American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, Barr, Hon. Joseph W., Under Secretary of the Treasury; accompanied by tractors__ Cannon, Hon. Howard W., a U.S. Senator from the State of Nevada. Lobel, Martin, attorney, Lobel & Lobel, Boston, Mass. Long, Hon. Russell B., U.S. Senator from the State of Lousiana_. Morton, Hon. Thruston B., a U.S. Senator from the State of Kentucky.. Smathers, Hon. George A., a U.S. Senator from the State of Florida, statement read by Tom Vail, chief counsel, Senate Committee on Fin- COMMUNICATIONS Republication National Committee, statement of Fred G. Scribner, Republican State Committee of Pennsylvania, statement of Craig Truax__ Scott, Hon. Hugh, a U.S. Senator from the State of Pennsylvania, state- III The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:05 a.m., in room 2221, New Senate Office Building, Senator Russell B. Long (chairman) presiding. Present: Senators Long, Anderson, Hartke, Williams, Curtis, and Morton. The CHAIRMAN. The committee will come to order. This morning, we will have testimony on the proper methods of financing political campaigns. On two prior occasions, this committee has initiated amendments to the Internal Revenue Code to disallow deductions for certain indirect political contributions. I believe in both cases it was on the motion of the Senator from Delaware, Senator Williams. This has made it continually more difficult for political parties to raise funds that they need to organize and carry out their campaigns. Several methods of coping with the problems of campaigning have been suggested. Most of these deal with tax incentives or tax credits, or a combination of both. Another approach has been suggested which would permit direct Federal payments to reimburse political parties for their expenses related to electing a President. Today and tomorrow, we will take testimony on all these approaches. Senator Morton will testify for one plan; Senator Clark will testify for another; Senator Cannon for another; and I will testify for a plan that I have introduced myself. If it would be agreeable to my ranking member, I would like to ask Senator Williams to act as chairman while I testify for my own plan. Senator WILLIAMS (presiding). Then, I will have the Treasury Department testify for the Johnson-Williams plan. (S. 3496, Amendment 732 to H.R. 13103, S. 2006, S. 2965, and S. 3014 follow :) [S. 3496, 89th Cong., 2d sess.] A BILL To authorize the appropriation of funds from the Treasury to help defray the costs of presidential campaigns Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That this Act may be cited as the "Presidential Campaign Fund Act of 1966". SEC. 2. When used in this Act DEFINITIONS (a) The term "political party" means any political party which presents a candidate for election as the President of the United States. (b) The term "presidential campaign" means the political campaign held every fourth year for the election of presidential and vice-presidential electors. 1 (c) The term "presidential election" means the election of presidential electors. (d) The term "administrator" means the Comptroller General of the United States. ADVANCED PAYMENTS FROM UNITED STATES TREASURY SEC. 3. (a) On September 1, September 15, October 1, and October 15 of the presidential campaign year, the Secretary of the Treasury shall pay into the treasury of any political party which has complied with the provisions of section 5 an amount (subject to the limitation in section 5(b)) equal to 20 percentum of the amount computed under subsection (b), (b) The amount referred to in subsection (a) for any political party shall be computed as follows: (1) multiply $1 times the popular vote cast in the preceding presidential election for the candidate of such party for the Presidency; (2) multiply $1 times the popular vote cast in the preceding presidential election for the candidate who received the next to the highest number of votes; (3) take the figure in paragraph (1) or (2), whichever is the lower, and subtract $1,500,000. The resulting figure is the amount to which the 20 per centum will be applied for purposes of subsection (a). POST ELECTION PAYMENT FROM UNITED STATES TREASURY SEC. 4. On December 1 of the presidential election year, the Secretary of the Treasury shall pay into the treasury of any political party which has complied with the provisions of section 5 an amount (subject to the limitation in section (5)) computed as follows: (1) multiply $1 times the popular vote cast for its presidential candidate in the presidential election; (2) multiply $1 times one-half if the total popular vote cast for all presidential candidates in the presidential election; (3) take the figure reached in paragraph (1) or (2), whichever is the lower, and subtract the sum of $1,500,000 plus amounts previously received as advance payments from the Secretary of the Treasury under section 3. CERTIFICATIONS BY TREASURER OF POLITICAL PARTY SEC. 5. (a) No payment shall be made under this Act into the treasury of a political party unless the treasurer of the party has certified the total amount spent or incurred (prior to the date of the certification) in carrying on the presidential campaign, and has furnished such other information as may be requested by the administrator. (b) No amount shall be paid under section 3 or 4 to the treasury of a political party in an amount which, when added to previous payments made out of the Treasury to such political party, exceed the amount spent or incurred by the party in carrying on the presidential campaign. (c) The administrator shall certify to the Secretary of the Treasury the amounts payable to any party under sections 3 and 4 of this Act. The administrator's determination as to the popular vote received by any candidate shall be final and not subject to review. CREATION OF ADVISORY BOARD SEC. 6. There is hereby created an advisory board to be known as the Presidential Campaign Fund Board to counsel and assist the administrator in the performance of the duties imposed upon him under this Act. The Board shall be composed of two members designated by each political party whose candidate for the presidency received a popular vote of more than ten million at the last presidential election, and three additional members selected by the political party representatives upon the concurrence of the majority thereof. The term of the first members of the Board shall expire on the sixtieth day after the date of the first presidential election following the date of the enactment of this Act and the term of subsequent members of the Board shall begin on the sixty-first day after the date of a presidential election and expire on the sixtieth day following the date of the subsequent presidential election. The Board shall select a Chairman from among its members. Members of the Board, while attending meetings or conferences of the Board shall be entitled to receive compensation at the rate of $75 per diem, including travel time, and while away from their homes or regular places of business they may be allowed travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, as authorized by section 73b-2 of title 5 of the United States Code, for persons in the Government service employed intermittently. APPROPRIATIONS AUTHORIZED SEC. 7. There are hereby authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary and appropriate for the carrying out of the provisions and purposes of this Act. AMENDMENT No. 732 [H.R. 13103, 89th Cong., 2d sess.] AMENDMENT Intended to be proposed by Mr. WILLIAMS of Delaware to H.R. 13103, an Act to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 to provide equitable tax treatment for foreign investment in the United States, viz; At the end of the bill add the following new section: SEC. 11. DEDUCTION OF POLITICAL CONTRIBUTIONS. (a) Part VII of subchapter B of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 (relating to additional itemized deductions for individuals) is amended by redesignating section 218 as 219, and by inserting after section 217 the following new section: "SEC. 218. POLITICAL CONTRIBUTIONS. "(a) ALLOWANCE OF DEDUCTION.--In the case of an individual, there shall be allowed as a deduction an amount equal to so much of the political contributions as does not exceed $100, payment of which is made by the taxpayer within the taxable year, but only if, at the time the deduction is claimed, the committee or individual who received the contribution has complied with all provisions of Federal, State, or local law which require the reporting of the receipt of such contribution. In the case of a joint return of a husband and wife under section 6013 the deductions shall not exceed $100, and in the case of a separate return by a married individual the deduction shall not exceed $50. "(b) VERIFICATION.-The deduction under subsection (a) shall be allowed, with respect to any political contribution, only if such political contribution is verified in such manner as the Secretary or his delegate shall prescribe by regulations. "(c) DEFINITION OF POLITICAL CONTRIBUTION.-For purposes of this section the term 'political contribution' means a contribution or donation of money to— "(1) an individual who is a candidate for any Federal, State, or local elective public office in any general, special, or primary election, or in any convention of a political party described in paragraph (2), for use by such individual to further his candidacy; or "(2) any National, State, or local committee of a political party which had a candidate for the Presidency at the last election of presidential electors, or has a candidate for the Presidency if there is an election of presidential electors during the current taxable year, and such candidate received or receives, as the case may be, more than 10 percent of the popular vote cast in such election, if such committee accepts contributions or makes expenditures for the purpose of influencing or attempting to influence the selection, nomination, or election of any candidate described in paragraph (1). "(d) CROSS REFERENCE. "For disallowance of deduction to estates and trusts, see section 642(i)." (b) The table of sections for such part VII is amended by striking out the last item and inserting in lieu thereof the following: "Sec. 218. Political contributions. "Sec. 219. Cross references." (c) Section 62 of such Code (relating to definition of adjusted gross income) is amended by inserting after paragraph (8) the following paragraph: "(9) POLITICAL CONTRIBUTIONS.-The deduction allowed by section 218." |