Russ Feingold: “I, of course, thank the Senator from California, who is chair of the key committee on this bill, for her persistence in…”

“I, of course, thank the Senator from California, who is chair of the key committee on this bill, for her persistence in trying to get this bill through the Senate. We came to the floor twice this spring to try to get consent to pass the Senate Campaign Disclosure Parity Act. Each time an objection was made on behalf of an unidentified Republican Senator. Yet no Senator had come to us to let us know what his or her objection to the bill is. The source of the objection apparently didn't want to be identified, but when the President signed the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act last week, as Senator Feinstein pointed out, S. 1, fortunately, secret holds become a thing of the past, and I am very proud to have been deeply involved with passage of that legislation. So if an objection was lodged today, the objecting Senator would have had to come forward in 6 session days. As far as I know, this was going to be the first test of the new rule on secret holds, and I was looking forward to learning who the real objector was, as the rule requires, if an objection was made on behalf of an unidentified Senator. But now it appears that the Senator from Nevada has actually identified himself as the objector to the bill, so we know what is going on here. I believe the new provision under the new law is the reason this individual identified himself. I don't think that would have happened had it not been for the positive deterrent effect this new legislation has.”