[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2392 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







108th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2392

     To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to require 
candidates to stand by their printed and Internet advertising, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 6, 2004

Mr. Wyden (for himself and Mr. Graham of South Carolina) 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 require 
candidates to stand by their printed and Internet advertising, 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 ``Political Candidate Personal 
Responsibility Act of 2004''.

SEC. 2. ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR PUBLIC COMMUNICATIONS BY CANDIDATES 
              FOR FEDERAL OFFICE.

    (a) Printed Media.--Section 318(c) of the Federal Election Campaign 
Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441d(c)) is amended--
            (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by inserting ``, 
        including a printed communication that is transmitted through 
        the Internet,'' after ``subsection (a)'';
            (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ``and'' after the 
        semicolon at the end;
            (3) in paragraph (3), by striking the period and inserting 
        ``; and''; and
            (4) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(4) if the communication is described in paragraph (1) or 
        (2) of subsection (a) and makes any direct reference to another 
        candidate for the same office--
                    ``(A) include a clearly identifiable photographic 
                or similar image of the candidate;
                    ``(B) include a clearly readable printed statement 
                identifying the candidate and stating that the 
                candidate has approved the communication; and
                    ``(C) occupy no less than 10 percent of the total 
                area of the communication.''.
    (b) Internet and Prerecorded Telephone Communications.--
            (1) Audio and video internet communications.--Section 
        318(d)(1) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 
        U.S.C. 441d(d)(1)) is amended by adding at the end the 
        following:
                    ``(C) By internet.--Any communication described in 
                paragraph (1) or (2) of subsection (a) which is 
                transmitted through the Internet and which makes any 
                direct reference to another candidate for the same 
                office shall--
                            ``(i) in the case of an audio 
                        communication, meet the requirements applicable 
                        to communications transmitted through radio 
                        under subparagraph (A); and
                            ``(ii) in the case of a video 
                        communication, meet the requirements applicable 
                        to communications transmitted through 
                        television under subparagraph (B).''.
            (2) Prerecorded telephone communications.--Section 318 of 
        the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441d) is 
        amended--
                    (A) in subsection (a), by inserting ``telephone 
                call which consists in substantial part of a 
                prerecorded audio message'' after ``mailing,'' each 
                place it appears in the matter preceding paragraph (1); 
                and
                    (B) in subsection (d)(1), as amended by paragraph 
                (1), by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(D) By prerecorded telephone call.--
                            ``(i) In general.--Any communication 
                        described in paragraph (1) or (2) of subsection 
                        (a) which is a telephone call which consists in 
                        substantial part of a prerecorded audio message 
                        and which makes any direct reference to another 
                        candidate for the same office shall meet the 
                        requirements applicable to communications 
                        transmitted through radio under subparagraph 
                        (A).
                            ``(ii) Exceptions.--The requirements of 
                        this subparagraph shall not apply to a 
                        communication that is--
                                    ``(I) terminated by or at the 
                                request of the recipient of the 
                                communication after less than 30 
                                seconds; or
                                    ``(II) not initiated by the party 
                                making the communication.''.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to communications made after the date that is 180 days after the 
date of enactment of this Act.
                                 <all>