Remarks on campaign finance reform legislation and an exchange with reporters

Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, Oct 13, 1997

The President. Thank you very much, Ann, for your work. And I want to thank all the other groups here represented for your labors. I thank Congressman Shays and Congressman Meehan for their work in the House. And I hope we'll have something important for them to do here in just a few days.

I also want to say a lot of the issues that need to be raised have obviously been clearly articulated in the Vice President's statement and by Ann, and all of us know them. But I think it's important to try to put this into some context. This problem has been building up for years. For years the cost of political campaigns have been escalating, as the cost of communicating with people through mass media has gone up and other costs have increased. And that has led to a fundraising arms race that has overwhelmed and consumed both parties and candidates all over our country.

For years, there have been efforts to do something about this, bipartisan efforts. And every year of my first term, bipartisan efforts for reform were met by obstruction, opposition, and delay, and specifically died a filibuster in the United States Senate. For years, there were interests and there are interests who actually benefit from the present system; we have to acknowledge that. And they like it the way it is, and they would like to keep it. They have been able, until today, to smother campaign finance reform in the shadows, away from the clear light of public evaluation.

That is what has changed this year. This year there is a highly public and increasingly clearly understood moment of truth in Washington. Today, the Members of our Senate have it within their power to strike a blow against politics as usual, and a blow for a better future for America. They can pass the first significant campaign finance reform in a generation and give voters the loudest vote in the country, clearly and unambiguously.

The lines are sharply drawn, I will say that this is much clearer than it has been in years past. Those who are fighting to preserve the status quo have made their position crystal clear. They have said they will use every procedural device they can muster in both Houses to keep this from happening. They seek to use "poison pill" amendments, proposals that would worsen the current system in the name of reform, and if all else fails, the filibuster is always there to block the majority will.

But this is also clear: The tide of reform is coming in. The one million signatures Ann mentioned is one example of that. It's not just the President who supports McCain-Feingold legislation. It's not just groups that labor here in the vineyards year-in and year-out. The public supports it. And 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 or the status quo. The American people are entitled to that. They are entitled to see that this legislation does not die by procedural maneuvering or "poison pill" amendments.

The choice is plain. A vote for the filibuster is a vote to keep the soft money system. A vote for the filibuster is a vote for less disclosure, for weaker enforcement, for back door campaign spending by so-called independent groups. A vote for the filibuster is a vote to kill bipartisan campaign finance reform. And I hope and believe that will be a vote that will be difficult to explain to the American people.

I know some Senators favor provisions that aren't in this bill. This legislation is a principled compromise. Those of us who support spending limits and free television time had to agree to drop those to get a bill. And I think they're very important, and it killed me to have to drop those. I hated it. But this bill is better than having no reform. So everybody has had to give up something to get this bill in a position where people of both parties in good conscience could vote on it and where we had a chance to pass it. So for those who complain about that, they're not alone. Those of us who favor even stronger and more sweeping legislation had to give up something, as well.

There are many other worthy ideas being advanced, and that's all to the good. But the irreducible fact is, only McCain-Feingold, and its counterpart legislation in the House sponsored by Congressmen Shays and Meehan, is a vehicle which can move us forward. That is the bottom line, and the one that I hope we can convince the United States Senate to embrace. We need to put aside partisanship, reject pressure and join in an effort to find common ground here and the Senate has got to take the lead.

I will say again: This is our best chance in a generation. The debate is now clear, unambiguous, out in the open. I will fight as hard as I can for as long as it takes to keep it right there. And if all of you help, then I think we can fulfill our obligation to renew and strengthen our democracy for a new century.

Thank you very much.

1996 Campaign Financing

Q. Mr. President, given the fact that your former senior aide, Mr. Ickes, is on the Hill today and may lay out the tactics of your last campaign, that he admits were some potential errors in judgment, and given the revelations of the past few days about the belated disclosure of the coffee tapes, do you think it's hard for people to follow you as a standard bearer for campaign finance reform?