Political Quotes

“I come to the floor today to speak in strong support of the DISCLOSE Act, to close the glaring campaign finance loopholes that were opened by the Citizens United ruling. This Supreme Court ruling was a true step backward for this democracy. It overturned decades of campaign finance law and policy. It allowed corporations and special interest groups to spend unlimited amounts of their money influencing our democracy. And it opens the door wide for foreign corporations to spend their money on elections right here in the United States. The Citizens United ruling has given special interest groups a megaphone they can use to drown out the voices of average citizens in my home State of Washington and across the country. The DISCLOSE Act we are considering will tear that megaphone away and place it back into the hands of the American people, where it belongs. This is a very personal issue for me. When I first ran for the Senate back in 1992, I was a long-shot candidate with some ideas and a group of amazing and passionate volunteers by my side. Those volunteers cared deeply about making sure the voices of average Washington State families were represented here in the Senate. They made phone calls. They went door to door. They talked to families across our State who wanted more from their government. Well, we ended up winning that grassroots campaign because the people's voices were heard loudly and clearly.”