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President's Message (Grace Furukawa)
Annual Meeting
Freedom of Information - County Style? (Evangeline Funk)
Women's Coalition
Campaign Finance
Campaign Loans
State Convention
Planning & Zoning Update
Making Democracy Work
Membership
Neighborhood Board Elections (Arlene Ellis)
In Memoriam
Civil Liberties and the Internet
McLaughlin Group
Nationalization of News and the Newsification of Politics (insert) (Beverly Keever)

Campaign Finance

Via press releases, a press conference and letters to members of the U.S. House of Representatives, National League president, Becky Cain, in concert with some other public interest groups, urged the House to broaden the scope of the investigation of campaign finance to include presidential and congressional fundraising practices. both illegal and improper.

In a public statement, Becky Cain praised Senate action to expand the scope of its probe. "Senators understood that if their investigation was to have any credibility, it had to include congressional as well as presidential fundraising practices. They understood that the investigation had to be conducted with fair procedures."

A letter to members of the House signed on by League and several other public interest groups asserted, "The notion that the Committee's investigation should exclude congressional fundraising practices smacks of a self-serving disregard for the public's right to know. The letter concluded with the following:

"...it is imperative that the investigation be conducted in a fair and non-partisan manner. Procedural rules that put one party or the other at a distinct disadvantage will cast doubt on the integrity of the investigation. Scope and procedures that are anything less than comprehensive and fair will completely undermine the credibility of the House investigation from the outset.

"Citizens will not look kindly on an investigation that is artificially restricted to prevent political damage. We urge you to respond to the needs of the public by supporting a fair, bi-partisan investigation that covers both congressional and presidential fundraising."


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