Holding Congress accountable - U.S. House - campaign finance reform - includes related articles

The Senate's action on campaign finance reform legislation was a tribute to the tenacity of Common Cause members (see page 27). We now must multiply our efforts in the House of Representatives, where opponents are working to stop reform dead in its tracks.

A majority of representatives are publicly on record in support of comprehensive reform. More than 220 made public commitments during their 1992 campaigns to support comprehensive legislation, including public campaign resources for candidates who agree to spending limits. Another 49 representatives did not sign the CC commitment but voted for the reforrn bill passed by die House last year by 259-165, a bill that included provisions for public campaign resources and spending limits. These 273 representatives are the core group whose votes will determine whether Congress passes a strong reform bill.

Now that we have a president signing a strong bill, some representatives are backing off from their support for public campaign resources, a key element of reform. The enormous incentives for incumbents to deny new public resources to their challengers and hold on to the current system are clearly demonstrated by the 1992 elections. House incumbents who ran in the general election had available campaign resources, on average, of $711,537, compared with $156,580 available to challengers. And the incumbent advantage in PAC money was nearly 10 to 1.

Many representatives spent more money just on unsolicited taxpayer-financed mass mailings to their constituents in 1991-1992 than their challengers were able to raise altogether for their campaigns. This "franked" mail is essentially public financing for incumbents only. Incumbents spent $74 million on mass mail in 1991-1992; House opposents altogether raised only $49 million.

Given these enormous advantages, it is not surprising that the closer we get to enactment of campaign finance reform legislation, the more reluctant incumbents are to pass a strong bill. There is especially strong resistance in the House to public campaign resources, which are needed to enable challengers to run more competitive campaigns and replace candidates' reliance on special interest contributions.

Our job will be to hold accountable representatives who made public commitments during the campaign season or cast reform votes last year. Members of Congress must know that constituents are watching to see if representatives' campaign commitments will be kept.

Our goal is a strong bill that provides clean public resources to candidates who agree to abide by spending limits. To reach that goal, Common Cause members will have to continue to make their voices heard.

COMMITMENTS TO KEEP

THESE REPRESENTATIVES MADE a public commitment to their constituents during the 1992 congressional campaign to support campaign finance reform legislation that includes clean public campaign resources for candidates who abide by spending limits. It is vital that these representatives honor their commitments to clean up the system in Washington. If your representative is on this list, write to urge that he or she stick with the commitment to support campaign reform and take a leadership role in making sure that the House bill includes the essential element of public campaign resources.

AL-02 Terry Everett AL-04 Tom Bevil AL-07 Earl F. Hilliard AR-01 Blanche Lambert AZ-01 Sam Coppersmith AZ-02 Ed Pastor AZ-06 Karan English CA-01 Dan Hamburg CA-03 Vic Fazio CA-06 Lynn Woolsey CA-09 Ron Dellums CA-12 Tom Lantos CA-13 Pete Stark CA-14 Anna G. Eshoo CA-15 Norman Mineta CA-16 Don Edwards CA-18 Gary Condit CA-19 Richard Lehman CA-20 Calvin Dooley CA-24 Anthony Beilenson CA-25 Howard P. McKeon CA-29 Henry Waxman CA-30 Xavier Becerra CA-31 Matthew Martinez CA-32 Julian Dixon CA-34 Esteban Torres CA-35 Maxine Waters CA-36 Jane Harman CA-37 Walter Tucker CA-38 Steve Horn CA-41 Jay Kim CA-42 George Brown CA-49 Lynn Schenk CA-50 Bob Filner CO-01 Patricia Schroeder CO-02 David Skaggs CT-01 Barbara Kennelly CT-02 Sam Gejdenson CT-03 Rosa DeLauro CT-04 Chris Shays FL-01 Earl Hutto FL-02 Pete Peterson FL-05 Karen Thurmnan FL-07 John L. Mica FL-09 Michael Bilirakis FL-11 Sam Gibbons FL-15 Jim Bacchus FL-16 Tom Lewis FL-19 Harry Johnston FL-20 Peter Deutsch FL-23 Alcee L. Hastings GA-01 Jack Kingston GA-02 Sanford Bishop GA-05 John Lewis GA-07 Buddy Darden GA-09 Nathan Deal GA-10 Don Johnson GA-11 Cynthia McKinney HI-01 Neail Abercrombie HI-02 Patsy Mink IA-01 Jim Leach IA-04 Neal Smith ID-01 Larry LaRocco IL-02 Mel Reynolds IL-03 William Lipinski IL-04 Luis V. Gutierrez IL-09 Sidney Yates IL-11 George Sangmeister IL-17 Lane Evans IL-20 Richard Durbin IN-02 Phil Sham IN-03 Tim Roemer IN-04 Jill Long IN-05 Steve Buyer IN-08 Frank McCloskey IN-09 Lee Hamilton IN-10 Andrew Jacobs KS-02 Jim Slattery KS-04 Dan Glickman KY-01 Thomas Barlow KY-03 Romano Mazzoli MA-01 John Olver MA-05 Martin Meehan MA-06 Peter Totkildsen MA-07 Ed Markey MA-08 Joseph Kennedy MA-09 Joe Moakley MA-10 Gerry Studds MD-03 Benjamin Cardin MD-05 Steny Hoyer MD-06 Roscoe Bartlett MD-07 Kweisi Mfume MD-08 Connie Morella ME-01 Tom Andrews MI-01 Bart Stupak MI-02 Peter Hoekstra MI-05 James A. Barcia MI-07 Nick Smith MI-09 Dale Kildee MI-10 David Bonior MI-12 Sander Levin MI-13 William Ford MI-14 John Conyers MI-16 John Dingell MN-01 Tim Penny MN-02 David Minge MN-04 Bruce Vento MN-05 Martin Sabo MN-06 Rod Grams MN-07 Collin Peterson MN-08 James Oberstar MO-03 Richard Gephardt MO-05 Alan Wheat MO-06 Patsy Ann Danner MO-09 Harold Volkmer MS-03 Sonny Montgomery MS-05 Gene Taylor MT-AL Pat Wiliiams NC-01 Eva Clayton NC-02 Tim Valentine NC-07 Charles Rose NC-08 William Hefner NC-09 J. Alex McMillan NC-11 Charles Taylor ND-AL Earl Pomeroy NE-02 Peter Hoagland NH-02 Dick Swett NJ-01 Rob Andrews NJ-02 William Hughes NJ-04 Chris Smith NJ-05 Marge Roukema NJ-06 Frank Pallone NJ-07 Bob Fracks NJ-08 Herbert C. Klein NJ-10 Donald Payne NJ-13 Robert Menendez NM-03 Bill Richardson NV-01 James Bilbray NY-01 George Hochbrueckner NY-02 Rick Lazio NY-05 Gary Ackerman NY-07 Thomas Manton NY-08 Jerrold Nadler NY-09 Charles Schumer NY-10 Edolphus Towns NY-11 Major Owens NY-14 Carolyn Maloney NY-15 Charles Rangel NY-16 Jose Serrano NY-18 Nita Lowey NY-19 Hamilton Fish NY-26 Benjamin Gilman NY-23 Sherwood Boehert NY-26 Maurice D. Hinchey NY-28 Louise Slaughter NY-29 John LaFalce NY-30 Jack Quinn OH-01 David Mann OH-03 Tony Hall OH-06 Ted Strickland OH-09 Marcy Kaptur OH-10 Martin R. Hoke OH-11 Louis Stokes OH-13 Sherrod Brown OH-14 Thomas Sawyer OH-11 James Traficant OH-19 Efic D. Fingerhut OK-02 Mike Synar OR-01 Elizabeth Furse OR-03 03 Ron Wyden OR-04 Peter DeFazio PA-02 Lucien Blackwell PA-03 Robert Borski PA-04 Ron Klink PA-06 Tim Holden PA-08 Jim Greenwood PA-11 Paul Kanjorski PA-13 Marjorie M. Mezvinsky PA-14 William Coyne PA-15 Paul McHale PA-11 George Gekas PA-18 Rick Santorum PA-19 William Goodling PA-21 Thomas Ridge RI-01 Ronald Machtley RI-02 Jack Reed SC-01 Arthur Ravenel SC-03 Butler Derrick SC-05 John Spratt SC-06 Jim Clyburn SD-AL Tim Johnson TN-02 John Duncan TN-03 Marilyn Lloyd TN-05 Bob Clement TN-06 Bart Gordon TN-08 John Tanner TX-02 Charles Wilson TX-04 Ralph Hall TX-05 John Bryant TX-14 Greg Laughlin TX-15 Kika de la Garza TX-16 Ron Coleman TX-29 Gene Green UT-02 Karen Shepherd UT-63 Bill Orton VA-05 Lewis Payne VA-08 James Moran VA-09 Rick Boucher VA-11 Leslie Byrne VT-AL *Bernard Sanders WA-01 Maria Cantwell WA-02 Al Swift WA-04 Jay Inslee WA-06 Norm Dicks WA-07 Jim McDermott WA-09 mike Kreidler WI-01 Peter Barca 1993 special election) WI-02 Scott Klug WI-04 Gerald Kleczka WI-05 Thomas M. Barrett WI-06 Tom Petri WI-08 Toby Roth WV-02 Robert Wise WV-03 Nick Joe Rahall

VOTED FOR REFORM LAST YEAR

THESE REPRESENTATIVES VOTED for the campaign finance reform bill passed by Congress last year and vetoed by President Bush. That bill included a system of spending limits and public campaign resources and was similar to the bill proposed by President Clinton this year. If your representative is on this list, write and urge him or her to continue to vote for a strong campaign finance reform bill that includes the essential element of public campaign resources. Urge your representative not to abandon campaign reform. AL-03 Glen Browder AL-05 Bud Cramer AR-02 Ray Thornton CA-05 Robert Matsui CA-07 George Miller CA-08 Nancy Pelosi CA-26 Howard Berman GA-08 Roy Rowland IL-05 Dan Rostenkowski IL-07 Cardiss Collins IL-19 Glenn Poshard IN-01 Peter. Visclosky KY-02 William Natcher LA-02 William Jefferson MA-02 Richard Neat MA-04 Barney Frank ME-02 Olympia Snowe MI-15 Barbara-Rose Collins MO-01 William Clay MO-04 Ike Skelton MS-04 Mike Parker NC-03 Martin Lancaster NC-04 David Price NC-05 Stephen Neal NJ-09 Robert Torricelli NJ-12 Dick Zimmer NY-06 Floyd Flake NY-17 Eliot Engel NY-21 Michael McNulty OK-03 Bill Brewster OK-04 Dave McCurdy OK-06 Glen English OR-05 Mile Kopetski PA-01 Thomas Foglietta PA-12 John Murtha TN-04 Jim Copper TN-09 Harold Ford TX-01 Jim Chapman TX-09 Jack Brooks TX-10 Jake Pickle TX-11 Chet Edwards TX-17 Charles Stenholm TX-18 Craig Washington TX-20 Henry Gonzalez TX-25 Mike Andrews TX-27 Solomon Ortiz WA-03 Jolene Unsoeld WI-07 David Obey WV-01 Alan Mollohan

WHAT WILL THEY DO?

These newly elected members of Congress did not sign the Common Cause public commitment during the 1992 congressional campaign to support comprehensive campaig finance reform, including public campaign resources. If your representative is on this, write and urge that he or she support a strong compaign finance reform bill that includes the essenial element of public resources.

AL-06 Spencer Bachus AR-03 Tim Hutchinson AR-04 Jay Dickey CA-10 Bill Baker CA-11 Richard Pombo CA-17 Sam Farr CA-22 Michael Huffington CA-33 Lucille Roybal-Allard CA-39 Ed Royce CA-43 ken Calvert CO-03 Scott McInnis DE-Al Michael Castle FL-03 Corrine Brown FL-04 Tillie Fowler FL-12 Charles Canady FL-13 Dan Miller FL-17 Carrie Meek FL-21 Lincoln Diaz-Balart GA-03 Mac Collins GA-04 John Linder ID-02 Michael Crapo IL-01 Bobby Rush IL-16 Donald Manzullo KY-06 Scotty Baesler LA-04 Cleo Fields MA-03 Peter Blute MD-04 Albert Wynn MI-11 Joseph Knollenbertg MO-02 James Talent MS-02 Bennie Thompson NC-12 Melvin Watt NY-03 Peter King NY-04 David Levy NY-12 Nydia Velazquez NY-24 John McHugh OH-02 Rob Portman OH-15 Deborah Pryce OK-05 Ernest Istook SC-04 Robert Inglis TX-23 Henry Bonilla TX-28 Frank Tejeda TX-30 Eddie Bernice Johnson VA-03 Robert C. Scott VA-06 Robert Goodlatte WA-08 Jennifer Dunn

HYPOCRISY HALL OF FAME - U.S. SENATE

During the Senate debate on campaign finance reform, Republican leaders made opposition to public financing the centerpiece of their battle to defeat S.3. Yet many of the same senators who voted against providing congressional challengers with public resources have spent taxpayer money on self-promoting mass mailings to their constituents. This "franked" mass mail is known as public financing for incumbents only. Among the most egregious:

* Sen. Robert Dole (R-Kan.) has led Senate Republican opposition to public financing. At the same time, he has benefited from almost $30 million in public money for his presidential and vice-presidential campaigns and spent nearly $800,000 in taxpayer money to send franked mass mailings between 1985 and June 1993.

* Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), another leader of Republican Senate opposition to public financing, spent more than $2.1 million on mass mailings.

*Sen. Alfonse D'Amato (R-N.Y.), who voted against public funding for congressional challengers, spent $12.8 million on franked mass mailings.

*Sen. Phil Gramm (R-Texas), a vocal opponent of public financing, spent more than $3.6 million in taxpayer money on his mass mailings.

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