Russ Feingold: “There have been at least 15 cases in this field. This has been a field that has been very much litigated. The Federal…”

“There have been at least 15 cases in this field. This has been a field that has been very much litigated. The Federal Election Commission has been interested in going after issue advocacy groups for years. So there has been a lot of litigation on the issue that my friend from Arizona raises. He raises a good point, it is in a footnote. It is not like we haven't been there before. There have been 15 cases. The FEC has lost every single issue advocacy case seeking to do things similar--similar--to what is sought to be done by legislation here. Recently in the Citizens Action Network case, not only did the fourth circuit rule against the Federal Election Commission trying to do what we are trying to do here, it ordered them to pay the legal fees of the group that they were out to quiet. So the only thing I say to my friend from Arizona, he is right, it is a footnote. On the other hand, this is something that the courts have had a good deal to say about, a good deal to say about, and there has been a lot of litigation on this whole question of trying to quiet the voices of those who would criticize us for our votes.”