Political Quotes

“Now, Madam President, that is not a statement of the Supreme Court of the United States that is going to admit exceptions and say, oh, well, we really didn't mean it in a political race, we really didn't mean it in connection with an advocacy organization like the Christian Coalition or the labor unions; though, perhaps, we did mean it with respect to television networks. They will not do that. Madam President, with respect to this attempt to limit freedom of speech, the views of the American Civil Liberties Union are particularly eloquent, and I do want to share just a handful of them at this point on this specific amendment. We are writing today . . . to set forth our views on an amendment to that bill dealing with controls on issue advocacy which is being sponsored by Senators Snowe and Jeffords. Although that proposal has been characterized as a compromise measure which would replace certain of the more egregious features of the comparable provisions of McCain-Feingold, the Snowe-Jeffords amendment still embodies the kind of unprecedented restraint on issue advocacy that violates bedrock First Amendment principles. They go on eloquently to discuss exactly this proposition. They say, ``The Court''--referring to the Supreme Court--``fashioned the express advocacy doctrine to safeguard issue advocacy from campaign finance controls, even though such advocacy might influence the outcome of an election.…”