Washington, D.C. - Today Senator John McCain delivered the following statement on the floor of the United States Senate: Mr. President, this amendment is straightforward. It makes the provisions of the Congressional Campaign Finance and Election Reform Act effective immediately upon being signed into law by the President. If campaign finance reform is important enough to pass – and I have been a strong supporter of campaign finance reform – then let us make it apply now, in 1993, not in 1995. If we are going to balance the playing field, then let us balance it now. Mr. President, other than protecting incumbents, there is no reason for not making this bill effective immediately. The bill states: “Except as otherwise provided in this Act, the amendments made by, and the provision of, this Act shall take effect on the date of enactment of this Act but shall not apply with respect to activities in connection with any election occurring before January 1, 1995.” Mr. President, the language of the effective clause in this bill is too clever by half. At first glance, the bill will take effect upon the date of enactment. However, the authors of the bill have added a caveat, which provides that the bill does not apply to elections before 1995. This of course means that the bill will not apply to elections before 1996, nearly three years away. Mr. President, at the very least, this is hypocritical language and is another example of the Congress saying one thing and doing another. The American public wants campaign reform now, not three years down the road. Further, the language of the leadership substitute raises some practical questions as well. For example, I would like to know if incumbents who will be running for office in 1996 or 1998, if they would be able under this effective date language, to amass huge campaign war-chests between the date of enactment of this bill and 1995? Could such an incumbent rush to bank staggering sums of soon to be illegal PAC funds to give him or her a huge advantage over a potential future challenger? In light of passage of the Chafee Amendment before the recess – which effectively bans out-of-state fundraising except in the two years prior to an election – would a Senate incumbent be able to canvass the major money cities around the country, if done before 1995, and in essence violate the Chafee language-we unanimously adopted in this body? Mr. President, I understand that some will state that the spending limits will apply after 1995 and thus any amount of money raised prior to that time will be limited. But Mr. President, every Senator knows that one sure fire way to ward off potential incumbents, spending limits or not, is to begin a race with millions of dollars in the bank. The effective date clause in this bill amounts to nothing more than incumbent protection, and it is not fair to challengers. It must be eliminated. Let us show the American public we are ready to act on this issue, and act now. Mr. President, there is no justifiable reason to postpone the effective date of this act. As Euripides stated: “Today's today. Tomorrow, we may be ourselves gone down the drain of eternity.” # # #