Sen. Manchin Would Be Defending Sen. Robert Byrd’s Legacy By Supporting Small Donor Financing In S. 1

Sen. Manchin Would Be Defending Sen. Robert Byrd’s Legacy By Supporting Small Donor Financing In For The People Act (S.1)

“[Y]ou’re talking about a person that’s going to defend the legacy of Robert C. Byrd.” 
Senator Joe Manchin, February 2, 2021

Yesterday, Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) opened the door to supporting a revised version of S. 1, the For the People Act. This should lead to negotiations with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.

Earlier this year, Senator Joe Manchin stated that one of his missions in the United States Senate is to “defend the legacy of Robert C. Byrd,” his predecessor and fellow West Virginian.  One way he can do that would be to support the small dollar financing system within the For The People Act (H.R. 1/S. 1).

Former Senate Majority Leader Byrd was a staunch supporter of creating a new system for financing Senate elections based on small contributions, matching funds and public grants — the very same kind of system proposed in S. 1. In fact, Byrd led a nine-month battle in 1987-1988 for legislation to this effect (S. 2) that was, ironically, filibustered and ultimately killed in 1988 by a group of senators including Senator Mitch McConnell.

When Byrd eventually relinquished Senate leadership, the mantle for the same kind of campaign finance reform legislation was picked up in 1990 by then Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell, who said in 1993 that voters “do not trust a system based on enormous campaign contributions. They demand reform and we owe it to them.”

Mitchell led the fight for the new Senate campaign finance system for five years and it was again filibustered and blocked by Senate Republicans, led by Senator McConnell.

“Senator Manchin has the opportunity to complete Senator Byrd’s legacy and support the small donor financing system in S. 1 that carries forward the campaign finance reforms passionately championed by his predecessor, Senator Robert C. Byrd,” according to Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer.

“Senate Majority Leader Schumer also has the opportunity to complete the mission that two of his predecessors, former Senate Majority Leaders Byrd and Mitchell, spent years pursuing – the enactment of public financing for Senate elections,” Wertheimer said.

Yesterday, Senator Schumer said about S. 1 that “public financing is a vital part of that bill. I’m very strongly for it. And so yes, we have to get that done.”

“If Senator Schumer is serious about making his commitment a reality, he will complete the years of hard work done by Senators Byrd and Mitchell and pass the most important anti-corruption legislation since the 1970s Watergate reforms,” said Wertheimer.

The following excerpts are from Senator Byrd’s floor remarks as he led the fight to pass S. 2:

• January 6, 1987: “Today we face serious challenges to the integrity of representative democracy and the electoral process. They are the high cost of running for Congress, the excessive time it takes to raise funds, and the dangers of undue influence gained by special interests that contribute large sums of money. This campaign spending explosion is undermining public confidence in Congress and creates a sense that politics is only open to the affluent.”

• January 6, 1987: “It is my strong belief that the great majority of Senators-of both parties–know that the current system of campaign financing is damaging the Senate, hurts their ability to be the best Senator for this Nation and for the citizens of their respective States that they could be, strains their family life by consuming even more time than their official responsibilities demand, and destroys the democracy we all cherish by eroding public confidence in its integrity. If we do not face a problem of this magnitude and fix it, we have no one but ourselves to blame for the tragic results.”

• June 11, 1987: “The perception is widespread that the Congress is for sale. We are foolish, indeed, if we do not invest all our creativity and energy in taking effective actions to change this perception. We who serve here know that we spend countless hours chasing campaign funds all around the country, to the detriment of our duties and our constituents.”

• September 15, 1987: “This is a virus. It is a money chase. I have referred to it as the aristocracy of the money bag. It is dragging down this institution and is going to ultimately damage seriously the faith of the American people in our constitutional system of representative democracy, because they will not view ours as truly a representative democracy. They are not going to view themselves as being represented by us. They are going to view us, those of us who have to go out and engage in this money chase and leave our work here and leave our families to raise money for our reelection campaigns, they are going to perceive us as being beholden to the special interest groups that contribute to our campaigns.”

• February 23, 1988: “The integrity of this institution is at stake. The integrity of the electoral and political process is at stake. The integrity of representative democracy is at stake. And the integrity of the people’s choice, the people’s choice in the selection of Senators, is at stake.”

• February 23, 1988: “We are on an important matter, and it is fundamental to our way of government. It is fundamental to the public trust in this institution. We have to get the big money out of politics. We have to clean up our own house. It is not a partisan issue. It is an institutional issue. It is a good government issue. Good government, that is what it is.”

• June 19, 1987: “Mr. President, of course, I have listened with great interest and riveted attention to the urging that we need to meet and discuss compromise. But the problem is that the distinguished Senator from Kentucky [Mr. McConnell] and I say this with all due respect, insists that we can compromise if the compromise is on his terms, namely, that there be no limitation on campaign spending. Of course, that is not compromise. We are just wasting our time if we think that is ever going to happen.”

• February 26, 1988: “Mr. President, the distinguished junior Senator from Kentucky says that the issue is how many people can participate in the political process. Every registered voter in this country can participate in the political process. But money talks, and the perception is that money will talk here in this Senate. Money will open the door. Money will hold the balance of power. […] So, Mr. President, I close with another reference to the Scriptures: ‘The love of money is the root of all evil.’”

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