Thomas Daschle: “this Congress has spent many, many months and millions and millions of dollars to investigate perceived abuses in the…”

“this Congress has spent many, many months and millions and millions of dollars to investigate perceived abuses in the 1996 election. There have been cries of outrage and shock. The American people are deeply cynical about whether Congress will ever pass campaign finance reform because they believe politicians' self-interests will, once again, override public good. If after all the hearings, all the press releases, all the statements, we do absolutely nothing, that cynicism is justified. The American people are not dumb. They know the system is broken. They know we now have an opportunity to fix it, but they do not think we will. But we can use this opportunity, the next several days, to prove them too pessimistic. We need a sincere bipartisan effort to clean up our own house. So, Madam President, this is a defining moment. People who think they can kill this effort with political gamesmanship--without anyone noticing--are wrong. If we squander this opportunity, it will not go unnoticed. Today, we begin one of the most important debates that we will have in this Congress. We have sought this opportunity for almost a year. I appreciate the majority leader has now agreed to this debate. I hope his colleagues will not act to block meaningful reform now that we have the opportunity to deal with it. This is not only an easier way to resolve this issue, it is by far a better way. The American people have a right to hear full and open debate.”