[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]




                        CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM

  (Mr. BALDACCI asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BALDACCI. Mr. Speaker, while we have had many accomplishments on 
health care, on education, on small business and individual tax 
credits, we still have one of our accomplishments yet to come and that 
is with campaign finance reform.
  In the last Congress we had 32 Members who signed a discharge 
petition that would have forced the issue to be addressed on the House 
floor. In this Congress, we are making progress. There are 187 Members 
that have signed this discharge petition. This is very important if we 
are going to regain the trust of the American people in their political 
process. It has to be done for the public interest and not special 
private interest.
  Also, in Maine we began the Maine Code of Ethics. The code of ethics 
was signed by candidates of both parties running for office to adhere 
to principles that they would be discussing the issues, to be engaging 
the public and not to be turning the public off.
  While we are reforming the process with campaign finance reform, we 
must also remember the product of those campaigns and also reform the 
product. So along with the process, we have product.

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