[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1747 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1747

 To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to exclude certain 
      Internet communications from the definition of expenditure.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            October 19, 1999

Mr. Bennett (for himself, Mr. Burns, and Mr. McConnell) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                        Rules and Administration

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to exclude certain 
      Internet communications from the definition of expenditure.

    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 ``Internet Freedom Protection Act''.

SEC. 2. EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN INTERNET COMMUNICATIONS FROM DEFINITION OF 
              EXPENDITURE.

    Section 301(9)(B) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 
U.S.C. 431(9)(B)) is amended--
            (1) in clause (ix), by striking ``and'' at the end;
            (2) in clause (x), by striking the period at the end and 
        inserting ``; and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(xi) any communication or dissemination of material 
        through the Internet (including electronic mail, chat rooms, 
        and message boards) by any individual, if such material--
                    ``(I) is not a paid advertisement;
                    ``(II) does not solicit funds for, or on behalf of, 
                a candidate or political committee;
                    ``(III) is disseminated for the purpose of 
                communicating or disseminating the opinion of such 
                individual (including an endorsement) regarding a 
                political issue or candidate; and
                    ``(IV) is not communicated or disseminated by any 
                individual that receives payment or any other form of 
                compensation for such communication or 
                dissemination.''.
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