Voter Empowerment and Campaign Disclosure Act of 1997

Voter Empowerment and Campaign Disclosure Act of 1997 - Expresses the sense of the Congress that because legal permanent residents of the United States are protected by the Constitution, such residents have the right under the First Amendment to legally express themselves through expenditures and contributions that affect the political and electoral process. (Sec. 3) Amends the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (FECA) to revise the requirement concerning the limit on contributions made by individuals to candidates to establish separate limits on individual contributions to: (1) local candidates; and (2) non-local candidates. Increases: (1) the separate limits on contributions made by individuals to political committees of national political parties and any other political committees; and (2) the annual aggregate limit on individual contributions. Removes a certain limitation on individual contributions. Decreases the limit on multicandidate political committee contributions to candidates. Revises requirements for indexing certain limits to include indexing of: (1) the individual contribution limit; (2) the multicandidate political committee contribution limit; and (3) the annual aggregate individual contribution limit. (Sec. 4) Repeals limitations regarding expenditures by national committees, State committees, or subordinate committees of State committees in connection with general election campaigns of Federal candidates. Prohibits treating expenditures as contributions to or expenditures made by the candidate. Increases the separate limits on multicandidate political committee contributions to: (1) political committees of national political parties; and (2) any other political committees. Defines the term "express advocacy." (Sec. 5) Revises requirements for the filing of FECA reports in any calendar year during which there is regularly scheduled election for which a House or Senate candidate is seeking election, or nomination for election, to require the filing of monthly reports by: (1) the principal campaign committee of a House or Senate candidate; and (2) the political committees of national parties. (Sec. 6) Increases the penalty for knowing and willful violations of: (1) FECA; or (2) Internal Revenue Code provisions concerning the Presidential Election Campaign Fund and the Presidential Primary Matching Payment Account. Allows reasonable attorney's fees and other costs of a civil action, in any proceeding concerning a violation in which the defendant substantially prevails on substantive grounds, in addition to any judgment awarded to the defendant. (Sec. 7) Amends the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) to limit the scope of allowable union security agreements to requiring employee payment of union dues or fees related only to collective bargaining, contract administration, or grievance adjustment necessary to performing the duties of exclusive representation. Requires, under NLRA, employee consent in an annual signed written agreement before a union may accept that employee's payment of dues or fees for purposes beyond the scope of the union security agreement as limited by this Act. Requires such an agreement to include a ratio of the dues or fees related to the limited purposes and those related to other purposes. Amends the Labor Management Relations Act, 1947 to prohibit payroll deduction for union dues unrelated to the limited scope purposes, unless a written agreement authorizes such deduction. Requires, under NLRA, employers to post notice of worker rights to organize and collectively bargain, as well as of the limited scope of any union security agreement. Directs the National Labor Relations Board to prescribe the size and form of such notice. Provides, under NLRA, that employees subject to union security agreements who pay dues and fees for the required limited purposes shall have the same right as any union member to participate in union affairs related to such purposes (collective bargaining, contract administration, or grievance adjustment). Amends the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 to require every labor union to attribute and report expenses by function classification in detail necessary to allow its members to determine whether such expenses were related to collective bargaining, contract administration, or grievance adjustment necessary to performing the duties of exclusive representation or were related to other purposes. Requires disclosure under such Act to employees required to pay any union dues or fees (under a union security agreement) as well as to union members. Directs the Secretary of Labor to promulgate a regulation. (Sec. 8) Amends Federal law to revise the prohibition regarding the solicitation and receipt of Federal election campaign contributions by any person on Federal property from certain persons to include under the prohibition a monetary donation or anything else of value made by any person on Federal property to a national committee of a political party. (Sec. 9) Revises the requirement prohibiting Senators from mailing any mass mailing as franked mail to prohibit a Senator from mailing any mass mailing as franked mail during a year in which there will be an election for the seat held by the Senator, unless the Senator has made a public announcement that he or she will not be a candidate for reelection to the Senate in that year.