Political Quotes

“of this amendment it can be said, seldom have so few worked so hard to do so little. Who could be against the little that this substitute proposes? Only those of us who are committed to doing more, who realize that the modest changes proposed by the Shays-Meehan approach are the minimum necessary to bring any real change to this Congress. Those intent on blocking reform have carefully crafted the rule governing the procedure for this debate so that the approval of any alternative, even one as meager as that advanced by the gentleman from California (Mr. Thomas), will serve to nullify real reform. The sole purpose of this substitute is not some newly discovered interest in correcting some minor provisions in the Federal Election Code, but it is to defeat true reform, an objective its author has made clear by his repeated votes against cleaning up this mess. Without a vote for genuine campaign finance reform tonight, special interests will continue to have a strangle hold on this body. The pharmaceutical companies will decide whether seniors get access to prescription drugs. The tobacco companies will decide whether we do anything about nicotine addiction among our young people. The special interests will continue to write a tax code that is replete with loopholes that burden the rest of the American people. We need a clean sweep of this campaign finance system, not some modest housekeeping touch-up; not mere toothless tinkering with a clearly very broken system.”