McCain Backs Meehan Suit, Has Plans for FEC
By Randy Trick
WASHINGTON, Nov. 14, 2002–At a midday press conference Thursday, Sen. John McCain, the campaign finance reformer from Arizona, had harsh words for the Federal Election Commission (FEC), which, he said, distorted the landmark law he and Rep. Martin T. Meehan pushed through Congress earlier this year.
McCain, a Republican, said he backs a lawsuit Meehan has filed against the FEC, and plans many of his own. He charged that four commissioners on the six-member board are too tied to partisan politics and have created new loopholes to keep money flowing into the political system.
“A law borne of years of debate on the floor of the Senate and House, and which was secured by the mobilization of thousands upon thousands of Americans, should not be strangled in its crib by four unelected officials,” McCain said.
The Bipartisan Campaign Finance Reform Act, signed into law last March, sought to end the solicitation of soft money by the major parties and the prevalence of “issue ads,” which do not directly name a candidate. However, both Meehan, the Lowell Democrat, and McCain allege the FEC commissioners allowed soft money to continue by giving the national parties a chance to create “shadow entities” which can still raise soft money.
“I don’t think the FEC has gotten the message that the people want campaign finance reform,” Meehan said.
Meehan and Rep. Christopher Shays (R-CT) have filed suit in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The FEC has not yet responded to the suit.
“You can’t have a better ally than John McCain,” Meehan said. “He has a way with plain-speak that resonates with the American people.”
McCain, in addition to lambasting the FEC commissioners, said he has plans to reform the entire FEC.
“Trust has been abused time and time again by some at the FEC … The FEC has lost all credibility,” McCain said. “It must either be eliminated or fundamentally and dramatically reconstituted, and I will introduce legislation to accomplish this.”
When asked for specifics, McCain said he was looking at all options, including changing how commissioners are appointed and how they can be removed, and possibly abolishing or restructuring the entire commission. Meehan said he hopes to co-author legislation with McCain to meet their goals.
“We’re looking at what’s wrong with the FEC,” Meehan said. “It is by nature a partisan entity.”
McCain indicated that he intends to file a series of lawsuits against the FEC, or corporations and unions that willingly circumvented his campaign finance reform law.
Also, McCain hopes to put the public spotlight on big-money donors.
“We will be challenging these individuals in public as well as in the courts,” McCain said. “I am totally confident we’ll succeed in court.”
Published in The Lawrence Eagle Tribune, in Massachusetts.
