[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 37 (Friday, March 27, 1998)]
[House]
[Pages H1689-H1690]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               CAMPAIGN FINANCING AND THE NEED FOR REFORM

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Miller) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, over the last 15 months many, 
many Members of the House of Representatives and Members of the Senate, 
on a bipartisan basis, have worked to try and see whether or not we 
could reform the campaign finance system in this country.
  The gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Shays) worked very hard on the 
Republican side, the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Meehan) on the 
Democratic side, the gentleman from California (Mr. Farr) on the 
Democratic side, and many, many others, to see whether or not we could 
present a system of campaign finance to the American public that would 
start to restore their faith in how we elect people in this country; 
that the race just does not go to the person with the most money, that 
the race just does not go to the person with the most special interest 
money, that the decisions are not made here based on campaign 
contributions and who gave money to whom. If you give $10,000, you get 
more say than somebody who gave $1,000, and more than somebody who gave 
you $5; and try to see if we could return this system, that has become 
awash in money, that has distorted the basic decision-making process in 
the House of Representatives and in the United

[[Page H1690]]

States Senate and in the administration.
  Our basic democratic institutions are threatened by the vast amount 
of money that is now finding its way into campaigns. It comes in 
straight-up contributions to individual Members, it comes from 
Political Action Committees, it comes from soft money, it comes from 
independent expenditures.
  We are having a primary in California. The primary is in June. This 
is only the end of March. Three candidates have already reported almost 
$25 million being spent for the Governor's race. One candidate has 
reported $18 million being spent.

                              {time}  1515

  Pretty soon, this will be a hobby for rich people, or this will be a 
place where only those who have the money of the special interests will 
come to work, and the people will take second best.
  Mr. Speaker, we all know, those of us who serve here, those of us who 
go through campaigns, we all know that the influence of money is 
getting more and more pervasive in every decision made in the Congress 
of the United States; that it is distorting the decision-making 
process; that it is corroding the underpinnings of the democratic 
institutions. And we cannot allow it to continue.
  But what did we find out today? After many, many disruptions last 
year in the House of Representatives to try to get the Republican 
leadership to give us a vote, to give us a fair and open debate on 
competing plans, to debate this subject in front of the American 
public, what did we find today? That Speaker Gingrich has decided that 
we will get 20 minutes on each side of an issue to decide campaign 
finance reform.
  Mr. Speaker, we just spent 5\1/2\ hours here debating a bill of no 
urgency, a bill that was eventually defeated. We could have debated it 
all day today. We could have debated it in the weeks where the Congress 
has only worked 1 and 2 and 3 days a week. We get paid for 5 days a 
week, we get paid for 7 days a week, but most of this year we have been 
working 2 and 3 days a week. We could have debated campaign finance on 
any one of those days. But they waited right until we get to the Easter 
break, and then they said we will give 20 minutes.
  Why did they give us 20 minutes and why did they hand-pick the bill 
that we would vote on? Because they know that that bill does not have 
enough support to pass. They know there is in this House a bipartisan 
bill that will reform this system, that will pass, and they will not 
let us vote on that. Twenty minutes or no 20 minutes. They are cooking 
the books, they are rigging the game, they are tilting the field, all 
against reform.
  Even those huge majorities in this country want the current system of 
finance, of campaign finances reformed and changed and made more 
democratic. But the Republican leadership does not even want to let us 
debate the bill. They do not want to let us amend the bill. They do not 
want to let us change the bill. They want to put a bill out here that 
they know will not pass, and force us to kill it, and then they can 
blame Democrats or Republicans or liberals and conservatives and say, 
``They killed campaign finance reform.''
  No, Mr. Speaker; Newt Gingrich, the Speaker of the House who sets the 
agenda, who sets the calendar, he killed campaign finance reform 
because he was afraid of the debate. He pledges allegiance to the flag 
every day. He talks about democracy. And he is afraid of the debate in 
front of the American people.
  Mr. Speaker, how cynical can one become when they cannot trust the 
American people and cannot trust their representatives, so they have to 
schedule the debate so they can get an outcome that a majority of the 
House does not want? It is a terrible, terrible day for democracy and 
it is a terrible day for our democratic institutions, and it is a 
terrible day for the American voter because the race will continue to 
go to the people that accept more special interest money and the most 
money and not the best candidate in the race.

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