[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 17 (Tuesday, February 11, 1997)]
[House]
[Pages H410-H411]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM IN 105TH CONGRESS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 21, 1997, the gentleman from California [Mr. Miller] is 
recognized during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Mr. MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, as my colleagues who preceded 
me in the well have pointed out, one of most important items on the 
agenda of this Congress is campaign finance reform. Until we are able 
to reform this system, we will not regain the confidence of the 
American people that there is a level playing field in the Congress of 
the United States for the average American and the special interests.
  Day after day the press reports to us of special accommodations that 
are given to those with the most money invested in campaigns of Members 
of

[[Page H411]]

Congress, Members of the Senate, members of the administration and 
members of the opposing party in the Presidential campaign. It is very 
clear that these reports are making the people even more cynical about 
our political system than they are today.
  Our obligation is to report campaign finance reform from the House of 
Representatives to the Senate at the earliest possible date. The reason 
we must do that is that, time and again, the delay of consideration of 
campaign finance reform not only changes the likelihood that it will 
ever become law but, should it become law, it postpones it through one 
more cycle of campaigns.
  If we do not do campaign finance reform very quickly in the House and 
in the Senate, pretty soon Members will say, it cannot take effect in 
1998, it must take effect 4 years from now. And then we go through an 
entire new cycle of the outrageous sums of money that are being 
lavished on campaigns in this country.
  That is why we are pleading with the Republican leadership and the 
Speaker of the House to schedule campaign finance reform. The President 
has asked that it be done by July 4. Over 100 Members of this body sent 
both the Speaker of the House and the minority leader of the House a 
letter asking that we do it in the first 100 days.

                              {time}  1245

  Two years ago we saw a very aggressive legislative agenda for the 
first 100 days of that Congress. That Congress worked more hours, took 
more votes and passed more legislation in that 100 days, I believe than 
any other Congress in history.
  Now we come to this Congress. Today is the 9th legislative day. We 
are in session today. We have no votes today. It is the 9th legislative 
day; however, today is in fact the 26th calendar day of the year. We 
have chosen to be in session 9 of those days.
  If we comply with the President's request and pass campaign finance 
reform by July 4, it will be the 129th calendar day of this session, 
but under our current schedule it will be only the 63d legislative day 
of the year. I think we can start to see that the Congress is meeting 
less than 1 out of every 2 days.
  If we ask that we do it in the first 100 days, the 100th day would be 
May 26 of this year. But if we go under the current schedule put forth 
by the Republican leadership, the 100th day will be October 14. That 
will signal that campaign finance reform is going to die.
  We have got to do better than working every other day or every third 
day on behalf of the issue of campaign finance reform. Clearly this is 
an issue where people have studied it for many years.
  As my colleagues have pointed out, there are many proposals, many of 
which Members of this body can live with, many which would improve the 
system, many of which would make the system more transparent and open 
to public scrutiny. We ought to move on that agenda, and we ought to 
move with the dispatch of at least what the President asked for or what 
the Members of this Congress have asked for, in the first 100 days.
  If we do not, if we do not, soon we will be talking not about 
campaign finance reform for the next election but we will be talking 
about it for the election after that. And what will happen if that 
happens is we will continue the corrosive impact of campaign 
contributions on the workings of this institution.
  Very often the press likes to talk about a vote that has been taken 
and the money that has been given. But we all understand that there are 
a whole other series of decisions made. Some are public and some are 
not. It is not just about what we do, it is not just about the vote we 
take. It is about the issue not presented to the Congress, it is about 
the vote not taken, it is about the amendment not offered.
  Today too many of those decisions are being influenced by the promise 
of campaign contributions or the receipt of campaign contributions in 
the past. We must take that away from this institution. We must return 
this institution back to a level playing field so that the average 
person in this country will have confidence that our decisions are made 
on the level, and that they are made on the merits and not based upon 
who received what money in what amount to vote one way or the other on 
a given issue or not to have an issue considered.

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