David Thomas: “I yield myself 8 minutes. Madam Chairman, as we observed under the rule that was passed, we are beginning a process…”

“I yield myself 8 minutes. Madam Chairman, as we observed under the rule that was passed, we are beginning a process which is one of the more open processes in the history of the House of Representatives. In the area of campaign reform, we have an underlying bill, and we have 10 substitutes that will be made in order. In addition to that, there will be amendments that would be perfecting amendments that will be made in order to those substitutes. It begins to sound as though it could be a very confusing and difficult process. What Members need to know is that we have already shrunk the potential amendments from almost 600 to closer to 300. Now, 300 is still a rather ominous sounding number and, as we begin to prepare and structure those amendments, I think we will find that they will shrink even more. But to try to assist Members, 'You do not know the players without a program,' as they say in sports, The Congressional Research Service is in the final hours of preparing a document which I think will prove invaluable to Members.”