I
105TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1422
To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to encourage compli-
ance with spending limits on elections for the House of Representatives
and enhance the importance of individual contributions and contributions
originating within congressional districts.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
APRIL 23, 1997
Mr. PORTER 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
encourage compliance with spending limits on elections
for the House of Representatives and enhance the impor-
tance of individual contributions and contributions origi-
nating within congressional districts.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. VOLUNTARY LIMITATION ON EXPENDITURES
IN HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ELECTIONS.
Section 315 of the Federal Election Campaign Act
of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a), is amended by adding at the
end the following new subsection:
‘‘(i)(1)(A) Each candidate for the office of Represent-
ative in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, the
Congress may, in such form and manner as the Commis-
sion may prescribe, agree to be subject to a voluntary limi-
tation on expenditures under subparagraph (B).
‘‘(B) The limitation on expenditures referred to in
subparagraph (A) shall be $300,000 for a candidate with
respect to each election, but not more than a total of
$600,000 with respect to a general election and any pri-
mary election related to such general election.
‘‘(2) If a candidate for the office of Representative
in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, the Con-
gress—
‘‘(A) agrees to a limitation on expenditures
under paragraph (1); and
‘‘(B) has an opponent who does not so agree;
the candidate shall be eligible to receive direct financial
compensation in an amount equal to the amount by which
the expenditures of the opponent exceed the applicable
limitation.’’.
SEC. 2. DECREASE IN CONTRIBUTION LIMITATION AMOUNT
APPLICABLE TO CONTRIBUTIONS TO HOUSE
OF 
REPRESENTATIVES 
CANDIDATES 
BY
MULTICANDIDATE POLITICAL COMMITTEES.
Section 315(a)(2)(A) of the Federal Election Cam-
paign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a(a)(2)(A)) is amended
by inserting after ‘‘$5,000’’ the following: ‘‘, except that,
in the case of an election for the office of Representative
in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, the Con-
gress, the limitation under this subparagraph shall be
$2,500’’.
SEC. 3. INCREASE IN CONTRIBUTION LIMITATION AMOUNT
APPLICABLE TO CONTRIBUTIONS TO HOUSE
OF REPRESENTATIVES CANDIDATES BY PER-
SONS OTHER THAN MULTICANDIDATE POLIT-
ICAL COMMITTEES.
Section 315(a)(1)(A) of the Federal Election Cam-
paign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a(a)(1)(A)) is amended
by inserting after ‘‘$1,000’’ the following: ‘‘, except that,
in the case of an election for the office of Representative
in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, the Con-
gress, the limitation under this subparagraph shall be
$2,000’’.
SEC. 4. CONTRIBUTIONS FROM LOCAL INDIVIDUAL RESI-
DENTS TO PREDOMINATE IN HOUSE OF REP-
RESENTATIVES ELECTIONS.
Section 315 of the Federal Election Campaign Act
of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a), as amended by section 1, is fur-
ther amended by adding at the end the following new sub-
section:
‘‘(j)(1) At least 2⁄3 of the total amount of contribu-
tions accepted by a candidate for the office of Representa-
tive in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, the Con-
gress with respect to a reporting period for an election
shall be from individuals, with at least 80 percent of such
total from local individual residents.
‘‘(2) As used in this subsection, the term ‘local indi-
vidual resident’ means an individual who resides in the
congressional district involved.’’.
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