I
105TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2777
To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to limit the amount
of non-Federal money that may be contributed to national political par-
ties, to treat certain communications as independent expenditures subject
to regulation under the Act, to restrict the solicitation and transfer
of funds by candidates and parties to certain nonprofit organizations,
and to require certain candidates to make monthly reports under the
Act and to post such reports on the Internet.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
OCTOBER 30, 1997
Mr. GEPHARDT (for himself, Mr. FAZIO of California, Mrs. KENNELLY of
Connecticut, Mr. FROST, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. EDWARDS, Mr. LEWIS of
Georgia, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. FARR of California, Mr. BAESLER, Mr.
GEJDENSON, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. ETHERIDGE, Mr. STRICKLAND, Mr.
CLYBURN, Mr. CRAMER, Mr. PASTOR, Mr. BERRY, Mr. BROWN of Cali-
fornia, Mr. CONDIT, Mr. DIXON, Mr. DOOLEY of California, Ms. HAR-
MAN, Mr. LANTOS, Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. MARTINEZ, Mr. MATSUI, Ms.
MILLENDER-MCDONALD, Ms. PELOSI, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. SHER-
MAN, Mr. STARK, Mr. TORRES, Ms. WATERS, Mr. WAXMAN, Mr.
MALONEY of Connecticut, Mrs. MEEK of Florida, Mrs. THURMAN, Mr.
WEXLER, Mr. BISHOP, Mr. BLAGOJEVICH, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mr. RUSH, Mr.
YATES, Mr. HOYER, Mr. WYNN, Mr. NEAL of Massachusetts, Mr.
BARCIA, Ms. RIVERS, Ms. STABENOW, Mr. MINGE, Mr. SABO, Mr.
VENTO, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. ROTHMAN, Mr. ACKERMAN, Mr. ENGEL, Mr.
HINCHEY, Mr. RANGEL, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mr. HEFNER, Mr. PRICE of
North Carolina, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. SPRATT, Mr. GORDON, Mr. TANNER,
Mr. BENTSEN, Mr. RODRIGUEZ, Mr. SANDLIN, Mr. MORAN of Virginia,
Mr. SISISKY, Mr. DICKS, Mr. WISE, Mr. POMEROY, Mr. BOSWELL, Mr.
CUMMINGS, Mr. DINGELL, Mr. TOWNS, Mr. MCHALE, Mr. STENHOLM,
Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. JOHN, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr.
ABERCROMBIE, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. HOLDEN, Mr. BROWN of
Ohio, Ms. SANCHEZ, Mr. JEFFERSON, Mr. SCOTT, Mr. PICKETT, Mr.
CARDIN, Mrs. MINK of Hawaii, Mr. SAWYER, Mr. COYNE, Mr. GREEN,
Mr. HINOJOSA, Mr. ORTIZ, Mr. REYES, Ms. FURSE, and Mrs. MCCAR-
THY of New York) 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
limit the amount of non-Federal money that may be
contributed to national political parties, to treat certain
communications as independent expenditures subject to
regulation under the Act, to restrict the solicitation and
transfer of funds by candidates and parties to certain
nonprofit organizations, and to require certain candidates
to make monthly reports under the Act and to post
such reports on the Internet.
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 Finance
Reform Act of 1997’’.
SEC. 2. LIMITATION ON AMOUNT OF NON-FEDERAL MONEY
CONTRIBUTED BY NATIONAL POLITICAL PAR-
TIES.
Section 315(a) of the Federal Election Campaign Act
of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a(a)) is amended by adding at the
end the following new paragraph:
‘‘(9)(A) In addition to the limitation on the amount
of contributions a person may make under this subsection,
no person may make any payment described in subpara-
graph (C) to any political committee established and main-
tained by a national political party in any calendar year
in an amount which, in the aggregate, exceeds $10,000.
‘‘(B) For purposes of subparagraph (A), the Senato-
rial campaign committee and the Congressional campaign
committee of each national political party shall each be
treated as a separate political committee established and
maintained by the party.
‘‘(C) A payment described in this subparagraph is a
payment of any gift, subscription, loan, advance, or de-
posit of money or anything of value made in support of
the activities of a political committee established and
maintained by a national political party or the party (other
than any payment treated as a contribution for purposes
of the limitations on contributions imposed under this sub-
section).’’.
SEC. 3. TREATMENT OF CERTAIN COMMUNICATIONS AS
INDEPENDENT EXPENDITURES.
Section 301(17) of the Federal Election Campaign
Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431(17)) is amended to read as
follows:
‘‘(17)(A) The term ‘independent expenditure’ means
an expenditure made by a person expressly advocating the
election or defeat of a clearly identified candidate which
is made without cooperation or consultation with any can-
didate, or any authorized committee or agent of such can-
didate, and which is not made in concert with, or at the