The Democratic Response to the President's Saturday Morning Radio Address
Delivered by United States Senator Russ Feingold
WASHINGTON - 03.24.01 | This is Senator Russ Feingold of Wisconsin. We have had an exciting week in the United States Senate. Right now, the Senate is in the midst of a debate about the role of money in our political system. It's really a struggle about the kind of government we want to have, and the kind of country we want to be.
People are fed up with the way candidates and political parties raise money these days, and with good reason. Too often, we open up the newspaper and read stories about how a powerful industry used contributions to win a special tax break, or how a wealthy person got special treatment in a piece of legislation - or from the White House.
It's getting to the point where it's difficult to debate any issue in the Congress - any issue at all - without one side accusing the other of being unduly influenced by the power of big money in our political system. Sometimes I know it's tempting to just shrug your shoulders about the issue of campaign finance reform and say, "a pox on all your houses."
The amount of money in our political system has skyrocketed - Members of Congress and the leaders of both political parties routinely request and receive contributions for the parties of $100,000 dollars, $500,000 dollars, one million dollars, or even more. Because of a loophole in the election laws, these so-called "soft money" contributions are completely legal, and completely unlimited.
A loophole in the law might not sound like such a big cause for concern. But that loophole allowed the HMOs and insurance companies to give unlimited contributions as they fought to kill the Patients' Bill of Rights. And it allowed wealthy business interests to lobby in favor of gutting important worker protections. Without question, big contributors give donations to influence the work of the Congress. So today, when Congress debates the issues that affect your lives, you have every reason to wonder if campaign money plays a role in the decisions we make.
Wealthy interests have too much power in our political system, but we don't have to just shrug our shoulders and say that that's the way politics has to be. We can come together - from both political parties - to say that the American people deserve better.
That's why Republican Senator John McCain and I have written a bill to reduce the influence of money in politics. We don't fix every problem facing the campaign finance system in our bill, but we do go after the two biggest problems: unlimited soft money contributions to parties, and sham issue ads.
Soft money has compromised the integrity of the Congress for far too long. The McCain-Feingold bill gives us a chance to close the door on the soft money system that leaves Congress so vulnerable to the appearance of corruption. And our bill goes after those ads we see on TV that are clearly promoting or attacking a candidate, but avoid using certain words so they can get around the current election laws. These ads are just another way for wealthy interests to use a loophole in the law to influence elections and get their way on legislation.
With strong support from Democrats, and a small but hardy group of Republicans who have broken with their leadership and spoken out in favor of our bill, we have a strong coalition in the Senate to pass meaningful reform. The House of Representatives has already passed similar reforms on a bipartisan basis in the last Congress.
We look forward to working with President Bush to make this bill a law this year, before the next election cycle gets too far along. The President has said that he is committed to working with Congress to ensure fair and balanced campaign finance reform, and that's exactly what the McCain-Feingold bill offers. It doesn't tilt in favor of one political party or another - it treats unions the same way it treats corporations, and that's what makes it a truly bipartisan bill.
The road before us won't be easy - real change never is. But we have to find common ground on this issue. The way we finance campaigns today has a direct impact on your faith in government, and it has a real impact on people's lives. We need a government that stands up for all Americans, without regard to how much money they have. We can have that kind of government again if we eliminate these corrupting soft money contributions from our campaign finance system.
If the Senate can pass the McCain-Feingold bill, we can show that we understand that the influence of money in politics is too strong, and we understand that the system has to change. If we do that, I hope we will begin to restore your faith in us by giving you your government back. Again, this is Senator Russ Feingold. Thank you for listening.
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