[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 97 (Thursday, July 12, 2001)]
[House]
[Page H3966]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                PASS MEANINGFUL CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM

  (Ms. DeLAURO asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, the time has come to pass meaningful 
campaign finance reform. What it will do, what the bipartisan Shays-
Meehan Campaign Reform Act will do is to take the soft money out of 
politics, take the special interest money out of politics. It will help 
us to restore the integrity to our political system. It will help us 
today to restore the confidence that the American public needs to have 
in people who serve in public life, restore their confidence in our 
government that, in fact, we can act on behalf of the interests of the 
people that we represent and not the interests of the moneyed interests 
in this country.
  Mr. Speaker, we have an obligation here to pass meaningful campaign 
finance reform so that, in fact, we can get about the business of 
making sure that we have a Patients' Bill of Rights, which is a 
bipartisan piece of legislation; that we have a prescription drug 
benefit so that we can bring some relief to people who are struggling 
with the high cost of drugs in this country; that we can have a clean 
and a safe environment.
  That is what this bill is about. It is a bipartisan bill. It is 
authored by the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Shays) and the 
gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Meehan). This bill has passed twice 
in this House before, and we should take today that opportunity to make 
it a law.

                          ____________________