ERLC opposes campaign finance reform bill

WASHINGTON — The Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) has asked President Bush to veto a campaign finance reform bill that it says would violate the U.S. Constitution’s protection of free speech.

In a March 1 letter, ERLC President Richard Land told the president Southern Baptists around the country want the legislation blocked from becoming law.

Land urged the president to return the legislation to Congress with a request that it send him a bill that is “constitutionally acceptable.” With the letter, Land sent Bush a copy of a resolution adopted at last year’s Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting that rejected any campaign finance bill “that hinders or abridges free speech.”