Rodney Frelinghuysen: “to me, one of the privileges of being a Member of the House, is the ability to come here to Washington to do the…”

“to me, one of the privileges of being a Member of the House, is the ability to come here to Washington to do the people's work without losing that all-important connection with the people who sent us here. While we serve to make all of America a better place, our constituencies are still small enough that we can put our finger on the pulse of the needs and desires of the people back home. But a lot of those people back home, unfortunately, don't feel as connected to us as they really are, or should be. Like most Americans, our constituents believe that most Members of Congress are bound to special interests because of campaign contributions, large sums of money generated by corporations, labor unions and political action committees, and as an investigation of President Clinton's 1996 campaign fundraising has shown, even foreign nationals. For most of us, the belief of our constituents may in reality only be a perception, but the perception holds strong and affects all of us. It is high time we do something to erase this perception and implement the first campaign finance reforms America has seen since 1974. Americans need to be reassured that their elected leaders serve to represent their best interests, not the whims of some special interests. Our constituents must have absolute confidence in the fairness of our political process and loopholes in the current rules must be closed for good.”