[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 28 (Wednesday, March 13, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1840-S1841]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       BIPARTISAN CAMPAIGN REFORM ACT OF 2002--MOTION TO PROCEED


                             Cloture Motion

  Mr. DASCHLE. Madam President, I move to proceed to H.R. 2356, and I 
send a cloture motion to the desk.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The cloture motion having been presented under 
rule XXII, the Chair directs the clerk to read the motion.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

                             Cloture Motion

       We, the undersigned Senators, in accordance with the 
     provisions of rule XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate, 
     hereby move to bring to a close the debate on the motion to 
     proceed to Calendar No. 318, H.R. 2356, a bill to provide 
     bipartisan campaign reform:
         Russell D. Feingold, Tom Daschle, Tim Johnson, Byron 
           Dorgan, Bob Graham, Daniel Inouye, Joe Biden, Patty 
           Murray, Jim Jeffords, Jeff Bingaman, Debbie Stabenow, 
           Max Baucus, Ben Nelson of Nebraska, Harry Reid, Richard 
           J. Durbin, Jon Corzine, Tom Carper.

  Mr. DASCHLE. Madam President, I withdraw the motion to proceed.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The motion to proceed is withdrawn.
  Mr. DASCHLE. Madam President, as I indicated to Senator Lott and as I 
indicated yesterday to a joint leader meeting, we would be required to 
file cloture on the motion to proceed to the campaign finance reform 
bill today, this afternoon. We have been working patiently with our 
colleagues who have opposed campaign reform now for some time. I am 
still hopeful that perhaps we can reach an agreement which will allow 
us to vitiate this cloture motion, and if that can be done, we will 
vitiate the vote on cloture on Friday and we will move forward, but 
time has run out.
  It is essential we at least file cloture today on the motion to 
proceed in order to accommodate a worst case scenario on campaign 
finance reform. I have put all of our colleagues on notice that this is 
one piece of legislation that must be completed prior to the time we 
leave for the Easter recess. So we will have the cloture vote on 
Friday, if it is required. We will then be on the bill on Monday. I 
will notify our colleagues that we will file cloture on Monday for a 
Wednesday cloture vote, and assuming we get cloture on Wednesday, we 
will be in session all night Wednesday night, all night Thursday night, 
and we will then have our vote on Friday.
  So Senators should be aware, it may be unusual but we will be 
involved in an all-night session Wednesday and Thursday night in order 
to complete our work on the bill by Friday.
  Now again, it is my hope that perhaps we can reach some agreement 
with regard to the package of technical amendments. We have not been 
able to do it to date. I am concerned that time is quickly running out, 
but we are certainly more than willing to continue our discussions. I 
have run out of time in terms of our ability to assure we can have the 
cloture votes at a time that will accommodate completing our work by 
the end of next week.
  So I thank my colleagues. I especially thank the distinguished 
Senators McCain and Feingold for their extraordinary work and effort in 
getting us to this point.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Arizona.
  Mr. McCAIN. Madam President, I thank the majority leader for his 
steadfastness in this effort. It has been a long odyssey, and as we 
have reached crucial points he has been extremely helpful in moving 
this process along. It has been pretty clear in the last few weeks that 
the opposition has chosen to delay consideration of the bill. So I 
thank him and look forward to trying to reach an agreement with the 
opponents of the bill so we are not required to follow the scenario as 
outlined by the majority leader. I am not sure we can get an agreement 
without that scenario being presented. So I thank him for that.
  For the benefit of my colleagues, Senator McConnell approached me a 
short time ago. He said he wanted to continue negotiations on a so-
called package of technical amendments and that he would not insist 
that a substantive amendment be considered on it. I will be glad to, 
along with my colleague Senator Feingold, consider any technical 
changes that are purely technical in nature, but we have found out in 
the course of this long odyssey we have been involved in that words do 
have meaning and some people view words that are technical as not 
technical.
  We require the agreement of all of our colleagues who have been 
involved in this issue, including Members of the House, and we have to 
be sure of a certain methodology that would be taken up in the other 
body. So we will be glad to continue to negotiate. I hope we can reach 
agreement, but under no circumstances would our failure to reach an 
agreement on a technical package of amendments impede the process we 
are now embarked on of reaching final resolution on Shays-Meehan/
McCain-Feingold before we leave for the next break.
  I wish to make it clear, I am willing, along with my colleagues, to 
work on so-called technical amendments, but in no way would they impact 
the final passage of the bill because they are technical in nature. 
That is the name of them. So I, again, thank the majority leader. I 
thank my friend Senator Feingold, and perhaps--and I emphasize 
``perhaps''--we can reach some amicable agreements to get this thing 
done without causing discomfort to the schedules and lives of our 
colleagues.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Nevada.
  Mr. REID. I know the Senator from Wisconsin wishes to say a few 
words, but before these two men leave, I wanted to be able to say to 
them it is not often in this body that one can make such a significant 
difference as they have done with campaign finance.
  I can remember in 1986, I woke up one morning and the State of Nevada 
was covered with signs of my opponent. I thought to myself, what a 
tremendous waste of money. Why would he be wasting money on signs? They 
cost so much. So I filed a complaint with the Federal Election 
Commission. Two years later I get a response that they have done 
something technically in violation.
  The fact is, the signs were paid for by the State party. That was the 
beginning of this rush of corporate money. From that time, 1986 to 
1998, 12 years, it changed dramatically. Between John Ensign and Harry 
Reid, from signs paid for by the State party, there was $20 million 
spent in the State of Nevada, not counting independent expenditures. 
The vast majority of that was corporate money. That is not going to 
happen when this legislation takes effect.
  I am so grateful to these two men for what they have done to make my 
life more understandable. I will still have to work hard to raise 
money, but I will not have to go to people and ask for large sums of 
money for the State party, or for myself for the State party, however 
it worked, however one had to do it just right.
  I know the Senator from Arizona has indicated he appreciated Shays-
Meehan. Well, I appreciate the work they have done, also. I admire 
those two

[[Page S1841]]

men a great deal. These two gentlemen have to understand that the House 
legislation would never have passed without their travels around the 
country daring people not to do something about this. It was because of 
these two that a cloture motion was signed and filed in the House 
forcing the House leadership to take up this legislation.
  Now there is going to be a lot written about this. There will never 
be enough positive written about the work you two have done. If you 
never do another thing legislatively--which you both do a great deal--
you have done so much. There are very few people in the history of this 
country, in my opinion, legislatively, that have done as much as you 
are about to accomplish when this legislation passes.

  I wanted you to be here to tell you how much people will appreciate 
the fact, even though they may not feel the benefit as some Members 
here, with the work you have done. It will improve our system of 
government, and it will put it back, in my opinion, the way it used to 
be, when people campaigned--instead of going out seeing how much money 
they could raise.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Wisconsin.
  Mr. FEINGOLD. We thank the Senator from Nevada for his extremely kind 
words and we thank the majority leader for his firm resolve in a very 
reasonable timeframe to bring this matter to a conclusion. I also thank 
the Senator from Nevada for the many hours he has been here with us on 
this issue. He has been extremely helpful. I look forward to the final 
stages with the Senator from Nevada and my colleague.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Arizona.
  Mr. McCAIN. Madam President, I thank the Senator from Nevada not only 
for his kind remarks, which may be to some degree undeserved, but his 
continuous help as we have gone through every conceivable parliamentary 
obstacle as we moved forward. I am very appreciative of his patience, 
as well as his kind words.
  Perhaps we are entering the last phase. Perhaps not. As the famous 
philosopher Yogi Berra said: It ain't over until it's over.
  I think we have established a scenario which could lead us to a 
conclusion. I believe, for a period of time, this result may have the 
beneficial effect that Senator Reid predicts.
  I yield the floor.

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