I 111th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 2038 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES April 22, 2009 Mr. Hodes (for himself, Ms. Giffords, and Mr. Perriello) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House Administration A BILL To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to prohibit an authorized committee of a candidate who is a Member of Congress from accepting contributions from any entity for which the candidate sought a Congressional earmark.

1.

Short Title

This Act may be cited as the Clean Law for Earmark Accountability Reform Act or the CLEAR Act.

2.

Prohibiting Candidates from Accepting Contributions From Entities for Which Candidates Seek Congressional Earmarks

(a)

Prohibiting Acceptance of Contributions

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: (k)

Prohibiting Acceptance of Contributions From Entities for Which Candidates Seek Congressional Earmarks

(1)

In general

An authorized committee of a candidate for election for Federal office who is a Member of Congress (including a Delegate or Resident Commissioner to the Congress) may not accept any contribution— (A)from any entity for which the Member sought a Congressional earmark during the election cycle, or from any senior executive of such an entity or any person who is registered as a lobbyist under the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) for whom the entity was a client for purposes of such Act; or (B)if the Member sought a Congressional earmark for a corporation during the election cycle, from a separate segregated fund established and administered by the corporation or labor organization under section 316(b)(2)(C). (2)

Congressional earmark defined

In this subsection, the term Congressional earmark means a provision or report language which— (A)is included in a bill or joint resolution, a committee report to accompany a bill or joint resolution, or a conference report to accompany a bill or joint resolution (including a joint explanatory statement prepared by the managers of the conference) primarily at the request of a Member of Congress; and (B)provides, authorizes, or recommends a specific amount of discretionary budget authority, credit authority, or other spending authority for a contract, loan, loan guarantee, grant, loan authority, or other expenditure with or to an entity, other than through a statutory or administrative formula-driven or competitive award process. (3)

Election cycle defined

In this subsection, the term election cycle has the meaning given such term in section 301(25), without regard to the second sentence of such section. (4)

Senior executive defined

In this subsection, the term senior executive means, with respect to an entity, the President, Chief Executive Officer, Chief Operating Officer, or Chief Financial Officer of the entity. . (b)

Effective Date

The amendments made by subsection (a) shall apply with respect to contributions made on or after the date of the enactment of this Act.