James Davis: “the bill before us today lifts limits on campaign giving. What an outrage. What is at stake here are the rights of…”

“the bill before us today lifts limits on campaign giving. What an outrage. What is at stake here are the rights of citizens at home who simply sent us up here to do our job. Why should they have to compete with all the people who choose to actively participate by giving unlimited sums of money in the campaign system today? If the public knew more about what we know, about the level of giving, the amount of unlimited contributions that are going into the campaigns of both parties, they would be outraged, they would be sickened, they would ultimately be saddened. The public expects less money going into campaigns today, not more. The strategy on campaign finance reform, which will fail here today on the floor of the House, has first been to do nothing, then to do little, then to delay. Today here is the ultimate tactic. It is a surrender. It is a surrender to the growing cancer in this city and across the country of the disproportionate amount of money that is flowing into campaigns and is swamping and competing with those people who simply want us to do our jobs, they want to speak with us, they want to lobby us on issues and they want to vote. They should not have to compete with the growing and inordinate sums of money that are getting into our campaign system. The Doolittle bill is a surrender to this problem. We need to defeat this bill, we need to get to meaningful campaign finance reform, we need to pass it today on the floor of the House.”