[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3174 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 3174

     To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to require 
 electronic preservation and filing of reports filed with the Federal 
 Election Commission by certain persons, to require such reports to be 
      made available through the Internet, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            February 5, 1998

 Mr. White (for himself, Mr. Hastings of Washington, Mr. Franks of New 
 Jersey, Mrs. Maloney of New York, and Mr. Nethercutt) 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 
 electronic preservation and filing of reports filed with the Federal 
 Election Commission by certain persons, to require such reports to be 
      made available through the Internet, 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. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Electronic Campaign Disclosure Act 
of 1998''.

SEC. 2. MANDATORY ELECTRONIC PRESERVATION AND FILING OF FEDERAL 
              ELECTION COMMISSION REPORTS; ACCESS THROUGH INTERNET 
              SITE.

    (a) Electronic Filing Through the Internet.--Section 304(a)(11) of 
the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 434(a)(11)) is 
amended to read as follows:
    ``(11)(A) Through a competitive bidding process, the Commission 
shall establish a public Internet site not later than January 1, 1999, 
with the following features:
            ``(i) Any person filing a report required by this Act may 
        post the report directly on the site.
            ``(ii) Any member of the public may obtain the reports 
        posted on the site (together with any other information the 
        Commission may make available through the site) at any time.
            ``(iii) Any information in a report posted on the site 
        shall be subject to the same prohibition on sale and use as 
        information from a report or statement under paragraph (4).
            ``(iv) All information posted on the site shall be 
        integrated in a manner which permits users to search the 
        information across categories and sources.
    ``(B)(i) The Commission shall permit each person required to file a 
report under this Act to file the report by posting it directly on the 
Internet site established under subparagraph (A), or by filing it by 
such electronic method as the Commission may designate to enable the 
Commission to post the report on such site immediately upon receipt.
    ``(ii) The Commission shall require a person to file a report under 
this Act in accordance with the methods described in clause (i) during 
an election cycle if the aggregate amount of contributions or 
expenditures reported previously by the person during the cycle exceeds 
$25,000.
    ``(C) The Commission shall provide for one or more methods (other 
than requiring a signature on the report being filed) for verification 
of reports filed in accordance with the methods described in 
subparagraph (B)(i). Any verification under the preceding sentence 
shall be treated for all purposes (including penalties for perjury) in 
the same manner as a verification by signature.
    ``(D) As used in this paragraph, the term ``report'' means, with 
respect to the Commission, a report, designation, or statement required 
by this Act to be filed with the Commission.''.
    (b) Requiring Commission To Make Software Available.--Section 
311(a) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 438(a)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``and'' at the end of paragraph (9);
            (2) by striking the period at the end of paragraph (10) and 
        inserting ``; and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
            ``(11) through competitive bidding, obtain and provide for 
        computer software required to carry out section 304(a)(11).''.
    (c) Internet Defined.--Section 301 of such Act (2 U.S.C. 431) is 
amended by striking paragraph (19) and inserting the following new 
paragraph:
    ``(19) The term `Internet' means the international computer network 
of both Federal and non-Federal interoperable packet-switched data 
networks.''.

SEC. 3. REQUIRING REPORTING OF ALL CONTRIBUTIONS OF $100 OR MORE WITHIN 
              10 DAYS OF RECEIPT.

    Section 304 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 
434) is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(d)(1) If a political committee is required under subsection 
(a)(11)(B)(ii) to file reports under this Act electronically during an 
election cycle, the committee shall file a report with the Commission 
listing each contribution of $100 or more received by the committee 
during the cycle after the date on which such subsection first applies 
to the committee. The committee shall file such report not later than 
10 days after receipt, and shall include the identification of the 
contributor, the date of receipt and amount of the contribution, and 
(in the case of an authorized committee of a candidate) the name of the 
candidate and the office sought by the candidate.
    ``(2) The report required under this paragraph shall be in addition 
to all other reports required under this Act.''.

SEC. 4. EXPANDING TYPES OF CONTRIBUTIONS TO PRINCIPAL CAMPAIGN 
              COMMITTEES SUBJECT TO EXPEDITED REPORTING; SHORTENING 
              DEADLINE FOR REPORTING TO WITHIN 24 HOURS OF RECEIPT.

    Section 304(a)(6) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 
U.S.C. 434(a)(6)) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating subparagraph (B) as subparagraph (C); 
        and
            (2) by inserting after subparagraph (A) the following new 
        subparagraph:
    ``(B) In the case of a principal campaign committee which is 
required under subsection (a)(11)(B)(ii) to file reports under this Act 
electronically during an election cycle, subparagraph (A) shall apply 
with respect to any contribution received by the committee after the 
date on which such subsection first applies to the committee as if--
            ``(i) the reference to `$1,000' were a reference to `$100';
            ``(ii) the reference to `20th day' were a reference to 
        `90th day'; and
            ``(iii) the reference in the second sentence to `48 hours' 
        were a reference to `24 hours'.''.

SEC. 5. ELECTION CYCLE DEFINED.

    Section 301 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 
431) is amended by striking paragraph (19) and inserting the following 
new paragraph:
    ``(19) The term `election cycle' means--
            ``(A) in the case of a candidate or the authorized 
        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.''.

SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    The amendments made by this Act shall apply with respect to 
elections occurring after January 1999.
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