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1 1 (June 20, 2003)

handle is hein.crs/crsaiff0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Order Code RS21551 June 20, 2003 CRS Report for Congress Received through the CRS Web Campaign Finance: Issues Before the U.S. Supreme Court in McConnell v. FEC L. Paige Whitaker Legislative Attorney American Law Division Summary Shortly after the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (BCRA), P.L. 107-155 (H.R. 2356, 107th Cong.) was enacted in March 2002 (also known as the McCain- Feingold campaign finance reform legislation), Senator Mitch McConnell and others filed suit in U.S. District Court for D.C. against the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) arguing that provisions of the law are unconstitutional. Ultimately, eleven suits challenging BCRA were brought by more than 80 plaintiffs and consolidated into one lead case, McConnell v. FEC. On May 2, 2003, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued its decision in McConnell v. FEC, No. 02-CV-0582 striking down some key provisions of the law as unconstitutional, but on May 19, it issued a stay of its ruling, which leaves BCRA, as enacted, in effect until the Supreme Court issues a decision. (For information about the decision, see CRS Report RS215 11, Campaign Finance: Brief Overview of McConnell v. FEC.) Under the BCRA expedited review provision, the court's decision will be reviewed directly by the U.S. Supreme Court, which scheduled oral argument for September 8, 2003. This report provides a summary of the issues, as presented by the 12 groups of appellants in their jurisdictional statements, that the Supreme Court will be considering in this case. For more information see, the Supreme Court's BCRA cases web page [http://www.supremecourtus.gov/bcra/bcra.html] and the Campaign Finance Reform Oversight CRS page [http://www.congress.gov/erp/legissues/html/isele2.html]. Background On March 27, 2002, the President signed into law the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (BCRA), P.L. 107-155 (H.R. 2356, 107h Cong.), which was also known as the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform legislation prior to enactment. Most provisions of the new law became effective on November 6, 2002. Shortly after President Bush signed BCRA into law, Senator Mitch McConnell and others filed suit in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against the Federal Election Commission Congressional Research Service **** The Library of Congress

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