House Vote Is Set on Campaign Bill
By ALISON MITCHELL
WASHINGTON, Jan. 24 —
The advocates of
overhauling the nation's
campaign finance law gained
enough support today to force a
House vote on legislation that
would make the most
wide-ranging change in the
campaign law since the Watergate
era.
The insurgents made their move,
a defeat for the House
Republican leadership, on the
second day of the new
Congressional session, collecting
the final signatures needed on a
petition to send the bill to the
floor. They said their quest to ban the unlimited
contributions to the political parties known as soft money
had been revived by the collapse of the energy trading
giant, Enron, and the tales of how the company spread
nearly $6 million in campaign donations across
Washington since 1989. More than half of the
contributions were soft money.
"As the Enron storm clouds come in, the public's
tolerance of this soft money system is growing thin," said
Representative Martin T. Meehan, the Massachusetts
Democrat who is one of the lead sponsors of the overhaul
bill, along with Representative Christopher Shays,
Republican of Connecticut.
The six-month petition drive culminated in the early
afternoon. A final four House members, two Republicans
and two Democrats, went to the well of the House and
signed, giving the advocates of the legislation the 218
signatures necessary, a majority of the House. Twenty of
the 218 were Republicans who defied their leaders.
"The American people deserve a full debate about how
campaigns are financed," said Representative Richard E.
Neal, the Massachusetts Democrat who provided the
218th and decisive signature.
For seven years a coalition of Democrats and Republicans
has drawn wide support for its effort to ban soft money
but has been defeated repeatedly by Republican leaders.
The bill would also rein in advertising by outside advocacy
groups. Its Republican opponents say it abridges free
speech rights and would weaken the national political
parties.
"It doesn't change the fact, with 218 signatures, that it's a
flawed bill," said Stuart Roy, a spokesman for
Representative Tom DeLay, the House majority whip from
Texas, who has long spearheaded opposition to the bill.
The House passed the measure with large majorities in
1998 and 1999 only to see it die in a Republican-led
filibuster in the Senate. Last year, the Senate passed the
bill. But Speaker J. Dennis HASTERT would not let it come
to the floor after House members defeated the
Republican- written rules for debate, saying they were
unfair. The bill's supporters then mounted their petition
drive.
Such petitions rarely gain the necessary votes because
they are viewed as a challenge to the right of the majority
party to control the Congressional agenda. The last time
218 House members signed such a petition was in 1994
when the Democrats still controlled Congress and
lawmakers wanted a vote on a constitutional amendment
for a balanced budget. In 1998, then Speaker Newt
Gingrich ended his efforts to stop a campaign finance vote
when the allies of Mr. Shays and Mr. Meehan came close
to 218 signatures in a similar petition drive.
Republican leaders issued no statements and debated
what to do now at a leadership retreat in the nearby
waterfront town of St. Michaels, Md. It was not known
precisely when the debate would start. "There's no final
decision on the timing," said John P. Feehery, a
spokesman for Mr. Hastert.
Representative Dick Armey, the House majority leader
from Texas, said this week that the Republican leaders
would bow to the inevitable if a majority of the House
signed the petition. He said the bill would be considered
"in an expeditious and cordial fashion." Some Republicans
said the debate would take place in February.
Under House rules, the supporters of the Shays-Meehan
bill are now entitled to bring their legislation to the floor
on certain Mondays after seven legislative work days have
passed. But since the House often does not work on
Mondays it was still possible that Republican leaders —
who oppose the measure — could try to delay the vote for
months.
Republican aides said their leaders still wanted some
change in the rules for debate set up by the petition, and
Mr. Feehery pointedly noted that Monday workdays might
not happen until June.
Once the debate starts, the outcome is also not assured.
The Shays- Meehan bill is only one of three that will be
voted on. It will have to win more support than a less
stringent measure sponsored by Representative Bob Ney,
Republican of Ohio, and another bill to be submitted by
Republican leaders. Whichever bill emerges from that
faceoff is then subject to 20 amendment attempts.
"We are moving into the new phase of what will be a long
fight," Mr. Meehan said. "We do not underestimate the
strength of our opposition." While the two men have
succeeded in the past, their supporters have always been
able to vote for change sure that the bill would be
defeated in the Senate. Not all the signers of the petition
are sure votes for final passage.
"I have not committed to vote for it," said Representative
Corrine Brown, a Florida Democrat who provided one of
the last four signatures today. She said she wanted to
make sure the parties would have enough money under
the bill to help with minority voter education.
It is also not known what President Bush will do. He and
Senator John McCain, an Arizona Republican, sparred
over the issue in the Republican presidential primaries
after Mr. McCain put the push against soft money at the
center of his race and Mr. Bush has expressed
reservations in the past about key elements of the bill. Ari
Fleischer, the White House spokesman, said today that
Mr. Bush "wants to see progress made on campaign
finance reform so he can sign something into law."
The petition drive was begun by conservative Democrats
and by December 214 members had signed to bring the
Shays-Meehan bill to the floor. For the past month its
supporters have been in an intense drive to find the final
votes.
Groups like Common Cause ran telephone banks.
Minnesota's independent governor, Jesse Ventura, made
calls to his state's delegation, officials said. Al Gore's
campaign manager, Donna Brazile, was enlisted to help
with wavering black lawmakers. Mr. McCain worked on
Republicans. Representative Richard A. Gephardt, the
House minority leader, contacted every Democrat who had
not signed to press for support.
The Republicans, Charles Bass of New Hampshire and
Tom Petri of Wisconsin, each met with Mr. Hastert over
the past few days, before they chose today to sign the
petition. They did so with no fanfare in the late morning.
Then with the House empty except for a few members
making speeches on pet topics, Mr. Gephardt, led Ms.
Brown and Mr. Neal to the well of the House to deliver the
last two signatures.
"God love you," Mr. Gephardt said beaming, hugging Ms.
Brown and teasing Mr. Neal, who had long opposed such
petitions from the days when a fellow Massachusetts
lawmaker, Thomas P. O'Neill, was the Speaker. Later Mr.
Bass said in a statement that he had been trying to
persuade Mr. Hastert to allow the measure to the floor.
"Unfortunately we were unable to reach an agreement,"
he said. Mr. Petri said he signed the petition because he
felt the vote should take place "sooner rather than later"
and that the effort should be bipartisan.
nytimes.com January 25, 2002 |
