[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 69 (Thursday, May 22, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1044-E1045]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 THE PUBLIC HAS A RIGHT TO KNOW WHO'S MONEY IS BEHIND A CANDIDATE--THE 
         CAMPAIGNS IN THE SUNSHINE ACT WILL SOLVE THAT PROBLEM

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. STEPHEN HORN

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 22, 1997

  Mr. HORN. Mr. Speaker, today I add one more piece to the pile of 
legislative proposals related to reform of our campaign finance laws. 
In doing so, I recognize that this is the issue most frequently 
mentioned and, so far, least frequently addressed in this Congress. 
This seems to reflect the public's attitude that this is the one 
problem we most need to solve and that we are least likely to tackle.
  My own views and my legislative efforts on campaign finance cover the 
proverbial waterfront. I support proposals ranging from immediate 
action under the Shays-Meehan comprehensive reform bill to the more 
protracted steps called for in the bipartisan blue ribbon commission 
bill. In short, I believe we here in Congress should overhaul a 
campaign finance system that has been riddled with loopholes from 
Supreme Court rulings and the ingenious schemes of legions of lawyers 
and consultants. But I am aware of the substantial and probably well-
founded view that we will not do so.
  There is, in fact, reasonable cause to think we should not take this 
job because there simply are too many agendas, too many self-interests, 
too many conflicts of interest when those of us who hold public office 
attempt to write rules for how others can unseat us. The popular view 
is that having politicians write campaign finance laws is like having 
sharks organize a swim meet. For that reason, I support the bipartisan 
bill to create a nonpartisan commission on this issue. The goal of this 
approach is to allow nonpoliticians with no specific, personal axes to 
grind to take a good look at this issue and try to come to practical, 
sound steps that will provide a level playing field for our election 
campaigns.
  But I am aware that the commission approach also faces many 
objections and may never move from proposal to reality. For that 
reason, I am introducing a third approach that will allow us to 
immediately address what I believe to be the most serious problem in 
the campaign finance arena while we work out further steps toward 
comprehensive action. I would like to believe this bill will not face 
any opposition from any quarter--though on campaign finance I have 
learned that opposition needs no cause to exist.
  The bill I am introducing today is the most basic step possible in 
campaign finance reform. This bill simply requires full disclosure of 
all sources of all campaign funds. That is all. It does not stop so-
called soft money from being raised or spent. It simply requires that 
all soft money be identified by source. This bill does not ban or limit 
so-called independent expenditures which we all know are seldom 
independent in any real sense and which I believe are the most damaging 
and dangerous development in our political system in many years. Even 
so, I do not try to outlaw these expenditures. My bill simply requires 
that the sources of funds for the expenditure must be identified in the 
same way that we require disclosure by every candidate committee.
  In short, Mr. Speaker, this bill is a straightforward statement that 
anyone can become involved in our campaigns, but everyone must come out 
into the sunshine and reveal their identities. In doing so, everyone is 
subject to the same scrutiny by the media and the voters as to their 
agenda and goals, their tactics and rhetoric and their influence on our 
elections.

  Mr. Speaker, there has been great and legitimate concern about 
reports that some foreign governments may have secretly influenced last 
year's Presidential or congressional campaigns through covert campaign 
contributions to candidates. Our Committee on Government Reform and 
Oversight, on which I serve, has begun investigating these reports, as 
we should.
  However, I would note the real impact of foreign money may never be 
known and can never be learned. The simple reality is that these 
activities could well be cloaked behind so-called ``independent 
expenditures'' by some innocuous sounding organization like the 
Committee for Something or Other. Pick any name, pour any amount of 
money into it from any source on Earth and it can become a major player 
in our political campaigns. Our current campaign finance laws have no 
real prohibition on this kind of activity, no real way of policing such 
activity and no serious way to enforce any sanction we might want to 
impose for such activity. In short, the current laws are a joke, 
brought to us by a Supreme Court that seems convinced that freedom of 
speech can and should be equated with the ability to spend.
  At a minimum, Mr. Speaker, at the absolute minimum, we must pass the 
kind of disclosure bill I am introducing today. At the very least, the 
people of this country deserve to know who is spending money to 
influence their vote. At the very least, our system must be protected 
from secret persuaders, whether foreign or domestic, who want to play 
the game but do not want to follow even the simplest rules of fair play 
and open debate.
  Democracy rests on the firm foundation of open and free debate, where 
every viewpoint can be presented and every cause can be examined. To 
allow secret causes to be cloaked in anonymity is to allow democracy to 
be subverted from the shadows. That is the reality of our current laws 
and that is what we must change this year. It is time to enact 
legislation that creates campaigns where the identity of the attacker 
is revealed, where the merits of the attack can be examined and where 
the ability of the voters to decide for themselves is protected.
  It is time to reverse the steady unraveling of our laws on campaign 
activity and to stop absurd and dangerous practices that destroy public 
trust and undermine democracy itself. It is time to require that our 
campaigns be conducted in the sunshine where the disinfectant of full 
disclosure can work its wonder.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank Mrs. Johnson of Connecticut, Mrs. Maloney of New 
York, and many other colleagues for joining in sponsoring this 
legislation and I commend these proposals to all Members of the House 
as a bill well deserving of their support.
  We need to pass this legislation because the average voting citizens 
has a right to know what interests, if any, relate to a candidate for 
public office. Attached is the bill and its original cosponsors.

                               H.R. 1705

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Campaigns in the Sunshine 
     Act of 1997.''

     SEC. 2. APPLICATION OF REPORTING REQUIREMENTS UNDER FEDERAL 
                   ELECTION CAMPAIGN ACT OF 1971 TO CERTAIN 
                   EXPENDITURES.

       (a) Soft Money Expenditures of Political Parties.--Section 
     304(b) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 
     434(b)) is amended--
       (1) by striking ``and'' at the end of paragraph (7);
       (2) by striking the period at the end of paragraph (8) and 
     inserting ``; and''; and
       (3) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
       ``(9) in the case of a reporting committee which is a 
     political party committee, any information which would 
     otherwise be required

[[Page E1045]]

     to be reported under this subsection if the term 
     `expenditure' included any amount expended by the committee 
     for the purpose of influencing an election for Federal 
     office.''.
       (b) Independent Expenditures.--
       (1) Additional report for persons first making expenditures 
     after deadline for pre-election report.--Section 304(c) of 
     such Act (2 U.S.C. 434(c)) is amended--
       (A) in paragraph (2), by striking ``Statements'' and 
     inserting ``Except as provided in paragraph (4), 
     statements''; and
       (B) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
       ``(4) In addition to any statements required to be filed in 
     accordance with subsection (a)(2), any person who first makes 
     independent expenditures with respect to an election in an 
     aggregate amount or value in excess of $1,000 after the 
     deadline for filing a pre-election report under subparagraph 
     (A)(i) of such subsection shall file a statement containing 
     the information described in paragraph (2) at the time the 
     person makes independent expenditures in such aggregate 
     amount or value.''.
       (2) Expanding scope of expenditures subject to reporting.--
     Section 304(c) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 434(c)), as amended by 
     paragraph (1), is further amended by adding at the end the 
     following new paragraph:
       ``(5) For purposes of this subsection, the term 
     `independent expenditure' means--
       ``(A) an independent expenditure described in section 
     301(17); or
       ``(B) any other payment (without regard to whether the 
     payment is otherwise treated as an expenditure under this 
     title) which is used to produce or distribute any 
     broadcast material, newspaper, magazine, billboard, direct 
     mail, phone bank operation, or similar type of public 
     communication or political advertising which refers to a 
     clearly identified candidate or political party, which is 
     made without cooperation or consultation with any 
     candidate or any authorized committee or agent of such 
     candidate, and which is not made in concert with, or at 
     the request or suggestion of, any candidate, or any 
     authorized committee or agent of such candidate (other 
     than any payment which would be described in clause (i), 
     (iii), or (v) of section 301(9)(B) if the payment were an 
     expenditure under such section).''.
       (3) Clarification of requirement to report persons making 
     contributions for certain independent expenditures.--The 
     second sentence of paragraph (2) of section 304(c) of such 
     Act (2 U.S.C. 434(c)) is amended by striking the period at 
     the end and inserting the following: ``, together with the 
     information described in subparagraph (C) of the previous 
     sentence.''.

     SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE.

       The amendments made by this Act shall apply with respect to 
     expenditures made on or after the date of the enactment of 
     this Act.

     

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