Andrea Joy Campbell: “In 1978 the Supreme Court upheld limits on how much individuals could contribute. In that opinion which has been cited…”

“In 1978 the Supreme Court upheld limits on how much individuals could contribute. In that opinion which has been cited so often, Buckley versus Valeo, the Court also dealt with the $5,000 limit on how much PACs could give; and the court upheld that, too. They said if they did not uphold it, we would have just the possibility of subterfuge, because the same individual could give to the PAC, and then the 1,000 limit would mean nothing. The Supreme Court in that case cited by the gentleman from Texas (Mr. DeLay), and the other good friends who have spoken against Shays-Meehan, says, ``Rather than undermining freedom of association, the basic provision enhances the opportunity of bona fide groups to participate in the election process. . . .'' So today we go the next step to avoid the evasion of these limits through soft money and through advertisment where the exact same words as in a candidate's ad are said, but they do not exactly say ``vote for.'' Then there is no limit. We must close the loophole. If the Supreme Court upheld the limitation of 1,000 per individual, 5,000 per PAC, and an absolute ban on corporations and unions, surely they would uphold a limitation on as huge an end-run as soft money constitutes.”