I still maintain that before we start changing the laws we ought to try to find out who broke the laws, how did they break the laws, why did they break the laws. We now have not one, not two, but three 90-day preliminary investigations of whether or not to go forward with the independent counsel on whether the President, the Vice President, and a Deputy Chief of Staff were involved in 1996 campaign violations. It seems to me it would be wise to see what is going to happen there, find out what happened. I still don't understand why, if people broke the law, there are those who say, 'Oh, geez, what we need to do is change the law.' Do we have some areas where we are going to have to take a look at the campaign laws as far as contributions, and where money can be raised, or how, what kind of money on Federal property? Yes, we are going to have to take a look at that, and I am going to work with Senators on both sides of the aisle who really want to have something done that is balanced and fair. This is not the solution. This is not the time.
Trent Lott: “I still maintain that before we start changing the laws we ought to try to find out who broke the laws, how did they…”
Editor's note · Context
Discussing the need for investigations before changing campaign laws.
Share
More from Trent Lott
I think one of the best infrastructure visions we could have as a country today would be to create high-speed passenger rail service that moves people economically and efficiently around the country. The irony is, as long as we continue to…
My recommendation to the Congress and to the president would be, quit campaigning, quit having press conferences. Sit down at a round table and negotiate a deal.
First of all, there's going to be an election and the numbers will be different come this fall. And you're going to need leadership from the President and from the leaders in the Congress.
I think if they would go back to the old way of getting things done, carefully and systematically, would really help them.