[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 181 Introduced in House (IH)]

  1st Session
                                H. R. 181

   To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to reform the 
financing of elections for Members of the House of Representatives, and 
                          for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 7, 1997

   Mr. Goss introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
   Committee on House Oversight, and in addition to the Committee on 
Commerce, 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 amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to reform the 
financing of elections for Members of the House of Representatives, and 
                          for other purposes.

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

SECTION 1. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ELECTION LIMITATION ON 
              CONTRIBUTIONS FROM PERSONS OTHER THAN LOCAL INDIVIDUAL 
              RESIDENTS.

    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) A candidate for the office of Representative in, or Delegate 
or Resident Commissioner to, the Congress may not accept contributions 
with respect to a reporting period for an election--
            ``(1) from persons other than individual residents of the 
        congressional district involved in excess of 50 percent of the 
        total of contributions accepted; or
            ``(2) from persons other than individual residents of the 
        State in which the congressional district involved is located 
        in excess of 10 percent of the total of contributions 
        accepted.''.

SEC. 2. REDUCTION IN LIMITATION AMOUNT APPLICABLE TO CONTRIBUTIONS BY A 
              MULTICANDIDATE POLITICAL COMMITTEE TO A HOUSE OF 
              REPRESENTATIVES CANDIDATE.

    Section 315(a)(2)(A) of the Federal Election Campaign 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 
Congress, the limitation shall be $1,000''.

SEC. 3. BAN ON SOFT MONEY.

    (a) In General.--Title III of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 
1971 (2 U.S.C. 431 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the 
following new section:

  ``limitations and reporting requirements for amounts paid for mixed 
                          political activities

    ``Sec. 323. (a) In General.--Any payment by the national committee 
of a political party or a State committee of a political party for a 
mixed political activity--
            ``(1) shall be subject to limitation and reporting under 
        this Act as if such payment were an expenditure; and
            ``(2) may be paid only from an account that is subject to 
        the requirements of this Act.
    ``(b) Mixed Political Activity Defined.--As used in this section, 
the term `mixed political activity' means, with respect to a payment by 
the national committee of a political party or a State committee of a 
political party, an activity, such as a voter registration program, a 
get-out-the-vote drive, or general political advertising, that is both 
for the purpose of influencing an election for Federal office and for 
any purpose unrelated to influencing an election for Federal office.''.
    (b) Repeal of Building Fund Exception to the Definition of the Term 
``Contribution''.--Section 301(8)(B) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 431(8)(B)) 
is amended--
            (1) by striking clause (viii); and
            (2) by redesignating clauses (ix) through (xiv) as clauses 
        (viii) through (xiii).

SEC. 4. AMENDMENTS TO COMMUNICATIONS ACT OF 1934.

    Section 315 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 315) is 
amended--
            (1) in subsection (b)(1)--
                    (A) by striking ``forty-five'' and inserting 
                ``30'',
                    (B) by striking ``sixty'' and inserting ``45'', and
                    (C) by striking ``lowest unit charge of the station 
                for the same class and amount of time for the same 
                period'' and insert ``lowest charge of the station for 
                the same amount of time for the same period'';
            (2) by redesignating subsections (c) and (d) as subsections 
        (d) and (e);
            (3) by inserting immediately after subsection (b) the 
        following new subsection:
    ``(c)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), a licensee shall not 
preempt the use, during any period specified in subsection (b)(1), of a 
broadcasting station by a legally qualified candidate for public office 
who has purchased and paid for such use pursuant to the provisions of 
subsection (b)(1).
    ``(2) If a program to be broadcast by a broadcasting station is 
preempted because of circumstances beyond the control of the 
broadcasting station, any candidate advertising spot scheduled to be 
broadcast during that program may also be preempted.''; and
            (4) in subsection (d) (as redesignated by paragraph (2))--
                    (A) by striking ``and'' at the end of paragraph 
                (1),
                    (B) by striking the period at the end of paragraph 
                (2) and inserting ``; and'', and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following new 
                paragraph:
            ``(3) a station's lowest charge for purposes of paragraph 
        (1)--
                    ``(A) with respect to a primary or primary runoff 
                election, is determined for the interval beginning 60 
                days before such election and ending on the date of 
                that election; and
                    ``(B) with respect to a general or special 
                election, is determined for the interval beginning 90 
                days before such election and ending on the date of 
                that election.''.
                                 <all>