Political Quotes

“I suspect a lot of Members of Congress wish that political campaigns were not quite so expensive and that the demands to accept special interest's political action committee money were not so great. Mr. Speaker, I think it is time for Members of this House to declare where they stand on Congressional reform. Do they stand with the American people, who are demanding reform, or with the special interests that are investing millions of dollars in reelection campaigns to make sure that their special Congressman gets hired? We live in a time when most Americans believe that many Members of Congress are bought and paid for by the special interests. The best way to restore confidence is to remove the perception of privilege, perks, and PAC influence from the political process. Mr. Speaker, it is no secret that lobbyists come to Congress to influence our votes. If they convince us to vote their way, advantages and possibly millions and millions of taxpayer dollars flow into the pockets of those special interests. They want to make sure that their favorite congressman or congresswoman gets elected, and they do that by putting money into their political campaigns. In 1992, this last election, political action committees contributed more than $109 million to congressional candidates.”