Steny Hoyer: “Mr. Chairman, if an argument lacks substance, Members create a straw man, and make that straw man look exceedingly bad.…”

“Mr. Chairman, if an argument lacks substance, Members create a straw man, and make that straw man look exceedingly bad. Then they knock that straw man down, and then say how great that is. The problem here is this straw man is hollow and not true. There is no restriction in this bill for any American to raise an issue on either side of the second amendment, to raise any first amendment issue, or to raise any issue of civil rights. There is no Member of this House on this side, and I do not believe there is any Member on that side, who would stand to limit debate or speech on any of those issues. That is a straw man. Mr. Chairman, this bill is about campaign finance reform. This bill is about letting Americans know who is paying for elections. This bill is trying to give Americans confidence that they are included in the process. Mr. Chairman, I reject out of hand the straw man, and let us reject out of hand this amendment.”