[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 19]
[Senate]
[Page 26160]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                NOTICE OF INTENT TO OBJECT TO PROCEEDING

  Mrs. FEINSTEIN, pursuant to the provisions of section 512 of Public 
Law 110-181, submitted her notice of intent to object to proceed to 
consider the bill (S. 223) to require Senate candidates to file 
designations, statements, and reports in electronic form, dated Oct. 2, 
2007, for the following reasons:
  Mr. President, I objected to Senator Ensign's proposed unanimous 
consent of September 27, 2007, to take up and vote on an amendment to 
S. 223, the Senate Campaign Disclosure Parity Act, which is not germane 
to the underlying bill and has not been reviewed by the Rules and 
Administration Committee.
  The proposed Ensign amendment would require outside groups, such as 
advocacy and charitable organizations, that file ethics complaints to 
disclose their donors.
  His proposal to require limited debate and then a vote on the 
amendment before voting on S. 223 could be prevent the timely passage 
of the underlying bill before the 2008 election.
  Next year's presidential and congressional elections are expected to 
have record contributions to and expenditures by candidates for federal 
offices. Electronic filing by Senate candidates will provide timely 
reports of these activities.
  I believe the subject matter of the Ensign amendment would be best 
addressed first in the Rules Committee, where a hearing will provide an 
opportunity for all interested parties to express their views on this 
matter.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to have printed in 
the Record a letter dated October 2, 2007, to me from Senator 
Feinstein.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

         U.S. Senate, Committee on Rules and Administration,
                                  Washington, DC, October 2, 2007.
     Hon. Harry Reid,
     The Majority Leader, U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
       Dear Senator Reid: As you know, under the provisions of the 
     Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007 (section 
     512 of P.L. 110-81), a Senator is required to submit a 
     ``Notice of Intent to Object'' letter when another Senator 
     objects to a unanimous consent request on his/her behalf. 
     Please consider this letter as my notice of intent to object 
     for Senator Baucus' objection, on my behalf, to Senator 
     Ensign's proposed amendment to S. 223, the Senate Campaign 
     Disclosure Parity Act, on September 27, 2007.
       On that date, Senator Ensign asked unanimous consent to 
     proceed to consideration of Calendar No. 96, S. 223, the 
     Senate Campaign Disclosure Parity Act, only if an unrelated 
     and potentially controversial amendment that he proposed is 
     also brought up for a vote.
       As you know, the underlying bill--S. 223--requires Senate 
     candidates to file designations, statements and reports in 
     electronic form, rather than paper. Forty-one Senators have 
     signed onto this long overdue bill.
       When Senator Feingold, the bill's principal sponsor, and I 
     sought unanimous consent to take up and adopt this bill on 
     September 24, Senator Ensign objected, saying he would 
     continue his hold on the bill unless we agreed to a vote on 
     his proposal to have outside groups, such as advocacy and 
     charitable organizations that file ethics complaints disclose 
     their donors.
       This unfortunate delay followed two earlier occasions in 
     April when Senator Feingold and I sought unanimous consent 
     for passage of S. 223 and the Minority placed holds on that 
     effort.
       While S. 223 has had a full hearing in the Senate Rules and 
     Administration Committee and has widespread support, Senator 
     Ensign's amendment has not been reviewed by either the Rules 
     Committee or the Finance Committee, which also may have 
     concerns about its impact on nonprofit organizations.
       On September 27, Senator Baucus objected to Senator 
     Ensign's proposed amendment on my behalf. And while I have 
     taken no position on the merits of Senator Ensign's 
     amendment, I believe it is non-germane to the underlying bill 
     and it could be a poison pill that will prevent the timely 
     passage of S. 223 before the 2008 election.
       Next year's presidential and congressional elections are 
     expected to have record contributions to and expenditures by 
     candidates for federal offices. Electronic filing by Senate 
     candidates will provide timely reports of these activities.
           Sincerely,
                                                 Dianne Feinstein,
     Chairman.

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