Lois Capps: “Mr. Chairman, I congratulate the authors of all the bills before us today. There are some good provisions in the various…”

“Mr. Chairman, I congratulate the authors of all the bills before us today. There are some good provisions in the various substitutes being offered, but that is what those bills are, a substitute for the real thing, a substitute for real reform. Every major reform organization in this country agrees that the Shays-Meehan bill is the one bill which can restore integrity to our campaign finance system. It is the only proposal that deals with the two biggest problems in our federal elections, soft money and sham issue ads. It is unfortunate that here we are again discussing the merits of Shays-Meehan versus other proposals. A year ago we debated many of these same proposals, and we passed Shays-Meehan by a vote of 252 to 179. The House has already decided that Shays-Meehan is the bill we want to send to the Senate. None of these substitutes deal with the problem of sham issue ads, which allow powerful interest groups to pour unlimited, unregulated dollars, often from unknown sources, into our campaigns. Last year, as was mentioned, I endured four grueling elections and watched as wave after wave of attack ads flooded my district under the guise of informing voters. These ads distorted both my record and the record of my opponent.”