[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 137 (Tuesday, September 27, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: September 27, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                                GRIDLOCK

  Mr. WELLSTONE. Madam President, we just had a vote a short time ago 
in which we were unable to obtain cloture. This was cloture so that we 
could move to the conference committee on the campaign finance reform 
bill.
  I have four items, Madam President. Let me make a connection between 
that vote, that obstructionism and, mind you, all we were trying to do 
is get to conference committee to then consider a campaign finance 
reform bill.
  The second item: Yesterday the majority leader announced there would 
be no health care reform legislation passed in this Congress. Yesterday 
the majority leader announced that he really did not see us going 
forward, given the threat of filibuster or given the threat on part of 
some Senators to just introduce amendment after amendment after 
amendment. Let me make a connection.
  The second item: Citizens Action came out with a report this past 
week. That is the Nation's largest consumer organization. And they 
looked at a period from January 1993 to July of this year in which 
opponents of health care reform spent $46 million, $46 million mainly 
targeted to congressional health care committees. Madam President, 
these were contributions which were made to block health care reform.
  The fourth item: A Common Cause study just came out. From 1987 
through 1993, according to Common Cause, business PAC's gave over $72 
million to Senators as opposed to $16.7 million from labor PAC's. That 
is a ratio of 4 to 1.
  Final item, Madam President, in the lobbying packet the insurance 
industry, according to one industry news letter, urged its members in 
each State to go to the Federal Election Commission reports, find out 
the wealthy contributors of each member, and then hold meetings with 
those contributor allies for the purposes of then going to Senators and 
Representatives.
  Madam President, that is not very subtle, not very subtle.
  My point is simply this: What has happened with the blocking of 
health care legislation makes the best case I know for campaign finance 
reform. It really is shameful the unprecedented amount of money that is 
poured into the House and the Senate. It really is shameful that that 
money has been used to block health care reform and it emerges, I 
think, not as the variable but one variable in explaining our inaction.
  Madam President, even if you did not agree that it was the variable, 
let me just simply make the point, that if--and I use the analogy one 
more time, opposing teams before a football game or a soccer game were 
paying the referees before they officiated the games, people would not 
have a lot of confidence that those referees were making impartial 
decisions or good decisions. And we wonder why people are so angry.
  Madam President, I believe that we will get this cloture vote in a 
day or so, and my distinguished colleague, Senator McConnell, said he 
looked forward to debate. I look forward to the debate. I look forward 
to debate and, more importantly, I look forward to action, because in 
the past couple of days, as I have heard Senators speak about this, 
they have said to have any kind of campaign finance reform bill passed 
would be business as usual.
  Business as usual is where we are right now. Business as usual is an 
unholy mix of money and politics. Business as usual is when Senators 
have to raise $5 million, $6, $8, $12 million, maybe $20 million for a 
Senate race. This is an obscene money chase and people in the country 
hate it and they feel as if it just belongs to those people who have 
the money. They feel as if it is not even a game they can play any 
longer. They feel completely ripped off. They feel left out of this 
process.
  I venture to say, Madam President, that the citizens of Minnesota and 
the citizens of Illinois and every single State would like to see the 
large, big contributions out of politics. Let people make small 
contributions. Let people raise money. But we do not need to be raising 
these obscene amounts of money for campaigns.
  As to the argument that discount vouchers for ads, or for whatever, 
represents some kind of entitlement program for politicians, these 
elections do not belong to politicians, they belong to the people in 
our country. I think it is absolutely critically important that we get 
this big money out of politics. But we do not even have an opportunity, 
based on this vote that took place, to move to a conference committee.
  One more time--and I conclude this way with these points: health care 
reform, hijacked; unholy mix of money and politics, failure to enact 
reform that would do well for people makes the best case possible for 
campaign finance reform. No. 1.
  No. 2, we see right now in what is going on on the floor of the 
Senate an effort to just bring this process to a grinding halt, to 
essentially blow the Senate up, to stop us from moving forward on any 
major initiative. And that is what has happened on this bill.
  What we saw happening with this past vote just about 45 minutes ago 
was a vote where Senators essentially were saying that we cannot even 
appoint conferees from the House and from the Senate to come together 
to try and reach agreement on campaign finance reform, which would get 
some of the large money out of politics, which would begin to reform 
this process, which would begin to give people more confidence in this 
process.
  I find this to be business as usual. I heard those people who oppose 
campaign finance reform talking about business as usual. The business 
as usual is just blocking, blocking, blocking. The business as usual is 
to bring this process to a grinding halt; try and let as little as 
possible pass the Senate; block almost everything, and then go around 
the country fanning the flames of discontent, telling people throughout 
our country: ``Government can do no good; legislation can't be passed; 
everything is wrong.''
  I think it is a profoundly cynical approach. I think it essentially 
represents the very best of nondecisionmaking, and I do not think that 
is why we are here. I fully support what my colleague from California, 
Senator Boxer, had to say. It is a core issue. It is a root issue. If 
we do not have campaign finance reform, we will not have made this 
process accountable. This is a key reform issue. It is a key item for 
us. It is a priority for the U.S. Senate. And right now, we just see a 
blatant effort to filibuster this one way or the other: Block it, block 
it, block it.
  I hope we will vote for cloture when we vote on this again. I take it 
that that will be by Thursday.
  I yield the floor.

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