I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2312

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

of Representatives campaign finance laws, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 27, 1993

Mr. GOSS introduced the following bill; which was referred jointly to the Committees on House Administration, Post Office and Civil Service, Energy

and Commerce, the Judiciary, and Ways and Means

A BILL

To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to

reform House of Representatives campaign finance laws,

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. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ELECTION LIMI4 TATION ON CONTRIBUTIONS FROM PERSONS

5 OTHER THAN LOCAL INDIVIDUAL RESIDENTS.

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 315 of the Federal Elec7 tion Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a), is amended

8 by adding at the end the following new subsection:
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1 ‘‘(i)(1) A candidate for the office of Representative

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

3 may not, with respect to a reporting period for an election,

4 accept contributions—

5 (A) from persons other than individual resi6 dents of the congressional district involved in excess

7 of 40 percent of the total of contributions accepted;

8 or

9 (B) from persons other than individual resi10 dents of the State in which the congressional district

11 involved is located in excess of 10 percent of the

12 total of contributions accepted.’’.

13 SEC. 2. REDUCTION IN LIMITATION AMOUNT APPLICABLE

14 TO CONTRIBUTIONS BY A MULTICANDIDATE

15 POLITICAL COMMITTEE TO A HOUSE OF REP16 RESENTATIVES CANDIDATE.

17 Section 315(a)(2)(A) of the Federal Election Cam18 paign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a(a)(2)(A)) is amended

19 by inserting after ‘‘$5,000’’ the following: ‘‘, except that

20 in the case of an election for the office of Representative

21 in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, the Con22 gress, the limitation shall be $1,000.’’.
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1 SEC. 3. BAN ON SOFT MONEY.

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title III of the Federal Election

3 Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431 et seq.) is amended

4 by adding at the end the following new section:

5 ‘‘LIMITATIONS AND REPORTING REQUIREMENTS FOR

6 AMOUNTS PAID FOR MIXED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES

7 ‘‘SEC. 323. (a) Any payment by the national commit8 tee of a political party or a State committee of a political

9 party for a mixed political activity—

10 ‘‘(1) shall be subject to limitation and reporting

11 under this Act as if such payment were an expendi12 ture; and

13 ‘‘(2) may be paid only from an account that is

14 subject to the requirements of this Act.

15 ‘‘(b) As used in this section, the term ‘mixed political

16 activity’ means, with respect to a payment by the national

17 committee of a political party or a State committee of a

18 political party, an activity, such as a voter registration

19 program, a get-out-the-vote drive, or general political ad20 vertising, that is both (1) for the purpose of influencing

21 an election for Federal office, and (2) for any purpose un22 related to influencing an election for Federal office.’’.

23 (b) REPEAL OF BUILDING FUND EXCEPTION TO THE

24 DEFINITION OF THE TERM ‘‘CONTRIBUTION’’.—Section

25 301(8)(B) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971

26 (2 U.S.C. 431(8)(B)) is amended—
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1 (1) by striking out clause (viii); and

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

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

4 SEC. 4. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OFFICIAL MAIL AL5 LOWANCE FORMULA REDUCTION.

6 Section 311(e)(2)(B)(i) of the Legislative Branch Ap7 propriations Act, 1991 (2 U.S.C. 59e(e)(2)(B)(i)) is

8 amended by striking out ‘‘3’’ and inserting in lieu thereof

9 ‘‘1.5’’.

10 SEC. 5. PROHIBITION OF MAILING OF NEWSLETTERS

11 UNDER THE CONGRESSIONAL FRANK.

12 (a) INTENT OF CONGRESS.—Section 3210(a) of title

13 39, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end

14 the following new paragraph:

15 ‘‘(8) It is the intent of Congress that a Member of

16 or Member-elect to Congress (other than a Senator or a

17 Senator-elect) may not mail a congressional newsletter as

18 franked mail.’’.

19 (b) EXCLUSION FROM LIST OF FRANKABLE MAIL.—

20 Section 3210(a)(3) of title 39, United States Code, is

21 amended—

22 (1) in subparagraph (B) by inserting ‘‘subject

23 to paragraph (8),’’ before ‘‘the usual and cus24 tomary’’; and
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1 (2) in subparagraphs (I) and (J) by striking

2 out ‘‘newsletter or other’’.

3 (c) EXCLUSION RELATING TO MASS MAILINGS.—

4 Section 3210(a)(6)(E) of title 39, United States Code, is

5 amended—

6 (1) in clause (ii) by striking out ‘‘or’’ after the

7 semicolon;

8 (2) in clause (iii) by striking out the period and

9 inserting ‘‘; or’’; and

10 (3) by adding after clause (iii) the following

11 new clause:

12 ‘‘(iv) of congressional newsletters, to the extent

13 intended by Congress to be nonmailable as franked

14 mail under subsection (a)(8).’’.

15 (d) EXCLUSION RELATING TO PERMISSIBLE FORMS

16 OF FRANKED MAIL.—Section 3210(c) of title 39, United

17 States Code, is amended by striking out ‘‘subsection (a)(4)

18 and (5) of this section.’’ and inserting in lieu thereof

19 ‘‘paragraph (4), (5), or (8) of subsection (a).’’.

20 SEC. 6. LENGTHENED NONMAILING PERIOD FOR MASS

21 MAILING BY MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE OF

22 REPRESENTATIVES.

23 Section 3210(a)(6)(A) of title 39, United States

24 Code, is amended—
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1 (1) in clause (i), by inserting after ‘‘60 days’’

2 the following: (180 days in the case of a Member of,

3 or Member-elect to, the House of Representatives)’’;

4 and

5 (2) in clause (ii)(II), by striking out ‘‘60 days’’

6 and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘180 days’’.

7 SEC. 7. AMENDMENTS TO COMMUNICATIONS ACT OF 1934.

8 Section 315 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47

9 U.S.C. 315) is amended—

10 (1) in subsection (b)(1)—

11 (A) by striking ‘‘forty-five’’ and inserting

12 ‘‘30’’;

13 (B) by striking ‘‘sixty’’ and inserting ‘‘45’’;

14 and

15 (C) by striking ‘‘lowest unit charge of the

16 station for the same class and amount of time

17 for the same period’’ and insert ‘‘lowest charge

18 of the station for the same amount of time for

19 the same period’’;

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

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

22 (3) by inserting immediately after subsection

23 (b) the following new subsection:

24 ‘‘(c)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), a li25 censee shall not preempt the use, during any period speci-
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1 fied in subsection (b)(1), of a broadcasting station by a

2 legally qualified candidate for public office who has pur3 chased and paid for such use pursuant to the provisions

4 of subsection (b)(1).

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

6 station is preempted because of circumstances beyond the

7 control of the broadcasting station, any candidate adver8 tising spot scheduled to be broadcast during that program

9 may also be preempted.’’; and

10 (4) in subsection (d) (as redesignated by para11 graph (2) of this section)—

12 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para13 graph (1);

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

15 paragraph (2) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

16 (C) by adding at the end thereof the fol17 lowing new paragraph:

18 ‘‘(3) a station’s lowest charge for purposes of

19 paragraph (1)—

20 ‘‘(A) with respect to a primary or primary

21 runoff election, is determined for the interval

22 beginning 60 days before such election and end23 ing on the date of that election; and

24 ‘‘(B) with respect to a general or special

25 election, is determined for the interval begin-
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1 ning 90 days before such election and ending on

2 the date of that election.’’.

3 SEC. 8. DENIAL OF DEDUCTION FOR LOBBYING EXPENSES.

4 (a) DISALLOWANCE OF DEDUCTION.—Section 162(e)

5 (relating to appearances, etc., with respect to legislation)

6 is amended to read as follows:

7 ‘‘(e) DENIAL OF DEDUCTION FOR CERTAIN LOBBY8 ING AND POLITICAL EXPENDITURES.—

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—No deduction shall be al10 lowed under subsection (a) for any amount paid or

11 incurred—

12 ‘‘(A) in connection with influencing legisla13 tion,

14 ‘‘(B) for participation in, or intervention

15 in, any political campaign on behalf of (or in

16 opposition to) any candidate for public office, or

17 ‘‘(C) in connection with any attempt to in18 fluence the general public, or segments thereof,

19 with respect to elections.

20 ‘‘(2) APPLICATION TO DUES.—

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—No deduction shall be

22 allowed under subsection (a) for the portion of

23 dues or other similar amounts (paid by the tax24 payer with respect to an organization) which is
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1 allocable to the expenditures described in para2 graph (1).

3 ‘‘(B) ALLOCATION.—

4 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of

5 subparagraph (A), expenditures described

6 in paragraph (1) shall be treated as paid

7 out of dues or other similar amounts.

8 ‘‘(ii) CARRYOVER OF LOBBYING EX9 PENDITURES IN EXCESS OF DUES.—For

10 purposes of this paragraph, if expenditures

11 described in paragraph (1) exceed the dues

12 or other similar amounts for any calendar

13 year, such excess shall be treated as ex14 penditures described in paragraph (1)

15 which are paid or incurred by the organi16 zation during the following calendar year.

17 ‘‘(3) INFLUENCING LEGISLATION.—For pur18 poses of this subsection—

19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘influencing

20 legislation’ means—

21 ‘‘(i) any attempt to influence the gen22 eral public, or segments thereof, with re23 spect to legislation, and

24 ‘‘(ii) any attempt to influence any leg25 islation through communication with any
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1 member or employee of the legislative

2 body, or with any government official or

3 employee who may participate in the for4 mulation of the legislation.

5 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION FOR CERTAIN TECH6 NICAL ADVICE.—The term ‘influencing legisla7 tion’ shall not include the providing of technical

8 advice or assistance to a governmental body or

9 to a committee or other subdivision thereof in

10 response to a specific written request by such

11 governmental entity to the taxpayer which

12 specifies the nature of the advice or assistance

13 requested.

14 ‘‘(C) LEGISLATION.—The term ‘legislation’

15 has the meaning given such term by section

16 4911(e)(2).

17 ‘‘(4) EXCEPTION FOR CERTAIN TAXPAYERS.—

18 In the case of any taxpayer engaged in the trade or

19 business of conducting activities described in para20 graph (1), paragraph (1) shall not apply to expendi21 tures of the taxpayer in conducting such activities on

22 behalf of another person (but shall apply to pay23 ments by such other person to the taxpayer for con24 ducting such activities).
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1 ‘‘(5) CROSS REFERENCE.—

‘‘For reporting requirements related to this subsection, see section 6050O.’’

2 (b) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subpart B of part III of

4 subchapter A of chapter 61 (relating to information

5 concerning transactions with other persons) is

6 amended by adding at the end the following new

7 section:

8 ‘‘SEC. 6050O. RETURNS RELATING TO LOBBYING EXPENDI9 TURES OF CERTAIN ORGANIZATIONS.

10 ‘‘(a) REQUIREMENT OF REPORTING.—Each organi11 zation referred to in section 162(e)(2) shall make a return,

12 according to the forms or regulations prescribed by the

13 Secretary, setting forth the names and addresses of per14 sons paying dues to the organization, the amount of the

15 dues paid by such person, and the portion of such dues

16 which is nondeductible under section 162(e)(2).

17 ‘‘(b) STATEMENTS TO BE FURNISHED TO PERSONS

18 WITH RESPECT TO WHOM INFORMATION IS FUR19 NISHED.—Any organization required to make a return

20 under subsection (a) shall furnish to each person whose

21 name is required to be set forth in such return a written

22 statement showing—

23 ‘‘(1) the name and address of the organization,

24 and
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1 ‘‘(2) the dues paid by the person during the cal2 endar year and the portion of such dues which is

3 nondeductible under section 162(e)(2).

4 The written statement required under the preceding sen5 tence shall be furnished (either in person or in a statement

6 mailing by first-class mail which includes adequate notice

7 that the statement is enclosed) to the persons on or before

8 January 31 of the year following the calendar year for

9 which the return under subsection (a) was made and shall

10 be in such form as the Secretary may prescribe by regula11 tions.

12 ‘‘(c) WAIVER.—The Secretary may waive the report13 ing requirements of this section with respect to any orga14 nization or class of organizations if the Secretary deter15 mines that such reporting is not necessary to carry out

16 the purposes of section 162(e).

17 ‘‘(d) DUES.—For purposes of this section, the term

18 ‘dues’ includes other similar amounts.’’

19 (2) PENALTIES.—

20 (A) RETURNS.—Subparagraph (A) of sec21 tion 6724(d)(1) (defining information return) is

22 amended by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of clause

23 (xi), by striking the period at the end of the

24 clause (xii) relating to section 4101(d) and in25 serting a comma, by redesignating the clause
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1 (xii) relating to section 338(h)(10) as clause

2 (xiii), by striking the period at the end of clause

3 (xiii) (as so redesignated) and inserting ‘‘, or’’,

4 and by adding at the end the following new

5 clause:

6 ‘‘(xiv) section 6050O(a) (relating to

7 information on nondeductible lobbying ex8 penditures).’’

9 (B) PAYEE STATEMENTS.—Paragraph (2)

10 of section 6724(d) (defining payee statement) is

11 amended by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of sub12 paragraph (R), by striking the period at the

13 end of subparagraph (S) and inserting ‘‘, or’’,

14 and by adding at the end the following new sub15 paragraph:

16 ‘‘(T) section 6050O(b) (relating to returns

17 on nondeductible lobbying expenditures).’’

18 (C) EXCESSIVE UNDERREPORTING.—Sec19 tion 6721 (relating to failure to file correct in20 formation returns) is amended by adding at the

21 end the following new subsection:

22 ‘‘(f) PENALTY IN CASE OF EXCESSIVE

23 UNDERREPORTING ON NONDEDUCTIBLE DUES.—If the

24 aggregate amount of nondeductible dues which is reported

25 on the return required to be filed under section 6050O(a)
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1 for any calendar year is less than 75 percent of the aggre2 gate amount required to be so reported—

3 ‘‘(1) subsections (b), (c), and (d) shall not

4 apply, and

5 ‘‘(2) the penalty imposed under subsection (a)

6 shall be equal to the product of—

7 ‘‘(A) the amount required to be reported

8 which was not so reported, and

9 ‘‘(B) the highest rate of tax imposed by

10 section 11 for taxable years beginning in such

11 calendar year.’’

12 (3) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of

13 sections for subpart B of part III of subchapter A

14 of chapter 61 is amended by adding at the end the

15 following new item:

‘‘Sec. 6050O. Returns relating to lobbying expenditures of certain

organizations.’’

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

17 this section shall apply to amounts paid or incurred after

18 December 31, 1993.

19 SEC. 9. PROHIBITION OF TRAVEL BY MEMBERS, OFFICERS,

20 AND EMPLOYEES OF THE HOUSE OF REP21 RESENTATIVES AT LOBBYIST EXPENSE.

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—A Member, officer, or employee

23 of the House of Representatives may not perform any

24 travel at the expense of a person who is required to reg-
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1 ister under section 308 of the Federal Regulation of Lob2 bying Act (2 U.S.C. 267).

3 (b) DEFINITION.—As used in this section, the term

4 ‘‘Member of the House of Representatives’’ means a Rep5 resentative in, or a Delegate or Resident Commissioner

6 to, the Congress.

7 SEC. 10. SENSE OF CONGRESS RELATING TO LIMITATION

8 OF TERMS OF REPRESENTATIVES AND SEN9 ATORS.

10 It is the sense of Congress that the Constitution

11 should be amended so that no person may serve more than

12 4 consecutive terms as Representative or two consecutive

13 terms as Senator.

14 SEC. 11. SENSE OF CONGRESS RELATING TO APPLICATION

15 OF GENERALLY APPLICABLE LAWS TO THE

16 CONGRESS.

17 It is the sense of Congress that Congress is not ex18 empt from the laws that it enacts and should govern itself

19 according to the laws that apply to the private sector and

20 the other branches of the Federal Government.

Æ