Friday, March 30, 2001
THOMPSON/LIEBERMAN AMENDMENT TO STRENGTHEN ENFORCEMENT OF ELECTION
LAW ADDED TO
MCCAIN-FEINGOLD BILL
WASHINGTON- Senate Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Fred
Thompson (R-TN) and Ranking Democrat Joseph Lieberman (D-CT)
announced today that their legislation to strengthen enforcement
of election law by modifying penalties was approved as an
amendment to the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform bill
Thursday night.
"The blatant and widespread abuses in the 1996 campaign
fundraising scandal clearly necessitate better enforcement if we
are to avoid a repeat of these violations in future
campaigns," Thompson said. "This legislation will make
it less likely that people will willingly flout the laws we
have."
"These provisions will ensure that actions that are
already criminal, and that we all agree are wrong, will be
punished," Lieberman said. "They simply provide
prosecutors with the tools they need to deter and effectively
punish those who would violate the laws."
The Thompson/Lieberman bill would:
Authorize felony prosecutions for campaign finance
violations. The Federal Election Campaign Act allows only
misdemeanor prosecutions, although prosecutors have used other
felony statutes to prosecute violators. Felony prosecutions
would be in order if the offender acted "knowingly and
willfully" and if the offense involved at least $25,000.
Direct the U.S. Sentencing Commission to issue a guideline on
campaign finance violations. Because there is no guideline now
specifically addressing violations of the campaign finance laws,
judges have to use other guidelines – usually the one for fraud.
But the fraud guideline frequently results in little or no jail
time. Under the amendment, judges would have to consider longer
sentences for those convicted of foreign money violations, large
illegal contributions, or the receipt or disbursement of
government funds.
Extend the statute of limitations from three to five years.
Campaign finance violations are the only federal crimes, aside
from violations of the Internal Revenue code, that have a statute
of limitations under five years. Former Justice Department special
prosecutor Charles LaBella has said three years is not enough time
to fully investigate complex campaign finance cases.
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