On the recordJanuary 25, 2011
I will tell you, as a red-blooded American, the idea of foreign companies secretly influencing American elections is outrageous, and we should have had a debate on that bill. But, instead, we had 41 Senators who said they wanted further debate, and then they were not willing to stand up on the floor to make their case before the American people. And why did they want to hide from the American people? Because the American people do not support secret foreign donations influencing American elections. That is why. Under the talking filibuster, folks could not have filed an objection and left this Chamber and hid. They would have had to make their case, and the American people could have weighed in and said: You are a hero or you are a bum. In this case certainly most Americans, I believe, would have weighed in and said: Get to that bill. Get to a debate on it and get it done because it is the American tradition for Americans to make their decisions about who they elect, not foreign corporations to secretly spend money on American campaigns.
