H.R. 9488House118th Congress (2023-2025)Passed House

SHIELD Act

AI-Generated Summary

Updated January 20, 2026 at 6:39 PM UTC

The SHIELD Act amends the Federal Election Campaign Act to tighten security and transparency for online political donations. It requires political committees to collect the card verification value (CVV) and, for donors outside the United States, additional identification before accepting credit or debit card contributions. The bill also bans the use of gift cards for federal election contributions and makes it illegal to help someone donate in another person’s name. These rules apply to any political committee that receives internet‑based contributions for federal office elections.

Key Provisions

Political committees must obtain the donor’s card verification value (CVV) when accepting online credit or debit card contributions
Donors with a non‑U.S. mailing address must provide a U.S. address used for voter registration or a copy of a passport, permanent‑resident card, or comparable ID
For recurring contributions or stored card information, the CVV and ID are required only for the first contribution using that card
Committees must forward donor name, address, and contribution details to the treasurer within 10 days, and the treasurer must keep records and refund contributions if compliance cannot be verified within 30 days
Gift certificates or store gift cards may not be accepted as contributions to political committees
It is unlawful for anyone to knowingly direct, help, or assist another person in making a contribution in someone else’s name
The Federal Election Commission must issue implementing regulations within 90 days and consult with payment‑card networks
The new rules take effect after a 90‑day period following the issuance of the FEC regulations

Legislative Activity

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12 earlier actions

HouseFloor Latest Action

The title of the measure was amended. Agreed to without objection.

December 16, 2024 • 2:22 PM

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HouseIntro Referral

Introduced in House

September 6, 2024

HouseIntro Referral

Referred to the House Committee on House Administration.

Committee on House Administration

September 6, 2024

HouseCommittee

Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held

Committee on House Administration

September 11, 2024

HouseCommittee

Ordered to be Reported in the Nature of a Substitute by Voice Vote.

Committee on House Administration

September 11, 2024

HouseCommittee

Reported (Amended) by the Committee on House Administration. H. Rept. 118-696.

Committee on House Administration

September 20, 2024

HouseCalendars

Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 590.

September 20, 2024

HouseFloor

Mr. Steil moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended.

December 16, 2024 • 2:12 PM

HouseFloor

Considered under suspension of the rules. (consideration: CR H7149-7151)

December 16, 2024 • 2:12 PM

HouseFloor

DEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on H.R. 9488.

December 16, 2024 • 2:12 PM

HouseFloor

Passed/agreed to in House: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote. (text: CR H7149-7150)

December 16, 2024 • 2:22 PM

HouseFloor

On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote. (text: CR H7149-7150)

December 16, 2024 • 2:22 PM

HouseFloor

Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.

December 16, 2024 • 2:22 PM

HouseFloor

The title of the measure was amended. Agreed to without objection.

December 16, 2024 • 2:22 PM

Floor Debate

2 members

What members said about H.R. 9488 on the floor

1 Republican1 Democrat

Rep. Bryan SteilR-WI-1 · Dec 16, 2024

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 9488) to amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to require the disclosure of the card verification value as a condition of…

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 9488) to amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to require the disclosure of the card verification value as a condition of the acceptance of online contributions made through the use of credit or debit cards in elections for Federal office and to prohibit the acceptance of contributions made through the use of gift cards and prepaid credit cards in such elections, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill, H.R. 9488.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, before I begin, I share my heartfelt condolences to the victims of the tragic events that took place at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wisconsin, this morning.

We continue to monitor the situation, but we are all thankful to the first responders, the men and women of law enforcement, and medical professionals who responded and answered the call. We keep all of them, the first responders, as well as the victims, in our prayers today.

Mr. Speaker, coming back to the matter at hand, across the political spectrum we are seeing an increase in online political fundraising. Serious questions have been raised related to how criminals and, in particular, international criminals can abuse our financial and campaign finance system. We must ensure online fundraising platforms cannot be abused.

Today, I am proud to support my bill, H.R. 9488, the Secure Handling of Internet Electronic Donations Act, or the SHIELD Act.

The SHIELD Act will strengthen donor verification standards for political committees. The legislation will prohibit political committees from accepting online contributions from credit or debit cards without disclosure of the card verification value, or CVV, and the billing address associated with the card.

Additionally, the SHIELD Act would prohibit political committees from accepting contributions from gift cards, like those bought over the counter.

Finally, the SHIELD Act will strengthen existing law that prohibits individuals from making a contribution in the name of someone else.

With the SHIELD Act as law, the FEC will have the authority to pursue individuals who knowingly break the law. This suggestion has been a top bipartisan legislative recommendation from the Federal Election Commission for years, and I am proud this legislation adopts that recommendation.

As chairman of the Committee on House Administration, my focus has been on increasing participation and restoring confidence in our elections.

Nearly a year ago, my committee launched an investigation into ActBlue, a major online fundraising platform.

At the time, ActBlue did not require a card verification value, or CVV. That is that three- or four-digit code on the back of the credit card that you have to use almost anytime you transact online. It wasn't used in that case in order to make political contributions.

Requiring the CVV is standard practice across the e-commerce industry to reduce fraud and prevent unlawful foreign transactions. It is a necessary security measure that ensures the person making the donation is actually in physical possession of the card.

After ActBlue confirmed that it did not require a CVV in order to make an online contribution, I sent a letter to the FEC urging them to initiate emergency rulemaking to require that political committees, like ActBlue, require the CVV for donors to make online contributions.

I also urged the FEC to initiate a rulemaking process to prohibit political committees from accepting online contributions from gift cards.

For too long now, Americans have grown weary of our election system. We are constantly hearing reports of how foreign actors are attempting to influence our elections. The SHIELD

Act makes it more difficult for foreign entities to improperly influence our elections through online fundraising platforms.

Keeping foreign funding out of our elections helps restore confidence in our election system. Greater confidence in our elections leads to greater participation, which is a good thing for the whole country.

I thank Representatives Stephanie Bice, Laurel Lee, Anthony D'Esposito, Greg Murphy, and Ken Calvert for their work and support on this important legislation. I believe that keeping foreign influence out of our elections is an idea we can all get behind.

I also thank Ranking Member Morelle, my Democratic colleagues on the Committee on House Administration, and the committee staff for working together on this important piece of legislation.

Americans deserve free, fair, and secure elections. The SHIELD Act will bring us one step closer to making sure that happens. We should pass the SHIELD Act to keep foreign funding out of our elections.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I urge passage of this bill. This is one step forward in making sure that online contribution platforms are secure from foreign interference, and I encourage passage of the bill.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Rep. Joseph D. MorelleD-NY-25 · Dec 16, 2024

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I also share my thoughts with the folks at Abundant Life Christian School, and certainly to the students, the faculty, the staff,…

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I also share my thoughts with the folks at Abundant Life Christian School, and certainly to the students, the faculty, the staff, and the parents, and keep them very close in our hearts and very much in our prayers.

Mr. Speaker, I speak this afternoon in support of H.R. 9488, as amended, the Secure Handling of Internet Electronic Donations Act, and I extend my thanks to Chairman Steil and his entire staff for their collaborative, bipartisan work to reach consensus on this bill before us.

House Democrats care deeply about the integrity of our elections. That will always be our North Star. Preventing fraudulent fundraising practices is a critical endeavor.

This bill would provide additional privacy and security protections for Americans who choose to engage in our democratic process by donating to political campaigns online. We are grateful, again, to the chair and his staff for agreeing to a number of changes we suggested that we believe were important revisions to the bill.

I will just review those briefly for the record here. For example, it includes changes to continue allowing recipients of Social Security and veterans' benefits to participate in the political process through small money donations; changes that would allow donors to continue to simplify the political donation process by scheduling recurring contributions and using saved credit card information; changes that further security without hampering innovation in how we finance our campaigns by creating special rules for contributions through digital wallets; and changes incorporating an FEC bipartisan legislative recommendation to prohibit aiding or abetting the making of a contribution in the name of another individual. This provision codifies a regulation first issued in 1989. It includes changes to give the FEC time to make appropriate regulations to ensure that payment processors and online platforms can continue to securely enable political donations.

At the same time, I will make sure Americans understand that our political contribution system is currently safe and secure. ActBlue, for example, which enables Americans to easily engage in our political process, is a platform that is already extremely secure and numerous safeguards are provided for donors.

ActBlue monitors activity on its platform to ensure that impermissible contributions are promptly identified and rejected. These existing measures prevent potential foreign contributions, protect donors from financial fraud, and identify fraudulent online behavior.

This bill supports the already safe online donation system. Americans can continue to trust that our elections, our political systems, generally speaking, are free, fair, and unaffected by fraud.

Providing credit and debit card CVVs in online contributions will help Americans feel secure in their contributions, but Americans should understand that the provision of CVVs this bill facilitates is in addition to numerous other antifraud security measures that already protect credit and debit card donors.

Regrettably, we have seen recent disinformation campaigns against the platform. Allegations of fraudulent donor schemes involving ActBlue, however, have been discredited and criticized by campaign finance experts.

These campaigns distort and often misunderstand campaign finance data.

I want all Americans to know our system is safe and that you should feel free to participate in it. That is what my support for this measure is all about today. We can further strengthen the security of our online donation systems and inspire donors who feel moved to participate.

I appreciate the work that has gone into this bill, the opportunity to ensure the record correctly reflects the secure reality of online donation systems, and I urge my colleagues to support this measure.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, as I said, we support this bill strongly here. This is a critical priority for us to make sure Americans continue to have safety and feel confident in their system.

Mr. Speaker, I urge passage of the bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Bill Text

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Engrossed in HouseIssued December 16, 2024

118th CONGRESS

2d Session

H. R. 9488

AN ACT

To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to require the disclosure of the card verification value as a condition of the acceptance of online contributions made through the use of credit or debit cards in elections for Federal office and to prohibit the acceptance of contributions made through the use of gift cards in such elections, and for other purposes.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Secure Handling of Internet Electronic Donations Act or the SHIELD Act.

Requiring disclosure of card verification value as condition of acceptance of online contributions made using credit or debit cards in Federal elections

Section 302 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30102) is amended by adding at the end the following:

(j)

(1)

No political committee shall accept any Internet credit or debit card contribution unless—

(A)

the individual or entity making such contribution is required, at the time such individual makes such contribution, to disclose the card verification value of such credit or debit card; and

(B)

(i)

the mailing address of the individual or entity is located in the United States; or

(ii)

in the case of a contribution made by an individual whose mailing address is located outside of the United States, the individual provides the committee with the applicable information described in paragraph (2).

(2)

The applicable information described in this paragraph is as follows:

(A)

In the case of an individual who is a citizen or national of the United States—

(i)

the United States mailing address the individual uses for voter registration purposes;

(ii)

a copy of the individual’s United States passport; or

(iii)

a copy of a comparable acceptable identification document, or the unique identifying number from such a document, for the individual.

(B)

In the case of a contribution made by an individual who is lawfully admitted for permanent residence, as defined by section 101(a)(20) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(20)—

(i)

a copy of the individual’s permanent resident card; or

(ii)

or a copy of a comparable acceptable identification document issued by the Department of Homeland Security.

(3)

A political committee that accepts any Internet credit or debit card contribution as a recurring contribution shall require the individual or entity making such contribution to comply with the requirements of this subsection for the first such contribution, but shall not require the individual or entity to provide the information identified in paragraphs (1) and (2) for subsequent recurring contributions made using the same credit or debit card as the initial contribution.

(4)

A political committee that stores or saves, or arranges to store or save, any credit or debit card information shall require the individual or entity making such contribution to comply with the requirements of this subsection for the first such contribution or at the time of storing or saving such information, but shall not require the individual or entity to provide the information identified in paragraphs (1) and (2) for subsequent contributions made using the same credit or debit card as the initial contribution.

(5)

An Internet credit or debit card contribution received by a political committee made through the use of a digital wallet shall be treated as complying with the requirements of this subsection.

(6)

Notwithstanding subsection (b) or (c), in the case of an Internet credit or debit card contribution—

(A)

no later than 10 days after receiving the contribution, the person who receives the contribution shall forward to the treasurer such contribution, the name and address of the person making the contribution, and the date of receipt; and

(B)

the treasurer of a political committee shall keep an account of the name and address of any person making any such contribution, together with the date and amount of such contribution by any person consistent with applicable regulations of the Commission, including regulations relating to the period for which contribution records must be preserved and the anonymity of certain contributors.

(7)

(A)

A treasurer of a political committee shall determine whether a contribution is in compliance with this subsection. If the treasurer is unable to verify that the acceptance of the contribution was not in violation of this subsection, the treasurer shall, not later than 30 days after the receipt of the contribution, refund the contribution to the individual or entity making the contribution.

(B)

If the treasurer of a political committee shows that best efforts have been used to comply with the requirements of this paragraph, the committee shall be considered in compliance with this subsection.

(8)

In this subsection—

(A)

the term Internet credit or debit card contribution means a contribution that—

(i)

is made using a credit or debit card; and

(ii)

is received through an Internet website or application; and

(B)

the term digital wallet means a software application that stores payment or account information to facilitate traditional payments that use bank and credit card information.

Prohibiting acceptance of contributions made using gift cards in Federal elections

Section 302 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30102), as amended by section 2(a), is amended by adding at the end the following:

(k)

(1)

No political committee shall knowingly accept a contribution made through the use of a gift certificate or store gift card, as such terms are defined, respectively, under section 915(a) of the Electronic Fund Transfer Act.

(2)

(A)

(B)

If the treasurer of a political committee shows that best efforts have been used to comply with the requirements of this subsection, the committee shall be considered in compliance with this subsection.

Prohibiting aiding or abetting making of contribution in the name of another

Section 320 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30122) is amended by adding at the end the following new sentence: No person shall knowingly direct, help, or assist any person in making a contribution in the name of another person..

Regulations

(a)

Deadline

Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Federal Election Commission shall promulgate regulations to carry out the amendments made by this Act.

(b)

Consultation with credit card payment networks

In promulgating regulations under subsection (a) to carry out the amendments made by this Act, the Commission shall consult with representatives of payment card networks, as defined under section 921(c) of the Electronic Fund Transfer Act (15 U.S.C. 1693o–2(c)), and other relevant stakeholders.

Effective date

The amendments made by this Act shall apply with respect to contributions made after the expiration of the 90-day period which begins on the date the Commission promulgates regulations under section 5.

Passed the House of Representatives December 16, 2024.

Clerk.