Political Quotes

“I hope my colleagues are listening to the people out there because if there is one thing to be heard, people think that the system is corrupt, that it is being further corrupted by money, that it is being corrupted to the point where Congress will do nothing except profit from this money. I think it is time we do something. Let us restore the confidence of the American people to government, to this establishment, and to each of us. We are the system, and all of us are being hurt by this system. I spent, the first election I ran, $19,000. I have spent since then in certain elections over a million dollars. That is far too much. It is unjustifiable. It is unnecessary. It denies deserving, good candidates an opportunity to participate in the system; and, on top of that, it brings a bad smell to the election process of this country. Just a little while back, we spent something like $85 million in the 1997-1998 election cycle. More recently, we have spent as much as $193 million. This time, we are going to spend $500 million in that. That is a grotesque excess, and it is something which does neither credit nor does it build confidence in us or in the system. I would urge my colleagues to support Shays-Meehan. It is the way to clean up the system and restore the confidence of the people.”