[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 170 Introduced in House (IH)]







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 jurisdiction 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 Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Campaign Finance Reform 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 of the Commission are to study the laws 
relating to elections for Federal office and to recommend reforms in 
those laws.

SEC. 3. MEMBERSHIP OF COMMISSION.

    (a) Appointment.--The Commission shall be composed 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 
members of the Commission--
            (1) 3 members shall be appointed by the majority leader of 
        the House of Representatives, and one of those members shall be 
        an independent;
            (2) 3 members shall be appointed by the majority leader of 
        the Senate, and one of those members shall be an independent;
            (3) 3 members shall be appointed by the minority leader of 
        the House of Representatives, and one of those members shall be 
        an independent;
            (4) 3 members shall be appointed by the minority leader of 
        the Senate, and one of those members shall be an independent; 
        and
            (5) 1 member, who shall be designated as Chairman of the 
        Commission, shall be jointly appointed by the President and the 
        Speaker of the House of Representatives.
    (b) Independent Defined.--An independent member of the Commission 
shall not have registered in or declared 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 purpose 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 hearings. Any member of the 
Commission may, if authorized by the Commission, take any action which 
the Commission is authorized to take under this section.

SEC. 5. REPORT AND RECOMMENDED LEGISLATION.

    Not later than 10 months after the date of the enactment of this 
Act, the Commission shall submit to the Congress a report of the 
activities of the Commission, together with a draft of legislation 
(including technical and conforming 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 elections for 
Federal office.

SEC. 6. MATTERS TO BE CONSIDERED BY THE COMMISSION.

    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.

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, respectively, 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 
        extent 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 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 suspend 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 Consideration.--
            (1) If the committee of either House to which a Federal 
        election bill has been referred has not reported it at the 
        close of the 20th day after its introduction, such committee 
        shall be automatically discharged 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
                    (B) the vote on final passage shall be on the 
                Federal election bill of the other House.
            (2) For purposes of paragraph (1), in computing a number of 
        days in either House, there shall be excluded the days on which 
        that House is not in session 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 consider 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 on the Federal election bill shall be considered as 
        ordered 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 disagreed 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 privileged and 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) Debate in the Senate on a Federal election bill, and 
        all debatable motions and appeals in connection 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 minority leader or their designees.
            (3) Debate in the Senate on any debatable motion 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 
        such motion or appeal, the time in opposition thereto, 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.
                                 <all>