Victor Fazio: “believe it or not, I would like to be here in the well tonight to congratulate the Republican leadership for finally…”

“believe it or not, I would like to be here in the well tonight to congratulate the Republican leadership for finally relenting and allowing a fair debate on genuine campaign finance reform. Unfortunately, I cannot do it. The Republican leadership want no part of campaign finance reform. The gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Gingrich) repeatedly has said that not enough money is spent on political campaigns. He does not think that billions of dollars spent each year on 30-second negative TV spots is enough. But this is the Speaker who made a promise in Claremont, New Hampshire, 3 years ago. He looked President Clinton straight in the eye, shook his hand, and promised to commit himself to campaign finance reform. We know the old phrase ``a promise made, a promise broken.'' Last winter, the Speaker made another promise. After the Senate began debate on campaign finance reform, he committed to have a vote on real campaign finance reform by the end of March. Well, instead, we got a rigged process and a phoney bill and a lot of bad press. Another promise made, another promise broken. It brings us to today, after House Democrats from across the spectrum and a handful of Republicans forced the Speaker to promise a vote on real campaign reform by May 15. Well, check the calendar. It is May 21. And we are just beginning a debate 1 day before a 2-week recess, with no sign of a simple vote on campaign finance reform on the horizon.”