[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 131 (Friday, September 26, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1874]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM

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                             HON. RON KIND

                              of wisconsin

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, September 26, 1997

  Mr. KIND. Mr. Speaker, today I want to take a moment to offer my 
praise and thanks to the Members of the U.S. Senate. Today the Senate 
began debating campaign finance reform. Senate Majority Leader Trent 
Lott has shown great leadership by bringing a bill sponsored by 
Senators McCain and Feingold to the floor. Senator Lott knows that the 
public is eager to have a debate on this issue and should be applauded 
for responding to the demands of the people.
  Unfortunately, Speaker Gingrich has chosen not to follow Senator 
Lott's lead. Today's New York Times headline says it all, ``Gingrich 
Asserts Campaign Bill, Alive in Senate, Is Dead in House.'' The Speaker 
has made it clear that the status quo has served his own self interests 
and he has no desire to fix the worst abuses in the campaign system.
  The Speaker believes that rather than taking the influence of big 
money out of politics, we need more money in the system. The people of 
western Wisconsin do not share this belief. The people of western 
Wisconsin know that the millions of dollars raised in soft money for 
both political parties, which is all legal, leaves them out of the 
process and it must be stopped. The people of western Wisconsin think 
that the reason they no longer have a voice in the process is because 
they can't make $1,000 contributions to a candidate for office. Raising 
the current $2,000 per individual campaign limit is not the answer to 
getting more real citizens involved in the process, and it only shows 
how out of touch the Speaker is with the people of this Nation.
  I hope that the Speaker will reconsider his stated opposition to 
campaign finance reform. I hope that Speaker Gingrich will follow the 
lead of Senator Lott and bring a bill to the floor soon. We will no 
longer take ``no'' for an answer.

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