Christopher Shays: “As I was listening to this debate and looking out and hearing the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Leach) speak about campaign…”

“As I was listening to this debate and looking out and hearing the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Leach) speak about campaign finance reform, I think of how hard a leader he has been over so many years. This is not a new issue. We have been debating it for a long time. I think of the gentleman from California (Mr. Thomas) and what a leader he has been on campaign finance reform. So we have been fighting for reform on this side of the aisle. I turn and think of all the people on the Democrat side of the aisle as well who have been fighting for campaign finance reform. Together, we passed congressional accountability. We have gotten Congress under all the laws that we impose on the rest of the Nation. We did that together. Together we passed gift ban legislation, Republicans and Democrats. Together we passed lobby disclosure legislation. But we have left one act not taken care of, and that is dealing with campaign finance reform. Fortunately, we have freshmen from both sides of the aisle who have worked hard to draft legislation that they feel will deal with this issue. I believe that they have made an important step, and I believe that they are truly for reform. I am hopeful, that at the end of the day, we can all come together. I would argue to everyone in this Chamber that the legislation we need to pass is the Shays-Meehan bill. I believe that we need to pass this legislation because it deals with the important elements that none of the other proposals do.”