‘‘(B) 
information 
regarding 
the 
cir-
cumstances surrounding the making of the con-
tribution or donation and any opinion of the po-
litical committee concerning whether the con-
tribution or donation may have been made in
violation of this Act.
‘‘(3) ESTABLISHMENT OF ESCROW ACCOUNT.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall
establish a single interest-bearing escrow ac-
count for deposit of amounts transferred under
paragraph (1).
‘‘(B) 
DISPOSITION
OF
AMOUNTS
RE-
CEIVED.—On receiving an amount from a polit-
ical committee under paragraph (1), the Com-
mission shall—
‘‘(i) deposit the amount in the escrow
account established under subparagraph
(A); and
‘‘(ii) notify the Attorney General and
the Commissioner of the Internal Revenue
Service of the receipt of the amount from
the political committee.
‘‘(C) USE OF INTEREST.—Interest earned
on amounts in the escrow account established
under subparagraph (A) shall be applied or
used for the same purposes as the donation or
contribution on which it is earned.
‘‘(4) TREATMENT
OF
RETURNED
CONTRIBU-
TION OR DONATION AS A COMPLAINT.—The transfer
of any contribution or donation to the Commission
under this section shall be treated as the filing of a
complaint under section 309(a).
‘‘(b) USE
OF AMOUNTS PLACED
IN ESCROW TO
COVER FINES AND PENALTIES.—The Commission or the
Attorney General may require any amount deposited in
the escrow account under subsection (a)(3) to be applied
toward the payment of any fine or penalty imposed under
this Act or title 18, United States Code, against the per-
son making the contribution or donation.
‘‘(c) RETURN
OF CONTRIBUTION
OR DONATION
AFTER DEPOSIT IN ESCROW.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall re-
turn a contribution or donation deposited in the es-
crow account under subsection (a)(3) to the person
making the contribution or donation if—
‘‘(A) within 180 days after the date the
contribution or donation is transferred, the
Commission has not made a determination
under section 309(a)(2) that the Commission
has reason to believe whether that the making
of the contribution or donation was made in
violation of this Act; or
‘‘(B)(i) the contribution or donation will
not be used to cover fines, penalties, or costs
pursuant to subsection (b); or
‘‘(ii) if the contribution or donation will be
used for those purposes, that the amounts re-
quired for those purposes have been withdrawn
from the escrow account and subtracted from
the returnable contribution or donation.
‘‘(2) NO EFFECT ON STATUS OF INVESTIGA-
TION.—The return of a contribution or donation by
the Commission under this subsection shall not be
construed as having an effect on the status of an in-
vestigation by the Commission or the Attorney Gen-
eral of the contribution or donation or the cir-
cumstances surrounding the contribution or dona-
tion, or on the ability of the Commission or the At-
torney General to take future actions with respect to
the contribution or donation.’’.
(b) AMOUNTS USED TO DETERMINE AMOUNT OF
PENALTY FOR VIOLATION.—Section 309(a) of such Act
(2 U.S.C. 437g(a)) is amended by inserting after para-
graph (9) the following new paragraph:
‘‘(10) For purposes of determining the amount of a
civil penalty imposed under this subsection for violations
of section 323, the amount of the donation involved shall
be treated as the amount of the contribution involved.’’.
(c) DONATION DEFINED.—Section 301 of such Act
(2 U.S.C. 431) is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing:
‘‘(20) DONATION.—The term ‘donation’ means a gift,
subscription, loan, advance, or deposit of money or any-
thing else of value made by any person to a national com-
mittee of a political party or a Senatorial or Congressional
Campaign Committee of a national political party for any
purpose, but does not include a contribution (as defined
in paragraph (8)).’’.
(d) DISGORGEMENT AUTHORITY.—Section 309 of
such Act (2 U.S.C. 437g) is amended by adding at the
end the following new subsection:
‘‘(e) Any conciliation agreement, civil action, or crimi-
nal action entered into or instituted under this section
may require a person to forfeit to the Treasury any con-
tribution, donation, or expenditure that is the subject of
the agreement or action for transfer to the Commission
for deposit in accordance with section 323.’’.
(e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by
subsections (a), (b), and (c) shall apply to contributions
or donations refunded on or after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act, without regard to whether the Federal
Election Commission or Attorney General has issued regu-
lations to carry out section 323 of the Federal Election
Campaign Act of 1971 (as added by subsection (a)) by
such date.
Æ