Rep.
Bob Ney (R-OH)
"We
are going to hear a lot tonight about
a ban. . . on soft money. According
to Webster's dictionary, to ban means
to prohibit the use, performance or
distribution of.... I would like to
make it plain and clear, the bill
under consideration today, H.R. 2356,
the Shays-Meehan bill, does not ban
soft money under any definition or
under any stretch of the imagination."
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Rep.
George Miller (D-CA)
"I
rise today in the strongest possible
support of the Shays-Meehan campaign
finance reform bill to
ban
soft money."
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Rep. David Dreier (R-CA)
"In
Federalist No. 10, James Madison talked
about political faction, how the opportunity
for people to come together and demonstrate
their interests is something that
is a fact of life. In fact, he said
. . . 'Faction is to governing like
air is to fire.' So we have these
attempts being made by some to impose
extraordinarily onerous regulations
on the American people, jeopardizing
their opportunity to come together
and pursue a political interest
that they have, that a shared group
has; and I believe that it is wrong."
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Rep. Marty Meehan (D-MA)
"Mr.
Chairman, if James Madison could see
the $4 million in unregulated soft
money that went from Enron to both
political parties, if James Madison
could see that 70 percent of the soft
money from Enron since 1995 went to
both political parties, if James Madison
could see the $1.7 million in the
last election cycle, he would be rolling
over in his grave."
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Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN)
"I
rise in strong opposition to Shays-Meehan
today, principally because of the
oath of office that I took, flanked
by my three small children a little
over a year ago
.That oath of
office charged me with upholding and
defending the Constitution of the
United States of America. Now, the
gentleman from Massachusetts quoted
James Madison. James Madison, the
Father of the Constitution, wrote
very simple words: The Congress shall
make no law abridging the freedom
of speech."
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Rep. Lynn Rivers (D-MI)
"Congress
can prohibit the use of corporate
treasury funds and union dues money
in Federal elections. Congress can
limit contributions to candidates,
parties and political committees.
Congress can pass laws to combat actual
corruption and the appearance of corruption.
Congress can require disclosure of
the source and size of certain kinds
of spending and most contributions.
Congress can regulate coordinated
expenditures that thwart attempts
to circumvent existing election law
.
The Supreme Court has spoken on this
issue. Shays-Meehan does no more than
what the Supreme Court has already
endorsed as tools for Congress to
use. The Shays-Meehan bill is constitutional,
and it is absolutely needed."
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Rep. Tom DeLay (R-TX)
"Political
speech is the key to political freedom,
and Shays-Meehan would radically weaken
our first amendment right by inappropriately
and unwisely constraining the right
to political speech. Shays-Meehan
denies Americans, denies American
citizens their fundamental right to
criticize politicians for 2 months
before the election."
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Rep. Zach Wamp (R-TN)
"Money
is not speech. We need to stand up
for the first amendment and treat
these groups and these people playing
politics in elections the same as
the candidates themselves. That is
the underlying message, and that is
what this legislation actually does.
They can talk until they are blue
in the face or wrap themselves in
the first amendment all they want
to. This bill is fair to everyone,
and we need to consider it and pass
it today."
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Rep. Roy Blunt (R-MO)
"I
do believe . . . that we need to realize
that we have a very important constitutional
responsibility here, and that is to
go through the process of lawmaking.
The way it works is the United States
House of Representatives passes a
bill, the United States Senate passes
a bill; they go to a House-Senate
conference to make sure that they
can reconcile those differences. We
have a bicameral legislature. The
Senate has already passed this measure.
The House should work its will, not
marching in lockstep."
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Rep. Marty Meehan (D-MA)
".
. . the other side that is trying
to kill this bill does not have a
philosophical perspective. They do
not have a set of principles that
are determining what amendments they
offer. What they offer is anything
they
can think of to defeat this bill,
anything that they can think of to
send this bill to conference."
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Rep. Richard Armey (R-TX)
"Let
me state at the outset: I am not now,
never have been nor ever will be corrupted
by contributions to my campaign in
soft or hard money and I do not believe
any of my colleagues have now, ever
have been or ever will be corrupted
by it."
"If
you want to end soft money now, Now,
vote for the Armey substitute
if,
in fact you have the courage of your
convictions and you want to put your
money where your mouth is -- your
soft money where your soft-spoken
mouth is -- vote for Armey."
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Rep. Harold Ford, Jr. (D-TN)
"
We
are addicted to this money
We
love the golf tournaments, the concerts,
the traveling; all the wonderful things
this soft money allows us to do in
this Congress."
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Rep. John Linder (R-GA)
"The
debate here today is not about my
language, it is about my principles.
And while I support campaign finance
reform, principle prevents me from
supporting Shays-Meehan. All Americans
deserve a voice in the political process,
and we need campaign finance reform
to ensure that all voices are heard.
Yet Shays-Meehan silences some voices
altogether, while amplifying others."
"In
12 simple pages, this bill (Armey-Linder)
bans every dollar of unregulated,
unaccountable, undisclosed money that
can be Constitutionally eliminated
from federal politics."
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Rep. Chet Edwards (D-TX)
"Trying
to call million dollar contributions
free speech gives new meaning to the
phrase money talks. And
Americans know that in Washington,
D.C., money is talking too loudly
Vote
for Shays-Meehan and oppose all Trojan
horse substitutes."
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Rep. Richard Armey (R-TX)
"
I
will not yield
"
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Rep. Chris Shays (R-CT)
"
I
will not yield
"
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Rep. J.D. Hayworth (R-AZ)
"It
was our second President, John Adams,
who pointed out facts are stubborn
things
Why would we set
up a new loophole to really have a
type of legalized money laundering?
Certainly
not for partisan advantage for my
high-minded friends on the left or
my well-meaning friends on the right.
But, yet, at the end of the day, can
you deny it?"
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Rep. Lindsey Graham (R-SC)
"I
find myself in the distinct minority
in my Party
We need to ban soft
money
we need to do it now, J.D.,
we really do
But Im going
to vote for Shays-Meehan
I think
America needs to change the way we
conduct our campaigns and Im
willing to pay a price by making my
friends mad at me."
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Rep. Jack Kingston (R-GA)
"
This
is not a ban on soft money, this is
a make believe bill."
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Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-NY)
"I
say we
pass Shays-Meehan and
bring real campaign finance reform
to the people of this so-deserving
country."
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Rep. Jeff Flake (R-AZ)
"If
you wonder why the big media corporations
support this legislation it is because
they will be the only one ones standing
after this is passed."
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Rep. Robert Borski (D-PA)
"Shays-Meehan
would ensure that everyone involved
in influencing elections plays by
the same rules."
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Rep. Jack Kingston (R-GA)
"Its
(Shays-Meehan) the analogy of pushing
food around on your plate to make
Mama think you ate your vegetables
"
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Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-NY)
"Talk
about cooking something up at the
last minute, my understanding is our
side of the aisle only got notice
of this substitute at 1 a.m. this
morning."
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Rep. Richard Armey (R-TX)
"If
you dont want to end soft money
now, then quit talking about it!"
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Rep. Tom Allen (D-ME)
"If
this government is to remain a government
of the people, by the people and for
the people, we must take soft money
out of this campaign finance system."
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Armey Amendment
#28, introduced by Sam Johnson (R-TX)
Rep.
Sam Johnson (R-TX)
"As
a 29-year veteran and prisoner of
war who had my freedom stripped away
I
am appalled that anyone would try
to take away the rights of any American,
especially those who put their lives
in harms way to defend our Constitution
and this nation."
"Veterans
understand that freedoms not
free
Is there anyone who would
deny a veterans right to be
heard? They are going to protect our
rights and we need to protect their
rights to free speech."
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Armey
Armey Amendment #28, introduced
by Sam Johnson (R-TX)
Rep.
Chris Shays (R-CT)
"His
(Mr. Johnsons) amendment is
not needed
His veterans have
all the voice they need
We allow
for people to speak out. Sixty days
before an election, money can be used."
"Veterans
can pool their resources to advertise,
they just cant do it with corporate
treasury money and union dues money."
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Armey Amendment
# 20, 30, 40,50 introduced by Larry
Combest (R-TX)
Rep.
Larry Combest (R-TX)
"Im
offering the amendment which would
ensure that nothing in H.R. 2356 would
restrict workers, farmers or their
families from communicating their
views and needs to their elected leaders
and the public. I believe Shays-Meehan
contains unfair restriction on the
rights of citizens, either individually
or collectively to communicate with
their elected representatives and
to the general public. Such restrictions
would stifle and suppress individuals
and groups activity and advocacy pertaining
to publican government."
"One
of the most effective ways for citizens
to communicate is to pool their voices
and resources with like-minded individuals
who many times would not be heard
if not for this ability."
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Arm
ey Amendment # 20, 30, 40,50 introduced
by Larry Combest (R-TX)
Rep.
Marty Meehan (D-MA)
"You
know, as I sit back and think about
it, the workers, the farmers and the
families are the reason why we need
to pass this bill. The workers, the
farmers and the families without these
big multi-national soft money PACs,
soft money operations are the reason
why we need to pass campaign finance
reform."
"Its
an amendment designed to destroy the
sham issue ads provision of the Shays-Meehan
bill which, in fact, would exempt
any possible advertisements paid for
with soft money from these provision
by purporting to create a targeted
exception. It would blow a hole in
the sham issue advocacy provision
in this bill by allowing unlimited
soft money to be spent on any ads
that mention an individual."
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Armey
Amendment # 31 introduced by J.C.
Watts
(R-OK)
Rep.
J.C. Watts (R-OK)
".
. .This amendment is pretty simple.
It states that no restrictions in
the Shays-Meehan bill can ban statements,
actions or positions of a candidate
pertaining to civil rights and other
issues affecting minorities."
"The
34 million Americans of African descent,
35 million Hispanics and Latinos,
10 million Asian Americans, and 2
million American Indians deserve the
right to free speech as enshrined
in the first Amendment to the United
States Constitution. These important
constituencies have interests that
are unique and special. They should
not be gagged in the name of reform."
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ArmeyArme
Armey Amendment # 31 introduced by
J.Cllllll. Watts
(R-OK)
Rep.
Steny Hoyer (D-MD)
"I
tell my friend from Oklahoma that
this is not about whether we are for
or against civil rights. I take a
backseat to no one in this institution
in support of civil rights and human
rights, here and around the world.
This is about making some speech more
protected than other speech. The first
Amendment does not say that."
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Wamp
Amendment
Rep.
Zach Wamp (R-TN)
"This
amendment simply raises the $1,000
limit for individual contributions
to House candidates to $2,000 which
is the same as the Senate-passed bill
sets for Senators...I do not think
its appropriate for the Senate
to have a different level on individual
contribution limits than House candidates."
"In
1974 this $1,000 was established and
individuals had that much influence
in the process at that time. Now the
value of $1,000 in 1974 was a lot
greater than the value of $1,000 in
2002. The fact is this, individuals
have less influence today than they
had then just because the value of
their participation has been reduced."
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Wamp
Amendment
Rep.
Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas)
"Only
1/9 of one percent of Americans currently
give $1,000. And the whole purpose
of this amendment is to allow that
elite group to give even more and
distort the election process. If we
succeed in taking a ban on soft money
on the one hand, but we are going
to increase the amount of hard money
on the other hand, we will have simply
taken from one and given to the other
and traded Tweedle Dee for Tweedle
Dum."
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Armey
Amendment # 23, 33, 43, 53 introduces
by Jo Ann Emerson (R-MO)
Rep.
Jo Ann Emerson (R-MO)
"The
fact of the matter is that the flood
of soft money from both sides drowns
out the only voices which are important,
those are the voices of the American
people. The only way to allow the
voices of the American people to be
heard is to totally ban all soft money."
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Armey
Amendment # 23, 33, 43, 53 introduces
by Jo Ann Emerson (R-MO)
Rep.
Sander Levin (D-MI)
"What
this [bill] does is not open the floodgates,
it makes sure there is no floodgate.
Instead there is a channel for grassroots
activity, indeed, for the people to
be heard."
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Armey
Amendment # 24, 34, 44, 54 introduced
by Roger Wicker (R-MS)
Rep.
Roger Wicker (R-MS)
"This
simple amendment closes a loophole
in the current campaign finance system
which allows foreign interests to
influence United States elections.
It requires that contributions to
federal candidates be made by either
U.S. citizens or American Nationals."
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Armey
Amendment # 24, 34, 44, 54 introduced
by Roger Wicker (R-MS)
Rep.
Patsy Mink (D-HI)
"The
Constitution was written by wonderful
people who made no distinction whatsoever
in guaranteeing the rights and privileges
of this country when they wrote the
word persons. They didnt
say citizens, they said persons.
How
can we deny legal residents the right
to care about what is happening in
this country? We need to keep them
in the political process."
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Armey
Amendment #19, 29, 39, 49 introduced
by Thomas Reynolds (R-NY)
Rep.
Tom Reynolds (R-NY)
"Throughout
this day, Ive listened to many
of colleagues rail against the evils
of soft money, thats why its
time to ensure the rhetoric matches
the reality and Im doing just
that by introducing an amendment that
reverses a slick attempt to manipulate
existing law that will end soft money
now, rather than after election day."
"If
were going to end soft money,
then lets end it once and for
all, lets end it now, not months
from now when its more politically
convenient. If were going to
stop using soft money in campaigns
then lets make sure its
stopped in every campaign. Without
this amendment, the supporters of
Shays-Meehan are saying that while
soft money is bad, its not bad
enough to ban right here, right now.
Theres a word for that, Mr.
Chairman. And its hypocrisy.
"
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Armey
Amendment #19, 29, 39, 49 introduced
by Thomas Reynolds (R-NY)
Rep.
Barney Frank (D-MA)
"It
is simply not logically possible to
argue that youre for this bill
and are going to vote to have it go
into effect three weeks before primaries
which have been conducted heretofore
under the old rules. Thats just
not arguable."
"To
have someone call me a hypocrite is
like being called silly by the Three
Stooges. It simply does not make sense."
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