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105TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 170
To establish a temporary commission to recommend reforms in the laws
relating to elections for Federal office.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY 7, 1997
Mr. FRANKS of New Jersey introduced the following bill; which was referred
to the Committee on House Oversight, and in addition to the Committee
on Rules, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in
each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdic-
tion of the committee concerned
A BILL
To establish a temporary commission to recommend reforms
in the laws relating to elections for Federal office.
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 Re-
form Act of 1997’’.
SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT AND PURPOSE OF COMMISSION.
There is established a commission to be known as the
‘‘Campaign Finance Reform Commission’’ (hereinafter in
this Act referred to as the ‘‘Commission’’). The purposes
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of the Commission are to study the laws relating to elec-
tions for Federal office and to recommend reforms in
those laws.
SEC. 3. MEMBERSHIP OF COMMISSION.
(a) APPOINTMENT.—The Commission shall be com-
posed of 13 members appointed from among individuals
who are not officers or employees of any government and
who are specially qualified to serve on the Commission by
reason of education, training, or experience. Of the mem-
bers of the Commission—
(1) 3 members shall be appointed by the major-
ity leader of the House of Representatives, and one
of those members shall be an independent;
(2) 3 members shall be appointed by the major-
ity leader of the Senate, and one of those members
shall be an independent;
(3) 3 members shall be appointed by the minor-
ity leader of the House of Representatives, and one
of those members shall be an independent;
(4) 3 members shall be appointed by the minor-
ity leader of the Senate, and one of those members
shall be an independent; and
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(5) 1 member, who shall be designated as
Chairman of the Commission, shall be jointly ap-
pointed by the President and the Speaker of the
House of Representatives.
(b) INDEPENDENT DEFINED.—An independent mem-
ber of the Commission shall not have registered in or de-
clared officially his affiliation with a political party or
voted in the primary election of a political party in the
last 7 years, and shall never have held appointed or elected
public or party office.
(c) TERMS.—The members of the Commission shall
serve for the life of the Commission.
(d) VACANCIES.—A vacancy in the Commission shall
be filled in the manner in which the original appointment
was made.
(e) POLITICAL AFFILIATION.—Not more than 4
members of the Commission may be of the same political
party.
SEC. 4. POWERS OF COMMISSION.
(a) HEARINGS.—The Commission may, for the pur-
pose of carrying out this Act, hold hearings, sit and act
at times and places, take testimony, and receive evidence
as the Commission considers appropriate.
(b) QUORUM.—Seven members of the Commission
shall constitute a quorum, but a lesser number may hold
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hearings. Any member of the Commission may, if author-
ized by the Commission, take any action which the Com-
mission is authorized to take under this section.
SEC. 5. REPORT AND RECOMMENDED LEGISLATION.
Not later than 10 months after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act, the Commission shall submit to the Con-
gress a report of the activities of the Commission, together
with a draft of legislation (including technical and con-
forming provisions) recommended by the Commission to
reform the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2
U.S.C. 431 et seq.) and any other laws relating to elec-
tions for Federal office.
SEC. 6. MATTERS TO BE CONSIDERED BY THE COMMIS-
SION.
In formulating its draft of legislation under section
5, the Commission shall consider ways to—
(1) increase confidence in the Federal electoral
system;
(2) increase voter participation;
(3) create a more equitable electoral system for
challengers and incumbents; and
(4) remove the negative and insidious aspects of
campaign financing.
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SEC. 7. FAST-TRACK PROCEDURES.
(a) RULES OF HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AND
SENATE.—This section is enacted by the Congress—
(1) as an exercise of the rulemaking power of
the House of Representatives and the Senate, re-
spectively, and as such they shall be considered as
part of the rules of each House, respectively, or of
that House to which they specifically apply, and
such rules shall supersede other rules only to the ex-
tent that they are inconsistent therewith; and
(2) with full recognition of the constitutional
right of either House to change the rules (so far as
relating to such House) at any time, in the same
manner and to the same extent as in the case of any
other rule of that House.
(b) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section, the term
‘‘Federal election bill’’ means only a bill of either House
of Congress which is introduced as provided in subsection
(c) to carry out the recommendations of the Commission
as set forth in the draft of legislation referred to in section
5.
(c) INTRODUCTION AND REFERRAL.—Within 3 days
after the Commission submits its draft legislation under
section 5, a Federal election bill shall be introduced (by
request) in the House by the majority leader of the House
or his designee and shall be introduced (by request) in
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the Senate by the majority leader of the Senate or his
designee. Such bills shall be referred to the appropriate
committees.
(d) AMENDMENTS PROHIBITED.—No amendment to
a Federal election bill shall be in order in either the House
of Representatives or the Senate; and no motion to sus-
pend the application of this subsection shall be in order
in either House; nor shall it be in order in either House
to entertain a request to suspend the application of this
subsection by unanimous consent.
(e) PERIOD FOR COMMITTEE AND FLOOR CONSIDER-
ATION.—
(1) If the committee of either House to which
a Federal election bill has been referred has not re-
ported it at the close of the 20th day after its intro-
duction, such committee shall be automatically dis-
charged from further consideration of the bill and it
shall be placed on the appropriate calendar. If prior
to the passage by one House of a Federal election
bill of that House, that House receives the same
Federal election bill from the other House, then—
(A) the procedure in that House shall be
the same as if no Federal election bill had been
received from the other House; but
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(B) the vote on final passage shall be on
the Federal election bill of the other House.
(2) For purposes of paragraph (1), in comput-
ing a number of days in either House, there shall be
excluded the days on which that House is not in ses-
sion because of an adjournment of more than 3 days
to a day certain or an adjournment of the Congress
sine die.
(f) FLOOR CONSIDERATION IN THE HOUSE.—
(1) A motion in the House of Representatives
to proceed to the consideration of a Federal election
bill shall be highly privileged except that a motion to
proceed to consider may only be made on the second
legislative day after the calendar day on which the
Member making the motion announces to the House
his intention to do so. The motion to proceed to con-
sider is not debatable. An amendment to the motion
shall not be in order, nor shall it be in order to move
to reconsider the vote by which the motion is agreed
to or disagreed to.
(2) Consideration of a Federal election bill in
the House of Representatives shall be in the House
with debate limited to not more than 10 hours,
which shall be divided equally between those favoring
and those opposing the bill. The previous question
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on the Federal election bill shall be considered as or-
dered to final passage without intervening motion. It
shall not be in order to move to reconsider the vote
by which a Federal election bill is agreed to or dis-
agreed to.
(g) FLOOR CONSIDERATION IN THE SENATE.—
(1) A motion in the Senate to proceed to the
consideration of a Federal election bill shall be privi-
leged and not debatable. An amendment to the mo-
tion shall not be in order, nor shall it be in order
to move to reconsider the vote by which the motion
is agreed to or disagreed to.
(2) Debate in the Senate on a Federal election
bill, and all debatable motions and appeals in con-
nection therewith, shall be limited to not more than
10 hours. The time shall be equally divided between,
and controlled by, the majority leader and the mi-
nority leader or their designees.
(3) Debate in the Senate on any debatable mo-
tion or appeal in connection with a Federal election
bill shall be limited to not more than one hour, to
be equally divided between, and controlled by, the
mover and the manager of the bill, except that in
the event the manager of the bill is in favor of any
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such motion or appeal, the time in opposition there-
to, shall be controlled by the minority leader or his
designee. Such leaders, or either of them, may, from
time under their control on the passage of a Federal
election bill, allot additional time to any Senator
during the consideration of any debatable motion or
appeal.
SEC. 8. TERMINATION.
The Commission shall cease to exist 3 months after
the date of the submission of its report under section 5.
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