George Miller: “Members of the House, the pictures that have been painted in the hearings in the Senate and in the disclosures by…”

“Members of the House, the pictures that have been painted in the hearings in the Senate and in the disclosures by national news media about what took place in the last campaign is not a pretty picture for the American people. In fact, I am sure it is quite painful when they see that the last campaign of what we call soft money, that is money that essentially is not regulated by Federal campaign laws, was made in contributions to both parties, both major parties in this country, in huge amounts by individuals, and the story that unfolds is that that soft money was all about access. It was all about access to the White House; it was all about access to the Republican committee chairmen in the House, and the Republican committee chairmen in the Senate, and the leadership in the House and in the Senate. Letters went out and told people, if they gave $10,000, they could have lunch with chairman of the Subcommittee on Telecommunications, Trade, and Consumer Protection, or the Committee on Labor, or the Committee on Ways and Means, or in the Senate one could have lunch or dinner or a private meeting, and for $25,000 one could be in on strategy sessions. The average American could not even dream of being in on one of those sessions.”