Russ Feingold: “today with the opening of this debate, we take the first step toward passing the McCain-Feingold/Shays-Meehan bill in…”

“today with the opening of this debate, we take the first step toward passing the McCain-Feingold/Shays-Meehan bill in the Senate and take one of the final steps toward banning soft money. I am grateful for all the hard work that has brought us to this moment--of course, the work done by the reform community, the work done by the outstanding leaders in the other body to pass this bill last month, and, most of all, the work done by my colleagues here in the Senate, under the leadership of Senator McCain of Arizona. A year ago, we had an excellent debate about campaign finance reform here on this floor. In fact, it began almost exactly a year ago, on March 19. We had an outstanding exchange of ideas, we held numerous votes, and we worked hard on both sides of the issue. I believe that that debate enriched this body, and that it enriched the McCain-Feingold bill. In the end, the will of the Senate was done, and we passed the bill in a strong bipartisan vote of 59-41. A year later, we are here again on the floor working to pass reform. But this time it is different. This time, we already know where the Senate stands. And we know that all that stands between this bill and the President's desk is the Senate's final consideration of the bill this week. With the strong vote for McCain-Feingold last year, the Senate recognized the importance of our responsibility as representatives of the people and as stewards of democracy.…”