Political Quotes

“part of the legacy of President Teddy Roosevelt was an effort to get rid of corporate contributions to Federal elections, and they have been illegal for almost a century. But what we have seen over time, the evolution of a system that has permitted corporate contributions to move into the political process, be the process of soft money, something that is corrupting on those who have to contribute it, who have to receive it. It is not good for the American public. Mr. Chairman, what we have here today in this amendment is a ploy to attempt to allow the current system to continue. There is no objective here in terms of reforming campaign finance. We have heard it from some of our friends in the opposition, they want to simply get it to a conference committee where it will die a lingering, quiet death, and people can continue to manipulate the current system. My hats are off to our colleagues, the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Shays) and the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Meehan), for their work throughout the last 6 years to get us to this point where we can actually get something passed that will make a difference. I urge my colleagues to reject this amendment and approve Shays-Meehan.”