I 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2038 
To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to prohibit an author-
ized committee of a candidate who is a Member of Congress from 
accepting contributions from any entity for which the candidate sought 
a Congressional earmark. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 22, 2009 
Mr. HODES (for himself, Ms. GIFFORDS, and Mr. PERRIELLO) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House Administration 
A BILL 
To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to 
prohibit an authorized committee of a candidate who 
is a Member of Congress from accepting contributions 
from any entity for which the candidate sought a Con-
gressional earmark. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Clean Law for Ear-
mark Accountability Reform Act’’ or the ‘‘CLEAR Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. PROHIBITING CANDIDATES FROM ACCEPTING CON-
TRIBUTIONS FROM ENTITIES FOR WHICH 
CANDIDATES SEEK CONGRESSIONAL EAR-
MARKS. 
(a) PROHIBITING
ACCEPTANCE
OF
CONTRIBU-
TIONS.—Section 315 of the Federal Election Campaign 
Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a) is amended by adding at 
the end the following new subsection: 
‘‘(k) PROHIBITING ACCEPTANCE OF CONTRIBUTIONS 
FROM ENTITIES FOR WHICH CANDIDATES SEEK CON-
GRESSIONAL EARMARKS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An authorized committee of 
a candidate for election for Federal office who is a 
Member of Congress (including a Delegate or Resi-
dent Commissioner to the Congress) may not accept 
any contribution— 
‘‘(A) from any entity for which the Mem-
ber sought a Congressional earmark during the 
election cycle, or from any senior executive of 
such an entity or any person who is registered 
as a lobbyist under the Lobbying Disclosure Act 
of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) for whom the 
entity was a client for purposes of such Act; or 
‘‘(B) if the Member sought a Congres-
sional earmark for a corporation during the 
election cycle, from a separate segregated fund 
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established and administered by the corporation 
or 
labor 
organization 
under 
section 
316(b)(2)(C). 
‘‘(2) CONGRESSIONAL EARMARK DEFINED.—In 
this subsection, the term ‘Congressional earmark’ 
means a provision or report language which— 
‘‘(A) is included in a bill or joint resolu-
tion, a committee report to accompany a bill or 
joint resolution, or a conference report to ac-
company a bill or joint resolution (including a 
joint explanatory statement prepared by the 
managers of the conference) primarily at the re-
quest of a Member of Congress; and 
‘‘(B) provides, authorizes, or recommends 
a specific amount of discretionary budget au-
thority, credit authority, or other spending au-
thority for a contract, loan, loan guarantee, 
grant, loan authority, or other expenditure with 
or to an entity, other than through a statutory 
or administrative formula-driven or competitive 
award process. 
‘‘(3) ELECTION CYCLE DEFINED.—In this sub-
section, the term ‘election cycle’ has the meaning 
given such term in section 301(25), without regard 
to the second sentence of such section. 
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‘‘(4) SENIOR
EXECUTIVE
DEFINED.—In this 
subsection, the term ‘senior executive’ means, with 
respect to an entity, the President, Chief Executive 
Officer, Chief Operating Officer, or Chief Financial 
Officer of the entity.’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
subsection (a) shall apply with respect to contributions 
made on or after the date of the enactment of this Act. 
Æ 
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