[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 1]
[House]
[Page 333]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          CAMPAIGN FINANCE LAW

  (Mr. KILMER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. KILMER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call on this body to take up 
legislation to repeal the last-minute changes to campaign finance law 
that were tacked into a 1,600-page bill to fund the government this 
December.
  As a result of this legislation, the wealthiest donors can now each 
contribute more than $750,000 per year to a political party, more than 
seven times the previous cap. Worst of all, these changes were buried 
in a bill with no hearing and no public debate. In fact, Mr. Speaker, 
this body never even got a chance to vote on this provision since the 
bill was not considered under an open amendment process.
  In all the conversations that I have had with residents throughout 
Washington State, I can tell you I have never heard anyone, Democrat or 
Republican, argue that the wealthy can't spend enough on politics or 
that those with the deepest pockets don't have enough influence in our 
Nation's Capital.
  That is why I have introduced the Close the Floodgates Act, to 
protect the interests of ``We the People'' and make sure that the 
wealthiest donors don't get another chance to flood our elections with 
even more money and to undermine our democracy.
  Mr. Speaker, let's take up this legislation, strip out those 
loopholes, and get to work restoring the faith and trust of American 
voters.

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