[House Hearing, 113 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
H.R. 186: TO AMEND THE FEDERAL ELECTIONS CAMPAIGN ACT OF 1971 TO PERMIT
CANDIDATES FOR ELECTION FOR FEDERAL OFFICE TO DESIGNATE AN INDIVIDUAL
WHO WILL BE AUTHORIZED TO DISBURSE FUNDS OF THE AUTHORIZED CAMPAIGN
COMMITTEES OF THE CANDIDATE IN THE EVENT OF THE DEATH OF THE CANDIDATE
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HEARING
before the
COMMITTEE ON HOUSE
ADMINISTRATION
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED THIRTEENTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
__________
HELD IN WASHINGTON, DC, JUNE 25, 2014
__________
Printed for the use of the Committee on House Administration
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COMMITTEE ON HOUSE ADMINISTRATION
CANDICE S. MILLER, Michigan,
Chairman
ROBERT A. BRADY, Pennsylvania GREGG HARPER, Mississippi
Ranking Minority Member PHIL GINGREY, M.D., Georgia
ZOE LOFGREN, California AARON SCHOCK, Illinois
JUAN VARGAS, California TODD ROKITA, Indiana
RICHARD B. NUGENT, Florida
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Professional Staff
Sean Moran, Staff Director
Kyle Anderson, Minority Staff Director
H.R. 186: TO AMEND THE FEDERAL ELECTIONS CAMPAIGN ACT OF 1971 TO PERMIT
CANDIDATES FOR ELECTION FOR FEDERAL OFFICE TO DESIGNATE AN INDIVIDUAL
WHO WILL BE AUTHORIZED TO DISBURSE FUNDS OF THE AUTHORIZED CAMPAIGN
COMMITTEES OF THE CANDIDATE IN THE EVENT OF THE DEATH OF THE CANDIDATE
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WEDNESDAY, JUNE 25, 2014
House of Representatives,
Committee on House Administration,
Washington, DC
The committee met, pursuant to call, at 11:04 a.m., in room
1310, Longworth House Office Building, Hon. Candice S. Miller
(chairman of the committee) presiding.
Present: Representatives Miller, Harper, Brady, and Vargas.
Staff Present: Sean Moran, Staff Director; John Clocker,
Deputy Staff Director; Bob Sensenbrenner, Deputy General
Counsel; Yael Barash, Legislative Clerk; Erin Sayago,
Communications Director; Kyle Anderson, Minority Staff
Director; Matt Pinkus, Minority Senior Policy Advisor; Matt
DeFreitas, Minority Professional Staff; Khalil Abboud, Minority
Deputy Counsel; Thomas Hicks, Minority Senior Counsel; Mike
Harrison, Minority Chief Counsel; Greg Abbott, Minority
Professional Staff; and Eddie Flaherty, Minority Chief Clerk.
The Chairman. I now call to order the Committee on House
Administration's hearing regarding H.R. 186 that was introduced
by the gentleman from North Carolina, Representative Walter
Jones.
The hearing record will remain open for 5 legislative days
so that members may submit any materials that they wish to be
included therein.
And a quorum is present, so we can proceed.
This hearing is for the committee to receive testimony on
H.R. 186 from one of our colleagues in the U.S. House, the
distinguished gentleman who represents North Carolina's Third
Congressional District, Representative Walter Jones. And we are
going to hear from Representative Jones on the necessity and
the importance of this bill that he has introduced.
And we certainly thank you for your attendance here today.
Mr. Jones. Thank you.
The Chairman. H.R. 186 is a bill to amend the Federal
Elections Campaign Act of 1971 in regards to who may distribute
campaign funds for a candidate's federal election campaign.
Under current federal law, only the campaign treasurer is
authorized to disburse campaign funds, and that includes
disbursing these funds in the event that the candidate should
even pass away.
Should Representative Jones' bill become law, it would
allow candidates running for federal office the opportunity to
designate an additional individual, separate from the campaign
treasurer, who would be authorized to distribute campaign funds
in the event of the death of the candidate.
Essentially, this bill would provide candidates more
flexibility when they are forming out their campaign for
Federal office and allow them the additional choice on who
should have the responsibility over managing their campaign
funds.
When individuals donate to a candidate, they are also
donating to specific beliefs and values. This bill that we are
discussing today will ensure that should the candidate pass
away, those same beliefs and values are carried forward.
Of course, every candidate running for office hopes to hire
a campaign treasurer who is not only capable, but someone who
would know and respect our wishes should anything happen. Given
today's cumbersome campaign regulatory environment, sometimes
candidates must make a choice to hire an individual they might
not know personally very well.
H.R. 186 will provide a clear designation for those who
should have responsibility over campaign funds should the
unforeseen happen. And this bill will task the Federal Election
Commission, who is already responsible for receiving and
registering such information filed by candidates, to update
their forms and regulations.
This is an important bill. It is also a nonpartisan bill.
The House has also passed previous versions of this bill in
every Congress since the 110th Congress. Not knowing a
candidate's wishes on how campaign funds may not be the most
common problem, but it is certainly a problem that has
precedence. And today we have an easy solution before us, again
that has bipartisan support.
Again, I want to thank the witness for being here today and
would now like to recognize my ranking member, my colleague,
Mr. Brady, for the purpose of an opening statement.
Mr. Brady. Yes. I would first like to thank Chairman Miller
for holding this hearing, and thank my good friend from North
Carolina, Walter Jones, for his tireless work promoting this
bill.
Currently, the Federal Election Campaign Act offers no
guidance on disbursing funds in the event of a candidate's
death. H.R. 186 seeks to amend the Federal Election Campaign
Act by allowing a candidate to designate an individual of his
or her choosing to disburse campaign funds in the event of the
candidate's death and to provide specific instruction on how it
should be done.
Similar bills were passed in this House in the last three
Congresses, and the Federal Election Commission stands ready to
implement the bill should it become law. I have been a longtime
supporter of this bill, and it is my hope that this commonsense
proposal will pass into law.
You know, as the chairman said, when we first become
Members of Congress, it is conventional wisdom that we would
get a treasurer that was probably--in my case it was, it is no
longer now, but it was--that we would get maybe an attorney--no
disrespect to attorneys, but I guess a little disrespect to
them--or an accountant that we think would be a credible name
that makes us look more credible, especially running for
election, at times running for reelection.
And we have had many, many instances in the past where,
quite recently, one organization did that for four or five
House Members, and for them to wake up one morning to find out
that their funds were almost gone. And the major issue is there
is no way to recoup it. Persons that violated that trust were
probably incarcerated, maybe fined, but they could never get
their money back.
So that happens when even candidates are alive. God forbid,
God forbid, God forbid, three times, if a sitting Congressman
should pass away and their money is entrusted to someone who
they think would be looked upon as credible in the community
where they run or in the establishment. But that person most of
the time does not really know the wishes of a Congressperson.
It would be up to them to do whatever they want, however they
want, according to the guidelines of the law of how to disburse
the funds.
So it would only be logical, and it is a logical and
commonsense bill, that we would have somebody that would be
close to us, a family member, which a lot of us shy away from
from time to time putting them as a treasurer because of the
way it may look. But that person, the family member, would know
best what the candidate, deceased Congressperson, would want to
have done with his remaining funds, what charities they would
like, what other candidates they may want to support, all
according to law.
So this is just a commonsense bill that kind of protects.
And I thank Congressman Jones for your perseverance, your
determination. And I feel your frustration from time to time
because I know you have a personal story.
And it just protects 435 here and another hundred over in
the Senate side that we can rest assured that whatever money we
do have at the time of our passing would be distributed the way
we would want if we were here. And the only way to do that is
to implement this bill.
Again, it is a commonsense bill, it is the right thing to
do. We hear too many horror stories out there. And we do work
hard. And fundraising is a major pain in the neck for a lot of
us, and we don't all like to do it, but we have to do it to be
able to maintain who we are. And we do have the opportunity
then to help other people and help other charities.
So, again, it is just a commonsense bill. And I applaud the
Congressman for again coming back up here. And hopefully we can
get it done. And because it is such a good bill, when we send
it over to the Senate, in their wisdom, they tack things onto
it, you know, and that kind of weighs the bill down and then it
doesn't happen.
So I will do the best that I can, and I have had
conversations with the Senate, to try to make it as clean as it
leaves here, because we did not do that in the past. We let
this bill go out clean. We didn't tack anything onto it.
Hopefully, they won't do that. And I think that I am totally
confident that we could be able to pass it here and pass it
there. And, as we said, the Federal Election Commission is
waiting for it to happen so they can implement it also.
So, again, I thank the chairman for convening this hearing,
and thank you for sticking with us again and trying to get this
done. We passed it when I was the chairman. We passed it when I
was the ranking member. I look forward to passing it again
while I am the ranking member.
So thank you, Madam Chairman.
The Chairman. I thank the gentleman very much.
Any other comments from members?
With that, I would like to introduce our witness.
Representative Walter Jones was first sworn in to the U.S.
House of Representatives in 1995 after serving 10 years as an
elected member of the North Carolina General Assembly. Since
entering office, he has been a strong voice for fighting for
effective, commonsense government that returns power and
control back to the people. His dedication and commitment to
providing tax relief for American families, retirement security
for our Nation's seniors, a strong national defense, and a
quality education for every child has earned him respect
amongst his colleagues on both sides of the political aisle. He
has been a leader in fighting the U.S. trade deficit and
leveling the trade playing field for American workers as well.
Currently serving his 10th term, he is also a member of the
House Committee on Armed Services. And he has concentrated on
safeguarding the wellbeing of our Nation's veterans and our men
and women on active duty.
We want to thank you for joining us today. We have received
your written testimony. And the chair now recognizes our
witness, Mr. Walter Jones.
STATEMENT OF THE HON. WALTER B. JONES, A REPRESENTATIVE IN
CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA
Mr. Jones. Madam Chairman, thank you and the ranking member
for the opportunity to bring this bill forward. And thank you
for your understanding of the bill. You and the ranking member
made very excellent comments about the intent of the bill, the
content of the bill, and the importance. I would just like in
my brief time to share my story and why I would get involved in
a bill like this.
In 1992, my father, Congressman Walter Jones, Sr., died in
office. He had announced he was not running for reelection, but
he died in September of that year, before the November
election. And he was under the old system. We have changed that
system now. But he was under the old system where the proceeds
in his campaign account could go as part of his estate.
And his treasurer, a wonderful, fine gentleman, a lawyer,
was an honorable man. But he said that, based on the law, I
cannot release these funds. And he was following the law, and
we all understood that. But it got just complicated.
And as you and the ranking member have said, in the time of
death for a sitting Member of Congress, or a candidate for a
congressional office, there is not a worse time for the family
than to try to figure out how you go ahead and recover from the
loss of the loved one. And it just seemed to me, working with
my staff--my legislative director is sitting behind me, Josh
Bowlen--that we decided a few years ago to put this bill in.
Obviously, as you both have said, this is noncontroversial. It
is not partisan at all. I would call it a family relief
consideration act when the Member should die in office.
We were able to work through the situation involving my
father. But with the campaigns today and the cost of running
for office--not me, if you check my--go on Open Secrets you
will see I have got about $100,000 in my account. So this is
about my colleagues in the House. And as Mr. Brady said,
hopefully we could get this through the Senate. And I know you
feel that way, Madam Chairman.
This is about thinking about pain and suffering and hurt
should any of us die in office or if we were candidates who had
not been elected and we should be killed in a car accident or a
plane crash or have a natural death. This is just to bring some
peace and comfort to the family by allowing the candidate to
designate, working with the Federal Election Commission, whom
he or she would like to disburse those funds, what charities,
what churches, what campaign accounts or party accounts. And it
is really, as you have explained and my little explanation, it
is that simple.
The Chairman. Thank the gentleman very much.
[The statement of Mr. Jones follows:]
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The Chairman. And you and I and Mr. Brady have talked about
this on the House floor as well on a number of different times.
I really have to tell the truth, and thinking about your bill,
I hadn't really thought it all the way through, right? You
think you are never going to die, right? You are thinking, all
right, just raising money and whatever you are doing. And what
you would think if you did die, what kinds of charities that
you normally support that you would like to see get X amount of
the dollars or the various candidates, et cetera. And yet, as
you say, under the current law, the treasurers that we select,
you know, you could have a Republican treasurer giving money to
a Democrat or a Democrat giving money to a Republican, or who
knows what, right? It depends, right?
But, you know, certainly I think most of us hope that we
have individuals that would carry out our wishes. But most of
us aren't really thinking about what our wishes actually are. I
mean, it is not like drawing a will up, right?
Mr. Jones. Yes, ma'am.
The Chairman. But yet in today's world--I mean, you talk
about Open Secrets. You can go on Open Secrets, you see that I
have over $900,000 in my account right now. Well, that is some
serious money. And there are some charities that I would want
to get much of that money and candidates and various things.
But yet you have to make sure that you have a treasurer,
because it is up to the treasurer, not your campaign manager or
your spouse or whoever, to determine where those dollars are
going. And there are lots of candidates that have millions of
dollars in their account. Again, we hope the unforeseen never
happens. But who knows, right?
Mr. Jones. Absolutely.
The Chairman. And so I think it is just a very commonsense
type of thing to make sure that individuals who are donating to
our respective campaigns, understand what our values are and
the kind of ideologies that we all have, our partisan
persuasion, et cetera, that those funds will be distributed in
a way that is consistent with what they were thinking when they
were donating to our campaigns as well.
So I am very much in support of this bill. And I agree with
Mr. Brady. And I know it has passed. I voted for it in the past
in other Congresses. But it gets to the Senate, doesn't get
very far. So hopefully we will be able to see that it actually
becomes law. It is totally bipartisan, it is just something
that I think needs to evolve as campaigns have evolved over the
years and the amounts of money that are left in campaign
accounts are there as well.
How do you think the FEC would implement the bill if it
became law? I know you have had some conversation with them on
that in the past.
Mr. Jones. Yes, ma'am. Madam Chairman, they have actually
testified during one of the hearings on this legislation. And
they seem--they are in support. If this is the will of the
Congress, they very much see the value of having this ability
for the Member to designate that family member, as you made
reference to, whomever that person might be. And they would be
able to fully disclose this on the Internet. It would be part
of the package of the candidate that files the paperwork to be
a candidate or the incumbent when he or she files their proper
paperwork with the Federal Election Commission.
The Chairman. Okay. That was really my only question. And
as you have already answered, it has to be publicly disclosed.
Everything that we do, any time you make any changes to any
kind of campaign, the Campaign Act or campaign finance, et
cetera, I think the operative phrase always has to be public
disclosure so that the public is fully aware of whatever is
happening. And so to have that kind of public disclosure I
think is absolutely critical and the appropriate thing to do.
At this time, I have no other questions and would ask the
gentleman from Pennsylvania to ask questions.
Mr. Brady. Just briefly, as we sit here today as sitting
Congresspeople, we can do by law, follow the law, and disburse
whatever campaign funds we have to, the way we want to, through
our treasurer. If this bill passes, none of that changes. The
regulations are exactly the same. And the filing is exactly the
same as long as that account stays open, and the transparency
is exactly the same.
The only thing is that our treasurer now does not have the
right to do that, our designee, whoever we think knows our
wishes while we are not here because it would be somebody,
naturally, that would be closer to us than our treasurer would
be, and they then have the task or the ability to be able to
spend that money that we have left over under the same exact
guidelines that we have sitting right here today. Is that
correct?
Mr. Jones. Yes, sir.
Mr. Brady. Well, then, again I say this is a commonsense
protection bill that I thank you for bringing forward.
Mr. Jones. It is that simple as just adding one line and
allows you to designate who would disburse your money should
something happen to you. It is that simple.
Mr. Brady. Thank you. I appreciate it. Thank you.
Thank you, Madam Chair.
The Chairman. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from
Mississippi.
Mr. Harper. Thank you, Congressman Jones. And I appreciate
very much you bringing this bill forward. And we fully support
it and look forward to its progress and ultimate passage.
And I have no questions, Madam Chair.
Mr. Jones. Thank you, Mr. Harper. Thank you.
The Chairman. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from
California.
Mr. Vargas. Thank you very much, Madam Chair.
I also thank you for bringing it forward again, appreciate
all the work that you have put into it and fully support it.
Thank you, sir.
Mr. Jones. Thank you, Mr. Vargas. Thank you.
The Chairman. Thank you very much for coming.
Mr. Jones. Thank you.
The Chairman. We certainly appreciate it and appreciate
your, as the ranking member has said, the persistence and
tenacity with this. And we will help move this along. We hope
this committee will have a markup on the bill in the very, very
near future and push it along to the floor as well.
Mr. Jones. Thank you so much. Thank you.
The Chairman. Thank you.
Without objection, all members will have 5 legislative days
to submit to the chair additional written questions for the
witnesses, which we will forward and ask the witness to respond
as promptly as he can so that those answers may be part of the
record.
And with that, the hearing is adjourned. I thank all the
members and the witness.
[Whereupon, at 11:22 a.m., the committee was adjourned.]
[all]