For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
March 15, 2001
President Bush Outlines Campaign Reform Principles
March 15, 2001
The Honorable Trent Lott
Senate Majority Leader
S-230, The Capitol
Washington, DC 20510
Dear Senator Lott:
As the Senate prepares to consider campaign
finance reform legislation, I wanted to highlight my principles for
reform. I am committed to working with the Congress to
ensure that fair and balanced campaign reform legislation is enacted.
These principles represent my framework for
assessing campaign finance reform legislation. I remain open
to other ideas to meet shared goals.
I am hopeful that, working together, we can
achieve responsible campaign finance reforms.
Sincerely,
George W. Bush
Campaign
Finance Reform
President Bush's Reform Principles
Protect Rights of Individuals to Participate in Democracy: President
Bush believes democracy is first and foremost about the rights of
individuals to express their views. He supports
strengthening the role of individuals in the political process by: 1)
updating the limits established more than two decades ago on individual
giving to candidates and national parties; and 2) protecting the rights
of citizen groups to engage in issue advocacy.
Maintain Strong Political Parties: President Bush believes political
parties play an essential role in making America's democratic system
operate. He wants to maintain the strength of parties, and
not to weaken them. Any reform should help political parties
more fully engage citizens in the political process and encourage them
to express their views and to vote.
Ban Corporate and Union Soft Money: Corporations and labor
unions spend millions of dollars every election cycle in unregulated
'soft? money to influence federal elections. President Bush
supports a ban on unregulated corporate and union contributions of soft
money to political parties.
Eliminate Involuntary Contributions: President Bush believes no one
should be forced to support a candidate or cause against his or her
will. He therefore supports two parallel
reforms: 1) legislation to prohibit corporations from using
treasury funds for political activity without the permission of
shareholders; and 2) legislation to require unions to obtain
authorization from each dues-paying worker before spending those dues
on activities unrelated to collective bargaining.
Require Full and Prompt Disclosure: President Bush also believes that
in an open society, the best safeguard against abuse is full
disclosure. He supports full, prompt and constitutionally
permissible disclosure of contributions and expenditures designed to
influence the outcome of federal elections, so voters will have
complete and timely information on which to make informed decisions.
Promote Fair, Balanced, Constitutional Approach: President Bush
believes reform should not favor any one party over another or
incumbents over challengers. Both corporations and unions
should be prohibited from giving soft money to political parties, and
both corporations and unions should have to obtain permission from
their stockholders or dues-paying workers before spending treasury
funds or dues on politics. President Bush supports including
a non-severability provision, so if any provision of the bill is found
unconstitutional, the entire bill is sent back to Congress for further
adjustments and deliberations. This provision will ensure
fair and balanced campaign finance reform.
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