[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 34, Number 32 (Monday, August 10, 1998)]
[Page 1584]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Statement on House Action on Campaign Finance Reform Legislation

August 6, 1998

    The vote for final passage of the Shays-Meehan bipartisan campaign 
finance reform bill is a heartening sign for the health of our 
democracy. The House vote to ban soft money and improve disclosure, in 
defiance of the Republican leadership, is a rebuke to the cynical view 
that political reform can never happen. Now, only a minority of the 
United States Senate stands in the way of campaign finance reform 
becoming the law of the land. I call upon those few Senators who now 
block reform to heed the actions of the House and the will of the people 
and pass bipartisan campaign finance reform. I again congratulate 
Representatives Christopher Shays, Marty Meehan, and all their 
colleagues who set aside partisanship to make real progress today.