Andrea Joy Campbell: “today I add my voice to the on-going debate on the campaign finance reform bill that is before us once again. Let me say…”

“today I add my voice to the on-going debate on the campaign finance reform bill that is before us once again. Let me say right up front, so that there is no confusion, I support, and I have always supported enforceable, reasonable, common-sense reform. Unfortunately, I don't believe the amendment offered by Senators McCain and Feingold before the Senate meets those standards, nor do I believe it would stand a Constitutional challenge. As I stated with my friend and fellow Coloradan, Senator Allard, in a joint editorial printed in the Denver Post back in October, "real campaign finance reform protects the right to free speech under the First Amendment while guaranteeing the public's right to know through full disclosure." This amendment does not contain that kind of reform. The Constitution guarantees all Americans the right to freedom of speech and association in the First Amendment. The Supreme Court applied those words to campaign spending in the landmark case Buckley v. Valeo to mean that money spent in favor or against a candidate is a form of speech, and therefore entitled to this protection. That decision has been reinforced over and over again. Given this ruling, I cannot believe that the Court, or the Founding Fathers, intended to impose a sixty- or thirty-day moratorium prior to elections on this right, as this amendment would do.”