Russ Feingold: “I am pleased to join with my partner in reform, the senior Senator from Arizona, to introduce the Federal Election…”

“I am pleased to join with my partner in reform, the senior Senator from Arizona, to introduce the Federal Election Administration Act of 2003. When the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act was signed into law, Senator McCain and I and Representatives Shays and Meehan said we would continue our partnership to make sure that the law we passed is properly enforced. Much of what we tried to do in BCRA was caused by failures of the federal Election Commission to enforce the law. In particular, the soft money loophole was created by FEC rulings in the late 70s and early 80s, and exacerbated by failures to stop the wholesale evasion of the law in the 90s. We wanted to give the FEC a fair chance to implement the new law. In BCRA itself, we provided deadlines for promulgating regulations so parties, candidates, and outside groups would know and understand the new rules of the game by the time the new law went into effect the day after the last election. The FEC met the deadlines, but not our expectations. Time after time, the FEC opened loopholes or potential loopholes rather than trying to faithfully discern the intent of the law.”