[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 2 (Thursday, January 7, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E26]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                        THE STAND-BY-YOUR-AD ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. DAVID E. PRICE

                           of north carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, January 6, 1999

  Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I don't know if the 1998 
campaign season marked a new low in political advertising or not. it is 
difficult to measure degrees of the bottom of the barrel or the volume 
of mud spread across the air. I know for a fact that the 1998 campaign 
season was more of the mess that results when intelligent discourse 
gives way to attack and counterattack.
  Last year, the House of Representatives took an arduous and promising 
step toward cleaning up our Nation's political campaigns. We passed the 
Shays-Meehan campaign reform bill, which had been amended to include a 
version of the Stand-by-Your-Ad proposal that Representative Stephen 
Horn and I introduced in 1997. Unfortunately, the leadership of the 
Senate lacked the political will to see campaign reform through to a 
conclusion. I hope that 1999 will prove a more fruitful year for 
campaign reform.
  In that light, Representative Horn and I are once again introducing 
the Stand-by-Your-Ad proposal. Our legislation would require candidates 
to appear full-screen in television ads and thus take responsibility 
for them. Candidates would be required to provide comparable 
disclosure, boldly and clearly, in both radio and print ads. These 
enhanced disclosure requirements would also apply to party an 
independent committees.
  It is too easy for candidates to attack one another on television 
without the voter knowing who is behind the dirt. Candidates can 
obscure their identities with postage stamp size disclaimers. We need 
to make effective the requirement that candidates say who they are and 
take responsibility for their ads' content. This is an important step 
toward strengthening the accountability of candidates and campaigns. 
Campaign reform is not just about money; it is also about improving the 
quality and responsibility of debate. The bipartisan bill Mr. Horn and 
I recommend to the House would start us down that path, not by 
regulating the content of ads but by requiring candidates to assume 
responsibility for them.
  Our Stand-by-Your-Ad legislation has its origins in the North 
Carolina General Assembly where it has been championed by Lt. Governor 
Dennis Wicker and was approved last session by the Senate but not the 
House.
  Stand by Your Ad is compatible with and complementary to the full 
range of campaign reform proposals that will be considered by the 106th 
Congress, from Shays-Meehan to the disclosure-only bills. By approving 
this proposal, the Congress can strengthen disclosure so as to make 
sponsorship more clear and to require an assumption of personal 
responsibility in a way likely to discourage the most irresponsible and 
distorted attacks. We invite our colleagues to join us as cosponsors of 
this legislation.

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