[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 106 (Thursday, July 18, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H7783-H7784]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         CALLING FOR INDEPENDENT COMMISSION ON ELECTION REFORM

  (Mrs. MALONEY asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Mrs. MALONEY. Mr. Speaker, reform week is here. The most important 
reform--campaign finance, will not get reformed. Everyone knows that 
money plays too much of a role in politics, everyone except the 
Republican Congress.
  Under their extreme bill, a wealthy contributor can give three times 
what current law allows to Federal candidates. Three times the current 
limit to each national party committee. And, this bill allows over 10 
times more money to State party committees. The Republican bill would 
allow $12.4 million in contributions from one family in a single 
election cycle. This isn't election reform, it's an auction.
  I support the Democrat bill, the Farr bill, which voluntarily limits 
contributions and expenditures. The contrast between the two bills is 
staggering.

[[Page H7784]]

But, as much as we need campaign finance reform, I predict that 
partisanship will live and campaign finance reform will die. We don't 
need a Democratic bill or a Republican one--we need a workable one. The 
only way to do that is to create an independent commission to agree on 
general principles and develop a plan for a vote. Over a year ago, the 
Speaker and the President shook hands on it. Mr. Speaker, let's turn 
the promise of your handshake into the reality of a law.

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