Russ Feingold

Of course, it is my hope they would accept them, but only voluntarily, so that not a single person in this country is forced to give up their free speech rights. That is not a part of our bill. The whole premise of reducing the amount of…

I don't believe it is my language that there is such a thing as too much money. It is all in context, and the context is this: If somebody chooses, as they may under their constitutional right, to spend as much as they want, I believe we…

I just want to go over a couple of points relating to the Brennan Center for Justice letter of September 22. First of all, the Senator from Kentucky made a statement a few days prior to the release of that letter on national television. He…

Now, in all of those cases the Federal Election Commission was trying to snuff out issue advocacy. It was rebuffed in all of those cases and, in the case of FEC versus the Christian Action Network, in the fourth circuit, the court was so…

That is right, Mr. President, because this is nothing but a red herring. The Senator from Kentucky does not like what the letter says, so he is trying to pretend that we actually said it said something else, and then get me to say it did…

Let me say with regard to this ongoing discussion of constitutional scholars that I don't know how many of the constitutional scholars in the letter presented by the Senator from Arizona and the Senator from Wisconsin have actually…

I think we are not flying entirely blind here, Madam President, because this whole delicate area of issue advocacy has benefited from a lot of litigation.

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…

One other question, a point I am trying to make for the Record is I agree with the Senator from Kentucky that should we pass this legislation, this, of course, will go to the Supreme Court. I think it is very important that we acknowledge…

I do believe in the system of overall voluntary spending limits, and the real driving force behind that is a concern about television costs. Any modifications or changes in the formula that had to do with a State-by-State difference…

Our bill, the modification that was just offered, does provide that a candidate who wants to get the coordinated party expenditure benefit from their party has to limit their personal wealth contribution to no more than $50,000. So the…

The answer is yes. I believe there were only 16 Members of the Senate--I happened to be one--who did not think it was constitutional, who thought it was a violation of the first amendment to start censoring the Internet.

Of course, Mr. President, that is an inaccurate statement of what the bill does. It does not provide limits. It says only that if a person agrees to a stable or certain figure, depending on the size of the State, that those individuals…

I want to begin by once again expressing my admiration and gratitude to the senior Senator from Arizona for his extraordinary leadership on the issue of campaign finance reform. This effort has already been a long and difficult one, but it…

Let me take a moment, and reserve the right to object, to thank both of the leaders for coming together on this issue. It is of tremendous importance to everyone here in this body and to the American people. And I think they both have an…

the road to campaign finance reform is obviously a long, hard one. But we are going to keep on it. I just want to say, because I am involved in a bipartisan effort here, that I believe the majority leader was engaged in the last couple of…

Does the Senator feel that it would be appropriate for Senators to contact Interior line agencies if they are aware of projects they believe are meritorious, such as the Fish and Wildlife Service's proposed Whittlesey Creek National…

I join the Senator from Michigan [Mr. Abraham] in introducing the China Policy Act of 1997. This is a bill that I am proud to cosponsor and one that will send a much-needed message to the leaders of the People's Republic of China. I…

last week this Nation lost a true American hero with the passing of former Supreme Court Justice William Brennan. The contributions of William Brennan to our democratic way of life are many and will continue, long after his passing, to…

I want to offer a few comments on the recently negotiated bipartisan budget agreement. The past few months have been truly historic. We have seen both parties come to the table in good faith and negotiate a budget agreement that puts us on…

Mr. President, it is truly a pleasure to be here on the floor with my friend and colleague and fellow campaign finance reformer from Arizona, the senior Senator, Mr. McCain, as well as our other colleagues who join with us today, including…

I was disappointed to read in the report on this bill that the Committee on Appropriations directed ``that no funds be made available for the Africa Crisis Response Force,'' an earlier title of what the administration now refers to as the…

as someone gravely concerned with the human rights situation in East Timor, I am pleased to see strong language regarding military sales to Indonesia included in the foreign operations appropriations. I would like to commend the managers…

This amendment is the product of negotiations of a number of Senators and provides that none of the funds appropriated in this bill for the Animas-La Plata project can be expended for construction until the Secretary of Interior submits a…

I also want to make one thing clear. In contrast to the Senator from Colorado, this amendment provides for the authorizing committee to act on a revised project plan. It does not put into effect the alternative plan. It does not prejudge…