[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 39 (Tuesday, March 31, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E528-E529]
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

                        Tuesday, March 31, 1998

  Mr. KIND. Mr. Speaker, today I want to put the leadership on notice 
that the need for

[[Page E529]]

campaign finance reform did not end last night. Our campaign finance 
system is broken and something must be done to take the influence of 
big money out of the process. The incremental bills we passed last 
night did nothing to address the fundamental problems in the system.
  Until we do more, campaigns will continue to be dominated by soft 
money, independent expenditures and pressure on candidates to raise 
more money to combat these groups. There are a number of bipartisan 
campaign reform bills that begin to address these problems, the Shays-
Meehan bill, and the Bipartisan Campaign Integrity Act both would 
reduce the influence of big money in politics. The House must be given 
the opportunity to vote on these bills.
  The partisan tricks that the leadership used last night were are sham 
and a fraud on the people of this nation. The leadership should in no 
way assume that they made good on their promise to allow a vote on 
campaign finance reform. Until we have an open, honest vote on campaign 
finance reform I will not end my efforts to force that vote. The people 
of my district did not send me here to accept ``no'' as an answer.

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