Brookings Institution, American Enterprise Institute, Campaign and Media Legal Center Briefing on Future of Campaign Finance Reform

2/27/2002

From: Brookings Office of Communications, 202-797-6105; e-mail at communications@brookings.edu; Web site: www.brookings.edu

News Advisory:

What: A Briefing Co-Sponsored by the American Enterprise Institute, the Brookings Institution, and the Campaign and Media Legal Center

"The Future of Campaign Finance Reform: Constitutional Challenges, Political Realities"

When: Friday, March 1 9:30 - 11 a.m.

Where: Falk Auditorium The Brookings Institution 1775 Massachusetts Avenue N.W. Washington, D.C.

Details: Now that similar versions of the McCain-Feingold/Shays-Meehan campaign finance legislation have passed both the Senate and House, prospects for a bill emerging from Congress and being signed into law by President Bush have increased dramatically. The next forum for debate will be the Senate, where Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) will try to secure approval of the version passed by the House. If successful, attention will then turn from the legislative arena to the courts and the practical world of election campaigns. This briefing is designed to provide background on: the Senate debate, adjustments in campaign financing that candidates might make in response to a new federal law, the likely constitutional challenges, and other consequences.

The briefing will be presented by three co-authors of "The New Campaign Finance Sourcebook" (Brookings 2002), Thomas Mann, Daniel Ortiz, and Trevor Potter, as well as Randolph Moss, a partner at Wilmer Cutler & Pickering, and Norman Ornstein, resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute.

Moderator: -- THOMAS E. MANN, W. Averell Harriman Chair and Senior Fellow, Governmental Studies, Brookings Institution; Director, Brookings Campaign Finance Web site

Participants: -- RANDOLPH MOSS, Partner, Wilmer Cutler & Pickering; Former Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Counsel

-- NORMAN J. ORNSTEIN, Resident Scholar, American Enterprise Institute; Director, Campaign Finance Project (funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts)

-- DANIEL R. ORTIZ, John Allan Love Professor of Law and Joseph C. Carter, Jr. Research Professor of Law, University of Virginia

-- TREVOR POTTER, Partner, Caplin & Drysdale; General Counsel, Campaign and Media Legal Center; Former Chairman, Federal Election Commission

RSVP: Call the Brookings Office of Communications, 202-797-6105 or by e-mail at communications@brookings.edu.