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US House Passes Campaign Finance Bill VOA News 14 Feb 2002 09:55 UTC 
The U.S. House of Representatives has passed a controversial bill providing for far-reaching changes in laws regulating spending on political campaigns.
The Shays-Meehan bill passed early Thursday by a vote of 240 to 189 after a marathon debate. The vote was largely along party lines, with most Democrats supporting the proposed legislation and most Republicans opposing it.
Political analysts say the bill, which calls for the most sweeping changes to campaign finance rules in almost three decades, would be a setback for Republican candidates and benefit Democrats.
The legislation would ban unlimited so-called "soft-money" contributions that corporations, unions, and wealthy individuals give to national parties.
Corporations, labor unions, and various interest groups would also be barred from broadcasting some types of political advertisements for two months before a general election and a month before a primary.
The reforms approved by the House will now be taken up by the U.S. Senate which passed a similar bill in the previous session of Congress. Under the House bill, individual contributions would be limited to $2,000 for Senate and presidential campaigns and $1,000 for House campaigns.
The proposed legislation was sponsored by Connecticut Republican Christopher Shays and Massachusetts Democrat Marty Meehan.
Some information for this report provided by AP and AFP.
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