[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 38 (Monday, March 30, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H1704]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  THE SPEAKER PROMISED DEBATE AND A VOTE ON REAL, BIPARTISAN CAMPAIGN 
                             FINANCE REFORM

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 21, 1997, the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Maloney) is 
recognized during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, a promise is a promise. Back 
in November, the Speaker promised us a bipartisan campaign finance 
bill, a vote here on this floor. This is not a bipartisan campaign 
finance bill. It is a partisan campaign finance reform bill. This plan 
to put campaign finance bills up for suspension votes is like a magic 
trick: Now you see them, now you do not. The House leadership is using 
the process to ensure that these reform bills disappear into their 
magic black hats.
  The American people must know that their own democratic process is 
being used against them. There are enough Members of this House willing 
to vote for reform, and the House leadership simply will not put the 
bill out on the floor for a vote. They are manipulating the system. We 
need pressure; and we will keep pressure on until we bring a real bill, 
like Shays-Meehan, up for a real vote on this House floor.
  If the House leadership spent as much time fixing the Nation's 
problems as it spends figuring out how to avoid having a vote on this 
Shays-Meehan bill on the floor, our work here in Washington would have 
been completed. If the House leadership appropriated as much money 
trying to fix the Nation's problems as it spends figuring out how to 
shoot down the opposition, our work here in Washington would be 
finished.
  Millions have been spent so far on clearly partisan investigations 
into the 1996 elections, but there has been no serious attempt to 
reform the system. We have had many, many hearings in the Burton 
committee on alleged campaign finance abuses; and absolutely every 
single one of the abuses involved the use of soft money. Instead of 
continuing to look at problems, we should be spending time on how to 
fix the problems.
  Even if we just had a vote on one segment out of Shays-Meehan, which 
is banning soft money, we would have removed the ability for campaign 
finance abuse, which is being alleged in the many hearings before the 
Burton committee.

                              {time}  1300

  Another point that is particularly troubling is the funding for the 
Federal Elections Commission. This is the only body that is empowered, 
and it is a bipartisan body, it is the only body that is empowered to 
look at campaign finance abuses and to try to correct the system, and 
to find those that abuse it. Yet the Federal Elections Commission has 
not been appropriated the money that they requested just to investigate 
the abuses that are before them. Yet there have been multimillions 
appropriated, $40 million appropriated to look into investigations 
before the House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight on 
alleged abuses. Yet the Federal Elections Commission, the one 
bipartisan body that is empowered to actually do something about it, 
has not received the funding that they requested to get the job done.
  The money keeps pouring in. The FEC recently released a report 
showing that congressional candidates are setting new fund-raising 
records. In 1997 candidates for House and Senate seats raised $232.1 
million. That is a $48 million increase from the same period in the 
cycle before.
  Mr. Speaker, the problem is getting worse on both sides of the aisle 
and Members from both sides of the aisle are asking for reform. More 
than 300 Members of this body have signed on to one form or another of 
reform campaign finance legislation before this body. Mr. Speaker, let 
us bring it to the floor for a vote. We certainly need to vote for 
campaign finance reform before we go back to our constituents and ask 
them to vote for us in our own reelection bids.
  Mr. Speaker, a promise is a promise, and it is time to turn the 
promise of the Speaker's handshake with President Clinton and others 
confirming support for campaign finance, it is time to turn the promise 
of that handshake into the reality of a law. At the very least, we 
should bring Shays-Meehan to the floor for a vote.

                          ____________________