BACKGROUND

More than 100 people are dead and more than 400 injured in accidents involving Firestone tires on Ford Explorers. News of these tragic deaths is horrifying enough - but what is worse is learning that perhaps they could have been prevented.

The federal agency charged with overseeing auto safety, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has been ground down by a Congress fueled by campaign contributions from the automotive industry, which has given candidates and parties more than $55 million since 1990, according to Federal Election Commission data analyzed by the Center for Responsive Politics.

· Congress has reduced funding for NHTSA to the point where the agency's budget is 36 percent smaller than it was twenty years ago, and its rule-making staff has shrunk from 103 people to 62.

· The agency does not have sufficient authority and tools to compel companies to hand over unflattering safety information - such as the deaths and injuries suffered recently by Ford Explorer drivers using Firestone tires.

· Right now, manufacturers are not required to report information about defects in their products involved in accidents overseas. The agency is also limited in the civil penalties it can impose, and there are no criminal penalties at all when a company knowingly withholds information that results in death or injuries.

Automotive industry campaign contributions are flowing to the very Members of Congress who are doing auto lobbyists' bidding. For example, Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), chairman of the Senate Appropriations Transportation Subcommittee, sponsored a provision to stall plans by NHTSA to rate rollover potential of SUVs, pulling it only after public pressure generated by these recent tragedies. Shelby has received $8,000 from Ford Motor Company PACs since 1995, and more than $74,000 from automotive industry PACs and executives overall.

Under the current campaign finance system, special interest lobbyists have great influence over politicians whose campaigns they fund. What's needed is a clean break, so that candidates can run for office without being dependent on special interest contributors. Under a Clean Money campaign finance system, candidates who agree to forego private contributions and accept strict spending limits receive limited and equal amounts to run their campaigns from a publicly-financed Clean Elections fund. Under such a system, auto safety advocates who have little campaign cash to offer but plenty of substantive ideas would have a more even chance on the policy playing field with the auto lobby.

In Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts and Arizona, Clean Money systems are already a reality and the first Clean Money candidates are running for state office this November. In Missouri and Oregon, voters will vote this fall on Clean Money-style initiatives in their own states. And at the federal level, model legislation is being sponsored by Senator Paul Wellstone (D-Minn.) and Representative John Tierney (D-Mass.). Hopefully, the day is not far off when it won't take a hundred deaths to push Congress to act in the public's interest, rather than doing the bidding of big campaign contributors.

CAMPAIGN CASH FACTS

Overall

The automotive industry has given more than $55 million to candidates and parties since 1990, 74 percent to Republicans, according to Federal Election Commission data coded by industry by the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research group. Of that total, $8.3 million came from auto manufacturers such as Ford Motor Company, General Motors, and Daimler Chrysler. These figures include contributions of $200 or more from auto executives, contributions from Political Action Committees (PACs), and soft money contributions from companies and executives to the parties.

Members of Congress assigned seats on the Transportation and Appropriations committees receive a generous share of the cash.

Senate. Since 1995, a full Senate election cycle, members of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation committee collected $1.2 million from the automotive industry. Members of the Senate Appropriations Committee received nearly $950,000 over the same time period.

House. Members of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure have collected more than $445,000 so far for the 2000 elections. Members of the House Appropriations Committee have collected more than $357,000.

Presidential candidates. Governor George W. Bush has collected $1.2 million from the automotive industry overall, including $43,250 from Ford Motor Company executives and PACs. Vice President Al Gore has gotten more than $93,000 from the industry, including $7,300 from Ford Motor Company executives.

Ford Motor Company and Bridgestone/Firestone Inc.

Together, Bridgestone/Firestone Inc. and Ford Motor Company executives and PACs have given nearly $1.9 million to candidates and parties since 1995. Ford Motor Company CEO Jacques Nasser himself is a political contributor, distributing a total of $5,000 among presidential candidate George W. Bush, Sen. Abraham Spencer (R-Mich.), and the Michigan Republican State Committee, all during the 2000 calendar year. All of Nasser's contributions were "hard" money contributions.

The top recipients of Bridgestone/Firestone Inc. and Ford Motor Company contributions in Congress include Members of Congress who have gone to bat for the auto lobby to weaken auto safety laws:

· Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) has received $8,000 from Ford Motor Company PACs since 1995. He recently sponsored a provision to stall plans by the NHTSA to issue rate rollover potential of SUVs, pulling it only after pressure rose from the Ford/Firestone tragedies. The senator, who is chairman of the Senate Appropriations Transportation Subcommittee, has collected more than $74,000 from the automotive industry overall since 1995.

· In 1996, Rep. John D. Dingell (D-Mich.) and Rep. Michael Oxley (R-Ohio) wrote Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.), chairman of the Subcommittee on Appropriations, urging his committee to oppose the auto safety agency's request for increased funding. NHTSA's budget is 36 percent smaller than it was in 1980, and its rulemaking staff has shrunk from 103 people to 62, some of whom have other duties. Rep. Dingell is the top recipient of campaign contributions from Ford Motor Company PACs and executives in the House, receiving $32,000 since 1995. Rep. Oxley has gotten $9,100 in contributions from Ford Motor Company PACs and executives.

Methodology

All campaign finance data provided by the Center for Responsive Politics, a non-partisan, non-profit research group based in Washington, D.C. that tracks money in politics (www.crp.org) . The Center downloads campaign contribution data from the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and codes them by industry. Data include contributions from company executives and their families giving $200 or more and Political Action Committees (PACs) to federal candidates and parties. Data for the 2000 election cycle contained in this report were released by the FEC on September 1, 2000. During the election year, there is typically a two-month time lag between when campaign contributions are reported to the FEC and when they are made available electronically, since most campaigns still file their reports on paper rather than by computer. Therefore data released in September roughly include contributions through June 2000.