I 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3525
To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to reform the financing 
of campaigns for election for Federal office. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
NOVEMBER 19, 2003
Mr. DOOLITTLE (for himself, Mr. HASTERT, Mr. DELAY, Mr. SAM JOHNSON 
of Texas, Mr. HERGER, Mr. LEWIS of California, and Mr. MCKEON) in-
troduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
House Administration, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and 
Means, 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 amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to 
reform the financing of campaigns for election for Fed-
eral 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 ‘‘Citizen Legislature and 
Political Freedom Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds as follows:
(1) The proliferation of campaign finance laws 
(beginning with the Federal Election Campaign Act 
of 1971) and the proliferation of government regula-
tions promulgated pursuant to such laws have placed 
strict limits on contributions by citizens to the can-
didates of their choice, limits which have served to 
severely hinder the ability of challengers to compete 
on equal terms with incumbent politicians. 
(2) The contribution limits imposed by the Fed-
eral Election Campaign Act of 1971 force candidates 
to raise funds in small amounts subject to fixed limi-
tations, inevitably fostering a system under which 
wealthy candidates and long-term incumbent politi-
cians hold an unfair financial advantage, which in 
turn serves to discourage potential candidates from 
seeking public office. 
(3) The current campaign finance laws have in-
hibited the full and fair discussion of public policy 
issues, as challengers who are not well known to the 
electorate are forced by government regulation to at-
tempt to amass contributions from large numbers of 
donors at the outset of a campaign. As a result, 
challengers who lack the necessary resources to 
bring new issues into the public debate often are
eliminated from political campaigns before their 
voices are even heard. 
(4) The regulation by government of political 
speech through the regulation of campaign contribu-
tions and expenditures is patently undemocratic be-
cause it favors institutionalized special interests over 
grassroots and citizen activity by imposing burden-
some reporting and disclosure requirements and 
stringent spending limits on the political parties, 
thereby tilting the financial and tactical advantage 
in political campaigns to well-financed interest 
groups and wealthy individuals. 
(5) The effect of the unreasonably low contribu-
tion limits has been to force more contributors and 
political activists to operate outside the system, re-
sulting in even less accountability and even greater 
encouragement of irresponsible behavior. 
(6) The only way to encourage the robust dis-
course of public issues and candidates, promote the 
free exchange of political speech and ideas, protect 
constitutional freedom, and foster a more informed 
electorate is to lift all current restrictions on polit-
ical candidate and party contributions and expendi-
tures and to provide full, instantaneous disclosure of
‘‘SEC. 9014. TERMINATION. 
The provisions of this chapter shall not apply with 
respect to any presidential election (or any presidential 
nominating convention) after December 31, 2004, or to 
any candidate in such an election.’’
(B) TRANSFER OF EXCESS FUNDS TO GEN-
ERAL
FUND.—Section 9006 of such Code is 
amended by adding at the end the following 
new subsection: 
‘‘(d) TRANSFER
OF
FUNDS
REMAINING
AFTER 
2004.—The Secretary shall transfer all amounts in the 
fund after December 31, 2004, to the general fund of the 
Treasury.’’
(2) TERMINATION OF ACCOUNT.—Chapter 96 
of subtitle H of such Code is amended by adding at 
the end the following new section: 
‘‘SEC. 9043. TERMINATION. 
The provisions of this chapter shall not apply to any 
candidate with respect to any presidential election after 
December 31, 2004.’’ 
(c) CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.—
(1) The table of sections for chapter 95 of sub-
title H of such Code is amended by adding at the 
end the following new item:
‘‘Sec. 9014. Termination.’’
(2) The table of sections for chapter 96 of sub-
title H of such Code is amended by adding at the 
end the following new item:
‘‘Sec. 9043. Termination.’’
SEC. 5. DISCLOSURE BY STATE AND LOCAL POLITICAL PAR-
TIES OF INFORMATION REPORTED UNDER 
STATE LAW. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 304 of the Federal Elec-
tion Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 434), as amended 
by section 308(b) of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act 
of 2002, is amended by adding at the end the following 
new subsection: 
‘‘(i) If a political committee of a State or local polit-
ical party is required under a State or local law, rule, or 
regulation to submit a report on its disbursements to an 
entity of the State or local government, the committee 
shall file a copy of the report with the Commission at the 
time it submits the report to such an entity.’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 
subsection (a) shall apply with respect to elections occur-
ring after January 2005. 
SEC. 6. PROMOTING EXPEDITED AVAILABILITY OF FEC RE-
PORTS. 
(a) MANDATORY ELECTRONIC FILING FOR ALL RE-
PORTS.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 304(a)(11) of the 
Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 
434(a)(11)) is amended—
(A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘a 
person required to file—’’ and all that follows 
and inserting the following: ‘‘each person re-
quired to file a report under this Act shall be 
required to maintain and file such report in 
electronic form accessible by computers.’’; 
(B) in subparagraph (C), by striking ‘‘des-
ignations, statements, and reports’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘documents’’; and 
(C) in subparagraph (D), by striking 
‘‘means, with respect to’’ and all that follows 
and inserting the following: ‘‘means any report, 
designation, statement, or notification required 
by this Act to be filed with the Commission or 
the Secretary of the Senate.’’. 
(2) PLACEMENT OF ALL REPORTS ON INTER-
NET.—Section 304(a)(11)(B) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 
434(a)(11)(B)) is amended—
(A) by striking ‘‘a designation, statement, 
report, or notification’’ and inserting ‘‘each re-
port’’; and
(B) by striking ‘‘the designation, state-
ment, report, or notification’’ and inserting 
‘‘the report’’. 
(3) SOFTWARE FOR FILING OF ALL REPORTS.—
Section 
304(a)(12) 
of 
such 
Act 
(2 
U.S.C 
434a(a)(12)), as added by section 306 of the Bipar-
tisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002, is amended—
(A) in subparagraph (A)(ii), by striking 
‘‘each person required to file a designation, 
statement, or report in electronic form’’ and in-
serting ‘‘each person required to file a report 
(as defined in paragraph (11)(D))’’; and 
(B) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘any 
designation, statement, or report’’ and inserting 
‘‘any 
report 
(as 
defined 
in 
paragraph 
(11)(D))’’. 
(b) REQUIRING REPORTS FOR ALL CONTRIBUTIONS 
MADE TO ANY POLITICAL COMMITTEE WITHIN 90 DAYS 
OF ELECTION; REQUIRING REPORTS TO BE MADE WITH-
IN 24 HOURS.—Section 304(a)(6)(A) of such Act (2 
U.S.C. 434(a)(6)(A)) is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(A) Each political committee shall notify the Sec-
retary or the Commission, and the Secretary of State, as 
appropriate, in writing, of any contribution received by the 
committee during the period which begins on the 90th day
before an election and ends at the time the polls close for 
such election. This notification shall be made within 24 
hours (or, if earlier, by midnight of the day on which the 
contribution is deposited) after the receipt of such con-
tribution and shall include the name of the candidate in-
volved (as appropriate) and the office sought by the can-
didate, the identification of the contributor, and the date 
of receipt and amount of the contribution.’’. 
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 
this section shall apply with respect to reports for periods 
beginning on or after January 1, 2005. 
SEC. 7. WAIVER OF ‘‘BEST EFFORTS’’ EXCEPTION FOR IN-
FORMATION ON IDENTIFICATION OF CON-
TRIBUTORS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 302(i) of the Federal 
Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 432(i)) is 
amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘(i) When the treasurer’’ and 
inserting ‘‘(i)(1) Except as provided in paragraph 
(2), when the treasurer’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following new 
paragraph: 
‘‘(2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply with respect to 
information regarding the identification of any person who 
makes a contribution or contributions aggregating more
than $200 during a calendar year (as required to be pro-
vided under subsection (c)(3)).’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 
subsection (a) shall apply with respect to persons making 
contributions for elections occurring after January 2005.
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