For 5 years now we have watched the bipartisan effort to reform our campaign finance laws die at the hands of a filibuster in the United States Senate. I hope this year will be different. Republican Senator John McCain and Democratic Senator Russ Feingold have a strong bill that would curb the power of special interests and increase the confidence of the American people in our campaign finance system.
But this Tuesday, their opponents will try once again to kill this bipartisan bill, which has the support of every Democratic Senator and a number of Republicans. They'll try it by using a "poison pill" amendment that will guarantee that reform dies one more time.
Make no mistake, a vote for this killer amendment is a vote to block meaningful reform.
NOTE: These remarks were recorded at 11:10 a.m. on October 4 in the Oval Office at the White House for later broadcast.
William J. Clinton, Remarks on Campaign Finance Reform Legislation Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/223362
