Joe Morelle: “I rise today on the 16th anniversary of the United States Supreme Court's Citizens United decision, a decision that…”

“I rise today on the 16th anniversary of the United States Supreme Court's Citizens United decision, a decision that disfigured our political landscape, reorienting power away from voters and toward corporate and wealthy special interests. In Citizens United, a 5-4 conservative Court majority endorsed almost unlimited political spending by corporations and wealthy individuals, and alongside several subsequent Federal Court rulings, demolished longstanding limits designed to prevent undue influence in our politics. It is well beyond time for Congress to pass a comprehensive campaign finance reform package to protect our constituents from the widespread political corruption that Citizens United unleashed. Since 2010, more than $10 billion in corporate and dark money has saturated every aspect of our politics. Super-PACs and dark money groups now spend vast sums to influence, and sometimes determine, election outcomes while shielding their donors from public scrutiny. Compounding the problem, the Federal Election Commission has too often failed to enforce the law, leaving voters vulnerable and unable to discern who is trying to influence them and why. We know that transparency is a baseline requirement for a functioning democracy. We know, too, that its absence erodes public trust in politics and fuels the belief that the system is rigged for wealthy elites and insiders.”