Common Cause Says CFR Victory is Near
Stop Delaying Campaign Finance Reform (CFR)
(Publisher's note -- would campaign finance reform help our democracy? We'd like to find out. Please help to keep this bill chugging along.)
Common Cause Asks You to Contact Pro-Reform Republicans Or Non-Signing Democrats
Today Via Fax Or Email
Back on May 5, House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL)
announced that he intends to wait until September to bring
the bipartisan Shays-Meehan campaign finance reform bill to
the House floor for consideration.
Hastert's delay is a clear attempt to kill campaign finance reform. A September vote on Shays-Meehan would guarantee that the bill would not pass until just before Congress adjourns for the year. The Senate would not take up reform then until 2000 - an election year in which partisan political priorities will likely dominate the congressional agenda.
To force prompt consideration of Shays-Meehan, House reform leaders have filed a discharge petition. If a majority of House Members - 218 of the 435 total - sign the discharge petition, Shays-Meehan will come to the House floor for a fair vote. With 192 signatures already on the discharge petition, only 26 more are needed.
Please contact your Representative today about the discharge petition. Thank your House Member if he/she has signed the petition. Strongly urge your House Member to sign if he/she has not already.
You can send an e-mail message or fax to your House Member directly from the Common Cause website at:
http://www.commoncause.org/get_involved/action_petition.htm.
Simply enter your zip code, and enter your contact information on the following page. Your Representative will be more likely to respond to your fax or email if you identify yourself as a constituent by filling out your address completely.
More information on the discharge petition and the effort to pass Shays-Meehan is available at:
http://www.commoncause.org/publications/april99/050799.htm
The following are lists of the 31 Republican Shays-Meehan cosponsors and the 20 Democrats who have not signed the discharge petition. These are the House Members most likely to sign the petition.
For more information, call the Activist Hotline at 1-800-926-1064 and ask for the Grassroots Department.
House Republican cosponsors of Shays-Meehan:
Tom Campbell CA-15
Elton Gallegly CA-23
Steve Horn CA-38
Brian Bilbray CA-49
Christopher Shays CT-04
Nancy Johnson CT-06
Michael Castle DE-00
Jim Leach IA-01
Greg Ganske IA-04
John Porter IL-10
Wayne Gilchrest MD-01
Connie Morella MD-08
Jim Ramstad MN-03
Bill Barrett NE-03
Charles Bass NH-02
Frank LoBiondo NJ-02
Marge Roukema NJ-05
Bob Franks NJ-07
Rodney Frelinghuysen NJ-11
Michael Forbes NY-01
Sue Kelly NY-19
Benjamin Gilman NY-20
Sherwood Boehlert NY-23
James Walsh NY-25
Amo Houghton NY-31
Paul Gillmor OH-05
Jim Greenwood PA-08
Mark Sanford SC-01
Lindsey Graham SC-03
Zach Wamp TN-03
Jack Metcalf WA-02
Democrats who have not signed the discharge petition:
Earl Hilliard AL-7
Matthew Martinez CA-31
Peter Visclosky IN-1
Ken Lucas KY-4
Richard Neal MA-2
Joe Moakley MA-9
James Barcia MI-5
Collin Peterson MN-7
James Oberstar MN-8
Bennie Thompson MS-2
Gene Taylor MS-5
James Traficant OH-17
Tim Holden PA-6
John Murtha PA-12
Ralph Hall TX-4
Owen Pickett VA-2
Virgil Goode VA-5
David Obey WI-7
Alan Mollohan WV-1
Nick Rahall WV-3
Do you have an opinion on campaign finance reform? Are you cynical or hopeful? Tell The Progress Report:
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