E PL UR UM IB N U U S Congressional Record United States th of America PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE 113 CONGRESS, SECOND SESSION Vol. 160 WASHINGTON, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2014 No. 128 Senate The Senate met at 10 a.m. and was with the Republicans controlling the leagues on the other side of the aisle will be called to order by the President pro first 30 minutes and the majority the willing to eliminate PACs altogether. And tempore (Mr. LEAHY). final 30 minutes. Following morning we would have the money come from individ- business the Senate will resume consid- uals in small and fully disclosed amounts. PRAYER eration of a motion to proceed to S.J. A few years later, 1997: The Chaplain, Dr. Barry C. Black, of- Res. 19 postcloture. The Senate will re- Public disclosure of campaign contribu- fered the following prayer: cess from 12:30 to 2:15 p.m. to allow for tions and spending should be expedited so our weekly caucus meetings. voters can judge for themselves what is ap- Let us pray. propriate. These are reforms which respect Eternal Spirit, the fountain of our f the Constitution and would enhance our de- joy, You see our thoughts from a dis- mocracy. tance, comprehending the nuances of MEASURE PLACED ON THE CALENDAR Three years later, in 2000, another our motives. Lord, You understand our quote: desire to please and honor You with Mr. REID. Mr. President, S. 2779 is at We need to have real disclosure. And so our lives. You know our remorse for the desk, I understand, and is due for what we ought to do is broaden the disclo- neglected duties, missed opportunities, its second reading. sure to include at least labor unions and tax- and selfish pursuits. Give our law- The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. exempt business associations and trial law- makers strength for today and hope for BOOKER). The clerk will read the bill by yers so that you include the major political tomorrow. Today, meet the needs of title for the second time. players in America. Why would a little dis- our Senators as they confront our dan- The legislative clerk read as follows: closure be better than a lot of disclosure? gerous world, providing them with A bill (S. 2779) to amend section 349 of the A quote from 2003: more than human wisdom to accom- Immigration and Nationality Act to deem Money is essential in politics and not plish Your will. Give them faith to specified activities in support of terrorism as something we should feel squeamish about, trust that Your sovereign providence renunciation of United States nationality. provided the donations are limited and dis- will prevail in the unfolding events of Mr. REID. Mr. President, I would ob- closed, everyone knows who is supporting ev- our world. Remind them that they are ject to any further proceedings with re- eryone else. never alone, for You will never leave or spect to this bill. So, Mr. President, who did these forsake them. We pray in Your sacred The PRESIDING OFFICER. The ob- statements come from? TOM UDALL, Name. Amen. jection having been heard, the bill will the sponsor of the vote that we had last f be placed on the calendar. night? MICHAEL BENNET from Colorado? He and TOM UDALL sponsored the con- f PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE stitutional amendment. Did it come The President pro tempore led the CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM from them or some other Democrat? Pledge of Allegiance, as follows: Mr. REID. Mr. President, I want to No, that is not the case. I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the start today by reading a few quotes on Let me quote a few more things: United States of America, and to the Repub- the issue of campaign finance reform. Keep wealthy individuals from buying pub- lic for which it stands, one nation under God, Here is the first one from 1987: lic office and stop the flow of soft money and indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. public campaign contributions and spending What we ought to do is eliminate the polit- f should be expedited so voters can judge for ical action committee contributions because themselves what’s appropriate. those are the ones that raise the specter of RECOGNITION OF THE MAJORITY Those are quotes. Did these quotes LEADER undue influence. And those can be gone to- morrow. We can pass a bill tomorrow to take come from BERNIE SANDERS, who is The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The care of that problem. known as being a liberal? He has been majority leader is recognized. Another quote from the next year: an outspoken advocate for campaign fi- f We Republicans have put together a re- nance reform. The author of these quotes is none SCHEDULE sponsible and constitutional campaign re- form agenda. It would restrict the power of other than my friend the distinguished Mr. REID. Following my remarks special interest PACs, stop the flow of all Republican leader, the senior Senator and those of the Republican leader, if soft money, keep wealthy individuals from from Kentucky. These are all his any, the Senate will be in a period of buying public office. quotes word for word. The senior Sen- morning business for an hour, with Two years later, 1990: ator from Kentucky has a track record Senators permitted to speak during We would eliminate PACs altogether. It of campaign finance reform spanning that time for up to 10 minutes each, would be interesting to see whether our col- two decades or more. I was with him ∑ This ‘‘bullet’’ symbol identifies statements or insertions which are not spoken by a Member of the Senate on the floor. S5383 . VerDate Mar 15 2010 04:17 Sep 10, 2014 Jkt 039060 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 4624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\A09SE6.000 S09SEPT1 emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with SENATE S5384 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE September 9, 2014 there 25 years ago, fighting the undue SPEECH SUPPRESSION pression appears to be growing on the influence of unlimited campaign dona- Earlier today one Democratic Sen- other side, and that is really worrying tions. I cosponsored his 1989 constitu- ator urged his colleagues to get serious for the future of our democracy. tional amendment that would have about the real challenges facing our So look, if the Democrats who run given Congress power to enact laws country—challenges such as dealing Washington are so determined to force regulating the amount of independent with the threat of ISIL. He implored the Senate into debate over repealing expenditures. I was there with him. fellow Democrats not to focus all their the free speech protections of the First But I guess times have changed. I am time instead ‘‘doing things that are of Amendment, then fine, let’s have a full aware that the Republican leader has lesser importance.’’ and proper debate. Let’s make the stated that his views on the matter of Yet his voice seems to have been ig- country see what this is really all campaign finance have changed over nored by the Democrats who run the about. Let’s expose this extremist ef- the years. What a gross understate- Senate, because here we stand debating fort to the light of public scrutiny. ment. But as Victor Hugo wrote: their proposal on whether to take an I suspect our Democratic friends Change your opinions, but keep your prin- eraser—an eraser—to the First Amend- don’t really want that, though. I sus- ciples. Change your leaves, but keep your ment. Here we are debating whether to pect they hope to just drop a few talk- roots. grant politicians the extraordinary au- ing points, have their proposal fail, At one time the Republican leader thority to ban speech they don’t like. shoot some indignant e-mails to their was rooted in the principle that the That is what Democratic leaders have supporters and move on. I don’t think wealthy shouldn’t be able to buy public brought to the floor this week as their they counted on Senators standing up office whether for themselves or for top priority. It is a measure so extreme for the American people. I don’t think others. Even as recently as late in 2007 it could even open the door to govern- they counted on Senators exposing he was preaching donor disclosure. ment officials banning books and pam- their plans to entrench the tools of What has changed in the last few phlets that threaten or annoy them. government speech suppression. So years? That is not my argument. That is es- they would rather not have a debate Over the last several years we have sentially the Obama administration’s they can’t win. witnessed the Koch brothers trying to own position, one that his own lawyers Then here is a better idea. We all just buy America, to pump untold millions advocated in the Supreme Court in the spent the past several weeks back in into our democracy, hoping to get a Citizens United case. As one USA our home States talking to our con- government that would serve their bot- Today columnist put it at the time: ‘‘It stituents. They have a lot on their tom line and make them more money. isn’t often that a government lawyer minds these days—important issues The news today says they are out pro- stands before the Supreme Court and they expect the Democrat-run Senate moting themselves, and that is easy to acknowledges that, yes, it would be to address—things such as high unem- do because they are worth $150 billion.