[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 7 (Monday, January 22, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Pages S298-S301]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. McCAIN (for himself, Mr. Feingold, Mr. Cochran, Mr. Levin, 
        Mr. Thompson, Mr. Lieberman, Ms. Collins, Mr. Schumer, Ms. 
        Snowe, Mr. Wellstone, Mr. Jeffords, Mr. Reed, Mr. Durbin, Mr. 
        Wyden, Mr. Kohl, Mrs. Boxer, Mr. Harkin, Ms. Stabenow, and Ms. 
        Cantwell):
  S. 27. A bill to amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to 
provide bipartisan campaign reform; to the Committee on Rules and 
Administration.


                      campaign reform legislation

  Mr. McCain. Mr. President, today we confront yet again a very serious 
challenge to our political system, as dangerous in its debasing effect 
on our democracy as war and depression have been in the past. And it 
will take the best efforts of every public-spirited American to defeat 
it. We must overcome the cynicism that is growing rampant in our 
society. We must pass campaign reform legislation.
  That is why first I want to thank our cosponsors for being here 
today. They are proof that momentum is on our side and that we will 
pass campaign reform legislation and finally follow the American 
people's will. Action on this issue is long overdue and I am hopeful 
that this year will present us with our best opportunity yet to achieve 
passage of meaningful campaign reform.
  Our legislation is simple, bi-partisan, and achieves three primary 
objectives that will go far to reform our electoral system.
  The bill: Bans soft money for usage in federal elections; Requires 
increased disclosure of electioneering communications by so-called 
independent organizations in a constitutional and clear manner (the 
Snowe-Jeffords language); and Codifies the Supreme Court's Beck 
decision, a court decision effectively ignored by the previous Clinton 
Administration and now, under this Act, a decision which would be 
strictly enforced.
  After one of the closest elections in our nation's history, there's 
one thing the American people are unanimous about--they want their 
government back. We can to that by ridding politics of large, 
unregulated contributions

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that give special interests a seat at the table while average Americans 
are stuck in the back of the room. The Senate needs to act early on 
campaign finance reform so we can achieve meaningful reform and restore 
the public's faith in their government.
  This is not a perfect bill. It does not attempt to solve all the 
evils that plague our campaign system. But we will not let perfect be 
the enemy of progress. We expect amendments to be offered to this 
legislation and we fully expect that many of those amendments will be 
constructive and add to our efforts. We look forward to that kind of 
positive debate.
  Second, whatever bill passes, it must treat our corporate and union 
constituencies alike. We must resist any measures that skew this bill 
in favor of any one group. The soft money ban in this bill affects both 
corporations and unions.
  And for my Republican friends, I want to emphasize again, if this 
bill passes, the $100,000-plus union soft money checks to the 
Democratic Party will no longer exist. According to the Washington 
Post, the ``biggest donor of soft money in the (last) campaign was the 
American Federal of State, County, and Municipal Employees (which) gave 
the Democratic National Committee $1.27 million in last October and 
early November. AFSCME's soft money total for the election cycle was 
$6.3 million.'' Passage of this bill will end this practice once and 
for all.
  The key to our success now lies with a fair and open debate on this 
subject. In the past, we have been denied any constructive debate on 
this matter. I am hopeful that Senators Lott and Daschle and the co-
sponsors of the bill can construct a fair unanimous consent agreement 
that will allow the Senate to take up and consider numerous amendments, 
work its will, and craft legislation that can and will be signed into 
law by the President. That is now our singular goal. And I am confident 
it can be achieved.
  Mr. President, I hope we can soon take up and pass this crucial 
legislation.
  Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, I am very pleased to once again 
introduce a campaign reform bill with my friend and colleague, the 
Senator from Arizona. This year we have an important new cosponsor, the 
senior Senator from Mississippi, Senator Thad Cochran, so this bill 
will be known as the McCain-Feingold-Cochran campaign reform bill.
  This is the fourth Congress in which Senator McCain and I have 
introduced a bill. We have made progress each year, and now we are 
closer than ever to finishing the job for the American people. The time 
for campaign finance reform to pass the Congress and become law has now 
come Mr. President. And Senator McCain and I are going to dedicate 
ourselves to this issue like never before to make it happen.
  The bill we are introducing today is broader than S. 1593, the bill 
we took to the floor in October 1999, but narrower than S. 26, the 
McCain-Feingold bill that was introduced in the beginning of the last 
Congress. Our bill this year consists of a soft money ban, the Snowe-
Jeffords language on issue ads, the Beck provision on union dues, and a 
few other provisions that will provide credibility to this reform bill 
as it's passed into law. Very significant in my mind is a clear 
prohibition on political fundraising in federal office buildings. This 
is a strong base bill for reform, but we are ready and willing to 
entertain the suggestions and proposals of all 98 other Senators. Each 
of us in this body is an expert on this issue, and I know that many of 
my colleagues have innovative ideas on how to improve our election 
laws. Any amendment that adds to this bill in a positive way and and 
doesn't undercut its basic principles will be given every 
consideration.
  One provision on which we will not compromise is the ban on soft 
money. The bill here is as tough and comprehensive as possible, leaving 
no room for the soft money abuses we have seen in the last decade. 
Obviously, loopholes will develop over time, but I am satisfied that 
this bill closes the soft money system down and anticipates at least 
some of the clever schemes that might be developed to avoid the ban. In 
the last election cycle, we saw over $500 million in soft money raised 
by the political parties. This system is a scandal that we must 
eliminate now.
  The bill includes the Snowe-Jeffords language on issue ads. This 
provision will have a major impact on labor union ads, but it is fair 
and balanced between unions and corporations. It will have minimal 
impact on established advocacy groups like National Right to Life and 
the Sierra Club because they have a significant small donor base, but 
it will prevent corporations and unions from laundering money through 
such groups. It allows groups to continue to run these ads as long as 
they use only individual money and disclose the large donors to the 
effort. The provision covers only phony issue ads on radio and TV, not 
direct mail, phone banks, or newspapers, or the Internet, but we are 
open to working with all sides to work out a fair and balanced way to 
broaden its coverage if that is what the Senate wants to do.
  Similarly, we are open to proposals that will require additional 
disclosure of election related spending by unions, corporations, and 
advocacy groups. But they must treat all players in this system evenly 
and fairly.
  That brings me to the issue that has received a lot of attention in 
recent weeks, so called ``paycheck protection.'' In the past, this has 
been a poison pill to reform, but with the changes in the Senate, we 
clearly have the votes to defeat the extreme and one-sided ``paycheck 
protection proposals that have been offered in the past. We will hold 
the President and those working with him to the standard that he 
himself has enunciated any proposal has to be fair and balanced. Our 
bill is currently fair and balanced. It treats unions and corporations 
equally. The paycheck protection proposals we have seen in the past are 
not fair and balanced. They attack only one player in the election 
system labor unions.
  Mr. President, I look forward to a real debate early this year, not 
only on our bill but on amendments that my colleagues want to offer. I 
am happy to meet with any Senator who wants to discuss a reform 
proposal. If we all work together, this process can yield a campaign 
reform bill that we will be proud of, and we can start out this new 
Congress by cleaning up our elections and ridding our system of the 
corrupting of soft money.
  Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, Senator Feingold and I and others--a 
bipartisan group of Senators and friends from the House, Congressman 
Shays and Congressman Meehan--just had a press conference announcing 
our intentions. I don't intend to make a statement, except to express 
my deep and sincere appreciation for my partner, Senator Feingold, who 
someday will be written about in another book called profiles in 
courage for his willingness to stand up to the special interests at a 
time when his own candidacy was at risk if he did not do so.
  I thank Senator Feingold, and I look forward to continuing to work 
together on this issue. I believe we see a light at the end of the 
tunnel, which is an old phrase from the Vietnam war, uttered by one of 
our civilian leaders during that war. I remind Senator Feingold that 
when told of that, a soldier in the field said, ``Yes, the light at the 
end of the tunnel is a train.'' We hope that is not the case in this 
particular scenario.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Wisconsin is recognized.
  Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, I thank the Senator from Arizona for his 
kind remarks. I am happy to be back with him on this effort. As John 
McCain has said many times, we know that every Member of the Senate is 
an expert on this issue. Every Member has ideas about how we should 
reform the campaign finance system. What we want out of this is an 
opportunity for an open amending process so the Senate as a whole can 
fashion a bill to send to the President.
  Mr. McCAIN. I ask unanimous consent that the bill be left open for 
further cosponsors throughout the day.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The Senator from Wisconsin has the floor.
  Mr. FEINGOLD. I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Mississippi is recognized.
  Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I am pleased to join my friends from 
Arizona and from Wisconsin in introducing the McCain-Feingold-Cochran 
bill today. They have worked very hard and very

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effectively to bring the attention of not only the Senate but the 
American people to bear on this issue and this important need for 
reform. I am convinced that we are well advised to take this 
legislation up at an early date in this session of the Congress.
  The impressions of the last election are fresh on everybody's mind. 
One that sticks with me very strongly is that candidates were 
overwhelmed in this process by the expenditures of soft money by groups 
buying ads, some attacking candidates, supporting others, without the 
American public knowing who these groups were, what their goals and 
intentions were, where the money was coming from, or how it was being 
spent. That has to be corrected, and it ought to be corrected.
  The purpose of the campaign finance laws was to let the American 
people know from where the money was coming, how it was being used, how 
much money was being raised by the candidates and spent by the 
candidates. We have now lost the right to know because of the loopholes 
that have been developed and perfected by those who are involving 
themselves in the election process.
  I am not against freedom of speech. We want everybody to be able to 
have their say, but we have a right to know how much they are spending 
and from where the money is coming. I think that is a fundamental part 
of this legislation, and I hope the Senate will take it up and pass it 
in the near future.
  Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I rise in support of the McCain-Feingold 
bipartisan campaign finance reform bill of 2001. I am very proud to be 
an original cosponsor of this legislation which goes a long way towards 
reforming our campaign system.
  I have long supported campaign finance reform. When I ran for the 
Senate from Maine in 1996 I promised my constituents that I would be a 
strong advocate for campaign finance reform. That pledge led to my 
decision to cosponsor the campaign finance reform that was introduced 
in 1997 by Senators McCain and Feingold.
  Unfortunately, comprehensive campaign finance reform efforts have 
been thwarted in the past two Congresses. This time, though, we have 
reason for optimism due to new and renewed support.
  The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2001 takes a number of 
important steps towards fixing a broken system. First and foremost, the 
bill closes the most glaring loophole in our campaign finance laws by 
banning the unlimited, unregulated contributions known as ``soft 
money.'' ``Soft money'' has made the current law's restrictions and 
contributions from individuals, corporations, and unions essentially 
meaningless. Second, the bill requires disclosure by the sponsors of 
certain issue ads that corporations and labor unions run in the period 
leading up to an election. Third, the bill codifies the Supreme Court's 
decision in Communication Workers of America v. Beck to ensure that 
nonunion members are not obligated to subsidize the political 
activities of labor unions. And finally, the bill makes it clear that 
foreign nationals may not contribute any funds--hard or soft--to 
federal, state, or local elections.
  My home State of Maine has a deep commitment to preserving the 
integrity of the electoral system and ensuring that all Mainers have an 
equal political voice. Mainers have backed their commitment to an open 
political process in both word and deed. In many regions of Maine, town 
meetings in which all citizens are invited to debate issues and make 
decisions are still prevalent. This is unvarnished, direct democracy. 
Maine's tradition of town meetings and equal participation rejects the 
notion that wealth dictates political discourse. Maine citizens feel 
strongly about reforming our federal campaign laws, as do I.
  The problem with soft money was painfully evident during the 1997 
hearings by the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs, chaired by my 
good friend, Senator Thompson. During those investigations, we heard 
from one individual who gave $325,000 to the Democratic National 
Committee in order to secure a picture with the President of the United 
States. We also heard from the infamous Roger Tamraz who testified that 
the $300,000 he spend to gain access to the White House was not enough 
and that, next time, he would spend $600,000. And we heard of 
individuals, such as Chinese cigarette magnate Ted Sioeng, who 
orchestrated nearly $600,000 in political contributions during the 1996 
election cycle. Sioeng, we later discovered, was a self-described agent 
of the Chinese government.
  Soft money donations soared in the 2000 presidential election cycle, 
nearly doubling from $262 million in 1996 to $488 million in 2000. At 
the same time, regulated, hard money donations increased a little more 
than 10-percent. Soft money, then, is the crest of the wave that has 
swamped our campaign finance system and shaken public confidence in our 
government. I applaud the bipartisan efforts of Senators McCain and 
Feingold and pledge my continued support to see this legislation become 
law this year.
  Mr. JEFFORDS. Mr. President, I rise today as a proud cosponsor of the 
Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2001 to discuss my thoughts and hopes 
on the actions the Senate will hopefully be taking in the coming months 
on this important issue.
  First, let me thank the sponsors of the legislation, Senators McCain 
and Feingold, for their tireless perseverance to enact campaign finance 
reform. Without their hard work and vast knowledge, we would not be at 
this important point. The time has come to schedule a full and open 
debate on this important issue. I look forward to hearing and debating 
the many ideas of my colleagues and believe the Senate should strive to 
show why we are considered the greatest deliberative body in the world 
by fully debating this important topic.
  Mr. President, I was first elected to Congress following the 
Watergate scandal, right around the time Congress last enacted 
comprehensive reform of our campaign finance system. I have watched 
with growing dismay during my over twenty-five years in Congress as the 
number of troubling examples of problems in our current campaign 
finance system have increased. These problems have led to a perception 
by the public that a disconnect exists between themselves and the 
people that they have elected. I believe that this perception is a 
pivotal factor behind the disturbingly low voter turnouts that have 
plagued national elections.
  While some may point to surveys that list campaign finance reform as 
a low priority for the electorate, I believe that the public actually 
strongly supports Congress debating and enacting comprehensive reform. 
It is important to reverse the trend of shrinking voter turnout by re-
establishing the connection between the public and us, their elected 
representatives, by passing comprehensive campaign finance reform.
  It is time to restore the public's confidence in our political 
system.
  It is time to increase disclosure requirements and ban soft money.
  It is time to work together to pass meaningful campaign finance 
reform.
  As I said earlier, I look forward to a full and open debate on the 
issue of campaign finance reform including the amendments that will be 
offered. At the end of this debate, the Senate should be able to pass 
comprehensive campaign finance reform. That to me is the most important 
aspect of any bill the Senate may pass, it must be comprehensive. If we 
fail to address the problems facing our campaign finance system with a 
comprehensive balanced package we will ultimately fail in our mission 
of reforming the system. Closing one loophole, without addressing the 
others in a systematic way, will not do enough to correct the current 
deficiencies, and may in fact create new and unintended consequences.
  Mr. President, we have all seen first-hand the problems with the 
current state of the law as it relates to sham issue advertisements. I 
have focused much time and effort on developing a legislative solution 
on this topic with my colleague Senator Olympia Snowe, and was pleased 
that this solution was adopted by the Senate during the 1998 debate on 
campaign finance reform. I was also proud to cosponsor the 
comprehensive campaign finance bill Senators McCain and Feingold 
introduced last Congress that included this legislative solution.
  I feel strongly that the legislation the Senate must ultimately vote 
on include some kind of changes to the current law concerning sham 
issue advertisements. I feel that we have crafted a

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reasonable, constitutional approach to this problem and am extremely 
pleased that this legislative solution is again included in the bill we 
introduce today.
  That does not mean, though, that we will stop working with our 
colleagues to craft additional, and perhaps different, ideas to address 
the problems with the current law on sham issue advertisements. My 
ultimate goal is to create a comprehensive campaign finance bill that 
will garner the support of at least 60 Senators, and hopefully more.
  Mr. President, I look forward to a full and open debate on this 
important issue, and pledge to continue working with my colleagues to 
enact comprehensive campaign finance reform into law this year.
                                 ______