Mark Dayton: “earlier today, as a member of the Senate Rules Committee, I participated in a markup of legislation that purports to…”

“earlier today, as a member of the Senate Rules Committee, I participated in a markup of legislation that purports to regulate the so-called 527 organizations. What started out as campaign finance reform legislation in the view of many, both Democrats and Republicans, in this body, unfortunately, turned, through the amendment procedure and the markup, into a very different kind of legislation. I commend Senator Lott, chairman of the Rules Committee. He was eminently fair throughout and gave each one of us an opportunity to present our amendments to be fully considered and voted upon. But one amendment that was introduced at the very outset, that was voted favorably upon by all members of the majority caucus as well as I believe one or two Democrats, but not nearly enough to carry the legislation, drastically shifted the bill to one that opens vast new opportunities for political action committees, special interests, to increase their contributions and for Members of Congress, Members of the Senate to direct those moneys to other political campaigns. Specifically, the amendment that was adopted increased the contributions allowed to political action committees from $5,000 to $7,500. That is a 50-percent increase. The amendment increased the amount of money that political action committees could contribute to national political parties from $15,000 to $25,000. That is a 67-percent increase.…”