[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 767 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 767

     To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to require 
candidates for election for the House of Representatives or the Senate 
 to raise at least 65 percent of their contributions from individuals 
  residing in the district or State involved, to limit the amount of 
contributions such candidates may accept from multicandidate political 
committees, and to prohibit individuals who are ineligible to register 
to vote in Federal elections from making contributions to candidates or 
                           political parties.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 13, 1997

 Mr. Knollenberg 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 
candidates for election for the House of Representatives or the Senate 
 to raise at least 65 percent of their contributions from individuals 
  residing in the district or State involved, to limit the amount of 
contributions such candidates may accept from multicandidate political 
committees, and to prohibit individuals who are ineligible to register 
to vote in Federal elections from making contributions to candidates or 
                           political parties.

    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 ``Common-Sense Campaign Finance Reform 
Act of 1997''.

SEC. 2. LIMITING AMOUNT OF CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE CONTRIBUTIONS FROM 
              INDIVIDUALS NOT RESIDING IN DISTRICT; LIMITING AMOUNT OF 
              CONTRIBUTIONS FROM PACS.

    (a) In General.--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)(1) A candidate for the office of Senator or the office of 
Representative in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, the 
Congress may not accept contributions with respect to an election from 
individuals other than local individual residents totaling in excess of 
35 percent of the total of all contributions from individuals accepted 
with respect to the election (as determined on the basis of the most 
recent information included in reports pursuant to section 304(d)).
    ``(2) A candidate for the office of Senator or the office of 
Representative in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, the 
Congress may not accept contributions with respect to an election from 
multicandidate political committees (as defined in subsection (a)(4)) 
totaling in excess of 35 percent of the total of all contributions 
accepted with respect to the election (as determined on the basis of 
the most recent information included in reports pursuant to section 
304(d)).
    ``(3) In determining the amount of contributions accepted by a 
candidate for purposes of this subsection, there shall not be taken 
into account any contributions made by a political party.
    ``(4) As used in this subsection, the term `local individual 
resident' means--
            ``(A) with respect to an election for the office of 
        Senator, an individual who resides in the State involved; and
            ``(B) with respect to an election for the office of 
        Representative in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, the 
        Congress, an individual who resides in the congressional 
        district involved.''.
    (b) Reporting Requirements.--Section 304 of such Act (2 U.S.C. 434) 
is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(d) Each principal campaign committee of a candidate for the 
Senate or the House of Representatives shall include the following 
information in the first report filed under subsection (a)(2) which 
covers the period which begins 19 days before an election and ends 20 
days after the election:
            ``(1) The total contributions received by the committee 
        with respect to the election involved from local individual 
        residents (as defined in section 315(i)(3)), as of the last day 
        of the period covered by the report.
            ``(2) The total contributions received by the committee 
        with respect to the election involved from all individuals, as 
        of the last day of the period covered by the report.
            ``(3) The total contributions received by the committee 
        with respect to the election involved from multicandidate 
        political committees (as defined in section 315(a)(4)), as of 
        the last day of the period covered by the report.''.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply with respect to contributions made on or after the date of the 
enactment of this Act.

SEC. 3. PROHIBITING CONTRIBUTIONS BY INDIVIDUALS NOT ELIGIBLE TO VOTE 
              IN FEDERAL ELECTIONS.

    (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:

  ``prohibiting contributions by individuals not eligible to vote in 
                           federal elections

    ``Sec. 323. (a) In General.--An individual who is not eligible to 
vote in any election for Federal office may not make any contribution 
to any candidate for election for Federal office or to any political 
party.
    ``(b) Treatment of Individuals Not Registered to Vote.--This 
section shall not apply with respect to an individual who would be 
eligible to vote in an election for Federal office but for the failure 
of the individual to register to vote.
    ``(c) Contribution Defined.--In this section, the term 
`contribution' includes any amount which would be treated as a 
contribution under section 301(8) but for subparagraph (B) of such 
section.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall 
apply with respect to contributions made on or after the date of the 
enactment of this Act.
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