Eliminating Taxpayer Financing of Presidential Elections

Floor Speech

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Mr. Walz of Minnesota moves to recommit the bill H.R. 359 to the Committee on Ways and Means with instructions to report the same to the House forthwith with the following amendment:

Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the following:

SECTION 1. CAMPAIGN DISCLOSURE AGREEMENT.

(a) Disqualified Entity.--Section 9003 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:

``(f) Disqualified Entity.--For purposes of this section--

``(1) IN GENERAL.--The term `disqualified entity' means any entity that has not entered into a campaign disclosure agreement with the Department of the Treasury.

``(2) CAMPAIGN DISCLOSURE AGREEMENT.--The term `campaign disclosure agreement' means an agreement in which the entity agrees--

``(A) to file disclosure statements with the Internal Revenue Service at such times, and covering such periods, as are required under section 527(j)(2),

``(B) with respect to its receipt of payment for electioneering communications from covered persons on or after January 1, 2013, to include within those disclosure statements--

``(i) the amount, date, and purpose of each payment and the name and address of the covered person making the payment, and

``(ii) the name and address of each disqualified contributor making a payment on or after January 1, 2013, to the covered person (including the occupation and name of employer of such individual) and the amount and date of each payment, and

``(C) to pay damages to the Secretary for failure to comply with these disclosure requirements in an amount equal to 35 percent of the amount that was required to be disclosed.

``(3) DISQUALIFIED CONTRIBUTOR.--The term `disqualified contributor' means--

``(A) any person who makes payments (directly or indirectly) of more than $100,000 to the covered person during the calendar year, and

``(B) any foreign individual, foreign corporation, or foreign country who makes any payment (directly or indirectly) to the covered person during the calendar year.

A payment that is deposited into an account of a covered person that is not available for electioneering communications shall not be taken into account for purposes of the preceding sentence.

``(4) ELECTIONEERING COMMUNICATION.--The term `electioneering communication' means a communication that--

``(A) refers to a clearly identified candidate for any Federal public office,

``(B) reflects a view on such candidate or on the record of such candidate, and

``(C) is made within 30 days of a general election or a primary election.

``(5) COVERED PERSON.--

``(A) IN GENERAL.--The term `covered person' means any of the following persons:

``(i) Any foreign individual, corporation, partnership, limited liability company, limited liability partnership, trust or similar entity or foreign country.

``(ii) Any domestic corporation, partnership, limited liability company, limited liability partnership, trust or similar entity.

``(iii) Any person described in section 501(c) and exempt from tax under section 501(a).

``(B) EXCEPTION.--Subparagraph (A) shall not apply to any person if the aggregate payments for electioneering communications during the calendar year by such person does not exceed $25,000.''.

(b) Condition.--Subsection (a) of section 9003 of such Code is amended by striking ``and'' at the end of paragraph (2), by striking the period at the end of paragraph (3) and inserting ``, and'', and by inserting after paragraph (3) the following new paragraph:

``(4) agree to not make any payment to a disqualified entity for print, broadcast, cable, or satellite communications.''.

(c) Preservation of Funds for Presidential Candidates.--Subsection (b) of section 9006 of such Code is amended to read as follows:

``(b) Payments From the Fund.--Amounts in the Presidential Election Campaign Fund shall be available, as provided by appropriation Acts, solely for making expenditures to eligible candidates of a political party. No expenditures may be made from such fund unless the Secretary of the Treasury has receipt of a certification from the Commission under section 9005.''.

(d) Preservation of Fund for Presidential Primaries.--Subsection (b) of section 9037 of such Code is amended to read as follows:

``(b) Payments From the Matching Payment Account.--Amounts in the Presidential Primary Matching Payment Account shall be available, as provided by appropriation Acts, solely for making transfers to the candidate. No amount may be transferred from the account unless the Secretary has receipt of a certification from the Commission under section 9036, but not before the beginning of the matching payment period. In making such transfers to candidates of the same political party, the Secretary shall seek to achieve an equitable distribution of funds available under subsection (a), and the Secretary shall take into account, in seeking to achieve an equitable distribution, the sequence in which such certifications are received.''.

(e) Preservation of Funds for National Committee.--Paragraph (3) of section 9008(b) of such Code is amended to read as follows:

``(3) Payments.--Amounts in the appropriate account maintained under subsection (a) shall be available, as provided by appropriation Acts, solely for making expenditures to the national committee of a major party or minor party which elects to receive its entitlement under this subsection. Such payments shall be available for use by such committee in accordance with the provisions of subsection (c). No expenditures may be made from such fund unless the Secretary of the Treasury has receipt of a certification from the Commission under subsection (g).''.

(f) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act.

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I thank the gentleman. And on the morning after the night we sat here together and listened to the President talk about us working together, we have got a motion to recommit that I think we can all agree upon. As the gentleman spoke about something very uniquely American in our election process, it is that humble idea of someone like myself, a school teacher, football coach, and soldier, with no political connections and no personal wealth, can actually get their friends together and win elections to Congress.

The idea that we should have our elections be influenced by undisclosed foreign money runs counter to everything in this Nation's history. This piece of legislation was a bipartisan piece of legislation that was meant to curb the excesses in the post-Watergate era. It has been used by every President, including Ronald Reagan, to make sure that our election processes were fair.

So we offer this motion to recommit in the spirit of last night's speech, something we can agree upon together, that foreign corporations should not buy our elections, that any American wishing to run for office should do so on merit and should do so with transparency and the knowledge of the American public.

I encourage my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, support this very simple motion to recommit to keep our elections fair, to keep the American people informed, and to keep this democracy in our hands, not foreign corporations.

I yield back the balance of my time.

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