Robert Weygand: “I rise in support of the freshman bill today, Mr. Chairman, not in hostility or disappointment with the Meehan-Shays…”

“I rise in support of the freshman bill today, Mr. Chairman, not in hostility or disappointment with the Meehan-Shays bill but clearly to identify what we think is most important, and, that is, the atmosphere of unity that we have here today. The issue that we are debating, campaign finance reform, was embraced wholly by both the Democrat and Republican freshmen as we came into office this year. We came upon this issue and we agreed as a unified body that we would not include poison pills that would damage the potential of passage not only here in this House Chamber but also in the Senate. The unity that we are talking about and the many Members that are here talking about true campaign finance reform... If you read the paper this morning, the comments by the majority in the other Chamber is that this bill, meaning Shays-Meehan, is dead on arrival. 'Been there, done that, forget about it.' That kind of leadership over there is what we should be unified against.”