I
103D CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2198
To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 and the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986 to clarify such provisions with respect to Federal
elections, to reduce costs in House of Representatives elections, and
for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MAY 20, 1993
Mr. HUGHES introduced the following bill; which was referred jointly to the
Committees on House Administration and Ways and Means
A BILL
To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 and
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to clarify such provi-
sions with respect to Federal elections, to reduce costs
in House of Representatives elections, and for other pur-
poses.
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 Cost Reduc-
tion and Reform Act of 1993’’.
SEC. 2. DEFINITION OF QUALIFYING HOUSE OF REP-
RESENTATIVES CANDIDATE.
Section 301(19) of the Federal Election Campaign
Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431(19)) is amended to read as
follows:
‘‘(19) The term ‘qualifying House of Representatives
candidate’ means a candidate for the office of Representa-
tive in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, the Con-
gress, whose principal campaign committee includes in its
statement of organization a declaration of intention under
section 303(b)(7) and, by reason of such declaration, is
subject to the expenditure limitations specified in section
315(i) or section 315(j).’’.
SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO DEFINITION OF CONTRIBUTION
RELATING TO VALUATION FORMULA AND EN-
COURAGEMENT CONTRIBUTIONS.
Section 301(8)(A) of the Federal Election Campaign
Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431(8)(A)) is amended—
(1) in clause (i)—
(A) by inserting after ‘‘anything of value’’
the following: (such value to be determined by
the highest of: cost to the person making the
contribution, fair market value on the date of
acquisition by the person making the contribu-
tion, or fair market value on the date of the
contribution); and
(B) by striking out ‘‘or’’ after the semi-
colon;
(2) in clause (ii), by striking out the period and
inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘; and’’; and
(3) by adding at the end the following new
clause:
‘‘(iii) any gift, subscription, loan, advance, or
deposit of money or anything of value (such value to
be determined in the manner described in clause (i))
made by any person for the purpose of encouraging
any specific individual who is not a candidate to be-
come a candidate.’’.
SEC. 4. AMENDMENTS TO DEFINITION OF EXPENDITURE
RELATING TO VALUATION FORMULA AND EN-
COURAGEMENT EXPENDITURES.
Section 301(9)(A) of the Federal Election Campaign
Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431(9)(A)) is amended—
(1) in clause (i)—
(A) by inserting after ‘‘anything of value’’
the following: ‘‘(such value to be determined by
the highest of: cost to the person making the
expenditure, fair market value on the date of
acquisition by the person making the expendi-
ture, or fair market value on the date of the ex-
penditure); and
(B) by striking out ‘‘and’’ after the semi-
colon;
(2) in clause (ii), by striking out the period and
inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘; and’’; and
(3) by adding at the end the following new
clause:
‘‘(iii) any purchase, payment, distribution, loan,
advance, deposit, or gift of money or anything of
value (such value to be determined in the manner
described in clause (i)) made by any person for the
purpose of encouraging any specific individual who is
not a candidate to become a candidate.’’.
SEC. 5. REGISTRATION AS QUALIFYING HOUSE OF REP-
RESENTATIVES CANDIDATE.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 303(b) of the Federal
Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 433(b)) is
amended—
(1) in paragraph (5), by striking out ‘‘and’’
after the semicolon at the end;
(2) in paragraph (6), by striking out the period
at the end and inserting in lieu thereof the following:
‘‘and’’; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(7) in the case of a principal campaign com-
mittee of a candidate for the office of Representative
in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, the
Congress, who desires to be a qualifying House of
Representatives candidate, a declaration of intention
of the candidate to comply voluntarily with all con-
tribution limitations and expenditure limitations
under this Act.’’.
(b) AMENDMENT
TO STATEMENT
OF ORGANIZA-
TION.—Section 303 of the Federal Election Campaign Act
of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 433) is amended by adding at the end
the following new subsection:
‘‘(e)(1) In the case of a political committee referred
to in paragraph (7) of subsection (b), if the statement of
organization does not include a declaration referred to in
that paragraph, the committee may amend the statement
to include such declaration, if such amendment is filed
under section 302(g) not later than the day the candidate
becomes a candidate for purposes of State law.
‘‘(2) A declaration of intention that is included in a
statement of organization under paragraph (7) of sub-
section (b), whether in the original filing or by amend-
ment, may not be revoked.’’.
SEC. 6. AMENDMENT TO DEFINITION OF INDEPENDENT EX-
PENDITURE.
Section 301(17) of the Federal Election Campaign
Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431(17)) is amended by adding
at the end the following: ‘‘An expenditure is not an inde-
pendent expenditure if—
‘‘(A) there is any arrangement, coordination, or
direction with respect to the expenditure between the
candidate and the person making the expenditure;
‘‘(B) with respect to the election, the person
making the expenditure—
‘‘(i) is authorized to solicit contributions or
make expenditures on behalf of the candidate or
an authorized committee of the candidate;
‘‘(ii) is an officer of an authorized commit-
tee of the candidate; or
‘‘(iii) receives any compensation or reim-
bursement from the candidate, or an authorized
committee of the candidate;
‘‘(C) the expenditure is clearly intended to en-
courage voters to support or oppose a specific can-
didate for the office of Representative in, or Dele-
gate or Resident Commissioner to, the Congress.’’.
SEC. 7. LIMITATIONS ON EXPENDITURES BY QUALIFYING
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CANDIDATES.
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 subsections:
‘‘(i) A qualifying House of Representatives candidate
shall not make expenditures derived from personal funds
of such candidate in excess of $75,000 with respect to an
election for the Office of Representative in, or Delegate
or Resident Commissioner to, the Congress.
‘‘(j) A qualifying House of Representatives candidate
shall not make expenditures in excess of $600,000 with
respect to an election cycle.’’.
SEC. 8. LIMITATIONS WITH RESPECT TO QUALIFYING
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CANDIDATES.
Section 315 of the Federal Election Campaign Act
of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a), as amended by section 7 of this
Act, is further amended by adding at the end the following
new subsection:
‘‘(k)(1) A qualifying House of Representatives can-
didate may not accept, in an election cycle—
‘‘(A) more than $300,000 in contributions from
persons other than individuals;
‘‘(B) 
more 
than 
$5,000 
from 
a 
single
multicandidate political committee;
‘‘(C) more than $75,000 from political party
committees; or
‘‘(D) more than $100,000 from individuals who
reside outside the congressional district involved.
‘‘(2) No person may make independent expenditures
in an election cycle of more than $10,000 advocating the
election of a qualifying House of Representatives can-
didate or advocating the defeat of the opponent of such
candidate.
‘‘(3) An individual may not make contributions of
more than $2,000 to a qualifying House of Representa-
tives candidate in an election cycle.
‘‘(4) As used in this section, the term ‘election cycle’
means—
‘‘(A) in the case of a candidate or the author-
ized committees of a candidate, the term beginning
on the day after the date of the most recent general
election for the specific office or seat which such
candidate seeks and ending on the date of the next
general election for such office or seat; or
‘‘(B) for all other persons, the term beginning
on the first day following the date of the last general
election and ending on the date of the next general
election.
‘‘(5)(A) Any person who exceeds a limitation under
this subsection by 5 percent or less shall pay to the Com-
mission an amount equal to the amount of the excess.
‘‘(B) Any person who exceeds a limitation under this
subsection by more than 5 percent but not more than 10
percent shall pay to the Commission an amount equal to
three times the amount of the excess.
‘‘(C) Any person who exceeds a limitation under this
subsection by more than 10 percent shall pay to the Com-
mission an amount equal to three times the amount of
the excess plus a civil penalty in an amount determined
by the Commission.’’.
SEC. 9. AMENDMENTS TO THE INTERNAL REVENUE CODE
OF 1986 RELATING TO THE CREDIT FOR CON-
TRIBUTIONS 
TO 
CERTAIN 
QUALIFYING
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CANDIDATES.
(a) GENERAL RULE.—Subpart A of part IV of sub-
chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of
1986 (relating to nonrefundable personal credits) is
amended by inserting after section 23 the following new
section:
‘‘SEC. 
24. 
CONTRIBUTIONS 
TO 
CERTAIN 
QUALIFYING
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CANDIDATES.
‘‘(a) GENERAL RULE.—In the case of an individual,
there shall be allowed as a credit against the tax imposed
by this chapter for the taxable year an amount equal to
the total of contributions to qualifying House of Rep-
resentatives candidates which are made by the taxpayer
during the taxable year, with respect to elections in the
congressional district of which the taxpayer is a resident.
‘‘(b) LIMITATIONS.—
‘‘(1) MAXIMUM CREDIT.—The credit allowed by
subsection (a) for a taxable year shall not exceed
$100 ($200 in the case of a joint return under sec-
tion 6013).
‘‘(2) VERIFICATION.—The credit allowed by
subsection (a) shall be allowed, with respect to any
qualified political contribution, only if such contribu-
tion is verified in such manner as the Secretary shall
prescribe by regulations.
‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section, the
terms ‘contribution’ and ‘qualifying House of Representa-
tives candidate’ have the meanings given those terms in
section 301 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of
1971.’’.
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—
(1) Section 642 of such Code (relating to spe-
cial rules for credits and deductions of estates or
trusts) is amended by adding at the end the follow-
ing new subsection:
‘‘(j) CREDIT FOR POLITICAL CONTRIBUTIONS NOT
ALLOWED.—An estate or trust shall not be allowed the
credit against tax provided by section 24.’’.
(2) The table of sections for subpart A of part
IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 of such Code is
amended by inserting after the item relating to sec-
tion 23 the following new item:
‘‘Sec. 24. Contributions to certain qualifying House of Representatives can-
didates.’’.
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by
this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after
December 31, 1993.
SEC. 10. EFFECTIVE DATE.
Except as otherwise provided in this Act, the amend-
ments made by this Act shall apply with respect to elec-
tions for Federal office beginning with the general election
of November 8, 1994 (and any primary election relating
to such general election).
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