Mt. Toby Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quaker) feels called to speak on the issue of campaign finance reform. At the center of our faith as Quakers is the knowledge that God speaks through all people. The current campaign finance system is silencing those who do not have exceptional financial resources. It is silencing the majority of the people in this democracy.

For centuries, Quakers have worked to improve our world in areas of peace, social justice, education, health care, right treatment of disempowered and minority groups, proper care of the earth and all its precious life. It is apparent that the present system of campaign financing creates a roadblock to reforms concerning these issues. Those who are opposed to these reforms have a vast influence on our government through their massive financial contributions to political campaigns, which the current system allows.

Progress in these vital issues will be stalled until campaign finance reform, "the reform that makes all other reforms possible," is implemented. We support individual states which have undertaken campaign finance reform, and the state and national legislators who are working toward it. We support the national McCain-Feingold bill to eliminate soft money as a step in the right direction; we support the Clean Elections legislation recently approved two-to-one by Massachusetts voters through a referendum; and we support proposals for full public funding of federal and state elections.