Congressman John D. Dingell

Washington, D.C. – Representative John D. Dingell issued the following statement on the campaign finance reform bills being debated in Congress this week:

"I strongly support the Shays-Meehan campaign finance reform bill. This is historic legislation, one of the most important reform bills in a generation.

"We have a good chance at passing this meaningful reform legislation today, but reform-minded Members of Congress have a challenging road ahead – opponents who are wedded to the moneyed special-interests have vowed to kill the bill. Reform opponents are cynically working to break apart the reform coalition by offering amendments that would gut the bill. Opponents are also trying to institutionalize and expand the soft-money system by making loopholes that would allow millions of dollars in corporate money to continue to flood political party coffers.

"When is this madness going to end? Both parties raised nearly half a billion dollars in soft money during the 1999-2000 election cycle. Of this amount, over $73 million was given by 147 individuals in amounts of $500,000 or more. This influx of unregulated soft money, no matter where it comes from, taints us all individually, and collectively works to increase the public’s cynicism and destroy faith in Congress.

"The most important debate today is between supporting the Shays-Meehan bill that completely bans federal soft money and the sham substitute that thwarts reform, and which permits the soft-money system to continue in perpetuity. By voting for Shays-Meehan, we have the opportunity to take these enormous sums of unregulated money out of the political process for good.

"Vote for real campaign reform. Vote to rid our federal elections of soft money. Vote for Shays-Meehan."