CMD and Allies Applaud Re-Launch of ‘Declaration For Democracy’ Campaign to Overturn Citizens United

Contact: Nikolina Lazic, nikolina@prwatch.org

2,000 Public Officials Have Already Expressed Support for Constitutional Amendment

WASHINGTON – This week The Center for Media & Democracy and ally organizations applauded the re-launch of the "Declaration For Democracy" campaign. Public officials signing the declaration are proclaiming their support for amending the constitution to limit the influence of money in our democracy and to restore the rights of the American people in the wake of the Supreme Court's 2010 decision in Citizens United v. FEC.

Representatives Donna Edwards (D-MD), Ted Deutch (D-FL), Keith Ellison (D-MN), James P. McGovern (D-MA), and John Yarmuth (D-KY) circulated a "Dear Colleague" letter today urging their colleagues to sign the declaration.

By the end of the 112th Congress, 2,000 public officials had expressed their support for a constitutional amendment, including President Obama, 102 Members of the House, and 29 Senators (list visible at united4thepeople.org).

The Declaration For Democracy reads: "I, ____________, declare my support for amending the Constitution of the United States to restore the rights of the American people, undermined by Citizens United and related cases, to protect the integrity of our elections and limit the corrosive influence of money in our democratic process." The declaration can be found here: united4thepeople.org/index.html

"After the most expensive election in U.S. history and the history of the world and with more money secretly funneled through tax exempt groups to try to influence who wins office, more and more Americans are demanding that the Constitution be amended to restore the rightful role of ordinary people in our democracy," said Lisa Graves, Executive Director of the Center for Media and Democracy and the publisher of PRWatch and ALECexposed, adding, "we applaud these Representatives and urge others to publicly declare whose side they are on: the side of voters or big money."

"The Supreme Court's decisions in Citizens United and related cases put our political system on the auction block to be sold to the highest bidder," said Marge Baker, Executive Vice President of People For the American Way. "Americans don't want an auction, they want a working democracy. We are thrilled that these Representatives are inviting their colleagues to join the growing chorus of voices calling for change. We look forward to getting even more public officials on board this year."

"Companies ought to be competing in the marketplace with the best products and services, not in our elections for unfair influence of the decisions that will impact our economy by those with the deepest pockets," said David Levine, CEO of the American Sustainable Business Council. "This money is better spent by investing in growing our businesses, creating jobs and building a stronger economy."

"Voters across the country have demonstrated overwhelming support for a constitutional amendment that clarifies that unlimited campaign spending has never been free speech," said Common Cause President Bob Edgar. "Congress must respond to that."

"Our electoral process should be about the rights of individuals to participate in our nation's politics," said Larry Cohen, President of Communications Workers of America. "That's what democracy looks like. The Communications Workers of America commends elected officials at every level of government who are fighting to restore fairness to our political process. The role of money in politics must be completely overhauled. Today it dwarfs everything else and is distorting our democracy. Working with other progressive organizations, CWA is committed to stopping the flow of secret cash to political campaigns and making it clear to all dollars are not speech. This effort will require constitutional changes and other measures to overturn the U.S. Supreme Court's Citizens United decision, which opened the floodgates for secret spending and today enables billionaires to buy our nation's elections. We also will work for the public financing of elections, because without these very real changes, the one percent will continue to control our politics."

"The first post-Citizens United presidential election confirmed our fears that the new campaign finance system allows well-heeled special interests and secret spenders to drown out the voices of ordinary citizens," said Blair Bowie, Democracy Advocate at U.S. Public Interest Research Group. "There is, however, a silver lining: unprecedented public support for real reforms to ensure that in our democracy every citizen is a political equal, regardless of the size of her wallet. We applaud members of Congress who commit to achieving this end."

"We can't both maintain Citizens United as the law of the land and maintain a functioning democracy," said Robert Weissman, President of Public Citizen. "A mounting public movement is demanding a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United and restore our democracy. The legislators leading the way to winning a constitutional amendment are carrying out the grandest American traditions to defend and expand our democracy."

"Americans who are wondering why it's tougher to get ahead in today's economy should look to big money politics for answers," said Adam Lioz, Democracy Counsel for Demos. "When just a few billionaires and special interests can counter the voices of millions of ordinary citizens in the public square, these big donors get to set the agenda in Washington and across the country. Now is the time to build a democracy in which the strength of a citizen's voice does not depend upon the size of her wallet -- and amending the constitution is a critical step."

"Our nation today faces the central question of whether We the People or We the Corporations shall govern in America," said John Bonifaz, the co-founder and executive director of Free Speech For People, a national campaign launched on the day of the Supreme Court's Citizens United ruling to press for a constitutional amendment to reclaim our democracy. "To defend the promise of American self-government, we must enact a constitutional amendment that overturns our system of unlimited campaign spending and the fiction of corporate constitutional rights and that restores republican democracy to the people."

"Now is not the time to be timid; rather, we need to seize this moment and overturn Citizens United with a Constitutional amendment that also overturns all Constitutional rights granted to corporations by court-created doctrines. The Constitution is for 'we, the people,'" said David e. Delk, Co-chair of the Alliance for Democracy.

"The greatest political reform of our time will be to abolish the legal concept of 'corporate personhood' and the inherently anti-democratic equation of money with political speech," said Bill Moyer, Executive Director of the Backbone Campaign.