STATEMENT OF NICK NYHART, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, PUBLIC CAMPAIGN
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National Press Club
October 2, 2000
Good morning. My name is Nick Nyhart, and I am executive director of Public Campaign. We are a nonprofit, nonpartisan group based here in Washington, working for comprehensive campaign reform.
In a few minutes you will hear the stories of people who have suffered terribly in auto accidents involving Ford Explorers equipped with Firestone tires. The tragedies they have suffered seem even worse when we realize that, perhaps, with stronger auto safety rules and enforcement, they could have been prevented.
Auto safety advocates tell us that the federal agency charged with overseeing auto safety in this country, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, known as NHTSA, has been dangerously weakened. Congress has slashed the agency’s budget, so that it is more than one-third smaller than it was 20 years ago. Congress has not given the agency the authority to compel companies to hand over unflattering safety information - such as the deaths and injuries recently suffered by Ford Explorer drivers using Firestone tires. Ditto on criminal penalties and other enforcement tools.
Unfortunately, when we take a close look at campaign contributions from the auto industry, we get a good idea of why the picture looks this way.
Since 1990, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, auto executives, their families, and Political Action Committees (PACs) have given more than $55 million to federal candidates and parties. That includes both soft and hard money.
Much of this money has flowed to the very committees that have oversight of NHTSA. Members of the Senate Commerce Committee have collected $1.2 million from the auto industry since 1995. Members with seats on the Senate Appropriations Committee collected nearly $950,000 over the same time period. A similar pattern holds in the House, where members of the Transportation Committee have taken more than $445,000 so far for the 2000 elections. Members of the House Appropriations Committee have collected more than $357,000.
That’s the big picture. When we look at contributions from Ford Motor Company and Bridgestone/Firestone Inc., we see a similar pattern. Together, these companies’ PACs and executives have given nearly $1.9 million to candidates and parties since 1995. The Senators and House Members who got the most are the ones who push hardest for the auto lobby’s interests on Capitol Hill. For example, Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), has received $8,000 from Ford Motor Company PACs since 1995 and more than $74,000 from the auto industry overall. He recently sponsored a provision to stall plans by the NHTSA to issue rate rollover potential of SUVs, pulling it only after pressure rose from the recent tragedies.
The report we are releasing today provides details of these contribution patterns. Unfortunately, this is the sort of thing we see over and over again. Every industry follows the same strategy - give to the very politicians who are regulating them. The banks give to members of the banking committees. The oil companies give to members of the commerce and environmental committees. The tobacco companies give to members of the agriculture committees. Then we wonder why we see public policy skewed toward these interests and away from the public at large. It’s not difficult to understand - it’s a simple matter of connecting the dots.
What we need is a clean break, so that candidates can run for office without being dependent on special interest contributors. Under a Clean Money campaign finance system, candidates who agree to forego private contributions and accept strict spending limits, receive a limited and equal amount to run their campaigns from a publicly-financed Clean Elections fund. Under such a system, auto safety advocates who have little campaign cash to offer but plenty of substantive ideas would have a more even chance on the policy playing field with the auto lobby.
Clean Money is already the law in Arizona, Maine, Massachusetts, and Vermont. In Missouri and Oregon, voters will vote this fall on Clean Money-style initiatives in their own states. And here in Washington, model legislation is being sponsored by Senator Paul Wellstone (D-MN) and Representative John Tierney (D-MA).
Hopefully, the day is not far off when it won’t take a hundred deaths to push Congress to act in the public’s interest, rather than doing the bidding of big campaign contributors.