Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, I am glad to have an opportunity to speak in opposition to this constitutional amendment. This debate reminds us of just what this country is. It is a country full of people that have their own opinion. That is what has made it so great is that we have debated all of our opinions in public, and we have had vigorous debates that reflect our democracy. I think from the last speaker we can see there is somebody that thinks this debate is frivolous, that this amendment is frivolous. Yet, our minority leader, the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Gephardt), and the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Frank) realized what other reformers have failed to see; you cannot pass the current proposals of campaign finance reform without infringing on the constitutional right to free speech. At the heart of each of the proposals is a muzzle on first amendment rights. They stated this in their 'Dear Colleague' letter last year. So while one person that is a Member of the minority party thinks it is a frivolous amendment and not worthy of our time, their same party's minority leader believes that it is the core and the necessity of campaign finance reform. I do not believe that we should infringe on the right of free speech. I do not believe that we should amend the Constitution.”