WASHINGON — Today a majority of the Senate voted in support of the Democracy for All Amendment, a proposed constitutional amendment that would overturn decisions like Citizens United and allow Congress and the states to set reasonable limits on money in elections. While there were not sufficient votes to pass the proposed amendment, the vote itself represents a historic step forward for the movement to restore the power in our democracy to the people. People For the American Way Executive Vice President Marge Baker released the following statement:
“Less than five years after the Citizens United decision sparked national outrage, we have seen the movement to get big money out of politics go from local, grassroots organizing to a vote in the United States Senate. Today’s historic majority vote is a remarkable milestone for this movement and a platform for taking the fight to the next level. The debate in the Senate this week is a debate that Americans across the country who are passionate about fixing our broken democracy have wanted to see.
“The fight for a constitutional amendment is never easy. It’s not supposed to be. The women’s suffrage amendment ratified in 1920 was first introduced in Congress in 1878. But the grassroots activists pushing for this — who made more than 15,000 calls to Senate offices on the amendment this week alone, who have pushed successfully for hundreds of state and local resolutions, and who have signed more than 3.2 million petitions — aren’t afraid of a tough fight.
“We know that powerful, entrenched interests will continue to try to block the amendment, but we won’t stop pushing until it becomes a reality. Anyone who doubts that underestimates the American people.”
###