,i #aacth ,,congress #ast ,session ,h4 ,r4 #acch ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of ,,representatives ,march #ba1 #bjac ,mr4 ,dingell 7for himself1 ,mr4 ,conyers1 ,mrs4 ,carolyn ,b4 ,maloney of ,new ,york1 ,ms4 ,de,gette1 ,ms4 ,slaughter1 ,mr4 ,ellison1 ,mr4 ,himes1 ,ms4 ,edwards1 ,ms4 ,de,lauro1 ,mr4 ,polis1 and ,ms4 ,norton7 introduced the following bill2 which was referred to the ,committee on ,house ,administration ,a ,,bill ,to amend the ,federal ,election ,campaign ,act of #aiga to reassert the authority of ,congress to restrict spending by corporations and labor organizations on campaigns for elections for ,federal office1 and for other purposes4 #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited as the ,restoring ,confidence in ,our ,democracy ,act4 #b4 ,findings ,congress finds the following3 7#a7 ,free and open elections are a founding principle of our republican form of government4 7#b7 ,it is incumbent upon ,congress to ensure that elections in the ,united ,states are free of corruption and the appearance of corruption4 7#c7 ,the free flow of money in politics1 as exemplified by the current state of affairs1 is corrupting and will distort and disfigure our democracy4 7#d7 ,excessively high levels of spending on elections is fundamentally damaging to the public perception of our government1 and threatens the fairness and integrity of our democracy4 7#e7 ,congress has a constitutional duty to guarantee a republican form of government for the ,states4 7#f7 ,spending record sums of money on our elections threatens the continued existence of our republican form of government4 7#g7 ,allowing unlimited spending on elections means the wealthy can crowd out other important voices in our political debates1 thereby giving ,american citizens fewer sources of information4 7#h7 ,federalist #eb states that ,congress ought to be dependent on the people alone4 7#i7 ,unlimited spending in our elections violates this principle and corrupts our government by making elected officials more dependent on donors than the people4 7#aj7 ,this dependency corruption gives the wealthy a greater say in our democracy than the average citizen1 which is contrary to the intent of the ,founding ,fathers4 7#aa7 ,congress has the inherent power to ensure that elections for the government are conducted in a fair1 honorable1 and proper way to preserve our democracy and ensure the people have confidence in our elections and system of government4 7#ab7 ,congress has the authority to regulate campaign expenditures to promote integrity1 prevent corruption1 and ensure the public has trust in our election system1 going back to the ,tillman ,act of #aijg1 which prohibits corporations from making direct contributions to political campaigns4 7#ac7 ,in #aidg1 ,congress passed the ,taft-,hartley ,act1 which first prohibited corporations and labor unions from making independent expenditures in support or opposition to candidates for ,federal office4 7#ad7 ,the ,watergate scandal1 and the outrageous expenditure of campaign funds in that scandal1 did great damage to public confidence in government and demanded a legislative response to restore this confidence4 7#ae7 ,congress rewrote the ,federal ,elections ,campaign ,act 7,,feca7 in #aigd as a response to ,watergate and public calls for increased regulation of our campaign system4 ,this law established the ,federal ,elections ,commission 7,,fec7 and instituted limits on campaign contributions which remain law to this day4 7#af7 ,in #aigf1 the ,supreme ,court issued a decision in the case of ,buckley v4 ,valeo which first established the principle that money equals speech1 in addition to overturning ,,feca limitations on independent expenditures4 7#ag7 ,the ,buckley decision also stated that ,the constitutional power of ,congress to regulate ,federal elections is well established and is not questioned by any of the parties in this case4 7#ah7 ,equating money with speech can result in the wealthy having an undue influence on our elections at the expense of the great majority of the ,american people4 7#ai7 ,in #aiij1 the ,supreme ,court issued a decision in the case of ,austin v4 ,michigan ,chamber of ,commerce which upheld a ,michigan law banning corporations from making independent expenditures in elections4 7#bj7 ,in ,austin1 the ,court found that ,corporate wealth can unfairly influence elections when it is deployed in the form of independent expenditures4 7#ba7 ,austin also established that the government has an anti-distortion interest in regulating political speech4 ,the ,court held that there is a compelling government interest in preventing the corrosive and distorting effects of immense aggregations of wealth that are accumulated with the help of the corporate form and that have little or no correlation to the public's support for the corporation's political ideas4 7#bb7 ,in #bjjb1 ,congress enacted the ,bipartisan ,campaign ,reform ,act1 which among other things banned political parties from raising so-called soft money4 7#bc7 ,spending in presidential elections has risen to excessive levels over the last decade1 which threatens not only our government1 but the integrity of our elections4 7#bd7 ,in the #bjjj presidential election1 both of the major party candidates spent #cdc4a million combined4 ,this number climbed to #gag4i million in the #bjjd presidential election4 7#be7 ,in the #bjjh presidential election1 ,barack ,obama's campaign spent #gdj4f million1 more than both major party candidates combined in the previous election4 7#bf7 ,following the ,supreme ,court's decision in the case of ,citizens ,united v4 ,,fec1 there was a massive increase in outside political spending1 which threatens to undermine the legitimacy of our political system4 7#bg7 ,the ,,fec estimates that #g billion was spent on the #bjab elections4 7#bh7 ,according to the ,wall ,street ,journal1 so-called ,super ,p,a,cs spent #efg1dih1fbh on the #bjab elections4 7#bi7 ,super ,p,a,cs spent #ih million during the week of ,october #bi1 #bjab1 alone4 7#cj7 ,donations to ,super ,p,a,cs are dominated by the wealthy4 ,in #bjab1 #eh4i percent of donations to ,super ,p,a,cs were #a million or higher1 and came from only #aei donors4 7#ca7 ,super ,p,a,cs often accept funds from nonprofits which are allowed to conceal the source of their donations1 thereby avoiding transparency and greater public scrutiny of their actions and motivations4 7#cb7 ,thirty-one percent of outside spending in the #bjab elections was not able to be traced to its original sources1 which decreases accountability and transparency1 threatens public confidence in our elected officials and our elections1 and has a distorting effect on our elections4 7#cc7 ,corporations1 now freed to spend as much as they like to influence elections1 accounted for #ab percent of contributions to ,super ,,pacs in #bjab1 thereby helping to give corporate interests a greater voice in our political system than the average ,americans4 7#cd7 ,a ,january #bjab poll by ,rasmussen says that #eh percent of ,americans believe the ,united ,states needs new campaign finance laws4 7#ce7 ,a ,january #bjab poll by ,democracy ,corps found that #ee percent of ,americans oppose the ,citizens ,united decision4 ,eighty percent of voters also believe there should be limits on the money spent in campaigns4 7#cf7 ,an ,october #bjab poll by ,bannon ,communications ,research found that #eb percent of ,americans are in favor of banning corporate political spending1 #hi percent of ,americans believe there is too much money in politics1 and #ff percent believe that money is the root of all evil in politics4 7#cg7 ,after considering these findings1 ,congress is concerned by the unfairness of unlimited spending in elections and is taking this action to protect our democracy and our electoral system4 7#ch7 ,reinstituting the ban on corporate political expenditures and placing a limit on the amount of donations to ,super ,p,a,cs will help restore faith and trust in our democracy and will respond to calls by the ,american people for vigorous campaign finance reform and effective laws to protect our free democratic system of elections4 #c4 ,prohibition of corporate and labor disbursements for electioneering communications 7a7 ,prohibition 7#a7 ,in general ,section #caf7;b77#b7 of the ,federal ,election ,campaign ,act of #aiga 7#b ,u4,s4,c4 #dda;b7b77#b77 is amended by inserting or for any applicable electioneering communication before 1 but shall not include4 7#b7 ,applicable electioneering communication ,section #caf of such ,act 7#b ,u4,s4,c4 #dda;b7 is amended by adding at the end the following3 7c7 ,rules relating to electioneering communications 7#a7 ,applicable electioneering communication ,for purposes of this section1 the term applicable electioneering communication means an electioneering communication 7within the meaning of section #cjd7;f77#c77 which is made by any entity described in subsection 7a7 of this section or by any other person using funds donated by an entity described in subsection 7a7 of this section4 7#b7 ,exception ,notwithstanding paragraph 7#a71 the term applicable electioneering communication does not include a communication by a section #eja7;c77#d7 organization or a political organization 7as defined in section #ebg7;e77#a7 of the ,internal ,revenue ,code of #aihf7 made under section #cjd7;f77#b77;,e7 or 7,f7 of this ,act if the communication is paid for exclusively by funds provided directly by individuals who are ,united ,states citizens or nationals or lawfully admitted for permanent residence 7as defined in section #aja7;a77#bj7 of the ,immigration and ,nationality ,act 7#h ,u4,s4,c4 #aaja7;a77#bj7774 ,for purposes of the preceding sentence1 the term provided directly by individuals does not include funds the source of which is an entity described in subsection 7a7 of this section4 7#c7 ,special operating rules 7,a7 ,definition under paragraph 7#a7 ,an electioneering communication shall be treated as made by an entity described in subsection 7a7 if an entity described in subsection 7a7 directly or indirectly disburses any amount for any of the costs of the communication4 7,b7 ,exception under paragraph 7#b7 ,a section #eja7;c77#d7 organization that derives amounts from business activities or receives funds from any entity described in subsection 7a7 shall be considered to have paid for any communication out of such amounts unless such organization paid for the communication out of a segregated account to which only individuals can contribute1 as described in section #cjd7;f77#b77;,e74 7#d7 ,definitions and rules ,for purposes of this subsection-- 7,a7 the term section #eja7;c77#d7 organization means-- 7i7 an organization described in section #eja7;c77#d7 of the ,internal ,revenue ,code of #aihf and exempt from taxation under section #eja7;a7 of such ,code2 or 7ii7 an organization which has submitted an application to the ,internal ,revenue ,service for determination of its status as an organization described in clause 7i72 and 7,b7 a person shall be treated as having made a disbursement if the person has executed a contract to make the disbursement4 7#e7 ,coordination with internal revenue code ,nothing in this subsection shall be construed to authorize an organization exempt from taxation under section #eja7;a7 of the ,internal ,revenue ,code of #aihf to carry out any activity which is prohibited under such ,code4 7#f7 ,special rules for targeted communications 7,a7 ,exception does not apply ,paragraph 7#b7 shall not apply in the case of a targeted communication that is made by an organization described in such paragraph4 7,b7 ,targeted communication ,for purposes of subparagraph 7,a71 the term targeted communication means an electioneering communication 7as defined in section #cjd7;f77#c77 that is distributed from a television or radio broadcast station or provider of cable or satellite television service and1 in the case of a communication which refers to a candidate for an office other than ,president or ,vice ,president1 is targeted to the relevant electorate4 7,c7 ,definition ,for purposes of this paragraph1 a communication is targeted to the relevant electorate if it meets the requirements described in section #cjd7;f77,c74 4 7#c7 ,effective date ,the amendments made by this subsection shall take effect immediately after the enactment of subsection 7b74 7b7 ,conforming amendment ,sections #bjc and #bjd of the ,bipartisan ,campaign ,reform ,act of #bjjb 7,public ,law #ajg-aee7 are repealed1 and each provision of law amended by such sections is restored as if such sections had not been enacted into law4 #d4 ,prohibition of independent expenditures by corporations and labor organizations ,section #caf7;b77#b7 of the ,federal ,election ,campaign ,act of #aiga 7#b ,u4,s4,c4 #dda;b7b77#b77 is amended by striking includes a contribution or expenditure1 and inserting includes a contribution or expenditure 7including an independent expenditure714 #e4 ,application of contribution limits and source prohibitions to contributions made to super pacs 7a7 ,application of limits ,section #cae7;a7 of the ,federal ,election ,campaign ,act of #aiga 7#b ,u4,s4,c4 #dda;a7a77 is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph3 7#i7 ,for purposes of the limitations imposed by paragraphs 7#a77;,c71 7#b77;,c71 and 7#c77;,b7 on the amount of contributions which may be made by any person to a political committee1 a contribution made to a political committee which accepts donations or contributions that do not comply with the contribution or source prohibitions under this ,act 7or made to any account of a political committee which is established for the purpose of accepting such donations or contributions7 shall be treated in the same manner as a contribution made to any other political committee to which such paragraphs apply4 4 7b7 ,effective date ,the amendment made by subsection 7a7 shall apply with respect to contributions made on or after the date of the enactment of this ,act4 #f4 ,severability ,if any provision of this ,act or amendment made by this ,act1 or the application of a provision or amendment to any person or circumstance1 is held to be unconstitutional1 the remainder of this ,act and amendments made by this ,act1 and the application of the provisions and amendment to any person or circumstance1 shall not be affected by the holding4