WASHINGTON -- Former New Jersey Sen. Bill Bradley said Thursday he was appalled when Jon Corzine used more than $60 million of his own money to run in the state's 2000 U.S. Senate race.

Former Wyoming Sen. Alan Simpson said he was disgusted at how much time he and his colleagues had to spend fundraising for themselves and others while they really should have been tending to Senate business.

The two have teamed up with former Sens. Bob Kerrey of Nebraska and Warren Rudman of New Hampshire in a bipartisan effort to have Congress publicly fund every federal election in the country. The four senators say it will take just $6 per citizen to prevent wealthy special interest groups and lobbyists from greatly influencing politicians.

The four senators are all honorary chairmen of Americans for Campaign Reform, whose goal is to launch a grassroots movement urging Congress to pass a bill creating a fund in which $1.8 billion per year is set aside to finance federal candidates if they meet certain requirements, such as showing they have wide support.

John Rauh, founder and president of the group, said he envisions creating a panel -- similar to the Pentagon's Base Realignment and Closure Commission -- that studies how much money each candidate should get. Factors would include media markets, advertising and other outreach costs.

Candidates would receive enough money from the fund to raise their profile and inform voters of who they are, allowing them to compete with candidates who are self-financing or have raised a lot of money.

Rauh mentioned New Jersey's 2000 Senate race where Corzine, a Democrat, spent more than $60 million and Republican Bob Franks spent about $7 million he had raised. Corzine, now New Jersey's governor, won by only 3 percentage points.

Bradley, a Democrat, said he was appalled Corzine spent that much money, the most expensive U.S. Senate race to date.

"I hope that's a record that is never broken," he said after a news conference.

Bradley was joined at the news conference by Simpson. Kerrey made brief remarks by telephone and Rudman was unable to attend.

Simpson talked at length of his frustration at how fundraising has taken over so much of a federal legislator's time. When asked if he thought Congress would be amenable to public financing of campaigns -- an issue that comes up every few years -- Simpson said yes.

"The way to get legislation is to get the people worked up and that's what we're going to do," Simpson said.

Public financing would give lawmakers more time to spend working on Capitol Hill or meeting with constituents, the group said. Bradley said much of elections now are financed by special interest groups and lobbyists, which "conveys to the public that the government is up for sale."

"Six dollars is not a whole lot to ask every American to pay for the certainty that their elected representatives will not be compromised in the process of running for office," Bradley said.

The group says the funds would come from the federal budget -- either from the general fund or from revenue raised specifically to support public funding. Citizens now have the option of checking a box on their income tax returns to direct $3 in tax money for the presidential nominees.

Rauh said the group will use the 2006 elections as its springboard. Much of its outreach will be through the Internet and the Web site www.just6dollars.org -- and through appearances by the senators, who are all good friends in spite of their party differences. Bradley and Kerrey are Democrats and Rudman and Simpson are Republicans.

Copyright 2006 Newsday Inc.