1.   Among other reforms, the Constitution created an electoral commission to address widespread campaign abuses and a countercorruption commission that is enforcing rules against graft.

2.   And the revelations come as a Senate committee conducts a widely publicized, separate investigation into allegations of campaign abuses by the Democratic Party itself.

3.   At the moment, international groups are focusing their attention largely on trying to correct campaign abuses among Muslims, Serbs and Croats alike.

4.   Attorney General Janet Reno and a House investigating committee approached a showdown Tuesday over whether she should ask for an independent counsel to prosecute campaign finance abuses.

5.   Babbitt will appear before the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, which has been investigating campaign fund-raising abuses, the panel and Babbitt confirmed Tuesday.

6.   A House committee investigating campaign finance abuses heard from three witnesses Thursday who said they were illegally reimbursed for donating large sums to the Democratic Party last year.

7.   A spotlight on campaign abuses will help only if outsiders are serious about defending democracy.

8.   Aides said the committee, the main House vehicle for investigating campaign finance abuses, had become an embarrassment to the Republicans.

9.   Burton has been critical of Reno for not calling for an independent counsel to investigate alleged campaign fund-raising abuses.

10.   Burton had called the hearing to seek immunity for four witnesses connected to alleged campaign finance abuses.