Sean Patrick Maloney: “I would really like to point out that Shays-Meehan will accomplish banning soft money and third-party disclosure now…”

“I would really like to point out that Shays-Meehan will accomplish banning soft money and third-party disclosure now, and that is very important. If my colleague recalls that on our negotiations on the commission bill, and believe it or not, it was difficult to reach that fragile flower of consensus on the commission bill. One of the things that I had in my bill was that the commission should address soft money. Some Members on the other side of the aisle objected to that being included in the commission bill. So then to argue that Shays-Meehan will not be comprehensive enough, in all due respect, I do not believe is a very genuine argument. I would like to point out to all of my colleagues who are sincere reformers on both sides of the aisle, is that we can pass Shays-Meehan tonight, banning soft money and other proposals, and enact it into law.”