Anna Eshoo: “rarely are there times that one vote can fundamentally turn the tide of political history. I think today is such a…”

“rarely are there times that one vote can fundamentally turn the tide of political history. I think today is such a moment. Our generation of political leadership can shape a new future, a future which will be free from the influence of unregulated and unlimited contributions. Mr. Speaker, I think that we must make it a relic of the past where every issue we consider and every issue we ignore, from health care reform to energy policy, is determined by the clout of one special interest or another, and where the Congress has become more a marionette than a Legislature. Mr. Speaker, is it any wonder that less than half of the people of our Nation turn out on election days? Weak substitutes allowing soft money and third-party advertising to continue will only foster a disconnect between the people and those who represent them. I do not like the push to raise the limits for hard dollars because I think this debate is about limiting the influence of money and politics and not increasing it. But this issue is larger than what my concerns are. We should go back to what our Founders both dreamed about and built when they founded the greatest democracy in the history of the world. We should reform the system. We should defeat this rule, and we should adopt real, meaningful campaign finance reform.”