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On February 10, 2002, Congressman Meehan appeared on NBC's Meet the Press to support the landmark Bipartisan Campaign Finance Reform Act.  

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Campaign Finance Reform

Congressman Meehan, Senators John McCain, Russ Feingold attend press conference for final push on the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act.

Congressman Marty Meehan was the lead cosponsor, along with Representative Christopher Shays (R-CT) and Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Russell Feingold (D-WI), of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (or H.R. 2356), which passed both Houses of Congress in 2002, and was signed into law by President Bush on March 27, 2002.

The Bipartisan Campaign Finance Reform Act will restore integrity to the federal campaign finance system, by prohibiting foreign contributions, banning soft money contributions, requiring campaign advertisements masquerading as issue advocacy to be paid for with hard money, and enhancing disclosure of political expenditures.  In addition, the bill would provide the Federal Election Commission (FEC) with the teeth it needs to enforce the law.

A broad coalition of public interest and government watchdog groups endorsed the Shays-Meehan bill. Common Cause, the League of Women Voters, Public Citizen, and Campaign for America lead a grassroots fight to pass this legislation. Editorial boards from newspapers across the country likewise endorsed the Shays-Meehan bipartisan approach to reform.

Marty greets Senator John McCain (R-AZ), author of the Senate counterpart to the Shays-Meehan campaign finance reform bill, at Fifth District Day on Capitol Hill.

While the Bipartisan Campaign Finance Reform Act originally passed the House back in 1999, a Senate filibuster had long stood in the way of its being signed into law. In the 107th Congress, Marty and Chris Shays worked with Senators McCain and Feingold to break the Senate logjam, and then defeated several last minute attempts by opponents to prevent the bill's passage in the House of Representatives.  One of Marty's many allies on the grassroots level was Granny D, a courageous 90-year-old woman who walked from California to Washington, D.C. to demonstrate her commitment to campaign finance reform.

Pro-reform forces in Congress secured an historic victory with the passage of the Bipartisan Campaign Finance Reform Act.  This is the first major campaign finance reform bill to become law in over twenty-five years.  For years, it was believed that the opponents of reform would never let Congress pass meaningful campaign finance reform.  By working across the aisle, Marty was able to prove the naysayers wrong, and pass legislation that will help clean up the campaign finance system.

Letter from President George W. Bush congratulating Congressman Meehan  on the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act becoming law, dated March 27, 2002.

Marty did not wait for Congress to act on the reforms that he supports. He does not accept any campaign contributions from PACs. Moreover, he has donated his annual pay raise to charity, putting the money to work for non-profit women's groups in his district.

For more detailed information on campaign finance reform, read the Congressional Research Service's (CRS) issue brief on campaign finance.