[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 28 (Thursday, March 6, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2013-S2014]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM

  Mr. WELLSTONE. Mr. President, we have had a lot of focus in the media 
about money and politics, and we are involved in a debate here on the 
Rules Committee about the Government Operations Committee and the scope 
of the inquiry. I thought I would speak in this Chamber for a few 
moments about what I think is the most important issue in American 
politics. I guess I want to start out by saying to colleagues, 
Democrats and Republicans alike, and to people in the country, if what 
happens in the Congress is that you just have accusations going back 
and forth and the climate becomes really poisonous, I fear we will not 
do anything right.
  I really do believe that this is the core issue of American politics. 
I think the ethical issue of our time is the way in which money has 
come to dominate politics. I do not think it is so much the wrongdoing 
of individual officeholders. As a matter of fact, Mr. President, I have 
said it in debates, I have

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said it in interviews: The whole system is inappropriate. The whole 
system is inappropriate. It needs to be turned not upside down --it is 
upside down right now--but right side up.
  If we are going to talk about any kind of corruption, it is not the 
wrongdoing of individual officeholders. We are talking about something 
far more serious. It is systemic corruption. By systemic corruption, I 
mean we now have reached the point where too few people have way too 
much wealth, power and say, too much access, too much say by virtue of 
their economic resources and their big contributions, and the vast 
majority of people feel left out of the loop.
  That is the fundamental issue. To most people in the country, the 
vast majority of people in the country, it is really clear:
  First, too much money is spent in these campaigns;
  Second, there is too much special interest access and influence as a 
result of the money spent;
  Third, too much time is spent by all of us--all of us--in what can be 
described as a money chase, trying to raise money because you are 
running for office; and
  Fourth, regular people, ordinary citizens, which I do not use in a 
pejorative sense but in a positive way, do not feel they can run for 
office.
  Mr. President, we are talking about nothing less than the question of 
whether or not we are going to have a real representative democracy. We 
have now really gotten to the point --and I am not going to use all the 
terms such as ``independent expenditures'' and ``soft money'' and 
``hard money.'' Let me just make a more basic point. We are talking 
much more about auctions than elections. We are not even talking about 
authentic democracy anymore. It is a minidemocracy at best. If you 
believe that each person should count as one and no more than one, and 
you believe in equality and you believe in fair and open elections, 
people in the country know this is all trumped by big money.
  It is time for reform. It is time for reform. It is time to get big 
money out of politics. There are a lot of proposals. Some of us really 
believe you ought not to have any private money in the system and that 
ultimately, absolutely is the way to go. Some focus on other 
legislation. Some focus on soft money.
  I just want to make this clear, that we are going to be making a huge 
mistake, all of us are going to be making a huge mistake if we do not 
pass a major reform bill this Congress. We are going to make a huge 
mistake if the only thing this boils down to is just sort of piling 
acquisitions on accusations and people going after one another. If this 
becomes a kind of slash-and-burn politics, search-and-destroy politics, 
we are going to get absolutely nowhere.
  I will say this. I am only speaking for myself. I do not know how the 
Chair feels. Actually, I believe, even though the argument is made 
often that the problem is that those in office do not really want to 
change the system because the system is wired toward incumbents, 
because we are able to raise more money than our challengers--the 
statistics bear that out--I think it has come to the point where all of 
us should hate the system, because when you are raising money and you 
are running for office and you have to be on television and you are 
trying to figure out how you are going to go after your opponent and 
destroy your opponent--that is the way some people view politics; they 
should not but they do--or you are figuring out how to raise millions 
of dollars so you do not get ripped up into shreds, the fact is even if 
you are absolutely sure in your head and your heart that not one time 
has the compelling need to raise money ever affected any position you 
have ever taken on any issue, it certainly does not look that way to 
the public.
  I am convinced that all the good things that could happen here are 
trumped by money in politics. I am convinced that one of the reasons we 
are not responding to the very real concerns of citizens across this 
country, which have to do with affordable education and good jobs and 
the standard of living and reducing violence in communities and all the 
rest of it, is because of this influence of money in politics.
  This is the core issue. There is too much access for the big givers 
and the heavy hitters and the well connected, and the vast majority of 
people feel left out of the loop and they are right. What concerns me 
is I have heard some colleagues say, ``But the fact of the matter is, 
the polls do not show this. The polls do not show that the people seem 
to consider this a burning issue.''
  I think what is sad is that people's expectations are so low in the 
country right now that they are not at all sure there is anything we 
are going to do about this. But we better prove ourselves to the people 
we are asked to represent. We better pass a reform bill. We better make 
sure that we dramatically reduce the amount of money that is spent in 
these campaigns. We better make sure we try to lessen--if you cannot 
eliminate it, at least lessen--special-interest access. We better make 
sure we do something about this constant money chase. We better make 
sure our elections do look like elections and not like auctions. We 
better make sure that people in the country, whether they are Democrats 
or Republicans or independents, feel like they can run for office. We 
better do that, because this is all about democracy.
  We keep spending more and more money every election cycle, and 
participation goes down, down, down. So I am hopeful, even though this 
is a tough time in the Senate. We have major divisions. People are 
drawing the line. It seems to be an all-out battle. By the way, I am 
all for good debate. I do not like to hate but I like debate. But I am 
telling you, every single one of my colleagues, Democrats and 
Republicans alike, are making a big mistake if we do not line up behind 
major reform.
  We should want to do this. If we want people to at least have more 
confidence in the political process than they have now, if we want 
people to begin to believe in us, if we want people to believe in the 
legislation that we pass, which is a product of this process, then 
people have to believe that politics in Washington, DC, is not 
dominated by big money. People have to believe the Congress belongs to 
them, that the Capitol belongs to them, that all of us, Democrats and 
Republicans, belong to them.
  I know I may sound melodramatic on the floor of the Senate, 
especially since today there is no one to debate. But I came to the 
floor to speak because I am absolutely convinced that this is the 
priority. There is nothing that we could do that would be more 
important than to try to move forward on a reform agenda. I am hoping 
that, in this Congress, we will do that.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor, and I suggest the absence of a 
quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. GRAMS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. GRAMS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that I may speak 
for up to 15 minutes as in morning business.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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