Porter Goss: “a great many Americans think that asking Members of Congress, Republican or Democrat, to reform campaign finance reform…”

“a great many Americans think that asking Members of Congress, Republican or Democrat, to reform campaign finance reform is asking the fox to watch the chicken coop. And I agree that, until there is sufficient public outcry and understanding to fully change the inequities and loopholes in our campaign law, politicians, presidents, and the biased media will continue to use this issue as a political football. Having said that, I do believe that H.R. 3485 makes important improvements in the way we manage our campaigns. I congratulate the gentleman from California (Mr. Thomas) for his very hard work and this good legislative product. This bill ends the abusive practice of using union, association and corporate mandatory dues for political campaigns. It provides a ban on raising or spending soft money on national political parties and candidates and a ban on disbursements of soft money by foreign nationals, and it makes clear that only American citizens should be able to make political contributions. I am also pleased that this increases accountability and disclosure by expediting and expanding FEC reporting requirements. Although I strongly support H.R. 3485, I wish to include a significant component of my own campaign finance reform bill requiring that a high percentage of all contributions come from the geographical area a candidate seeks to represent. After all, it only makes sense that the majority of our contributions should come from the folks we represent.”