FEC Administrative Improvements Act

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

Madam Speaker, I agree again with my colleague and friend Chairman Steil, this is a meaningful, bipartisan bill to ensure that the public receives important information about election-relevant communications.

I was happy to cointroduce this bill with several members of the Committee on House Administration, both Republican and Democratic. I thank Chairman Steil for his leadership and Congresswoman Lee and Congresswoman Sewell for their work on this.

As people may know, Congresswoman Lee and Congresswoman Sewell, in particular, work hard on election administration issues as the leaders of the committee's Elections Subcommittee. As it becomes harder to find common ground in Congress, I commend my cosponsors for their work on this and other issues important to the work at hand.

The bill we are considering today, the FEC Administrative Improvements Act, would amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to require campaign committees to file their electioneering communications with the Federal Elections Commission in electronic format as opposed to on paper.

As the FEC has informed Congress: ``Compared to data from paper reports, data from electronically filed reports is received, processed, and disseminated more easily and efficiently, resulting in the better use of resources.'' I couldn't agree more.

In contrast, paper filings take days to be available to provide critical information for the public, so modernizing our campaign disclosure functions is a commonsense reform for those of us who live in the 21st century, and we are grateful we have an opportunity to do that.

However, there are substantive reasons to make this change as well. The Supreme Court has long recognized that disclosure requirements are vitally important: Disclosure provides the electorate with information as to where political campaign money comes from and how it is spent.

American voters are best equipped to choose leaders when they have the most fulsome, up-to-date information at hand. The FEC Administrative Improvements Act would also tackle another bipartisan legislative recommendation from the FEC, allowing committees to make disbursement in ways other than by check.

The Committee on House Administration--and I think I speak for colleagues on both sides--cares deeply about modernization. Modernizing Congress has, in recent years, driven thoughtful and bipartisan work by committee members to improve the function of this institution.

Our interest in modernization extends to the FEC, so H.R. 8738 will bring the FEC into the modern era and aid every American voter as they exercise their fundamental rights.

Given the bipartisan agreement on the bill, I hope we can move it rapidly from the floor to the Senate and then to the President's desk for signature.

Again, I thank my colleague Chairman Steil for his courtesies and leadership on this.

Madam Speaker, very simply, I thank the chairman and my colleagues. I look forward to what I hope is a unanimous or near-unanimous vote in the House on this important legislation.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 8738) to amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to require electronic report filing for persons making certain electioneering communications and to permit political committees to make disbursements other than by check.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise in strong support of H.R. 8738, the FEC Administrative Improvements Act.

I thank my friends, Ranking Member Morelle and the chair of our Subcommittee on Elections, Representative Lee from Florida, for their leadership on this legislation.

Our campaign finance system wasn't designed for the digital age. That extends to the statutes governing the work of the Federal Elections Commission.

This bill implements several recommendations from the FEC to modernize their administrative operations and reduce outdated administrative burdens.

The bill expands the electronic filing requirements to electioneering communications reports and allows political committees to make disbursements by methods other than checks.

Madam Speaker, the work of the FEC is important to our Federal election system. This bill improves their efficiency and modernizes our campaign finance system for the digital age.

I urge immediate passage of the legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague, the ranking member, Mr. Morelle, for his work on this legislation. There is a lot of work to be done to update our campaign finance laws for the digital age, and this is an important piece of legislation. I encourage all my colleagues to vote in favor of H.R. 8738. I yield back the balance of my time.