Chellie Pingree

I support very strongly and am looking forward to the debate that we will have on this floor about that health care legislation, and I am thrilled with the year and a half that I have spent here and with the number of hours that the…

I can only answer for the residents of my home State, who are deeply concerned about algal blooms, red tide, the economic impact in our communities, and the importance of passing this legislation so that the research is done.

But the fact is we cannot have meaningful health care reform in this country until we finally decide to put an end to insurance company greed and insurance company monopolies. We must stop companies like Anthem who demand rate increases…

I did not think that we needed to change this exemption about data in the rule, in this particular amendment.

She has run under the system, she has recruited candidates under a public financing system.

I urge the committee's support, and I am happy to answer your questions later.

Sometimes that is harder than you think.

If you have two people under the volunteer system, they get a limited amount of money.

We have gotten into an arms race here.

I think all of the States are attempting to do a significant amount of analysis as to how this changes the makeup of people who run for office and the amount of money spent.

I would say these are basically the same kind of system. They are voluntary systems.

She serves as the speaker of the house.

I hope never runs against me in a primary.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. This is a rare honor.

Overall, the Maine Clean Elections Act has been a tremendous success.

The idea of raising funds, even the small amount necessary for a state house campaign, is daunting for many people.

But again, you have to be--become a qualifying candidate. So you still have to find people to write you a $5 check.

More importantly, after I qualified for clean elections, I could spend the majority of my time talking to my constituents.

Whether it was a senior citizen or a hardworking lobsterman, they could participate in my campaign.

As the Speaker of the House, I am engaged in recruiting candidates to run for the legislature.

I think you and others portrayed this accurately in the sense that we have gotten into an arms race here.

I think there is someone on the second panel who can probably answer that more exactly.

These are basically the same kind of system. They are voluntary systems.

What this is attempting to address, many people don't have business contacts, or they didn't serve in politics before.

And I would just add, if I may, part of the design of this system is to address one of your concerns.