Reid: Dems 'commit to working tirelessly' to pass campaign finance bill in Senate

The Senate's top Democrat wrote House lawmakers on Tuesday to assure them he would work to pass a new campaign finance reform bill in the Senate.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) wrote House Democrats to seek to reassure centrists that the Senate would take up the Disclose Act, a new campaign finance bill, if the House acts to pass it soon.

"Currently, the Senate companion has 50 sponsors," Reid wrote Tuesday. "We commit to working tirelessly for Senate consideration of the House-passed bill so it can be signed by the president in time to take effect for the 2010 elections. We look forward to working with you to make sure that the Disclose Act gets signed into law."

The letter, addressed to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and House Administration Committee Chairman Robert Brady (D-Pa.), looks to assuage Blue Dog Democrats' fears that they could be hung out to dry by the Senate on the Disclose Act, legislation to address a Supreme Court decision freeing up corporate and labor spending in elections.

Blue Dogs had balked at approving the legislation before a scheduled vote last Friday, forcing Pelosi to pull it from the floor. Democrats have sought to push forward with the legislation, which has some Republican support, as quickly as possible in order to have a maximum impact on this fall's congressional elections.

To that end, Democrats, led by Assistant to the Speaker Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) in the House and Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), who co-signed Reid's letter Tuesday, have touted endorsements by good-government groups for the legislation, as well as White House backing on Monday.

Many Senate Republicans, though, have joined with business groups in warning that the new rules could infringe on free-speech rights. With Senate Republicans controlling 41 seats in the Senate, Democrats would need at least one GOP senator to break ranks and vote with all 59 Democrats in favor of the Disclose Act.

Reid had previously pledged to bring up the Senate version of the bill on the floor before the Fourth of July recess, but it's not clear whether the busy Senate schedule, combined with the uncertainty this week in the House, would allow for such an effort at this point.

"We fully agree that Congress must take a stand against this naked power grab sanctioned by the Roberts Court and pass the Disclose Act," Reid and Schumer said in their letter Tuesday morning.