[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 36 (Wednesday, March 19, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2509-S2511]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM NEEDED

  Mr. CLELAND. Mr. President, I rise to speak on the floor of the U.S. 
Senate for the first time. I do so with mixed emotions. Following in 
the great tradition of this seat once held by such notables as Dick 
Russell and Sam Nunn, I am poignantly aware that freshman Senators 
should be seen and not heard. However, there is an issue building in 
this country which I feel obligated to comment on and regarding which I 
can no longer remain silent. This is the issue of reforming the way we 
finance our political campaigns at the Federal level, particulary seats 
in the U.S. Congress, and especially seats in the U.S. Senate.
  There are many other issues facing our Nation to which we are all 
compelled to pay time and attention: issues such as eliminating the 
Federal deficit, taking care of those who have served this Nation in 
the Armed Forces, caring for our elderly and our young, improving our 
environment, and recommitting our educational system to excellence. 
However, as important as these issues are, in my opinion, they are all 
secondary to the basic issue before us--the need to recapture the 
public's faith in our democratic processes and our democratic 
institutions. Without that faith, all of these other endeavors will be 
undermined.
  Confucius, the noted Chinese sage, once wrote that there were three 
things that make up a great nation: First, a strong defense; second a 
vigorous economy; and third, the faith of people in their government. 
Confucius noted that a great nation might do without a strong defense, 
or that a great nation might be able to do without a vigorous economy, 
but, Confucius noted that a great nation could not remain great without 
the faith of the people in their government.

  Mr. President, I am committed to supporting programs and plans for a 
strong defense for our Nation. I serve on the Senate Armed Services 
Committee with great pride and a sense of awesome responsibility in 
this regard. I also am committed to a vigorous economy, and to 
upgrading the quality of education in America, in particular to 
creating hope for all of our qualified youngsters that they will have 
an opportunity to go to college or to receive vocational training. In 
furtherance of this objective, I am a cosponsor of S. 12, a program 
designed to provide a $1,500 tax credit and a $10,000 tax deduction to 
working families so they can see their children achieve the American 
dream. But I am especially committed to doing those things which we 
need to do to enhance the faith of people in this country in their own 
Government by cleaning up the campaign finance mess.
  When I first came to Washington as a young college student in the 
fall of 1963, I was inspired by President Kennedy to get involved in 
public service. I especially enjoyed meeting and learning from Members 
of the Senate. I can vividly recall personal meetings with Senators 
Russell and Talmadge from Georgia, and a young Senator from West 
Virginia named Robert C. Byrd. In those days, my heart was stirred to 
devote my life to politics.
  Many of us in this Chamber today got our first taste of politics in 
the early sixties. For me, that introduction was a positive one.
  However, when I was sworn in here on the Senate floor on January 7 of 
this year, I could not help but think how differently our current 
leaders and our current institutions are perceived by today's public, 
especially our young people. I do not believe that our leaders or our 
institutions are of lesser caliber that those of my youth, but 
something has obviously gone wrong. We in public

[[Page S2510]]

office today face a hostile and cynical public, quite willing to take 
the worst possible reports about us and believe them instantly. One of 
the reasons for this attitude toward our public officials, I think, is 
the constant money chase that U.S. House and U.S. Senate campaigns have 
become. Additionally, when this money is spent on 30-second character 
assassination ads which have become the staple of American politics, 
can we expect our public to truly speak highly of us?

  I believe the single most important step we can take in the Congress 
this year in restoring public confidence and faith in our democracy is 
to enact meaningful campaign finance reform. This is not a problem for 
Democrats. This is not a problem for Republicans. It is a problem for 
us all. We must act together in a bipartisan manner to clean up a 
system which has gotten completely out of control and which undermines 
both the operation and reputation of our entire national Government.
  Throughout my early days in this body, I and all of my colleagues 
have been under a constant barrage of reports of campaign financing 
improprieties in the 1996 elections. I feel very strongly that our 
current campaign system has become a national embarrassment.
  Will Rogers said back in the 1930's that, ``Politics has got so 
expensive that it takes lots of money to even get beat with.'' How true 
that is, especially today. In the 1960's a Georgia politician remarked, 
``The only thing tainted about political money is that it 'taint mine 
and 'taint enough.''
  The American public isn't laughing anymore. They are demanding a 
change in the attitudes of politicians on the question of campaign 
fundraising. We currently have a political system which is drowning in 
money and rife with real and potential conflicts of interest. Simply 
stated, we have too many dollars chasing and being chased by too many 
politicians too much of the time.
  This unseemly money chase has taken its toll in terms of public 
confidence. The election year of 1996 witnessed both a record high in 
the amount of money spent in pursuit of Federal office--a staggering 
$800 million--and the second worst voter turnout in American history! 
In 1996, 10 million fewer voters went to the polls to cast their 
ballots in that Presidential year than went to the polls 2 years 
earlier. What's wrong with this picture? Some $220 million was spent on 
Senate races alone. In my Senate race in Georgia, I raised and spent 
some $3.5 million, but was outspent by a multimillionaire who spent 
over $10 million running for the Senate seat--$7 million of which was 
his own money. Is it any wonder that more and more of our citizens see 
that there is a for sale sign on more and more public offices in 
America? If we don't bring about reform of this process, limit 
expenditures, and establish rules for everyone to play by, the average 
citizen will have less and less chance to serve in this body or run for 
public office. Senator Daschle predicts that at the current pace of the 
money chase, in only 29 years the average Senate race will cost $143 
million.

  This is insanity.
  We cannot allow the Congress of the United States, especially the 
U.S. Senate, to become a millionaires' club dominated by the rich and 
run by the powerful special interests. This system continues to take 
its toll on this body as the money chase continues. The exodus of 
distinguished, veteran legislators who have voluntarily departed from 
the U.S. Senate in the last 2 years is at an historic level. Even in my 
first 2 months in the Senate, I have seen noted Republican and 
Democratic legislators like Dan Coats, John Glenn, and Wendell Ford 
announce their retirement from this body partially because of the 
frustration of spending the next 2 years doing nothing but raising 
money for their upcoming campaign. Senator Ford spoke the thoughts of 
many when he said on his retirement:

       The job of being a U.S. Senator today has unfortunately 
     become a job of raising money to be reelected instead of a 
     job doing the people's business. Traveling to New York, 
     California, Texas, or basically any State in the country, 
     weekend after weekend for the next 2 years is what candidates 
     must do if they hope to raise the money necessary to 
     compete in a Senatorial election. Democracy as we know it 
     will be lost if we continue to allow government to become 
     one bought by the highest bidder, for the highest bidder. 
     Candidates will simply become bit players and pawns in a 
     campaign managed and manipulated by paid consultants and 
     hired guns.

  The essential first step in repairing the current system is passage 
this year of S. 25, the bipartisan McCain-Feingold campaign finance 
reform bill. I am very proud to be an original cosponsor of this 
proposal. It was the very first piece of legislation I attached my name 
to as a U.S. Senator. Briefly outlined, the bill would: ban soft money 
contributions to national political parties; ban contributions by 
political action committees to Federal candidates; establish voluntary 
spending limits, including limits on personal spending, and require 
that at least 60 percent of funds be raised from home State individuals 
for Senate candidates; provide candidates who abide by these spending 
limits with limited free and discounted television time and a discount 
on postage rates; require greater disclosure of independent 
expenditures; and prohibit contributions from those who are ineligible 
to vote in Federal elections, including non-American citizens.

  Mr. President, the best endorsement I can think of for this measure 
is that had McCain-Feingold been in effect for the 1996 elections, we 
would not now need to divert our attention away from the many serious 
problems facing our country in order to devote time and energy toward 
the investigation of campaign finance abuses. I serve on the 
Governmental Affairs Committee which will be conducting this 
investigation. I fully support the purposes for which this 
investigation is intended, but I'm saddened it has to be undertaken in 
the first place. I only hope that this effort will result in meaningful 
campaign finance reform this year.

   After we pass McCain-Feingold, we will need to turn to additional 
reforms in order to further improve our electoral process. I am working 
on legislation which would strengthen the Federal Election Commission. 
The proposal would do several things: Alter the Commission structure to 
remove the possibility of partisan gridlock; eliminate current 
restrictions on the Commission's ability to launch criminal 
investigations, and to impose timely, and effective penalties against 
violations of campaign law; and mandate electronic filing of all 
reports.
  In addition, my proposal would expand the free air time provisions of 
McCain-Feingold in order to help level the playing field for 
challengers, and attack the single biggest factor in driving up 
campaign expenditures--expensive television costs. Finally, I am 
looking for methods to effectively enforce a shorter timeframe for the 
conduct of campaign-related activities.
  Strengthening enforcement, expanding public access to information 
about candidates and their ideas, and reducing the length of the 
campaign season will, in my judgment, build upon the solid foundation 
which I hope we will create when we enact S. 25.
  We have important work ahead, and often times there will be 
legitimate partisan, philosophical, and regional differences of opinion 
which should be voiced and acted upon. However, we have a shared 
interest, as Senators, but more importantly, as American citizens, in 
always acting to enhance the respect our citizens have for our great 
country and our democratic institutions, especially this body.
  In that spirit, and with that commitment, I urge my colleagues to 
join in the cause of mending our broken campaign finance system. Let us 
create a new campaign finance system which instills public confidence 
rather than undermines it, and aids the governing process rather than 
hinders it.
  President Grover Cleveland was right: ``A public office is a public 
trust.'' The current money chase we all engage in is severely eroding 
that trust. We must act to change a campaign finance system that is 
broken, or continue to see good men and women from all walks of life 
and from all political persuasions broken by it.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  Several Senators addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Kansas is recognized.
  Mr. FEINGOLD. Will the Senator yield for a brief comment?

[[Page S2511]]

  Mr. BROWNBACK. Just for a brief comment. I have a limited period of 
time.

                          ____________________