Political Quotes

“campaign finance reform is a sensitive topic. While other reform issues deal with what we do as Members of Congress, campaign finance reform will affect how, and in some cases whether, we get here in the first place. That is no excuse not to tackle it. We know the American public is critical about how decisions are made in Washington. Where should the money not come from in campaigns? I think the answer to that question is direct. We should not look for money in political action committees. Is it realistic to expect Members to take huge sums of money from political action committees, only to claim those donations have no effect whatsoever? As one Member who does not accept PAC money, I can vouch for the fact that one can win an election without taking PAC contributions. As the very least, PAC contributions should be capped at $1,000, the same limit that applies to individuals. Where should the money come from? How about contributions from individual donors from a candidate's district? We should require that people who live in the district to be represented fund most of any congressional campaign. Mr. Speaker, we need genuine campaign finance reform that eliminates PAC contributions and requires candidates to raise the majority of funds from their home districts. Only with these changes can we start on the road to genuine campaign finance reform.”