[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 160 (Thursday, November 13, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H10775]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             TIME TO FOLLOW EXISTING CAMPAIGN FINANCE LAWS

  (Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, it is time for a little history 
lesson. This lesson is both for my liberal friends on the other side of 
the aisle, as well as for my unbiased, fair-minded friends in the media 
who are so enamored of campaign finance reform.
  Every single day I see a story on the news about how we need campaign 
finance reform, an almost identical tale to that which is heard in this 
very body from the other side of the aisle.
  It is obvious that our supporters of reform forget that all of the 
scandals of political corruption in 1974 resulted in precisely the 
campaign reforms that exist today, the same laws that these same 
reformers now want to change.
  My guess is that the main problem is not that the law needs to be 
changed, but that we need to follow the law. Now, there is a radical 
idea. Imagine if the other side actually followed the law, abided by 
the contribution limits, and disclosed their fund-raising practices 
instead of having to give back millions of dollars after they have won 
the election.
  But liberals never learn from history, and the very same reforms of 
today will be replaced by equally useless reforms in the face of 
lawbreakers tomorrow.

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