Political Quotes

“I rise tonight first to thank the House for their support for the important Shays-Meehan legislation. This legislation is a landmark in that it will provide for the first time in many, many years an opportunity for the House to have meaningful campaign finance reform. The bill makes four major changes to our campaign finance system. One, it completely eliminates Federal soft money as well as State soft money that influences the Federal elections. Two, it strengthens the definition of 'express advocacy' to include those radio and TV advertisements that clearly identify a Federal candidate which are run within 60 days of an election, or include unambiguous support for or opposition to a clearly identified Federal candidate run at any time. Number three, Mr. Speaker, it improves the Federal Election Commission disclosure and enforcement. It requires the Federal Election Commission reports to be filed electronically. It provides for Internet posting of this and other disclosure data. Number four, it establishes a commission to study further reforms to our campaign finance system. In addition, the bill makes other important reforms, including foreign money and fund-raising on government property being prohibited. It expands the ban on unsolicited franked mass mailings.”