[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3582 Considered and Passed House (CPH)]







105th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 3582

  To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to expedite the 
reporting of information to the Federal Election Commission, to expand 
 the type of information required to be reported to the Commission, to 
 promote the effective enforcement of campaign laws by the Commission, 
                        and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 30, 1998

   Mr. White (for himself, Mr. Thomas, Mr. Goodlatte, Mr. Paxon, Mr. 
 Franks of New Jersey, and Mrs. Linda Smith of Washington) introduced 
   the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House 
                               Oversight

                             March 30, 1998

          Considered under suspension of the rules and passed

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to expedite the 
reporting of information to the Federal Election Commission, to expand 
 the type of information required to be reported to the Commission, to 
 promote the effective enforcement of campaign laws by the Commission, 
                        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 ``Campaign Reporting and Disclosure 
Act of 1998''.

SEC. 2. EXPEDITING REPORTING OF INFORMATION.

    (a) Requiring Reports for Contributions and Expenditures Made 
Within 90 Days of Election To Be Filed Within 24 Hours and Posted on 
Internet.--
            (1) In general.--Section 304(a)(6) of the Federal Election 
        Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 434(a)(6)) is amended to read as 
        follows:
    ``(6)(A) Each political committee shall notify the Secretary or the 
Commission, and the Secretary of State, as appropriate, in writing, of 
any contribution received and expenditure made 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 contribution 
or the making of such expenditure and shall include the name of the 
candidate involved (as appropriate) and the office sought by the 
candidate, the identification of the contributor or the person to whom 
the expenditure is made, and the date of receipt and amount of the 
contribution or the date of disbursement and amount of the expenditure.
    ``(B) The notification required under this paragraph shall be in 
addition to all other reporting requirements under this Act.
    ``(C) The Commission shall make the information filed under this 
paragraph available on the Internet immediately upon receipt.''.
            (2) Internet defined.--Section 301(19) of such Act (2 
        U.S.C. 431(19)) is amended to read as follows:
    ``(19) The term `Internet' means the international computer network 
of both Federal and non-Federal interoperable packet-switched data 
networks.''.
    (b) Requiring Reports of Certain Filers To Be Transmitted 
Electronically; Certification of Private Sector Software.--Section 
304(a)(11)(A) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 434(a)(11)(A)) is amended by 
striking the period at the end and inserting the following: ``, except 
that in the case of a report submitted by a person who reports an 
aggregate amount of contributions or expenditures (as the case may be) 
in all reports filed with respect to the election involved (taking into 
account the period covered by the report) in an amount equal to or 
greater than $50,000, the Commission shall require the report to be 
filed and preserved by such means, format, or method. The Commission 
shall certify (on an ongoing basis) private sector computer software 
which may be used for filing reports by such means, format, or 
method.''.
    (c) Change in Certain Reporting From a Calendar Year Basis to an 
Election Cycle Basis.--Section 304(b) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 434(b)) is 
amended by inserting ``(or election cycle, in the case of an authorized 
committee of a candidate for Federal office)'' after ``calendar year'' 
each place it appears in paragraphs (2), (3), (4), (6), and (7).

SEC. 3. EXPANSION OF TYPE OF INFORMATION REPORTED.

    (a) Requiring Record Keeping and Report of Secondary Payments by 
Campaign Committees.--
            (1) Reporting.--Section 304(b)(5)(A) of the Federal 
        Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 434(b)(5)(A)) is 
        amended by striking the semicolon at the end and inserting the 
        following: ``, and, if such person in turn makes expenditures 
        which aggregate $500 or more in an election cycle to other 
        persons (not including employees) who provide goods or services 
        to the candidate or the candidate's authorized committees, the 
        name and address of such other persons, together with the date, 
        amount, and purpose of such expenditures;''.
            (2) Record keeping.--Section 302 of such Act (2 U.S.C. 432) 
        is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(j) A person described in section 304(b)(5)(A) who makes 
expenditures which aggregate $500 or more in an election cycle to other 
persons (not including employees) who provide goods or services to a 
candidate or a candidate's authorized committees shall provide to a 
political committee the information necessary to enable the committee 
to report the information described in such section.''.
            (3) No effect on other reports.--Nothing in the amendments 
        made by this subsection may be construed to affect the terms of 
        any other recordkeeping or reporting requirements applicable to 
        candidates or political committees under title III of the 
        Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971.
    (b) Including Report on Cumulative Contributions and Expenditures 
in Post Election Reports.--Section 304(a)(7) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 
434(a)(7)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``(7)'' and inserting ``(7)(A)''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
    ``(B) In the case of any report required to be filed by this 
subsection which is the first report required to be filed after the 
date of an election, the report shall include a statement of the total 
contributions received and expenditures made as of the date of the 
election.''.
    (c) Including Information on Aggregate Contributions in Report on 
Itemized Contributions.--Section 304(b)(3) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 
434(b)(3)) is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (A), by inserting after ``such 
        contribution'' the following: ``and the total amount of all 
        such contributions made by such person with respect to the 
        election involved''; and
            (2) in subparagraph (B), by inserting after ``such 
        contribution'' the following: ``and the total amount of all 
        such contributions made by such committee with respect to the 
        election involved''.

SEC. 4. PROMOTING EFFECTIVE ENFORCEMENT BY FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION.

    (a) Requiring FEC To Provide Written Responses to Questions.--
            (1) In general.--Title III of the Federal Election Campaign 
        Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431 et seq.) is amended by inserting 
        after section 308 the following new section:

                 ``other written responses to questions

    ``Sec. 308A. (a) Permitting Responses.--In addition to issuing 
advisory opinions under section 308, the Commission shall issue written 
responses pursuant to this section with respect to a written request 
concerning the application of this Act, chapter 95 or chapter 96 of the 
Internal Revenue Code of 1986, a rule or regulation prescribed by the 
Commission, or an advisory opinion issued by the Commission under 
section 308, with respect to a specific transaction or activity by the 
person, if the Commission finds the application of the Act, chapter, 
rule, regulation, or advisory opinion to the transaction or activity to 
be clear and unambiguous.
    ``(b) Procedure for Response.--
            ``(1) Analysis by staff.--The staff of the Commission shall 
        analyze each request submitted under this section. If the staff 
        believes that the standard described in subsection (a) is met 
        with respect to the request, the staff shall circulate a 
        statement to that effect together with a draft response to the 
        request to the members of the Commission.
            ``(2) Issuance of response.--Upon the expiration of the 3-
        day period beginning on the date the statement and draft 
        response is circulated (excluding weekends or holidays), the 
        Commission shall issue the response, unless during such period 
        any member of the Commission objects to issuing the response.
    ``(c) Effect of Response.--
            ``(1) Safe harbor.--Notwithstanding any other provisions of 
        law, any person who relies upon any provision or finding of a 
        written response issued under this section and who acts in good 
        faith in accordance with the provisions and findings of such 
        response shall not, as a result of any such act, be subject to 
        any sanction provided by this Act or by chapter 95 or chapter 
        96 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
            ``(2) No reliance by other parties.--Any written response 
        issued by the Commission under this section may only be relied 
        upon by the person involved in the specific transaction or 
        activity with respect to which such response is issued, and may 
        not be applied by the Commission with respect to any other 
        person or used by the Commission for enforcement or regulatory 
        purposes.
    ``(d) Publication of Requests and Responses.--The Commission shall 
make public any request for a written response made, and the responses 
issued, under this section. In carrying out this subsection, the 
Commission may not make public the identity of any person submitting a 
request for a written response unless the person specifically 
authorizes to Commission to do so.
    ``(e) Compilation of Index.--The Commission shall compile, publish, 
and regularly update a complete and detailed index of the responses 
issued under this section through which responses may be found on the 
basis of the subjects included in the responses.''.
            (2) Conforming amendment.--Section 307(a)(7) of such Act (2 
        U.S.C. 437d(a)(7)) is amended by striking ``of this Act'' and 
        inserting ``and other written responses under section 308A''.
    (b) Standard for Initiation of Actions by FEC.--Section 309(a)(2) 
of such Act (2 U.S.C. 437g(a)(2)) is amended by striking ``it has 
reason to believe'' and all that follows through ``of 1954,'' and 
inserting the following: ``it has a reason to investigate a possible 
violation of this Act or of chapter 95 or chapter 96 of the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986 that has occurred or is about to occur (based on 
the same criteria applicable under this paragraph prior to the 
enactment of the Campaign Reform and Election Integrity Act of 
1998),''.
    (c) Standard Form for Complaints; Stronger Disclaimer Language.--
            (1) Standard form.--Section 309(a)(1) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 
        437g(a)(1)) is amended by inserting after ``shall be 
        notarized,'' the following: ``shall be in a standard form 
        prescribed by the Commission, shall not include (but may refer 
        to) extraneous materials,''.
            (2) Disclaimer language.--Section 309(a)(1) of such Act (2 
        U.S.C. 437g(a)(1)) is amended--
                    (A) by striking ``(a)(1)'' and inserting 
                ``(a)(1)(A)''; and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following new 
                subparagraph:
    ``(B) The written notice of a complaint provided by the Commission 
under subparagraph (A) to a person alleged to have committed a 
violation referred to in the complaint shall include a cover letter (in 
a form prescribed by the Commission) and the following statement: `The 
enclosed complaint has been filed against you with the Federal Election 
Commission. The Commission has not verified or given official sanction 
to the complaint. The Commission will make no decision to pursue the 
complaint for a period of at least 15 days from your receipt of this 
complaint. You may, if you wish, submit a written statement to the 
Commission explaining why the Commission should take no action against 
you based on this complaint. If the Commission should decide to 
investigate, you will be notified and be given further opportunity to 
respond.'''.

SEC. 5. BANNING ACCEPTANCE OF CASH CONTRIBUTIONS GREATER THAN $100.

    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) No candidate or political committee may accept any 
contributions of currency of the United States or currency of any 
foreign country from any person which, in the aggregate, exceed 
$100.''.

SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    Except as otherwise specifically provided, this Act and the 
amendments made by this Act shall apply with respect to elections 
occurring after January 1999.
                                 <all>