Campaign Finance Debate Gathers Steam
By Carroll J. Doherty, CQ Staff Writer
The slow-moving House debate about overhauling the nation's campaign finance laws is gaining momentum, but it remains uncertain whether GOP leaders will make good on their pledge to complete action on the issue before the August recess.
The House July 20 voted on nine amendments to the best-known campaign finance proposal, sponsored by Reps. Christopher Shays, R-Conn., and Martin T. Meehan, D-Mass. That marked progress in an off-again, on-again debate that began in May.
But the flurry of votes disposed of less than one-fifth of the 55 amendments originally made to the Shays-Meehan proposal. That number has been slowly dropping, as some lawmakers have withdrawn proposals and others have combined separate initiatives into a single amendment. Still, at least 30 amendments remain to be considered.
And beyond that, the proposal by Shays and Meehan, based on their bill (HR3526) to eliminate unlimited "soft money" donations and place restrictions on so-called issue advocacy ads, is only the second of 11 major alternatives to the underlying campaign finance bill put forward by a bipartisan group of freshmen (HR2183). Under the unusual procedures governing debate, the alternative that receives the most votes -- and at least a majority -- prevails.
The daunting array of amendments has prompted charges from advocates for overhauling the campaign fund-raising system that GOP leaders want to run out the clock and prevent the House from voting on meaningful political finance legislation this year.
But Shays insists that House Majority leader Dick Armey, R-Texas, will fulfill his commitment to finish the bill by the start of the House recess Aug. 7. "I can't even contemplate the consequences of him not living up to his word," Shays said. "I believe he will." Rep. Bill Thomas, R-Calif., chairman of the House Oversight Committee, said July 17 that he feels "comfortable that that [promise] will be honored."
All along, the challenge for Shays and Meehan has been to steer their proposal through a gantlet of GOP-backed amendments that, if adopted, would make it all but impossible for Democrats to support the final product.
On July 21, the biggest test came in the form of an amendment by Bill Paxon, R-N.Y., that would have required labor unions to report in detail their expenditures on political activities. Democrats and pro-labor Republicans joined forces to defeat the amendment, 150-248.
Several other amendments considered that day were aimed at highlighting well-chronicled Democratic fundraising excesses during the 1996 presidential campaign. For instance, House Majority Whip Tom DeLay, R-Texas, offered an amendment that tweaked Vice President Al Gore, whose legalistic defense of the fundraising calls he made from his office was that there was "no controlling legal authority" barring such fundraising.
The House approved DeLay's amendment, asserting that there is indeed such a controlling legal authority, on a vote of 360-36.
Shays-Meehan Surviving
But DeLay's amendment and many others like it are essentially a sideshow to the main question of this convoluted and confusing debate -- whether Republicans can cripple or kill the Shays-Meehan proposal.
So far, all evidence indicates they cannot, although Republicans have mounted formidable challenges and have more planned. When the House resumes debate on July 27, it is scheduled to vote on a pair of GOP-backed amendments chipping away at provisions in the so-called motor voter act, a 1993 law (PL 103-31) that made it easier for people to register to vote.
Many Republicans have long objected to the law, arguing it has led to vote fraud. Adoption of either of the amendments would represent a serious blow to supporters of Shays-Meehan.
There is a sense that the House might be moving to closure on the Shays-Meehan proposal. And if that occurs, Thomas said, the remainder of the debate might go more quickly.
"Given the pivotal role of [Shays-Meehan], whether it passes or fails will dictate clearly what is done with the rest of the campaign reform rule package," he said.
© 1998 Congressional Quarterly Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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