Clinton Urges Action on Donation ‘Arms Race’

With Congress investigating past abuses in campaign spending and jerking toward a vote on whether to reform the system, President Clinton predicted Saturday that this fall will be “a time of testing” to see whether political leaders truly can improve the way they collect and spend money.

Devoting his weekly radio address to campaign finance reform, the president did not mention the swirl of allegations that have hit the White House and his own Democratic Party in the past year as to whether they broke or skirted federal laws in seeking donations.

Rather, he relied on more traditional themes about the potentials for abuse if the system is not corrected. Clinton said the political process has been overwhelmed by the rising costs of running for office--largely due to advertising--and the torrent of cash that pours into campaign coffers.

“The amount of money raised by both political parties now doubles every four years,” he said. “And the candidates themselves are caught up in a fund-raising arms race, spending more and more time raising more and more money, which is bound to raise more questions in the public’s mind.

“The campaign system is broken, and every one of us must take responsibility for fixing it.”

In the Senate, Republican leaders are moving cautiously toward a vote on campaign finance reform.

Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.) had been saying it might be prudent to wait until after the current hearings into campaign finance abuses so it will be known whether any laws were broken. But on Friday he indicated that perhaps some reform bill could get to a vote later this year, even if the hearings are not finished.

Clinton took that as a cue that the Senate should act sooner than later, noting that he favors a bipartisan measure that would ban the use of so-called soft-money donations to the political parties. Such donations are largely unregulated.

“The American public clearly wants action,” the president said. “This is a time of testing for members of the United States Senate. The opponents of reform are gearing up to keep it from coming to a vote at all. Let’s be clear: A vote to filibuster campaign reform is a vote to keep special-interest money and kill reform.”

In the GOP response, Rep. Frank Riggs (R-Windsor) promoted education reform and said Republicans have “worked very hard” to make college more affordable through scholarships and education savings accounts.

He said Republican lawmakers have also passed a juvenile delinquency prevention measure.