hours after the disbursements

24 (or obligations) are made; or
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1 ‘‘(II) in the case of disbursements (or obliga2 tions) that are required to be made within 20 days

3 of the election, within 24 hours after such disburse4 ment (or obligations) are made.

5 ‘‘(ii) An additional statement shall be filed each time

6 additional disbursements aggregating $2,000 are made (or

7 obligated to be made) by a person described in clause (i).

8 ‘‘(B) This paragraph shall not apply to—

9 ‘‘(i) a candidate or a candidate’s authorized

10 committees; or

11 ‘‘(ii) an independent expenditure (as defined in

12 section 301(17)).

13 ‘‘(2) Any statement under this section shall be filed

14 with the Commission and shall contain such information

15 as the Commission shall prescribe, including whether the

16 disbursement is in support of, or in opposition to, 1 or

17 more candidates or any political party.’’.

18 Subtitle D—Contributions

19 SEC. 231. CONTRIBUTIONS THROUGH INTERMEDIARIES

20 AND CONDUITS.

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

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

23 as follows:

24 ‘‘(8) For the purposes of this subsection:
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•HR 493 IH

1 ‘‘(A) Contributions made by a person, ei2 ther directly or indirectly, to or on behalf of a

3 particular candidate, including contributions

4 that are in any way earmarked or otherwise di5 rected through an intermediary or conduit to a

6 candidate, shall be treated as contributions

7 from the person to the candidate. If a contribu8 tion is made to a candidate through an

9 intermediary or conduit, the intermediary or

10 conduit shall report the original source and the

11 intended recipient of the contribution to the

12 Commission and the intended recipient.

13 ‘‘(B) Contributions made directly or indi14 rectly by a person to or on behalf of a particu15 lar candidate through an intermediary or con16 duit, including contributions arranged to be

17 made by an intermediary or conduit, shall be

18 treated as contributions from the intermediary

19 or conduit to the candidate if—

20 ‘‘(i) the contributions made through

21 the intermediary or conduit are in the form

22 of a check or other negotiable instrument

23 made payable to the intermediary or con24 duit rather than the intended recipient;

25 ‘‘(ii) the intermediary or conduit is—
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1 ‘‘(I) a political committee, a po2 litical party, or an officer, employee,

3 or agent of either;

4 ‘‘(II) a person whose activities

5 are required to be reported under the

6 Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995, the

7 Foreign Agents Registration Act of

8 1938 (22 U.S.C. 611 et seq.), or a

9 person whose activities are required to

10 be reported pursuant to any successor

11 Federal law which requires reporting

12 on the activities of person who is a

13 lobbyist or foreign agent;

14 ‘‘(III) a person who is prohibited

15 from making contributions under sec16 tion 316 or a partnership; or

17 ‘‘(IV) an officer, employee, or

18 agent of a person described in sub19 clause (II) or (III) acting on behalf of

20 such person.

21 ‘‘(C) The term ‘contributions arranged to

22 be made’ includes—

23 ‘‘(i)(I) contributions delivered directly

24 or indirectly to a particular candidate or

25 the candidate’s authorized committee or
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•HR 493 IH

1 agent by the person who facilitated the

2 contribution; and

3 ‘‘(II) contributions made directly or

4 indirectly to a particular candidate or the

5 candidate’s authorized committee or agent

6 that are provided at an event sponsored by

7 an intermediary or conduit described in

8 subparagraph (B).

9 ‘‘(ii) The term ‘acting on behalf of

10 such person’ includes the following activi11 ties by an officer, employee, or agent of a

12 person described in subparagraph (B)(ii)

13 (II) or (III):

14 ‘‘(I) Soliciting the making of a

15 contribution to a particular candidate

16 in the name of such a person;

17 ‘‘(II) Soliciting the making of a

18 contribution to a particular candidate

19 using other than incidental resources

20 of such a person; and

21 ‘‘(III) Soliciting contributions for

22 a particular candidate by directing a

23 significant portion of the solicitations

24 to other officers, employees, or agents
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1 of such a person or the person’s

2 spouse.

3 ‘‘(D) This subsection shall not prohibit—

4 ‘‘(i) fundraising efforts for the benefit

5 of a candidate that are conducted by an6 other candidate or Federal officeholder; or

7 ‘‘(ii) the solicitation by an individual

8 using the individual’s resources and acting

9 in the individual’s own name of contribu10 tions from other persons in a manner not

11 described in subparagraphs (B) and (C).’’.

12 Subtitle E—Additional Prohibitions

13 on Contributions

14 SEC. 241. PROHIBITION OF CONTRIBUTIONS BY NONCITI15 ZENS AND OTHER INDIVIDUALS NOT QUALI16 FIED TO VOTE.

17 (a) PROHIBITION.—Section 319 of the Federal Elec18 tion Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441e) is amended—

19 (1) in the heading, by adding ‘‘AND INDIVID20 UALS NOT QUALIFIED TO REGISTER TO

21 VOTE’’ at the end; and

22 (2) in subsection (a)—

23 (A) by striking ‘‘(a)’’ and inserting

24 ‘‘(a)(1)’’; and
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1 (B) by adding at the end the following new

2 paragraph:

3 ‘‘(2) It shall be unlawful for an individual who

4 is not qualified to register to vote in a Federal elec5 tion to make a contribution, or to promise expressly

6 or impliedly to make a contribution, in connection

7 with a Federal election, or for any person to solicit,

8 accept, or receive a contribution in connection with

9 a Federal election from an individual who is not

10 qualified to register to vote in a Federal election.’’.

11 (b) INCLUSION IN DEFINITION OF IDENTIFICA12 TION.—Section 301(13) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 431(13))

13 is amended—

14 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘em15 ployer;’’ and inserting ‘‘employer, together with an

16 affirmation that the individual is an individual who

17 is not prohibited by section 319 from making a con18 tribution’’ after ‘‘employer’’; and

19 (2) in subparagraph (B) by inserting ‘‘and an

20 affirmation that the person is a person that is not

21 prohibited by section 319 from making a contribu22 tion’’ after ‘‘such person’’.
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1 Subtitle F—Coordinated and

2 Independent Expenditures

3 SEC. 251. CLARIFICATION OF DEFINITIONS RELATING TO

4 INDEPENDENT EXPENDITURES.

5 (a) DEFINITION OF ‘‘INDEPENDENT EXPENDI6 TURE’’.—Section 301(17) of the Federal Election Cam7 paign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431(17)) is amended to read

8 as follows:

9 ‘‘(17)(A) The term ‘independent expenditure’ means

10 an expenditure that—

11 ‘‘(i) contains express advocacy; and

12 ‘‘(ii) is made without the participation or co13 operation of, or without consultation with, or with14 out coordination with a candidate or a candidate’s

15 authorized committee or agent (within the meaning

16 of section 301(8)(A)(iii).

17 ‘‘(B) The term ‘independent expenditure’ does not in18 clude an expenditure or payment made in coordination

19 with a candidate (within the meaning of section

20 301(8)(A)(iii)).’’.

21 (b) DEFINITION OF ‘‘EXPRESS ADVOCACY’’.—Section

22 301 of such Act (2 U.S.C. 431) is amended by adding

23 at the end the following:

24 ‘‘(20)(A) Subject to subparagraph (B), the term ‘ex25 press advocacy’ includes—
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1 ‘‘(i) a communication that conveys a message

2 that advocates the election or defeat of a clearly

3 identified candidate for Federal office by using an

4 expression such as ‘vote for,’ ‘elect,’ ‘support,’ ‘vote

5 against,’ ‘defeat,’ ‘reject,’ ‘(name of candidate) for

6 Congress’, ‘vote pro-life,’ or ‘vote pro-choice’, accom7 panied by a listing or picture of a clearly identified

8 candidate described as ‘pro-life’ or ‘pro-choice,’ ‘re9 ject the incumbent’, or a similar expression;

10 ‘‘(ii) a communication that is made through a

11 broadcast medium, newspaper, magazine, billboard,

12 direct mail, or similar type of general public commu13 nication or political advertising that refers to a

14 clearly identified candidate, that a reasonable person

15 would understand as advocating the election or de16 feat of the candidate, and that is made within 30

17 days before the date of a primary election (and is

18 targeted to the State in which the primary is occur19 ring), or 60 days before a general election; or

20 ‘‘(iii) a communication that is made through a

21 broadcast medium, newspaper, magazine, billboard,

22 direct mail, or similar type of general public commu23 nication or political advertising that refers to a

24 clearly identified candidate, that a reasonable person
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1 would understand as advocating the election or de2 feat of a candidate, that is made before the date

3 that is 30 days before the date of a primary election,

4 or 60 days before the date of a general election, and

5 that is made for the purpose of advocating the elec6 tion or defeat of the candidate, as shown by one or

7 more factors such as a statement or action by the

8 person making the communication, the targeting or

9 placement of the communication, or the use by the

10 person making the communication of polling, demo11 graphic, or other similar data relating to the can12 didate’s campaign or election.

13 ‘‘(B) The term ‘express advocacy’ does not include

14 the publication or distribution of a communication that

15 is limited solely to providing information about the voting

16 record of elected officials on legislative matters and that

17 a reasonable person would not understand as advocating

18 the election or defeat of a particular candidate.’’.

19 SEC. 252. TREATMENT OF COORDINATED EXPENDITURES

20 AS CONTRIBUTIONS.

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 301(8) of the Federal

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

23 amended—

24 (1) in subparagraph (A)—
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1 (A) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of clause

2 (i);

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

4 clause (ii) and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and

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

6 ‘‘(iii) a payment made for a commu7 nication or anything of value that is for

8 the purpose of influencing an election for

9 Federal office and that is a payment made

10 in coordination with a candidate.’’; and

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

12 ‘‘(C) For the purposes of subparagraph

13 (A)(iii), the term ‘payment made in coordina14 tion with a candidate’ includes—

15 ‘‘(i) a payment made by a person in

16 cooperation, consultation, or concert with,

17 at the request or suggestion of, or pursu18 ant to any general or particular under19 standing with a candidate, the candidate’s

20 authorized committee, or an agent acting

21 on behalf of a candidate or authorized

22 committee;
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1 ‘‘(ii) a payment made by a person for

2 the dissemination, distribution, or republi3 cation, in whole or in part, of any broad4 cast or any written, graphic, or other form

5 of campaign material prepared by a can6 didate, a candidate’s authorized committee,

7 or an agent of a candidate or authorized

8 committee (not including a communication

9 described in subparagraph (B)(i) or a com10 munication that expressly advocates the

11 candidate’s defeat);

12 ‘‘(iii) a payment made based on infor13 mation about a candidate’s plans, projects,

14 or needs provided to the person making the

15 payment by the candidate or the can16 didate’s agent who provides the informa17 tion with a view toward having the pay18 ment made;

19 ‘‘(iv) a payment made by a person if,

20 in the same election cycle in which the pay21 ment is made, the person making the pay22 ment is serving or has served as a member,

23 employee, fundraiser, or agent of the can24 didate’s authorized committee in an execu25 tive or policymaking position;
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1 ‘‘(v) a payment made by a person if

2 the person making the payment has served

3 in any formal policy or advisory position

4 with the candidate’s campaign or has par5 ticipated in strategic or policymaking dis6 cussions with the candidate’s campaign re7 lating to the candidate’s pursuit of nomi8 nation for election, or election, to Federal

9 office, in the same election cycle as the

10 election cycle in which the payment is

11 made; and

12 ‘‘(vi) a payment made by a person if,

13 in the same election cycle, the person mak14 ing the payment retains the professional

15 services of any individual or person who

16 has provided or is providing campaign-re17 lated services in the same election cycle to

18 a candidate in connection with the can19 didate’s pursuit of nomination for election,

20 or election, to Federal office, including

21 services relating to the candidate’s decision

22 to seek Federal office, and the professional

23 is retained to work on activities relating to

24 that candidate’s campaign.
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1 ‘‘(D) For purposes of subparagraph

2 (C)(vi), the term ‘professional services’ includes

3 services in support of a candidate’s pursuit of

4 nomination for election, or election, to Federal

5 office such as polling, media advice, direct mail,

6 fundraising, or campaign research.

7 (b) APPLICATION FOR PURPOSES OF CONTRIBUTION

8 LIMITS.—Section 315(a)(7)(B) of such Act (2 U.S.C.

9 441a(a)(7)(B)) is amended to read as follows:

10 ‘‘(B) Payments made in coordination with

11 a candidate, as described in section

12 301(8)(A)(iii), shall be considered to be con13 tributions to such candidate, and in the case of

14 limitations on expenditures, shall be treated as

15 expenditures for purposes of this paragraph.’’.

16 (c) APPLICATION FOR PURPOSES OF CONTRIBUTIONS

17 OF CORPORATIONS AND LABOR ORGANIZATIONS.—Sec18 tion 316(b)(2) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 441b(b)) is amended

19 by striking ‘‘shall include’’ and inserting ‘‘includes a con20 tribution or expenditure, as those terms are defined in sec21 tion 301, and also includes’’.
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1 SEC. 253. TREATMENT OF CERTAIN PARTY EXPENDITURES

2 AND COMMUNICATIONS CONTAINING EX3 PRESS ADVOCACY AS EXPENDITURES.

4 Section 301(9)(A) of the Federal Election Campaign

5 Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431(9)(A)) is amended—

6 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of clause (i);

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

8 (ii) and inserting a semicolon; and

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

10 ‘‘(iii) any payment during an election

11 year (or within 60 days before a special

12 election in a nonelection year) for a com13 munication that is made through any

14 broadcast medium, newspaper, magazine,

15 billboard, direct mail, or similar type of

16 general public communication or political

17 advertising by a national, State, district, or

18 local committee of a political party, includ19 ing a congressional campaign committee of

20 a party, that refers to a clearly identified

21 candidate; and

22 ‘‘(iv) any payment for a communica23 tion that contains express advocacy.’’.
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1 SEC. 254. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS FOR CERTAIN INDE2 PENDENT EXPENDITURES.

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

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

5 (1) in paragraph (2), by striking the undesig6 nated matter after subparagraph (C);

7 (2) by redesignating paragraph (3) as para8 graph (7); and

9 (3) by inserting after paragraph (2), as amend10 ed by paragraph (1), the following new paragraphs:

11 ‘‘(3)(A) Any person (including a political committee)

12 making independent expenditures as defined in section

13 301(17) and (18) with respect to a candidate in an elec14 tion aggregating $1,000 or more made after the 20th day,

15 but more than 24 hours, before the election shall file a

16 report within 24 hours after such independent expendi17 tures are made. An additional report shall be filed each

18 time independent expenditures aggregating $1,000 are

19 made with respect to the same candidate after the latest

20 report filed under this subparagraph.

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

22 making independent expenditures with respect to a can23 didate in an election aggregating $10,000 or more made

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

25 election shall file a report within 48 hours after such inde26 pendent expenditures are made. An additional report shall
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1 be filed each time independent expenditures aggregating

2 $10,000 are made with respect to the same candidate

3 after the latest report filed under this paragraph.

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

5 be filed with the Commission and shall identify each can6 didate whom the expenditure is actually intended to sup7 port or to oppose. Not later than 2 business days after

8 the Commission receives a report, the Commission shall

9 transmit a copy of the report to each candidate seeking

10 nomination or election to that office.

11 ‘‘(D) For purposes of this section, an independent ex12 penditure shall be considered to have been made upon the

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

14 incur an obligation for payment.

15 ‘‘(4) The Commission may, upon a request of a can16 didate or on its own initiative, make its own determination

17 that a person, including a political committee, has made,

18 or has incurred obligations to make, independent expendi19 tures with respect to any candidate in any election which

20 in the aggregate exceed the applicable amounts under

21 paragraph (3). The Commission shall notify each can22 didate in such election of such determination made within

23 2 business days after making it. Any determination made

24 at the request of a candidate shall be made within 48

25 hours of the request.
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1 ‘‘(5) In the event that independent expenditures to2 taling in the aggregate $25,000 have been made in the

3 same election in favor of another candidate or against an

4 eligible House of Representatives candidate under title V,

5 the Commission shall, within 2 business days, notify the

6 eligible candidate that such candidate is entitled under

7 section 502(g) to raise additional contributions equaling

8 the amount of such independent expenditures. At such

9 time as the aggregate amount the independent expendi10 tures referred to in the preceding sentence, combined with

11 the expenditures of all other candidates in such election,

12 equals 100 percent of the applicable expenditure limit with

13 respect to the election under section 502, the Commission

14 shall, within 2 business days, notify the eligible candidate

15 that such candidate is entitled under section 502(g) to

16 make the expenditures provided for in section 502(g).

17 ‘‘(6)(A) A person who reserves broadcast time the

18 payment for which would constitute an independent ex19 penditure within the meaning of section 301(17) shall at

20 the time of the reservation—

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

22 for the broadcast time will constitute an independent

23 expenditure;

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

25 of all candidates for the office to which the proposed
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1 broadcast relates and state whether the message to

2 be broadcast is intended to be made in support of

3 or in opposition to each such candidate; and

4 ‘‘(iii) provide the broadcast licensee a copy of

5 the report described in paragraph (3).

6 ‘‘(B) For purposes of this paragraph, the term

7 ‘broadcast’ includes any cablecast.

8 ‘‘(C) A licensee who is informed as described in sub9 paragraph (A) shall—

10 ‘‘(i) notify each such candidate described in

11 subparagraph (A)(ii) of the proposed making of the

12 independent expenditure; and

13 ‘‘(ii) allow any such candidate (other than a

14 candidate for whose benefit the independent expendi15 ture is made) to purchase the same amount of

16 broadcast time immediately after the broadcast time

17 paid for by the independent expenditure, at the cost

18 specified in section 315(b) of the Communications

19 Act of 1934, as amended by section 102 of the Bi20 partisan Campaign Reform Act of 1997.’’.
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1 TITLE III—ENFORCEMENT AND

2 DISCLOSURE

3 SEC. 301. AUDITS.

4 (a) RANDOM AUDITS.—Section 311(b) of the Federal

5 Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 438(b)) is

6 amended—

7 (1) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ before ‘‘The Commis8 sion’’; and

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

10 paragraph:

11 ‘‘(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), the Commission

12 may conduct random audits and investigations to ensure

13 voluntary compliance with this Act. The subjects of such

14 audits and investigations shall be selected on the basis of

15 criteria established by vote of at least 4 members of the

16 Commission to ensure impartiality in the selection process.

17 This paragraph does not apply to an authorized committee

18 of a candidate for President or Vice President subject to

19 audit under chapter 95 or 96 of the Internal Revenue

20 Code of 1986.’’.

21 (b) EXTENSION OF PERIOD DURING WHICH CAM22 PAIGN AUDITS MAY BE BEGUN.—Section 311(b) of the

23 Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 438(b))

24 is amended by striking out ‘‘6 months’’ and inserting in

25 lieu thereof ‘‘12 months’’.
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1 SEC. 302. CHANGE IN CERTAIN REPORTING FROM A CAL2 ENDAR YEAR BASIS TO AN ELECTION CYCLE

3 BASIS.

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Paragraphs (2), (3), (4), (6), and

5 (7) of section 304(b) of the Federal Election Campaign

6 Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 434(b) (2)–(7)) are amended by

7 inserting ‘‘(election cycle, in the case of an authorized

8 committee of a candidate for Federal office)’’ after ‘‘cal9 endar year’’ each place it appears.

10 (b) ELECTION CYCLE DEFINED.—Section 301 of

11 such Act (2 U.S.C. 431), as amended by section 251(b),

12 is amended by adding at the end the following:

13 ‘‘(21) The term ‘election cycle’ means—

14 ‘‘(A) in the case of a candidate or the au15 thorized committees of a candidate, the period

16 beginning on the day after the date of the most

17 recent general election for the specific office or

18 seat that the candidate seeks and ending on the

19 date of the next general election for that office

20 or seat; and

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

22 period beginning on the first day following the

23 date of the last general election and ending on

24 the date of the next general election.’’.
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1 SEC. 303. DISCLOSURE OF PERSONAL AND CONSULTING

2 SERVICES.

3 (a) REPORTING BY POLITICAL COMMITTEES.—Sec4 tion 304(b)(5)(A) of the Federal Election Campaign Act

5 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 434(b)(5)(A)) is amended by adding

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

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

8 candidate or the candidate’s authorized committees is

9 merely providing personal or consulting services and is in

10 turn making expenditures to other persons (not including

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

12 the candidate or the candidate’s authorized committees,

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

14 the date, amount, and purpose of such expenditure shall

15 also be disclosed’’.

16 (b) RECORDKEEPING AND REPORTING BY PERSONS

17 TO WHOM EXPENDITURES ARE PASSED THROUGH.—

18 Section 302 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of

19 1971 (2 U.S.C. 432) is amended by adding at the end

20 the following new subsection:

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

22 who is providing personal or consulting services and who

23 is in turn making expenditures to other persons (not in24 cluding employees) for goods or services provided to a can25 didate shall maintain records of and shall provide to a po26 litical committee the information necessary to enable the
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1 political committee to report the information described in

2 section 304(b)(5)(A).’’.

3 SEC. 304. INDEPENDENT LITIGATION AUTHORITY.

4 Section 306(f)(4) of the Federal Election Campaign

5 Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 437c(f)(4)) is amended to read as

6 follows:

7 ‘‘(4)(A) Notwithstanding the provisions of para8 graph (2) or of any other provision of law, the Com9 mission is authorized to appear on its own behalf in

10 any action related to the exercise of its statutory du11 ties or powers in any court as either a party or as

12 amicus curiae, either—

13 ‘‘(i) by attorneys employed in its office, or

14 ‘‘(ii) by counsel whom it may appoint, on

15 a temporary basis as may be necessary for such

16 purpose, without regard to the provisions of

17 title 5, United States Code, governing appoint18 ments in the competitive service, and whose

19 compensation it may fix without regard to the

20 provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter III of

21 chapter 53 of such title, and whose compensa22 tion shall be paid out of any funds otherwise

23 available to pay the compensation of employees

24 of the Commission.
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1 ‘‘(B) The authority granted under subpara2 graph (A) includes the power to appeal from, and

3 petition the Supreme Court for certiorari to review,

4 judgments or decrees entered with respect to actions

5 in which the Commission appears pursuant to the

6 authority provided in this section.’’.

7 SEC. 305. TERM LIMITS FOR FEDERAL ELECTION COMMIS8 SION.

9 Section 306 of the Federal Election Campaign Act

10 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 437c(a)(2)(A)) is amended by striking

11 ‘‘terms’’ and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘no more than one

12 term’’.

13 SEC. 306. AUTHORITY TO SEEK INJUNCTION.

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

15 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 437g(a)) is amended—

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

17 paragraph:

18 ‘‘(13)(A) If, at any time in a proceeding described

19 in paragraph (1), (2), (3), or (4), the Commission believes

20 that—

21 ‘‘(i) there is a substantial likelihood that a vio22 lation of this Act is occurring or is about to occur;

23 ‘‘(ii) the failure to act expeditiously will result

24 in irreparable harm to a party affected by the poten25 tial violation;
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1 ‘‘(iii) expeditious action will not cause undue

2 harm or prejudice to the interests of others; and

3 ‘‘(iv) the public interest would be best served by

4 the issuance of an injunction,

5 the Commission may initiate a civil action for a temporary

6 restraining order or a temporary injunction pending the

7 outcome of the proceedings described in paragraphs (1),

8 (2), (3), and (4).

9 ‘‘(B) An action under subparagraph (A) shall be

10 brought in the United States district court for the district

11 in which the defendant resides, transacts business, or may

12 be found, or in which the violation is occurring, has oc13 curred, or is about to occur.’’;

14 (2) in paragraph (7), by striking ‘‘(5) or (6)’’

15 and inserting ‘‘(5), (6), or (13)’’; and

16 (3) in paragraph (11), by striking ‘‘(6)’’ and in17 serting ‘‘(6) or (13)’’.

18 SEC. 307. EXPEDITED PROCEDURES.

19 Section 309(a) of Federal Election Campaign Act of

20 1971 (2 U.S.C. 437g(a)), as amended by section 306, is

21 further amended by adding at the end the following new

22 paragraph:

23 ‘‘(14)(A) If the complaint in a proceeding was filed

24 within 60 days immediately preceding a general election,
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1 the Commission may take action described in this sub2 paragraph.

3 ‘‘(B) If the Commission determines, on the basis of

4 facts alleged in the complaint and other facts available to

5 it, that there is clear and convincing evidence that a viola6 tion of this Act has occurred, is occurring, or is about to

7 occur and it appears that the requirements for relief stat8 ed in paragraph (13)(A) (ii), (iii), and (iv) are met, the

9 Commission may—

10 ‘‘(i) order expedited proceedings, shortening the

11 time periods for proceedings under paragraphs (1),

12 (2), (3), and (4) as necessary to allow the matter to

13 be resolved in sufficient time before the election to

14 avoid harm or prejudice to the interests of the par15 ties; or

16 ‘‘(ii) if the Commission determines that there is

17 insufficient time to conduct proceedings before the

18 election, immediately seek relief under paragraph

19 (13)(A).

20 ‘‘(C) If the Commission determines, on the basis of

21 facts alleged in the complaint and other facts available to

22 it, that the complaint is clearly without merit, the Com23 mission may—

24 ‘‘(i) order expedited proceedings, shortening the

25 time periods for proceedings under paragraphs (1),
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1 (2), (3), and (4) as necessary to allow the matter

2 to be resolved in sufficient time before the election

3 to avoid harm or prejudice to the interests of the

4 parties; or

5 ‘‘(ii) if the Commission determines that there is

6 insufficient time to conduct proceedings before the

7 election, summarily dismiss the complaint.’’.

8 SEC. 308. INCREASE IN PENALTY FOR KNOWING AND WILL9 FUL VIOLATIONS.

10 (a) VIOLATION UNDER CONCILIATION AGREE11 MENT.—Section 308(a)(5)(B) of the Federal Election

12 Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 437g(a)(5)(B)) is

13 amended by striking ‘‘the greater of $10,000 or an

14 amount equal to 200 percent’’ and inserting ‘‘the greater

15 of $15,000 or an amount equal to 300 percent’’.

16 (b) VIOLATION UNDER CIVIL ACTION.—Section

17 308(a)(6)(B) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 437g(a)(6)(C)) is

18 amended by striking ‘‘the greater of $10,000 or an

19 amount equal to 200 percent’’ and inserting ‘‘the greater

20 of $15,000 or an amount equal to 300 percent’’.
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1 SEC. 309. MANDATORY ELECTRONIC FILING AND PRESER2 VATION OF FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION

3 REPORTS.

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection 304(a)(11)(A) of the

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

6 434(a)(11)(A)) is amended—

7 (1) by striking out ‘‘permit reports required by’’

8 and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘require reports

9 under’’; and

10 (2) by adding at the end the following new sen11 tences: ‘‘With respect to reports of amounts of con12 tributions, amounts of expenditures, or other dollar

13 amounts, the Commission may provide for excep14 tions to the requirement of the preceding sentence in

15 the case of small amounts, the levels of which the

16 Commission shall prescribe by regulation. Such ex17 ceptions shall permit filing and preservation by

18 means of electronic format or method by persons to

19 whom the exceptions apply.’’.

20 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

21 subsection (a) shall apply with respect to reports for peri22 ods beginning after the expiration of the 60-day period

23 which begins on the date of the enactment of this Act.
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1 TITLE IV—MISCELLANEOUS

2 PROVISIONS

3 SEC. 401. RESTRICTIONS ON USE OF CAMPAIGN FUNDS FOR

4 PERSONAL PURPOSES.

5 (a) RESTRICTIONS ON USE OF CAMPAIGN FUNDS.—

6 Title III of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971

7 (2 U.S.C. 431 et seq.), as amended by sections 202 and

8 211, is further amended by adding at the end the following

9 new section:

10 ‘‘RESTRICTIONS ON USE OF CAMPAIGN FUNDS FOR

11 PERSONAL PURPOSES

12 ‘‘SEC. 325. (a) IN GENERAL.—An individual who re13 ceives contributions as a candidate for Federal office—

14 ‘‘(1) shall use such contributions only for legiti15 mate and verifiable campaign expenses; and

16 ‘‘(2) shall not use such contributions for any in17 herently personal purpose.

18 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this subsection—

19 ‘‘(1) the term ‘campaign expenses’ means ex20 penses attributable solely to bona fide campaign pur21 poses; and

22 ‘‘(2) the term ‘inherently personal purpose’

23 means a purpose that, by its nature, confers a per24 sonal benefit, including a home mortgage, rent, or

25 utility payment, clothing purchase, noncampaign
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1 automobile expense, country club membership, vaca2 tion, or trip of a noncampaign nature, household

3 food items, tuition payments, admission to a sport4 ing event, concert, theater, or other form of enter5 tainment not associated with a campaign, dues, fees,

6 or contributions to a health club or recreational fa7 cility, and any other inherently personal living ex8 pense as determined under the regulations promul9 gated pursuant to section 301(b) of the Bipartisan

10 Clean Congress Act of 1997.’’.

11 (b) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 90 days after the

12 date of enactment of this Act, the Federal Election Com13 mission shall promulgate regulations consistent with this

14 Act to implement subsection (a). Such regulations shall

15 apply to all contributions possessed by an individual on

16 the date of enactment of this Act.

17 SEC. 402. CAMPAIGN ADVERTISING AMENDMENTS.

18 Section 318 of the Federal Election Campaign Act

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

20 (1) in subsection (a)—

21 (A) in the matter preceding paragraph

22 (1)—

23 (i) by striking ‘‘Whenever’’ and insert24 ing ‘‘Whenever a political committee makes
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1 a disbursement for the purpose of financ2 ing any communication through any broad3 casting station, newspaper, magazine, out4 door advertising facility, mailing, phone

5 bank or any other type of general public

6 political advertising, or whenever’’;

7 (ii) by striking ‘‘an expenditure’’ and

8 inserting ‘‘a disbursement’’; and

9 (iii) by striking ‘‘direct’’; and

10 (B) in paragraph (3), by inserting ‘‘and

11 permanent street address’’ after ‘‘name’’; and

12 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub13 sections:

14 ‘‘(c) Any printed communication described in sub15 section (a) shall be—

16 ‘‘(1) of sufficient type size to be clearly read17 able by the recipient of the communication;

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

19 the other contents of the communication; and

20 ‘‘(3) consist of a reasonable degree of color con21 trast between the background and the printed state22 ment.

23 ‘‘(d)(1) Any broadcast or cablecast communication

24 described in subsection (a)(1) or subsection (a)(2) shall
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1 include, in addition to the requirements of those sub2 sections, an audio statement by the candidate that identi3 fies the candidate and states that the candidate is respon4 sible for the content of the advertisement.

5 ‘‘(2) If a broadcast or cablecast communication de6 scribed in paragraph (1) is broadcast or cablecast by

7 means of television, the communication shall include, in

8 addition to the audio statement under paragraph (1), a

9 written statement which—

10 ‘‘(A) appears at the end of the communication

11 in a clearly readable manner with a reasonable de12 gree of color contrast between the background and

13 the printed statement, for a period of at least 4 sec14 onds; and

15 ‘‘(B) is accompanied by a clearly identifiable

16 photographic or similar image of the candidate.

17 ‘‘(e) Any broadcast or cablecast communication de18 scribed in subsection (a)(3) shall include, in addition to

19 the requirements of those subsections, in a clearly spoken

20 manner, the following statement: ‘ is

21 responsible for the content of this advertisement.’ (with

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

23 committee or other person paying for the communication

24 and the name of any connected organization of the payor).
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1 If broadcast or cablecast by means of television, the state2 ment shall also appear in a clearly readable manner with

3 a reasonable degree of color contrast between the back4 ground and the printed statement, for a period of at least

5 4 seconds.’’.

6 SEC. 403. USE OF CANDIDATES’ NAMES.

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

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

9 follows:

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

11 include the name of the candidate who authorized the com12 mittee under paragraph (1).

13 ‘‘(B) A political committee which is not an authorized

14 committee may not—

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

16 name; or

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

18 local party committee, use the name of any can19 didate in any activity on behalf of such committee

20 in such a context as to suggest that the committee

21 is an authorized committee of the candidate or that

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

23 by the candidate.’’.
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1 SEC. 404. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.

2 (a) OPTION TO FILE MONTHLY REPORTS.—Section

3 304(a)(2) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971

4 (2 U.S.C. 434(a)(2)) is amended—

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

6 the end;

7 (2) in subparagraph (B) by striking the period

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

9 (3) by inserting the following new subparagraph

10 at the end:

11 ‘‘(C) in lieu of the reports required by subpara12 graphs (A) and (B), the treasurer may file monthly

13 reports in all calendar years, which shall be filed no

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

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

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

17 otherwise due in November and December of any

18 year in which a regularly scheduled general election

19 is held, a pre-primary election report and a pre-gen20 eral election report shall be filed in accordance with

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

22 shall be filed in accordance with subparagraph

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

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

25 (b) POLITICAL COMMITTEES.—Section 304(a)(4) of

26 the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C.
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1 434(a)(4)) is amended in subparagraph (A)(i) by inserting

2 ‘‘, and except that if at any time during the election year

3 a committee receives contributions in excess of $100,000

4 or makes disbursements in excess of $100,000, monthly

5 reports on the 20th day of each month after the month

6 in which that amount of contributions is first received or

7 that amount of disbursements is first anticipated to be

8 made during that year’’ before the semicolon.

9 (c) INCOMPLETE OR FALSE CONTRIBUTOR INFORMA10 TION.—Section 302(i) of the Federal Election Campaign

11 Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 432(i)) is amended—

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

13 (2) by striking ‘‘submit’’ and inserting ‘‘re14 port’’; and

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

16 paragraph:

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

18 efforts under this section only if—

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

20 conspicuous request for the contributor’s identifica21 tion and inform the contributor of the committee’s

22 obligation to report the identification in a statement

23 prescribed by the Commission;

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

25 request for the contributor’s identification for each
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1 contribution received that aggregates in excess of

2 $200 per calendar year and which does not contain

3 all of the information required by this Act; and

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

5 committee’s possession regarding contributor identi6 fications.’’.

7 (d) WAIVER.—Section 304 of the Federal Election

8 Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 434), as amended by

9 sections 105, 213(a), 213(c), and 221, is further amended

10 by adding at the end the following new subsection:

11 ‘‘(j) The Commission may relieve any category of po12 litical committees of the obligation to file 1 or more re13 ports required by this section, or may change the due

14 dates of such reports, if it determines that such action

15 is consistent with the purposes of this Act. The Commis16 sion may waive requirements to file reports in accordance

17 with this subsection through a rule of general applicability

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

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

20 SEC. 405. SIMULTANEOUS REGISTRATION OF CANDIDATE

21 AND CANDIDATE’S PRINCIPAL CAMPAIGN

22 COMMITTEE.

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

24 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 433(a)) is amended in the first sentence
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1 by striking ‘‘no later than 10 days after designation’’ and

2 inserting ‘‘on the date of its designation’’.

3 SEC. 406. INSOLVENT POLITICAL COMMITTEES.

4 Section 303(d) of the Federal Election Campaign Act

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

6 end the following new paragraph:

7 ‘‘(3) Proceedings by the Commission under para8 graph (2) constitute the sole means, to the exclusion of

9 proceeding under title 11, United States Code, by which

10 a political committee that is determined by the Commis11 sion to be insolvent may compromise its debts, liquidate

12 its assets, and terminate its existence.’’.

13 SEC. 407. REGULATIONS RELATING TO USE OF NON-FED14 ERAL MONEY.

15 Section 306 of the Federal Election Campaign Act

16 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 437c) is amended by adding at the end

17 the following new subsection:

18 ‘‘(g) The Commission shall promulgate regulations to

19 prohibit devices or arrangements which have the purpose

20 or effect of undermining or evading the provisions of this

21 Act restricting the use of non-Federal money to affect

22 Federal elections.’’.
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1 SEC. 408. BAN ON FRANKING FOR UNSOLICITED MASS

2 MAILINGS MAILED DURING ELECTION YEAR.

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

4 United States Code, is amended—

5 (1) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘fewer than 60

6 days’’ and all that follows through ‘‘or runoff)’’ and

7 inserting ‘‘during the year in which the date of any

8 election occurs’’; and

9 (2) in clause (ii)(II), by striking ‘‘fewer than 90

10 days’’ and all that follows through ‘‘or runoff)’’ and

11 inserting ‘‘during the year in which the date of any

12 election occurs’’.

13 (b) ADDITIONAL MAILINGS EXEMPT FROM TREAT14 MENT AS MASS MAILINGS.—Section 3210(a)(6)(E) of title

15 39, United States Code, is amended—

16 (1) in clause (i), by striking the semicolon at

17 the end and inserting the following: ‘‘, together with

18 a single follow-up to any such direct response, if it

19 is made before the end of the Congress in which the

20 direct response was made and if it occurs within 6

21 weeks after any significant congressional action (as

22 defined by the House Commission on Congressional

23 Mailing Standards) on the subject matter involved;’’;

24 (2) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end;

25 (3) in clause (iii) by striking the period at the

26 end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and
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1 (4) by adding at the end the following new

2 clause:

3 ‘‘(iv) any mailing described in clause (iv) or (v)

4 of section 6(b)(1)(B) of the Legislative Branch Ap5 propriations Act, 1995, subject to the same restric6 tion as specified in such clause (iv) with respect to

7 a Member of the Senate.’’.

8 SEC. 409. INTENT OF CONGRESS.

9 It is the intent of Congress that any funds realized

10 by section 409 shall be designated to pay for reduced post11 age rates for eligible House of Representatives candidates

12 under section 3626(e) of title 39, United States Code (as

13 amended by section 103).

14 SEC. 410. SEVERABILITY.

15 If any provision of this Act, an amendment made by

16 this Act, or the application of such provision or amend17 ment to any other person or circumstance is held to be

18 unconstitutional, the remainder of this Act, the amend19 ments made by this Act, and the application of the provi20 sions of such to any other person or circumstance shall

21 not be affected thereby.

22 SEC. 411. EXPEDITED REVIEW OF CONSTITUTIONAL ISSUES.

23 (a) DIRECT APPEAL TO SUPREME COURT.—An ap24 peal may be taken directly to the Supreme Court of the
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1 United States from any interlocutory order or final judg2 ment, decree, or order issued by any court ruling on the

3 constitutionality of any provision of this Act or amend4 ment made by this Act.

5 (b) ACCEPTANCE AND EXPEDITION.—The Supreme

6 Court shall, if it has not previously ruled on the question

7 addressed in the ruling below, accept jurisdiction over, ad8 vance on the docket, and expedite the appeal to the great9 est extent possible.

10 SEC. 412. EFFECTIVE DATE.

11 Except as otherwise provided in this Act, the amend12 ments made by, and the provisions of, this Act shall take

13 effect 60 days after the date of the enactment of this Act.

14 SEC. 413. REGULATIONS.

15 The Federal Election Commission shall prescribe any

16 regulations required to carry out this Act not later than

17 9 months after the effective date of this Act.

Æ