[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 35 (Tuesday, March 18, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H1043]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          SUPPORT FOR A BIPARTISAN CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM ACT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 21, 1997, the gentleman from Virginia [Mr. Moran] is recognized 
during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Mr. MORAN of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I will not take the full 5 
minutes, although I will yield to a colleague after I say a few words 
about the bipartisan Campaign Finance Reform Act.
  This is an issue that has been with us since the founding of our 
democracy. I happen to represent northern Virginia, the home of George 
Washington at Mount Vernon. Some of my colleagues may not be aware that 
the first time that George Washington ran for office he was defeated. 
He ran for the House of Delegates for Virginia and he lost. His 
advisers came to him after he lost and said, ``General Washington, the 
problem is that you did not treat.'' They explained that the custom is 
to distribute whiskey to the landowners on election day. Sure enough, 
next election, he treated and he won overwhelmingly.
  James Madison had the same problem. He did not learn from George 
Washington's experience and he lost, and then he went back to treating. 
Treating led to what they called macing, where essentially a candidate 
would dun the members of his political party for contributions. Well, 
one thing led to another, and now we have a system that is in desperate 
need of another major reform.
  We have had many reforms. The 1974 reform was one such major reform. 
In fact, let me quote from Lyndon Johnson in 1967. In a special address 
to this Congress, he said, ``Our current campaign finance laws are 
inadequate in scope and now obsolete. More loophole than law, they 
invite evasion and circumvention.''
  It took 7 years and the Watergate break-ins before Congress passed 
real reform. Those words, though, are equally true today. We have got 
to reform campaign finance law. It is corrupting the political process 
as well as the legislative process.
  We have a bipartisan Campaign Finance Reform Act, terrific people on 
both sides of the aisle are cosponsoring it. We have the gentlewoman 
from New Jersey [Mrs. Roukema], the gentleman from California [Mr. 
Horn], the gentleman from California [Mr. Campbell], the gentlewoman 
from Maryland [Mrs. Morella], the gentleman from Iowa [Mr. Leach], and 
the gentleman from Delaware [Mr. Castle]. I can go on and on. And these 
Republican Members are in addition to a long list of Democratic 
cosponsors.
  One of those folks, the gentleman from Tennessee [Mr. Wamp], is one 
of the Republican sponsors. Mr. Speaker, I will yield to Mr. Wamp now 
to conclude my 5 minutes.
  Mr. WAMP. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding to me.
  I have to say in opening I am from Chattanooga, TN, home of the 
Cinderella team this year in the Sweet 16, the University of Tennessee 
at Chattanooga, the Moccasins; the Mockingbirds, excuse me. We have 
changed our name.
  Let me say, Mr. Speaker, the businessman from Texas, Mr. Ross Perot, 
who sometimes I agree with, sometimes I may not, but he said that we 
have good people in Washington trapped in a bad system. I certainly 
believe that there are good people serving in the U.S. Congress but the 
system of campaign reform, which has not changed since 1974, needs to 
be changed.
  There is no perfect bill, there is no silver bullet, there is no 
magic solution. It is very complex, but it is a bipartisan problem. 
This week the Democrats may be in more trouble on this issue than the 
Republicans, but who is to say that the system may not swing the other 
way. I really believe neither party has an exclusive on integrity or an 
exclusive on ideas. This is a problem that both parties share.
  Some basic principles we should agree on and change is that a 
majority of our money in campaigns should come from our home States; 
that the influence of special interest political action committees 
should be reduced; that we should ban soft money, corporate 
contributions to the political parties that are funneled back into 
media advertising should be eliminated; and that we should somehow work 
to reduce the overall money spent on political campaigns in America.
  I think we can agree on those basic principles. Conflict, Mr. 
Speaker, brings about resolution, and we have a conflict in this 
country. Yes, every day there is new revelations, but it is time to use 
these conflicts to bring about change. There is no perfect solution, 
but we must agree on some basic principles, come together in a 
bipartisan way.
  I do not agree with everything in the bipartisan campaign bill but I 
believe we can change it and improve it as we go. The issue is, will we 
defend the status quo again this year in this body, or will we come 
together and change this system for the first time in 23 years? The 
status quo obviously is not serving us well in campaign laws. Reform is 
in order.
  If Members have ideas, if they have disagreements, come to the reform 
movement. Do not fight it or look the other way or make excuses to get 
by any longer.

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