I
105TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 458
To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to ban soft money
in elections for Federal office, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY 21, 1997
Mr. CLEMENT introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on House Oversight
A BILL
To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to
ban soft money in elections for Federal office, 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 ‘‘Campaign Truth and
Fairness Act of 1997’’.
SEC. 2. BAN ON SOFT MONEY IN ELECTIONS FOR FEDERAL
OFFICE.
(a) SOFT MONEY OF COMMITTEES OF POLITICAL
PARTIES.—Title III of the Federal Election Campaign Act
of 1971 is amended by adding at the end the following
new section:
‘‘SOFT MONEY OF POLITICAL PARTY COMMITTEES
‘‘SEC. 323. (a) LIMITATIONS ON NATIONAL COMMIT-
TEE.—(1) A national committee of a political party and
the congressional campaign committees of a political party
may not solicit or accept contributions or transfers not
subject to the limitations, prohibitions, and reporting re-
quirements of this Act.
‘‘(2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to contributions—
‘‘(A) that—
‘‘(i) are to be transferred to a State com-
mittee of a political party and are used solely
for activities described in clauses (xi) through
(xvii) of paragraph (9)(B) of section 301; or
‘‘(ii) 
are 
described 
in 
section
301(8)(B)(viii); and
‘‘(B) with respect to which contributors have
been notified that the funds will be used solely for
the purposes described in subparagraph (A).
‘‘(b) ACTIVITIES
SUBJECT
TO
THIS
ACT.—Any
amount solicited, received, expended, or disbursed directly
or indirectly by a national, State, district, or local commit-
tee of a political party with respect to any of the following
activities shall be subject to the limitations, prohibitions,
and reporting requirements of this Act:
‘‘(1)(A) Any get-out-the-vote activity conducted
during a calendar year in which an election for the
office of President is held.
‘‘(B) Any other get-out-the-vote activity unless
subsection (c)(2) applies to the activity.
‘‘(2) Any generic campaign activity.
‘‘(3) Any activity that identifies or promotes a
Federal candidate, regardless of whether—
‘‘(A) a State or local candidate is also
identified or promoted; or
‘‘(B) any portion of the funds disbursed
constitutes a contribution or expenditure under
this Act.
‘‘(4) Voter registration.
‘‘(5) Development and maintenance of voter
files during an even-numbered calendar year.
‘‘(6) Any other activity that—
‘‘(A) significantly affects a Federal elec-
tion, or
‘‘(B) is not otherwise described in section
301(9)(B)(xvii).
Any amount spent to raise funds that are used, in whole
or in part, in connection with activities described in the
preceding paragraphs shall be subject to the limitations,
prohibitions, and reporting requirements of this Act.
‘‘(c) GET-OUT-THE-VOTE ACTIVITIES BY STATE,
DISTRICT, AND LOCAL COMMITTEES OF POLITICAL PAR-
TIES.—(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), any get-
out-the-vote activity for a State or local candidate, or for
a ballot measure, which is conducted by a State, district,
or local committee of a political party shall be subject to
the limitations, prohibitions, and reporting requirements
of this Act.
‘‘(2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to any activity
which the State committee of a political party certifies to
the Commission is an activity which—
‘‘(A) is conducted during a calendar year other
than a calendar year in which an election for the of-
fice of President is held,
‘‘(B) is exclusively on behalf of (and specifically
identifies only) one or more State or local candidates
or ballot measures, and
‘‘(C) does not include any effort or means used
to identify or turn out those identified to be support-
ers of any Federal candidate (including any activity
that is undertaken in coordination with, or on behalf
of, a candidate for Federal office).
‘‘(d) STATE PARTY GRASSROOTS FUNDS.—(1) A
State committee of a political party may make disburse-
ments and expenditures from its State Party Grassroots
Fund only for—
‘‘(A) any generic campaign activity;
‘‘(B) payments described in clauses (v), (x), and
(xii) of paragraph (8)(B) and clauses (iv), (viii), and
(ix) of paragraph (9)(B) of section 301;
‘‘(C) subject to the limitations of section
315(d), payments described in clause (xii) of para-
graph (8)(B), and clause (ix) of paragraph (9)(B),
of section 301 on behalf of candidates other than for
President and Vice President;
‘‘(D) voter registration; and
‘‘(E) development and maintenance of voter
files during an even-numbered calendar year.
‘‘(2) Notwithstanding section 315(a)(4), no funds
may be transferred by a State committee of a political
party from its State Party Grassroots Fund to any other
State Party Grassroots Fund or to any other political com-
mittee, except a transfer may be made to a district or local
committee of the same political party in the same State
if such district or local committee—
‘‘(A) has established a separate segregated fund
for the purposes described in paragraph (1); and
‘‘(B) uses the transferred funds solely for those
purposes.