TranslatePolitics.com

Recent debates

8 latest topics

09-03 Protect Economic and Academic Freedom Act of 2026 13 statements 09-03 Moment of Silence in Honor of the 25th Anniversary of September 11 2 statements 09-03 Honoring Former U.S. Representative Charles Hatcher of Georgia 2 statements 09-03 Recognizing Firefighters from California's Third Congressional District 17 statements 09-02 Saluting White Plains Beautification Foundation 2 statements 09-02 Celebrating Rural Lawyer Julie Bear 4 statements 09-02 Operation Midway Blitz Anniversary 2 statements 09-02 Catherine Watts Celebrates 100th Birthday 4 statements

House of Representatives

Fec Administrative Improvements Act

2026-07-13 Issue 113 Showing 1–4 of 4

A bill to make some administrative updates to how the FEC runs elections. Both parties agreed it was a good bipartisan effort to bring campaign finance laws into the digital age.

Official Congressional Record ↗

Bryan Steil

Republican

“I want this bill to pass. I want the government to change election rules. The government should require electronic reports. The government should allow political groups to spend money in more ways.”

Bryan Steil

Republican

“I want this bill to pass. The government should change rules about campaign spending. I want to thank my friends. The election system is old. We should change it. The changes will help the FEC. Groups can spend money in new ways. The government should pass this bill now.”

Official Congressional Record

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 This bill implements several recommendations from the FEC to modernize their administrative operations and reduce outdated administrative burdens.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

View on ourcommons.ca ↗

Joseph D. Morelle

Democrat 5:20 p.m.

“I want this bill to pass. Our election rules are old. We should change the rules. I want to thank my friends. They work hard on election issues. One friend is a leader. The other friend is also a leader. The FEC asked for this bill. They want us to change the rules. The bill will make it easier to file election reports. The reports should be electronic, not on paper. Electronic reports are faster. That's good for the public. Voters should know where campaign money comes from. The Supreme Court says this is important. The bill will also change how committees spend money. I care about modernization. I want everyone to vote for this bill. I hope the Senate and the President support the bill. That's all. I yield my time.”

Official Congressional Record

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.

View on ourcommons.ca ↗

Bryan Steil

Republican 5:20 p.m.

“I thank my friend for working on this bill with me. We need to change our election rules. This bill does that. I want everyone to vote for this bill.”

What they said. What they meant.

Recent debates