text: SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
  
      This Act may be cited as the ``Campaign Sunlight Act of 2012''.
  
  SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT AND OPERATION OF WEBSITE OF POLITICAL 
                ADVERTISEMENTS.
  
      (a) Establishment of Website.--Section 318 of the Federal Election 
  Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441d) is amended by adding at the end 
  the following new subsection:
      ``(e) Website for Contents of Political Advertisements.--
              ``(1) Website described.--
                      ``(A) In general.--The Commission shall establish 
                  and operate a website, to be known as the `Campaign 
                  Accountability Site', through which members of the 
                  public may view the contents of political 
                  advertisements.
                      ``(B) Format.--In operating the website under this 
                  subsection, the Commission shall--
                              ``(i) make the contents of a political 
                          advertisement available for viewing in the same 
                          format through which the advertisement was 
                          disseminated; and
                              ``(ii) make the sources of the contents of 
                          the advertisement available on the website 
                          directly or through hyperlinks to the sources, 
                          as submitted to the Commission by the sponsor 
                          of the advertisement under paragraph (2)(B).
                      ``(C) Hyperlink.--The Commission shall make the 
                  website established and operated under this subsection 
                  available through a hyperlink on the Commission's 
                  official public website.
              ``(2) Requiring sponsors of advertisements to provide 
          contents to commission.--
                      ``(A) In general.--The sponsor of a political 
                  advertisement shall submit the contents of the 
                  advertisement to the Commission in such format as the 
                  Commission may require to enable the Commission to 
                  include the advertisement on the website established 
                  and operated under paragraph (1).
                      ``(B) Inclusion of sources cited in contents.--If 
                  the contents of a political advertisement include 
                  references to any quotation, article, hyperlink, or 
                  other source for any statement made in the 
                  advertisement, the sponsor of the advertisement shall 
                  include the full contents of the source (or a hyperlink 
                  to the full contents of the source) in the contents 
                  submitted to the Commission under this paragraph.
                      ``(C) Deadline for submission.--The sponsor of a 
                  political advertisement shall submit the contents of 
                  the advertisement to the Commission under subparagraph 
                  (A) not later than--
                              ``(i) 24 hours after the advertisement is 
                          disseminated, in the case of an advertisement 
                          that is disseminated during the 7-day period 
                          that ends on the date of the election involved; 
                          or
                              ``(ii) 72 hours after the advertisement is 
                          disseminated, in the case of an advertisement 
                          that is disseminated during any other period.
                      ``(D) Payment of fee.--If the Commission determines 
                  that it is appropriate to impose fees on the sponsors 
                  of political advertisements in amounts which do not 
                  exceed the amount necessary to cover the costs to the 
                  Commission of establishing and operating the website 
                  under paragraph (1), at the time the sponsor of a 
                  political advertisement submits the contents of the 
                  advertisement to the Commission under subparagraph (A), 
                  the sponsor shall pay the Commission the amount of any 
                  such fee (as determined under a fee schedule 
                  established by the Commission).
                      ``(E) Sponsor defined.--For purposes of this 
                  subsection, the `sponsor' of a political advertisement 
                  is--
                              ``(i) in the case of a political 
                          advertisement that is described in paragraph 
                          (1) or (2) of subsection (a), the authorized 
                          political committee involved; or
                              ``(ii) in the case of a political 
                          advertisement that is described in paragraph 
                          (3) of subsection (a), the person who is 
                          required under such paragraph to be identified 
                          as the person who paid for the advertisement.
              ``(3) Political advertisement defined.--In this subsection, 
          a `political advertisement' means a communication that is 
          subject to subsection (a) that refers to a clearly identified 
          candidate and is disseminated during the 1-year period which 
          ends on the date of the election for the office sought by the 
          candidate.''.
      (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall 
  apply with respect to political advertisements disseminated after the 
  expiration of the 120-day period that begins on the date of the 
  enactment of this Act.
target: Campaign Sunlight Act of 2012 - Amends the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to direct the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to establish and operate a website (Campaign Accountability Site) through which members of the public may view the contents of political advertisements.
  
  Requires the sponsor of a political advertisement to submit its contents to the FEC in a format the FEC may require. Requires the format to make the sources of such contents available on the website directly or through hyperlinks to the sources.
  
  Requires the sponsor to submit an advertisement to the FEC within: (1) 24 hours after its dissemination, if it is disseminated during the 7 days before the election involved; or (2) 72 hours after dissemination during any other period.
feat_title: To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to require the Federal Election Commission to establish and operate a website through which members of the public may view the contents of certain political advertisements, to require the sponsors of such advertisements to furnish the contents of the advertisements to the Commission, and for other purposes.