Political Quotes

“I come to the floor today to speak in strong support of the DISCLOSE Act, which will help put an end to secretive campaign spending and close the glaring campaign finance loopholes that have been opened up by the Citizens United ruling. I thank the Senator from Rhode Island for his tremendous leadership on this critical issue and all his work which has gotten us to this point today on this very important bill. This Supreme Court ruling was truly a step backwards for our democracy. It overturned decades of campaign finance law and policy, and it allowed corporations and special interest groups to spend unlimited amounts of their money influencing our democracy. The Citizens United ruling has given special interest groups a megaphone that they can use to drown out the voices of citizens in my home State of Washington and across the country. The DISCLOSE Act would return transparency to this process. It would return accountability to this process. It would be a major step to returning citizens' voices to the important election decisions we make in our country. This is a very personal issue for me. When I first ran for the Senate back in 1992, I was a long-shot candidate without a lot of money or wealthy corporate backers. But what I did have was amazing and passionate volunteers who were at my side. They cared deeply about making sure the voices of Washington State's families were represented.…”