Chuck Grassley: “once again I express to my colleagues the desire that we not put amendments on this bill that will possibly be able to…”

“once again I express to my colleagues the desire that we not put amendments on this bill that will possibly be able to be discussed later on in this session on the floor of the Senate when offered to bills more germane to the subject, in this particular case campaign finance reform. In the case of the Wellstone amendment it would be the gift ban. This is a bill that is very basic and easily understood. The underlying bill I introduced, and Senator Lieberman has been my Democratic counterpart, is a bill that is going to end the situation where we have a dual set of laws in this country, one for Capitol Hill and one for the rest of the country. We think there is a consensus on this. There is very little discussion on the underlying legislation. Before this day is out we hope to have this legislation become the law of the land by being able to pass it here, the House having agreed to it, and immediately getting it to the President of the United States. There is nothing wrong with the proposals the Senator from Massachusetts presents to us in the way of campaign finance reform, only that it is being offered as an amendment to a bill that otherwise is basically noncontroversial. It will not pass unanimously, I know, but there is a fair consensus because it tries to correct a situation that we all agree for too long has been unjust, a situation where the laws that apply to the private sector do not apply to Congress and Capitol Hill.”