I
105TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1494
To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to require the Federal
Election Commission to establish and administer an escrow account for
certain campaign contributions that a political committee intends to
return to the contributor, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
APRIL 30, 1997
Mr. GEKAS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee
on House Oversight, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary,
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
require the Federal Election Commission to establish
and administer an escrow account for certain campaign
contributions that a political committee intends to return
to the contributor, and for other purposes.
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 ‘‘Apprehension of Taint-
ed Money Act of 1997’’.
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SEC. 2. SPECIAL RULES FOR TREATMENT OF CONTRIBU-
TIONS TO BE RETURNED TO DONORS BY PO-
LITICAL COMMITTEES.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Title III of the Federal Election
Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431 et seq.) is amended
by adding at the end the following new section:
‘‘TREATMENT OF CERTAIN CONTRIBUTIONS TO BE
RETURNED TO DONORS
‘‘SEC. 323. (a) TRANSFER TO COMMISSION.—Not-
withstanding any other provision of this Act, if a political
committee intends to return any contribution given to the
committee in an amount equal to or greater than $500
to the person making the contribution (other than a con-
tribution returned within 60 days of receipt by the com-
mittee), the committee shall transfer the contribution to
the Commission, together with a request that the Commis-
sion return the contribution to the person making the con-
tribution in accordance with this section. The Commission
shall consider the return of any contribution, and any cir-
cumstances surrounding such return, in determining
under section 309(a)(2) whether it has reason to believe
that a person has committed a violation of this Act, title
18, United States Code, or chapter 95 or 96 of the Inter-
nal Revenue Code of 1986.
‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT OF ESCROW ACCOUNT.—
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‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall es-
tablish a single interest-bearing escrow account for
contributions transferred under subsection (a).
‘‘(2) PROCEDURES UPON TRANSFER FROM COM-
MITTEE.—Upon receiving amounts from a political
committee under subsection (a), the Commission
shall—
‘‘(A) deposit the amounts in the account
established under paragraph (1); and
‘‘(B) notify the Attorney General of the re-
ceipt of the amounts from the political commit-
tee.
‘‘(3) USE OF INTEREST TO COVER ADMINISTRA-
TIVE COSTS.—Any interest earned on amounts in
the account established under paragraph (1) shall be
applied towards the administrative costs incurred by
the Commission in establishing and administering
the account, and any remaining interest shall be de-
posited in the general fund of the Treasury.
‘‘(c) USE
OF AMOUNTS PLACED
IN ESCROW TO
COVER FINES, PENALTIES, AND COSTS OF INVESTIGA-
TION.—The Commission or the Attorney General may re-
quire any contribution deposited in the escrow account
under subsection (b) to be used as follows:
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‘‘(1) To be applied towards the payment of any
fine or penalty imposed under this Act, title 18,
United States Code, or chapter 95 or 96 of the In-
ternal Revenue Code of 1986 against the person
making the contribution involved.
‘‘(2) If such a fine or penalty is imposed, to be
applied towards the costs incurred by the Commis-
sion or the Attorney General in conducting any in-
vestigation of the contribution involved under this
Act, title 18, United States Code, or chapter 95 or
96 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
‘‘(d) RETURN OF CONTRIBUTION AFTER DEPOSIT IN
ESCROW.—The Commission shall return a contribution
deposited in the escrow account under subsection (b) to
the person making the contribution if—
‘‘(1) the Commission and the Attorney General
certify that the making of the contribution is not the
subject of an investigation under this Act, title 18,
United States Code, or chapter 95 or 96 of the In-
ternal Revenue Code of 1986, or that such an inves-
tigation has concluded;
‘‘(2) the Commission and the Attorney General
certify that the contribution will not be used to cover
fines, penalties, or costs pursuant to subsection (c)
or, if the contribution will be used for such purposes,
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that the amounts required for such purposes have
been withdrawn from the escrow account and sub-
tracted from the returnable contribution; or
‘‘(3) for any 120-day period after the date the
contribution is deposited in the escrow account, nei-
ther the Commission nor the Attorney General have
pursued an investigation of the making of the con-
tribution under this Act, title 18, United States
Code, or chapter 95 or 96 of the Internal Revenue
Code of 1986.’’.
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by
subsection (a) shall apply with respect to contributions re-
turned on or after the date of the enactment of this Act,
without regard to whether the Federal Election Commis-
sion or Attorney General has issued regulations to carry
out section 323 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of
1971 (as added by such subsection) by such date.
SEC. 3. EXPEDITED ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE FOR
REGULATIONS.
Notwithstanding any provision of subchapter II of
chapter 5 of title 5, United States Code, the Federal Elec-
tion Commission and the Attorney General shall issue
final regulations to carry out section 323 of the Federal
Election Campaign Act of 1971 (as added by section 2(a))
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not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment
of this Act.
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