[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 35 (Thursday, March 15, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Page S2414]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. ALLARD:
  S. 559. A bill to reform the financing of Federal elections; to the 
Committee on Rules and Administration.
  Mr. ALLARD. Mr. President, I realize that I am not going out on a 
limb here, but I want to say this: I support Campaign Finance Reform. 
To that end, today I am introducing the Campaign Finance Integrity Act 
of 2001.
  My bill would:

       Require candidates to raise at least 50 percent of their 
     contributions from individuals in the state or district in 
     which they are running.
       Equalize contributions from individuals and political 
     action committees, PACs, by raising the individual limit from 
     $1000 to $2500 and reducing the PAC limit from $5000 to 
     $2500.
       Index individual and PAC contribution limits for inflation.
       Reduce the influence of a candidate's personal wealth by 
     allowing political party committees to match dollar for 
     dollar the personal contribution of a candidate above $5000.
       Require corporations and labor organizations to seek 
     separate, voluntary authorization of the use of any dues, 
     initiative fees or payment as a condition of employment for 
     political activity, and requires annual full disclosure of 
     those activities to members and shareholders.
       Prohibit depositing an individual contribution by a 
     campaign unless the individual's profession and employer are 
     reported.
       Encourage the Federal Election Commission to allow filing 
     of reports by fax machines and other emerging technologies 
     and to make that information accessible to the public on the 
     Internet less than 24 hours of receipt.
       Ban the use of taxpayer financed mass mailings.

  This is common sense campaign finance reform. It drives the candidate 
back into his district or state to raise money from individual 
contributions. It has some of the most open, full and timely disclosure 
requirements of any other campaign finance bill in either the Senate or 
the House of Representatives. I strongly believe that sunshine is the 
best disinfectant.
  The right of political parties, groups and individuals to say what 
they want in a political campaign is preserved--but the right of the 
public to know how much they are spending and what they are saying is 
also recognized. I have great faith that the public can make its own 
decisions about campaign discourse if it is given full and timely 
information.

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