George Miller: “I urge the people of America to pay close attention to this debate on campaign finance reform. Pay close attention…”

“I urge the people of America to pay close attention to this debate on campaign finance reform. Pay close attention, because you will hear so many different arguments, facts, figures and legal theories, not just today, but possibly for weeks to come. There will be so much that is said that it may be hard to follow what is really important in this debate. There is only one thing that matters when all is said and done: Will your representative in Congress vote for the only meaningful campaign finance reform bill to be offered this year? Will your representative vote for the Shays-Meehan bill? That is all that matters. The Shays-Meehan bill is the only bill that truly bans soft money and has the support of grassroots campaign finance reform organizations. Huge soft money contributions have become the leading corrupting influence in our political process today. Soft money contributions have caused politicians to do many things that they would not ordinarily do to abandon their constituents, to abandon the taxpayer, to abandon the public interest. My friends, ask yourself this: With all of the evidence of the corrupting influence of campaign contributions on politics, why should it be so hard to reform this system? Why should it be so hard? The answer is because the Republican leaders who control this House are committed to blocking the successful passage of campaign finance reform.”