Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, the issue of how we finance our campaigns overshadows and undermines every other issue we debate in this Capitol. It distorts our policy with regard to the national defense of our Nation, it distorts and skews our policy with regard to health care, it distorts and skews our policy with regard to environmental protection. Reasonable men and women of this Chamber, friends of mine who come to the floor and argue otherwise, they will argue that when unions or corporations contribute hundreds of thousands of dollars in soft money to the parties, that in fact that has no effect whatsoever on the policy that proceeds from this House. I do not believe that, but reasonable people can differ. What is clear, though, is that the fact that there is this question before us undermines public confidence in democracy, and the public's confidence in our institutions of democracy is too important, far too important to act in any way but to err on the side of prudence. Mr. Speaker, the standard for conduct in public office is not simply for public officials to avoid conflicts of interest. It is for us to avoid the appearance of conflicts of interest.”