Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I thank the Senator from New York for his leadership on this legislation. We are here because the Supreme Court, across the street, decided, in a case called Citizens United, to change the way we campaign for office in America. They want to change it and say corporations and special interest groups can spend unlimited amounts of money on political campaigns. Most of the people I talk with in Illinois and across the country think they have enough political advertising when it comes to campaigns. Hold on tight because, for example, the U.S. Chamber Commerce announced they may spend as much as $75 million in this election cycle on more television advertising to promote candidates who agree with their positions on issues. That is about a five or six times increase in the amount of money they will spend. What it does, of course, is crowd out those of modest means. Any mere mortals left on this political scene who have to rely either on their own limited savings or raising money from others are going to find themselves overwhelmed and inundated by this Supreme Court decision. But it is a Supreme Court decision. Senator Schumer and the Rules Committee, on which I serve, sat down and said that at least if we are going to do this, let's have disclosure about the sources of these ads by special interest groups. Let's find out who is paying for the ads.…”