[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 144 (Thursday, October 23, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H9044]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM

  (Mr. SNYDER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. SNYDER. Madam Speaker, does a fish feel the wet? So asked an 
editorial writer last week in discussing campaign finance reform. A 
fish spends so much time in water he does not wake up one morning and 
say, gosh, I feel damp today.
  Have we in Congress become so immersed in campaign dollars that we no 
longer feel the wet? Have we become fish, so used to swimming in the 
search for campaign donations that we no longer feel the wet? Have our 
lives become so immersed in making calls for donations that we no 
longer feel the wet? Do we spend so much time worrying about the level 
of money in our campaign funds that we no longer feel the wet? Has the 
Republican leadership become so immersed in the flood of campaign 
donations that they no longer feel the wet and will do everything they 
can to block campaign finance reform from even coming to the floor of 
this House? Madam Speaker, we have been immersed so long our voters no 
longer think we are wet. They think we are sliding. It is time to get 
out of the wet, dry off, and pass campaign finance reform.

                          ____________________