To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to clarify the requirements for the disclosure of identifying information within authorized campaign communications which are printed, to apply certain requirements regarding the disclosure of identifying information within communications made through the Internet, to apply certain disclosure requirements to prerecorded telephone calls, and for other purposes.

April 12, 2005

Mr. PRICE of North Carolina (for himself, Mr. CASTLE, Mr. HOLT, Mr. SIMMONS, Mr. BASS, Mrs. MALONEY, and Mr. ALLEN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House Administration

To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to clarify the requirements for the disclosure of identifying information within authorized campaign communications which are printed, to apply certain requirements regarding the disclosure of identifying information within communications made through the Internet, to apply certain disclosure requirements to prerecorded telephone calls, and for other purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the `Stand By Your Internet Ad Act of 2005'.

SEC. 2. CLARIFICATION OF PRESENTATION OF IDENTIFYING INFORMATION WITHIN AUTHORIZED PRINTED CAMPAIGN COMMUNICATIONS.

(a) Application to Communications Transmitted Through the Internet- Section 318(c) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441d(c)) is amended in the matter preceding paragraph (1) by striking `subsection (a)' and inserting the following: `subsection (a), including the text of any communication described in such subsection which is transmitted through the Internet,'.

(b) Inclusion of Clearly Readable Identifying Statement- Section 318(c) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441d(c)) is amended--

(1) by striking `and' at the end of paragraph (2);

(2) by striking the period at the end of paragraph (3) and inserting `; and'; and

(3) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:

`(4) in the case of a communication described in paragraph (1) or (2) of such subsection, include a clearly readable statement identifying the candidate and stating that the candidate has approved the communication which occupies not less than 10 percent of the total area of the communication (or, in the case of the text of a communication transmitted through the Internet, is continuously visible and occupies such portion of the visible screen as may be necessary to be clearly legible based on the Internet connection of the recipient of the communication).'.

SEC. 3. APPLICATION OF DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS FOR AUDIO AND VIDEO COMMUNICATIONS TO AUDIO AND VIDEO PORTIONS OF COMMUNICATIONS TRANSMITTED THROUGH INTERNET.

Section 318(d)(1) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441d(d)(1)) is amended by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:

`(C) AUDIO AND VIDEO PORTIONS OF COMMUNICATIONS TRANSMITTED THROUGH INTERNET- In the case of a communication described in paragraph (1) or (2) of subsection (a) which is transmitted through the Internet--

`(i) any audio portion of the communication shall meet the requirements applicable under subparagraph (A) to communications transmitted through radio; and

`(ii) any video portion of the communication shall meet the requirements applicable under subparagraph (B) to communications transmitted through television.'.

SEC. 4. DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS FOR CAMPAIGN COMMUNICATIONS MADE THROUGH PRERECORDED TELEPHONE CALLS.

(a) Application of Requirements- Section 318(a) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441d(a)) is amended by inserting after `mailing,' each place it appears the following: `telephone call which consists in substantial part of a prerecorded audio message,'.

(b) Treatment as Audio Communication- Section 318(d)(1) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 441d(d)(1)), as amended by section 3, is further amended by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:

`(D) PRERECORDED TELEPHONE CALLS- Any communication described in paragraph (1) or (2) of subsection (a) which is a telephone call which consists in substantial part of a prerecorded audio message shall meet the requirements applicable under subparagraph (A) to communications transmitted through radio, except that the statement required under such subparagraph shall be made at the beginning of the telephone call.'.

SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE.

The amendments made by this Act shall apply with respect to communications made on or after the expiration of the 90-day period which begins on the date of the enactment of this Act.

END