[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.
______