Today Senators Russ Feingold (D-WI) and Susan Collins (R-ME) and Representatives David Price (D-NC) and Christopher Shays (R-CT) introduced the Presidential Funding Act of 2007 to repair and strengthen the presidential public financing system.The Act will address concerns that the presidential system, established in the wake of Watergate, is insufficiently funded in its current form to effectively combat the pernicious influence of private money in elections.  Public Campaign's President and CEO Nick Nyhart released this statement today in support of this effort and the willingness in Congress to seriously address concerns about the way we finance elections:"The race for the White House has become a race for campaign cash. Hundreds of millions of dollars are being raised by campaign bundlers and from wealthy and political elites. Candidates are spending more and more time on the phone with donors and attending high priced fundraisers, while voters who can't write thousand-dollar checks are left out of the process. "We support the efforts of Senator Feingold (D-WI) and his colleagues from both sides of the aisle in introducing legislation that addresses the deficiencies of the current presidential system. We hope this Congressional attention to the ever-increasing role of money in the political process will also focus attention on public financing systems for Congress like that put forth by Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Arlen Specter (R-PA) with the Fair Elections Now Act. "Systems of public financing are flourishing at the state level, with increasing numbers of candidates participating each year. Reforms like the Presidential Public Funding Act and the Fair Elections Now Act will go a long way towards restoring citizens' confidence in their elected officials and will ensure that members of Congress and the president are accountable to all voters." Also cosponsoring the legislation in the Senate are Barack Obama (D-IL), Dick Durbin (D-IL) -- lead sponsor of the Fair Elections Now Act in the Senate, to provide a full public financing option to Senate candidates -- Hillary Clinton (D-NY), Joe Biden (D-DE), Chris Dodd (D-CT) and John Kerry (D-MA). Other House cosponsors include Representatives Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Mike Castle (R-DE), Rahm Emanuel (D-IL), and Todd Platts (R-PA).