Andrea Joy Campbell: “I thank my dear friend, I have the highest admiration for all that the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Shays) has done…”

“I thank my dear friend, I have the highest admiration for all that the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Shays) has done for the cause of campaign finance reform. It has been an honor to work with the gentleman on this. Mr. Chairman, I am not the most partisan member of this body, but there is a huge point that just has not been said bluntly enough, so here it is. With regard to soft money, more or less, generally speaking, Republicans have an advantage. With regard to issue ads in the last 60 days, more or less, Democrats have an advantage. We saw this in New England. In the last 60 days, the AFL-CIO puts tons of money out of union treasuries into supposedly issue ads, slamming Republican candidates, and with devastating effect. To my fellow Republicans, if you vote for the freshmen bill, you are signing on to the part of a compromise that deals effectively with soft money, but you do nothing about those ads in the last 60 days that mention the name of the candidate--the tactic that was so devastating to Republican candidates in New England. A compromise is a balance; both sides give, both sides get, both sides give a little back. If we go ahead with the freshman bill, we have done nothing against the most abusive practice that was used against Republicans in the last election cycle, ads that claimed to be discussion of issues, but were slams on candidates in the last 60 days, using their names. I cannot support the freshman bill. It is not balanced.”