Just when we thought nothing positive could possibly emerge from the Enron debacle, something has -- campaign finance reform will finally find its way past vociferous House and Senate opposition and onto the President’s desk. This week the Senate will take up historic campaign finance reform legislation when McCain-Feingold is brought to the floor. Although the opposition threatens a filibuster, this looks increasingly improbable of success, a sad but potent reminder of the continuing impact of the Enron scandal and perhaps the only positive impact of the corporate collapse.

When passed, McCain-Feingold will be one of the major accomplishments of the 107th Congress, and it is a cause I have labored for since my first days in Congress. After being elected in the most costly race for the U.S. House of Representatives in history, the first bill I cosponsored was the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act introduced by Rep. Chris Shays, a Republican, and Rep. Marty Meehan, a Democrat. This House bill, modeled after McCain-Feingold in the Senate, bans sham “issue ads” and other soft money abuses of the political process.

Throughout my 2000 campaign, and particularly in the weeks leading up to the election, I was attacked by ads paid for by massive unregulated contributions that exceeded the legal limits by millions of dollars. So was my opponent. And since these expenditures were made independent of the candidates, no one could be held accountable. Not my opponent. Not me. No one.

My campaign experience made it very clear that we needed strong campaign finance reform measures, and I saw an opportunity to turn my race into a vehicle for reform. That is why I started founded the bipartisan “Freshmen for Reform” with Republican Mark Kirk, survivor of the second most expensive House race in the nation. Together, we worked hard to mobilize the freshman class to support campaign finance reform. Our success was modest, but potentially significant: The freshman class produced several of the signatures necessary to bring Shays-Meehan up on the floor through a discharge petition, and provided some of the margin necessary for passage in the House.

To protect the integrity of our democratic electoral process and restore the faith of the American people in our political process, Shays-Meehan reduces the corrosive influence of unregulated soft money donations which have left our political parties beholden to special interests. It closes the sham “issue ad” loophole that has permitted interest groups to spend unlimited sums on ads attacking candidates without being subject to our campaign rules because these ads do not mention the words “vote for” or “vote against.” And it gives the Federal Election Commission the teeth it needs to enforce the law.

Contributions from corporate treasuries have been banned since 1907, when Teddy Roosevelt sought to curb the excessive influence of the large conglomerates on the political process. Similarly, labor unions have been precluded from using their treasury funds to influence federal elections since 1947. Although corporations and labor can form political action committees of their members to contribute, those “hard” money contributions are limited to $5,000. Individuals are limited to $1,000.

The Shays-Meehan bill bans soft money contributions to the national political parties-with no ifs, ands or buts. It prohibits federal officeholders and candidates from soliciting soft money in connection with federal elections, and requires state and local parties to spend hard money on all but grass roots activities. And the Shays-Meehan bill requires unions and corporate interests to use hard money to pay for broadcast ads that are targeted at a candidate’s electorate and that mention a federal candidate within 60 days of a general election or 30 days of a primary.

First Amendment rights will not be abridged, but those who fund campaign ads will have to disclose to the American people their contributors, the same as federal candidates are now required to do, and have that funding subject to contribution limits.

The McCain-Feingold/Shays-Meehan reform legislation is not perfect, and it should not have taken an Enron to motivate legislators to pass it. More reforms will be needed, and special interests will continue to seek out loopholes. But it is a necessary and vital start in ensuring that campaign-related ads are paid for using funds which are disclosed to the American people and subject to fair and reasonable limits. Only then can we overcome the influence of big money interests and begin to restore the trust of the American people in our democracy.