III

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. RES. 61

Funding the Committee on Governmental Affairs for conducting a Special

Investigation of Federal election campaign fundraising and expenditure

practices.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MARCH 4, 1997

Mr. GLENN submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the

Committee on Rules and Administration

RESOLUTION

Funding the Committee on Governmental Affairs for conducting a Special Investigation of Federal election campaign fundraising and expenditure practices.

1 Resolved,

2 SECTION 1. SCOPE OF HEARINGS.

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Committee on Governmental

4 Affairs (hereafter referred to as the ‘‘Committee’’) shall

5 conduct a Special Investigation into illegal or improper

6 fundraising and spending practices in the 1996 Federal

7 election campaigns, including the following:
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1 (1) Foreign contributions and the effect of

2 those contributions on the United States political

3 system.

4 (2) Conflicts of interest involving Federal office

5 holders and employees, and the misuse of Govern6 ment offices.

7 (3) Failure by Federal employees to maintain

8 and observe legal limitations relating to fundraising

9 and official business.

10 (4) The independence of the Presidential cam11 paigns from the political activities pursued for their

12 benefit by outside individuals or groups.

13 (5) The misuse of charitable and tax exempt or14 ganizations in connection with political or fundrais15 ing activities.

16 (6) Amounts given to or spent by a political

17 party for the purpose of influencing Federal elec18 tions generally that are not subject to the limitations

19 or reporting requirements of the Federal Election

20 Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431 et seq.) (com21 monly referred to as ‘soft money’) and the effect of

22 soft money on the United States political system.

23 (7) Promises or grants of special access in re24 turn for political contributions or favors.
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1 (8) The effect of independent expenditures

2 (whether by corporations, labor unions, or otherwise)

3 upon the current Federal campaign finance system,

4 and the question as to whether such expenditures

5 are truly independent.

6 (9) Contributions to and expenditures by enti7 ties for the benefit or in the interest of Federal offi8 cers.

9 (10) Practices described in paragraphs (1)

10 through (9) that occurred in previous Federal elec11 tion campaigns to the extent that those practices are

12 similar or analogous.

13 (b) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this reso14 lution shall be construed to limit the authority of the Com15 mittee on Governmental Affairs under the Senate Rules

16 or section 13(d) of S. Res. 54, adopted February 13,

17 1997.

18 SEC. 2. INVESTIGATIONS PROCEDURES.

19 (a) ADDITIONAL PROCEDURES.—The procedures

20 under this section shall apply to the Special Investigation

21 in addition to the procedures under the Senate and Com22 mittee Rules.

23 (b) IN GENERAL.—The Committee shall ensure that

24 the majority and minority—
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1 (1) have contemporaneous access to all docu2 mentary evidence received by the Committee and the

3 right to be given adequate advance notice of, to be

4 present at, and to participate equally in all deposi5 tions and investigatory interviews;

6 (2) have equal opportunity to obtain and

7 present relevant testimonial and documentary evi8 dence on the subjects of the Committee’s inquiry;

9 and

10 (3) are treated equally and without discrimina11 tion in the discharge of the Committee’s administra12 tive responsibilities, including—

13 (A) equal and contemporaneous access to

14 computer hardware and software, communica15 tion equipment and services, and other office

16 equipment, including nonstandard items;

17 (B) equal and contemporaneous consider18 ation and approval of all travel associated with

19 official committee business; and

20 (C) the assignment of office space of equal

21 quality.

22 (c) DETAILEES.—The Committee shall ensure that

23 any detailee engaged in activities for the investigation is

24 jointly directed and jointly tasked by the majority and mi25 nority, unless the Committee agreed to reimburse the full
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1 cost of such detailee to the detailee’s employer, and the

2 employer has approved the arrangement.

3 (d) INVESTIGATORY TOPICS AND HEARINGS.—

4 (1) PRIORITIES.—Priority of investigatory top5 ics and hearings shall be established based upon rel6 evance to illustrating the need for reform of current

7 campaign finance laws, with illustrations taken,

8 wherever possible, from practices of both major po9 litical parties.

10 (2) TASK FORCES.—The Chairman and Rank11 ing Member shall establish joint investigative task

12 forces to plan and structure such hearings, including

13 the selection of witnesses, so as to present a com14 prehensive explanation and illustration of current

15 fundraising and expenditure practices by the two

16 major political parties and their candidates for Fed17 eral offices, including practices alleged to be illegal,

18 improper, or otherwise designed to evade Federal

19 regulation.

20 SEC. 3. REPORTS.

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided under sub22 section (b), the Committee shall make a final report to

23 the Senate of the results of the investigation it conducts

24 pursuant to this resolution, together with its findings and

25 any recommendations, at the earliest practicable date, but
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1 not later than December 31, 1997. Either subsequent to

2 or prior to the final Committee report, the Chairman and

3 the Ranking Member of the Committee may introduce a

4 continued funding resolution for the Special Investigation

5 (which shall be placed on the calendar on the date of intro6 duction) or the Committee may report to the Senate a con7 tinued funding resolution. The Majority Leader may turn

8 to such resolution at any time after 10 calendar days that

9 the resolution is placed on the calendar.

10 (b) EXTENSION.—On or before December 31, 1997,

11 the Committee may extend the investigation by and final

12 report of the Committee from December 31, 1997 to

13 March 31, 1998. An extension under this subsection may

14 be made only by a unanimous vote of the Committee.

15 SEC. 4. EXPENSES.

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—The expenses for the Special In17 vestigation shall not exceed $1,800,000 for the investiga18 tion, which shall be made available, for the payment of

19 salaries and all other expenses of the Special Investigation,

20 from the contingent fund of the Senate out of the Account

21 for Expenses for Inquiries and Investigations.

22 (b) LIMITATION ON SOURCE OF FUNDING.—No

23 funds may be expended on the Special Investigation de24 scribed under section 1, except funds made available under
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1 this resolution or a continued funding resolution described

2 under section 3.

3 SEC. 5. CONSIDERATION OF CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM

4 LEGISLATION.

5 Not later than May 1, 1997, the Senate shall proceed

6 to consideration of S. 25 which shall remain the pending

7 order of business until final disposition.

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