[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 133 (Tuesday, September 30, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H8167]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM A MUST TO HAVE A DEMOCRACY WORTH PROTECTING

  (Mr. BLAGOJEVICH asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BLAGOJEVICH. Madam Speaker, let me first of all start by quoting 
Winston Churchill, who said, ``Democracy is the worst system ever 
devised by man, except for all the rest.''
  I think there is a clear need for campaign finance reform. I am a new 
Member and, clearly, most Members agree there is something wrong with 
the way we fund our campaigns and fuel our democracy. When we spend all 
the time we spend trying to raise money to get here, and when we 
consider all of the special interest money that helps us get elected to 
office, if that system is not corrupting, it certainly is corruptible.
  We have an opportunity in this Congress to do something real about 
campaign finance reform. We live in a very special place. We live in 
the greatest country in the history of human history, and the reason we 
do is because of our system of government that is based on the consent 
of the governed. Unless the governed believe that we are acting in good 
faith and are truly trying to govern them in a fair way, we will not 
have a democracy worth protecting.
  We must pass some form of campaign finance reform in this Congress if 
we are going to preserve what Abe Lincoln said is our last best hope on 
Earth.

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