Doolittle Campaign Finance. Representative John Doolittle (R-CA) took aim at campaign finance reform with a proposal to repeal all federal campaign contribution limits and require immediate public disclosure of all federal campaign contributions. "I support the Doolittle reforms," explained Representative John Peterson (R-PA), "because they are in the American tradition. They truly ‘do little’ when it comes to restricting First Amendment rights. They remove restrictions on most campaign giving and spending, and thus remove the restrictions to free speech. At the same time, they require immediate and full reporting of all contributions."
Rep. Doolittle’s proposal, a substitute amendment to the Shays-Meehan "reform" bill (see text below), was rejected by the House on September 14, 1999 by a vote of 117-306 (Roll Call 419). We have assigned pluses to the yeas.
[ Shays-Meehan "Reform." This legislation makes war upon the First Amendment’s free speech protections by proposing regulation of non-political, issue advocacy speech. In particular, provisions which greatly expand the definitions of "expressed advocacy" and "coordinated activity" would take in just about every citizen group attempting to educate the electorate on the voting record of their government officials. Representative John Peterson (R-PA) explained that Shays-Meehan represents the "liberal’s idea of reform [which] rests primarily on restricting the free flow of moneys and ideas to the public through any channels except those they control and they regulate…. It will be an incumbent protection bill." ]
