[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 114 (Wednesday, September 3, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H6723]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              TIME TO GET SERIOUS ABOUT BANNING SOFT MONEY

  (Mr. McGOVERN asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, before Congress departed for the August 
recess, I joined with 25 of my House colleagues in writing to Speaker 
Gingrich demanding a vote this month on banning soft money 
contributions to political parties. In our letter, we warned that 
failure to schedule such a vote would cause us to use every tool at our 
disposal to force consideration of this all-important campaign finance 
reform.
  Mr. Speaker, it does not take a rocket scientist to figure out that 
our current campaign finance system is broken and needs to be fixed. 
Every day the newspapers are filled with stories detailing how 
unregulated soft money contributions have corrupted our political 
system and are threatening to undermine the very essence of our 
democracy.
  Clearly, we need real, comprehensive campaign finance reform, and we 
need it now, but Speaker Gingrich has refused to give us a day to vote 
even on this most basic of reforms.
  Mr. Speaker, give us a vote on real campaign finance reform, or at 
least give us a vote to ban soft money. It is the right thing to do; it 
is what the American people want.

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