[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 19]
[House]
[Pages 26676-26677]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 THE COST OF CAMPAIGNING FOR PRESIDENT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Kaptur) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, what must our children think when they hear 
news reports about the upcoming Presidential race of 2008, and when 
they hear over and over and over again how much money all the 
candidates are raising, $27 million, $20 million, $18 million, and the 
ante is being raised every week.
  In just 6 months of campaigning, the 2008 Presidential candidates 
have already amassed more than $265 million. According to the Center 
for Responsive Politics, some analysts predict that the eventual 
nominees will need to raise a half a billion dollars apiece in order to 
compete, a half a billion dollars apiece.
  In the last 2004 Presidential election, the candidates, together, 
raised $880,500,000. The 2008 Presidential election will see the first 
billion-dollar race in American history. That's more than the gross 
domestic product of 25 nations.
  What must our children think about this out-of-control arms race? 
Don't they conclude only the rich have a chance, that the rich control, 
that to get ahead, you have to court the rich? What must our children 
think of our Nation, once founded with the high ideals of patriotism, 
sacrifice and rebellion against the entrenched view that has now fallen 
so sick, so sick. A majority of its candidates in both parties run to 
Wall Street and hedge funds and mega-buck donors and bundlers whose 
real motives often come to light as scandals.
  Former Member Shirley Chisholm described herself as unbought and 
unbossed. Those of us who knew her knew she wasn't kidding when she 
said that.
  It's hard to imagine a Presidential candidate staying unbought under 
such immense pressure to raise money. Inevitably, those candidates have 
to turn to the superrich or to bundlers, to special interests and 
unsavory characters who care only about themselves and their special 
interests and very little about our country.
  When we start looking under the rocks, it's hard to say what we will 
find: foreign influence in unregulated hedge funds, foreign 
contributions laundered through third parties, cronyism taken to the 
nth degree.
  Almost 100 years ago, a native son of Ohio, Warren Harding, won the 
White House. He ushered in a level of corruption that was unrivaled at 
that time. The dollar amounts being tossed around in the 2000 
Presidential race make it only a matter of time before another giant 
scandal rocks our government and further undermines the confidence of 
our body politic and our very system of government. We all know what's 
going on is wrong, wrong, wrong.
  When I am asked who I am supporting for President, I say the one who 
has raised the least money.
  We should be asking ourselves what must our children think, before 
it's too late. We can act now to curb this out-of-control arms race. I 
have introduced a bill, H. Con. Res. 6, that reaffirms that the 
presence of unlimited amounts of money corrupts the political process 
in a fundamental manner.
  If money equals free speech, then lack of money equals lack of free 
speech. The bill expresses the need to preserve, through our 
Constitution, the integrity of a republican form of government, restore 
public confidence in election campaigns, and ensure all citizens an 
equal opportunity to participate in our political process.
  I encourage my colleagues to join me in cosponsoring this legislation 
and for Americans to pay attention and call this important issue to the 
attention of their Representatives.
  America needs a new revolution to take our politics back from the 
money handlers and telemarketers. Let's return our Republic to the 
American people and, importantly, a free Republic to our children.

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