[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1541 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1541

  To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to require that 
  communications advocating the election or defeat of a candidate for 
election for Federal office contain specific information regarding the 
 sponsor of the communication and whether or not the communication is 
                 authorized by the candidate involved.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 6, 1997

 Mr. Price of North Carolina (for himself and Mr. Horn) 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 require that 
  communications advocating the election or defeat of a candidate for 
election for Federal office contain specific information regarding the 
 sponsor of the communication and whether or not the communication is 
                 authorized by the candidate involved.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Stand By Your Ad Act''.

SEC. 2. REQUIRING CAMPAIGN ADVERTISEMENTS TO INCLUDE INFORMATION ON 
              SPONSOR AND AUTHORIZATION BY CANDIDATE.

    (a) In General.--Section 318 of the Federal Election Campaign Act 
of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441d) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating subsection (b) as subsection (c); and
            (2) by inserting after subsection (a) the following new 
        subsection:
    ``(b) A communication shall be considered to clearly state 
information required under subsection (a) if it meets the following 
requirements:
            ``(1) In the case of any printed communication, if the 
        information required to be stated under such subsection 
        constitutes not less than 10 percent of the space of the 
        communication (or, in the case of a communication for which 
        each copy consists of multiple pages, folds, or faces, if the 
        information constitutes not less than 10 percent of the space 
        of any single page, fold, or face in each copy).
            ``(2) In the case of any televised communication, if the 
        communication includes--
                    ``(A) with respect to a communication described in 
                subsection (a)(1), an unobscured, full-screen view of 
                the candidate stating the following on camera: `I am 
                (name of candidate), candidate for (name of office 
                involved), and I sponsored this advertisement.', or an 
                unobscured, full-view photograph of the candidate, with 
                such statement made by the candidate in voice over;
                    ``(B) with respect to a communication described in 
                subsection (a)(2), an unobscured, full-screen view of a 
                representative of the persons paying for the 
                communication stating the following on camera: `I am a 
                representative of (name of persons paying), who 
                sponsored this advertisement (in support of) (in 
                opposition to) (name of candidate involved) for (name 
                of office involved).', or an unobscured, full-view 
                photograph of the representative, with such statement 
                made by the representative in voice over; or
                    ``(C) with respect to a communication described in 
                subsection (a)(3), an unobscured, full-screen view of a 
                representative of the persons paying for the 
                communication stating the following on camera: `I am a 
                representative of (name of persons paying), who 
                sponsored this advertisement (in support of) (in 
                opposition to) (name of candidate involved) for (name 
                of office involved). This advertisement was not 
                authorized by any candidate.', or an unobscured, full-
                view photograph of the representative, with such 
                statement made by the representative in voice over.
            ``(3) In the case of any communication broadcast over the 
        radio, if the communication includes--
                    ``(A) with respect to a communication described in 
                subsection (a)(1), a statement read by the candidate as 
                follows: `I am (name of candidate), candidate for (name 
                of office involved), and I sponsored this 
                advertisement.';
                    ``(B) with respect to a communication described in 
                subsection (a)(2), a statement read by a representative 
                of the persons paying for the communication as follows: 
                `I am a representative of (name of persons paying), who 
                sponsored this advertisement (in support of) (in 
                opposition to) (name of candidate involved) for (name 
                of office involved).'; or
                    ``(C) with respect to a communication described in 
                subsection (a)(3), a statement read by a representative 
                of the persons paying for the communication as follows: 
                `I am a representative of (name of persons paying), who 
                sponsored this advertisement (in support of) (in 
                opposition to) (name of candidate involved) for (name 
                of office involved). This advertisement was not 
                authorized by any candidate.'.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall 
apply with respect to communications made on or after January 1, 1998.

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