[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 38 (Monday, March 30, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H1702]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    DEBATING CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 21, 1997, the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Meehan) is 
recognized during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Mr. MEEHAN. Mr. Speaker, April Fool's Day has come to the House 2 
days early, and, unfortunately, the joke is on all of us who took the 
Speaker at his word when he promised last December to allow a fair 
debate and vote on campaign finance reform.
  Today, we are going to consider four so-called reform bills under the 
suspension calendar. Now, the suspension calendar is usually reserved 
for noncontroversial legislation. Campaign finance reform is a tough 
issue and a controversial issue.
  Here it is now, it is 12:30 in the afternoon. We are supposed to have 
a debate on this at 2 o'clock. We do not even have the language of all 
of the various proposals that on Friday afternoon the Republican 
leadership said we were going to vote on. We do not even have all of 
the language that we are going to be asked to vote on later on this 
afternoon.
  The truth is, during the 104th Congress, Mr. Speaker, the Republicans 
passed a House rule that required the Speaker to notify the minority 
before scheduling suspensions. Yet these bills were put on the calendar 
without any consultation with the minority or the bipartisan group of 
legislators interested in passing real campaign finance reform 
legislation.
  Needless to say, absent from the list of those bills to be voted on 
today is the bipartisan McCain-Feingold-Shays-Meehan bill, which could 
pass on a simple majority vote. It is clear to me that the Speaker and 
the Republican leadership have been promoting an outrageous lie that 
the House will seriously consider reform. It is a disgrace.
  After all of the time and money that we have dedicated to discussing 
and investigating the problems with our current system, here we are, we 
cannot get a fair vote on bipartisan reform.
  Yes, Mr. Speaker, April Fool's Day has come to the House early, and, 
unfortunately, the joke is on the American people. And one need not 
look very far to find out what independent sources are saying about 
today's mockery.
  For example, if you look at today's New York Times and look at the 
lead editorial, it states, Today in place of real debate on campaign 
finance reform, the House is set to stage a mock debate on phony 
campaign finance reform. It is outrageous enough that the Republican 
House leaders' version of reform is the Thomas bill, which fails to end 
the corrupt soft money system, would triple contribution limits, and is 
laced with poison pill provisions.
  Mr. Speaker, many in this House, on both sides of the aisle, have 
been working literally for years to try to form a consensus to pass 
real meaningful campaign finance reform. The American people have 
watched the news on all the major networks and have watched the debate 
and the hearings that have been held about the abuses of the soft money 
system and the influx of literally millions and millions of dollars 
into our campaign finance system.
  Yet, when this debate is held today, it will be held under a 
suspension of the rules. There will not be an offer to have a vote up 
or down on bipartisan campaign finance reform, even though a majority 
of the Members of the United States Senate passed real campaign finance 
reform by a majority vote of 53, only to have that majority vote burst 
asunder by a filibuster that requires 60 votes in the other body.
  Now, we have an opportunity to get that bill back to the United 
States Senate and have the United States Senate decide to pass real 
campaign finance reform by simply only allowing a majority vote. But we 
are going to be unable to do that this afternoon. We are going to be 
unable to do that because the leadership on Friday afternoon decided 
that we are going to have a debate under suspensions, that requires a 
two-thirds vote to pass anything. That is why usually when suspensions 
are up, noncontroversial items are brought up.
  You look at the New York Times this morning. The New York Times says, 
``Now by bringing the phony Thomas bill up under suspension of the 
rules, the Republican leadership has rigged the process for this rigged 
bill, prohibiting House Members from offering any amendments or any 
alternative legislation and denying them a way to vote against the 
process.''

                              {time}  1245

  The American people deserve a real debate on campaign finance 
reform,'' especially, according to the New York Times, after the 
campaign fundraising scandals and abuses in the last elections.
  Finally, Mr. Speaker, the New York Times said that the Shays-Meehan 
bipartisan bill, which is a companion measure to the McCain-Feingold 
bill that received a majority vote in the Senate, deserves a fair vote.
  Mr. Speaker, let us take this suspension back, and let us come back 
with a real vote on campaign finance reform and allow the vote on 
bipartisan reform.




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