Andrea Joy Campbell: “I am troubled by the spending limit, because when the candidates are relatively obscure, as most of us in the House are…”

“I am troubled by the spending limit, because when the candidates are relatively obscure, as most of us in the House are, a spending limit probably created an advantage to the incumbent. However, beyond this substantive point my fundamental reason for rising is to note that I have given up my own alternative. That alternative was, ``if you cannot vote for me, you cannot give to me.'' It is a very fundamental and deep reform about which I felt strongly. I gave it up because only Shays-Meehan has a chance this session of Congress. My good friend, the gentleman from California, deserves great credit for being thoughtful and persistent in this field, but I would urge him also to give up his substitute, because only Shays-Meehan has 57 votes in the Senate. If the proposal is not Shays-Meehan, the Senate will not even take it up; at least, I fear that. In the interests of getting campaign finance reform, I urge that this not be the alternative, that Shays-Meehan be the alternative.”