Christopher Shays: “the bottom line to this debate is quite simple. Meehan-Shays does not in any way prevent voter guides from happening.…”

“the bottom line to this debate is quite simple. Meehan-Shays does not in any way prevent voter guides from happening. But to assure that there was no question in this Chamber, we made sure that we added a section to make it unambiguous that you can provide for voter guides. The gentleman from California deletes our section which protects voter guides. The bottom line to this issue is, where you have a campaign ad, including those sham ``issue ads'', then an individual can advertise under the campaign laws. It is bogus, it is wrong, it is totally incorrect to suggest that people do not have a voice. They have a voice outside the campaign law through using voter guides and other non- campaign activity. And they have a voice inside the campaign law by abiding by the same rules as everyone else. They have freedom of speech. We limit what people can raise. We do not limit what they can spend. And any individual who wants to run an ad on their own can do so as long as it is not coordinated. Coordinated expenditures become campaign ads. But our Supreme Court has made it very clear that individuals cannot be limited on what they spend. What you are hearing tonight is a bogus debate on the part, in my judgment, of the gentleman from California (Mr. Doolittle) to suggest, one, that we do not allow these. We do allow them. We make it clear. First, we do not forbid them; and, secondly, we make it clear that they are allowed.”