Maxwell Frost: “Mr. Speaker, on the road to a vote on real campaign finance reform, our friends in the Republican Party have set up an…”

“Mr. Speaker, on the road to a vote on real campaign finance reform, our friends in the Republican Party have set up an ambush. In this Congress, the Republican leadership has accommodated supporters of the Shays-Meehan campaign finance proposal by scheduling the bill for consideration, but appearances can be deceiving. First, the rule reported by the Republican majority on the Committee on Rules gives opponents of campaign finance reform the opportunity to wound the bill by taking pot shots at Shays-Meehan. Then, when the bill is down and bleeding, the rule allows opponents to bring out the heavy artillery to try and finish it off. This rule may not give Shays-Meehan a clean vote. And, Mr. Speaker, unless Members of the House stand up and vote against the amendments designed to wound and weaken and eventually kill real and meaningful campaign finance reform, the Republican majority will once again, through a cynical exploitation of the process, stymie the efforts of those Members who are dedicated to reforming how Federal campaigns in this country are financed.”