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Role of Federal Officials in State Party Fund-Raising Mitch McConnell Mitch McConnell is a U.S. senator from the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the Republican Whip. McConnell is the namesake plaintiff in the lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA). He has been a member of the Senate since 1984 and served as chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) during the 1998 and 2000 election cycles. In his declaration, McConnell states that as a U.S. senator he is actively involved in fund-raising for state parties and candidates. McConnell argues that the reform act will have a deleterious effect on the associational activities between state party organizations and elected officials. The BCRA will substantially impair my activities (and the activities of those construed to be my agents) with respect to national, state, and local political parties, and state and local candidates. As a federal officeholder, I will no longer be able to raise money not subject to the BCRA’s restrictions (soft money) for the purpose of voter registration, voter identification, get-out-the-vote activities, issue advocacy , building funds, and national support for state and local candidates. I have been involved substantially in raising money for each of these activities in the past and would do so in the future, absent the BCRA. As a member of the Republican Party, the NRSC, and the State Central Committee of the Republican Party of Kentucky, I could be considered an agent of the Republican National Committee (RNC) and would thus be banned from raising any money for state and local political parties or candidates under the BCRA. Moreover, had the BCRA been in effect during my four years as chairman of the NRSC, I would have been federally prohibited from raising any money for state and local parties or candidates. As set forth above, I have been involved substantially in raising money for state and local political parties and candidates in the past and would do so in the future, absent the BCRA. The BCRA prohibits federal officeholders from raising any Levin funds for state and local parties to support, among other things, grassroots activity (such as voter registration within 120 days before either the primary or general election, as well as get-out-the-vote efforts). In the past, I have been substantially involved in raising money not subject to 143 03 1583-8 part1b 3/25/03 12:00 PM Page 143 the restrictions, prohibitions, and reporting requirements of federal law for the purpose of supporting these grassroots activities. Absent the BCRA, I would do so in the future. The BCRA specifically permits federal officeholders to raise an unlimited amount of money that is not subject to the limitations, prohibitions, and reporting requirements of federal law, including donations from corporations and unions, for special interest groups that engage in grassroots activity. I have raised such funds in the past for national, state, and local political parties that represent broad coalitions of diverse Americans, as opposed to single-issue, special interest groups, and would do so in the future, absent the BCRA. The BCRA also prohibits federal officeholders from raising money for any state or local party in excess of $10,000, or from corporate or union sources. The legislatures of a vast majority of the states have enacted laws that permit federal officeholders to raise more than $10,000 from individuals and/or raise funds from corporations or unions for state and local political parties. Absent the BCRA, I would raise such money in the future in compliance with the laws of those states. The BCRA also prohibits federal officeholders from raising money that is not subject to the limitations, prohibitions, and reporting requirements of federal law for the building fund of the Republican Party of Kentucky, which is particularly ironic in my case, given that the state party has recently named the building after me. I have raised such money in the past and would do so in the future, absent the BCRA. Although federal officeholders may attend and speak at state party fund-raisers, the BCRA prohibits federal officeholders from soliciting funds for the state party at such events if the funds are not subject to the restrictions and prohibitions of federal law. I have solicited such funds in the past and would do so in the future, absent the BCRA. As a federal officeholder, I will be limited by the BCRA to raising funds for candidates in the...

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