Gridlock For Campaign Finance Reform

Senate fails to end debate on McCain-Feingold bill, but another attempt is set for Thursday

WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, Oct. 7) -- After two unsuccessful attempts to cut off debate, the McCain-Feingold campaign finance measure remained stuck in legislative limbo in the Senate today, with little likelihood of an up or down vote any time soon.

Senators failed to muster the 60 votes needed to end debate on either an amendment by Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) to put new limits on union political activity, or on the McCain-Feingold bill itself (S.25). There were only 52 votes to end debate on the amendment, and 53 on the bill.

But afterward, Sen. John McCain said there will be another attempt to move the legislation forward on Thursday, and he's hopeful.

"We had some very significant negotiations going on before the vote today," McCain told CNN's Bernard Shaw on "Inside Politics." "Very frankly, we think that the momentum is on our side, but it's not clear whether we're going to succeed or not. It's never been clear." (128K wav sound)

After the votes, Lott pulled the bill off the floor and said it was over for now.

"Those two cloture votes that we just took, in my opinion, put an end to the campaign finance reform at this time," Lott said on the Senate floor. "They end the drive for phony reform, the kind that rigs the law in favor of one side or the other. They end a partisan game plan that treated the Constitution and the right of free speech it guarantees as technicalities to be gotten around." (288K wav sound)

The 100-member Senate is split down the middle on the McCain-Feingold proposal, and its ultimate fate lies with a handful of Republican moderates. All 45 Senate Democrats and four Republicans support the measure, which would ban unregulated "soft money" donations and regulate independent political advertising.

But Lott managed to delay a vote on the bill by offering what opponents called a "poison-pill" amendment that would require unions to get members' written permission to use dues for political purposes. Last year, organized labor spent heavily to try to defeat Republican members of Congress.

'The worst campaign abuse'

The "worst campaign abuse of them all," said Lott, is the "forcible collection and expenditure of union dues for political purposes."

But critics said Lott's proposal upset the bill's bipartisan balance and, in fact, is an attempt to craft a scenario where Democrats who object to the union proposal are forced to oppose the campaign-finance bill and can be blamed when the bill goes down to defeat.

McCain predicted eventually the reforms will become law. "I believe we will prevail tomorrow, or next week, or next month, or next year," he said.

But if there is no up or down vote in the short run, Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle vowed to attach its provisions to unrelated bills and force a series of votes.

'Refusing to allow this Senate to act'

"The bottom line is that vast majority of Republicans are refusing to allow this Senate to act on one of the most important pieces of legislation to be brought up in this Senate in this Congress," Daschle said. "That's the fact. And how ironic that as we investigate infractions, as we investigate allegations, the response is simply, 'Let's do nothing. Let's filibuster the campaign finance reform bill, let's load up the tree so we can't have a debate on amendments.'"

Opponents of McCain-Feingold, however, said its new rules would actually inhibit people from participating.

"The whole exercise is a public relations scheme that is designed to let the public think we're reacting when in reality we're not," said Sen. Rod Grams (R-Minn.) "To move in this direction would only threaten the ability of Americans to participate in the democracy which they have helped to create. Placing new limits or new government controls is not the answer."

Earlier today, President Bill Clinton urged an up or down vote on the McCain-Feingold legislation.

"I believe when the voting comes, a majority of the Senate will support it if they are simply allowed to vote on it. All we need now is a fair vote -- yes or no, up or down, reform of the status quo. The American people are entitled to that. They are entitled to see that this legislation does not die by procedural maneuvers or poison-pill amendments," Clinton said.

In Other News:

Tuesday Oct. 7, 1997

• Outrage Consumes Senate Fund-Raising Hearings
• More Gridlock On Campaign Finance Reform
• President's Use Of Line-Item Veto Angers Congress
• California Term Limit Law Struck Down
• Clinton Rails Against 'Poison Pill' Amendment

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