Chairman of House Administration Applauds Passage of Bill Eliminating Taxpayer Financing of Presidential Campaigns and Party Conventions

WASHINGTON – Today, Committee on House Administration Chairman Dan Lungren, R-Calif., issued the following statement on the passage of H.R. 359, which eliminates public financing of presidential campaigns and party conventions, saving $617 million over the next 10 years:

"Today, we continue our pledge to identify wasteful spending and reduce the deficit. At a time of ever increasing fiscal uncertainty, it is simply unconscionable to continue using tax dollars to subsidize presidential campaigns and party conventions, especially when 93% of taxpayers reject it.

"Taxpayer financing of presidential elections and party conventions is simply no longer defensible. Since 1976, 1.5 billion dollars have been diverted to the politicians' campaigns and party coffers while the vast majority of taxpayers have rejected the program.

"We have many difficult decisions to make in the 112^th Congress, but ending an unpopular, failed program funding partisan campaigns is not one of them. I thank my colleagues for supporting this important measure and I look forward to working with them as we continue to identify savings for American taxpayers."