| WASHINGTON
- June 9 - The Sierra Club today applauded the campaign finance
reform victory that Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) won yesterday, when the
Senate voted by 57-42 to adopt his proposal to require disclosure of
the contributions and expenditures by so-called "527" organizations.
The amendment was added to the Defense Authorization bill.
"We congratulate Sen. John McCain for winning the first battle in the
long war for campaign finance reform," said Carl Pope, Sierra Club's
executive director. "Yesterday's vote broke the stranglehold against
reform in the U.S. Senate. Unfortunately, the House dropped the ball
today when it defeated this common-sense reform. The 527 disclosure
provision is just the first step toward comprehensive campaign finance
reform. The next critical step to reforming our shameful campaign
finance system is for the Senate to pass the McCain-Feingold bill and
ban soft money contributions to political parties."
Sen. McCain's 527 disclosure amendment would require organizations
that conduct issue advocacy activities under Sec. 527 of the Internal
Revenue Code to report on the contributions and expenditures of their
programs. Currently, organizations with 527's do not have to disclose
the source of funds or spending when broadcasting issue-advocacy ads
or undertaking other activities.
The Sierra Club strongly supports campaign finance reform, including
the disclosure of 527 donors, the ban on soft money donations to
political parties, and public financing of campaigns. The Club
successfully worked for House passage of the bill by Reps. Shays
(R-CT) and Meehan (D-MA) to ban soft-money contributions to political
parties and establish restrictions on issue advocacy efforts.
While working towards reform, the Club is conducting issue-advocacy
efforts under the existing rules. The Sierra Club has a 527 and
expects to spend $8 million in at least 17 Congressional races and the
Presidential campaign this year. The Club's Environmental Voter
Education Campaign will educate the public about candidates'
environmental records, and urge the public to ask their officials to
take specific actions to support the environment.
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