A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to increase the additional 2020 recovery rebates, to repeal section 230 of the Communications Act of 1934, and for other purposes.

II Calendar No. 644 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 5085 To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to increase the additional 2020 recovery rebates, to repeal section 230 of the Communications Act of 1934, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES DECEMBER 29, 2020 Mr. MCCONNELL introduced the following bill; which was read the first time DECEMBER 30, 2020 Read the second time and placed on the calendar A BILL To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to increase the additional 2020 recovery rebates, to repeal section 230 of the Communications Act of 1934, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. INCREASE IN 2020 RECOVERY REBATES. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 6428A of the Internal 4 Revenue Code of 1986 (as added by the COVID-related 5 Tax Relief Act of 2020) is amended— 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:24 Dec 30, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5085.PCS S5085 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 5085 PCS (1) in subsection (a)(1), by striking ‘‘$600 1 ($1,200’’ and inserting ‘‘$2,000 ($4,000’’, 2 (2) in subsection (g)(1), by striking ‘‘$600’’ 3 and inserting ‘‘$2,000’’, and 4 (3) in subsection (g)(2)— 5 (A) by striking ‘‘$1,200’’ in the matter 6 preceding subparagraph (A) and inserting 7 ‘‘$4,000’’, and 8 (B) by striking ‘‘$600’’ in subparagraph 9 (A) and inserting ‘‘$2,000’’. 10 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 11 this section shall take effect as if included in section 272 12 of the COVID-related Tax Relief Act of 2020. 13 SEC. 2. REPEAL OF SECTION 230. 14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 230 of the Communica- 15 tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 230) is repealed. 16 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 17 (1) COMMUNICATIONS ACT OF 1934.—The Com- 18 munications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 151 et seq.) is 19 amended— 20 (A) in section 223(h) (47 U.S.C. 223(h)), 21 by striking paragraph (2) and inserting the fol- 22 lowing: 23 ‘‘(2) The term ‘interactive computer service’ 24 means any information service, system, or access 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:24 Dec 30, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5085.PCS S5085 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 5085 PCS software provider that provides or enables computer 1 access by multiple users to a computer server, in- 2 cluding specifically a service or system that provides 3 access to the Internet and such systems operated or 4 services offered by libraries or educational institu- 5 tions.’’; and 6 (B) in section 231(b)(4) (47 U.S.C. 7 231(b)(4)), by striking ‘‘or section 230’’. 8 (2) TRADEMARK ACT OF 1946.—Section 45 of 9 the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to provide for the registra- 10 tion and protection of trademarks used in commerce, 11 to carry out the provisions of certain international 12 conventions, and for other purposes’’, approved July 13 5, 1946 (commonly known as the ‘‘Trademark Act 14 of 1946’’) (15 U.S.C. 1127) is amended by striking 15 the definition relating to the term ‘‘Internet’’ and in- 16 serting the following: 17 ‘‘The term ‘Internet’ means the international com- 18 puter network of both Federal and non-Federal interoper- 19 able packet switched data networks.’’. 20 (3) TITLE 17, UNITED STATES CODE.—Section 21 1401 of title 17, United States Code, is amended by 22 striking subsection (g). 23 (4) TITLE 18, UNITED STATES CODE.—Part I of 24 title 18, United States Code, is amended— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:24 Dec 30, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5085.PCS S5085 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 5085 PCS (A) in section 2257(h)(2)(B)(v), by strik- 1 ing ‘‘, except that deletion of a particular com- 2 munication or material made by another person 3 in a manner consistent with section 230(c) of 4 the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 5 230(c)) shall not constitute such selection or al- 6 teration of the content of the communication’’; 7 and 8 (B) in section 2421A— 9 (i) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘(as 10 such term is defined in defined in section 11 230(f) the Communications Act of 1934 12 (47 U.S.C. 230(f)))’’ and inserting ‘‘(as 13 that term is defined in section 223 of the 14 Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 15 223))’’; and 16 (ii) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘(as 17 such term is defined in defined in section 18 230(f) the Communications Act of 1934 19 (47 U.S.C. 230(f)))’’ and inserting ‘‘(as 20 that term is defined in section 223 of the 21 Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 22 223))’’. 23 (5) CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES ACT.—Section 24 401(h)(3)(A)(iii)(II) of the Controlled Substances 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:24 Dec 30, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5085.PCS S5085 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 5085 PCS Act (21 U.S.C. 841(h)(3)(A)(iii)(II)) is amended by 1 striking ‘‘, except that deletion of a particular com- 2 munication or material made by another person in 3 a manner consistent with section 230(c) of the Com- 4 munications Act of 1934 shall not constitute such 5 selection or alteration of the content of the commu- 6 nication’’. 7 (6) WEBB-KENYON ACT.—Section 3(b)(1) of 8 the Act entitled ‘‘An Act divesting intoxicating liq- 9 uors of their interstate character in certain cases’’, 10 approved March 1, 1913 (commonly known as the 11 ‘‘Webb-Kenyon Act’’) (27 U.S.C. 122b(b)(1)) is 12 amended by striking ‘‘(as defined in section 230(f) 13 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 14 230(f))’’ and inserting ‘‘(as defined in section 223 of 15 the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 223))’’. 16 (7) TITLE 28, UNITED STATES CODE.—Section 17 4102 of title 28, United States Code, is amended— 18 (A) by striking subsection (c); and 19 (B) in subsection (e)— 20 (i) by striking ‘‘construed to’’ and all 21 that follows through ‘‘affect’’ and inserting 22 ‘‘construed to affect’’; and 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:24 Dec 30, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5085.PCS S5085 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 5085 PCS (ii) by striking ‘‘defamation; or’’ and 1 all that follows and inserting ‘‘defama- 2 tion.’’. 3 (8) TITLE 31, UNITED STATES CODE.—Section 4 5362(6) of title 31, United States Code, is amended 5 by striking ‘‘section 230(f) of the Communications 6 Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 230(f))’’ and inserting ‘‘sec- 7 tion 223 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 8 U.S.C. 223)’’. 9 (9) NATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND IN- 10 FORMATION ADMINISTRATION ORGANIZATION ACT.— 11 Section 157 of the National Telecommunications 12 and Information Administration Organization Act 13 (47 U.S.C. 941) is amended— 14 (A) by striking subsection (e); and 15 (B) by redesignating subsections (f) 16 through (j) as subsections (e) through (i), re- 17 spectively. 18 SEC. 3. 2020 BIPARTISAN ADVISORY COMMITTEE. 19 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established within 20 the Election Assistance Commission the 2020 Bipartisan 21 Advisory Committee (referred to in this section as the 22 ‘‘Advisory Committee’’). 23 (b) MEMBERSHIP.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:24 Dec 30, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5085.PCS S5085 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 5085 PCS (1) COMPOSITION.—The Advisory Committee 1 shall be composed of 18 members of whom— 2 (A) nine shall be appointed by the leader 3 of the Republican caucus in the Senate (in con- 4 sultation with the minority leader of the House 5 of Representatives), one of which shall be ap- 6 pointed as a Co-Chairperson of the Advisory 7 Committee; and 8 (B) nine shall be appointed by the Speaker 9 of the House of Representatives (in consultation 10 with the leader of the Democratic caucus in the 11 Senate), one of which shall be appointed as a 12 Co-Chairperson of the Advisory Committee. 13 (2) REPRESENTATION.—Individuals appointed 14 to the Advisory Committee under paragraph (1) 15 shall be geographically balanced and shall include 16 representatives of Federal, State, and local govern- 17 ments and of the legal, cybersecurity, and election 18 administration and technology communities. 19 (3) DATE.—The appointments of the members 20 of the Advisory Committee shall be made not later 21 than 90 days after the date of enactment of this 22 Act. 23 (c) PERIOD OF APPOINTMENT; VACANCIES.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:24 Dec 30, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5085.PCS S5085 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 5085 PCS (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para- 1 graph (2), a member of the Advisory shall be ap- 2 pointed for the duration of the Advisory Committee. 3 (2) REMOVAL.—A member may be removed 4 from the Advisory Committee at any time at the 5 upon concurrence of both of the Co-Chairpersons of 6 the Advisory Committee. 7 (3) VACANCIES.—A vacancy in the Advisory 8 Committee— 9 (A) shall not affect the powers of the Com- 10 mission; and 11 (B) shall be filled in the same manner as 12 the original appointment. 13 (d) DUTIES.— 14 (1) STUDY.— 15 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Advisory Com- 16 mittee shall, consistent with applicable law, 17 study the integrity and administration of the 18 general election for Federal office held in No- 19 vember 2020 and make recommendations to 20 Congress to improve the security, integrity, and 21 administration of Federal elections. 22 (B) MATTERS STUDIED.—The matters 23 studied by the Advisory Committee shall in- 24 clude— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:24 Dec 30, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5085.PCS S5085 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 5085 PCS (i) the effects of the COVID–19 pan- 1 demic on the administration of the general 2 election for Federal office held in Novem- 3 ber 2020; 4 (ii) the election practices adopted by 5 Federal, State, and local governments in 6 response to the COVID–19 pandemic, in- 7 cluding— 8 (I) practices that undermined the 9 security and integrity of the election; 10 and 11 (II) practices that strengthened 12 the security and integrity of the elec- 13 tion; 14 (iii) the laws, rules, policies, activities, 15 strategies, and practices regarding mail-in 16 ballots, absentee ballots, and vote-by-mail 17 procedures, including— 18 (I) measures that undermined 19 the security and integrity of the elec- 20 tion; and 21 (II) measures that strengthened 22 the security and integrity of the elec- 23 tion; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:24 Dec 30, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5085.PCS S5085 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 5085 PCS (iv) any laws, rules, policies, activities, 1 strategies, and practices that would have 2 allowed improper or fraudulent votes to be 3 cast in such election and the scope of any 4 improper and fraudulent votes that were 5 cast in the election; and 6 (v) any laws, rules, policies, activities, 7 strategies, and practices that would have 8 allowed improper or fraudulent voter reg- 9 istration and the scope of any improper or 10 fraudulent voter registration. 11 (2) REPORTS.— 12 (A) INITIAL REPORT.—Not later than 180 13 days after the date of the enactment of this 14 Act, the Advisory Committee shall submit to 15 the Election Assistance Commission and the ap- 16 propriate Congressional committees a report on 17 the matter studied under paragraph (1). Such 18 report shall include— 19 (i) precinct-by-precinct data high- 20 lighting the number and incidence of any 21 improper and fraudulent votes that were 22 cast in the election; and 23 (ii) precinct-by-precinct data high- 24 lighting the number and incidence of any 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:24 Dec 30, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5085.PCS S5085 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 5085 PCS improper and fraudulent voter registra- 1 tions. 2 (B) RECOMMENDATIONS.— 3 (i) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 360 4 days after the date of the enactment of 5 this Act, the Advisory Committee shall 6 submit to the Election Assistance Commis- 7 sion and the appropriate Congressional 8 committees recommendations on the fol- 9 lowing: 10 (I) The best practices that should 11 be adopted by at each level of local, 12 State, and Federal Government for 13 administering elections for Federal of- 14 fice— 15 (aa) during the COVID–19 16 pandemic; and 17 (bb) during other national 18 emergencies. 19 (II) The best practices that 20 should be adopted at each level of 21 local, State, and Federal Government 22 to mitigate fraud and increase the in- 23 tegrity and security of mail-in ballots, 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:24 Dec 30, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5085.PCS S5085 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 5085 PCS absentee ballots, and vote-by-mail pro- 1 cedures. 2 (III) The best practices that 3 should be adopted at each level of 4 local, State, and Federal Government 5 to prevent improper or fraudulent 6 votes from being cast. 7 (IV) The best practices that 8 should be adopted at each level of 9 local, State, and Federal Government 10 to prevent improper voters from being 11 registered. 12 (ii) MINORITY VIEWS.—In the case of 13 any recommendation with respect to which 14 one-third or more of the Committee does 15 not concur, the report shall include a jus- 16 tification for why such members do not 17 concur. 18 (C) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COM- 19 MITTEES.—For purposes of this paragraph, the 20 term ‘‘appropriate Congressional Committees’’ 21 means— 22 (i) the Committee on Rules and Ad- 23 ministration of the Senate; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:24 Dec 30, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5085.PCS S5085 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 13 •S 5085 PCS (ii) the Committee on the Judiciary of 1 the Senate; 2 (iii) the Committee on House Admin- 3 istration of the House of Representatives; 4 and 5 (iv) the Committee on the Judiciary of 6 the House of Representatives. 7 (e) COMMISSION PERSONNEL MATTERS.— 8 (1) PROHIBITION ON COMPENSATION OF MEM- 9 BERS.—The members of the Advisory Committee 10 may not receive pay or benefits from the United 11 States Government by reason of their service on the 12 Advisory Committee. 13 (2) STAFF.— 14 (A) IN GENERAL.—Each Co-Chairperson 15 of the Advisory Committee may appoint not 16 more than 5 subject matter experts to serve as 17 staff to the Advisory Committee. 18 (B) COMPENSATION.—The Co-Chair- 19 persons of the Advisory Committee may fix the 20 compensation of the staff of the Advisor Com- 21 mittee without regard to chapter 51 and sub- 22 chapter III of chapter 53 of title 5, United 23 States Code, relating to classification of posi- 24 tions and General Schedule pay rates, except 25 VerD [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]