[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4621 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4621

      To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 and the 
  Communications Act of 1934 to require sponsors of certain election-
     related communications to provide information regarding their 
 identities and sources of funds used to make the communications, and 
                          for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              June 9, 2000

  Mr. Castle (for himself, Mr. Leach, Mr. Boehlert, Mrs. Morella, Mr. 
Horn, Mr. Bilbray, Mr. Ganske, Mr. Gilchrest, Mr. Bass, Mr. Shays, Mr. 
    Upton, Mr. Greenwood, Mr. Franks of New Jersey, Mrs. Johnson of 
Connecticut, and Mr. Ramstad) introduced the following bill; which was 
 referred to the Committee on House Administration, 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 and the 
  Communications Act of 1934 to require sponsors of certain election-
     related communications to provide information regarding their 
 identities and sources of funds used to make the communications, 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 ``Accountability and Disclosure Act of 
2000''.

SEC. 2. DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS FOR CERTAIN CAMPAIGN-RELATED 
              COMMUNICATIONS.

    (a) Print Communications.--Section 318 of the Federal Election 
Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441d) is amended by adding at the end 
the following new subsection:
    ``(c)(1) In addition to any other information required to be 
reported under this Act, any person who makes any payments described in 
paragraph (2) during a calendar year shall meet the following 
requirements with respect to any communication described in such 
paragraph which is disseminated on or after the date on which the 
aggregate amount or value of such communications made by the person 
during the year equals or exceeds $10,000:
            ``(A) The person shall include in the communication 
        involved (in a reasonably legible manner)--
                    ``(i) the person's name, address, and daytime 
                telephone number; or
                    ``(ii) the person's Internet site which contains 
                the information described in clause (i) and any 
                information required to be provided under subparagraph 
                (B).
            ``(B) Beginning on the date the communication is 
        disseminated, the person shall provide to any person on request 
        not later than 24 hours after the request is made or post on 
        the person's Internet site the following information:
                    ``(i) If the person is an entity with officers or 
                directors, the name, address, and daytime telephone 
                number of such officers or directors.
                    ``(ii) If the person is an entity without officers 
                or directors, the name, address, and daytime telephone 
                number of any person responsible for the communication 
                involved.
                    ``(iii) The identification of each person who 
                provided funds to the person during the calendar year 
                in an amount equal to or greater than $1,000, together 
                with the amount the person provided.
    ``(2) A payment described in this paragraph is a payment for any 
communication disseminated through any method other than through a 
radio or television broadcast which mentions an individual holding 
Federal office or a clearly identified candidate for election for 
Federal office (including any individual who has formed an exploratory 
committee for such election) or the political party of such an 
individual or candidate, or which contains the likeness of such an 
individual or candidate, (other than a payment which would be described 
in clause (i), (iii), or (v) of section 301(9)(B) if the payment were 
an expenditure under such section).''.
    (b) Radio and Television Communications.--Section 317 of the 
Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 317) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``radio station'' each place it appears and 
        inserting ``broadcast station''; and
            (2) by adding at the end of subsection (a) the following 
        new paragraph:
    ``(3)(A) Each person who provides a broadcast station with any 
communication described in subparagraph (E) for broadcast shall provide 
the station with the following information:
                    ``(i) If the person is an entity with officers or 
                directors, the name, address, and daytime telephone 
                number of such officers or directors.
                    ``(ii) If the person is an entity without officers 
                or directors, the name, address, and daytime telephone 
                number of any person responsible for the communication 
                involved.
                    ``(iii) The identification of each person who 
                provided funds to the person during the calendar year 
                in an amount equal to or greater than $1,000, together 
with the amount the person provided.
    ``(B) In addition to any other records required to be kept under 
this subsection, each broadcast station which broadcasts any 
communication described in subparagraph (E) shall--
            ``(i) retain the information provided to the station 
        pursuant to subparagraph (A);
            ``(ii) if the station has a site on the Internet, post such 
        information on the site;
            ``(iii) provide the information described in clause (i) or 
        clause (ii) of subparagraph (A) upon request to any person by 
        telephone, electronic mail, or facsimile device; and
            ``(iv) in addition to the methods described in clauses (ii) 
        and (iii), make the information provided to the station 
        pursuant to subparagraph (A) available for public inspection 
        through such other methods as the station considers 
        appropriate.
    ``(C)(i) In addition to any other announcements required to be made 
under this subsection, each communication described in subparagraph (E) 
shall include, in a clearly spoken manner, the following statement: 
`________________ is responsible for the content of this 
advertisement.' (with the blank to be filled in with the name of each 
person responsible for the communication). If transmitted through 
television, the statement shall also appear in a clearly readable 
manner with a reasonable degree of color contrast between the 
background and the printed statement, for a period of at least 4 
seconds.
    ``(ii) For purposes of clause (i)--
            ``(I) the person who provides the broadcast station with 
        the communication shall be deemed to be a person responsible 
        for the communication; and
            ``(II) if 3 or fewer persons provided a portion of the 
        funds used for the communication equal to or greater than 90 
        percent of the total amount used, each such person shall be 
        deemed to be a person responsible for the communication.
    ``(D)(i) Any person who violates subparagraph (A) or subparagraph 
(C) shall be subject to a civil money penalty of not more than $5,000 
or the aggregate amount spent on the communication involved (whichever 
is greater) for each such violation.
    ``(ii) Any person who knowingly and willfully violates subparagraph 
(A) or subparagraph (C) shall be subject to a civil money penalty of 
not more than $10,000 or 200 percent of the aggregate amount spent on 
the communication involved (whichever is greater) for each such 
violation.
    ``(iii) The Commission may refer a knowing and willful violation of 
subparagraph (A) or subparagraph (C) to the Attorney General, who may 
bring a criminal action against the person involved. If the person is 
convicted in any such action, the person shall be fined not more than 
$25,000 or 300 percent of the aggregate amount spent on the 
communication involved (whichever is greater) for each such violation, 
imprisoned for not more than one year, or both.
    ``(E)(i) A communication described in this subparagraph is any 
communication which mentions an individual holding Federal office or a 
clearly identified candidate for election for Federal office (including 
any individual who has formed an exploratory committee for such 
election) or the political party of such an individual or candidate, or 
which contains the likeness of such an individual or candidate, (other 
than a payment which would be described in clause (i), (iii), or (v) of 
section 301(9)(B) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 if the 
payment were an expenditure under such section).
    ``(ii) In clause (i), the term `Federal office' has the meaning 
given such term in section 301(3) of the Federal Election Campaign Act 
of 1971.
    ``(F) This paragraph does not apply with respect to a communication 
if (prior to spending funds on the communication) the person providing 
the communication to the broadcast station has not spent an aggregate 
amount or value of $10,000 or more on all such communications during 
the calendar year involved.
    ``(G) This paragraph shall apply with respect to a video programmer 
and a multi-channel video program distributor in the same manner as it 
applies to a broadcast station.''.

SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall take effect 
January 1, 2001.
                                 <all>