Frank Lautenberg: “I support campaign finance reform legislation and I have cosponsored it repeatedly over the years only to have it…”

“I support campaign finance reform legislation and I have cosponsored it repeatedly over the years only to have it filibustered or vetoed by the other party. For me, taken outside the context of campaign finance reform, this amendment is problematic. It would prohibit a Senator from receiving support from lobbyists but it would not prevent a challenger from receiving contributions from those very same lobbyists. Yet that challenger could be an incumbent--a Governor, a State legislator, a mayor--and not be subject to the same restrictions. In my most recent campaign, I was challenged by the speaker of the house in the New Jersey State Legislature. I can tell you that he had the ability, based on his contact with various groups and issues, to raise a lot of money from lobbyists and special interest groups. So, without a comprehensive campaign finance program in place, the prohibition in this amendment singles out incumbent Senators--not all incumbents--unfairly. Further, comprehensive campaign finance reform set a limit on the total amount of money one could spend on a campaign. So even if a challenger could receive funds from lobbyists while an incumbent could not, the limit on total spending would not necessarily create an uneven playing field. In an environment of unlimited spending, however, denying one candidate resources which are available to another is not equitable.”