"Today the amount of money spent in top ten competitive Senate races averages $34 million per campaign - double what it was just four years ago. It takes a mountain of money - about $7 million on average - even to lose a Senate campaign. This is not sustainable," said Durbin. "People who say the public shouldn't have to pay for elections are missing the point: The American people already pay for elections - in ways that favor incumbents and special interests and in a Congressional agenda spawned too many times by those who finance our campaigns. Public financing will cost us only a fraction of what the current system costs."
"Five years ago today, the Senate passed the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reforms banning huge soft-money donations to political parties. Earlier this year, we passed lobbying reforms," said Durbin. "But the truth is, we can pass all the lobbying and ethics reforms in the world and it won't solve the real problem. Special interest money will always find new loopholes to work its way into campaigns until we change the system fundamentally."
- Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL), Sponsor, Fair Elections Now Act
“I am joining Senator Durbin in introducing legislation in the Senate to provide for public financing because I believe it will be a significant step in improving public confidence in the election process. The public is understandably very distrustful of what happens in public life when there are contributions by interested parties in the political process in terms of whether that influences our official decisions. I think that it does not, but there is great public skepticism on that question and I think public financing will go a long way to restoring public confidence in the electoral system.”
- Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA), Sponsor, Fair Elections Now Act