We have the judicial process. We have other tools available to try to convince the administration they cannot legislate by Executive order. That's very much my intention. I just noticed an article in the Thursday, April 17th Roll Call where Mr. Reed Hunt, the Federal Communications Commission Chairman, is talking about drafting a notice of proposed rulemaking to examine the idea of free broadcast time for Federal candidates and predicted that free time for candidates could be implemented in time for the 1998 elections. Mr. President, we have campaign reform before this body, and there is certainly legitimate debate and we have talked about having free time for political candidates.
Some people call it food stamps for politicians.
That is a legitimate legislative item we should discuss. But the FCC Chairman does not have the authority to say by fiat, by direction from the administration, that we are going to give candidates free time and mandate that or dictate it or bribe the broadcasting authorities to enforce it. That is a serious mistake. If we are going to say politicians are entitled to free time, let us have that as part of a bill. Let us debate it.