Bill Pascrell: “America, America, the witching hour is upon campaign finance reform. Please pay close attention to how we Members of…”

“America, America, the witching hour is upon campaign finance reform. Please pay close attention to how we Members of Congress vote. Everyone claims to be doing the right thing. Everyone seems to be saying they support reform. But make no mistake about it, there is only one bill here that creates real reform for our Nation's campaign finance laws while passing the Senate, and that is Shays-Meehan. Our political system has gone bad mad. In the 2000 election, candidates spent more than $4 billion, a 50 percent increase since 1996. That is obscene. Who is giving all of this money to the parties? Is it the little guy? No. Not even the medium guy. Instead, there are big donations from big corporations. Obviously Enron, which has given almost $6 million to Federal candidates, $3.5 million of that $6 million was soft money. Did they know what they were doing? This is not misinformation. If Members want to talk about a Web site, go on their Web site and see their numbers.”