Mike Levin: “I will be voting today against the nomination of Mr. Bradley Smith to serve as a Commissioner of the Federal Election…”

“I will be voting today against the nomination of Mr. Bradley Smith to serve as a Commissioner of the Federal Election Commission. It is with a fair amount of reluctance that I take this position, given the longstanding custom of allowing each party to appoint its own choices to this six member commission and the fact that FEC nominees are, by statute, supposed to be the representatives of their political parties on that commission. I respect that history. I also believe Mr. Smith is a man of intelligence, integrity, and competence. So, my vote against his nomination is not a vote against him as a person. Nor will I vote against him because I disagree strongly with most of Mr. Smith's opinions on the campaign finance system. He favors no contribution limits; I think they are essential. He doesn't see a link between corruption or the appearance of corruption and the contributions made to candidates and holders of public office; I do. He thinks the Federal Election Campaign Act and the Federal Election Commission should be dismantled; I don't. The reason I will vote 'no' is because I cannot support the nomination of an individual to the position of commissioner of an agency which the nominee doesn't think should exist or which has as its operating statute one which the nominee thinks should be repealed.”