Russ Feingold: “what this article is about is a reaction to the effort that Senator McCain and I and others have been preparing to try…”

“what this article is about is a reaction to the effort that Senator McCain and I and others have been preparing to try to change our Nation's campaign financing system. There are those who have indicated that the effort will go nowhere because it is already too late in the 104th Congress, and that it is just going to go the way of all other campaign finance reform efforts in the past. Frankly, Mr. President, this article gives me heart. It is eloquent testimony to the reason why we have got to have campaign finance reform in this country and why we need it now. What happened yesterday was, according to the article, an unusual alliance of unions, businesses, and liberal-conservative groups trying to defeat campaign finance legislation that would abolish political action committees and other restrictions on election spending, got together, all together, to try to kill the McCain-Feingold bill.”