Political Quotes

“When five conservative Justices handed down their opinion in Citizens United 12 years ago, the dissenters warned: The Court's ruling threatens to undermine the integrity of elected institutions across the Nation. Sadly, they turned out to be right. By giving massive corporations the same rights as individual citizens--multibillionaires being able to have their voices shouted out, drowning out the views of citizens--and by casting aside decades of campaign finance law and by paving the way for powerful elites to anonymously pump endless cash into elections, Citizens United has disfigured our democracy almost beyond recognition. Today, the Senate will vote to begin curing our Nation of this cancer when we take the first procedural vote on the DISCLOSE Act. Democrats are ready to move forward. Republicans today must face the music: either vote to bring transparency and fairness back to our elections-- as the vast majority of Americans want--or block this measure and cast their lot with the forces of dark money. So today is a very important day that would not be possible without the work of my friend and colleague, the Senator from Rhode Island, Senator Whitehouse. More than anyone in this Chamber, Senator Whitehouse has labored relentlessly to shine a light on the link between dark money and so many of the ills that plague our politics, from the radicalization of our courts to the rise of climate deniers and more. I thank him for his work. Our entire caucus does.…”