Congressman Mica, how do you feel about the campaign finance legislation passed by Congress?

    On March 27, 2002, the so-called Shays-Meehan campaign finance reform bill was signed into law and was quickly followed by numerous lawsuits filed by organizations wanting to determine the constitutionality of this legislation.  In its final version I could not support this legislation for 2 important reasons:  it does not ban soft money and it may in fact impede on our right of Free Speech.  I supported a reform plan that is more comprehensive than Shays-Meehan and would ban ALL soft money in federal elections.

     In politics, language is often contorted, but permit me to make it plain and clear:  the Shays-Meehan bill that passed does not ban soft money under any definition or by any stretch of the imagination.

     Even under the new law unions, corporations and wealthy individuals could still donate massive amounts of soft money to State and local political parties.  These donations are permitted up to $10,000 and can be made to every State and local party in the country.

     We heard a lot of talk about Enron and how the Enron debacle demonstrates the need for campaign finance reform.  Even if this bill had been law, the Enron abuses would not have been prevented.  All the money that Enron contributed could still have been given even if this bill were law.

     Shays-Meehan also imposes a number of serious restrictions on political speech.  It prevents an organization from spending its own money promoting a message its members support if they mention a candidate in the 60 days before an election.  The primary protection of our first amendment is the right of average citizens to freely and fully criticize their government and elected officials.  Political speech is the key to political freedom, and Shays-Meehan would radically weaken our first amendment right by inappropriately and unwisely constraining the right to political speech during the last days before an election, a very crucial period of political dialogue. 

     I support efforts to improve campaign finance laws and the integrity of federal elections.  Present campaign finance laws have allowed some flagrant abuses, inadequate disclosure and camouflaged special interest involvement.  While I strongly believe that any proposed legislation should include language that addresses these concerns, we must also protect the right of individuals and grass roots efforts to express their views and opinions in our electoral system.