mr. speaker , i thank the gentleman from massachusetts for yielding . 
i rise in opposition to the bill . 
we passed a bipartisan campaign finance reform act 3 or 4 years ago to close huge loopholes in campaign spending , including the soft money loophole . 
now the internet is becoming an increasingly important medium for campaign spending and advocacy . 
according to some surveys , 37 percent of the adult population and 61 percent of americans use the internet to determine how they would vote in an election . 
now i do agree with my friends on the other side of the aisle that , had this bill gone through the regular order , we probably could have worked out some compromises that would have protected the rights of individuals and bloggers and so forth , but we do not have that ability at this point , so it is either an up or down vote on a complete exemption . 
in the absence of this compromise , we have to depend on the fec for regulation . 
because if we do not and if this bill passes , we will in effect have an exemption to bcra that will allow for unlimited advertising and advocacy over the internet . 
i do not believe that bloggers or individuals will ever be fined by the federal election commission . 
i urge my colleagues to vote against this bill when it comes up later today . 
