Sam Gejdenson: “It is time for a little review. We have been here going over four proposals, all authored by the Republicans. I have…”

“It is time for a little review. We have been here going over four proposals, all authored by the Republicans. I have been in this Congress for 18 years. I have spoken to Members in this Chamber who have been here longer. I have never, ever in my life been on the floor debating campaign finance reform where the other party was not given an opportunity to put forth a proposal. My parents fled Hitler and Stalin. In those countries there was no debate. We have just done that here on the floor of the House. Unless you are an R, unless you are a Republican, you do not get to offer something. That is not bad enough. Even on the proposals they have put forth here, they have chosen a procedure that guarantees failure on the Thomas proposal, because they choose a procedure that guarantees a necessity of two-thirds of the House of Representatives. Let me get this straight: They get to set up the rules for their own proposal, and rather than half, they choose two-thirds. Why? Because they do not want to succeed.”