Hill Bulletin.

Congress went into its August recess with a flurry of activity. Returning for the fall season, it promises more activity, including legislation on civil liberties and campaign finance reform, two of the League's priorities.

CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM

Fundamental protections to our election process were put into place by the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1974 and the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002. Several important reforms, hard-won responses to the Watergate scandals and the fundraising abuses of the 1990s, are now in jeopardy. H.R. 1316, cosponsored by Reps. Mike Pence (R IN) and Albert Wynn (D MD), would repeal key protections.

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The Pence-Wynn legislation lifts the ceiling on individual contributions--allowing upwards of $3 million to be given by a single individual--and invites the corrupting influence of enormous campaign contributions back into elections. Members of Congress, the President and federal candidates could solicit these huge contributions and direct where they are spent.

The Pence-Wynn bill also allows unlimited solicitations from trade associations, increases by 50 percent the amount a political action committee (PAC) can contribute to candidates, repeals restrictions on the use of soft money to fund sham issue ads (broadcast ads promoting or attacking federal candidates close to Election Day), and allows federal candidates to directly control the spending of unlimited sums of soft money on paid advertising campaigns run on the Internet.

What You Can Do:

Urge your Representative to protect our election process and oppose H.R. 1316.

In contrast to H.R. 1316 above, the bill H.R. 513, cosponsored by Reps. Christopher Shays (R CT) and Martin Meehan (D MA), closes a major loophole that allows unlimited contributions from corporations, unions and wealthy individuals to political groups that are tax-exempt under Section 527 of the Internal Revenue Code.

In the 2004 elections, FEC negligence allowed these "527" organizations to raise millions of dollars of unlimited soft money. "527" groups are self-declared political organizations. They should not be operating free from the federal campaign finance laws that apply to candidates, political parties and others that participate in federal election.

This bipartisan legislation requires all "527s" to register with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) as political committees and thus abide by the source and size limitations that apply to all other political committees. Neither organizations with annual receipts of less than $25,000 nor those focused on state and local candidacies and issues would be covered. The legislation does not apply to 501(c) organizations.

What You Can Do:

Urge your Representative to cosponsor H.R. 513 and require all "527s" to be treated the same as all other political committees.

CIVIL LIBERTIES

As we go to press, Congress is working on reauthorization of the USA PATRIOT Act. The House passed its bill early in the summer, while the Senate, surprising everyone in a final burst of activity, quickly and unanimously passed its bill before the August recess. The two bills are now in conference.

The bills are quite similar in that they make 14 expiring provisions permanent and extend the sunset provisions on record searches and roving wiretaps for a number of years. On the positive side, the Senate version in conference does include requirements for greater accountability to Congress and increased judicial oversight on record searches.

The League fought hard to allow several problematic provisions that increase government surveillance powers to sunset. In a major victory, the Senate bill does not include provisions which would have permitted administrative subpoenas to allow the FBI to access personal private records without judicial approval.

VOTING RIGHTS 

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA) banned racial discrimination in voting. Key provisions (Sections 5, 6-9 and 203) are temporary and due to expire in August 2007. Section 5 requires jurisdictions with a history of discrimination to obtain Justice Department approval before implementing changes to voting practices and procedures. Sections 6-9 authorize the government to send federal election observers to areas where there is evidence of voter intimidation. Section 203 ensures that local governments provide bilingual voting materials and assistance to voters in communities where that is needed.

The League supports reauthorization of these key provisions. In the past two years, the VRA has been used to combat discrimination in voting (go to www.RenewTheVRA.org for examples).

What You Can Do:

Tell your Senators and Representatives to support reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act.

DC VOTING RIGHTS

In support of DC voting rights, the LWVUS is pushing for the DC Fairness in Representation (DC FAIR) Act, H.R. 2043, reintroduced by Rep. Tom Davis (R VA) with bipartisan cosponsorship this past spring. This bill gives the citizens of Washington, DC, voting representation in the House by statute, and, for political balance, increases the House by two seats, with Utah acquiring the other one. See Sounding Off, inside back cover, in this issue.

What You Can Do:

Urge your Representative to support H.R. 2043 and vote for full representation for the citizens of the District of Columbia.

SOCIAL SECURITY

Proponents of privatizing the Social Security system have run into difficulty with public fears that such a move puts at risk one of the most successful social programs of the 20th century, and rightfully so. Hoping to dampen those fears and keep personal private investment accounts alive as an option, Rep. Bill Thomas (R CA) and others have proposed using the current, transitory cash surplus in the Social Security system to finance such accounts. The President continues to insist that privatization needs to play a significant role in any proposal that would be acceptable to him.

The League believes that diverting money from the Social Security trust fund is not a solution; instead of "saving" the Social Security system, it will hasten the insolvency of the fund and put the system at risk.

Social Security is not merely a retirement program; it is a social insurance program that provides a safety net for our most vulnerable citizens. The disabled, survivors, senior citizens and nearly two-thirds of women 65 and over depend on it. Social Security's financing problems are manageable and can be addressed by reasonable adjustments over time.

What You Can Do:

Tell your Senators and Representative to oppose attempts to directly or indirectly privatize Social Security. Any changes should make it more solvent and more dependable, not less secure.

ENVIRONMENT

After four years of wrangling, Congress passed and President Bush signed into law a huge Energy Bill this summer. The bill is not sound energy policy and does nothing to address global warming. On the positive side, League efforts helped to strip Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) oil drilling from the bill in conference and to ensure that "Clear Skies" was not attached to the bill. However, our work continues on both those fronts.

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Action on "Clear Skies" legislation that would cut back on Clean Air Act protections is anticipated this fall. For over 30 years, the Clean Air Act has greatly reduced air pollution levels by setting strong standards to significantly reduce pollution emissions from industrial sources. It has effectively improved public health and protected the environment; it needs to be enforced and strengthened, not relaxed. We must take steps to curb global warming and continue to improve air quality instead of increasing air pollution and global warming through huge new incentives for burning coal, oil and gas.

In addition, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is again in jeopardy this fall. The geographically diverse, pristine, 19.3 million-acre home for numerous animal species in ANWR must not be opened to speculative oil drilling. Harming this fragile public land for uncertain oil reserves is not sound energy policy.

What You Can Do:

Contact your Members of Congress and urge them to vote against the "Clear Skies" proposal. Also, tell them to protect ANWR.

To reach your Senators and Representatives, go to http://takeaction.Iwv.org/

* Enter your zip code under "ELECTED OFFICIALS," select "Congress," and click on "GO."