[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 99 (Monday, July 8, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Page S7415]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. ABRAHAM:
  S. 1932. A bill to amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to 
limit the amount of nonconstituent contributions that a candidate may 
accept, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Rules and 
Administration.


                  Campaign Finance Reform Legislation

 Mr. ABRAHAM. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce a bill 
to reform our campaign financing system. I am doing so because I feel 
that it is important to dispel the all too common notion that 
candidates are improperly influenced by campaign contributions. In my 
view it is not difficult for an honest politician to arrange financing 
in a way that avoids the appearance as well as the reality of 
corruption. But, because too few candidates choose to impose these 
rules on themselves, we need legislation to show them the way.
  When I ran for the Senate in 1994 I voluntarily imposed limits on the 
contributions I would accept from out-of-State sources and from 
political action committees. I refused to accept any more than 20 
percent of overall contributions from PAC's. I also refused to accept 
more than 25 percent of overall contributions from out-of-State donors. 
I did this because I wanted to make sure that the bulk of my support 
came directly from Michiganians. And, with this policy in place, I won 
handily.
  I am certain that other candidates would find that they can run 
successful campaigns with such self-imposed limits. More important, 
these limits would increase politicians' accountability to their 
constituents and decrease the appearance of special interest influence. 
Unfortunately, too few candidates appear willing to take the crucial 
step of placing limits on their own campaigns.
  Thus, to increase accountability, my bill would codify limits similar 
to the ones I imposed on myself in the 1994 campaign. All Federal 
candidates would have to follow the same rules, dictating that they 
receive no more than 20 percent of overall contributions from PAC's and 
no more than 33 percent of overall contributions from out-of-State/
district donors.
  Additionally, in my bill, I have proposed a system of PAC democracy. 
This system would mandate that PAC's receive input from their donor-
members, whereby all donor-members would have a vote in how and where 
the PAC donations are to be distributed.
  Furthermore, I have proposed that the individual contribution limit 
be increased to reflect the monetary realities in 1996, and that this 
limit be indexed each year after based on the consumer price index.
  I believe that campaign finance reform should begin at home--with 
candidates pledging to abide by their own self-imposed limits. I have 
codified contribution limits in my own campaign finance reform bill; a 
bill which I believe has the effect of permitting candidates to speak 
freely while curbing the influence of special interest and out-of-State 
moneys. By limiting these nonconstituent contributions, we can increase 
communication between candidates and voters, enabling voters to make 
better, more informed decisions concerning who can best represent them.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                S. 1932

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. LIMIT ON AMOUNT OF NONCONSTITUENT CONTRIBUTIONS 
                   AND MULTICANDIDATE POLITICAL COMMITTEE 
                   CONTRIBUTIONS THAT A CANDIDATE MAY ACCEPT.

       Title III of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 
     U.S.C. 431 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the 
     following:

     ``SEC. 324. LIMIT ON AMOUNT OF NONCONSTITUENT CONTRIBUTIONS 
                   AND POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE CONTRIBUTIONS 
                   THAT A CANDIDATE MAY ACCEPT.

       ``(a) Definition.--In this section, the term 
     `nonconstituent source' means--
       ``(1) an individual that is a resident of a State other 
     than a candidate's State (in the case of a candidate for the 
     Senate) or district (in the case of a candidate for the House 
     of Representatives);
       ``(2) a multicandidate political committee that, during any 
     calendar year, accepts from residents of a candidate's State 
     contributions in an amount that is not more than 10 percent 
     of the total amount of contributions accepted by the 
     committee; and
       ``(3)(A) a separate segregated fund of a corporation that 
     does not have an office in the candidate's State (in the case 
     of a candidate for the Senate) or district (in the case of a 
     candidate for the House of Representatives); and
       ``(B) a separate segregated fund of a labor organization, 
     membership organization, or unincorporated cooperative not 
     more than 10 percent of the members of which are residents of 
     the candidate's State (in the case of a candidate for the 
     Senate) or district (in the case of a candidate for the House 
     of Representatives).
       ``(b) Prohibition.--A candidate for election to the Senate 
     or House of Representatives, and the candidate's authorized 
     committees, shall not accept for use in an election--
       ``(1) an amount of contributions from nonconstituent 
     sources that exceeds 33 percent of the total amount of 
     contributions accepted by the candidate or candidate's 
     authorized committees; or
       ``(2) an amount of contributions from multicandidate 
     political committees and separate segregated funds that 
     exceeds 20 percent of the total amount of contributions 
     accepted by the candidate or candidate's authorized 
     committees.''.

     SEC. 2. CONTROL OF CONTRIBUTIONS BY POLITICAL ACTION 
                   COMMITTEES.

       Title III of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 
     U.S.C. 431 et seq.) (as amended by section 1) is amended by 
     adding at the end the following:

     ``SEC. 325. CONTROL OF CONTRIBUTIONS BY MULTICANDIDATE 
                   POLITICAL COMMITTEES AND SEPARATE SEGREGATED 
                   FUNDS.

       ``(a) In General.--It shall be unlawful for a 
     multicandidate political committee or a separate segregated 
     fund established under section 316(b) to make a contribution 
     to or an expenditure on behalf of, or an expenditure in 
     opposition to, a candidate or candidate's authorized 
     committee, political party, or any other person unless the 
     decision to make the contribution or expenditure is made by 
     vote of the contributors to the multicandidate political 
     committee or separate segregated fund conducted in accordance 
     with the regulation issued by the Commission under subsection 
     (b).
       ``(b) Regulation.--
       ``(1) In general.--The regulation under subsection (a) 
     shall require, at a minimum, that a multicandidate political 
     committee or separate segregated fund--
       ``(A) send to each of its contributors a form, in the form 
     set forth in paragraph (2), for the contributor to return to 
     the committee or fund that states the percentages in which 
     the contributor desires the amount of contributions made by 
     the contributor to be contributed to the party organizations 
     and candidates of each political party;
       ``(B) make contributions and expenditures in accordance 
     with the percentages specified by each contributor (unless a 
     contributor specifies percentages that total more than or 
     less than 100 percent, in which case contributions and 
     expenditures shall be made to the parties for which 
     percentages are specified pro rata); and
       ``(C) maintain the forms for a period of 5 years after the 
     forms are returned to the committee and allow inspection of 
     the forms by the Commission and by contributors to the 
     committee or fund.
       ``(2) Form.--The form referred to in paragraph (1)(A) is as 
     follows:

     ``MULTICANDIDATE POLITICAL COMMITTEE/SEPARATE SEGREGATED FUND 
                     CONTRIBUTOR PARTICIPATION FORM

     ``Please indicate what percentage of your contribution you 
     want to go to the party organizations and/or candidates of 
     each of the political parties listed below*:
     ``(List all political parties that are on the official ballot 
     of the contributor's State):
     ``EXAMPLES
     ``____ Republican Party
     ``____ Democratic Party
     ``____ Libertarian Party
     ``____ Natural Law Party
     ``____ Reform Party
     ``____ American Independent Party
     ``____ Taxpayers' Party
     ``____ ________________