David Thomas: “Madam Chairman, no amount of volume, no amount of vehemence, covers up the fundamental flaws in this bill. It took my…”

“Madam Chairman, no amount of volume, no amount of vehemence, covers up the fundamental flaws in this bill. It took my breath away when the gentleman from California said that he could tell us exactly what the Supreme Court would do on the express advocacy section. The fact of the matter is in all probability the court will hold it unconstitutional. Therein lies the rub, because there is a severability clause in Shays-Meehan. It means the courts will continue to write what the law actually is. The only bill left that has merit is the Hutchison-Allen freshman bill, because it does not have a severability clause. If in fact a section is declared unconstitutional, it will come back here. We will write the law. The fundamental flaw in Shays-Meehan is its severability. It has unconstitutional provisions. The court will continue to write the law. Vote no on Shays-Meehan if Members want to continue to write the law and not let the Supreme Court do it.”