|
|||
Late Breaking News |
|||
| Date: August 6, 1998 5:26 pm Contact: Creative Coalition Melissa Wajnert 212-512-5508 |
|||
Latest News Releases
|
Creative Coalition Urges Senate to Pass Campaign Finance Reform | ||
| NEW YORK - August 6 - In response to today's passage of Campaign Finance
Reform in the U.S. House, actor and president of The Creative Coalition (TCC) William
Baldwin stated, "The Creative Coalition applauds those in the House who had the
conviction to vote the American people's conscious rather than party lines. Campaign
Finance Reform is about restoring integrity to the political system. Now is the time for
our country's leaders to take a stand for fair political reform." "TCC believes money and its influence on the political system represents one of the most significant threats to our democratic process today," continued Baldwin. "The time is here for sweeping reform in the American system of funding political campaigns, and the implication of reform is no less than the restoration of our democratic process and equal access for all Americans." The proposal, sponsored by Republican Christopher Shays of Connecticut and Democrat Rep. Marty Meehan of Massachusetts, would effectively ban soft money contributions to political parties and restrict issue advocacy advertisements. Today's 252-179 vote on the bill demonstrated strong bipartisan support for campaign finance reform. New York's delegation voted 26-5 in favor of the delegation. Campaign Finance Reform now must be voted on by the Senate. According to Sen. Russell Feingold's office, the McCain-Feingold bill currently needs eight additional votes to pass in the Senate. Debate is anticipated for this September. President Clinton has publicly supported campaign finance reform legislation and it has been reported that he plans to sign the bill into law. In the past year, TCC has sponsored numerous educational forums across the country -- in Chicago, San Diego and New York -- examining campaign finance reform and current reform efforts. TCC's Conventions '96 brought the debate "Money & Politics: Are Dollars Buying Democracy" to the host cities of the Republican and Democratic national political conventions. Leading authorities have come to New York to debate and discuss campaign finance reform with TCC members and guests. Participants in TCC's panels have included former Gov. Ann Richards, Sen. Bill Bradley, James Carville, former Gov. Mario Cuomo, Sens. Feingold and Paul Wellstone, Rep. Shays, Ann McBride, Ira Glasser and Fred Wertheimer. Last October, TCC led 250 volunteers to Massachusetts on a one-day signature drive to help that state place a Clean Money/Clean Elections initiative on the November 1998 ballot. TCC's group alone collected more than 8,000 signatures, playing an integral part of the successful drive to collect and certify 100,000 signatures. ------ The Creative Coalition (TCC) is the leading non-profit, non-partisan social and political advocacy organization of the arts and entertainment industry. It was founded a decade ago by actors Ron Silver, Christopher Reeve, Susan Sarandon and Stephen Collins, to educate and mobilize the arts community on issues of importance. -0- |
|||
