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Russell Dana Feingold is a prominent Democratic politician from Wisconsin, best known for his tenure as a U.S. Senator from 1993 to 2011. During his time in the Senate, Feingold was recognized for his independent stance on various issues, including campaign finance reform, civil liberties, and foreign policy. He was the only senator to vote against the USA PATRIOT Act in 2001, citing concerns over civil liberties and government overreach. Feingold also played a significant role in the development of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, which aimed to regulate campaign financing and reduce the influence of money in politics.
It is a great joy working with the distinguished Senator from Michigan, and I regret having to be on the opposite side of this amendment, especially since it is our two States that are most affected by this project--ELF. But this truly is…
I rise today to discuss our archaic and unjust Federal Dairy Policy: it is hopelessly out-of-date, completely out-of-touch with reality and an outrageous way to treat the hard-working dairy farmers of the Upper Midwest, particularly…
I rise to talk about an effort under way in this Congress to hamstring the agency charged with enforcing the Federal election laws--the Federal Election Commission. This effort is happening very quietly under the guise of routine agency…
this is a whole new procedure invented, I have to assume, because some Members of Congress are, in effect, out to ``get'' Mr. Noble and Mr. Surina. Oh, and by the way, there is not a single agency where the Staff Director is a political…
I wanted to make a statement on a matter of concern to me in the FY 99 Energy and Water Appropriations legislation. As my colleagues know, I have long been active in raising Senate awareness about the financial costs of moving forward with…
Congress finally completed its work on a six-year bill to reauthorize the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act today. This bill has been a long time coming. I'm pleased that Wisconsin will now have a chance to address our…
during the last few days, both in Israel and around the world, Jews and millions of others have been celebrating the 50th anniversary of the birth of Israel. A celebration of Israel is a celebration of democracy, prosperity, faith and the…
Mr. President, the agricultural provisions of this bill are important for all farmers but I am especially proud of the provisions targeted to support our endangered small farmers. Mr. President, this country is facing a national farming…
as we take up this important anti- slamming bill, which of course deals with consumer problems with telephone service, I am pleased that the Senate has agreed to this amendment to provide a practical solution to the all too common problem…
as we approach so-called Tax Freedom Day, I rise to offer some comments about the IRS Reform measure before us, and to address some more general issues on the state of our tax code. Mr. President, let me begin by especially commending the…
I will vote in favor of the Craig amendment that would require specific congressional authorization for the deployment of troops to Bosnia. However, I would like to make clear that I am supporting this amendment for reasons that I think…
In late February the Senate considered campaign finance reform on the floor of the Senate for the second time in this Congress. Once again, we did not resolve the issue. Although a clear majority of this body now supports the…
Mr. President, I promised to hold a town meeting or listening session in each of Wisconsin's 62 counties each year of my first term as a Senator. At these meetings I very frequently hear from both parents and school officials talking about…
There is no more important amendment in this whole budget resolution than the Hollings amendment. This goes to the heart of the matter. Madam President, I am pleased to join my good friend, the Senator from South Carolina (Mr. Hollings)…
I speak in strong favor of her amendment. The resolution offers a deficit-neutral reserve fund for class size improvement. Specifically, it states that if funds become available, budget levels may be adjusted for legislation to improve, or…
I have enjoyed working with her on the issue. I think the only thing that is regrettable is, we still have to be working on it so many years later, after we identified the problem in the misrepresentations that have been demonstrated in…
What the amendment would do is remove the emergency designation from the Bosnia money that is in this bill. There are various pots of money in this bill, but I am only talking here about the Bosnia money concerning the operation in the…
I rise today to tell a story that perhaps will intrigue and may be worthy of Tom Clancy's best novel. The story has a little bit of deception and what might be called good old-fashioned Government coverup. Maybe if we could get Alec…
recently the senior Senator from Wisconsin and I introduced a resolution congratulating the State of Wisconsin on the 150th anniversary of its statehood. We will celebrate that great occasion on May 29. The sesquicentennial of Wisconsin's…
we are reaching another stage in the campaign finance reform debate today. I certainly sympathize with the Senator from Oklahoma when he is concerned about some ways in which his bill has been characterized. I have had the experience here…
conversations today have been including the notion that the American people don't care about campaign finance reform, and occasionally people do ask why is it important to reform our system of financing campaigns. I think it is pretty…
Also, Money magazine published an article in December making much the same point, with additional examples of how consumers have been hurt by decisions made by this Congress under the influence of campaign donations from affected…
But what they don't talk about very much is what else would be tabled. It would involve the tabling of a complete ban on soft money. It would be wiping out the opportunity for this Congress to have a ban on soft money. What that means is…
The language of the McCain-Feingold bill on issue advocacy was not an issue in the Wisconsin case. In fact, in that Wisconsin case the judge specifically suggested our provision on issue advocacy may be a model of what might pass…
I and the senior Senator from Arizona, the senior Senator from Tennessee, and the Presiding Officer, and many of the rest of us have been looking forward to this moment for a number of months--the return of campaign finance reform to the…
Politicians like Russ Feingold
