[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 112 (Friday, July 26, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1388]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                THE CAMPAIGN FINANCE DEFORM ACT OF 1996

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                          HON. SANDER M. LEVIN

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, July 26, 1996

  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, one of the glaring shortcomings of this 
Congress is the utter lack of serious interest from the majority 
leadership in reforming the broken campaign finance system.
  Unfortunately, from the very beginning, the authors of this bill have 
clung to a series of concepts denounced by Common Cause as ``phony,'' 
by Public Citizen as ``fundamentally wrong,'' by business as 
``pandering,'' by labor as ``a sellout'' and which are, by any sensible 
standard, perversely bizarre.
  The bill before us today is campaign finance deformed, not reformed.
  It offers reelection protection to those with the richest friends.
  It expands the ability of political elites to dominate elections with 
soft money.
  And it drives a stake into the heart of grassroots activism by 
turning elections over to those who would, under this bill, control 
assets far beyond what they currently do.
  That's what we're doing here today--voting on a bill carefully and 
skillfully constructed by those whose guiding principle is a desire to 
pump more money in politics.
  We should instead be imposing a tough new cap on contributions from 
political action committees and wealthy contributors.
  We should instead be eliminating the soft money loopholes and making 
it less costly for the airwaves to be used for political discourse.
  We should instead be promoting greater balance among candidates 
through a spending limit, especially in the absence of other methods.
  Should, and could--but we aren't.
  Instead, we're engaged in a determined exercise to block legitimate 
campaign finance reform. If you believe it's time to control spending, 
to reform soft money, and to reduce the influence special interests 
exert over elections, the best steps today along that path are to 
support the Farr substitute, and to defeat the campaign finance 
deformed bill offered by the majority leadership.

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