[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 35 (Thursday, March 14, 1996)]
[House]
[Page H2306]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   TERM LIMITS GROUP NOT NONPARTISAN

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Colorado [Mrs. Schroeder] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. SCHROEDER. Mr. Speaker, it is hard for me to do this because 
usually when Members come to the well to talk about something from 
their State, they are popping with pride and they feel very good.
  But I am here saying I am really ashamed, I am very ashamed that a 
group that originates in my State of Colorado is out saying they are 
one thing and really doing something else. I think this tells you how 
far we have fallen when it comes to this body and when it comes to 
playing politics and every other such thing.
  In today's newspaper called Rollcall, there is an article about this. 
It talks about the two Democrats who are for term limits quitting this 
group because of what they have done and how partisan this group has 
become. This group is a tax-exempt Colorado-based group. It has a 
wonderful name that everybody should be for. When you hear this name 
you say, yes, it is Americans back in charge. And it also got tax 
exemption because, again, it said it was doing grassroots voter 
education and so forth on the issue of term limits.
  Now, I will be very honest, I am not for term limits. But they have 
every right to do voter education, education on term limits as long as 
it is bipartisan and they are out there. But what have they done? 
Because the term limits legislation failed in this body, and I hope 
everybody realizes this body is not Democratically controlled right 
now, the Democratic Party does not control this body, that may be news 
to somebody, apparently it is news to this group in Colorado, but the 
term limits legislation failed in this Republican-majority Congress. 
And guess what they have done? They have raised $3 million and targeted 
14 Democrats. Not one Republican.
  Now, there are Republican members of my delegation in Colorado who 
are not for term limits. But they did not target them. They did not 
target the local boys.
  It is kind of embarrassing to think they did not know what the voting 
records were of people at home and, they are targeting 14 people 
nationwide.
  One of these people has now said that they are not running, so we are 
now down to 13 people. And they say they are going to spend $3 million 
that people donated to them and got a tax exemption for because they 
thought it was voter education, $3 million for radio ads and fliers 
against Democrats only.
  Now, what does that equal? That equals about $225,000-plus per 
district. That is a lot of radio ads. That is a lot of fliers.
  I think a lot of us have gotten very concerned about how this money 
is collected under these wonderful sounding names, so people can deduct 
them and do all sorts of things, and then the next thing we know is it 
is being put to very political partisan usage.
  I really salute the two Democrats who got off of this group and 
called it what it was, partisan, and saying it is doing one thing and 
really doing another. Those two Members were the gentleman from 
Massachusetts [Mr. Meehan] and the gentleman from Minnesota [Mr. 
Minge]. And I must say, as a Coloradoan, I am ashamed to have to stand 
here and say I agree with this analysis. But I think the American 
people have got to wake up and as they see people targeted for these 
term limits that are only Democrats, maybe they should ask some 
questions about why did this group not target Senator Thurmond. He just 
turned 93. He is running again, and he is for term limits. Please.
  That does not pass the straight-face test, and I could list a whole 
lot of others that are out there posturing as the poster children for 
term limits, yet when you look at their career and you look at what 
they are doing, it does not compute.
  Now, again, I say one more time, this is America, and we have the 
right to debate term limits out front. But it is absolutely wrong when 
you blame only Democrats for the failure of the term limits legislation 
when the Democrats do not control this House and when there is 
absolutely no bipartisanship involved at all in this voter education 
and you are doing it with tax-exempt money under the name of voter 
education.
  We in Colorado usually stand very firm for good government, clean 
government, and at least play by the rules. And if you say you are 
nonpartisan, be nonpartisan.
  So all I say is, to those 13 Members who are going to have this 
$200,000-plus slapped at them, remind them who the real poster children 
are and what is really going on, and I hope Americans rise up and get 
very suspicious of this in the future.

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