[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 89 (Tuesday, June 5, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1195-E1196]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 2317, LOBBYING TRANSPARENCY ACT OF 
 2007 AND PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 2316, HONEST LEADERSHIP 
                    AND OPEN GOVERNMENT ACT OF 2007

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                             HON. TOM UDALL

                             of new mexico

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 24, 2007

  Mr. UDALL of New Mexico. Madam Speaker, today we stand on the verge 
of passing two pieces of lobby reform legislation that mark an 
important step toward greater transparency and accountability for 
Congress. This is a welcome and much-needed response to the growing 
dissatisfaction of the American people, who do not approve of the 
increasing role and influence that special interests have on our 
democracy. There is, however, much more that Congress must do.
  In the November 2008 election, the American people made it clear that 
the corruption that has been seeping into government cannot be 
tolerated. It is now the task of Congress to raise the standards of 
ethics in lobbying and campaign finance in order to meet the 
expectations of the public. We must take action now to remove the grip 
that private money has on our democracy. I urge my colleagues to 
support these lobbying reform measures on the floor today, but believe 
our work is not yet done.

[[Page E1196]]

  We must break the link between private financing of campaigns and the 
electoral process. During the 109th Congress, Chairman Obey introduced 
legislation to do just that. His bill would have set specific 
expenditure limitations for general elections, established the 
Grassroots Good Citizenship Fund to provide public funding for House 
candidates' expenditures, and banned independent expenditures in House 
elections. This bill would take money laden with strings and political 
debts out of House elections. I cosponsored this bill last Congress, 
and I hope Chairman Obey will be reintroducing it soon.
  We must also take the job of reorganizing districts out of the realm 
of partisan politics and special interests. H.R. 543, the Fairness and 
Independence in Redistricting Act of 2007, introduced by Representative 
John Tanner, would establish an independent commission for the purpose 
of doing the work of redistricting. I am a cosponsor of this 
legislation, and hope that this Congress will look very seriously at 
passing it.
  We must utilize the public airways to make campaigns less costly. 
Most of what is spent in an election is spent on advertising. We can 
change this. By fairly utilizing publicly owned airways to run campaign 
ads, the exorbitant cost of campaigns can be reduced, and the 
associated fundraising, and perceived corruption could be curbed.

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