[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 54 (Tuesday, March 31, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4073-S4074]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. DURBIN (for himself and Mr. Specter):
  S. 751. A bill to establish a revenue source for fair elections 
financing of Senate campaigns by providing an excise tax on amounts 
paid pursuant to contracts with the United States Government; to the 
Committee on Finance.
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, we are facing the worst economic crisis 
since the great depression. Health care costs are exploding. Our 
education system is in desperate need of reform. All while we continue 
to fight two wars on the other side of the globe.
  At a time like this, our Nation's leaders need to be singularly 
focused on the challenges at hand. Yet as Senators and Congressmen we 
find ourselves spending more and more of our time raising money for our 
own re-elections. That means we spend less and less time focusing on 
our Nation's policy challenges.
  In the last three election cycles, Senate candidates spent nearly 
$1.3 billion on their races. This is simply unsustainable.
  Unless you have enough personal wealth to pay for a campaign by 
yourself, you have little choice but to spend an enormous amount of 
your time dialing for dollars to keep up with your competitors. If you 
do not attend the nightly fundraisers and hit the phones during power 
hours, your campaign message will be drowned out by your opponent's 
advertising by Election Day. You will stand little chance of being 
chosen to continue to work on the challenges you came to Washington to 
solve.
  Worse, the system we currently use to finance Federal campaigns makes 
candidates far too reliant on the ability of wealthy donors to help 
raise the mountains of money necessary to compete.
  The result is a public who rightly questions whether those that win 
elections in this system are serving ALL of their constituents and not 
just their wealthy donors.
  We need to finance Federal campaigns differently. There has never 
been a more critical time for change.
  That is why today I am reintroducing the bipartisan Fair Elections 
Now Act with my friend Senator Specter. I am pleased that Congressman 
Larson is introducing the companion legislation

[[Page S4074]]

in the House with Republican Congressmen Todd Platts of Pennsylvania 
and Walter Jones of North Carolina.
  The Fair Elections Now Act would help restore public confidence in 
the Congressional election process by providing qualified candidates 
for Congress with grants, matching funds, and vouchers from the Fair 
Elections Fund to replace campaign fundraising that largely relies on 
lobbyists and other special interests. In return, participating 
candidates would agree to limit their campaign spending to the amounts 
raised from small-dollar donors plus the amounts provided from the 
Fund.
  Fair Elections for the Senate would have three stages.
  To participate, candidates would first need to prove their viability 
by raising a minimum number and amount of small-dollar qualifying 
contributions from in-state donors. Once a candidate qualifies, that 
candidate must limit the amount raised from each donor to $100 per 
election.
  For the primary, participants would receive a base grant that would 
vary in amount based on the population of the state that the candidate 
seeks to represent. Participants would also receive a 4-to-1 match for 
small-dollar donations up to a defined matching cap. The candidate 
could raise an unlimited amount of $100 contributions if needed to 
compete against high-spending opponents.
  For the general election, qualified candidates would receive an 
additional grant, further small-dollar matching, and vouchers for 
purchasing television advertising. The candidate could continue to 
raise an unlimited amount of $100 contributions if needed.
  Under our plan, candidates will no longer be in the fundraising 
business. Instead, candidates will be in the constituent business, 
regardless of whether those constituents have the wealth to attend a 
fundraiser or to donate more than $100 per election. Candidates will be 
in the policy business, regardless of what policies are preferred by 
wealthy donors.
  This is no naive theory. It is a system that is already at work. Very 
similar programs exist in Maine, Arizona, and elsewhere. These programs 
are bringing new faces and ideas into politics and making more races 
more competitive. Most importantly, candidates spend more time with 
constituents and in policy debates and less time with wealthy donors.
  I know that some will say that the answer to this problem of time 
constraints is simply to remove individual contribution limits, so that 
with a few phone calls to billionaire donors candidates can raise all 
of the money that they need. I completely disagree. The answer is not 
to further concentrate influence in the hands of a smaller and smaller 
group of donors, but rather to remove that source of influence 
altogether. That is the only way to rebuild the trust of the American 
people.
  Let me be clear: I honestly believe that the overwhelming majority of 
the people serving in American politics are good, honest people, and I 
believe that Senators and Congressmen are guided by the best of 
intentions. But we are nonetheless stuck in a terrible, corrupting 
system. The perception is that politicians are corrupted by the big 
money interests . . . and whether that is true or not, that perception 
and the loss of trust that goes with it makes it incredibly difficult 
for the Senate to take on tough challenges and have the American public 
believe that what we are doing is right.
  I believe that this problem is fundamental to our democracy, and we 
must address it. Overwhelming numbers of Americans agree. Recent 
polling shows that 69 percent of Democrats, 72 percent Republicans, and 
60 percent of independents supported a general description of this 
proposal. The Fair Elections Now Act is supported by several good 
Government groups, former members of Congress, business leaders, and 
even lobbyists.
  Our Nation's leaders need to be completely focused on getting America 
back on track. The Fair Elections Now Act will help.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be 
placed in the Record, as follows:

                                 S. 751

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Fair Elections Revenue Act 
     of 2009''.

     SEC. 2. FAIR ELECTIONS FUND REVENUE.

       (a) In General.--The Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 
     amended by inserting after chapter 36 the following new 
     chapter:

 ``CHAPTER 37--TAX ON PAYMENTS PURSUANT TO CERTAIN GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS

``Sec. 4501. Imposition of tax.

     ``SEC. 4501. IMPOSITION OF TAX.

       ``(a) Tax Imposed.--There is hereby imposed on any payment 
     made to a qualified person pursuant to a qualified contract 
     with the Government of the United States a tax equal to 0.50 
     percent of the amount paid.
       ``(b) Limitation.--The aggregate amount of tax imposed 
     under subsection (a) for any calendar year shall not exceed 
     $500,000.
       ``(c) Qualified Person.--For purposes of this section, the 
     term `qualified person' means any person which--
       ``(1) is not a State or local government or a foreign 
     nation, and
       ``(2) has contracts with the Government of the United 
     States with a value in excess of $10,000,000.
       ``(d) Payment of Tax.--The tax imposed by this section 
     shall be paid by the person receiving such payment.
       ``(e) Use of Revenue Generated by Tax.--It is the sense of 
     the Senate that amounts equivalent to the revenue generated 
     by the tax imposed under this chapter should be appropriated 
     for the financing of a Fair Elections Fund and used for the 
     public financing of Senate elections.''.
       (b) Conforming Amendment.--The table of chapter of the 
     Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by inserting after 
     the item relating to chapter 36 the following:

     ``Chapter 37--Tax on Payments Pursuant to Certain Government 
                              Contracts''.

       (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section 
     shall apply to contracts entered into after the date of the 
     enactment of this Act.
                                 ______