[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 109 (Tuesday, July 29, 1997)]
[House]
[Pages H5988-H5989]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               SOFT MONEY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Miller of Florida). Under a previous 
order of the House, the gentleman from Montana [Mr. Hill] is recognized 
for 5 minutes.
  Mr. HILL. Mr. Speaker, I want to join with my colleagues tonight to 
congratulate the gentleman from Arkansas [Mr. Hutchinson] and the 
gentleman from Maine [Mr. Allen] to provide the outstanding leadership 
on the bipartisan freshman task force in developing the Bipartisan 
Campaign Integrity Act, which I am proud to be a cosponsor.
  I think it is important for folks to understand there are a lot of 
problems with campaign funding and the methods that we use to raise 
funds for campaigns. Campaigns cost too much money. Candidates spend 
far too much time raising money. There is a perception out there, a 
perception of abuse. There is a perception that large contributions 
come from corporations, that come from labor unions and large 
contributions from wealthy individuals are corrupting the system.
  Mr. Speaker, I would point out that this is a bipartisan problem. 
Both political parties, Democrat and Republican Party alike, have a 
problem with regard to the amount of soft money that has gone into the 
system. As Members have mentioned earlier, this started out as a 
relatively small amount of money that was supposed to be used for 
building political parties. But in the last two political cycles, 1992 
to 1996, the amount of soft money has quadrupled in the system. Today 
both, or last cycle, both political parties raised nearly $130 million 
of soft money. Again, what is this money?
  This is money that comes from corporations. This is money that comes 
from labor unions or this is money that comes from wealthy individuals 
who have exceeded the normal contribution limits. What this bill does 
is it eliminates, it bans soft money that is going to the national 
parties. The reason that I am so supportive of this measure is I 
believe that, if we are going to change the campaign process, the 
fundraising process, it is our responsibility

[[Page H5989]]

to start at home. It is our responsibility to deal with our own 
political parties. It is our responsibility to require them to clean up 
their act first.
  Let me say this, there are some things that this does not do. I think 
it is important for our colleagues to be aware of the things that this 
does not do. It does not initiate a system of public financing for 
congressional campaigns. There are many who might support that. There 
are many who would be opposed to that. This bill does not do that. It 
does not put spending limits on how much money can be spent in a 
political campaign.
  There are those who would argue that that is simply a benefit to 
incumbents. And it does not restrain the ability of independent parties 
to speak out about candidates or officeholders. In fact it very clearly 
establishes their right to do that. But what it does do is this: It 
eliminates soft money, those large contributions. It eliminates 
competition between the political parties and their candidates. Oddly 
enough, in the current campaign financing laws we have created a 
mechanism where people can give money to the party or give money to 
candidates, but it makes it difficult for them to do both. It 
eliminates that competition. It actually expands the role that parties 
can play in helping their candidates. The goal there is to allow 
candidates to work more closely with their parties rather than seeking 
support of special interest groups.
  Mr. Speaker, I would just urge all of my colleagues to examine this 
bill. This is an incremental process, but it is the first step in 
restoring integrity to a system that the American public clearly 
believes is broken. I would urge all of my colleagues to examine this 
bill and support it as it moves through the process.
  Mr. KIND. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. HILL. I yield to the gentleman from Wisconsin.
  Mr. KIND. Mr. Speaker, I just want to commend and congratulate my 
colleague, the gentleman from Montana [Mr. Hill], in his role in this 
whole process. I do not think anyone in the task force had more energy 
and more analysis and insight on what we were trying to accomplish than 
the gentleman from Montana [Mr. Hill] did. It was a pleasure working 
with him, attending the meetings with him.
  There were some difficult times as there always is in the course of 
give and take in negotiations and that, but as far as anyone exhibiting 
and displaying a true depth of knowledge, regarding a very complex and 
a very difficult issue, the gentleman from Montana [Mr. Hill] ranked 
right up there at the top. I commend him and just wanted to tell the 
American people what a fine job and what a pleasure it has been to work 
with him in the course of this process.
  Mr. HILL. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman. I would just comment 
that I believe that everyone who worked on this task force came with a 
commitment to wanting to reform the system and to make it work to 
restore the integrity of the system and the belief of the American 
people. The gentleman from Wisconsin played an outstanding role in 
that.
  I enjoyed very much working with him and all the Members of the task 
force. It was surprising to me how well we came together because we 
focused on those values that we all agree upon. We found so many of 
those values that we agree upon because we want to restore integrity to 
the system. I thank the gentleman and again I would urge my colleagues 
to support the bill.

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