[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 155 (Friday, November 7, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2192-E2193]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. RON KIND

                              of wisconsin

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, November 5, 1997

  Mr. KIND. Mr. Speaker, another day has gone by and still no campaign 
finance reform.
  While most are looking at yesterday's election results in terms of 
who won and who lost, I read a more interesting, and troubling result 
from those elections. In the race for Virginia Governor we saw two very 
capable candidates, the highest level of spending in Virginia history, 
a fairly clean campaign and still voter turnout that was the lowest in 
many years. We have to ask ourselves, why are voters increasingly 
turned off by the election process? In races where you have an 
especially negative race it is easy to understand why voters are not 
going to the polls. But in this case it was a clean race, the race 
included a meaningful discussion of real issues and each party spent 
millions of dollars trying to get their message to the voters. There 
must be another answer.
  I believe it is clear that the voters have grown frustrated with the 
current big money political system. The public believes that Government 
is for sale to the highest bidder, and their vote doesn't matter. It is 
our responsibility to restore the faith of the public in our democratic 
system.

[[Page E2193]]

  One way to begin that process is to clean up our own house, and 
eliminate the influence of big money in politics. Campaign finance 
reform is needed now more than ever. Clearly no one can argue that the 
problem of low voter turnout in Virginia would be solved by spending 
more money. It is time to pass campaign finance reform and send a clear 
signal to the people of this country, that this Government is not for 
sale, that their vote does count, and that this Government belongs to 
the people not the special interests.
  The people are expressing this displeasure by staying home on 
election day. We must pass campaign finance reform before we adjourn 
this year. For all our sake, we cannot accept ``no'' as an answer.

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