Innovation (Anniversary Page work) - Experiment with Wagtail templates to see if any fit a "timeline"


<div id="fec-timeline" class="timeline-container">
  <h1>Complete FEC Timeline</h1>
  <ol>
    <li>
      <time datetime="1971">1971</time>
      <details>
        <summary>
          Revenue Act of 1971 <time datetime="1971-12-10">December 10, 1971</time>
        </summary>
        <div>
          <p>Title VIII, Sec. 802 of the <a href="http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/STATUTE-85/pdf/STATUTE-85-Pg497.pdf#page=77" target="_blank">Revenue Act of 1971</a> (Pub. L. No. 92-178) provided for the establishment of public funding for presidential candidates who agreed to abide by spending limits. The new law allowed citizens to check a box on their tax forms authorizing the federal government to use tax dollars to finance Presidential campaigns in the general election. It did not apply to the 1972 election.</p>
        </div>
      </details>
    </li>
    <li>
      <time datetime="1971">1972</time>
      <details>
        <summary>
          Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 <time datetime="1972-02-07">February 7, 1972</time>
        </summary>
        <div>
          <p>The 1971 Act (Pub. L. No. 92-225) <a href="https://www.fec.gov/resources/about-fec/reports/firsttenyearsreport.pdf#page=3" target="_blank">required full reporting of campaign funds raised and spent, and provided legal framework for establishment of separate segregated funds by corporations and labor organizations</a>. It also set expenditure limits on media advertising and set limitations on spending from a candidate's personal funds (both later removed).</p>
        </div>
      </details>
    </li>

    <li>
      <time datetime="1974">1974</time>
      <details id="a19741015">
        <summary>
          Federal Election Campaign Act Amendments of 1974 <time datetime="1974-10-15">October 15, 1974</time>
        </summary>
        <div>
          <figure>
            <img src="/static/img-40th/1974_law.jpg" alt="Original Public Law Number 93-443">
          </figure>
          <p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYIS_oOZNUI" target="_blank">The 1974 Amendments to the Act (Pub. L. No. 93-443)</a> established contribution and expenditure limits for federal candidates and other political committees. It also formally established the FEC and enumerated its responsibilities and duties, which included jurisdiction in civil enforcement matters, authority to write regulations, and responsibility for monitoring compliance. The amendments also made changes to the presidential public funding program, allowing for primary candidates to receive funds and for presidential nominating conventions hosted by political parties to receive funds (Note that the convention funding provision was terminated by the Gabriella Miller Kids First Research Act in 2014).</p>
        </div>
      </details>
    </li>

    <li>
      <time datetime="1975">1975</time>
      <details id="a19750414">
        <summary>
          FEC Opens Its Doors <time datetime="1975-04-14">April 14, 1975</time>
        </summary>
        <div>
          <figure>
            <img src="/static/img-40th/PR014.jpg" alt="Original FEC building, 1325 K Street, N.W.">
            <figcaption>Original FEC building, 1325 K Street, N.W.</figcaption>
          </figure>
          <p>From 1975-1986, the FEC was located at 1325 K Street, N.W. in Washington, DC.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19750414a">
        <summary>
          First Commissioners Sworn in at White House Ceremony <time datetime="1975-04-14">April 14, 1975</time>
        </summary>
        <div>
          <figure>
            <img src="/static/img-40th/14Apr17_01.jpg" alt="(L to R) President Gerald R. Ford, Commissioners Thomas B. Curtis, Joan D. Aikens, Vernon W. Thomson, Thomas E. Harris, Neil O. Staebler, and Robert O. Tiernan">
            <figcaption>(L to R) President Gerald R. Ford, Commissioners Thomas B. Curtis, Joan D. Aikens, Vernon W. Thomson, Thomas E. Harris, Neil O. Staebler, and Robert O. Tiernan</figcaption>
          </figure>
          <p>First Commissioners sworn in at White House ceremony. The Commissioners held their first meeting later that day.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19750414b">
        <summary>
          Thomas B. Curtis (R) Serves as Commissioner <time datetime="1975-04-14">April 14, 1975</time>-<time datetime="1976-05-21"></time>May 21, 1976</time>
        </summary>
        <div>
          <figure>
            <img src="/static/img-40th/Curtis_Thomas.jpg" alt="Commissioner Thomas B. Curtis">
            <figcaption>Commissioner Thomas B. Curtis</figcaption>
          </figure>
          <p>Commissioner Thomas B. Curtis was the first FEC Chairman. A Republican from Missouri, Mr. Curtis served in the House from 1951-69. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the Senate against Democrat Thomas F. Eagleton in 1968 and 1974. A former vice president and general counsel for the "Encyclopedia Britannica," Curtis chaired the Federal Rent Advisory Board (1971-73), the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (1972-73) and the Twentieth Century Fund's Task Force on Financing Congressional Campaigns (1970). He graduated from Dartmouth College in 1932 and received his law degree from Washington University in St. Louis in 1935. He was originally appointed for six years.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19750414c">
        <summary>Neil O. Staebler (D) Serves as Commissioner <time datetime="1975-04-14">April 14, 1975</time>-<time datetime="1978-10-25">October 25, 1978</time></summary>
        <div>
          <figure>
            <img src="/static/img-40th/Staebler_Neil.jpg" alt="Commissioner Neil O. Staebler">
            <figcaption>Commissioner Neil O. Staebler</figcaption>
          </figure>
          <p>Commissioner Neil O. Staebler was the Commission's first Vice Chairman. Mr. Staebler was formerly chairman of the Michigan Democratic State Central Committee (1950-61), a member of the National Democratic Committee (1965-68 and 1972-75), a one-term Member of the House (1963-65) and a gubernatorial candidate in 1964 against former Governor George W. Romney. He served on President Kennedy's Commission on Campaign Financing in 1961 and was vice chairman of the 1970 Twentieth Century Task Force on Financing Congressional Campaigns.</p>
          <p>Mr. Staebler graduated from the University of Michigan in 1926. Originally appointed to the Commission for three years in 1975, he was reappointed upon reconstitution for a one-year term. Although Commissioner Staebler's term expired on <time datetime="1977-30-04">April 30, 1977</time>, he continued to serve actively on the Commission until the "recess appointment" of Commissioner John W. McGarry on <time datetime="1978-25-10">October 25, 1978</time>.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19750414d">
        <summary>
          Vernon W. Thomson (R) Serves as Commissioner <time datetime="1975-04-14">April 14, 1975</time>-<time datetime="1979-07-31">July 31, 1979</time>
        </summary>
        <div>
          <figure>
            <img src="/static/img-40th/Thompson_Vernon.jpg" alt="Commissioner Vernon W. Thomson">
            <figcaption>Commissioner Vernon W. Thomson</figcaption>
          </figure>
          <p>Commissioner Vernon W. Thomson, the Commission's second chairman, was a Republican Member of Congress from Wisconsin from 1961-75. Before that, he was his state's Governor (1957-59), Attorney General (1951-57) and a member of the state legislature (1935-49). He holds a B.A. from the University of Wisconsin and is a graduate of its law school. He was originally appointed for five years and for three years when the Commission was reconstituted.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19750414f">
        <summary>Robert O. Tiernan (R) Serves as Commissioner <time datetime="1975-04-14">April 14, 1975</time>-<time datetime="1981-12-17">December 17, 1981</time></summary>
        <div>
          <figure>
            <img src="/static/img-40th/Tiernan_Robert.jpg" alt="Commissioner Robert O. Tiernan">
            <figcaption>Commissioner Robert O. Tiernan</figcaption>
          </figure>
          <p>Commissioner Robert O. Tiernan was appointed to the Commission on <time datetime="1975-14-04">April 14, 1975</time>. Previously, he served as a Democratic Member of Congress from Rhode Island for eight years. He had also served as a state legislator for seven years.</p>
          <p>An attorney, Mr. Tiernan graduated from Providence College and Catholic University Law School and was admitted to practice in all federal courts, the State of Rhode Island and the District of Columbia. He also held various national and state party positions. He was one of the six original Commissioners appointed by President Gerald Ford in 1975.</p>
        </div>
      </details>
      <details id="a19750414g">
        <summary>
          Thomas E. Harris (D) Serves as Commissioner <time datetime="1975-04-14">April 14, 1975</time>-<time datetime="1986-10-14">October 14, 1986</time>
        </summary>
        <div>
          <figure><img src="/static/img-40th/Harris_Thomas.jpg" alt="Commissioner Thomas E. Harris">
            <figcaption>Commissioner Thomas E. Harris</figcaption>
          </figure>
          <p>Commissioner Thomas E. Harris, was associate general counsel to the AFL-CIO in Washington, DC, from 1955-75. He had held the same position with the CIO from 1948 until it merged with the AFL in 1955. Prior to that he was an attorney in private practice and with various government agencies. A native of Little Rock and a 1932 graduate of the University of Arkansas, Mr. Harris is a 1935 graduate of Columbia University Law School, where he was on the Law Review and was a Kent Scholar. After graduation, he clerked one year for Supreme Court Justice Harlan F. Stone. He was originally appointed for four years and upon reconstitution received a three-year appointment.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19750414e">
        <summary>
          Joan D. Aikens (R) Serves as Commissioner <time datetime="1975-14-04">April 14, 1975</time>-<time datetime="1998-18-09">September 18, 1998</time>
        </summary>
        <div>
          <figure><img src="/static/img-40th/Aikens_Joan.jpg" alt="Commissioner Joan D. Aikens">
            <figcaption>Commissioner Joan D. Aikens</figcaption>
          </figure>
          <p>Commissioner Joan D. Aikens, a Republican, was first appointed to the Commission in March 1975. Following the reconstitution of the FEC that resulted from the Supreme Court's <em>Buckley v. Valeo</em> decision, President Ford reappointed her to a five-year term. She served as FEC Chair between May 1978 and May 1979. In 1983, President Reagan reappointed Mrs. Aikens, this time for a six-year term. She was reappointed by President Bush in 1989. Mrs. Aikens served as FEC Chair between May 1978 and May 1979, and again in 1986, 1992 and 1998.</p>
          <p>Before serving on the Commission, Mrs. Aikens was Vice President of Lew Hodges/Communications, a public relations firm located in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. From 1972 until 1974, she was president of the Pennsylvania Council of Republican Women and served on the board of directors of the National Federation of Republican Women. She served as Alternate Delegate-at-Large to the 1972 Republican National Convention and, at the time of her appointment to the Commission, she was a member of the Pennsylvania Republican State Committee. She was also active in a variety of other volunteer organizations. A native of Delaware County, Pennsylvania, Mrs. Aikens received her B.A. and honorary Doctor of Law degree from Ursinus College, Collegeville, PA.</p>
          <p>In this <a href="https://youtu.be/9c5b_bUSn9M" target="_blank">video clip from 1991</a>, Commissioner Aikens offers a concise description of the FEC's mission.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19750424">
        <summary>
          Orlando B. Potter Serves as Staff Director <time datetime="1975-23-04">April 23, 1975</time>-<time datetime="1980-04-07">July 4, 1980</time>
        </summary>
        <div>
          <p>Before joining the Commission, Orlando Potter was consultant to the Secretary of the U.S. Senate in the administration of campaign disclosure laws. Prior to that he was legislative assistant to U.S. Senator Claiborne Pell, and in 1968 was a candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives from New York. Mr. Potter previously was a Washington correspondent and editorial writer for the Providence (R.I.) Journal Bulletin. A 1950 graduate of Hamilton College, Mr. Potter also holds a Masters Degree from Yale University. He received a congressional staff fellowship from the American Political Science Association in 1970, and did graduate work in computer science at American University.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details>
        <summary id="a19750501">John G. Murphy, Jr. Serves as General Counsel <time datetime="1975-01-05">May 1, 1975</time>-<time datetime="1976-12"><time datetime="1976-12">December, 1976<time></time></summary>
        <div>
          <figure>
            <img src="/static/img-40th/Murphy_John.jpg" alt="John G. Murphy Jr.">
            <figcaption>John G. Murphy Jr.</figcaption>
          </figure>
          <p>John G. Murphy, Jr. came to the Commission from the Georgetown University Law Center, where he is a tenured professor specializing in constitutional law. While on leave from Georgetown, Mr. Murphy advised the Faculty of Law of the Lebanese National University in Beirut for the Ford Foundation. Earlier he served as a consultant to OEO and HEW on developing legal services programs. The General Counsel graduated from Harvard in 1958 and from the Georgetown University Law Center in 1961. He served as editor of the Georgetown Law Journal and, later, as law clerk to the then U.S. District Court of Appeals judge Warren E. Burger.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19750602">
        <summary>Public Records Division Opens <time datetime="1975-02-06">June 2, 1975</time></summary>
        <div>
          <figure>
            <img src="/static/img-40th/PR004.jpg" alt="Original FEC Public Records Office, c. 1977">
            <figcaption>Original FEC Public Records Office, c. 1977</figcaption>
          </figure>
          <p>Now known as the Public Disclosure Division, this office maintains the financial records submitted by candidates and committees and makes them available to the public. It was the first Commission office to be fully staffed and operative.</p>
        </div>
      </details>
      <details id="a19750602a">
        <summary>Commission Issues First Notice of Proposed Rulemaking <time datetime="1975-02-06">June 2, 1975</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The newly created Federal Election Commission issued its very first Notice of Proposed Rulemaking - a set of proposed regulations upon which the public may comment - to implement the 1974 amendments to the Federal Election Campaign Act.</p>
        </div>
      </details>
      <details id="a19750701">
        <summary>FEC Disclosure Regulations Sent to Congress <time datetime="1975-01-07">July 1, 1975</time>-<time datetime="1975-04-12">December 4, 1975</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The proposed regulations cover the organizational and disclosure provisions of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as amended in 1974, including: definitions; candidate status; political committee organization and registration; campaign finance recordkeeping and reporting; political party convention finance reports; and filing requirements with state officers.</p>
        </div>
      </details>
      <details id="a19750820">
        <summary>New Hampshire Special Election is First to Require Disclosure Reports <time datetime="1975-20-08">August 20, 1975</time>-<time datetime="1975-16-09">September 16, 1975</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The FEC issued an "Interim Guideline" which stated that the provisions of the 1974 Campaign Finance Act would apply to the special Senate election. The "Interim Guideline" also set forth procedures for candidates and political committees to follow to comply with the financial disclosure requirements and the contribution and expenditure limits of the new law.</p>
        </div>
      </details>
      <details id="a19750901">
        <summary>FEC Stores Public Documents on Microfilm Fall 1975</summary>
        <div>
          <figure>
            <img src="/static/img-40th/PR005.jpg" alt="FEC staff inspect microfilm, c. 1976">
            <figcaption>FEC staff inspect microfilm, c. 1976</figcaption>
          </figure>
          <p>The Commission chose to use microfilm as its primary system for storing and retrieving records.</p>
        </div>
      </details>
      <details id="a19751113">
        <summary>National Parties Certified <time datetime="1975-13-11">November 13, 1975</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>Both major parties were certified as eligible to receive public funds for their presidential nominating conventions.</p>
        </div>
      </details>
      <details id="a19751218">
        <summary>First Candidates Certified for Matching Funds <time datetime="1975-18-12">December 18, 1975</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>Terry Sanford, Gerald Ford and Lloyd Bentsen became the first candidates certified to the Secretary of the Treasury for primary matching funds.</p>
        </div>
      </details>
    </li>

  <!-- </ol> -->
    <li>
      <time datetime="1976">1976</time>

      <details id="a19760101">
        <summary>First Mandatory Audits of Presidential Campaigns <time datetime="1976-01-01">January 1, 1976</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>1976 marked the first year in which the FEC conducted mandatory audits of publicly funded presidential campaigns.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19760106">
        <summary>FEC Begins Its Regional Seminar Series <time datetime="1976-06-01">January 6, 1976</time></summary>
        <div>
          <figure>
            <img src="/static/img-40th/COM003.jpg" alt="FEC Regional Conference in Austin TX, 1980 (L to R) Commissioner John Warren McGarry, Chairman Robert Tiernan, Judith Corley, Comissioner. Joan Aikens, Comissioner. Frank Reiche)">
            <figcaption>FEC Regional Conference in Austin TX, 1980 (L to R) Commissioner John Warren McGarry, <br>
          Chairman Robert Tiernan, Judith Corley, Commissioner Joan Aikens, Commissioner Frank Reiche</figcaption>
          </figure>
          <p>The Commission announced it would hold a series of "Regional Seminars" around the country to explain the new Federal Campaign Finance Laws to candidates and political committees. The agency continues to hold regional conferences today, supplemented by webinars, e-learing videos and other <a href="http://www.fec.gov/info/outreach.shtml" target="_blank">educational outreach programs</a>.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19760114">
        <summary>The Commission Opens "Storefront" Public Records Office <time datetime="1976-14-01">January 14, 1976</time></summary>
        <div>
          <figure>
            <img src="/static/img-40th/PR012.jpg" alt="Original FEC Public Records Office, November 1976">
            <figcaption>Original FEC Public Records Office, November 1976</figcaption>
          </figure>
          <p>A "storefront" Public Records office was opened on the ground floor of the FEC building in Washington, DC to facilitate public inspection and copying of disclosure reports.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19760130">
        <summary><em>Buckley v. Valeo</em> <time datetime="1976-30-01">January 30, 1976</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The <a href="https://transition.fec.gov/law/litigation_CCA_B.shtml#buckley" target="_blank">Supreme Court upheld contribution limits</a> as safeguards to the integrity of government by preventing the reality and appearance of corruption of federal officials. The Court also upheld the Act's disclosure regime. However, it overturned most limits on expenditures as limits on First Amendment freedoms. The Court also overturned the Act's provisions on the appointment of Commissioners, holding that the Constitution permitted only the President, with the advice and consent of the Senate, to appoint Commissioners. The Court suspended many of the Commission's functions until Commissioners were reappointed by the President pursuant to the FECA Amendments of 1976.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19760801">
        <summary>Commission Implements a Computer-Based Information System Spring 1976</summary>
        <div>
          <figure>
            <img src="/static/img-40th/IT002.jpg" alt="The FEC's first computer network, c. 1976">
            <figcaption>The FEC's first computer network, c. 1976</figcaption>
          </figure>
          <p>A computer system was designed and implemented for storing and compiling data from campaign disclosure reports. Six indexes and compilations of campaign finance data were made available prior to the 1976 general election.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19760301">
        <summary>FEC's Executive Powers Temporarily Suspended March 22 - <time datetime="1976-21-05">May 21, 1976</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>As a result of the Supreme Court's decision in <a href="https://transition.fec.gov/law/litigation_CCA_B.shtml#buckley" target="_blank"><em>Buckley v. Valeo</em></a>, the Commission's executive powers were suspended from <time datetime="1976-22-03">March 22, 1976</time>, until President Ford reappointed the Commissioners on <time datetime="1976-21-05">May 21, 1976</time>.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19760331">
        <summary>FEC Publishes First Annual Report <time datetime="1976-31-03">March 31, 1976</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The Commission issued its <a href="https://www.fec.gov/resources/about-fec/reports/ar75.pdf" target="_blank">first Annual Report</a> to Congress and the President, as required by FECA.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19760511">
        <summary>Federal Election Campaign Act Amendments of 1976 <time datetime="1976-11-05">May 11, 1976</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The 1976 Amendments (Pub. L. No. 94-283) <a href="https://www.fec.gov/resources/about-fec/reports/firsttenyearsreport.pdf#page=5" target="_blank">changed how FEC Commissioners were appointed</a> (to the present-day system where appointment now requires nomination by the President and confirmation by the Senate), repealed campaign expenditure limits (declared unconstitutional by <em>Buckley v. Valeo</em>) and established rules for conducting solicitations of voluntary contributions to corporate and union SSFs.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19760512">
        <summary>Justice Brennan Delivers Oath to FEC Commissioners after Reconstitution <time datetime="1976-12-05">May 12, 1976</time></summary>
        <div>
          <figure>
            <img src="/static/img-40th/COM001.jpg" alt="(L to R) Associate Justice William J. Brennan Jr., Robert O. Tiernan, Neil O. Staebler, Thomas E. Harris, William L. Springer, Joan D. Aikens, President Gerald R. Ford">
            <figcaption>(L to R) Associate Justice William J. Brennan Jr., Robert O. Tiernan, Neil O. Staebler, Thomas E. Harris, William L. Springer, Joan D. Aikens, President Gerald R. Ford</figcaption>
          </figure>
          <figure>
            <p>President Gerald R. Ford delivered the following remarks at the White House ceremony:</p>
            <blockquote>
              <p>"I think this is a very good day for the country and for the political process that we're going through at the present time. At long, long last, after many regrettable delays, we are finally putting the Federal Election Commission back into business.</p>
              <p>The significance of today, however, is that once again we have a watchdog to ensure that the election process proceeds as fairly and as honestly as possible in full accord with the law.</p>
              <p>By their actions, the members of this Commission whom we are swearing in today can do a great deal to build and to restore public trust in the political process. This is one of the greatest contributions that anyone can make in public life in America.</p>
              <p>So, all of us wish you the very best and wish you well as you begin your work once again."</p>
            </blockquote>
            <figcaption><strong>Citation:</strong> <em>Gerald R. Ford: "Remarks at the Swearing In of the Six Members of the Federal Election Commission.," <time datetime="1976-21-05">May 21, 1976</time>. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project. <cite><a href="http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=6023" target="_blank">http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=6023</a></cite>.</em></figcaption>
          </figure>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19760501">
        <summary>William L. Springer (R) Serves as Commissioner <time datetime="1976-21-05">May 21, 1976</time>-<time datetime="1979-02">February, 1979</time></summary>
        <div>
          <figure>
            <img src="/static/img-40th/Springer_William.jpg" alt="Commissioner William L. Springer">
            <figcaption>Commissioner William L. Springer</figcaption>
          </figure>
          <p>Commissioner William L. Springer served as State's Attorney of Champaign County, Illinois, 1940 to 1942. After military service in the Navy, he returned to Champaign, Illinois, and served as County Judge from 1946 to 1950. In 1950 he was elected to the 82nd Congress and was reelected to each succeeding Congress from the 22nd Congressional District of Illinois until his retirement at the close of the 92nd Congress. President Nixon appointed him to be a Commissioner of the Federal Power Commission in 1973. He resigned in December 1975 and was appointed to the FEC by President Ford in 1976. Mr. Springer is a graduate of DePauw University and the University of Illinois Law School. He received LL.D. degrees from Millikin University in 1953, Lincoln College in 1966, and DePauw University in 1972.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19760720">
        <summary>First Candidates Certified for General Election Grant <time datetime="1976-20-07">July 20, 1976</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The Democratic Party nominees for President and Vice President, Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondale, were certified eligible for Presidential Election Campaign Fund payments. The Republican nominees, Gerald Ford and Robert Dole, were certified on August 24. Each campaign received $21.82 million in public funds for the general election campaign.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19760901">
        <summary>FEC Publishes First Record Newsletter and Campaign Guide Series <time datetime="1976-01-09">September 1, 1976</time></summary>
        <div>
          <figure>
            <img src="/static/img-40th/Campaign-Guides-1978.jpg" alt="Campaign Guide Series">
            <figcaption>FEC Record and Campaign Guide Series</figcaption>
          </figure>
          <p>The Commission published its first Record newsletter and a six-part Campaign Guide series to help candidates and committees comply with the Federal Election Campaign Act. Over time, the Record and Campaign Guide series evolved into the <a href="https://www.fec.gov/help-candidates-and-committees/guides/" target="_blank">comprehensive set of print and online publications</a> that are available today.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19760921">
        <summary>The Commission Issues First Disclosure Series Report <time datetime="1976-21-09">September 21, 1976</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The Commission issued the first report in the FEC Disclosure Series: <em>Presidential Pre-Nomination Receipts and Expenditures, 1976 Campaign</em>. This series was a precursor to the <em>Reports on Financial Activity</em> Series.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19761014">
        <summary>Commission Releases First Public Funding Audit Report <time datetime="1976-14-10">October 14, 1976</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The Commission released its first audit report, covering the Sanford for President Committee. The report is the first statutory audit to be completed on a presidential committee receiving matching funds.</p>
        </div>
      </details>
    </li>

    <li>
      <time datetime="1977">1977</time>

      <details id="a19770101">
        <summary>Data Systems Development Division Established <time datetime="1977-01-01">January 1, 1977</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The Commission established its Data Systems Development Division to manage the agency's information technology.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19770201">
        <summary>William C. Oldaker Serves as General Counsel <time datetime="1977-01-01">January 1, 1977</time>-<time datetime="1979-01-10">October 1, 1979</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>William C. Oldaker began serving as General Counsel on <time datetime="1977-01-01">January 1, 1977</time>, after being Assistant General Counsel. for Compliance and Litigation since 1975. Holding B.A. and J.D. degrees from the University of Iowa, he also attended the Graduate School of Business at the University of Chicago. Prior to coming to the Commission, Mr. Oldaker served with the Federal Communications Commission and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19770111">
        <summary>Following its Reconstitution, the Commission Transmits and then Re-Transmits Regulations Implementing FECA to Congress <time datetime="1977-11-01">January 11, 1977</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>After its reconstitution on <time datetime="1976-21-05">May 21, 1976</time>, the Commission re-published its draft regulations for public comment on May 26. It held hearings in June 1976 on those regulations and submitted final rules to Congress on <time datetime="1976-03-08">August 3, 1976</time>. Congress adjourned before the rules had been pending for 30 legislative days, however, meaning that the rules were not promulgated. The Commission voted to make two minor changes and resubmitted the rules to Congress on <time datetime="1977-11-01">January 11, 1977</time>.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19770117">
        <summary>Commission Establishes Office of Planning and Management <time datetime="1977-17-01">January 17, 1977</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The Commission established its Office of Planning and Management to manage the agency's budget.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19770413">
        <summary>First Set of Comprehensive Regulations Implementing FECA Take Effect <time datetime="1977-13-04">April 13, 1977</time></summary>
        <div>
          <figure>
            <img src="/static/img-40th/11CFR1977.jpg" alt="1977 Code of Federal Regulations, cover">
            <figcaption>1977 Code of Federal Regulations, cover</figcaption>
          </figure>
          <p>The regulations that the Commission had been working on since 1975 finally pended before Congress for 30 legislative days on <time datetime="1977-29-03">March 29, 1977</time>; thereby enabling the Commission to promulgate them effective as of <time datetime="1977-13-04">April 13, 1977</time>.</p>
        </div>
      </details>
    </li>

    <li>
      <time datetime="1978">1978</time>

      <details id="a19780101">
        <summary>Commission Establishes Reports Analysis Division <time datetime="1978-01-01">January 1, 1978</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The <a href="https://transition.fec.gov/rad/index.shtml" target="_blank">Reports Analysis Division</a> assigns teams of analysts to review reports submitted by filers for accuracy and completeness. If a report is inaccurate or incomplete, the Commission may send the filer a Request for Additional Information (RFAI). An adequate response to the RFAI is processed as any other report. Failing to respond or responding inadequately may be handled as an enforcement case.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19780409">
        <summary><em>Reports of Financial Activity</em> Series Debuts <time datetime="1978-09-04">April 9, 1978</time></summary>
        <div>
          <figure>
            <img src="/static/img-40th/IT001a.jpg" alt="FEC staff printing financial activity report, 1982">
            <figcaption>FEC staff printing financial activity report, 1982</figcaption>
          </figure>
          <p><em>Reports on Financial Activity</em> was a statistical series of reports that provided a comprehensive study of campaign finance activity by candidates, party committees and nonparty committees in a timely manner.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19781001">
        <summary>John Warren McGarry (D) Serves as Commissioner <time datetime="1978-25-10">October 25, 1978</time>-<time datetime="1998-11-08">August 11, 1998</time></summary>
        <div>
          <figure>
            <img src="/static/img-40th/McGarry_John.jpg" alt="Commissioner John Warren McGarry">
            <figcaption>Commissioner John Warren McGarry<figcaption>
          </figure>
          <p>Commissioner John Warren McGarry was appointed to the FEC under the "recess appointment" clause of the U.S. Constitution on <time datetime="1978-25-10">October 25, 1978</time>. He was reappointed in 1983 and 1989. He served as FEC Chairman in 1981, 1985, 1991 and 1997. Before his Commission appointment, Commissioner McGarry served as special counsel on elections to the House Administration Committee. He previously combined private law practice with service as chief counsel to the House Special Committee to Investigate Campaign Expenditures, a special committee established by Congress every election year through 1972. Before his work with Congress, Commissioner McGarry was the Massachusetts assistant attorney general. After graduating <em>cum laude</em> from Holy Cross College, Commissioner McGarry did graduate work at Boston University and earned a J.D. degree from Georgetown University Law School.</p>
        </div>
      </details>
    </li>

    <li>
      <time datetime="1979">1979</time>

      <details id="a19790301">
        <summary>Max L. Friedersdorf (R) Serves as Commissioner <time datetime="1979-01-03">March 1, 1979</time> to <time datetime="1980-16-12">December 16, 1980</time></summary>
        <div>
          <figure>
            <img src="/static/img-40th/Friedersdorf_Max.jpg" alt="Commissioner Max L. Friedersdorf">
            <figcaption>Commissioner Max L. Friedersdorf</figcaption>
          </figure>
          <p>Commissioner Max L. Friedersdorf, served as Staff Director of the Senate Republican Policy Committee from January 1977 until his appointment to the Commission in February 1979. A native of Indiana, Mr. Friedersdorf received his B.A. from Franklin College in 1952 and earned an M.A. from American University in 1970. He pursued a journalism career in Indiana before serving as administrative assistant and press secretary for former Congressman Richard L. Roudebush (R-Ind.) from 1961 to 1970. In 1970, he was Director of Congressional Relations for the Office of Economic Opportunity. From 1971 to 1977, Mr. Friedersdorf served in several White House posts. He was Deputy Assistant for Congressional Affairs to President Nixon from 1971 to 1974. He continued as Deputy Assistant to President Ford until 1975, when he became the President's Assistant for Legislative Affairs.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19790426">
        <summary>Personal Financial Disclosure Statements of all Presidential and Vice Presidential Candidates are Made Available <time datetime="1979-26-04">April 26, 1979</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>Presidential and vice presidential candidates must file Ethics in Government Act reports disclosing personal financial information. These reports are filed with the Commission within 30 days of becoming a candidate, under the election law, and on or before May 15 of each successive year in which the individual continues to be a candidate.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19790503">
        <summary>Commission Approves New Data Entry Procedures for 1980 Presidential Elections <time datetime="1979-26-04">April 26, 1979</time></summary>
        <div>
          <figure>
            <img src="/static/img-40th/IT004.jpg" alt="FEC staff scanning compliance forms, 1982">
            <figcaption>FEC staff scanning compliance forms, 1982<figcaption>
          </figure>
          <p>Data coding and entry of information contained in presidential reports was expanded to include all summary information on campaign receipts and expenditures (including receipt of public funds), information on exempt fundraising expenses, legal and accounting disbursements, and all information on expenditures of public funds in primary campaigns on a State-by-State basis. This new database could provide such up-to-date information on matching fund requests as total contributions submitted for matching funds (by each candidate and a summary figure for all candidates) and total certifications made by the Commission.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19790628">
        <summary>Commission Certifies Initial Payment for the Republican National Committee's 1980 National Convention <time datetime="1979-28-06">June 28, 1979</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>On <time datetime="1979-28-06">June 28, 1979</time>, after adopting procedures for the certification of public funds for national party committee nominating conventions, the Commission certifies to the U.S. Treasury an initial payment of $750,000 for the Republican National Committee's 1980 national nominating convention.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19790701">
        <summary>Frank P. Reiche (R) Serves as Commissioner <time datetime="1979-31-07">July 31, 1979</time> to <time datetime="1985-09-08">August 9, 1985</time></summary>
        <div>
          <figure>
            <img src="/static/img-40th/Reiche_Frank.jpg" alt="Commissioner Frank P. Reiche">
            <figcaption>Commissioner Frank P. Reiche<figcaption>
          </figure>
          <p>On <time datetime="1979-31-07">July 31, 1979</time>, Commissioner Frank P. Reiche of Princeton, New Jersey, was sworn into office as an FEC Commissioner by Supreme Court Justice William R. Rehnquist. The ceremony took place at the FEC. Mr. Reiche replaced Commissioner Vernon W. Thomson whose term had expired.</p>
          <p>Mr. Reiche was born in Hartford, Connecticut. He received his A.B. from Williams College in 1951 and an M.A. in Foreign Affairs from George Washington University in 1959. An attorney specializing in taxation, Mr. Reiche graduated from Columbia Law School in 1959, and received a Master of Laws degree in Taxation from New York University in 1966. Mr. Reiche was with the Princeton firm of Smith, Stratton, Wise and Heher from 1962 until his appointment to the Commission.</p>
          <p>Mr. Reiche was a member of New Jersey Governor William T. Cahill's Tax Policy Committee from 1970 to 1972. Governor Cahill appointed Mr. Reiche Chairman of the first New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission in 1973; he was reappointed as Chairman by Governor Brendan Byrne in 1975. The Commission is responsible for the administration and enforcement of the New Jersey campaign finance disclosure act. Prior to that, Mr. Reiche served in a variety of Republican party positions, including eight years as a Republican county committeeman.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19790816">
        <summary>Commission Certifies Initial Payment for the Democratic National Committee's 1980 National Convention <time datetime="1979-16-08">August 16, 1979</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>On <time datetime="1979-16-08">August 16, 1979</time>, the Commission certifies to the U.S. Treasury an initial payment of $300,000 for the Democratic National Committee's 1980 national nominating convention.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19790906">
        <summary>Information Submitted by Presidential Candidates Seeking Eligibility for Primary Matching Funds is Made Available to the Public <time datetime="1979-06-09">September 6, 1979</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>In addition to the reports filed by presidential candidates on their campaign finance activity, the Public Records Office released lists of contributions (alphabetized by contributor) for which presidential candidates had requested matching payments.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19791201">
        <summary>Charles N. Steele Serves as General Counsel <time datetime="1979-06-12">December 6, 1979</time>-<time datetime="1987-01-03">March 1, 1987</time></summary>
        <div>
          <figure>
            <img src="/static/img-40th/Steele_C.jpg" alt="Charles N. Steele, 1982">
            <figcaption>Charles N. Steele, 1982<figcaption>
          </figure>
          <p>Mr. Steele became General Counsel in December 1979, after serving as Acting General Counsel during November of that year and as Associate General Counsel for Enforcement and Litigation between April 1977 and October 1979. He received a B.A. from Harvard College in 1960 and an LL.B. from Harvard Law School in 1965. Before joining the Commission in 1976, Mr. Steele was a staff attorney with the appellate court branch of the National Labor Relations Board.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19791213">
        <summary>Commission Reduces Fees <time datetime="1979-13-12">December 13, 1979</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The Commission adopted a policy that reduced fees for information made available to the public in the FEC's Public Records Office. The policy also addressed the availability of standard computer indexes. The Data Systems Development Division would also make available at cost computer tapes on statistical information contained in the <em>Reports on Financial Activity</em> series.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19791231">
        <summary>Commission Sends to Congress the First Comprehensive Revision of Presidential Public Funding Regulations <time datetime="1979-31-12">December 31, 1979</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>Following its experiences with administering the public funding of the 1976 presidential election, the Commission went to work to revise its public funding regulations for the 1980 elections. The revisions included proposed regulations concerning matching funds for presidential primary candidates. The Commission sent three sets of public funding regulations to Congress in 1979.</p>
        </div>
      </details>
    </li>

    <li>
      <time datetime="1980">1980</time>

      <details id="a19800108">
        <summary>Federal Election Campaign Act Amendments of 1979 <time datetime="1980-08-01">January 8, 1980</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The 1979 amendments (Pub. L. No. 96-187) <a href="https://www.fec.gov/resources/about-fec/reports/firsttenyearsreport.pdf#page=5" target="_blank">included several modifications</a>. Changes included simplified reporting requirements of federal committees, expanded grassroots opportunities for state and local party committees (by creating what are today known as "exempt party activities") and prohibited personal use of candidate campaign committee funds.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19800131">
        <summary>FEC Establishes New Procedures for Special Election Reports <time datetime="1980-31-01">January 31, 1980</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The 1979 Amendments to the Federal Election Campaign Act required the Commission to establish filing dates for reports within five days of the setting of the date for a special election. The Commission was also now required to publish the dates and notify the principal campaign committees of all candidates involved in the special election of those reporting dates.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19800224">
        <summary>Commission Certifies Remainder of Entitlements to Finance 1980 National Party Conventions February 13 and 24, 1980</summary>
        <div>
          <p>On <time datetime="1980-13-02">February 13, 1980</time>, the Commission certifies the remainder of the Democratic National Committee's full entitlement of $4,416,000 to finance the 1980 Democratic national convention. On <time datetime="1980-24-02">February 24, 1980</time>, the Commission certifies the remainder of the Republican National Committee's full entitlement of $4,416,000 to finance the 1980 Republican national convention.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19800401">
        <summary>Commission Redesigns Reporting Forms to Implement the 1979 Amendments <time datetime="1980-01-04">April 1, 1980</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The Commission redesigned the reporting forms to implement the 1979 FECA Amendments and to make the forms easier for committees to use. For the first time, the final forms included line-by-line instructions.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19800401a">
        <summary>Congress Disapproves Regulations Regarding Candidate Debates; FEC Resubmits along with Additional Regulations Implementing the 1979 FECA Amendments <time datetime="1980-01-04">April 1, 1980</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>FEC regulations are transmitted to Congress where they must pend for 30 legislative days before going into effect (and at the time these regulations were pending, Congress also could have "disapproved" them; the Supreme Court later ruled this practice to be unconstitutional). In the case of 1979 regulations that set out rules governing the conduct of candidate debates, Congress disapproved the Commission's initial regulations; however, a second revised submission went into effect on <time datetime="1980-01-04">April 1, 1980</time>. The Commission also transmitted regulations that implemented the 1979 amendments to the FECA. Both sets of regulations took effect <time datetime="1980-01-04">April 1, 1980</time>.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19800414">
        <summary>U.S. Supreme Court Upholds Constitutionality of the Presidential Election Campaign Fund Act <time datetime="1980-14-04">April 14, 1980</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>On <time datetime="1980-14-04">April 14, 1980</time>, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously affirms two lower court decisions upholding the constitutionality of the Presidential Election Campaign Fund Act challenged by the Republican National Committee in <a href="https://transition.fec.gov/law/litigation_CCA_R.shtml#rnc_78" target="_blank"><em>RNC v FEC</em></a>, 445 U.S. 955 (1980).</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19800612">
        <summary>Commission's Revised FOIA Regulations and New Regulations Governing Access to Public Records Take Effect <time datetime="1980-12-06">June 12, 1980</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The Commission's revised regulations on the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) became effective, as did new regulations governing public access to Commission documents. The regulations set out uniform procedures and fees for providing documents to the public both under FOIA and pursuant to the Commission's public disclosure duties.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19800714">
        <summary>Commission Introduces New Computer Indexes on Independent Expenditures <time datetime="1980-14-07">July 14, 1980</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>In response to the growing interest in independent expenditures activity, the Commission created three new indexing programs. The first index listed independent expenditures by the committees or person who made them, indicating the candidates they supported or opposed and the total amounts they spend, per candidate. The second index gave the particulars of each independent expenditure as well as the summary information provided by the first index. The third index, a revision of one used in 1979, listed independent expenditures by candidate, providing the details of each expenditure made for or against a candidate.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19800821">
        <summary>Commission Certifies Public Funds to 1980 Major Party General Election Presidential Campaigns July 24 and <time datetime="1980-21-08">August 21, 1980</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The Commission certifies $29.44 million in public funds each to the general election campaigns of Republican presidential nominee Ronald Reagan and his running mate, George Bush (on <time datetime="1980-24-07">July 24, 1980</time>), and of Democratic presidential nominee Jimmy Carter and his running mate, Walter Mondale (on <time datetime="1980-21-08">August 21, 1980</time>).</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19800902">
        <summary>Commission Adopts New Procedures for Approving Computerized Forms <time datetime="1980-02-09">September 2, 1980</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The Commission authorized the Report Analysis Division to approve computerized formats used by committees to itemize their receipts and disbursements.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19800915">
        <summary>B. Allen Clutter, III Serves as Staff Director <time datetime="1980-15-09">September 15, 1980</time>-<time datetime="1983-15-05">May 15, 1983</time></summary>
        <div>
          <figure>
            <img src="/static/img-40th/Clutter_Allen.jpg" alt="B. Allen Clutter III, 1982">
            <figcaption>B. Allen Clutter III, 1982<figcaption>
          </figure>
          <p>Before joining the Commission, B. Allen Clutter, III was the executive director of the Minnesota Ethical Practices Board and also served as faculty member of the Hamline University Law School. Prior to this, Mr. Clutter was an assistant professor at the U.S. Air Force Academy and served with the Air Force administrative units in Thailand and California. He also worked with the World Press Institute of Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota. A native of Oskaloosa, Iowa, he received a graduate degree in geography from Eastern Michigan University and attended business administration courses at the University of Colorado. Mr. Clutter was listed among the Outstanding Young Men in America in 1978.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19801113">
        <summary>Commission Certifies Public Funds to 1980 New Party Candidate <time datetime="1980-13-11">November 13, 1980</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>On <time datetime="1980-13-11">November 13, 1980</time>, the Commission certifies $4,164,906 in public funds to the general election campaign of new party presidential candidate John Anderson and his running mate, Patrick Lucey.</p>
        </div>
      </details>
    </li>

    <li>
      <time datetime="1981">1981</time>

      <details id="a19810101">
        <summary>Vernon W. Thomson (R) Serves Interim Appointment as Commissioner <time datetime="1981-02-01">January 2, 1981</time>-<time datetime="1981-17-12">December 17, 1981</time></summary>
        <div>
          <figure>
            <img src="/static/img-40th/Thompson_Vernon.jpg" alt="Commissioner Vernon W. Thomson">
            <figcaption>Commissioner Vernon W. Thomson</figcaption>
          </figure>
          <p>Commissioner Vernon W. Thomson, the Commission's second chairman, was a Republican Member of Congress from Wisconsin from 1961-75. Before that, he was his State's Governor (1957-59), Attorney General (1951-57) and a member of the State legislature (1935-49). He earned a B.A. from the University of Wisconsin and graduated from its law school. He was originally appointed for five years and for three years when the Commission was reconstituted.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19810108">
        <summary>Commission Certifies Additional Funds to New Party Candidate for 1980 Campaign <time datetime="1981-08-01">January 8, 1981</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>On <time datetime="1981-08-01">January 8, 1981</time>, the Commission certifies an additional $77,398 in public funds for the general election campaign of new party presidential nominee John Anderson and his running mate, Patrick Lucey.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19810201">
        <summary>FEC Adds Consolidated Index of Documents  <time datetime="1981-01-02">February 1, 1981</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The Commission announced the availability of a card index that consolidates information on Commission advisory opinions, completed compliance cases and completed audits.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19810301">
        <summary>Computer Tapes Summarize 1977-78 Campaign Finance Information <time datetime="1981-01-03">March 1, 1981</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The Commission made available computer tapes containing final information on 1977-78 campaign finances of party and nonparty (noncandidate) committees.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19810301a">
        <summary>Microfilmed Audit Reports Made Available <time datetime="1981-01-03">March 1, 1981</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The Commission made available for public view and purchase microfilm cartridges of audit reports issued between 1975 and 1980.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19810626">
        <summary><em>California Medical Association v. FEC</em> <time datetime="1981-26-06">June 26, 1981</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The <a href="https://transition.fec.gov/law/litigation_CCA_C.shtml#cma" target="_blank">Supreme Court held</a> that the annual limit on contributions to multicandidate political committees (or PACs) did not violate the First Amendment or the constitutional guarantee of equal protection, even though it placed some restrictions on unincorporated associations that were not placed on corporations and labor unions.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19811110">
        <summary><em>FEC v. Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee</em> <time datetime="1981-10-11">November 10, 1981</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>In reviewing the Commission's dismissal of an administrative complaint, the <a href="https://transition.fec.gov/law/litigation_CCA_D.shtml#dscc_80" target="_blank">Supreme Court found</a> that deference was owed to the Commission in that context and held that the FEC's interpretation of the Act to permit a state party committee to enter into an agency agreement with a national senatorial committee was sufficiently reasonable to survive judicial review.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19811201">
        <summary>Press Office Relocates to be Near Public Records Office <time datetime="1981-01-12">December 1, 1981</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The Press Office relocated to the first floor, across from the Public Records Office. The move was designed to help reporters coordinate their research in the two offices and provide easier access to FEC press spokespersons.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19811201b">
        <summary>Lee Ann Elliott (R) Serves as Commissioner <time datetime="1981-17-12">December 17, 1981</time>-<time datetime="2000-01-06">June 1, 2000</time></summary>
        <div>
          <figure>
            <img src="/static/img-40th/Elliott_LeeAnn.jpg" alt="Commissioner Lee Ann Elliott">
            <figcaption>Commissioner Lee Ann Elliott</figcaption>
          </figure>
          <p>Commissioner Lee Ann Elliott was first appointed in 1981 and reappointed in 1987 and 1994. She served as Chairman in 1984, 1990 and 1996. Before her first appointment, Commissioner Elliott was vice president of a political consulting firm, Bishop, Bryant &amp; Associates, Inc. From 1961 to 1979, she was an executive of the American Medical Political Action Committee. Commissioner Elliott was on the board of directors of the American Association of Political Consultants and on the board of the Chicago Area Public Affairs Group, of which she is a past president. She was also a member of the Public Affairs Committee of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. In 1979, she received the Award for Excellence in Serving Corporate Public Affairs from the National Association of Manufacturers.</p>
          <p>A native of St. Louis, Commissioner Elliott graduated from the University of Illinois. She is a Certified Association Executive, an author, lecturer, educator and patent holder.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19811201c">
        <summary>Danny L. McDonald (D) Serves as Commissioner <time datetime="1981-17-12">December 17, 1981</time>-<time datetime="2006-04-01">January 4, 2006</time></summary>
        <div>
          <figure>
            <img src="/static/img-40th/McDonald_Danny.jpg" alt="Commissioner Danny L. McDonald">
            <figcaption>Commissioner Danny L. McDonald</figcaption>
            </figure>
          <p>Commissioner Danny L. McDonald, a Democrat, originally was nominated to the Commission by President Ronald Reagan in December 1981, and confirmed by the U.S. Senate in July 1982. He served as FEC Chairman in 1983, 1989, 1995, and 2001.</p>
          <p>Prior to his initial appointment in 1981, the Sand Springs, Oklahoma, native served as General Administrator of the Oklahoma Corporation Commission. Additionally, he served as Secretary of the Tulsa County Election Board and as Chief Clerk of that Board. He was also a member of the Advisory Panel to the FEC's National Clearinghouse on Election Administration. Commissioner McDonald received a B. A. Degree from Oklahoma State University and attended the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He has served as a member of the JFK School Advisory Board for State and Local Government.</p>
        </div>
      </details>
    </li>

    <li>
      <time datetime="1982">1982</time>

      <details id="a19820104">
        <summary>Microfilmed Agenda Items Made Available <time datetime="1982-04-01">January 4, 1982</time></summary>
        <div>
          <figure>
            <img src="/static/img-40th/PR010.jpg" alt="FEC staff at microfilm reader, 1979">
            <figcaption>FEC staff at microfilm reader, 1979</figcaption>
          </figure>
          <p>The Commission microfilmed all agenda items discussed in open Commission meetings from 1975 through 1980 and developed a computerized index to help locate the documents. This process facilitated both public and staff access to Commission agenda items.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19820308">
        <summary><em>Bread Political Action Committee v. FEC</em> <time datetime="1982-08-03">March 8, 1982</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The <a href="https://transition.fec.gov/law/litigation_CCA_B.shtml#bread" target="_blank">Supreme Court held</a> that trade associations and political committees, which were not among the three categories of parties listed in 52 U.S.C. § 30110 (then 2 U.S.C.  § 437h), could not invoke that provision's special procedure for judicial review of constitutional claims.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19821213">
        <summary><em>FEC v. National Right to Work Committee</em> <time datetime="1982-13-12">December 13, 1982</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The <a href="https://transition.fec.gov/law/litigation_CCA_FEC_N.shtml#fec_nrwc_77" target="_blank">Supreme Court held</a> that the persons a corporation solicited to contribute to its separate segregated fund were insufficiently attached to the corporation to qualify as members under 52 U.S.C.  § 30118(b)(4)(C) (then 2 U.S.C.  § 441b(b)(4)(C)), and that any burden on First Amendment associational rights this interpretation of the Act caused was outweighed by the interests Congress sought to protect in limiting such activity.</p>
        </div>
      </details>
    </li>

    <li>
      <time datetime="1983">1983</time>

      <details id="a19830606">
        <summary>FEC Introduces Matter Under Review (MUR) Index <time datetime="1983-06-06">June 6, 1983</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The Commission introduced a computerized FEC MUR Index, which presented information on publicly released enforcement cases.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19830623">
        <summary>Commission Certifies Public Funds for Major Party 1984 Presidential Nominating Conventions <time datetime="1983-23-06">June 23, 1983</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The Commission certifies $5,871,000 in public funds to both the Republican and Democratic parties for their 1984 national presidential conventions.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19830725">
        <summary>John C. Surina Serves as Staff Director <time datetime="1983-25-07">July 25, 1983</time>-<time datetime="1998-31-07">July 31, 1998</time></summary>
        <div>
          <figure>
            <img src="/static/img-40th/Surina_John.jpg" alt="John C. Surina, Staff Director">
            <figcaption>John C. Surina, Staff Director<figcaption>
          </figure>
          <p>Before joining the Commission in July 1983, John C. Surina was assistant managing director of the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC), where he was detailed to the "Reform 88" program at the Office of Management and Budget. In that role, he worked on projects to reform administrative management within the federal government. From 1973 to 1980, Mr. Surina served the ICC in other capacities. Between 1972 and 1973 he was an expert consultant to the Office of Control and Operations, EOP-Cost of Living Council-Pay Board. He was previously on the technical staff of the Computer Sciences Corporation. Mr. Surina joined the U.S. Army in 1966, completing his service in 1970 as executive officer of the Special Security Office. In that position, he supported senior U.S. delegates to NATO's civil headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. A native of Alexandria, Virginia, Mr. Surina holds a B.S. in Foreign Service from Georgetown University. He also attended East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina, and American University in Washington, DC</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19831104">
        <summary>Presidential Computer Index Debuts <time datetime="1983-04-11">November 4, 1983</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The Commission introduced a new computer index that provided a concise summary of the financial activity of major presidential campaigns. The 1984 Presidential Campaign Summary Report was designed to extract information from reports filed by presidential campaigns and to adjust numbers to reflect actual amounts raised and spent.</p>
        </div>
      </details>
    </li>

    <li>
      <time datetime="1984">1984</time>

      <details id="a19840305">
        <summary>FEC Begins Monday Afternoon Clinics <time datetime="1984-05-03">March 5, 1984</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The Commission began hosting Monday afternoon clinics to assist committees.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19840306">
        <summary>Program Providing State Access to Data Begins <time datetime="1983-06-03">March 6, 1983</time>-<time datetime="1984-07-03">March 7, 1984</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>Six State election offices joined the Commission in a 1984 pilot project to broaden the accessibility of computerized campaign finance information. The primary objective was to give those located outside Washington, DC, immediate access to several FEC computer indexes. The State offices had a computer terminal linked to the FEC computer through a national telecommunications system.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19840712">
        <summary>Commission Certifies Additional Public Funds for Major Party 1984 Presidential Nominating Conventions <time datetime="1984-12-07">July 12, 1984</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The Commission certifies an additional $2.020 million in public funds to both the Republican and Democratic parties for their 1984 national presidential conventions, bringing each party's grant to $8.080 million.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19840827">
        <summary>Commission Certifies Public Funds for Major Party 1984 General Election Campaigns July 26 and <time datetime="1984-27-08">August 27, 1984</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The Commission certifies $40.4 million in public funds each for the general election campaigns of Democratic presidential nominee Walter Mondale and his running mate, Geraldine Ferraro (on <time datetime="1984-26-07">July 26, 1984</time>) and of Republican presidential nominee Ronald Reagan and his running mate, George Bush (on <time datetime="1984-27-08">August 27, 1984</time>).</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19841019">
        <summary>Commission Revises its Regulations on Access to Information <time datetime="1984-19-10">October 19, 1984</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The Commission revised regulations that affected the activities of the Press Office, which handled requests made under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), and the Public Records Office. The new rules updated fees to reflect actual costs of providing documents. The regulations also changed the billing procedures for the sale of FEC microfilm and computer tapes. The amended rules provided that individuals who purchase these materials pay the firm that reproduces them, rather than the FEC. Finally, the revised regulations made clear that the FEC does not charge for staff time devoted to duplicating information to fill FOIA requests.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19841102">
        <summary>New Regulations Implement Rehabilitation Act <time datetime="1984-02-11">November 2, 1984</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The Commission promulgated regulations that provided for programs and auxiliary aids to ensure handicapped persons' access to Commission information and facilities.</p>
        </div>
      </details>
    </li>

    <li>
      <time datetime="1985">1985</time>

      <details id="a19850318">
        <summary><em>FEC v. National Conservative Political Action Committee</em> <time datetime="1985-18-03">March 18, 1985</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The <a href="https://transition.fec.gov/law/litigation_CCA_FEC_N.shtml#fec_ncpac_83" target="_blank">Supreme Court held</a> that 26 U.S.C.  § 9012(f), a provision of the Presidential Election Campaign Fund Act limiting independent expenditures by political committees to further the election of publicly financed candidates, violated the First Amendment.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19850404">
        <summary>FEC Reorganizes Information Services Division <time datetime="1985-04-04">April 4, 1985</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The Commission divided the Information Services Division into three parts: Information, Press and Clearinghouse.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19850501">
        <summary>FEC Publishes Ten Year Report <time datetime="1985-01-05">May 1, 1985</time></summary>
        <div>
          <figure>
            <img src="/static/img-40th/10_year.png" alt="The First Ten Years, 1975-1985">
            <figcaption>The First Ten Years, 1975-1985<figcaption>
          </figure>
          <p>The Commission published <a href="https://www.fec.gov/resources/about-fec/reports/firsttenyearsreport.pdf" target="_blank"><em>The First Ten Years</em></a>, a special report to mark the agency's 10th anniversary. The report reviewed the historical context in which the Commission was formed and described the agency's role in administering the FECA during its first decade.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19850401">
        <summary>Testing-the-Waters Regulations Provide Guidance to Potential Candidates <time datetime="1985-01-07">July 1, 1985</time></summary>
        <div>
            <p>After a series of early 1980s Advisory Opinions about activities of prospective presidential candidates, the Commission issued regulations that exempted individuals "testing-the-waters" from having to register as candidates, so long as their activities were limited in scope as defined by the regulations. These rules remain in effect today.</p>
            </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19850801">
        <summary>Thomas J. Josefiak (R) Serves as Commissioner <time datetime="1985-09-08">August 9, 1985</time>-<time datetime="1992-01">January, 1992</time></summary>
        <div>
          <figure>
            <img src="/static/img-40th/Josefiak_Thomas.jpg" alt="Commissioner Thomas J. Josefiak">
            <figcaption>Commissioner Thomas J. Josefiak<figcaption>
          </figure>
          <p>Commissioner Thomas J. Josefiak was appointed to the Commission in 1985 and was the 1988 FEC Chairman. He previously served at the Commission as Special Deputy to the Secretary of the Senate. Before assuming that post in 1981, he was legal counsel to the National Republican Congressional Committee. His past experience also includes positions held at the U.S. House of Representatives. He was minority special counsel for federal election law on the Committee on House Administration, U.S. House of Representatives and served as legislative assistant to the late Congressman Silvio O. Conte.</p>
          <p>A native of Massachusetts, Mr. Josefiak graduated from Fairfield University, Connecticut, and earned a J.D. degree from Georgetown University Law Center.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19850910">
        <summary>Direct Computer Access (Direct Access Program) Debuts <time datetime="1985-10-09">September 10, 1985</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The Commission inaugurated a subscription service that provided individuals with direct computer access to the FEC campaign finance disclosure base. In addition, users could request raw data, which they could store and then arrange according to their own research needs.</p>
        </div>
      </details>
    </li>

    <li>
      <time datetime="1986">1986</time>

      <details id="a19860212">
        <summary>FEC Completes Move to New Headquarters <time datetime="1986-18-02">February 18, 1986</time></summary>
        <div>
          <figure>
            <img src="/static/img-40th/fec_building_000.jpg" alt="FEC Headquarters 999 E Street, NW, Washington, DC">
            <figcaption>FEC Headquarters 999 E Street, NW, Washington, DC</figcaption>
          </figure>
          <p>The Commission <a href="http://www.fec.gov/press/archive/1986/19860212_HQMove.pdf" target="_blank">completed its move from K Street to a new headquarters building at 999 E Street, NW, Washington, DC on <time datetime="1986-18-02">February 18, 1986</time>.</a></p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19861001">
        <summary>Scott E. Thomas (D) Serves as Commissioner <time datetime="1986-07-10">October 7, 1986</time>-<time datetime="2006-04-01">January 4, 2006</time></summary>
        <div>
          <figure>
            <img src="/static/img-40th/Thomas_Scott.jpg" alt="Commissioner Scott E. Thomas">
            <figcaption>Commissioner Scott E. Thomas</figcaption>
          </figure>
          <p>Commissioner Thomas began his service at the FEC as a legal intern during the summer of 1975. The Commission had just opened its doors in the wake of the Watergate scandal and related congressional hearings. Upon graduating from law school in 1977, Mr. Thomas worked on the FEC's legal staff, eventually serving as an Assistant General Counsel in the Enforcement Division. In 1983, he became Executive Assistant to then Commissioner Tom Harris, a Democrat and one of the original FEC Commissioners.</p>
          <p>In 1986, with Commissioner Harris retiring, President Reagan appointed Mr. Thomas to the remainder of a six-year term. He was reappointed in 1991 by President Bush, and reappointed again by President Clinton in 1997.</p>
          <p>Commissioner Thomas served as FEC Chairman in 1987, 1993, 1999 and 2005. He focused over the years on improving the enforcement process through the Enforcement Priority System and adequate staffing, restricting the use of "soft money" through the Commission's allocation regulations, and streamlining Commission audit, reports analysis, and disclosure procedures.</p>
          <p>Commissioner Thomas hails from Wyoming where he graduated from Lander Valley High School in 1970. He received a degree in political science from Stanford University in 1974, and graduated from Georgetown University Law Center in 1977.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19861104">
        <summary>FEC Commissioners Group Photo <time datetime="1986-04-11">November 4, 1986</time></summary>
        <div>
          <figure>
            <img src="/static/img-40th/Class_Photo_1986.jpg" alt="(L to R) Sitting - Vice Chairman John Warren McGarry and Chairwoman Joan D. Aikens. Standing - Senate Ex Officio Scott Morgan, Commissioners Danny L. McDonald, Lee Ann Elliott, Scott E. Thomas, Thomas J. Josefiak and House Ex-Officio Douglas Patton">
            <figcaption>(L to R) Sitting - Vice Chairman John Warren McGarry and Chairwoman Joan D. Aikens. Standing - Senate Ex Officio Scott Morgan, Commissioners Danny L. McDonald, Lee Ann Elliott, Scott E. Thomas, Thomas J. Josefiak and House Ex-Officio Douglas Patton<figcaption>
          </figure>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19861215">
        <summary><em>Massachusetts Citizens for Life (MCFL) v. FEC</em> <time datetime="1986-15-12">December 15, 1986</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The <a href="https://transition.fec.gov/law/litigation_CCA_FEC_K.shtml#fec_mcfl" target="_blank">Supreme Court ruled</a> that prohibitions on corporate expenditures were unconstitutional as applied to independent expenditures made by a narrowly defined type of nonprofit corporation.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19860130">
        <summary>Budget Cuts Reduce Accessibility of Computerized Campaign Finance Data <time datetime="1986-30-01">January 30, 1986</time>-<time datetime="1986-31-12">December 31, 1986</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>As a result of the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Deficit Reduction Act and a cut in personnel funds, the Commission <a href="http://www.fec.gov/pdf/record/1986/february1986.pdf" target="_blank">sustained a loss of $858,000 from its fiscal year 1986 funding</a>. The largest cuts ($250,000) were borne by the computerized disclosure program, resulting in a reduction in the amount of campaign finance information accessible through the computer. In addition, the Commission's program to provide states with computer access to the FEC's campaign finance database was curtailed. Both were later restored using fiscal year 1987 funds.</p>
        </div>
      </details>
    </li>

    <li>
      <time datetime="1987">1987</time>

      <details id="a19870331">
        <summary>FEC Publishes Citizens Guide <time datetime="1987-31-03">March 31, 1987</time></summary>
        <div>
          <figure>
              <img src="/static/img-40th/citizens_guide.jpg" alt="Supporting Federal Candidates, A Guide for Citizens">
              <figcaption>Citizens Guide</figcaption>
          </figure>
          <p>The Commission published <em>Supporting Federal Candidates - A Guide for Citizens</em> to provide the public a brief overview of the FECA's limits, prohibitions and disclosure requirements. The <a href="https://www.fec.gov/introduction-campaign-finance/understanding-ways-support-federal-candidates/" target="_blank">current edition of the Citizens Guide</a> is available on the FEC's website.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19870706">
        <summary>Commission Certifies Public Funds for Major Party 1988 Presidential Nominating Conventions <time datetime="1987-06-07">July 6, 1987</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The Commission asked the Secretary of the Treasury to pay $8,892,000 in public funds to both the Republican and Democratic parties to finance their 1988 national presidential conventions.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19871001">
        <summary>Lawrence M. Noble Serves as General Counsel <time datetime="1987-06-10">October 6, 1987</time>-<time datetime="2001-01-01">January 1, 2001</time></summary>
        <div>
          <figure>
            <img src="/static/img-40th/noble.jpg" alt="Lawrence M. Noble">
            <figcaption>Lawrence M. Noble<figcaption>
          </figure>
          <p>Lawrence M. Noble became General Counsel in 1987, after serving as Acting General Counsel. He joined the Commission in 1977, becoming the Deputy General Counsel in 1983. He previously served as Assistant General Counsel for Litigation and as a litigation attorney. Before his FEC service, he was an attorney with the Aviation Consumers Action Project. A native of New York, Mr. Noble holds a degree in political science from Syracuse University and a J.D. degree from the National Law Center at George Washington University. He is a member of the bars for the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit and the District of Columbia. He is also a member of the American and District of Columbia Bar Associations.</p>
        </div>
      </details>
    </li>

    <li>
      <time datetime="1988">1988</time>

      <details id="a19880302">
        <summary>Commission Certifies Additional Public Funds for Major Party 1988 Presidential Nominating Conventions <time datetime="1988-02-03">March 2, 1988</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The Commission certifies an additional $328,000 in public funds to both the Republican and Democratic parties to finance their 1988 national presidential conventions.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19880302a">
        <summary>The Commission Offers First Warning on Potential Shortfall <time datetime="1988-02-03">March 2, 1988</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The Commission offers its first warning on a potential shortfall in the Presidential Election Campaign Fund.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19880512">
        <summary>Commission Adopts New Procedures to Speed Up Enforcement <time datetime="1988-12-05">May 12, 1988</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The Commission approved a recommendation by the General Counsel's Office to <a href="http://www.fec.gov/press/archive/1988/19880613_EnforcementTest.pdf" target="_blank">expedite FEC enforcement matters</a> involving violations of the election law's reporting requirements.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19880801">
        <summary>FEC Produces Videos for House and Senate Candidates and State Parties <time datetime="1988-01-08">August 1, 1988</time></summary>
        <div>
          <figure>
            <img src="/static/img-40th/why_me.png" alt="Why Me Video">
            <figcaption>The cover of <em>Why Me?</em>, the FEC's <br>instructional video for candidates.<figcaption>
          </figure>
          <p>The Commission produced two videotapes, one for House and Senate campaigns entitled <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdAcX2UEzyA" target="_blank"><em>Why Me?</em></a> and another for state party committees entitled <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdAcX2UEzyA" target="_blank"><em>Help</em></a>. The tapes presented an overview of major statutory provisions and were mailed to all registered House and Senate campaigns and state party committees.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19880822">
        <summary>The Commission Certifies Grants to 1988 Presidential General Election Campaigns July 26 and <time datetime="1988-22-08">August 22, 1988</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The Commission certifies $46.1 million each in public funds to the general election campaigns of Democratic presidential nominee Michael Dukakis and his running mate, Lloyd Bentsen (on <time datetime="1988-26-07">July 26, 1988</time>) and of Republican presidential nominee Vice President George Bush and his running mate, Dan Quayle (on <time datetime="1988-22-08">August 22, 1988</time>).</p>
        </div>
      </details>
    </li>

    <li>
      <time datetime="1989">1989</time>

      <details id="a19890101">
        <summary>Office Automation Project Provides Commission Staff with New Equipment <time datetime="1989-01-01">January 1, 1989</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The Commission replaced its 1970s-vintage word processing equipment with an up-to-date office automation system. Staff used their new desktop terminals to locate data in minutes.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19890210">
        <summary>FEC Sends Questionnaires to State Parties <time datetime="1989-10-02">February 10, 1989</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The Commission sent questionnaires regarding allocation methods to state party chairs.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19890403">
        <summary>Commission Warns Congress of Possible Funding Shortfall April 3 and <time datetime="1989-01-11">November 1, 1989</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>Chairman Danny L. McDonald alerts Members of Congress of a projected 1996 deficit in Presidential Election Campaign Fund and consequences to the public funding system in letters sent on <a href="http://www.fec.gov/press/archive/1989/19890406_PublicFunds.pdf" target="_blank">April 3, 1989</a> and <a href="http://www.fec.gov/press/archive/1989/19891109_PublicFunds.pdf" target="_blank">November 1, 1989</a>.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <!-- TODO: THIS ONE NEEDS ATTENTION BECAUSE OF ITS MODAL -->
      <details id="a19890605">
        <summary>FEC Delegation Visits USSR June 4 - 14, 1989</summary>
        <div>
          <a href="#inline-1989-06-052" class="CBmodal cboxElement"><div class="play"></div><img src="/static/img-40th/youtube-BViSH6YNw6U.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Staff to Conduct Allocation Training for Party Committees"></a>
          <p class="mediaLink"><a href="#inline-1989-06-052" class="CBmodal cboxElement" title="Press Conference on USSR Visit">Press Conference on USSR Visit</a></p>
          <div style="display: none">
            <div id="inline-1989-06-052" class="modalBox">
              <iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/BViSH6YNw6U" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
            </div>
          </div>
          <p>At the invitation of the Central Electoral Commission of the USSR, a 12-person delegation of Commissioners and FEC staff visited the Soviet Union to exchange information and ideas on the electoral process with government officials and academics.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19891102">
        <summary>USSR Delegation Visits FEC November 2 - 11, 1989</summary>
        <div>
          <figure>
            <img src="/static/img-40th/FEC_CEC01.png" alt="CEC Chairman Vladimir Orlov and FEC Chairman Danny Lee McDonald">
            <figcaption>L to R - CEC Chairman Vladimir Orlov, FEC Chairman Danny Lee McDonald<figcaption>
          </figure>
          <p>A delegation from the USSR's Central Electoral Commission visited the US to exchange information and ideas on the electoral process with government officials and academics.</p>
        </div>
      </details>
    </li>

    <li>
      <time datetime="1990">1990</time>

      <details id="a19900201">
        <summary>Lynne A. McFarland Serves as Inspector General <time datetime="1990-09-02">February 9, 1990</time> - Present</summary>
        <div>
          <figure>
            <img src="http://www.fec.gov/fecig/McFarland_Lynne.jpg" alt="Lynne A. McFarland Inspector General">
            <figcaption>Lynne A. McFarland Inspector General</figcaption>
          </figure>
          <p>Ms. Lynne A. McFarland was appointed by the Federal Election Commission to serve as the agency's first permanent Inspector General on <time datetime="1990-09-02">February 9, 1990</time>.</p>
          <p>Ms. McFarland was responsible for establishing the Office of Inspector General (OIG) in the Federal Election Commission from the ground up. This required staffing the office with the appropriate skill sets, ensuring the necessary policies and procedures were created, and creating an initial audit/work universe. As with all IGs, she has dual reporting responsibilities to Congress and the head of the agency, in this instance six presidentially appointed Commissioners.</p>
          <p>Ms. McFarland has been actively involved in the Inspector General community, serving on the committee that provided the groundwork for the Council of Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE) operations once the Inspector General Reform Act was passed by Congress and signed by the President. She is a past Vice Chair of the Professional Development Committee and is currently a member of the committee. Ms. McFarland also served as CIGIE Vice Chair from <time datetime="2013-01-01">January 1, 2013</time> to <time datetime="2014-31-12">December 31, 2014</time>.</p>
          <p>Ms. McFarland is Chair of the Inspector General Recommendation Panel which receives resumes from those interested in presidentially or agency appointed inspector general positions. The panel reviews the resumes, along with a questionnaire all applicants are asked to complete, and forwards those applicants to the White House Office of Personnel that would appear to be qualified candidates for their consideration. The panel also provides assistance to those agencies that select their own IGs through their competitive process.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19900212">
        <summary>Commission Warns of Possible Funding Shortfall for 1992 Presidential Campaigns <time datetime="1990-12-02">February 12, 1990</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The Commission <a href="http://www.fec.gov/press/archive/1990/19900214_CheckOffShortfall.pdf" target="_blank">notifies Congress, the President and the Secretary of the Treasury</a> that the Presidential Election Campaign Fund will likely be insufficient to finance the 1992 campaigns.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19900711">
        <summary>Commission Asks Treasury Department to Write Rules to Address Shortfall <time datetime="1990-11-07">July 11, 1990</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The Commission asks the U.S. Department of the Treasury to write rules to address the looming shortfall in the Presidential Election Campaign Fund.</p>
        </div>
      </details>
    </li>

    <li>
      <time datetime="1991">1991</time>

      <details id="a19910101">
        <summary>Commission Promulgates New Rules on Allocating Spending that Affects Both Federal and Nonfederal Elections <time datetime="1991-01-01">January 1, 1991</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>Originating from a rulemaking petition filed in 1984, the Commission promulgated rules on the allocation of expenditures by party committees and PACs that affect both federal and nonfederal elections. The rules sought to address which expenditures must be paid for with "hard" federal dollars, and which expenditures could be partially funded with "soft" money raised under nonfederal law. During the rulemaking, the Commission issued four notices of proposed rules for comment, conducted two hearings, and asked 110 state party heads and chief national party fundraisers for input. Approved in June 1990, the rules went into effect beginning with the 1992 election cycle, and the Commission undertook extensive outreach efforts to train party committees in the new "allocation" system. BCRA ultimately invalidated many of the allocation regulations promulgated in 1991 that affected political party spending, and the Commission removed those provisions in subsequent rulemakings (see entry under 2003).</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <!-- TODO: MODAL -->
      <details id="a19910111">
        <summary>FEC Offers Allocation Training to Party Committees <time datetime="1991-11-01">January 11, 1991</time></summary>
        <div>
          <a href="#inline-1991-01-112" class="CBmodal cboxElement"><div class="play"></div><img src="/static/img-40th/youtube-mD79uiOjgtA.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Staff to Conduct Allocation Training for Party Committees"></a>
          <p class="mediaLink"><a href="#inline-1991-01-112" class="CBmodal cboxElement" title="Staff to Conduct Allocation Training for Party Committees">FEC staff conducts allocation training for state and <br>local party committees.</a></p>
          <div style="display: none">
            <div id="inline-1991-01-112" class="modalBox">
              <iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/mD79uiOjgtA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
            </div>
          </div>
          <p>Commission representatives travelled to several cities to conduct training sessions on new allocation regulations. The training program was designed to help state and local party committees comply with new rules that specified methods for allocating disbursements for activities that jointly benefit federal and nonfederal candidates and elections. Under the new rules, committees that maintained federal and nonfederal accounts would be required to file new reporting schedules disclosing information on allocated activity.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19910211">
        <summary>FEC Projects Public Funding Shortfall <time datetime="1991-11-02">February 11, 1991</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The Commission opened 1991 discussing the possible shortfall in the fund for the 1992 cycle. Commissioners appeared in various media outlets to inform the public about the tax checkoff program.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <!-- TODO: MODAL -->
      <details id="a19910305">
        <summary>FEC Launches Public Education Program on Tax Checkoff <time datetime="1991-05-03">March 5, 1991</time></summary>
        <div>
          <div>
            <a href="#inline-1991-03-052" class="CBmodal cboxElement"><div class="play"></div><img src="/static/img-40th/youtube-_umF1nW1Ne8.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Public Education Program on Tax Checkoff"></a>
            <p class="mediaLink"><a href="#inline-1991-03-052" class="CBmodal cboxElement" title="Public Education Program on Tax Checkoff">Public Education Program on Tax Checkoff</a></p>
            <div style="display:none">
              <div id="inline-1991-03-052" class="modalBox">
                <iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_umF1nW1Ne8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
              </div>
            </div>
          </div>
          <p>The Commission launched a public education program to teach taxpayers about the purpose of the dollar tax checkoff. This came after years of declining participation. The public information program featured television and radio public service announcements as well as newspaper Op-ed pieces, a brochure, a flyer, and media appearances by the Chair. This phase of the program reached 92 million taxpayers.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19910613">
        <summary>Commission Declines to Adopt Proposed Ban on U.S. Subsidiaries of Foreign Corporations Forming PACs <time datetime="1991-13-06">June 13, 1991</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>After a series of Advisory Opinions permitted domestic subsidiaries of foreign corporations to establish and administer SSFs (with some restrictions), the Commission considered, but ultimately decided not to adopt, proposed regulations prohibiting such subsidiaries from having SSFs.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19910703">
        <summary>Commission Certifies Public Funds to Major Parties for 1992 Nominating Conventions June 28 and <time datetime="1991-03-07">July 3, 1991</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The Commission certifies the eligibility of the 1992 Democratic National Convention Committee (on <time datetime="1991-28-06">June 28, 1991</time>) and the Committee on Arrangements for the 1992 Republican National Convention (on <time datetime="1991-03-07">July 3, 1991</time>) to receive $10.6 million each for their presidential nominating conventions.</p>
        </div>
      </details>
    </li>

    <li>
      <time datetime="1992">1992</time>

      <details id="a19920101">
        <summary>Trevor Potter (R) Serves as Commissioner <time datetime="1992-01-01">January 1, 1992</time>-<time datetime="1995-10">October, 1995<time></summary>
        <div>
          <figure>
            <img src="/static/img-40th/Potter_Trevor.jpg" alt="Commissioner Trevor Potter">
            <figcaption>Commissioner Trevor Potter</figcaption>
          </figure>
          <p>Trevor Potter was confirmed by the Senate as a Commissioner in November of 1991. He served as FEC Chairman in 1994.</p>
          <p>Before his appointment, Mr. Potter specialized in campaign and election law as a partner in a Washington, DC law firm. His previous experience in government includes serving as Assistant General Counsel at the Federal Communications Commission from 1984 to 1985 and as a Department of Justice attorney from 1982 to 1984.</p>
          <p>Mr. Potter graduated from Harvard College. He earned his J.D. degree at the University of Virginia School of Law, where he served as editor-in-chief of the Virginia Journal of International Law and was a member of the order of the Coif. He served as vice chairman of the American Bar Association Committee on Election Law, Administrative Law Section.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19920103">
        <summary>Commission Press Conference and Educational Outreach Campaign Regarding Shortfall <time datetime="1992-03-01">January 3, 1992</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>In a press conference, the Commission <a href="http://www.fec.gov/pdf/record/1992/february1992.pdf" target="_blank">makes an announcement concerning an educational outreach campaign</a> to alert the public to the shortfall in the Presidential Election Campaign Fund. The same day, the Commission introduces checkoff education ads and a special checkoff 800-number.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19920224">
        <summary>Chair Aikens Appears on C-Span to Discuss Shortfall in 1992 Presidential Campaign Funding <time datetime="1992-24-02">February 24, 1992</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>Chair Joan D. Aikens <a href="http://www.c-span.org/video/?24712-1/1992-presidential-campaign" target="_blank">appears on a C-Span call-in show</a> to discuss the public funding program and the possible shortfall, as well as the FEC's efforts to get the checkoff raised.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19920301">
        <summary>Direct Access Program Expands <time datetime="1992-01-03">March 1, 1992</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The Direct Access Program, launched in 1985, expanded its offerings to include computer access to advisory opinions and court cases.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19920403">
        <summary>Commission Predicts 1996 Shortfall in Press <time datetime="1992-03-04">April 3, 1992</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>In a press conference, the Commission <a href="http://www.fec.gov/pdf/record/1992/may1992.pdf" target="_blank">predicts 1996 shortfall in the Presidential Election Campaign Fund unless Congress amends the law.</a> Also on this day, Chair Aikens discusses the tax checkoff on Larry King's nationally-syndicated radio program.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19920821">
        <summary>Commission Certifies Public Funds to 1992 General Election Major Party Candidates July 17 and <time datetime="1992-21-08">August 21, 1992</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The Commission certifies $55.25 million each in public funds to the general election campaigns of Democratic presidential nominee Bill Clinton and his running mate, Albert Gore, Jr. (on <time datetime="1992-17-07">July 17, 1992</time>) and of Republican presidential nominee George Bush and his running mate Dan Quayle (on <time datetime="1992-21-08">August 21, 1992</time>).</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19921203">
        <summary>FEC Commissioners Group Photo <time datetime="1992-03-12">December 3, 1992</time></summary>
        <div>
          <figure>
            <img src="/static/img-40th/COM002.jpg" alt="(L to R) Sitting - Chairwoman Joan D. Aikens, Vice Chairman Scott E. Thomas. Standing - Commissioners Danny L. McDonald, Trevor Potter, John W. McGarry, Lee Ann Elliott, Senate Ex-Officio David G. Gartner">
            <figcaption>(L to R) Sitting - Chair Joan D. Aikens, Vice Chairman Scott E. Thomas. Standing - Commissioners Danny L. McDonald, Trevor Potter, John W. McGarry, Lee Ann Elliott, Senate Ex-Officio David G. Gartner<figcaption>
          </figure>
        </div>
      </details>
    </li>

    <li>
      <time datetime="1993">1993</time>

      <details id="a19930101">
        <summary>Fax Service Implemented <time datetime="1993-01-01">January 1, 1993</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The Public Records Office implemented a fax service under which, for example, a subscriber could place a standing order to receive copies of all items on the agenda of a Commission meeting when those documents became public, or copies of all advisory opinions as they were issued.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19930723">
        <summary>FEC Publishes Comprehensive Report on Public Funding  <time datetime="1993-14-04">April 14, 1993</time> and <time datetime="1993-23-07">July 23, 1993</time></summary>
        <div>
          <figure>
            <img src="/static/img-40th/public_funding.jpg" alt="Public Funding Report">
            <figcaption>Public Funding Report<figcaption>
          </figure>
          <p>A <a href="https://transition.fec.gov/info/pfund.htm" target="_blank">comprehensive report</a> published by the FEC on <time datetime="1993-23-07">July 23, 1993</time> (with advance copies released on <time datetime="1993-14-04">April 14, 1993</time>) chronicles the history and experiences of presidential public funding and forecasts a warning for the 1996 shortfall.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19930810">
        <summary>Tax Checkoff Increased from $1 to $3 <time datetime="1993-10-08">August 10, 1993</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>President Clinton signed the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, which raised the $1 checkoff to a $3 checkoff for the Presidential Election Campaign Fund.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19930810a">
        <summary>Congress Amends FECA in the Late 1980s and Early 1990s <time datetime="1989-30-11">November 30, 1989</time> to <time datetime="1993-10-08">August 10, 1993</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>In the late 1980s and early 1990s, several amendments to FECA were enacted, including provisions that:</p>
          <ul>
            <li>Banned honoraria for federal officeholders (Pub. L. No. 109-90, 1991);</li>
            <li>Repealed a grandfather clause that had permitted some Members of Congress to convert excess campaign funds to personal use (Pub. L. No. 101-194, 1989);</li>
            <li>Assigned significant new administrative duties to the Commission under the National Voter Registration Act (Pub. L. No. 104-132, 1993; effective 1/1/1995); and</li>
            <li>Increased the tax checkoff for the Presidential Election Campaign Fund from $1 to $3 (Pub. L. No. 103-66, 1993).</li>
          </ul>
        </div>
      </details>

      <!-- TODO: MODAL -->
      <details id="a19931213">
        <summary>Commission Announces Enforcement Prioritization System <time datetime="1993-13-12">December 13, 1993</time></summary>
        <div>
          <div>
            <a href="#inline-1993-12-132" class="CBmodal cboxElement"><div class="play"></div><img src="/static/img-40th/youtube-OMbGeF7Mge0.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="Commission Announces Enforcement Prioritization System"></a>
            <p class="mediaLink"><a href="#inline-1993-12-132" class="CBmodal cboxElement" title="Commission Announces Enforcement Prioritization System">Commission Announces Enforcement Prioritization System</a></p>
            <div style="display:none">
              <div id="inline-1993-12-132" class="modalBox">
                <iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/OMbGeF7Mge0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
              </div>
            </div>
          </div>
          <p>At a news conference, <a href="http://www.fec.gov/press/archive/1993/19931213_Enforcement.pdf" target="_blank">Chairman Scott E. Thomas announced implementation of a comprehensive enforcement prioritization system</a> designed to produce timely resolution of significant cases.</p>
        </div>
      </details>
    </li>

    <li>
      <time datetime="1994">1994</time>

      <details id="a19940610">
        <summary>Commission Automates Toll-free Line <time datetime="1994-10-06">June 10, 1994</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The FEC added an automated menu to its toll free information line.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19940801">
        <summary>"Flashfax" System  <time datetime="1994-01-08">August 1, 1994</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The Commission introduced its automated Flashfax service. The technology permitted callers to dial a phone number, review a menu of documents and, using a touch-tone phone, place an order for documents to be faxed to them in a return call.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19941022">
        <summary><em>FEC v. NRA Political Victory Fund</em> <time datetime="1993-22-10">October 22, 1993</time> and <time datetime="1994-06-12">December 6, 1994</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>In October 1993, the <a href="https://transition.fec.gov/law/litigation_CCA_FEC_N.shtml#fec_nrapvf" target="_blank">U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled</a> that the composition of the Commission "violates the Constitution's separation of powers" because Congress "placed its agents, the Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the House of Representatives, on the independent Commission as non-voting ex officio members."  In response, the Commission voted to reconstitute itself as a six-member body and as a precaution, voted to ratify its regulations in effect at the time.</p>
          <p>In December 1994, the Supreme Court ruled that the Solicitor General must represent the Commission before that Court in FECA cases.</p>
        </div>
      </details>
    </li>

    <li>
      <time datetime="1995">1995</time>

      <details id="a19950615">
        <summary>FEC Publishes Twenty Year Report <time datetime="1995-15-06">June 15, 1995</time></summary>
        <div>
          <figure>
            <img src="/static/img-40th/20_year.png" alt="Twenty Year Report">
            <figcaption>Twenty Year Report</figcaption>
          </figure>
          <p>To mark its 20th anniversary, the FEC issued a <a href="https://www.fec.gov/resources/about-fec/reports/20year.pdf" target="_blank">Twenty Year Report</a>. The Report provided a brief historical context, reviewed the agency's administration and enforcement of the law and examined key issues the Commission was debating at the time. The Report concluded with a chapter that offered FEC statistics to supplement the debate over the role of PACs and parties, and the costs of political campaigns.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19950630">
        <summary>Commission Certifies Funds for Major Parties' 1996 Presidential Nominating Conventions <time datetime="1995-30-06">June 30, 1995</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>On <time datetime="1995-30-06">June 30, 1995</time>, the Commission certified the eligibility of the Democratic National Convention Committee and the Committee on Arrangements for the 1996 Republican National Convention to receive $12.024 million each for their 1996 presidential nominating conventions.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19950726">
        <summary>Pilot Program for Electronic Filing Begins <time datetime="1995-26-07">July 26, 1995</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The FEC invited selected PACs, party committees and candidate committees to participate in a <a href="http://www.fec.gov/press/archive/1995/19950726_PilotProgram-eFiling.pdf" target="_blank">voluntary pilot program for electronic filing</a>. Committees were selected on the basis of their proximity to the FEC and the complexity of their reports.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19951005">
        <summary>Commission Issues Regulations on Independent Expenditures by Non-Profit Corporations <time datetime="1995-05-10">October 5, 1995</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>In 1986, the Supreme Court held in <em>FEC v. Massachusetts Citizens for Life</em> that certain nonprofit corporations could legally make independent expenditures. A resulting petition for rulemaking initiated the FEC's rulemaking in response and garnered over 17,000 comments. The Commission ultimately promulgated new rules amending the definition of "express advocacy" and describing the nonprofit organizations that were exempt from the Act's ban on corporate independent expenditures (this ban was later found unconstitutional as to all corporations in <em>Citizens United</em>).</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19951228">
        <summary>New Legislation: Point of Entry and Electronic Filing <time datetime="1995-28-12">December 28, 1995</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>President Clinton <a href="http://www.fec.gov/pdf/record/1996/feb96.pdf" target="_blank">signed Public Law 104-79, which contained important changes to the ways certain FEC reports were filed.</a> The legislation officially changed the point of entry for House candidates' reports and paved the way for the State filing waiver program and electronic filing. Candidates had previously filed their reports with the Clerk of the House, but on <time datetime="1996-01-01">January 1, 1996</time>, they began filing them with the FEC. (The law did not affect the point of entry for reports from Senate candidates.) The amendments also waived the requirement for candidates to file reports in their respective states, if the state permitted electronic access to and duplication of FEC reports. Finally, the law authorized the Commission to develop the technical and regulatory framework to enable political committees to file reports on computer disk or through other electronic means.</p>
        </div>
      </details>
    </li>

    <li>
      <time datetime="1996">1996</time>

      <details id="a19960214">
        <summary>The FEC Has a New Address: http://www.fec.gov <time datetime="1996-14-02">February 14, 1996</time></summary>
        <div>
          <figure>
            <img src="/static/img-40th/fec_gov_96.png" alt="FEC/FECA Brochure, 1996">
            <figcaption>A sample page from the very first FEC.gov website.</figcaption>
          </figure>
          <p>The FEC launched its website, offering the public another FEC access point for information on campaign financing and the election process.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19960415">
        <summary>House Candidates Begin Filing Directly with FEC <time datetime="1996-15-04">April 15, 1996</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>As a result of a 1995 legislative change, House candidates began filing campaign finance reports directly with the FEC, rather than with the Clerk of the House. The change in point of entry improved both the timeliness and quality of the Commission's public disclosure process.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19960415a">
        <summary>FEC Initiates Pilot Program for Electronic Filing via Computer Disk <time datetime="1996-15-04">April 15, 1996</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The Commission also took steps during 1996 to implement an electronic filing system that would allow committees to file reports via computer disk or other electronic format on a voluntary basis.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19960822">
        <summary>First General Election Grant Certified to Third Party <time datetime="1996-22-08">August 22, 1996</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>For the first time, the FEC certified a partial public funding grant to a third party presidential campaign. The Reform Party's Perot/Choate campaign received a $22.055 million general election grant.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19960830">
        <summary>Commission Certifies Funding for 1996 Major Party General Election Candidates August 15 and <time datetime="1996-30-08">August 30, 1996</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The Commission certifies $61.82 million each in public funds to the general election campaigns of Democratic presidential nominee President Bill Clinton and his running mate, Vice President Albert Gore, Jr. (on <time datetime="1996-30-08">August 30, 1996</time>) and of Republican presidential nominee Bob Dole and his running mate Jack Kemp (on <time datetime="1996-15-08">August 15, 1996</time>).</p>
        </div>
      </details>
    </li>

    <li>
      <time datetime="1997">1997</time>

      <details id="a19970101">
        <summary>Interim Electronic Filing Program Begins <time datetime="1997-01-01">January 1, 1997</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The Commission <a href="http://www.fec.gov/pdf/record/1997/feb97.pdf" target="_blank">launched an interim Electronic Filing Program</a> that allowed committees to file reports via computer disk. To assist electronic filers, the agency created and distributed free filing software, named FECFile, to more than 200 interested users.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19971010">
        <summary>Legislation Limits Commissioners to One Term in Office Enacted <time datetime="1997-10-10">October 10, 1997</time>; Effective After <time datetime="1997-31-12">December 31, 1997</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The Treasury and Government Appropriations Act, 1998, Pub. L. No. 105-61, Sec. 512, signed into law on <time datetime="1997-10-10">October 10, 1997</time>, contained a clause that limited FEC Commissioners to a single term of six years. The amendment applied to individuals nominated by the President after <time datetime="1997-31-12">December 31, 1997</time>.</p>
      </div>
      </details>
    </li>

    <li>
      <time datetime="1998">1998</time>

      <details id="a19980102">
        <summary>Disclosure Reports Added To the FEC's Website <time datetime="1998-02-01">January 2, 1998</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>With the exception of Senate filings,* all 1997-1998 cycle reports filed by PACs, political parties, presidential and House campaigns were made available for viewing at the click of a button. The agency updated its website within 48 hours of receipt of paper reports.</p>
          <p>*Senate candidates and their campaign committees, as well as committees supporting/opposing only Senate candidates, file their reports directly with the Secretary of the Senate. Because the Commission received these reports on microfilm and did not receive the original copy of these reports, it was impossible to achieve the quality necessary for imaging purposes. As a result, they were not included in this program.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19980301">
        <summary>Electronic Filing Enhanced to Allow Committees to Transmit Reports Directly to FEC <time datetime="1998-03">March 1998</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The second version of the agency's free electronic filing software, FECFile, became available. Electronic filers could now send their computer-prepared reports electronically through a direct transmission to the FEC.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19980114">
        <summary>James A. Pehrkon Serves as Staff Director <time datetime="1998-14-04">April 14, 1998</time>-<time datetime="2005-15-12">December 15, 2005</time></summary>
        <div>
          <figure>
            <img src="/static/img-40th/PehrkonJ.jpg" alt="James A. Pehrkon, 2001">
            <figcaption>James A. Pehrkon, 2001<figcaption>
          </figure>
          <p>James A. Pehrkon became Staff Director on <time datetime="1999-14-04">April 14, 1999</time>, after serving as Acting Staff Director for eight months. Prior to that, Mr. Pehrkon served for 18 years as the Commission's Deputy Staff Director with responsibilities for managing the FEC's budget, administration and computer systems. Among the agency's first employees, Mr. Pehrkon is credited with setting up the FEC's Data Systems Development Division. He directed the data division before assuming his duties as Deputy Staff Director. An Austin, Texas, native, Mr. Pehrkon received an undergraduate degree from Harvard University and did graduate work in foreign affairs at Georgetown University</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19980721">
        <summary>FEC Unveils New Query System on Website <time datetime="1998-21-07">July 21, 1998</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The Commission added a <a href="https://www.fec.gov/updates/fec-launches-new-web-information/" target="_blank">new online query system</a> that provided immediate access to the name and contribution amount of any individual who had contributed $200 or more to a federal political committee during the 1997-1998 election cycle. The FEC's new searchable database also allowed users to access lists of PACs or party committees that have contributed to specific candidates and view lists of candidates to whom selected PACs and parties have contributed.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19980901">
        <summary>Darryl R. Wold (R) Serves as Commissioner <time datetime="1998-06">July, 1998<time> - <time datetime="2002-01-04">April 1, 2002</time></summary>
        <div>
          <figure>
            <img src="/static/img-40th/Wold_Darryl.jpg" alt="Commissioner Darryl R. Wold">
            <figcaption>Commissioner Darryl R. Wold<figcaption>
          </figure>
          <p>Darryl R. Wold was nominated to the Commission by President Clinton on <time datetime="1997-05-11">November 5, 1997</time>, and confirmed by the U.S. Senate on <time datetime="1998-30-07">July 30, 1998</time>. He served as Chairman in 2000.</p>
          <p>Prior to his appointment, Commissioner Wold had been in private law practice in Orange County, California, since 1974. In addition to his own practice, he was counsel to Reed and Davidson, a California law firm, for election law litigation and enforcement defense matters. Mr. Wold's practice included representing candidates, ballot measure committees, political action committees and others with responsibilities under federal, state and local election laws. Mr. Wold's business practice emphasized business litigation and counseling closely-held companies.</p>
          <p>Commissioner Wold graduated <em>cum laude</em> from Claremont McKenna College in California and earned an LL.B. from Stanford University. He is a member of the California and U.S. Supreme Court bars. Commissioner Wold departed from the Commission on <time datetime="2002-01-04">April 1, 2002</time>.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19980801">
        <summary>Karl J. Sandstrom (D) Serves as Commissioner <time datetime="1998-08"></time>August, 1998<time> - <time datetime="2002-09-12">December 9, 2002</time></summary>
        <div>
          <figure>
            <img src="/static/img-40th/Sandstrom_Karl.jpg" alt="Commissioner Karl J. Sandstrom">
            <figcaption>Commissioner Karl J. Sandstrom<figcaption>
          </figure>
          <p>Commissioner Karl J. Sandstrom, a Democrat, was nominated to the Commission by President William Clinton on <time datetime="1998-13-07">July 13, 1998</time>, and confirmed by the U.S. Senate on <time datetime="1998-30-07">July 30, 1998</time>.</p>
          <p>Prior to his appointment Commissioner Sandstrom served as Chairman of the Administrative Review Board at the Department of Labor. From 1988 to 1992 he was Staff Director of the House Subcommittee on Elections, during which time he also served as the Staff Director of the Speaker of the House's Task Force on Electoral Reform. From 1979 to 1988, Mr. Sandstrom served as the Deputy Chief Counsel to the House Administration Committee of the House of Representatives. In addition, he has taught public policy as an Adjunct Professor at the American University.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19980801a">
        <summary>GAO Conducts Customer Satisfaction Survey Regarding FEC Products, Services and Processes <time datetime="1998-01-08">August 1, 1998</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The GAO contacted randomly selected congressional candidate committees, political party committees and PACs to evaluate the FEC's effectiveness in providing information to the regulated community and facilitating disclosure of campaign finance information.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19980701">
        <summary>David M. Mason (R) Serves as Commissioner <time datetime="1998-06-08">August 6, 1998</time>-<time datetime="2008-06">July, 2008<time></summary>
        <div>
          <figure>
            <img src="/static/img-40th/Mason_David.jpg" alt="Commissioner David M. Mason">
            <figcaption>Commissioner David M. Mason<figcaption>
          </figure>
          <p>David M. Mason was nominated to the Commission by President William Clinton on <time datetime="1998-04-03">March 4, 1998</time> and confirmed by the U.S. Senate on <time datetime="1998-30-07">July 30, 1998</time>.   He was nominated for a second term by President George W. Bush on <time datetime="2005-19-12">December 19, 2005</time>.   He served Chairman in 2002 and 2008.</p>
          <p>Prior to his appointment, Mr. Mason was Senior Fellow in Congressional Studies at the Heritage Foundation. He joined Heritage in 1990 and served at various times as Director of Executive Branch Liaison, Director of the Foundation's U.S. Congress Assessment Project, and Vice President, Government Relations.</p>
          <p>Commissioner Mason served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, where he managed the Pentagon's relations with the U.S. House of Representatives. One of his major accomplishments there was guiding base closing legislation to a successful conclusion.</p>
          <p>He has served on Capitol Hill, as a Legislative Assistant to Senator John Warner, Legislative Director to Representative Tom Bliley, and Staff Director to then-House Republican Whip Trent Lott. He was active as a staffer and volunteer in numerous Congressional, Senate, Gubernatorial and Presidential campaigns, and was himself the Republican nominee for the Virginia House of Delegates in the 48th District in 1982.</p>
          <p>Commissioner Mason attended Lynchburg College in Virginia and graduated <em>cum laude</em> from Claremont McKenna College in California.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19981019">
        <summary>FEC Enhances Web Page to Highlight Last-Minute Money <time datetime="1998-19-10">October 19, 1998</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The Commission <a href="https://www.fec.gov/updates/fec-enhances-web-page-to-highlight-last-minute-money/" target="_blank">introduced a new search process</a> that consolidates all last-minute contributions and allows users to see which candidates filed reports on a given day, or to view the reports filed on a given day by all candidates from a particular state.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19981113">
        <summary>Mandatory E-Filing Begins for Presidential Campaigns that Accept Matching Funds <time datetime="1998-11-11">November 11, 1998</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>New regulations <a href="http://www.fec.gov/pdf/record/1998/dec98.pdf" target="_blank">required presidential candidates that maintain computerized campaign finance records to participate in the Commission's electronic filing program</a> as a condition of accepting federal funding.</p>
        </div>
      </details>
    </li>

    <li>
      <time datetime="1999">1999</time>

      <details id="a19990601">
        <summary>FEC Makes Meeting Documents Available by Email <time datetime="1999-01-06">June 1, 1999</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The Public Records Office offered constituents the option to receive open meeting agenda documents by email.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19990628">
        <summary>Commission Certifies Funds for Major Parties' 2000 Presidential Nominating Conventions <time datetime="1999-28-06">June 28, 1999</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>On <time datetime="1999-28-06">June 28, 1999</time>, the Commission certified the eligibility of the Democratic National Convention Committee, Inc. and the Committee on Arrangements for the 2000 Republican National Convention to receive $13.224 million each for their 2000 presidential nominating conventions.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19990715">
        <summary>George W. Bush Becomes First Major Party Candidate to Decline Primary Election Public Funding <time datetime="1999-15-07">July 15, 1999</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>On <time datetime="1999-15-07">July 15, 1999</time>, Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush announced that his campaign would not accept primary matching funds. As a result, the campaign is not subject to the spending limits that are a condition of receiving federal matching funds in the primary season.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19990818">
        <summary>Advisory Opinions Now on FEC Website <time datetime="1999-18-08">August 18, 1999</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The Commission placed its historical databank of hundreds of advisory opinions on the agency's website. Advisory opinions are official Commission responses to questions relating to the application of the Federal Election Campaign Act to a specific, factual situation.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19990929">
        <summary>Congress Authorizes Administrative Fine Program <time datetime="1999-29-09">September 29, 1999</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The <a href="https://www.fec.gov/updates/fecs-fy-2000-budget-approved-contains-provisions-on-electronic-filing-administrative-fines-campaign-cycle-reporting/" target="_blank">Treasury and General Government Appropriations Act of 2000 (Pub. L. 106-58) authorized the Commission</a> to institute the <a href="https://www.fec.gov/legal-resources/enforcement/administrative-fines/" target="_blank">Administrative Fine Program</a> in order to collect civil penalties for late and non-filed reports during fiscal year 2000. (The initial authorization expired at the end of 2001, but has since been extended by law several times.)</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19991014">
        <summary>Commission Approves State Filing Waiver Program <time datetime="1999-14-10">October 14, 1999</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The Commission <a href="http://www.fec.gov/pdf/record/1999/dec99.pdf#page=17" target="_blank">approved the state filing waiver program</a>, relieving qualified state offices of the requirement to receive and maintain paper copies of campaign finance reports from Presidential and House candidates and most other political committees that file their reports with the Commission. The waiver program also relieved committees of the obligation to file these paper copies.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19991102">
        <summary>Commission Defines "Member" of a "Membership Association" <time datetime="1999-02-11">November 2, 1999</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>Incorporated membership organizations may solicit funds for their PACs from their "members" as well as executive and administrative personnel of the organization. Following litigation and Advisory Opinions issued in the 1980s, the FEC promulgated a new definition of the term "member." After further litigation, which found the revised definition and accompanying rules too restrictive because they required that a "member" both pay dues and hold voting privileges, the Commission adopted a broader definition of "member" that requires that a "member" either have a significant financial or organizational attachment, or pay annual dues of any amount to the organization. This definition remains in place today.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19991104">
        <summary>FEC Commissioners Group Photo <time datetime="1999-04-11">November 4, 1999</time></summary>
        <div>
          <figure>
            <img src="/static/img-40th/Class_Photo_1999.jpg" alt="(L to R) Karl J. Sandstrom, Danny L. McDonald, Vice Chairman Darryl R. Wold, Chairman Scott E. Thomas, Lee Ann Elliott and David M. Mason">
            <figcaption>(L to R) Karl J. Sandstrom, Danny L. McDonald, Vice Chairman Darryl R. Wold, Chairman Scott E. Thomas, <br>Lee Ann Elliott and David M. Mason<figcaption>
          </figure>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19991122">
        <summary>Commission Certifies Funding for Reform Party 2000 Convention <time datetime="1999-22-11">November 22, 1999</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The Commission certified $2,468,921 to the Reform Party for its 2000 presidential nominating convention. As a minor party, it had qualified for public funding of this convention based on a ratio of votes cast in the preceding presidential election.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19991208">
        <summary>FEC Certifies First 12 States for Filing Waiver <time datetime="1999-08-12">December 8, 1999</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The Commission certified 12 states as exempt from a federal requirement to receive and maintain paper copies of campaign finance reports from presidential and U.S. House of Representatives candidates and most political committees. This was the initial certification group, with some 20 other states expected to follow soon.</p>
          <p>States certified by the Commission to participate in the program are Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Michigan, Nebraska, New York, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Wisconsin. The FEC certification indicates that they possess an adequate computerized system to allow the public electronic access to, and duplication of, reports and statements that are filed with the FEC.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a19991223">
        <summary>FEC Redesigns, Streamlines Website <time datetime="1999-23-12">December 23, 1999</time></summary>
        <div>
          <figure>
            <img src="/static/img-40th/fec_website_y2k.png" alt="FEC's Website from 1999">
            <figcaption>FEC's Website from 1999<figcaption>
          </figure>
          <p>The Commission reorganized its website to offer the most efficient presentation of relevant and appropriate information to various audiences, including the general public, candidates and their campaign workers, and the media.</p>
          <p>Items available on the newly designed www.fec.gov include images of campaign finance reports; summaries and searchable databases of campaign contributions; candidate and committee guides and reporting forms; news releases and media advisories; statistics and data on voting and elections; Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) guidelines; FEC advisory opinions; a "What's New" scrolling menu; daily highlights; and more.</p>
          <p>Additionally, the FEC implemented Media-Independent Presentation Language (MIPL), an Internet-based technology designed to facilitate access for persons with special needs to many types of information by using a wide variety of hardware and software solutions.</p>
        </div>
      </details>
    </li>

    <li>
      <time datetime="2000">2000</time>

      <details id="a20000201">
        <summary>FEC Adds Open Meeting Agenda Documents to Website <time datetime="2000-01-02">February 1, 2000</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The FEC added <a href="https://www.fec.gov/meetings/" target="_blank">agenda documents</a> for its open public meetings to its website.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20000217">
        <summary>Commission Approves EFOIA Rules <time datetime="2000-17-02">February 17, 2000</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The Commission approved rules implementing the Electronic Freedom of Information Act Amendments of 1996 (EFOIA). The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) provides public access to all federal agency records except those that are protected from release by specified exemptions. The EFOIA extends that access to electronic records and makes other changes in FOIA procedures that are designed to expedite and streamline the process by which agencies disclose information generally. The EFOIA requires each agency to make reasonable efforts to ensure that its records can be reproduced and searched electronically, except when such efforts would significantly interfere with the operation of the agency's automated information system. The Commission has amended its FOIA rules to apply these statutory changes to its electronic records and procedures.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20000525">
        <summary>Commission Certifies Additional Funds for Parties' 2000 Presidential Nominating Conventions March 28 and <time datetime="2000-25-05">May 25, 2000</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>On <time datetime="2000-28-03">March 28, 2000</time>, the Commission approved an additional public funding payment of $288,000 for each of the major parties' 2000 national nominating conventions, ensuring that each party received their full public funding entitlement of $13,512,000. Similarly, on <time datetime="2000-25-05">May 25, 2000</time>, the Commission certified an additional $55,769 to the Reform Party for its 2000 convention, bringing its total entitlement to $2,522,690. These additional payments reflected an adjustment in the consumer price index.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20000615">
        <summary>Mandatory Electronic Filing Begins <time datetime="2000-15-06">June 15, 2000</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>On <time datetime="2000-15-06">June 15, 2000</time>, the Commission approved <a href="http://www.fec.gov/pdf/record/2000/aug00.pdf" target="_blank">rules implementing mandatory electronic filing</a>. Beginning with the reporting periods that start on or after <time datetime="2001-01-01">January 1, 2001</time>, all persons required to file reports with the FEC who receive contributions or make expenditures in excess of $50,000 in a calendar year, or who expect to do so, must submit their campaign finance reports electronically. Any filers who are required to file electronically, but who file on paper, will be considered nonfilers and may be subject to enforcement action.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20000601">
        <summary>Bradley A. Smith (R) Serves as Commissioner <time datetime="2000-26-06">June 26, 2000</time>-<time datetime="2005-21-08">August 21, 2005</time></summary>
        <div>
          <figure>
            <img src="/static/img-40th/Smith_Bradley.jpg" alt="Commissioner Bradley A. Smith">
            <figcaption>Commissioner Bradley A. Smith<figcaption>
          </figure>
          <p>Bradley A. Smith was nominated to the Commission by President William Clinton on <time datetime="2000-09-02">February 9, 2000</time>, and confirmed by the U.S. Senate on <time datetime="2000-24-05">May 24, 2000</time>. He served as FEC Chairman in 2004.</p>
          <p>Prior to his appointment, Smith was Professor of Law at Capital University Law School in Columbus, Ohio, where he taught Election Law, Comparative Election Law, Jurisprudence, Law &amp; Economics, and Civil Procedure. Smith's writings on campaign finance and other election issues have appeared in the Yale Law Journal, the University of Pennsylvania Law Review, the Georgetown Law Journal, the Harvard Journal of Legislation, the Cornell Journal of Law &amp; Public Policy, and other academic journals. As a law professor, Smith was a much sought-after witness in Congress on matters of campaign finance reform, and also a frequent guest on radio and television and a contributor to popular publications such as the Wall Street Journal and USA Today.</p>
          <p>Prior to joining the faculty at Capital in 1993, he had practiced with the Columbus law firm of Vorys, Sater, Seymour &amp; Pease, served as United States Vice Consul in Guayaquil, Ecuador, worked as a consultant in the health care field, and served as General Manager of the Small Business Association of Michigan, a position in which his responsibilities included management of the organization's political action committee.</p>
          <p>Commissioner Smith received his B.A. <em>cum laude</em> from Kalamazoo College in Kalamazoo, Michigan and his J.D., <em>cum laude</em> from Harvard Law School.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20000705">
        <summary>FEC Introduces Election Cycle Reporting for Authorized Committees <time datetime="2000-05-07">July 5, 2000</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The Commission approved <a href="http://www.fec.gov/pdf/record/2000/aug00.pdf#page=4" target="_blank">new regulations conforming to federal legislation that required authorized committees of federal candidates to aggregate and report receipts and disbursements on an election-cycle basis rather than on the traditional calendar-year basis</a>. These revised regulations affect reports covering periods that begin on or after <time datetime="2001-01-01">January 1, 2001</time>. The new rules did not affect PACs or party committees.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20000714">
        <summary>FEC Launches Administrative Fine Program <time datetime="2000-14-07">July 14, 2000</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>In response to a legislative mandate, an <a href="https://www.fec.gov/legal-resources/enforcement/administrative-fines/" target="_blank">Administrative Fine Program</a> was implemented in July 2000 to address late and non-filing of disclosure reports in a more efficient and effective manner. The AF Program is administered by the Commission's Reports Analysis Division (RAD) and Office of Administrative Review (OAR), which are within the Office of Compliance.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20000818">
        <summary>Commission Certifies Public Funds for Major Party 2000 General Election Candidates August 4 and <time datetime="2000-18-08">August 18, 2000</time></summary>
        <div>
        <p>The Commission certified $67.56 million each to the major party 2000 general election campaigns of Republican presidential nominee George W. Bush and his vice presidential running mate Richard Cheney (on <time datetime="2000-04-08">August 4, 2000</time>) and of Democratic presidential nominee Al Gore and his vice presidential running mate Senator Joseph Lieberman (on <time datetime="2000-18-08">August 18, 2000</time>).</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20000914">
        <summary>Commission Certifies Funds to Reform Party 2000 General Election Campaign <time datetime="2000-14-09">September 14, 2000</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>On <time datetime="2000-14-09">September 14, 2000</time>, the Commission certified $12,613,452 million to the general election campaign of Reform Party candidate Pat Buchanan and his vice presidential running mate Ezola Foster.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20000922">
        <summary>Senate Candidates' Campaign Finance Reports Made Available on FEC Website <time datetime="2000-22-09">September 22, 2000</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>In a <a href="https://www.fec.gov/updates/senate-candidates-campaign-finance-reports-now-available-on-fec-website/" target="_blank">joint effort by the U.S. Senate and the Commission</a> to provide better public access to Senate campaign finance reports, the public can now view at the FEC website reports of money raised and spent by U.S. Senate candidates. Previously, Senate reports had been delivered by the Senate to the FEC on microfilm, which could not be transferred to quality images on the website.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20000927">
        <summary>Commission Extends State Filing Waiver Program to U.S. Senate Candidates <time datetime="2000-27-09">September 27, 2000</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The Commission voted to <a href="http://www.fec.gov/pdf/record/2000/nov00.pdf" target="_blank">extend the State Filing Waiver Program to include campaigns for U.S. Senate candidates</a> and other political committees that support only U.S. Senate candidates.</p>
          <p>Prior to the Commission's decision to extend the program, the state filing waiver did not apply to reports filed by candidates and committees whose point-of-entry for filing reports is the Office of the Secretary of the U. S. Senate.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20001001">
        <summary> Alternative Dispute Resolution Program Begins <time datetime="2000-01-10">October 1, 2000</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The Commission established the Alternative Dispute Resolution Office (ADRO) as a <a href="https://www.fec.gov/updates/fec-institutes-pilot-adr-program/" target="_blank">pilot program</a> to reduce enforcement case processing times and free up Commission resources.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20001018">
        <summary>Online Submission of 48-Hour Notices Debuts for the General Election <time datetime="2000-18-10">October 18, 2000</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The Commission developed a web-based filing system to enable candidate committees to create and submit their <a href="https://www.fec.gov/help-candidates-and-committees/filing-reports/48-hour-notices/" target="_blank">48-Hour notices</a> entirely online. Using the new system, even campaigns that did not file electronically and those that used software that did not generate the 48-Hour disclosure form (FEC Form 6) could file their 48-Hour Notices online.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20001018a">
        <summary>Commission Expands Disclosure on its Website <time datetime="2000-18-10">October 18, 2000</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>On <time datetime="2000-18-10">October 18, 2000</time>, the Commission <a href="https://www.fec.gov/updates/fec-expands-website-services/" target="_blank">announced several additions to its website</a> to enhance campaign finance disclosure. As a result, individuals could now easily view summary statistical information about candidates, PACs and party committees on the FEC Website.</p>
        </div>
      </details>
    </li>

    <li>
      <time datetime="2001">2001</time>

      <details id="a20010101b">
        <summary>OCR-Ready Disclosure Forms Debut <time datetime="2001-01-01">January 1, 2001</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The Commission issued new disclosure forms designed to be processed more quickly through the use of optical character recognition (OCR), in anticipation of the Commission's future use of this technology. The Commission made updated FEC forms 1, 2, 3, 3X, 3P, 6 and 8 available to committees filing in 2001. The changes to Forms 3 and 3P also adapted these forms for election-cycle reporting beginning January 2001.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20010101c">
        <summary>Commission Implements 1995 Legislation Concerning Recordkeeping, Reporting and Filing <time datetime="2001-01-01">January 1, 2001</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>Over the last half of the 1990s, the Commission conducted several rulemakings that implemented late 1995 statutory changes to the reporting and recordkeeping provisions of the Act. The rulemakings concerned point of entry for FEC reports on the federal and state level, electronic filing by political committees, best efforts requirements for committee treasurers in obtaining, maintaining and submitting contributor information, and election-cycle reporting for authorized committees. These rules mostly remain in effect today.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20010502">
        <summary>FEC Semi-Finalist in 'Innovation' Competition <time datetime="2001-02-05">May 2, 2001</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The Commission <a href="https://www.fec.gov/updates/fec-semi-finalist-in-innovations-competition/" target="_blank">was named one of 99 semi-finalists from some 1,300 applicants in the "Innovations in American Government" award competition</a> sponsored by the Ford Foundation and administered by Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government.</p>
          <p>The recognition highlights the success of the FEC's "State Filing Waiver Program." Initiated in 1999, the program follows the letter of the law (Public Law 104-79; 1995) and enhances the spirit of it by eliminating the need for administration of paper filings of campaign reports at the state level, replacing that paper with electronic immediacy for public and media.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20010625">
        <summary><em>FEC v. Colorado Republican Federal Campaign Committee</em> <time datetime="1996-26-06">June 26, 1996</time> and <time datetime="2001-25-06">June 25, 2001</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>In 1996, <a href="https://transition.fec.gov/law/litigation_CCA_FEC_A.shtml#fec_coloradorepub" target="_blank">the Supreme Court ruled</a> that the Act's party coordinated expenditure limits at 52 U.S.C.  § 30116(d) (then 2 U.S.C.  § 441a(d)) cannot constitutionally be applied to a radio ad aired by a political party committee because the ad was not coordinated with any candidate and thus was an independent expenditure. In 2001, following remand of the matter, the Court held that those limits were constitutional.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20010901">
        <summary>Lawrence H. Norton Serves as General Counsel <time datetime="2001-17-09">September 17, 2001</time>-<time datetime="2007-01-01">January 1, 2007</time></summary>
        <div>
          <figure>
            <img src="/static/img-40th/larry_norton.png" alt="Lawrence H. Norton">
            <figcaption>Lawrence H. Norton<figcaption>
          </figure>
          <p>Lawrence Norton became General Counsel of the Commission on <time datetime="2001-17-09">September 17, 2001</time>. Prior to joining the agency, Mr. Norton served as an Associate Director at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission for five years. He also worked as an Assistant Attorney General in the Maryland Attorney General's office. Mr. Norton graduated Order of the Coif from the University of Maryland School of Law.</p>
        </div>
      </details>
    </li>

    <li>
      <time datetime="2002">2002</time>

      <details id="a20020327">
        <summary>Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 <time datetime="2002-27-03">March 27, 2002</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The <a href="https://www.fec.gov/resources/record/2002/may02.pdf" target="_blank">Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (Pub. L. No. 107-55) (BCRA)</a> contained a number of substantive changes to federal campaign finance law. It increased certain contribution limits and indexed them for inflation, banned the raising and spending of nonfederal funds by national party committees, required state party committees to pay for certain federal activity with 100 percent federal funds, created reporting requirements for persons making electioneering communications and prohibited corporations and labor unions from making them (a ban that is no longer in effect), strengthened the ban on foreign national contributions and increased penalties for knowing and willful violations. BCRA also added a "Millionaires' provision" which enabled candidates who were facing self-funded opponents to raise additional contributions once certain thresholds were met (no longer in effect). The BCRA also prohibited federal candidates and officeholders from raising or spending nonfederal funds in connection with any election, including for state/local candidates. It also authorized state/local party committees to raise "Levin funds" for the purpose of paying for certain types of generic activity such as voter registration and get-out-the-vote activity.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20020401">
        <summary>Michael E. Toner (R) Serves as Commissioner <time datetime="2002-01-04">April 1, 2002</time>-<time datetime="2007-14-03">March 14, 2007</time></summary>
        <div>
          <figure>
            <img src="/static/img-40th/Toner_Michael.jpg" alt="Commissioner Michael E. Toner">
            <figcaption>Commissioner Michael E. Toner<figcaption>
          </figure>
          <p>Michael E. Toner was nominated to the Commission by President George W. Bush on <time datetime="2002-04-03">March 4, 2002</time> and appointed on <time datetime="2002-29-03">March 29, 2002</time>. Mr. Toner was confirmed by the United States Senate on <time datetime="2003-18-03">March 18, 2003</time>. He served as FEC Chairman in 2006.</p>
          <p>Prior to being appointed to the FEC, Mr. Toner served as Chief Counsel of the Republican National Committee. Mr. Toner joined the RNC in 2001 after serving as General Counsel of the Bush-Cheney Transition Team in Washington, DC and General Counsel of the Bush-Cheney 2000 Presidential Campaign in Austin, TX.</p>
          <p>Before joining the Bush campaign in Austin, Mr. Toner was Deputy Counsel at the RNC from 1997-1999. Prior to his tenure at the RNC, Mr. Toner served as Counsel to the Dole/Kemp Presidential Campaign in 1996.</p>
          <p>Mr. Toner was an associate attorney at Wiley, Rein, &amp; Fielding in Washington, DC from 1992-1996. His work there included advising political committees and corporate clients on federal and state election law compliance. He was also involved in a number of First and Fourteenth Amendment appellate litigation matters, including two cases that were successful in the U.S. Supreme Court.</p>
          <p>Mr. Toner has written widely on campaign finance matters, including in the Washington Post, New York Times, Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, Washington Times, The Hill, and Roll Call. Mr. Toner is a contributing author in the book "Divided States of America: The Slash and Burn Politics of the 2004 Presidential Election" (edited by Professor Larry J. Sabato, University of Virginia Center for Politics). Mr. Toner has also appeared as a guest commentator on Fox News Channel, Bloomberg News and C-SPAN.</p>
          <p>Mr. Toner has served as an Adjunct Professor of Law at the William and Mary Law School and as a lecturer in the Department of Politics at the University of Virginia.</p>
          <p>Mr. Toner received a J.D. <em>cum laude</em> from Cornell Law School in 1992, an M.A. in Political Science from Johns Hopkins University in 1989, and a B.A. with distinction from the University of Virginia in 1986. He is a member of the District of Columbia and Virginia bars, as well as the United States Supreme Court bar, the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, and the U.S. District Courts for the District of Columbia and the Eastern District of Virginia.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20020901">
        <summary>FEC Launches BCRA Web Pages <time datetime="2002-01-09">September 1, 2002</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>As part of an extensive educational outreach effort, the Commission added a new section to its website devoted to the new Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA).</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20021001">
        <summary>Alternative Dispute Resolution Program Becomes Permanent <time datetime="2002-01-10">October 1, 2002</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>After a vote of the Commission, the Alternative Dispute Resolution Office, which had been a pilot program, <a href="https://www.fec.gov/updates/commissions-pilot-adr-program-made-permanent/" target="_blank">became a permanent part of the FEC's enforcement process</a>.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20021201">
        <summary>Ellen L. Weintraub (D) Serves as Commissioner <time datetime="2002-09-12">December 9, 2002</time> - Present</summary>
        <div>
          <figure>
            <img src="/static/img-40th/Weintraub_Ellen.jpg" alt="Commissioner Ellen L. Weintraub">
            <figcaption>Commissioner Ellen L. Weintraub<figcaption>
          </figure>
          <p>Ellen L. Weintraub took office as a Commissioner on <time datetime="2002-09-12">December 9, 2002</time>. After an initial recess appointment, her nomination was confirmed by unanimous consent of the United States Senate on <time datetime="2003-18-03">March 18, 2003</time>. Commissioner Weintraub has twice served as Chair of the Commission, for calendar years 2003 and 2013.</p>
          <p>Prior to her appointment, Ms. Weintraub was Of Counsel to Perkins Coie LLP and a member of its Political Law Group. There, she counseled clients on federal and state campaign finance and election laws, political ethics, nonprofit law, recounts, and lobbying regulation. During the election contest arising out of the 1996 election of Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA), Ms. Weintraub served on the legal team that advised the Senate Rules Committee. Her tenure with Perkins Coie represented Ms. Weintraub's second stint in private practice, having previously practiced as a litigator with the New York law firm of Cahill Gordon &amp; Reindel.</p>
          <p>Before joining Perkins Coie, Ms. Weintraub was Counsel to the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct for the U.S. House of Representatives (the House Ethics Committee). Like the Commission, the Committee on Standards is a bipartisan body, evenly divided between Democratic and Republican members. Ms. Weintraub's work focused on implementing the Ethics Reform Act of 1989 and subsequent changes to the House Code of Official Conduct. She also served as editor in chief of the House Ethics Manual and as a principal contributor to the Senate Ethics Manual. While at the Committee, Ms. Weintraub counseled Members on investigations and often had lead responsibility for the Committee's public education and compliance initiatives.</p>
          <p>Ms. Weintraub received her B.A., cum laude, from Yale College and her J.D. from Harvard Law School. A native New Yorker, she is a member of the New York and District of Columbia bars and the Supreme Court bar.</p>
        </div>
      </details>
    </li>

    <li>
      <time datetime="2003">2003</time>

      <details id="a20030101">
        <summary>Commission Issues "Soft Money" Regulations <time datetime="2003-01-01">January 1, 2003</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The Commission's first of seven rulemaking projects to implement the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (BCRA) included regulations that restrict and, in some cases, ban the receipt, solicitation and use of nonfederal funds (sometimes called "soft money"). The rules prohibit national parties from raising or spending nonfederal funds; require state, district and local party committees to fund certain "federal election activities" with federal funds and, in some cases, with money raised according to new limitations, prohibitions and reporting requirements (i.e., "Levin funds"), or with a combination of such funds; and address fundraising by federal and nonfederal candidates and officeholders on behalf of party committees, other candidates and nonprofit organizations.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20030113">
        <summary>Commission Adjusts Contribution Limits for Inflation for the First Time; Certain Contribution Prohibitions are Strengthened or Enabled <time datetime="2003-01-01">January 1, 2003</time> and <time datetime="2003-13-01">January 13, 2003</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>Contribution limits and prohibitions regulations that increased the individual contribution limits and implemented their regular indexing for inflation took effect on <time datetime="2003-01-01">January 1, 2003</time>. The Commission issued additional regulations, effective <time datetime="2003-13-01">January 13, 2003</time>, implementing BCRA's provisions that strengthened the foreign national ban and prohibited minors from making contributions (later removed, as explained in an later entry).</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20030203">
        <summary>Commission Addresses Coordinated Communications and Independent Expenditures in Rulemakings <time datetime="2001-09-05">May 9, 2001</time> and <time datetime="2003-03-02">February 3, 2003</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>Seeking to address various 1990s litigation results, the Commission promulgated a new definition of coordinated communications. The regulations became the subject of litigation in <em>Shays I</em> and <em>Shays III</em>, and were revised several times (see later entry).</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20030203a">
        <summary>Commission Issues Regulations on Electioneering Communications and Other Campaign Communications <time datetime="2002-22-11">November 22, 2002</time>, <time datetime="2003-13-01">January 13, 2003</time> and <time datetime="2003-03-02">February 3, 2003</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>As part of its BCRA implementation, the Commission promulgated new rules on electioneering communications certain television and radio communications that refer to a clearly identified federal candidate and are publicly distributed to the relevant electorate within 60 of a general election or within 30 days of a primary election for Federal office. In other BCRA rulemakings, the Commission addressed the disclosure and disclaimer requirements (including BCRA's new design and wording requirements for disclaimers on print, television, and radio ads) for independent expenditure and electioneering communications.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20030301">
        <summary>FEC Creates New Disclosure Forms and Revises Existing Forms to Implement BCRA <time datetime="2003-01-03">March 1, 2003</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The Commission revised FEC Forms 1, 2, 3, 3X and 5 and their supporting Schedules and instructions to facilitate disclosure under the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (BCRA). The revisions to Forms 1, 2, 3 and 3X primarily affect House and Senate campaigns and state, district and local political party committees, while the revisions to Form 5 affect individuals and qualified nonprofit corporations filing reports of independent expenditures. The Commission also created five new forms in order to implement various provisions of the BCRA:</p>
          <p>* FEC Form 9, for use by individuals and qualified nonprofit corporations in reporting electioneering communications;</p>
          <p>* FEC Forms 10, 11 and 12, incorporated various notices required of House and Senate campaigns under the Millionaires' Amendment. (Other notices required under that amendment were incorporated into Forms 3 and 3X Schedules.) The Millionaires' Amendment and resulting reporting requirements are no longer in effect after they were overturned by the Supreme Court.</p>
          <p>* FEC Form 13, for use by inaugural committees. (This form was developed in 2004, after the others.)</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20030616">
        <summary><em>Beaumont v. FEC</em> <time datetime="2003-16-06">June 16, 2003</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The <a href="https://transition.fec.gov/law/litigation_CCA_B.shtml#beaumont" target="_blank">Supreme Court upheld</a> the Act's prohibition on contributions by corporations as applied to nonprofit advocacy corporations.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20030618">
        <summary>New Procedures for RFAI Letters <time datetime="2003-18-06">June 18, 2003</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>Analysts would now send only one letter requesting additional information, allowing respondents 30 days to reply (this has since been extended to 35 days). This is intended to prevent duplication and enable analysts more time to review reports. After receipt of the letter, the committee treasurer can make additions or corrections to the report, which are then added to the public record. Apparent violations, however, may be referred to the Audit Division, Alternative Dispute Resolution Office or to the Office of General Counsel for possible enforcement action. At this same time, the direct extensions of the assigned analysts were added to the letters to allow for better service to filers who need assistance.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20030627">
        <summary>Commission Certifies Public Funds for Major Party 2004 Presidential Nominating Conventions <time datetime="2003-27-06">June 27, 2003</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>On <time datetime="2003-27-06">June 27, 2003</time>, the Commission certified $14.592 million each to the convention committees of the Democratic and Republican parties for their 2004 presidential nominating conventions.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20031210">
        <summary><em>McConnell v. FEC</em> <time datetime="2003-10-12">December 10, 2003</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The <a href="https://transition.fec.gov/law/litigation_CCA_M.shtml#mcconnell" target="_blank">Supreme Court upheld the two principal features of BCRA</a>: the ban on raising and use of soft money in federal elections by political parties and the application of financing and disclosure rules to electioneering communications.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20031211">
        <summary>FEC Launches System for Searching Closed Enforcement Cases <time datetime="2003-11-12">December 11, 2003</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The Commission <a href="http://eqs.fec.gov/eqs/searcheqs" target="_blank">launched the Enforcement Query System (EQS) on the agency's website</a> to improve public access to enforcement documents.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20031211a">
        <summary>Enforcement Disclosure Policy Approved <time datetime="2003-11-12">December 11, 2003</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The Commission approved a <a href="https://www.fec.gov/resources/cms-content/documents/fedreg_notice2003-25.pdf" target="_blank">Statement of Policy</a> regarding disclosure of closed enforcement and related files that identified the categories of records that will be released to the public once enforcement cases are closed. The policy provided for the release of additional documents when enforcement cases were closed, including original complaints or internal FEC referrals that initiate enforcement actions, along with reports and briefs from the Office of General Counsel (OGC) and responses to those reports and briefs by respondents.</p>
        </div>
      </details>
    </li>

    <li>
      <time datetime="2004">2004</time>

      <details id="a20040304">
        <summary>Commission Initiates Rulemaking on Definition of Political Committee March 4,2004</summary>
        <div>
          <p>The Commission undertook a rulemaking to revisit whether the definition of "political committee" adequately encompassed all organizations that should be considered political committees subject to the limitations, prohibitions and reporting requirements of FECA. The Commission held two days of public hearings in April 2004 and received roughly 100,000 written comments. The Commission ultimately decided not to define "major purpose" by regulation. (A supplemental notice published in 2007 explained that the Commission would make major purpose determinations on a case-by-case basis.) The Commission did adopt a new regulation that treated funds received in response to certain solicitations as "contributions," counting toward an organization's threshold for registering as a political committee. That rule was repealed in 2010.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20040902">
        <summary>Commission Certifies Public Funds for Major Party 2004 Presidential General Election Candidates July 30 and <time datetime="2004-02-09">September 2, 2004</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The Commission certified $74.62 million each to the major party 2004 general election campaigns of Republican presidential nominee President George W. Bush and his vice presidential running mate Vice President Richard Cheney (on <time datetime="2004-02-09">September 2, 2004</time>) and of Democratic presidential nominee Senator John Kerry and his vice presidential running mate Senator John Edwards (on <time datetime="2004-30-07">July 30, 2004</time>).</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20040930">
        <summary>FEC Launches Updated Website  <time datetime="2004-30-09">September 30, 2004</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>Since the last major overhaul of the Commission's homepage in 1999, dramatic increases in the quantity of information available overwhelmed the existing site's structure and navigational tools. The new site featured more FEC information in a more user friendly format.</p>
        </div>
      </details>
    </li>

    <li>
      <time datetime="2005">2005</time>

      <details id="a20050130">
        <summary>FEC Introduces Online Version of Court Case Abstracts  <time datetime="2005-30-01">January 30, 2005</time></summary>
        <div>
        <p>The Commission launched a new hypertext version of the FEC's Court Case Abstracts publication. This continuously-updated <a href="https://transition.fec.gov/law/litigation.shtml" target="_blank">online index of FEC litigation</a> replaced the paper publication that had typically been updated on an annual basis.</p>
      </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20050901">
        <summary>FEC Publishes Thirty Year Report  <time datetime="2005-30-01">January 30, 2005</time></summary>
        <div>
          <figure>
            <img src="/static/img-40th/30_year.png" alt="Thirty Year Report">
            <figcaption>Thirty Year Report<figcaption>
          </figure>
          <p>The Commission published the <a href="https://www.fec.gov/resources/about-fec/reports/30year.pdf" target="_blank">Thirty Year Report</a> to commemorate the Commission's 30-year anniversary.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20050307">
        <summary>BCRA Challenge in <em>McConnell v. FEC</em> Results in Several Rulemakings <time datetime="2004-03-12">December 3, 2004</time> and <time datetime="2005-07-03">March 7, 2005</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The Commission revised regulations that had governed two provisions of BCRA found unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in <em>McConnell v. FEC</em>: the ban on contributions from minors and the so-called "choice provision," which prevented party committees from making both coordinated and independent expenditures on behalf of a candidate after that candidate's primary election. The Commission completed work on these rulemakings in 2004, reinstating pre-BCRA rules on contributions by minors (effective <time datetime="2005-07-03">March 7, 2005</time>) and clarifying that a party committee may make both coordinated and independent expenditures for general election candidates (effective <time datetime="2004-03-12">December 3, 2004</time>).</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20040310">
        <summary>New Rules on Filing by Priority Mail, Express Mail and Overnight Delivery <time datetime="2005-10-03">March 10, 2005</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The Commission approved <a href="http://www.fec.gov/pdf/record/2005/may05.pdf#page=4" target="_blank">final rules regarding the timely filing of documents using Priority Mail, Express Mail or overnight delivery service</a>. The rules implemented FECA amendments included in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2005, that permitted filers to use these additional delivery options to satisfy the Commission's "timely filing" requirements for certain designations, reports and statements filed on paper with either the FEC or the Secretary of the Senate.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20050527">
        <summary>FEC Introduces Online Filing via Webforms <time datetime="2005-27-05">May 27, 2005</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The FEC launched several webforms on its website, allowing for a quicker and easier way to file reports of last-minute contributions, independent expenditures and electioneering communications. The webforms included Forms 5, 6 and 9.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20050722">
        <summary>E-Review Launched <time datetime="2005-22-07">July 22, 2005</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>In 2005, RAD, in coordination with the Information Technology Division, launched the first two phases of a web-based review system (Modules 1 and 2). The first two phases allow for greater sharing of information within the Division and outside it, increase management's ability to assign and track work, provide analysts with better control over work assignments and consolidate information about filing entities for easier access.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20050808">
        <summary>50th State Certified for State Filing Waiver <time datetime="2005-05-08">August 5, 2005</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>Montana <a href="https://www.fec.gov/updates/fec-certifies-montana-for-paper-filing-waiver/" target="_blank">became the 50th state to be certified</a> by the FEC as exempt from a federal requirement to receive and maintain paper copies of campaign finance reports from presidential, U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives candidates, party committees and political action committees (PACs).</p>
          <p>The State Filing Waiver Program began in 1999 with 12 states. After Montana was certified, among all states and territories only Guam and Puerto Rico were not in the waiver program.</p>
        </div>
      </details>
    </li>

    <li>
      <time datetime="2006">2006</time>

      <details id="a20060101">
        <summary>Hans A. von Spakovsky (R) Serves as Commissioner <time datetime="2006-09-01">January 9, 2006</time>-<time datetime="2007-31-12">December 31, 2007</time></summary>
        <div>
          <figure>
            <img src="/static/img-40th/VonSpakovsky_Hans.jpg" alt="Commissioner Hans A. von Spakovsky">
            <figcaption>Commissioner Hans A. von Spakovsky<figcaption>
          </figure>
          <p>Hans A. von Spakovsky was nominated to the Commission by President George W. Bush on <time datetime="2005-15-12">December 15, 2005</time> and was appointed on <time datetime="2006-04-01">January 4, 2006</time>.</p>
          <p>Prior to his appointment, Commissioner von Spakovsky served as Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights in the U.S. Department of Justice, where he provided expertise and advice on voting and election issues, including of the Help America Vote Act of 2002.</p>
          <p>Commissioner von Spakovsky has had a wide range of experiences in election related issues, including as a member of the first Board of Advisors of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission and the Fulton County Board of Registration and Elections, which administered elections in the largest county in Georgia. He served on the Voting Standards Committee of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and on the Election and Voter Service Technical Committee of the Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS), which were developing standards for voting equipment and electronic data interchange.</p>
          <p>Commissioner von Spakovsky is a past member of the Board of Advisors of the Georgia Public Policy Foundation, the Georgia Election Officials Association and the International Association of Clerks, Recorders, Election Officials and Treasurers. The Commission on Federal Election Reform organized by President Jimmy Carter and Secretary James Baker has also sought his expertise. Commissioner von Spakovsky has testified before state and congressional legislative committees and published articles on voter fraud, election reform, e-government, and Internet voting. He has appeared before numerous organizations including the National Association of Secretaries of State and the National Association of State Election Directors.</p>
          <p>Prior to entering public service, Commissioner von Spakovsky worked as a government affairs consultant, in a corporate legal department, and in private practice. He received a J.D. from the Vanderbilt University School of Law in 1984 and a B.S. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1981. He is a member of the Georgia and Tennessee bars. He is a first-generation American whose parents immigrated to the United States in 1951. They met in a refugee camp as displaced persons after the end of World War II. He is originally from Huntsville, Alabama</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20060101a">
        <summary>Robert D. Lenhard (D) Serves as Commissioner <time datetime="2006-09-01">January 9, 2006</time>-<time datetime="2007-31-12">December 31, 2007</time></summary>
        <div>
          <figure>
            <img src="/static/img-40th/Lenhard_Robert.jpg" alt="Commissioner Robert D. Lenhard">
            <figcaption>Commissioner Robert D. Lenhard</figcaption>
          </figure>
          <p>Robert D. Lenhard was appointed to the Commission in 2006 and served as Chairman in 2007.</p> <p>Prior to his appointment, Mr. Lenhard was an Associate General Counsel with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO (AFSCME). At AFSCME, he was responsible for legal issues related to federal and state election laws. His work included counseling the union on federal and state campaign finance issues, litigating enforcement actions before the FEC and state agencies, and providing training to field staff on federal and state election law issues. Prior to becoming an Associate General Counsel at AFSCME, Mr. Lenhard was an associate at the law firm of Kirschner, Weinberg &amp; Dempsey, where he represented AFSCME and other labor unions. Prior to that, Mr. Lenhard worked for the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) and the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union (ACTWU). After graduating from law school, Mr. Lenhard worked as an associate at the Los Angeles law firm of Grace, Neumeyer &amp; Otto.</p>
          <p>Mr. Lenhard is a 1981 graduate of the Johns Hopkins University where he earned a B.A. with Honors and a 1984 graduate of the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20060101b">
        <summary>Steven T. Walther (I) Serves as Commissioner <time datetime="2006-10-01">January 10, 2006</time>-<time datetime="2007-31-12">December 31, 2007</time></summary>
        <div>
          <figure>
            <img src="/static/img-40th/Walther_Steven.jpg" alt="Commissioner Steven T. Walther">
            <figcaption>Commissioner Steven T. Walther</figcaption>
          </figure>
          <p>Steven T. Walther was first sworn in as an FEC Commissioner on <time datetime="2006-10-01">January 10, 2006</time>, as a recess appointee. Although his name was placed before the Senate for confirmation in <time datetime="2007-06">June, 2007</time>, his recess term expired on <time datetime="2007-31-12">December 31, 2007</time>, before the Senate acted. On <time datetime="2008-24-06">June 24, 2008</time>, he was confirmed unanimously by the Senate and sworn in by Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on June 27, to resume the balance of his statutory term. Mr. Walther served as Vice Chairman of the FEC for the balance of 2008 and served as the Commission's Chairman in 2009.</p>
          <p>Prior to joining the FEC as a Commissioner, Mr. Walther practiced law in the Reno, Nevada law firm of Walther, Key, Maupin, Oats, Cox &amp; LeGoy, now known as Maupin, Cox &amp; LeGoy which he co-founded in 1972.</p>
          <p>During his legal career Mr. Walther has been active in professional legal and judicial organizations and activities, as well as numerous civic activities. He is a former member of the Board of Governors of the American Bar Association and currently serves as co-chair of the ABA Center for Human Rights. He has been active in ABA initiatives focusing on international relations, human rights and the rule of law. He was appointed by the ABA President to serve as the ABA Representative to the United Nations. He served on the Executive Board of the ABA Central European and Eurasian Law Initiative (CEELI), which oversees the ABA's democracy building programs in over 21 countries -- programs, which promote development of fair and open election laws. He has been a member of the Board of Trustees and lecturer for the National Judicial College, both in the United States and in Russia. Mr. Walther has lectured extensively, both domestically and internationally (principally in Russia), on rule of law, human rights, litigation and international law issues. He is a member of the American Law Institute and the International Bar Association.</p>
          <p>Mr. Walther is a former president of the State Bar of Nevada, the Western States Bar Conference, and the National Caucus of State Bar Associations. He is a past chair of the 6,000 member Fellows of the American Bar Foundation, the legal research arm of the ABA. From 1971 until his FEC appointment, Mr. Walther served as a member of the Nevada State Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.</p>
          <p>He received his J.D. degree from Boalt Hall School of Law, University of California, Berkeley in 1968, and recently served as president of the Boalt Hall Alumni Association. He received his undergraduate degree, with a major in Russian, from the University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana, in 1965.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20060119">
        <summary>FEC Makes Audio Recordings of Commission Meetings Available on Website via Podcast <time datetime="2006-19-01">January 19, 2006</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The FEC began posting to its website the <a href="https://www.fec.gov/resources/record/2006/feb06.pdf#page=9" target="_blank">audio recordings</a> of all public Commission meetings. Recordings are available both as complete meeting audio files and as individual agenda item audio files. The FEC originally committed to making these recordings available within 48 hours, but reduced that to 24 hours in 2012. Today, it's not unusual for the recordings to be available the same day as the event.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20060302">
        <summary>Budget Cuts Force FEC to Cancel Spring Conferences  <time datetime="2006-02-03">March 2, 2006</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The Commission announced that budget constraints would force it to cancel its educational outreach conferences planned for the spring of 2006.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20060327">
        <summary>FEC Upgrades Website Search Process <time datetime="2006-27-03">March 27, 2006</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The FEC <a href="https://www.fec.gov/updates/fec-upgrades-website-search-process/" target="_blank">launched a new search process</a> on its website that offered several new features. The key match feature, for example, highlighted some of the pages that are viewed most often and listed them first in the search results. Other features suggested synonymous search terms and spelling alternatives that helped to improve results.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20060417">
        <summary>Commission Levies Record Fine Against Freddie Mac for FECA Violations <time datetime="2006-17-04">April 17, 2006</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The <a href="https://www.fec.gov/updates/federal-home-loan-mortgage-corporation-freddie-mac-pays-largest-fine-in-fec-history/" target="_blank">Commission entered into a conciliation agreement with Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac)</a>, a federally chartered corporation, concerning its use of corporate resources to host campaign fundraising events and to collect and forward political contributions to federal candidates. The $3.8 million civil penalty Freddie Mac agreed to pay for these violations is the highest civil penalty in FEC history.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20060512">
        <summary>Commission Adopts Internet Regulations that Create Exemptions for Voluntary Individual Internet Activities <time datetime="2006-12-05">May 12, 2006</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>After the court in <em>Shays I</em> ruled in 2004 that the FEC's definition of "public communication" impermissibly excluded all internet communications, the Commission amended the definition to include only paid internet ads placed on another person's website. The Commission further amended its regulations governing disclaimers and definitions of "contribution" and "expenditure" "to ensure that political committees properly financed and disclosed their internet communications, without impeding individual citizens from using the internet to speak freely regarding candidates and elections."</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20060518">
        <summary>Commission Introduces Tips for Treasurers Web Page and RSS Feed  <time datetime="2006-18-05">May 18, 2006</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The FEC posted a new <a href="https://www.fec.gov/updates/?update_type=tips-for-treasurers" target="_blank">Tips for Treasurers web page</a> and RSS feed designed to keep treasurers updated on the latest FEC compliance information.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20060710">
        <summary>Patrina M. Clark Serves as Staff Director <time datetime="2006-10-07">July 10, 2006</time>-<time datetime="2008-01-07">July 1, 2008</time></summary>
        <div>
          <figure>
            <img src="/static/img-40th/Clark_Patrina.jpg" alt="Patrina Clark">
            <figcaption>Patrina Clark<figcaption>
          </figure>
          <p>On <time datetime="2006-10-07">July 10, 2006</time>, Patrina M. Clark began her tenure as Staff Director of the Commission, succeeding Acting Staff Director Robert Costa. Prior to her appointment, Ms. Clark served as Regional Executive Director for Naval District Washington. As the senior civilian official in the region, she managed the Human Resources, Information Technology, Comptroller and Public Affairs offices, among other activities. Before her service with the Department of the Navy, she held a number of key positions with the Internal Revenue Service, most recently as Director, Cooperative Efforts and Strategic Support. A Texas native, Ms. Clark began her undergraduate studies at the University of Texas as a National Merit Scholar and University of Texas Presidential Scholar. She completed her undergraduate studies at Thomas Edison State College with an emphasis in Communications and Human Resources Management. Ms. Clark has a graduate certificate from the Cornell University School of Industrial Labor Relations in Human Resources Management and a Master's Certificate in Project Management from George Washington University (GWU). She was awarded a joint certificate in Advanced Public Policy Leadership from the Brookings Institution and GWU, and is a graduate of GWU's Senior Executive Development Program. She completed Georgetown University's Senior Executive Leadership Continuing Studies Certificate Program and is certified as a Senior Human Resources Professional by the Human Resources Certification Institute.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20061126">
        <summary>FEC Establishes Office of Compliance During Enforcement Restructuring <time datetime="2006-26-11">November 26, 2006</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The <a href="https://transition.fec.gov/about/offices/CCO/CCO.shtml" target="_blank">Office of Compliance</a> was established as part of a high-level restructuring of the Office of the Staff Director. The Compliance Office was set up with four branches: the Alternative Dispute Resolution Office, the Audit Division, the Office of Administrative Review and the Reports Analysis Division.</p>
        </div>
      </details>
    </li>

    <li>
      <time datetime="2007">2007</time>

      <details id="a20070101">
        <summary>Commission Replaces Paper Mailings with Email <time datetime="2007-01-01">January 1, 2007</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The Commission announced that it would send all courtesy materials to committees exclusively by electronic mail. The switch from paper to electronic mail was intended to improve the timeliness of communications with committees, offer opportunities for new types of communications and simplify the process of providing information tailored specifically to each committee's needs, all while saving tax dollars.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20070215">
        <summary>Revised Continuing Appropriations Act Resolution, 2007 <time datetime="2007-15-02">February 15, 2007</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>This legislation (Pub. L. No. 110-5) granted the Commission authority to charge fees for conferences and workshops and to use those fees to defray conference costs.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20070322">
        <summary>Commission Adopts "Best Efforts" Defense for Administrative Fines Challenges <time datetime="2007-22-03">March 22, 2007</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The Commission voted to revise its rules to <a href="https://transition.fec.gov/law/cfr/ej_compilation/2007/notice_2007-7.pdf" target="_blank">allow committees to use "best efforts" as a defense for challenges in the Administrative Fine Program</a>. To use best efforts as a defense, respondents must demonstrate that they could not file due to reasonably unforeseen circumstances beyond their control, and that they filed the late report within 24 hours after those circumstances ended.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20070423">
        <summary>Guidance on Internal Controls and Preventing Embezzlement <time datetime="2007-23-04">April 23, 2007</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The Commission published guidance for political committees on best practices in setting up internal controls to prevent embezzlement, as well as a statement of policy on reporting errors caused due to misappropriation of funds by committee staff.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20070509">
        <summary>Thomasenia Duncan Serves as General Counsel <time datetime="2007-09-05">May 9, 2007</time>-<time datetime="2010-19-08">August 19, 2010</time></summary>
        <div>
          <figure>
            <img src="/static/img-40th/Duncan_Thomasenia.jpg" alt="Thomasenia (Tommie) Duncan">
            <figcaption>Thomasenia (Tommie) Duncan<figcaption>
          </figure>
          <p>General Counsel Thomasenia (Tommie) Duncan served three years as FEC General Counsel and three years as Associate General Counsel for General Law and Advice. Prior to joining the Commission in February of 2004, Duncan was General Counsel for America's Promise The Alliance for Youth. She continues a distinguished career in government service, including having served as General Counsel of the Corporation for National and Community Service. She began the practice of law with the firm Covington &amp; Burling LLP. Ms. Duncan is a graduate of Brown University and the University of Pennsylvania Law School, and also attended Yale University Law School.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20070613">
        <summary>Presidential Campaign Finance Map Debuts <time datetime="2007-13-06">June 13, 2007</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The FEC <a href="https://www.fec.gov/updates/fec-introduces-online-map-to-track-presidential-campaign-contributions/" target="_blank">introduced an interactive map</a> on its website that displays individual contributions to presidential candidates, starting with the 2008 election. With a simple click of the mouse, a user could highlight on the map the amount of money raised on a state-by-state basis. Users also had the option of viewing contributions to specific candidates, all candidates or all candidates from a political party. The map conveniently displayed the total contributions to each candidate, along with their cash on hand and the distribution of their contributions by amount.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20070625">
        <summary><em>Wisconsin Right to Life, Inc. (WRTL) v. FEC</em> <time datetime="2007-25-06">June 25, 2007</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The <a href="https://transition.fec.gov/law/litigation_CCA_W.shtml#wrtl" target="_blank">Supreme Court ruled</a> that the electioneering communication financing restrictions were unconstitutional as applied to communications that do not contain express advocacy or its functional equivalent.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20070627">
        <summary>Commission Certifies Public Funds for Major Party 2008 Presidential Nominating Conventions <time datetime="2007-27-06">June 27, 2007</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>On <time datetime="2007-27-06">June 27, 2007</time>, the Commission certified $16.356 million each to each major party's 2008 national convention committee for the party's Presidential nominating convention.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20070831">
        <summary>Automated Email Updates <time datetime="2007-31-08">August 31, 2007</time></summary>
        <div>
          <figure>
            <img src="/static/img-40th/FECMail.gif" alt="Automated Email Updates">
          </figure>
          <p>The Commission launched <a href="https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/USFEC/subscriber/new?qsp=CODE_RED" target="_blank">FECMail</a>, a web-based email service that provided subscribers automatic updates on a variety of campaign finance topics. The new service allowed users to sign-up to receive notification whenever information important to them was added or changed on the Commission's website.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20070914">
        <summary>Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007 <time datetime="2007-14-09">September 14, 2007</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The <a href="http://www.fec.gov/pdf/record/2007/oct07.pdf#page=9" target="_blank">Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007</a> (Pub. L. No. 110-81)(HLOGA) restricted use of non-commercial aircraft by candidates and federal officeholders, and also required disclosure of contributions raised or bundled by registered lobbyists or PACs controlled by registered lobbyists.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20071217">
        <summary>FEC Introduces Online Map to Track U.S. Senate and House Campaign Finances <time datetime="2007-17-12">December 17, 2007</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>An <a href="https://classic.fec.gov/disclosurehs/hsnational.do/" target="_blank">interactive online map</a> unveiled in 2008, uses state and district maps to lead the user to campaign finance data for House and Senate candidates, starting with the 2007-2008 cycle. It allows the user to select candidates for comparison using bar charts to display such financial categories as contribution and disbursement totals, debts and cash-on-hand. It also presents itemized contributions and disbursements by category and includes links to images of reports filed by the candidate and the candidate's committees.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20071226">
        <summary>Regulations Implement Supreme Court Decision in <em>FEC v. Wisconsin Right to Life</em> <time datetime="2007-26-12">December 26, 2007</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The Commission revised its regulations following the Supreme Court's ruling in <em>FEC v. Wisconsin Right to Life, Inc.</em> (2007) to state that electioneering communications similar to those in <em>WRTL</em> may be funded with corporate and/or labor funds, but are subject to reporting and disclaimer requirements. The Commission's 2007 regulations included a provision that required corporations or labor organizations that made <em>WRTL</em>-permitted electioneering communications to disclose the name and address of each person who made a donation aggregating $1,000 or more to the corporation or labor organization "for the purpose of furthering electioneering communications." In November 2014, this particular provision was vacated by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in <em>Van Hollen v. FEC</em>.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20071231">
        <summary>Recess Appointments of Three FEC Commissioners Expire <time datetime="2007-31-12">December 31, 2007</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>Recess appointments of three FEC Commissioners expire at the end of 2007 without Senate confirmation, leaving four seats on the Commission vacant.</p>
        </div>
      </details>
    </li>

    <li>
      <time datetime="2008">2008</time>

      <details id="a20080521">
        <summary>FEC Launches Enhanced Presidential Campaign Finance Map <time datetime="2008-21-05">May 21, 2008</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The Commission <a href="http://www.fec.gov/disclosurep/pnational.do" target="_blank">introduced an improved version of its presidential Campaign Finance map</a>. Available on the FEC website, the map includes detailed information on each candidate's campaign expenditures. It also provides a number of enhanced viewing and searching options for information about campaign contributors. These improved features were included on similar maps for U.S. House and Senate campaigns.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20080613">
        <summary><em>Shays v. FEC (Shays III)</em> <time datetime="2008-13-06">June 13, 2008</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The DC Circuit Court of Appeals remanded several coordination and FEA regulations to the Commission for further rulemaking. The court also upheld the firewall safe harbor for coordination by former employees and vendors. The court overturned regulations permitting federal candidates to solicit funds without restriction at state or local party events.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20080619">
        <summary>Obama Becomes First Major Party Candidate to Forego Public Funds in General Election <time datetime="2008-19-06">June 19, 2008</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>Senator Barack Obama announced that he would not participate in the public financing system for presidential campaigns in the general election. With his decision, Mr. Obama became the first candidate of a major party to decline public financing in the general election - and the spending limits that go with it - since the system was created in 1976.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20080626">
        <summary><em>Davis v. FEC</em> <time datetime="2008-26-06">June 26, 2008</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The <a href="https://transition.fec.gov/law/litigation_CCA_D.shtml#davis" target="_blank">Supreme Court ruled</a> that the Millionaires' Amendment included in BCRA violated the First Amendment rights of self-financed federal candidates.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20080601">
        <summary>Cynthia L. Bauerly (D) Serves as Commissioner <time datetime="2008-06">June, 2008</time>-<time datetime="2013-01-02">February 1, 2013</time></summary>
        <div>
          <figure>
            <img src="/static/img-40th/Bauerly_Cynthia.jpg" alt="Commissioner Cynthia L. Bauerly">
            <figcaption>Commissioner Cynthia L. Bauerly<figcaption>
          </figure>
          <p>Cynthia L. Bauerly joined the Commission in 2008 after her appointment received the unanimous consent of the United States Senate. She served as the Commission's Chair during 2011 and as the Commission's Vice Chair for the year 2010. She left the Commission on <time datetime="2013-01-02">February 1, 2013</time>.</p>
          <p>Commissioner Bauerly has extensive experience in law and public policy, particularly in the areas of election administration, campaign finance, ethics reform, technology, and intellectual property. Prior to her appointment to the Commission, Ms. Bauerly served as Legislative Director for United States Senator Charles E. Schumer of New York. She previously served as counsel on the Senate Judiciary and Rules Committees.</p>
          <p>Commissioner Bauerly has also worked in private practice in Minnesota and Washington, DC, specializing in complex litigation and appellate law, with a focus on intellectual property.</p>
          <p>Originally from Minnesota, Commissioner Bauerly is a <em>summa cum laude</em> graduate of Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota. She graduated <em>cum laude</em> from Indiana University School of Law-Bloomington and received a Master of Public Affairs from Indiana University's School of Environmental and Public Affairs. She served as a judicial clerk for the Honorable Florence-Marie Cooper of the United States District Court for the Central District of California and the Honorable Theodore R. Boehm of the Indiana Supreme Court.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20080601a">
        <summary>Steven T. Walther (I) Serves as Commissioner (2nd Appointment) <time datetime="2008-27-06">June 27, 2008</time> - Present</summary>
        <div>
          <figure>
            <img src="/static/img-40th/Walther_Steven.jpg" alt="Commissioner Steven T. Walther">
            <figcaption>Commissioner Steven T. Walther</figcaption>
          </figure>
          <p>Steven T. Walther was first sworn in as an FEC Commissioner on <time datetime="2006-10-01">January 10, 2006</time>, as a recess appointee. Although his name was placed before the Senate for confirmation in <time datetime="2007-06">June, 2007</time>, his recess term expired on <time datetime="2007-31-12">December 31, 2007</time>, before the Senate acted. On <time datetime="2008-24-06">June 24, 2008</time>, he was confirmed unanimously by the Senate and sworn in by Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on June 27, to resume the balance of his statutory term. Mr. Walther served as Vice Chairman of the FEC for the balance of 2008 and served as the Commission's Chairman in 2009.</p>
          <p>Prior to joining the FEC as a Commissioner, Mr. Walther practiced law in the Reno, Nevada law firm of Walther, Key, Maupin, Oats, Cox &amp; LeGoy, now known as Maupin, Cox &amp; LeGoy which he co-founded in 1972.</p>
          <p>During his legal career Mr. Walther has been active in professional legal and judicial organizations and activities, as well as numerous civic activities. He is a former member of the Board of Governors of the American Bar Association and currently serves as co-chair of the ABA Center for Human Rights. He has been active in ABA initiatives focusing on international relations, human rights and the rule of law. He was appointed by the ABA President to serve as the ABA Representative to the United Nations. He served on the Executive Board of the ABA Central European and Eurasian Law Initiative (CEELI), which oversees the ABA's democracy building programs in over 21 countries' programs which promote development of fair and open election laws. He has been a member of the Board of Trustees and lecturer for the National Judicial College, both in the United States and in Russia. Mr. Walther has lectured extensively, both domestically and internationally (principally in Russia), on rule of law, human rights, litigation and international law issues. He is a member of the American Law Institute and the International Bar Association.</p>
          <p>Mr. Walther is a former president of the State Bar of Nevada, the Western States Bar Conference, and the National Caucus of State Bar Associations. He is a past chair of the 6,000 member Fellows of the American Bar Foundation, the legal research arm of the ABA. From 1971 until his FEC appointment, Mr. Walther served as a member of the Nevada State Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.</p>
          <p>He received his J.D. degree from Boalt Hall School of Law, University of California, Berkeley in 1968, and recently served as president of the Boalt Hall Alumni Association. He received his undergraduate degree, with a major in Russian, from the University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana, in 1965.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20080701">
        <summary>Donald F. McGahn II (R) Serves as Commissioner <time datetime="2008-09-07">July 9, 2008</time> to <time datetime="2013-01-09">September 1, 2013</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>Donald McGahn was sworn into office as an FEC Commissioner on <time datetime="2008-09-07">July 9, 2008</time>. Nominated by President Bush on May 6, his appointment received the unanimous consent of the United States Senate on <time datetime="2008-24-06">June 24, 2008</time>. He was elected Chairman on <time datetime="2008-10-07">July 10, 2008</time>, and served in that capacity for the balance of the calendar year.</p>
          <p>Prior to his appointment to the Commission, Mr. McGahn served as head of McGahn &amp; Associates PLLC, a Washington-based law practice specializing in election law. Mr. McGahn has represented federal and state candidates, Members of Congress, political party committees, leadership political action committees (PACs), corporations and corporate PACs, non-profits, trade associations and others involved in issues related to campaign finance law and government ethics. Since 1999, Mr. McGahn served as General Counsel to the National Republican Congressional Committee. He also served as Counsel for the Illinois Republican Party for several years.</p>
          <p>Before joining the NRCC, Mr. McGahn practiced law at Patton Boggs LLP in Washington, DC. As a member of the firm's litigation group, he advised and represented elected officials, candidates, national and state parties and others on election law issues. Mr. McGahn has been recognized for his significant <em>pro bono</em> work for the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. Prior to Patton Boggs LLP, Mr. McGahn served as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Charles R. Alexander of the Court of Common Pleas in Pennsylvania.</p>
          <p>Mr. McGahn attended the United States Naval Academy, the University of Notre Dame, Widener University School of Law and the Georgetown University Law Center.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20080701a">
        <summary>Caroline C. Hunter (R) Serves as Commissioner <time datetime="2008-06">July, 2008<time> to Present</summary>
        <div>
          <figure>
            <img src="/static/img-40th/Hunter_Caroline.jpg" alt="Commissioner Caroline C. Hunter">
            <figcaption>Commissioner Caroline C. Hunter</figcaption>
          </figure>
          <p>Commissioner Caroline C. Hunter was nominated to the Commission by President George W. Bush on <time datetime="2008-06-05">May 6, 2008</time>. Her appointment was approved by the United States Senate on <time datetime="2008-24-06">June 24, 2008</time>.</p>
          <p>Ms. Hunter previously served as the Vice-Chair of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission. Ms Hunter was nominated to the EAC in 2006 and confirmed by the U.S. Senate on <time datetime="2007-15-02">February 15, 2007</time>.</p>
          <p>Ms. Hunter previously served as deputy director of the White House Office of Public Liaison from January to October 2006. From 2005 to 2006, she served as executive officer at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Office of Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman.</p>
          <p>From 2001 to 2005 she was associate counsel and then deputy counsel at the Republican National Committee where she provided guidance on election law and the implementation of the Help America Vote Act.</p>
          <p>Ms. Hunter graduated <em>cum laude</em> from the University of Memphis School of Law and received her bachelor of arts degree from The Pennsylvania State University. She lives in Washington, DC with her husband and two daughters.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20080701b">
        <summary>Matthew S. Petersen (R) Serves as Commissioner <time datetime="2008-06">July, 2008<time> to Present</summary>
        <div>
          <figure>
            <img src="/static/img-40th/Petersen_Matt.jpg" alt="Commissioner Matthew S. Petersen">
            <figcaption>Commissioner Matthew S. Petersen</figcaption>
          </figure>
          <p>Matthew S. Petersen was nominated to the Commission by President George W. Bush on <time datetime="2008-12-06">June 12, 2008</time>, and unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate on <time datetime="2008-24-06">June 24, 2008</time>.</p>
          <p>From 2005 until his appointment to the Commission, Mr. Petersen served as Republican chief counsel to the U.S. Senate Committee on Rules and Administration. In this capacity, Mr. Petersen provided counsel on issues relating to federal campaign finance and election administration laws as well as the Standing Rules of the Senate.</p>
          <p>Prior to this, Mr. Petersen served as counsel to the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on House Administration. During his tenure, Mr. Petersen was extensively involved in the crafting of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 ("HAVA") and the House-Senate negotiations that culminated in HAVA's passage. From 1999 to 2002, Mr. Petersen specialized in election and campaign finance law at the law firm of Wiley Rein LLP in Washington, DC</p>
          <p>Mr. Petersen received his J.D. in 1999 from the University of Virginia School of Law, where he was a member of the Virginia Law Review. He graduated <em>magna cum laude</em> with a B.A. in philosophy from Brigham Young University in 1996. He also received an A.S. with high honors from Utah Valley State College.</p>
        </div>
      </details>
    </li>

    <li>
      <time datetime="2009">2009</time>

      <details id="a20090201">
        <summary>Commission Removes Unconstitutional "Millionaires' Amendment" Regulations <time datetime="2009-01-02">February 1, 2009</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>In February 2009, the Commission removed 2003 regulations that had implemented BCRA's so-called "Millionaires' Amendment." This provision increased contribution limits and coordinated party expenditure limits for Senate and House of Representative candidates facing self-financed opponents. The "Millionaires' Amendment" had been found unconstitutional in <em>Davis v. FEC.</em></p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20090203">
        <summary>FEC Implements Lobbyist Bundling Disclosure Requirements <time datetime="2009-03-02">February 3, 2009</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The Commission approved regulations to conform to the provisions of the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007, which mandated <a href="https://www.fec.gov/updates/lobbyist-bundling-disclosure-2018/" target="_blank">enhanced disclosure for lobbyist-bundled contributions</a>. A new form, FEC Form 3L, was created to conform to the new reporting requirements. The FEC also set up a <a href="https://classic.fec.gov/data/Lobbyist.do?format=html" target="_blank">new database of lobbyist-registrant PACs</a>.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20090227">
        <summary>Robert A. Hickey Serves as Staff Director <time datetime="2009-27-02">February 27, 2009</time>-<time datetime="2009-01-10">October 1, 2009</time></summary>
        <div>
          <figure>
            <img src="/static/img-40th/Hickey_Rob.jpg" alt="Robert Hickey">
            <figcaption>Robert Hickey<figcaption>
          </figure>
          <p>Robert A. Hickey became Staff Director in February 2009, after serving in a number of senior positions in the government including Chief of Staff at the National Intelligence University.</p>      <p> Mr. Hickey succeeded Joseph Stoltz, the head of the Commission's Audit Division, who had served as Acting Staff Director since August 2008. Mr. Hickey served in the U.S. Air Force and as a pilot for American Airlines before joining Booz Allen Hamilton. He returned to government service, serving in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and then helping launch the National Intelligence University.</p>
          <p>Mr. Hickey graduated with a bachelor's degree in American History from the U. S. Air Force Academy and a master's degree in International Affairs from Oklahoma University.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20090313">
        <summary>FEC Launches Lobbyist Bundling Web Page <time datetime="2009-13-03">March 13, 2009</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The Commission added a new page to its website to aid compliance with the lobbyist bundling disclosure provisions of the Honest Leadership and Government Act of 2007 (HLOGA).</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20090315">
        <summary>Press Office Introduces Weekly Digest <time datetime="2009-15-03">March 15, 2009</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The FEC Press Office published its first <a href="https://www.fec.gov/updates/?update_type=weekly-digest" target="_blank">Weekly Digest</a> summarizing FEC news.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20090701">
        <summary>Website Improvement Hearings <time datetime="2009-01-07">July 1, 2009</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>In July and <time datetime="2009-08">August, 2009<time>, the Commission held public hearings to receive comments on proposed website improvements as part of its Website and Internet Communications Improvement Initiative. The Commission was pursuing several programs to update and improve its website, enable the agency to keep pace with the latest technological developments and facilitate greater information sharing, communication and collaboration on the web.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20090705">
        <summary>Electronic Distribution of FEC Record Begins <time datetime="2009-05-07">July 5, 2009</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The Commission stopped mailing paper copies of its FEC Record newsletter and started distributing it electronically. Electronic distribution was designed to improve efficiency, conserve resources and provide more timely delivery to subscribers.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20090727">
        <summary>Commission Adopts Audit Hearing Procedures <time datetime="2009-27-07">July 27, 2009</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The Commission instituted a <a href="http://www.fec.gov/pdf/record/2009/aug09.pdf#page=3" target="_blank">program that allows political committees to have a hearing before the Commission prior to the Commission's adoption of a Final Audit Report on the matter</a>. The audit hearings were aimed at providing audited committees with the opportunity to present oral arguments to the Commission directly and to give the Commission an opportunity to ask relevant questions prior to adopting a Final Audit Report.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20090804">
        <summary>FEC Launches E-Learning and FECTube Web Pages <time datetime="2009-04-08">August 4, 2009</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>As part of its broad effort to improve Internet communications and better serve the educational needs of the public and the regulated community, the Commission added an <a href="https://transition.fec.gov/info/elearning.shtml" target="_blank">E-Learning section</a> to its Educational Outreach web page and launched its own <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/FECTube" target="_blank">YouTube channel</a>. The E-Learning page offered interactive presentations that allowed users to test their knowledge of the information presented and video workshops, which were hosted on YouTube.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20090918">
        <summary><em>EMILY's List v. FEC</em> <time datetime="2009-18-09">September 18, 2009</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The <a href="https://transition.fec.gov/law/litigation_CCA_E.shtml#emilys_list" target="_blank">D.C. Circuit struck down</a> FEC regulations on how nonconnected PACs allocate funds to finance certain federal and nonfederal election activities, stating that such entities could collect unlimited funds from individuals and nonprofits to make independent expenditures.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20090924">
        <summary>FEC Expands Disclosure of Litigation Documents <time datetime="2009-24-09">September 24, 2009</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The Commission approved a proposal to disclose pleadings from all parties involved in FEC litigation, including documents filed by adverse parties and <em>amici</em>, on its website. The inclusion of a wider range of documents on the FEC's <a href="https://transition.fec.gov/law/litigation.shtml" target="blank">litigation pages</a> is intended to help the public better understand the impact of litigation and is part of the Commission's effort to promote transparency.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20091026">
        <summary>FEC Introduces New Formats for Downloading Data Files, Disclosure Data Blog <time datetime="2009-26-10">October 26, 2009</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The Commission <a href="https://www.fec.gov/updates/fec-introduces-new-formats-for-downloading-data-files-disclosure-data-blog/" target="_blank">introduced new formats</a>, known as the Data Catalog, for downloading data files from its website that allowed users increased flexibility and choice to customize their searches. The Commission also began a new disclosure data blog to increase the exchange of information between the website's managers and users.</p>
        </div>
      </details>
    </li>

    <li>
      <time datetime="2010">2010</time>

      <details id="a20100121">
        <summary><em>Citizens United v. FEC</em> <time datetime="2010-21-01">January 21, 2010</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The <a href="https://transition.fec.gov/law/litigation_CCA_C.shtml#citizensunited" target="_blank">Supreme Court held</a> that the Act's prohibitions on corporations making independent expenditures and electioneering communications violated the First Amendment; however, the Court upheld applicable reporting and disclaimer requirements.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20100203">
        <summary>FEC Introduces New Compliance Map <time datetime="2010-03-02">February 3, 2010</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The Commission introduced a <a href="https://transition.fec.gov/info/ElectionDate/" target="_blank">Compliance Map</a> on its website that set out key dates and timeframes for disclosure of campaign finances in each state. This feature provided a quick reference for citizens and for the candidates, party committees and political action committees participating in elections.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20100326">
        <summary><em>Speechnow.org v. FEC</em> <time datetime="2010-26-03">March 26, 2010</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The <a href="https://transition.fec.gov/law/litigation_CCA_S.shtml#speechnow" target="_blank">D.C. Circuit held</a> that the Act's limits on the amounts that individuals may contribute to groups that make only independent expenditures violated the First Amendment; however, the Court upheld the organizational and reporting requirements that apply to such political committees.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20100410">
        <summary>Commission Amends Allocation Rules and Definition of a Political Committee to Conform with <em>EMILY's List</em> <time datetime="2005-01-01">January 1, 2005</time> (regulation implemented); <time datetime="2010-10-04">April 10, 2010</time> (regulation removed)</summary>
        <div>
          <p>The Commission removed a regulation that treated funds received in response to certain solicitations as "contributions," counting toward an organization's threshold for registering as a political committee, as well as two regulations concerning allocation of expenses by PACs, after the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia vacated it in <em>EMILY's List v. FEC</em> (2009).</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20100512">
        <summary>FEC Website Provides New Candidate Disbursements Feature <time datetime="2010-12-05">May 12, 2010</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The Commission <a href="https://www.fec.gov/updates/fec-website-provides-new-candidate-disbursements-feature/" target="_blank">introduced a new Candidate Disbursements feature on its website</a>, which provided downloads of itemized disbursements reported by U.S. House and Senate candidate committees for the 2010 election cycle. Although disbursement data for House candidates had been previously downloadable from the FEC's website, this new feature provided the public with an easy-to-use, one-step tool for accessing data that up to now had taken several steps to put in searchable form. This also marked the first time that the public had the ability to download Senate candidate data electronically.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20100604">
        <summary><em>Shays III</em> Revisions to Final Rules on Participation by Federal Candidates and Officeholders in Nonfederal Fundraising Events Take Effect <time datetime="2010-04-06">June 4, 2010</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The Commission approved <a href="http://sers.fec.gov/fosers/showpdf.htm?docid=540" target="_blank">final rules</a> that cover participation by federal candidates and officeholders at fundraising events that are in connection with an election for federal office or any nonfederal election where funds outside the amount limitations and source prohibitions of federal campaign finance law are solicited. The rule addresses participation at the fundraising event and in publicizing the event.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20100626">
        <summary>Regulations to Implement the Honest Leadership and Government Act (HLOGA) of 2007 <time datetime="2009-19-03">March 19, 2009</time> (lobbyist bundling); <time datetime="2010-06-01">January 6, 2010</time> (campaign travel); and <time datetime="2010-26-06">June 26, 2010</time> (revisions to presidential travel regulation)</summary>
        <div>
          <p>Following the passage of HLOGA, the FEC completed two rulemakings that (1) implemented HLOGA's <a href="http://sers.fec.gov/fosers/showpdf.htm?docid=11860" target="_blank">disclosure requirements</a> for certain committees that receive bundled contributions from lobbyists and committees established or controlled by any lobbyist and (2) <a href="http://sers.fec.gov/fosers/showpdf.htm?docid=9965" target="_blank">established new rules</a> relating to travel on private jets by candidates and other "campaign travelers."</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20101001">
        <summary>FEC Announces New Search System for Audit Reports <time datetime="2010-01-10">October 1, 2010</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The Commission launched a new <a href="http://www.fec.gov/auditsearch/auditsearch.do" target="_blank">search system for accessing audit reports on its website</a>. The Audit Finding Search System allowed users to search all approved audit reports using a two-level listing of categories that helped users narrow their research to the most relevant documents. The results displayed all documents pertaining to the audit report.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20101022">
        <summary>FEC Offers Real-Time, Searchable Information on Independent Expenditures <time datetime="2010-22-10">October 22, 2010</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The <a href="https://www.fec.gov/updates/fec-offers-real-time-searchable-information-on-independent-expenditures/" target="_blank">Commission introduced a new, searchable feature</a> on its website allowing real-time, comprehensive disclosure of independent expenditures in the 2010 federal campaign. This new feature was part of a far-reaching effort by the agency to expand the use of searchable, sortable and downloadable data technologies to provide timely information to the public.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20101201">
        <summary><em>Shays III</em> Revisions to Final Rules on Coordinated Communications Take Effect <time datetime="2010-01-12">December 1, 2010</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The <a href="http://sers.fec.gov/fosers/showpdf.htm?docid=5395" target="_blank">2010 revisions to the coordinated communications regulations</a> added a "content standard" for communications that are the "functional equivalent of express advocacy." The new rules also created a safe harbor for certain business and commercial communications, and provided further explanation and justification for two "conduct standards" in the existing regulations.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20101201a">
        <summary><em>Shays III</em> Revisions to Final Rules on "Federal Election Activities" Take Effect <time datetime="2010-01-12">December 1, 2010</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The Commission <a href="http://sers.fec.gov/fosers/showpdf.htm?docid=21775" target="_blank">modified the definitions of "voter registration activity" and "get-out-the-vote-activity" (GOTV activity)</a> and made other changes in response to the <em>Shays III</em> decision.</p>
        </div>
      </details>
    </li>

    <li>
      <time datetime="2011">2011</time>

      <details id="a20110110">
        <summary>Reports Analysis Division Launches Automated Letter Generation System Phase of EReview <time datetime="2011-10-01">January 10, 2011</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The new system automated the creation, approval, and imaging of RFAIs for the public record. This web-based application that allows the analyst to create RFAIs that can then be automatically submitted to a manager for approval and placed on the FEC website.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20110217">
        <summary>FEC Announces New Search System for Rulemaking Documents <time datetime="2011-17-02">February 17, 2011</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The <a href="http://sers.fec.gov/fosers/" target="_blank">Searchable Electronic Rulemaking System</a> allowed users to search public documents developed in the course of the Commission's rulemaking process. This system, which could be searched chronologically, by subject or regulation name or number, replaced and expanded upon the Commission's former online rulemaking archive. It also provided a new mechanism for the public to comment on ongoing rulemakings.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20110615">
        <summary>Anthony Herman Serves as General Counsel <time datetime="2011-15-06">June 15, 2011</time>-<time datetime="2013-05-07">July 5, 2013</time></summary>
        <div>
          <figure>
            <img src="/static/img-40th/Herman_Anthony.jpg" alt="Anthony Herman">
            <figcaption>Anthony Herman<figcaption>
          </figure>
          <p>Anthony Herman became General Counsel for the Commission in June 2011. During his tenure as the Commission's General Counsel, Herman led a staff of approximately 115 employees and spearheaded the reorganization of the Office of General Counsel, which is composed of the Divisions of the Deputy General Counsel for Administration, the Deputy General Counsel for Law, as well as the Divisions of Enforcement, Litigation and Policy. Herman came to the Commission from Covington &amp; Burling LLP, where he was a senior litigation partner and served as chair of the firm's Public Service Committee.</p>
          <p>Herman received a B.A. from the University of South Carolina and a J.D. <em>magna cum laude</em> from Harvard Law School. After law school, he served as a law clerk in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit to the Hon. Irving L. Goldberg and taught constitutional law, and other courses, as a law professor at Florida State University College of Law.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20110801">
        <summary>FEC Record Newsletter Becomes Online News Site <time datetime="2011-01-08">August 1, 2011</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>In an effort to provide more timely and user-friendly information, the Commission converted <a href="https://www.fec.gov/updates/?update_type=fec-record" target="_blank">the Record</a> from a print-based online publication to a wholly web-based format that better utilizes the medium.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20110803">
        <summary>Alec Palmer Serves as Staff Director <time datetime="2011-03-08">August 3, 2011</time> - Present</summary>
        <div>
          <figure>
            <img src="http://www.fec.gov/about/offices/CIO/palmer.jpg" alt="Alec Palmer Staff Director">
            <figcaption>Alec Palmer Staff Director<figcaption>
          </figure>
          <p>The Commission named D. Alec Palmer to be the agency's new Staff Director. Palmer, who served as Acting Staff Director, also will continue his responsibilities as the agency's Chief Information Officer (CIO).</p>
          <p>Palmer came to the Commission in 2003 as CIO. In that role, he has created new information technology initiatives that were designed to improve the agency's operating efficiency along with its disclosure and transparency practices. He drove efforts that allowed for the development of new website tools including the addition of the popular campaign finance maps to the Commission's website, the real-time disclosure of independent expenditures, publishing of enforcement case files dating back to 1975, the expansion of the advisory opinion search feature and a new searchable rulemaking system.</p>
          <p>Prior to joining the Commission, Palmer had 15 years of CIO experience, and has provided leadership to senior management professionals in the public service, hospitality, oil and gas, high-tech manufacturing, financial services, publishing and healthcare industries. Alec received his bachelor's degree from Brigham Young University.</p>
          <p>As Staff Director, Palmer serves as the chief administration and management officer for more than 350 employees and six Commissioners. The position is one of three statutory positions at the Commission.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20110819">
        <summary><em>Carey v. FEC</em> <time datetime="2011-19-08">August 19, 2011</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The <a href="https://transition.fec.gov/law/litigation_CCA_C.shtml#carey" target="_blank">FEC entered into a consent judgement</a> stating that it would no longer enforce provisions of the Act against nonconnected political committees that wished to accept contributions of unlimited amounts, deposit such contributions into a separate "Non-Contribution Account," and use those funds to finance independent expenditures.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20111028">
        <summary>Reports Analysis Division Begins Emailing RFAIs <time datetime="2011-28-10">October 28, 2011</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The Reports Analysis Division implemented a process to send Requests for Additional Information (RFAIs) via email, to provide faster and more convenient notification to committees.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20111108">
        <summary>Commission Certifies Public Funds for Major Party 2012 Presidential Nominating Conventions <time datetime="2011-08-11">November 8, 2011</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>On <time datetime="2011-08-11">November 8, 2011</time>, the Commission certified $17,689,800 each to each major party's 2012 national convention committee for the party's presidential nominating convention.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20111230">
        <summary>Beta Mobile Interface <time datetime="2011-30-12">December 30, 2011</time></summary>
        <div>
          <figure>
            <img src="/static/img-40th/fec-mobile-site.jpg" alt="FEC Mobile Beta Website">
            <figcaption>FEC Mobile Beta Website<figcaption>
          </figure>
          <p>The FEC released the first in a series of FEC Mobile beta web pages designed to run on mobile devices. These beta web pages provided easier public access to campaign finance data and information about Commission activities.</p>
        </div>
      </details>
    </li>

    <li>
      <time datetime="2012">2012</time>

      <details id="a20120206">
        <summary>RAD Launches FAQ Web Page <time datetime="2012-06-02">February 6, 2012</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The Reports Analysis Division posted a <a href="https://transition.fec.gov/rad/index.shtml" target="_blank">web page</a> to answer frequently asked questions (FAQ's) about reporting issues, Requests for Additional Information (RFAI's) and other RAD processes.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20120322">
        <summary>FEC Launches New Campaign Finance Disclosure Website Portal <time datetime="2012-22-03">March 22, 2012</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The Commission introduced a new <a href="http://www.fec.gov/pindex.shtml" target="_blank">campaign finance disclosure portal</a> to simplify access to the wide range of disclosure data available on the agency's website.</p>
          <p>The disclosure portal provided a single point of entry to federal campaign finance data. It featured easily navigable maps, as well as a variety of search tools to help users make the best use of the Commission's data sources. Users could download many of the data sets available through the Disclosure Portal to perform their own analyses.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20120523">
        <summary>FEC Releases Documents On Enforcement and Compliance Practices <time datetime="2012-23-05">May 23, 2012</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The Commission made public a <a href="https://transition.fec.gov/law/procedural_materials.shtml" target="_blank">collection of internal documents</a> concerning the agency's enforcement and compliance practices. Disclosure of the documents followed oversight hearings on <time datetime="2011-03-11">November 3, 2011</time>, before the Subcommittee on Elections of the House of Representatives Committee on House Administration.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20120523a">
        <summary>RAD Review and Referral Procedures Made Public <time datetime="2012-23-05">May 23, 2012</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>RAD makes its determinations for sending RFAIs and referring a committee for further action based on Commission-approved thresholds contained in the RAD Review and Referral Procedures. This and other documents describing the agency's policies and procedures were made public, subject to limited redactions, following an oversight hearing on <time datetime="2011-03-11">November 3, 2011</time> before the Subcommittee on Elections of the House of Representatives Committee on House Administration.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20120920">
        <summary>Two New Disclosure Tools Unveiled <time datetime="2012-20-09">September 20, 2012</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The FEC introduced the <a href="https://www.fec.gov/data/" target="_blank">Candidate and Committee Viewer search system</a> to simplify access to campaign finance data. The Viewer allowed users to find campaign finance activity of any federal candidate, political committee, independent expenditure report filer or other report filer through a single search portal instead of conducting multiple searches in different databases on the website. The Viewer brought together cycle-to-date summaries, report summaries, images of reports and statements and downloadable electronic filings to produce an overview of each committee, and it provided both dynamic graphic charts and complete data sets in a downloadable, spreadsheet format to allow users to drill down to and analyze specific transactions. An introductory video provided an overview of the Viewer's main features.</p>
          <p>The Commission also updated its Electronic Filing RSS feed to notify subscribers when a filer has sent a new report or document electronically to the Commission. Users could subscribe to six pre-established RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds: new electronic filings, monthly filings, quarterly filings, presidential filings, congressional filings and PAC and party filings. Alternatively, subscribers could customize their feeds by committee identification number, state or district. Additional subscription options were based on filers' party affiliation and report type. An online user guide offered further guidance on using the RSS feed.</p>
        </div>
      </details>
    </li>

    <li>
      <time datetime="2013">2013</time>

      <details id="a20130515">
        <summary>Online E-Filing Password System Developed <time datetime="2013-15-05">May 15, 2013</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The Commission <a href="https://www.fec.gov/updates/new-online-password-system-for-e-filers/" target="_blank">developed and implemented a self-assigning password system</a>. The system allows committees to request or change an electronic filing password online, automating the prior process of submitting password requests via fax or mail.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20130620">
        <summary>Press Office Upgrades Media Web Page <time datetime="2013-20-06">June 20, 2013</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The revamped <a href="http://www.fec.gov/press/index.shtml" target="_blank">Press Office page</a> was designed to help the public, including researchers, academics and media, find information on the Commission and campaign finance law and to locate statistical data more quickly and easily.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20131001a">
        <summary>Lee E. Goodman (R) Serves as Commissioner <time datetime="2013-22-10">October 22, 2013</time> - Present</summary>
        <div>
          <figure>
            <img src="/static/img-40th/Goodman_Lee.jpg" alt="Commissioner Lee E. Goodman">
            <figcaption>Commissioner Lee E. Goodman</figcaption>
          </figure>
          <p>Lee E. Goodman was appointed to the Commission by President Barack Obama on <time datetime="2013-21-10">October 21, 2013</time>, and sworn into office on <time datetime="2013-22-10">October 22, 2013</time>. President Obama nominated Commissioner Goodman, a Republican, on <time datetime="2013-24-06">June 24, 2013</time>, on the recommendation of Senator Mitch McConnell and he was confirmed by unanimous consent of the United States Senate on <time datetime="2013-23-09">September 23, 2013</time>. Commissioner Goodman served as Chairman of the Commission in 2014 and Vice Chairman in 2013.</p>
          <p>Prior to joining the Commission, Mr. Goodman practiced election law in private practice for the better part of two decades and served in a number of governmental and political posts. In private practice, he represented candidates, public officials, political parties, political action committees, non-profit organizations, and media companies in addressing a wide range of laws regulating their political activities and speech. He advised four presidential campaigns from 2007 to 2012. He served as general counsel of the Republican Party of Virginia (2009-2013). He also represented non-political clients in addressing other regulatory and public policy issues.</p>
          <p>His prior government service includes four years as legal counsel and policy advisor to the Governor of Virginia (1998-2002) and three years as counsel and special assistant to the Attorney General of Virginia (1995-1997). He served as chief advisor to the Chairman of the Congressional Advisory Commission on Electronic Commerce (1999-2000).</p>
          <p>Mr. Goodman has authored several articles on election law, including a chapter on regulation of political speech on the Internet in the book Law and Election Politics - The Rules of the Game (Routledge 2013), and he has lectured frequently on election law topics. He has served on the boards of several political, educational and cultural non-profit organizations. He is recognized as a national expert in close elections, recounts and election administration.</p>
          <p>He received his B.A. with highest distinction in 1986 from the University of Virginia, where he double majored in American government and rhetoric &amp; communication studies. He received his J.D. in 1990 from the University of Virginia School of Law, where he served as Articles Editor for the U.Va. Journal of Law &amp; Politics.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20131001">
        <summary>Ann Ravel (D) Serves as Commissioner <time datetime="2013-25-10">October 25, 2013</time>-Present</summary>
        <div>
          <figure>
            <img src="/static/img-40th/Ravel_Ann.jpg" alt="Commissioner Ann Ravel">
            <figcaption>Commissioner Ann Ravel<figcaption>
          </figure>
          <p>Commissioner Ann M. Ravel is Chair of the Commission for 2015. Ms. Ravel was nominated to the Commission by President Barack Obama on <time datetime="2013-21-06">June 21, 2013</time>. After her appointment received the unanimous consent of the United States Senate, Ms. Ravel joined the Commission on <time datetime="2013-25-10">October 25, 2013</time>. She served as Vice Chair for 2014.</p>
          <p>From March 2011 until her appointment to the Commission, Ms. Ravel served as Chair of the California Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC), to which Governor Edmund G. Brown, Jr. appointed her. At the FPPC, Ms. Ravel oversaw the regulation of campaign finance, lobbyist registration and reporting, and ethics and conflicts of interest related to officeholders and public employees. During her tenure at the FPPC, Ms. Ravel was instrumental in the creation of the States' Unified Network (SUN) Center, a web-based center for sharing information on campaign finance.</p>
          <p>Before joining the FPPC, Ms. Ravel served as Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Torts and Consumer Litigation in the Civil Division of the United States Department of Justice. Ms. Ravel also worked as an attorney in the Santa Clara County Counsel's Office, ultimately serving as the appointed County Counsel from 1998 until 2009. Ms. Ravel represented the County and its elected officials, provided advice on the state Political Reform Act, and initiated groundbreaking programs in elder abuse litigation, educational rights, and consumer litigation on behalf of the Santa Clara County government and the community.</p>
          <p>Ms. Ravel has served as an elected Governor on the Board of Governors of the State Bar of California, a member of the Judicial Council of the State of California, and Chair of the Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluation. In 2007, the State Bar of California named Ms. Ravel Public Attorney of the Year for her contributions to public service.</p>
          <p>Ms. Ravel received her B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley and her J.D. from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20131226">
        <summary>Congress Extends Administrative Fine Program to <time datetime="2018">2018</time> <time datetime="2013-26-12">December 26, 2013</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>Congress <a href="https://www.fec.gov/updates/new-law-authorizes-administrative-fines-extension-and-expansion/" target="_blank">amended the Federal Election Campaign Act to extend through <time datetime="2018-31-12">December 31, 2018</time>, the authority of the Commission to impose civil money penalties</a>. The legislation also expanded this authority to certain other violations, such as filing independent expenditure reports late.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

    </li>

    <li>
      <time datetime="2014">2014</time>

      <details id="a20140402">
        <summary><em>McCutcheon v. FEC</em> <time datetime="2014-02-04">April 2, 2014</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The <a href="https://transition.fec.gov/law/litigation/McCutcheon.shtml" target="_blank">Supreme Court held</a> that the Act's aggregate limits on the amount an individual may contribute during a two-year period to all federal candidates, political parties, and other political committees violated the First Amendment.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20140403">
        <summary>Legislation Ends Public Funding of Presidential Nominating Conventions <time datetime="2014-03-04">April 3, 2014</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>President Obama signed the <a href="http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/PLAW-113publ94/pdf/PLAW-113publ94.pdf" target="_blank">Gabriella Miller Kids First Research Act</a> (Pub. L. No. 113-94), ending the public funding of national nominating conventions.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20140722">
        <summary>RAD Customer Service Survey <time datetime="2014-22-07">July 22, 2014</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The Reports Analysis Division (RAD) sent a survey via email to all filers to identify opportunities to improve RAD's customer service and outreach.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20140814">
        <summary>FEC Hosts Public Forum on Website Improvement <time datetime="2014-14-08">August 14, 2014</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The Commission hosted a forum, seeking broad public input for its effort to improve access to campaign finance data and information through a redesign of the FEC.gov website.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20141216">
        <summary>Legislation Creates New National Party Limits <time datetime="2014-16-12">December 16, 2014</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The 2014 appropriations act (Pub. L. No. 113-483) included <a href="https://www.fec.gov/updates/national-parties-may-establish-new-accounts/" target="_blank">provisions that amended the FECA</a> to permit national party committees to raise up to three times their applicable contribution limits for each of the following accounts: a presidential nominating convention account; a national party headquarters building fund account; and an election recount expenses account. Only the national committee of a political party (but not the congressional campaign committee of a national party) is authorized to maintain a presidential nominating convention account.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20141224">
        <summary>Commission Publishes <em>McCutcheon</em> Rules Removing Aggregate Individual Limits <time datetime="2014-24-12">December 24, 2014</time></summary>
        <div>
            <p><a href="http://sers.fec.gov/fosers/showpdf.htm?docid=311387" target="blank">Final regulations</a> conforming to the Supreme Court's decision in <em>McCutcheon v. FEC</em> were published in the <em>Federal Register</em>. The revised rules removed the aggregate limits on contributions by individuals. An additional Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking sought comments on related issues.</p>
            </div>
      </details>

    </li>

    <li>
      <time datetime="2015">2015</time>

      <details id="a20150109">
        <summary>Commission Replaces DC Seminars and Workshops with Webinars <time datetime="2015-09-01">January 9, 2015</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The FEC announced it would expand its online training opportunities and replace its in-house seminars and workshops with webinars. The move reflected the trend in attendance numbers for in-person and online training sessions, as well as the FEC's desire to increase training opportunities for committees by eliminating travel time and expense.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20150127">
        <summary><em>Citizens United</em> Rules Permitting Corporate and Labor Expenditures Take Effect <time datetime="2015-27-01">January 27, 2015</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p><a href="http://sers.fec.gov/fosers/showpdf.htm?docid=305685" target="_blank">Final regulations</a> conforming to the Supreme Court's ruling in <em>Citizens United v. FEC</em> were published in the <em>Federal Register</em> on <time datetime="2014-21-10">October 21, 2014</time>, and took effect on <time datetime="2015-27-01">January 27, 2015</time>. The rules permit corporations and labor organizations to make independent expenditures and electioneering communications.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20150211">
        <summary>FEC Offers Live Video of Public Meetings <time datetime="2015-11-02">February 11, 2015</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The Commission launched a live online video stream of all of its public meetings, complete with captions for the hearing impaired.</p>
        </div>
      </details>

      <details id="a20150304">
        <summary>FEC Launches Webforms 1 and 2 <time datetime="2015-04-03">March 4, 2015</time></summary>
        <div>
          <p>The FEC <a href="https://www.fec.gov/updates/new-e-filing-option-allows-candidates-and-committees-to-register-online/" target="_blank">launched Webforms 1 and 2</a>, enabling most candidates and committee to register online.</p>
        </div>
      </details>
    </li>
  </ol>
</div>
fecgov / fec-cms

Innovation (Anniversary Page work) - Experiment with Wagtail templates to see if any fit a "timeline" #5773

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