Sean Patrick Maloney: “Mr. Chairman, we have an historic opportunity to pass real campaign finance reform in this Congress. That opportunity is…”

“Mr. Chairman, we have an historic opportunity to pass real campaign finance reform in this Congress. That opportunity is Shays-Meehan. Although some of my colleagues in this body support an amendment to overturn the Supreme Court's decision in Buckley vs. Valeo, such an amendment is not needed to pass Shays-Meehan. Shays-Meehan will pass constitutional review. The DeLay amendment will do just that, delay. I have been told that the amendment's sponsor does not even intend to vote for it. Shays-Meehan will ban soft money once and for all, and will require greater disclosure from groups which conduct sham issue advocacy ads. For months we have held hearings in the Committee on Government Reform and Oversight on alleged campaign finance abuses. All of the alleged abuses involved soft money. Not one of these hearings would have been needed or would have been held if Shays-Meehan had been enacted, if Shays-Meehan had been law. If we vote in favor of the DeLay amendment, those of us who may favor it, it will be years before it could take effect while the States debate ratification. In the meantime, we will have lost our best chance in years to pass real reform, Shays-Meehan. There is an old saying that a bird in hand is better than two in the bush, and the Shays-Meehan bill is within our grasp.”