this legislation does not allow somebody to borrow hard money and then pay it back in soft money. In fact, no one can raise any soft money under this bill after the next election. So what the gentleman is saying just simply is not true.

no, you cannot do that. That is illegal under the present law, and it would be illegal if this bill passed. All this says is if there are bills that come in after the deadline, you can pay those bills in accordance with Federal law. So if…

If we are going to do a campaign finance bill, the people who have opposed reform now say, well, if we are really going to do it, let us put it in effect right away?

I concur with these substitutes and amendments. I thank the gentleman from Connecticut and members of the Republican Conference who have worked diligently over a period of the last several months on this bill. I think we have an historic…

I rise today to express relief and gratitude that the federal government will finally take meaningful steps to shore up security at our airports and on our airplanes. The tragic events of September 11th left the residents of Massachusetts'…

my district in Massachusetts has been very hard hit by the events of September 11. Twenty-eight families in my district have been devastated, with 28 victims who were on flights, a vast majority of them, on American and United Airlines. As…

Mr. Speaker, we have an historic opportunity to pay down the debt, cut taxes substantially for middle-class and working families, provide a Medicare prescription drug benefit for seniors and invest in the children of our country in…

Members of the House have a unique opportunity today to make a real difference and to pass campaign finance reform, legislation that is long overdue. As my colleagues know, we have had lots of disagreements between Democrats and…

The First Amendment provides that the Government may not prohibit the expression of an idea. The disclosure law here by contrast forbids the expression of no idea, but merely requires identification of the speaker when the idea is uttered…

Mr. Chairman, we enact campaign finance reform once in a generation. The last time we enacted meaningful, comprehensive campaign finance reform was in the post-Watergate era. For a while that system worked pretty well. But over a period of…

in many ways, the debate on this substitute is a debate that I think crystallizes the differences of opinion of what we are doing. Many of the substitutes and many of the amendments are really designed to cloud the issue, are really…

Opponents of campaign finance reform have told us that we must protect free speech. But when they say free speech, they mean big money, because the fact is that the Shays-Meehan bill does not ban any type of communication. It merely reins…

Mr. Chairman, this is really the crux of the frustration with getting campaign finance reform passed. I respect the gentleman from Kansas, and the gentleman got up and said that we had a Beck decision, which was a court decision that said…

there is no doubt about it, money talks on Capitol Hill. And for the Republican leadership, no money talks louder than gun money. The National Rifle Association has been the largest political donor to Members of Congress throughout the…

Since when is the burden of proof in this country on the person being accused? You have the obligation to provide a case before the Committee on the Judiciary, and you did not provide a single material witness in this case. Not one…

this debate is as important for what it is not about as for what it is about. It is not about whether to conduct an inquiry. Both the Democratic and Republican resolutions would initiate an inquiry. It is not about who has been more…

let me first of all say to my colleague from California (Mr. Farr), it seems like it was not that long ago when you and I came to this House, and one of the first things that we did was sat down and worked on campaign finance reform. And…

this bill applies to all Department of Justice employees, or those who are acting under the Department of Justice authority. In this instance, the independent counsel is both. We all know when the independent counsel seeks to expand his…

I want to speak to an issue of individual liberty, an issue at the heart of the amendment offered by my friend, the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Kolbe). Specifically, I want to talk about the liberty to pursue any field of employment at…

Mr. Chairman, this would ban any presidential or vice presidential candidate who receives public funding from raising soft money. While we support the gentleman's position, this amendment is really unnecessary in the context of the…

I think my colleague makes a very valid point. I thank the gentleman for offering this amendment. Clearly, a member of the Armed Forces or the Armed Forces Reserves should have the right to contribute to a Federal election. Yet I would…

I have no idea why the President ever hired Dick Morris to begin with. After so many Republican campaigns, I have no idea why he did hire him. I think when the history books are written, the President will regret ever having hired him.

Reclaiming my time, what specifically would be the provisions with regard to something that was in the national security interest not to disclose a name?

reclaiming my time, so when a campaign worker goes out and is trying to get people to go to the polls, the campaign or the party would give a check and the person would go, presumably, to a bank to cash the check. What if somebody did not…

The Paxon amendment is an assault. It is an assault on the rights of working men and women in this country. It says that working men and women will be disenfranchised. Let me just say this, that union members, in fact, know where and how…