FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 14, 2002

STATEMENT OF CONGRESSMAN LARSON ON CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM

WASHINGTON, D.C.�U.S. Congressman John B. Larson (CT-01) made the following statement concerning today's debate in Congress on campaign finance reform legislation. Larson is a co-sponsor of H.R. 2356, the measure sponsored by Rep. Christopher Shays and Rep. Martin Meehan.

"I am proud to stand with Chris Shays today, both as a fellow member of the Connecticut delegation and as a supporter of campaign finance reform. If ever there was a profile in courage, it is Chris Shays going against his party's leadership and fighting for reform.

"Even though this is an incremental step toward campaign finance reform, it is important that Congress show that it has the will to enact reform affecting its own system. I do not believe the system will be completely reformed until some type of public financing of campaigns is adopted. But in the interim, it is clear that this is a step in the right direction and one that the public anxiously awaits - not only on the merits of the issue, but also to see whether Congress has the temerity and the will to reform the system."

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