Some argue that our government of, by, and for the people has morphed into one that is bought and paid for by special interests.

Can you please elaborate on how USAID is using these specific supplemental Haiti reforestation funds, including how much of the $25 million is being spent on the actual replanting of sustainable tree cover?

I have been in favor of public financing, and I still am.

In the weeks and months to come, countless advocacy groups and special interests will try mightily and savagely and heavily to exempt themselves from shared sacrifice and common purpose.

I just think that the Citizens United decision, in addition to reversing all the precedent and standing the facts on their heads, has really created enormous opportunities for mischief, particularly on behalf of the people with money.

Fair Elections translates popular support into winning campaign without requiring candidates to sell out to big money backers.

I think that the effect of Citizens United on our electoral process is very pronounced and very degrading, frankly.

For the life of me, I do not see why in a country in which we try to give one person one vote and we try to equalize as much as we can, we allow one particular privileged class, which is the chief executive officer of a corporation, to…

Transparency is critical.

Clearly, it is time for Congress to step in.

70 percent of the American people say they do support Presidential campaign financing.

Last year, a record $4 billion was spent on federal elections by outside organizations, political parties, and Congressional campaigns.

I am here. I am not taking special interest money. I am accountable not to special interests but to the constituents.

The situation has been made worse by the Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United.

Lobbyists and special interest donors will not have that kind of influence over candidates who participate in the Fair Elections system.

If I went to the people of my State, whom I know a little better than some other places, and said, 'Okay, here is what I am going to offer you: shorter campaigns, more direct contact between candidates and voters, more disclosure and…

This hearing of the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Human Rights will come to order, and we will examine today the impact of the Supreme Court's 2010 decision in Citizens United v. FEC.

This flood of campaign spending from big corporations and special interest lobbyists is drowning out the voice of everyday Americans.