Bob Barr: “Mr. Chairman, what is wrong with the Shays-Meehan picture? If a U.S. citizen wishes to contribute voluntarily money for…”

“Mr. Chairman, what is wrong with the Shays-Meehan picture? If a U.S. citizen wishes to contribute voluntarily money for party building, for grassroots activity, to get out the vote, to educate voters, they are prohibited from seeing their money used for those lawful legitimate laudable purposes by a political party at any time during a campaign and by a grassroots organization during the final stages of a campaign. Yet a noncitizen, somebody not allowed to vote in this country, can, under Shays-Meehan, vote and influence political events in this country by making a contribution. Something is wrong with this picture, when we are taking rights away from United States citizens in Shays-Meehan and allowing the right to vote to influence the political process to noncitizens. That is what is wrong with the picture. It is a loophole that must be plugged. Vote for the Wicker amendment. The Wicker amendment simply stands for the proposition, very simply, that if you cannot vote, you should not be able to contribute and influence directly the political process through money, when you do not have the right to vote.”