Christopher Shays: “We have three amendments, and that is it, and I cannot predict the outcome of any of the three. But we have really two…”

“We have three amendments, and that is it, and I cannot predict the outcome of any of the three. But we have really two issues that are in play right now. One of them is the issue of the delay to the start of the next campaign season, November 6, and the other is soft money. In regards to the issue of delay, we thought that after 16 months already into this, whether we can blame one side or the other, we are here now and not in July or January of last year. We are 16 months into a 24-month election cycle, and by the time this bill becomes law, if it does become law, it is 2 or 3 or 4 months from now, and then we only have 4 months. So I was asked, and others, does it make sense to have this bill take effect now, and the answer was it really does not. And I have spoken to some Members here who say the same thing. They know it. People on my own side of the aisle know it does not make sense to have it take effect today unless we want to kill the bill.”