WASHINGTON, D.C. (Press Release)– U.S. Sen. Al Franken (D-Minnesota) made the case at a Senate Judiciary Subcommittee meeting on Wednesday, June 18, for a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United v. FEC and help fix our nation’s broken campaign finance system. At the meeting, he continued his fight to restore democracy to average Minnesotans and reestablish reasonable limits on corporate money in politics.
Sen. Franken has said that the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2010 ruling in Citizens United v. FEC—a ruling that the amendment being debated on Wednesday would reverse—threatens our democracy by giving corporations the right to spend unlimited money to influence elections. The Court’s decision, he has also said, was reckless and gives deep-pocketed corporations and special interests the right to flood elections with money and drown out the voices of middle-class Americans.
Since Citizens United, Sen. Franken has called to reestablish meaningful limits on the amount of money that corporations and deep-pocketed special interest groups can spend to influence elections and wield power.
“Because of Citizens United, deep-pocketed corporations and special interests can flood our elections with money—often anonymously—drowning out the voices of middle-class Americans who don’t have the luxury of spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to influence the process,” said Sen. Franken in his prepared remarks.
Later, he concluded, “That’s what this constitutional amendment is all about…It simply restores the law to what it was for the decades before Citizens United changed everything—when people could say enough is enough and take some reasonable steps to prevent money from corrupting the democratic process. I strongly support this amendment, and I urge my colleagues to do the same.”
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In Citizens United, the Supreme Court ruled for the first time that there is no limit on the amount of money corporations can spend to influence elections. Since then, Sen. Franken has been fighting to fix our nation’s broken campaign finance system. After the Supreme Court ruled on McCutcheon v. Federal Elections Commission in April, a decision that would further concentrate power in the hands of billionaires and wealthy corporations, Sen. Franken took to the Senate floor and called on Congress to restore Americans’ faith in democracy by enacting meaningful limits on money in politics. You can download a video of the speech here or read a copy here.
Franken has also called on Congress to enact a series of campaign finance reforms and to begin the difficult work needed to reverse the Court’s actions. He’s pressed for the Fair Elections Now Act, which would make candidates who refuse contributions of more than $150 eligible for public financing, and the DISCLOSE Act, which requires public disclosure whenever someone spends more than $10,000 to influence an election.
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Preceding provided by Senator Al Franken of Minnesota
I am writing as one of Senator Franken’s constituents. On Tuesday, June 17th “The Desert Sun” newspaper (Palm Springs) published a piece in their Valley Voice (op-ed) space, an article entitled “How and Why A Political Junkie Has Lost His Mojo”. The author, Myles Spicer – 81, specifically cited the Citizens United decision (“a travesty that will haunt our elections, possibly forever”) as a prime factor in his decision to end his “more than 60 years of deep, active and personal political involvement.” The column was published posthumously. Mr. Spicer was killed in a car accident near Fallbrook on the 14th of June. One can’t help but wonder if Mr. Spicer was feeling betrayed by American politics, or by his country.