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Thursday, 16 March 2006 |
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| Panelist Trevor Potter of the Campaign Legal Center |
CED hosted a luncheon forum featuring Senator John McCain (R-AZ) to highlight the successes of the reform movement in Washington and to underscore the need for further action. The forum also included a panel discussion which included remarks from Norman J. Ornstein, Resident Scholar, American Enterprise Institute; Trevor Potter, President and General Counsel, Campaign Legal Center; James A. Thurber, Director, Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies, American University; and Anne Wexler, Chairman of the Executive Committee, Wexler & Walker Public Policy Associates.
Senator McCain, unable to leave the Senate floor during budget votes, sent a video message during which he discussed several timely reform topics, such as the success of BCRA, the proliferation of "Section 527" groups formed to circumvent the BCRA "soft money" ban, the need for comprehensive lobbying reform, and the importance of improving ethics in government.
Senator McCain has long been a principal champion of reform in Washington. He led the fight for campaign finance reform in Congress that resulted in the passage of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA). As Chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, he conducted the Congressional hearings on lobbyist Jack Abramoff's dealings with various Indian tribes that helped expose the depth of this lobbying scandal. CED has worked closely with Senator McCain to build support among the business community for enacting BCRA and in defending the law against a constitutional challenge in McConnell v. FEC. |
